Sour Cream Banana Bread

Not healthy.  Not Paleo.  But good eats...  A friend requested the recipe.  And I am glad to share.

Sour Cream Banana Bread
Bread
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Coconut Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Cream together the butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla.   Add the sour cream, bananas, and pecans. Mix well.  Mix in the flour, soda and salt.   Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until a skewer poked in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes.

For the topping, combine the brown sugar, and butter in a sauce pan and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and stir in the pecans and coconut.  Spoon over loaf while warm.

Makes one heavenly loaf

Kung Pao Chicken-- Almost Paleo

I am collecting my recipes.  The ones I love.  The ones I have adapted to suit the way I am eating now.  It is ridiculously frustrating to forget how I fixed a recipe last time and where did I write it down?  So I put it here and I can find it when I need it.  So thanks for you patience with all my recipes and please accept my apologies for no pictures.

Kung Pao Chicken-- Paleo Style
Chicken & Marinade
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 Tablespoon coconut aminos (soy sauce)
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

Sauce & Veggies*
3 Tablespoons coconut aminos (soy sauce)
3 Tablespoons vinegar
2 Tablespoons Hoisin Sauce (recipe here)
1 can water chestnuts, drained
1 onion chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 bell peppers, diced
1/4 cup peanuts (paleo style use almond or pecan pieces)
chili garlic sauce

Marinate chicken in vinegar, coconut aminos, salt and sesame oil for 20 minutes.  Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.  Drain chicken, and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Chop vegetables.  In a large skillet, stir fry garlic, onion and peppers until softened.  Add water chestnuts, aminos and Hoisin Sauce.  Add cooked chicken and peanuts to the skillet and stir to combine.

I put the garlic chili sauce on the table so each person can add as much heat as they desire.

* if you love a thickened sauce for your Asian food and tolerate cornstarch well, double the liquid ingredients in the sauce and add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.  Cook to thicken the sauce.

Hoisin Sauce

I am addicted to Asian style food.  The seasonings make everything taste better.  And the juxtaposition of tender meat with crisp veggies makes me happy.  A lot of my favorite "Asain" recipes use Hoisin  Sauce as a base.  My problem is that hoisin is full of sugar and soy and other things I am currently eating.  The solution... Erica made Hoisin sauce.

I use this sauce on lettuce wraps, in Kung Pao chicken, and Cashew Chicken (recipe here) and even as a salad dressing.  This makes a large batch so you can use it in a couple different recipes.  Happy eating!

Hoisin Sauce
3/4 cup coconut aminos (you could use your favorite soy sauce)
1/3 cup almond butter
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix well to combine

Pumpkin Chili

No really it doesn't taste like pumpkin, I promise.  The pumpkin is an alternative thickener and adds body to the recipe.  Yup, this is another grain free recipe that I found and really like.  I modified this recipe from a friend to make it thicker and to suit my palate.  This makes a good size batch.  I double it and put it in jars in the fridge to eat for lunches each day.  (And, yes, I like it enough to eat it most days for lunch...)

This is a THICK chili, so if you want it thinner or you want to add beans to the recipe, increase the diced tomatoes to two 28 oz cans.

Pumpkin Chili
1 tsp coconut oil
2 lbs ground meat (beef, turkey, your choice)
1 large onion, diced
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (optional for heat)
28 oz can tomato juice (lazy confession, I puree diced tomatoes)
28 oz diced tomato, undrianed
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup chili powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional for heat)
2 teaspoons salt

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Brown meat.  Add in chopped vegetables.  Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and seasonings.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.

Curried Chicken Salad

I modified this recipe from an old Pampered Chef cookbook.  The original recipe calls for a combination of mayonnaise and plain yogurt as a base for the dressing.  I switched it up for full fat (yum) coconut milk and a little bit of lemon juice for some tang.  The result was a definite hit for me.  It will become a lunchtime staple.

Check out the gorgeous picture from the cookbook.  Then mine.  Yeah, maybe I'll plate mine to look that good too.... or not.  It tastes great whether or not it looks amazing!

Curried Chicken Salad
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon curry powder (I like Madras)

1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes, sliced in half
3/4 cup celery, sliced
1/3 cup green onion tops, thinly sliced
2 apples, chopped
1/3 cup chopped pecans, (I used almonds today)
1 medium cantaloupe
lettuce leaves

Combine the coconut milk with the lemon juice, salt and curry powder.  Set aside.  In  a large bowl combine the chicken, grapes, celery, green onion, apples and pecans.  Pour dressing over the top and toss to combine.  Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight to allow flavors to combine.

Serve on a bed of lettuce and cantaloupe.

No Bake Cookies... Healthier

So I have been eating sugar free for a while.  Meaning no sugar, no honey, no agave or stevia, no sweetener of any kind.  I've been branching out into different more "natural" sweeteners to see how they react to my body and this was the recipe I chose to try out honey.  I like it.  I liked it a lot.  Almost too much.  They are in the freezer hiding from me so I don't eat more today.  (So much for breaking my "sweet's addiction.")  I'll keep working on that one, while you enjoy this dessert.

Coconut No-Bake Cookies
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey (next time I'll reduce that to 1/3 cup, but I'm sensitive to sweet)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flaked unsweetened coconut

Melt honey and coconut oil together.  Add in the cocoa powder and almond butter and stir until smooth.  Add vanilla and coconut.  Scoop into small balls.  Freeze for a couple minutes to set.

What Is Up With Me

I happen to be a normal person.  Well almost.  Sort of.  Well, besides being "awesome," I have struggles, just like you.  Down days (months), health problems, annoyingly amazing children and the like.  We all have it.  It is part of being human.

I've mentioned before that I have struggled with depression for years.  I've actively sought help for that depression for the last 13 years with meds, counciling, exercise therapy, and light therapy.  You know I'm down, when I can't muster the energy, or motivation to write, dance and create.  (Oh did you notice that I didn't post anything here from November - mid January.   Well it was a tough time. Thanks for sticking around!)

My awesome doctor combines neurology and homeopathic care and suggested that one reason I might not doing as well may be because I have some underlying food intolerance causing my body to resist healing.  The suggested plan?  One month clean eating.... No dairy, No sugar, No grains (wheat, corn, rice, quinoa, chia...), No legumes.  No soy.  Really it is a "Paleo" diet designed to allow the body a period to heal and be well.

I'm not here to advocate or argue the merits of this "diet" but I do know how I feel.  My moods are stable for the first time in who knows how long-- I don't feel compelled yell and swear at the slightest problem.   I don't crave food-- I feel hungry and I eat, but that need to eat (fill in the blank) doesn't exist anymore.  The bonus is weight loss and inches lost-- my "holy schnikeees those pants are too tight to wear" jeans are now comfortably loose.  I recognize moments of irrationality, where before that irrationality was too real to argue with.  I feel good, balanced, healthy.

So take it for what it is worth.  You'll be seeing more Paleo style recipes here, although I will include substitutions for non-Paleo friends.

For my fiends who worry about my health and whether I am getting enough nutrients from the 4 basic food groups, I am not planing to live this way for life.  But if eating clean is the price I pay for my sanity, I am willing to make that sacrifice.  In the next few weeks I will be introducing foods back into my diet to see how they work in my body.   I'll let you know how it goes.