This is one of my favorite finds from a paleo cookbook. I ran with the original recipe and made it my own.
It’s very loose. I’ll give you the basics, tell you what I do, and run from there.
Nuts (Walnuts or pecans or peanuts or peanut butter or almond butter)
Sunflower seeds
unsweetened coconut
1 egg
1/4 tsp b. soda
chocolate chips
1/4-ish cup maple syrup (or honey)
I use a food processor. I process walnuts or peanuts until I have about a cup of nut butter like substance. If you let the food processor run long enough it gets to be a wet like substance similar to peanut butter. You can use regular old peanut butter and skip the food process nut step.
I then add about a cup or more of sunflower seeds, about 1/2 cup of coconut, and the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips. I add those in after by hand. The resulting dough is oily looking but able to be shaped easily.
I spray a muffin tin and this makes about 18-24 “cookies”. I use these in place of a protein bar. I like that they are dense and high in protein. It also hits a bit of the sweet tooth without being super unhealthy. Bake at 350 for about ten minutes. They do brown and puff up a bit when done.
These have been tried and tested with many combo’s over the years- below is my go-to:
What I found through my many bean burger and veggie burger trials is that I needed to have all the ingredients hanging around. Many veggie burger recipes call for several ingredients that I often have to put on the grocery list. This recipe is made with staples that I always have around so I can make them when we think we have “no food”.
Put all ingredients in a food processor
1 15 oz can black beans (rinse)
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans (rinse)
1 red onion (small and diced)
3 pieces celery chopped
red wine vinegar to taste (I use 1/2 tbsp, I don’t like vinegar too much, if you like it you can use a full tbsp)
black pepper to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs (gluten free is what I use)
1/2 tsp basil
Garlic fresh minced or powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
Put them through the food processor- until half is smooth and half is still chunky, then I open the food processor and run the spatula through it a few times to make sure there’s not any big chunks. If there are I pulse it again.
Then I form into patties. You can cook on a griddle, frying pan, or air fryer. I did air fryer this time at 320 degrees for 8 minutes, then flipped them, and cooked another 5 minutes.
They can be frozen and they can be eaten immediately. They keep in the fridge also.
I ate them last night over an arugula salad I made. They can be dry so you want to put them with dressing of some kind. You can eat like a traditional burger with the bun and lettuce.
This morning I had some over lettuce with eggs on top with some hot sauce. These are by far my favorite, easiest meal for breakfast lunch and dinner. They are dairy/gluten free and I think qualify for vegan also as there are no eggs.
I used the instant pot for this. You can use a slow cooker- likely low for 5-6 hours. Or in a dutch oven or stew pot on the stovetop. That will take probably a couple hours to get a good simmer going and for it to thicken.
This also meets Whole 30 criteria.
1 package beef stew meat
1 butternut squash (you can use sweet potato) peeled and diced
5-6 carrots peeled and diced
1 pear (I used a standard green peel fat pear, mildly ripe, still somewhat firm)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder (for thickening you don’t need this but without it will be thin broth)
4 cups broth- bone broth or chicken broth low sodium
1 tsp thyme
garlic 1 tsp minced
black pepper
1 tsp oregano
if you have other veggies in your fridge that you want to use up feel free to add- kale or spinach would also be a good addition. The base recipe though is delicious on its own.
Then I added all the spices and the arrowroot powder. Stir it all together and make sure there are no arrowroot lumps…because that’s a thing that happens. If there are little white lumps in the stew at the end don’t freak out. It’s just arrowroot powder.
I did not peel the pear. You can if you don’t like peels.
After it was all in the pot, I added enough broth to cover it all and make it start to look like a soup. Then I put the lid on, turned the instant pot on low pressure setting and set for 8 minutes.
Mine was cooked through 8 minutes later. The carrots were a great consistency. I find that with pressure cookers you can overdo it and then it’s all just mush. I felt like with this setting and time it was all cooked perfectly- not mushy but cooked through.
I found the initial recipe in an Autoimmune Paleo cookbook. It didn’t have enough spices, and no onion- I didn’t use onion- but you definitely can and I probably will next time. I also felt like it could use some greens.
This stew was delicious as is though and easy with the instant pot.
The photo was right before the actual pressure cooking.
I adapted this from a Martha Stewart recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The original recipe is obviously not gluten free and the result is very cake-y cookies. I like them thick though. My issue with the toll house recipe is sometimes they sink in on themselves. That irritates me.
For those people who like to mess around with perfection…yes you can use any flour combination you want. If you’ve read my other recipes though you know that I used to work in a bakery, therefore I am a snob about baked goods, and have tinkered with various recipes for over five years. This one included. Trust me when I say this is as close to a non-gluten free chocolate chip cookie that you are going to get.
They freeze well and the batter tastes like actual cookie dough with no horrible grainy texture and no weird aftertaste (You will get that with buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, and coconut flour. Even a tiny amount). These are not healthy cookies. Gluten free does not equal healthy.
If you are vegan- use a dairy free butter but they still have eggs in them. You can use substitutes for the eggs to make them vegan. They are going to taste funny though-I’ve tried using butter and egg substitutes. It’s okay; not great; just okay.
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 cup) (room temp)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs (room temp is best)
1.5 tsp vailla extract
3 cups Flour
1 cup (plus extra) oat flour
1 cup white rice superfine flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1/4-1/2 cup arrowroot flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips
optional- FINELY chopped walnuts or pecans roughly 1/2 cup chopped
Cream the butter in a mixer. This is an important step for cookies. Don’t skip it. Once the butter is light and fluffy then add the sugar. Then add the vanilla and eggs. Mix well.
Then add the rest of the ingredients (not the chocolate chips). This part is important. You want the consistency to be thick. Thicker than normal gluten filled cookies. You can add oats and cinnamon in place of some of the flour if you want oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
I’ve done this recipe several times. Maybe a hundred over the years. I’ve never used the same amount of flours. It’s always a bit of an eyeball situation. After I add the 3.5 cups of the listed ingredients I then slowly add either more of the oat or more of the white rice flour bit by bit until it gets to the desired thickness.
When you’re adding the chocolate chips the batter should be hard to stir. The mixer should not be able to do it. You will have to do it by hand.
I also chill the dough. Only for about 10-15 minutes, but long enough to let it rest.
You can make it without the baking powder. The cookies will be flat. Still good. But flat. Trust me.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. My kids and three of their friends devoured these tonight. Four year olds are a tough audience. They had no idea they were gluten free.
I went gluten free after my diagnosis of endometriosis. I cried a lot. I loved baking. It took me a LONG time to convert all my favorite recipes to a good gluten free recipe. I tried MANY flour combinations. Trust me on this recipe. It was after multiple trials. When I say multiple. I mean probably two years of trials. Many tears. Not as many tears as trying to get a good gluten free banana bread….(which took me 5 years and many more trashed disasters)….but that’s another story.
These muffins are perfect. Try them my way. If you want to change anything after your first go round go ahead. But do them exactly as I describe for the first try. Two years. That’s how long I worked on this recipe. My sons eat it. They actually prefer these to regular gluten filled chocolate chip muffins.
Why chocolate chip muffins? They were my favorite baked good item and I had a perfect recipe for them full of gluten/white flour. It was imperative to me that I have a good gluten free muffin recipe- no weird gluten free aftertaste, a good rise, soft, not too dense, and melt in your mouth good.
These are NOT healthy. Meaning they are not low fat and not low sugar. They are not paleo or Whole 30 friendly. They are just a solid recipe for when you want a good gluten free chocolate chip muffin. Makes 12 muffins.
I’ve not made this vegan- I have used regular unsalted butter which works fine, and I’ve used soy based dairy free butter which also works. I’ve never made without eggs though. The White Rice flour HAS to be Superfine- there are these options on Amazon and with Bob’s Red Mill. You can also add oats but again- stick to the original below first to get a feel for how it looks and bakes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Set for 10, check, turn pan so the back doesn’t burn, then set for another 3-4 depending.
If you have a sensitivity to oat flour- you can use 1.5 cups white rice flour and 1/2 cup tapioca flour. It will have a different consistency than pictured though, but still works and still should rise well. I’ve done it when I’ve run out of oat flour.
Batter should be thickSpray the pans with cooking oil
I usually have cookieandkate.com and two paleo cookbooks open with vegetarian chili recipes and I combine them into my vegan chili. My wife kept telling me just to write down my version. So this weekend when my cousins came from out of town and I made my vegan chili (again with three references open) I finally wrote it down.
1 onion
4 cloves garlic minced
coconut oil (You can use EVOO or avocado oil- personal preference)
1 medium butternut squash (or two bags of frozen B. squash) peeled and cubed OR 1 large sweet potato or both. I’ve done either/or and both.
2 cans crushed tomatoes (no added sugar and low sodium)
1-2 cups vegetable stock or vegetable broth
2 red peppers chopped up
1 bunch kale
1 15 oz can chickpeas (I love chickpeas, you can use kidney beans or two cans of black beans if you feel a certain type of way toward chickpeas:)
1 15 oz can black beans
1 tsp cumin
Chili powder (I use a tablespoon, you can use less if you don’t want it that strong)
1 tsp turmeric
Fresh cilantro
black pepper to taste- I do probably 1/2 tsp
1 tsp oregano
chili pepper to taste (I do a sprinkle for a little kick)
Saute onion and garlic in the coconut oil (roughly 2-4 tbsp of oil)
Add the pepper, sweet potato, squash, and any other veggie you may be drawn to (some times I add mushrooms, but it does change the flavor, zucchini or broccoli is good too)
After a few minutes add the tomatoes and broth
Add all the spices, including some chopped fresh cilantro (You can save some for garnish but I never have time for garnish with twins and stuff, so I just throw it all in)
Let that all heat up for about 10 minutes on medium. When it’s heated through add the beans (rinse them first), then add enough water so the liquid covers all the vegetables and beans.
I cook covered then for about 30-45 minutes. Until it’s boiling and all the vegetables are soft and cooked through.
Turn it down to simmer, add the chopped kale, cover let the kale wilt to desired consistency (longer it cooks softer it gets).
If you have time for garnish you can also put some slices of avocado on top of the servings in bowls
This soup is amazing the day of and the days after. It does freeze well too.
There was a lot of moving parts when I was doing this meal prep- but it took me under two hours to complete three different meals with a yield of roughly 10 meals. I was cooking for myself and my wife for the week. The three meals are:
Turmeric Turkey and butternut squash
Skirt Steak with Kale and Sweet potato
Honey Roasted Chicken Thighs with Roast Broccoli and sweet potato wedges
This is how I did it with an air fryer, dutch oven, one cookie sheet, 9×13 pan, and one large frying pan.
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs/boneless and skinless
1 tbsp honey
fresh basil
fresh cilantro
Extra virgin OO
avocado oil
ground turkey
butternut squash cubed
two large sweet potatoes peeled and diced or wedged
2 bunches fresh kale
2 heads broccoli
onion powder
garlic powder
turmeric
chili powder
paprika
black pepper
1 small onion
bacon cooked 1-2 strips
You can do any of the following in any order I suppose but this is what worked for me:
Do all your slicing and dicing. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put the sweet potatoes into the air fryer- toss with avocado oil, chili powder, cumin, garam masala to taste. I have a large air fryer- but needed to run it a couple times with stirring in between. Set for 400 degrees for 10 minutes and start.
Stir honey, 3 tbsp olive oil, and chopped fresh basil and chopped fresh cilantro in a bowl. Toss all the chicken thighs in the bowl and coat them all. Line the baking dish 9×13 with foil. Empty the bowl into the baking dish. Neaten them up so the thighs are all even-ish and drizzle any leftover sauce onto them. Pop them into the oven uncovered and set timer for 45 minutes.
Honey Glazed Roasted Chicken Thighs with fresh Basil and Cilantro
In the dutch oven on the stovetop- melt coconut or avocado oil. Add 1 small onion, the ground turkey- cook for a few minutes. Add the butternut squash and turmeric, onion powder and some garlic powder, black pepper, and I added extra fresh basil. If it’s not moist enough add 1/4 cup water or chicken broth. I crumbled up some bacon I had leftover from the morning and added that too. Let it cook. I did uncovered for 5 minutes, then covered until cooked through. Then I added one of the bunches of kale that I chopped up.
Turmeric Ground Turkey Butternut Squash and Kale
Meanwhile- the potatoes have gone through their first round, open the air fryer, stir them up, add oil if needed, then put back in at 400 degrees for another 10 minutes.
Chop the broccoli heads into little pieces. Put on foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle with avocado oil and sprinkle with some black pepper. Put into the oven. Set timer for 10 minutes.
Turn on the frying pan (keep checking the ground turkey in the dutch oven, probably add the kale now) and put a little bit of coconut oil in it. Slice the steak into strips and put on the frying pan. I used onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and some chili powder. Cook it through.
Likely broccoli will beep now- stir it around and put back in another 10 minutes.
Check the sweet potatoes. They are probably done. Do another 5 minute round if they need more time.
Take the steak off when done. Chop up the second bunch of kale. Sautee in the leftover steak juices.
Start filling food containers with portions of sweet potato wedges & kale & chicken thigh, sweet potato wedges & broccoli & Steak strips, and the other containers will be servings of the turkey/butternut squash/kale mixture.
Like I said- there are a lot of moving parts but if you keep track of the cooking times, set more than one timer, and have enough containers to just start filling as the food is completed you should come out with some nice meals for the week. They are all paleo compliant and everything except the chicken thighs (because of the honey) are Whole 30 compliant. They are all auto-immune paleo compliant also.
My sons call my smoothies by color- my favorite smoothie is the “brown smoothie” but Declan is partial to my green and my pink smoothies also.
1 or 2 bananas
kale fresh about a cup or a cup of spinach leaves
1 tbsp nut butter (peanut or almond are my go-to’s)
dash of cinnamon
3 ice cubes
unsweetened almond milk to desired consistency
This is also one of my staples. Key here: if using kale let it blend a long time to get the chunks out! kale smoothies can be smooth you just have to blend them longer and make sure there’s enough almond milk. I make sure the liquid line is at or above the food line. The dash of cinnamon makes it delicious. If I have frozen avocado on hand I’ll use that or frozen peaches instead of the ice cubes.
Very versatile, light, yet filling.
People always ask me about protein powder. I don’t use it. I don’t like it. I think it’s too expensive. I’d rather get my protein from my food sources than a powder. I drink this a lot during the Summer by the pool for breakfast.
Very versatile- add whatever veggies you have in the refrigerator.
To be WHOLE 30 compliant- no sugar added to crushed tomatoes (read the can) and bone stock instead of boxed chicken broth.
I used 6-7 chicken thighs, you can use anywhere from 4-8 depending how much soup you want
some coconut oil or EVOO
1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup to 1 cup water
1 sweet potato peeled and diced
1 bell pepper diced
1 small/medium onion peeled and diced
1 small bunch kale or greens of choice (spinach)
1 container broth/stock of choice (I used low sodium chicken broth)
1 tbsp finely chopped green chiles (less or more depending on the flavor you want)
1/2 or 1 tsp dried garlic or 3 fresh cloves minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash red hot pepper
I love soups. You can do this in a slow cooker- low setting for 6 hours.
I just used my big soup pot. Cooked the chicken thighs first mostly through they were a little raw still inside- in a dutch oven in 325 for an hour (mine were frozen though so raw would take less time).
Add the crushed tomato, all the spices, and the broth. Pop the cover on and walk away. Bring it to a boil, then simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Cut up all the kale and add it on top. Stir it in. Depends how crispy you want the kale. I turn my heat to low to let it sit for 10 minutes then I turn it off. But I like it mushy. If you want it crispy turn the heat off sooner.
This soup is amazing. You can add cilantro and a slice of avocado on top if desired. You can add black beans or chickpeas instead of the chicken for a vegan option with veggie stock instead of bone broth or chicken broth. It’s reminiscent of chicken tortilla soup minus the tortillas.
If you are following Whole 30 they don’t like smoothies…it is compliant without the peanut butter and unsweetened cocoa though. It is paleo compliant with compliant unsweetened cocoa.
2 bananas
1 avocado (I keep a stock frozen- yes messy and time consuming, worth it to always have them on hand though)
1 tbsp of peanut butter or almond butter
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
If I have it I use PLAIN greek yogurt if I’m dairy free I don’t use it- I have used plain almond milk yogurt too.
Frozen strawberries and/or peaches and/or desired frozen fruit (No sugar added)
Unsweetened almond milk to desired thickness
I usually fill up my blender with all the stuff. Then pour the almond milk until it’s just above the top level of the food. Then I blend until it’s done. I fill up a nalgene bottle with this and have it for lunch at work. If I’m hardcore fasting I’ll have it after 11 AM, and a second one before 7 PM and that’s it for the day with maybe some soup.
My kids and three of their friends devoured these tonight. Four year olds are a tough audience. They had no idea they were gluten free.
Lesbehon...est 