Happy Thanksgiving! And Mom's Paleo Sweet Potato Pie

We were all sick for Thanksgiving, but I did manage to whip out a delicious pie the night before. Turkey, Green Bean casserole, oven roasted sweet potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, cranberry sauce, and little rice muffins was our fabulous menu. Dessert was Mom's paleo sweet potato pie (recipe follows) and a not so paleo chocolate pie, courtesy of  Martha Stewart, found here:
 http://www.styleathome.com/food-and-entertaining/recipes/recipe-martha-stewart-s-crisp-coconut-and-chocolate-pie/a/34855?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sah_bb_110929.
 I used unsweet coconut flakes instead of sweetened, and it was really really rich. I really thought it would taste heavenly... I was not impressed :(

I prepped everything the day/night before, even though I was dealing with a puking baby and a bellyache. The Huz took over Thanksgiving day and cooked everything up for us. Neither of the kids ate, in fact the baby started fussing so I pulled him onto my lap to comfort him, and he puked on my plate.

Without further ado: Mom's Paleo Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup pecans;
1/2 walnuts
4 tbsp butter, ghee or coconut oil (room temperature)
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of sea salt;

Filling:
1 about 1 3/4 cups) pureed sweet potato
2 eggs;
1/2 cup local raw honey;
1/2 cup coconut milk;
2 tsp cinnamon;
1/4 tsp ground cloves;
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Process:
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Process the nuts in a food processor to almost a flower consistency. Be careful not to process too much and get a butter instead.
In a bowl, mix the ground nuts with the butter or coconut oil, sea salt, maple syrup and vanilla, and then spread the crust mixture in a pie pan and flatten with your hand. Bake for 10 minutes.
While the crust bakes, mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl.
Add the filling evenly on the baked crust and bake for an additional 45 minutes.

Paleo Beef Stew

Paleo Beef Stew

2 pounds flank steak
2 tablespoons oil
4 medium carrots, cut in 1-inch slices
1 medium onion, cut in chunks
4 medium sweet potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 cup beef broth
2 cups boiling water
3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper

Cut steak into cubes; brown in heavy skillet in hot oil, then transfer to crock pot. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, beef broth, boiling water, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours. Add peas, and continue cooking another hour.

Serves 4-6

porcupine meatballs over creamy mashed cauliflower

~The Sauce ~
ingredients
1 (14 ounce) canned chopped tomatoes, with juices
1/4 cup extra Virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 stalk celery, diced,
1 small carrot, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup heavy cream, optional
~Meatballs~
ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1 cup white rice
1 egg scrambled lightly
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon oregano

directions

in a deep pot, heat oil over medium heat. add the celery, carrot, onion, and garlic, and cook until softened, about 10 min. While those are cooking, start working on the meatballs- in a large mixing bowl, crumble ground beef. add rice, egg, rosemary, and oregano, mix with your hands just enough to incorporate the ingredients together. form 1-1 1/2" meatballs, and set aside.  add  chopped canned tomatoes and juice,  chicken broth, and butter to the pot. Simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add basil and cream, if using. Puree, either with an immersion blender or in a seperate blender (and return to pot). Add meatballs and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes, or until meatballs are done. Serve over Creamy Mashed Cauliflower, recipe follows.

creamy mashed cauliflower

~ingredients~

1 head cauliflower. greens removed
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk or buttermilk
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons butter or to taste
salt and pepper to taste

directions

Wash and cut the cauliflower into more or less even pieces. in a 2 qt saucepan, pour milk, water, and broth. bring to boil over med-high heat. add cauliflower, lower heat, and simmer 5-1o minutes, until softened. Drain cauliflower, reserving the liquids. Puree cauliflower and butter in a food processor until smooth. Add enough of the reserved liquids until it reaches desired consisency.

Chicken Salad

Ingredients:
2 thighs, chopped
1/2 celery, diced
2 Tbsp onion, diced
1/2 apple, diced
1 FrogRanch all natural peppered pickle, diced (optional)
1 hard boiled egg, diced
2 tsp raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp dill weed
1/3 c mayo
Salt & pepper to taste
Preparation:
In a bowl, combine the chicken, onion, celery, apple, and egg; toss to blend. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Pile onto romaine lettuce, and enjoy! 

Easy Marinara Sauce

Ingredients
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoons onion powder
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
8 oz sliced mushrooms

Place all ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. 

Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes, drained
1/3 head of cauliflower
1  carrot
1/2 an onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 egg
2 Tbsp coconut flour
Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350'. In a food processor, shred your carrot and rice your cauliflower. Squeeze out excess liquids with a cheesecloth. In a medium bowl, break up your ground beef, and add the shredded veggies,tomatoes, onion, garlic, egg and coconut flour. Mix well, and shape into 1" balls, squeezing tightly to get any excess liquids out. Place 1-2" apart on a greased cookie sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve with marinara sauce (next recipe!) 

My journey to primal

Welcome to my foodie weirdness. I was going to use this thing to keep my journey typed out, but honestly, I don't have time to do a daily post. A weekly update might work... But if my other blog is any indication of that... We shall see. I will, however, explain my reasoning for the lifestyle switch. My kids have some kind of reaction to a food source. Whatever it is, they break out in extreme eczema all over their little bodies. Sometimes it bleeds, mostly its just itchy and unpleasant. We don't use chemicals in our house, so rubbing them down with a steroid cream doesn't work for us. Especially since the rash is your body's way of signaling something is wrong. Mask the symptoms, it will next appear in a harsher spot, to try to signal there's something wrong. The usual next place a food reaction will try to go is the lungs, in the form of asthma. I am trying to heal the body from within by eliminating the usual suspects: grains, gluten, pasteurized dairy, and processed chemical laden crap. Between reading the GAPS book, and Primal Blueprint, and taking what works for us out of it, I am slowly healing my children. Bug hasn't had an eczemic rash since starting this food journey, except in the second week, when I gave him... BREAD! He also had half a slice of bread this week, and lo and behold, he has eczema across his bottom today. Little is having an allergic reaction to something other than bread. Not sure what... Thinking dairy will be going for me (breastfeeding) and him next. If that doesn't work, we'll eliminate something else. Mostly, though, this blog is for posting up my "primalized" versions of my favorite recipes.

Without further ado... Here we go. Enjoy!