Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars

Some friends had us over for dinner and I brought the dessert.

Paleo pumpkin pie bars...

No refined sugars, grains, or milk dairy.

They loved them!

From PaleoOMG

For the crust

• 6 dates, pits removed
• 1 cup almond butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. First we will make the crust. Add your dates and almond butter to a food processor and pulse until it breaks down together.
3. Then add your 2 eggs, honey, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt and puree until smooth.
4. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish with some coconut oil and pour in your crush. Use a spoon to smooth off the surface and level out all over.
5. Place in oven to bake for 12-15 minutes or until crust is firm and cooked through when you poke it with a toothpick. Then let cool.
   
   

While the crust is baking start the filling...

From Paleo Newbie

• Pumpkin Pie Filling:
• (1) 15 oz can of pure pumpkin (not pie filling) –or– 1 3/4 cups of pumpkin purée
• 1/3 cup of Medjool dates (pulsed in a food processor or puréed)
• 1/3 cup of raw honey
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk, full fat
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla
• 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Start pie filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk all the filling ingredients together
2. Cook over medium heat, until filling starts to bubble - then cook for 1 minute more
3. Remove from heat, and pour over cooled pie crust layer
4. Refrigerate 2 hours before serving
5. Keep refrigerated except to serve
   
   

Then top it with coconut whip cream. Yum!

Coconut Whip Cream:

1. The most important thing to do is put a can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge overnight.

2. All the fat will solidify at the top of the can.

3. To open the can turn it upside down where the cream isn't sitting, heavy side on bottom and then open it up with a can opener.

4. Pour out coconut water into another container to save if you want.

5. Scrap out the cream into a mixing bowl.

6. Add some kind of sweetener...white sugar, powdered sugar, maple syrup, honey, agave, etc.

7. Beat/whip it together with a mixer.

8. Taste taste and sweeten to your liking.

Enjoy!

Yummy Sunny Granola!

A few good reasons to make your own granola...

Homemade kind tastes so yummy.

It's quick & easy to make.

Your kitchen will smell so good. 

My kids love granola with their breakfast or snack. It's easy for them to toss it in some oatmeal, cereal, yogurt, fruit, etc.

Recipe found here.

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup nuts or seeds of your choice (a mix of sliced almonds and sunflower seeds is pictured above)
5 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup pure maple syrup (or half honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt
1 cup dried fruit of your choice

*I added a little bit of cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut flakes, nuts or seeds, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Stir well until everything is evenly coated. Spread evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir the oat mixture. Return it back to the oven for another 12 minutes. It should be golden brown, but keep an eye on it because it can go from perfect to burnt very quickly.
2. Remove from the oven and press the granola evenly with a spatula. Let cool and then add the dried fruit. Allow the granola to cool completely before storing in airtight containers. It can be stored at room temperature. 

Here is another way I like to make granola...

Roasted and Toasted Kine:

• 3 cups organic rolled oats
• 1 cup nuts (I like almonds and pecans)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup organic maple syrup
• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 3/4 tsp sea salt (if you use table salt use less)
• 1 cup shredded coconut flakes
• 1 cup dried fruit
• 1 tsp cinnamon (even add nutmeg, cloves, &/or ginger :)

Directions:

• Normally you'd set oven at 300 deg., but for roasted and toasted kine set to 350deg.  
• Put everything in a large enough bowl and mix it all together.
• Spread it out on a baking sheet.
• Bake for 30-45mins, stirring around at 15-20mins and checking to see IF IT NEEDS LESS TIME.
• And ENJOY the aroma :)

*I accidentally set the oven for 350deg and baked for 45 mins. It almost started burning and came out quite roasted and toasted, thus the name. (However, my oven I am finding bakes at a lower heat I think.) Family and friends said it was super good and my boys keep asking for more. Thank goodness!

*Most granola recipes use less salt, but the sea salt or kosher salt really helps bring out the flavors. However, like I said if you are using regular table iodized salt use less or else it will come out too salty, unless you like it that salty. You can also add the dried fruit after it's done cooking. I have done it that way too.

***MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW YOUR OVEN COOKS BEFORE BAKING IT TOO LONG AND BURNING IT. JUST WATCH IT!

Enjoy :)

Homemade Almond Butter :)

 I pulled my almonds out of the refrigerator and put them in my Vita-mix to make my own almond butter. Almond Butter at the health food store can be expensive! Depending on where you live it will range from $11-$30 for a 16oz jar. So, I will resort to my trusty blender and these the awesome health benefits of almonds...

The Ultimate Granola & Sugar

 This recipe is from Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood pg.18.

Ingredients: Organic oatmeal, quinoa, flaxseed, sesame seeds, almonds, raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup.

A box of organic granola between $7-7.50 at Costco will fill up this whole container. I made 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal and 3 C of organic oatmeal in bulk costs $1.50, so my container (some already eaten) of homemade organic oatmeal costs just a few dollars.  I am also trying to avoid all types of cane sugar and organic products always have evaporated cane sugar (which seems to be just as bad as white sugar, minus the chemicals and pesticides.)

***All sugars are metabolized differently in the body and will effect us in very different ways. Our bodies need sugar for energy and for our cells and organs to function properly (like our muscles and brain.) We just have to make sure that we are getting sugar from the right sources! It's best to get it from whole foods...fruits, veggies, and grains. Our bodies know how to process these properly and retrieve and use the nutrients so that our bodies benefit from it. 

Continuously feeding your body processed refined sugar is very harmful to your body because essentially it is foreign to the body, there is no nutrients, it's toxic. Toxic because it can cause diseases e.g. heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc. Sugar's in whole fruit form have all the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and fiber to protect our bodies from immediately ingesting sugar. During digestion it all gets metabolized and broken down, separated, and absorbed into the body gradually, so that our cells and organs get the right amounts of everything. On the other hand when sugar has been processed and refined it gets directly absorbed into the bloodstream and with no protection from vital nutrients in digestion and once in the liver it is metabolized and becomes an extreme burden on your liver and eventually other organs. These organs become more fatty and slow and stop working at full capacity, eventually affecting the whole body. Not only this, but refined sugar in high amounts leads to gaining weight, could be a lot of weight! Your metabolism is tricked and tells your brain that it's not full, "it turns off your body's appetite-control system"...the unhealthy, high doses, toxic sugar turns right into fat. Not good!

All sweeteners/sugars found in unhealthy processed food are so bad for the body! In the end they will only make the body gain weight and cause the body to be much more susceptible to diseases.

All of this information is very general and may not be entirely accurate (I'm still learning), but all in all it's so important to get sugars from the right sources!!! 

  

Blueberry Oatmeal

Our favorite oatmeal mix for the week.