Digging Some Figs?

Soooo I tried these out a long time ago, maybe a couple months ago. And I will confess...they are still in my freezer. Do I dig figs? Not really. They're kind of weird. I've never had them before I made these and I thought "hey these might be like the crack bars I make with dates!" They are not. However, if you like figs I bet you'll like these, so I thought I'd put them up here anyway. They were one of the first things I tried from "The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook" which you can purchase here: The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook

It's a beautiful book and I have tried other things in it which were a success, so don't let this post deter you from buying it. I highly recommend it and it has some great tips for dealing with an autoimmune disease.

These Fig Energy Bites are very simple to make and you probably have all of the ingredients, or can easily purchase them at any grocery store wherever you live. I'd say they take about 5 minutes to prep before you have to put them in the fridge. So toss 2 cups dried figs,1.5 cups of shredded coconut, 1/3 melted coconut oil, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt into a food processor. Pulse on and off until a thick paste forms, scraping the sides of the bowl between pulses.

Once you've mushed it all together roll 1-inch balls into the 1/2 cups of shredded coconut you have left over. This will create about 16 bites which are easy to pack and take with you wherever you go, though they will lose their form if you squish them when they're warm...obviously. Toss them into the fridge or freezer and they'll be ready to eat in about 30 minutes or until the coconut oil has set.

Perhaps the reason I didn't find them as enjoyable as I thought I might was due to the fact I froze them. Try these little bites out and let me know how much you enjoy them!

Fig Energy Bites

2 Cups Unsulphured Dried Figs

2 Cups Fine Shredded Coconut, divided (unsweetened)

1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, melted

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Pinch of Sea Salt

1. Place the figs, 1 1/2 Cups of the shredded coconut, coconut oil, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse on and off until a thick paste forms, scraping the sides between pulses.

2. Form into 1-inch balls, then roll them in the reserved 1/2 cup of shredded coconut.

3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the coconut oil set.

((Apparently you can experiment and make these with any dried fruits, such as dates, dried apples, or apricots as a substitute for the figs))

Easy Chicken Avocado Salad

Hello again!

I know it's been quite some time since I've posted on here (my mothers been asking about whether I'm cooking at all or not). I have been cooking! I just haven't had any time to upload any recipes or photos in the last month because of the end of my courses and the work that followed. Now I've all the time in the world to upload and post (besides working on my thesis), so back to being a foodie I go!

I have a few meals I made last month that I want to post, but this one is definitely my favorite that I've discovered over the past month. I don't have any pictures for the homemade vegan mayo I've experimented with (and love), but wait for that post soon to come! I'm all out so sometime this week I'll be making more because I'm bound to make this salad again (it's become a weekly meal). The thing I love about it is, it's so simple and versatile. You can add whichever veggies you want to it and it still tastes amazing.

The recipe comes from: http://paleomg.com/clean-it-up-mondays-chicken-avocado-salad/
First off you want to get some nice skinless chicken breast. I've found numerous organic and grass fed chicken in different stores for varying prices. My favorite (though absurdly expensive) is from Whole Foods, but it can cost from $11-$15 a chicken breast. However, they turn out to be massive, so one will do you for a couple of meals. You can find cheaper at other stores though so look around!
Preheat the oven to 375 and season the chicken with pepper, salt and cayenne pepper (as much or as little as you want). Then stick them in the oven for 20-25 minutes so that they come out cooked and not pink in the center.

While they're cooking, chop up some avocados (the recipe calls for one, but I like to put in more, usually two) and toss the cubes into a salad bowl. Next pick another vegetable, maybe celery, peppers, bok choy (yes you can eat it raw!), spinach, kale, or whatever else you can think of! For a very fresh, summery tasting salad I'll put in celery, peppers, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Add those to your salad bowl.

Next you'll want to put some herbs and spices into the salad to really liven it up. I love dill, so whether you have dill weed or fresh dill, chop some up and put it in. It adds such a fresh taste, along with paprika, fresh lemon juice, and garlic powder (again fresh garlic might be nice too!). You can follow along with the measurements from the recipe, or just season it to how you like it. Experiment with it!

Once the chicken is cooked, put it in the fridge to cool it down. This will probably take 20-30 minutes. Maybe you could put it in the freezer, but be careful not to freeze it. Once cooled, cut it up and put it into the salad bowl with all the veggies. Lastly, add a scoop of homemade vegan mayo (or any mayo you find suitable) and stir it all together. Ta da! You have the most amazing and simple salad out there. It'll keep in the fridge for a few days, though it might look a bit brown due to the avocados oxidizing (I've found the lemon helps a bit with this, though I'm not a huge fan of a strong lemon taste). 

For the chicken salad

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken
• 3 tablespoons fat of choice (I used duck fat)
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 avocado, skin removed, cubed
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh dill, minced
• juice of ½ a lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place chicken in a glass baking dish, pour some fat over each chicken breast, and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
3. Put in preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Then place the chicken in the refrigerator to help cool for a refreshing chicken salad.
4. Dice up the now cooled chicken into ½-1 inch cubes.
5. To a large bowl, add the cooked and cooled chicken, cubed avocado, fresh herbs, all the mayo, lemon juice, and a bit of salt and pepper. Taste to see if it needs more of anything.
6. Wrap the chicken salad in some butter lettuce leaves OR just eat it by itself. Whatever you want to do.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Alas, another recipe to post about! I'm sorry I've disappeared for a few days, but such is the life of a graduate student. I didn't expect all of my classes to go their full 3 hours, but now that things are back in motion and we're having to play catch-up I guess I shouldn't expect anything but 3 hour classes.

Picking up a food processor on my way home I found I had little space to carry things and my stomach had little patience to walk around a grocery store staring at food. So, determined to get home before 7:00 I dashed into a grocery store, picked up mushrooms and sundried tomatoes in oil.

The following recipe was something I'd made before from one of my favorite recipe books, The Complete Coconut Cookbook, by Camilla V. Saulsbury. She also runs the blog powerhungry.com, so check it out. The first time I'd made this I didn't have the right sundried tomatoes and found that the recipe didn't turn out so great. I was determined to improve though with the knowledge I had from the first go around. Once again, I didn't have the same ingredients the recipe calls for, but how different could white stuffer mushrooms be compared to portobello mushrooms?

Rubbing some coconut oil and balsamic vinegar over these babies I popped them into an oven which was preheated to 400. Meanwhile, I poured 1/2 cup of water into a bowl with 2 tablespoons of coconut flour and let it sit to make a goop which I will comment upon later. Throwing a pan on the stove I turned it onto medium heat and let some coconut oil melt. Now the recipe calls for 6 cups of packed baby spinach, but both times I've made it with baby spinach that I've just thrown into the pan and let wilt, not tearing it. Also, the amount of stuffing this recipe makes seems a bit excessive for the four mushrooms you stuff. If you plan on following the exact recipe along with measurements then maybe add another mushroom to stuff so you're not wasting the leftover stuffing.

Originally the recipe calls for you to cut the stems off the mushrooms and clean out the gills, but I forgot to save the stems this time. So instead of tossing the spinach with the stems, I threw in a few other cut up mushrooms I had in the fridge. Once your spinach is wilted add the goop, 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast, 3 tbsp of chopped sun-dried tomatoes from a package of oil and if you like black olives, 3 tbsp of those chopped up. I switched out the olives for more tomatoes and it was delicious. Now while you're doing this, don't forget about your mushrooms in the oven which are probably brown and a bit cooked by now!

Next you want to let the flavours all meld together in low-medium heat. I added in a bit of garlic powder because I love garlic and it's part of the diet I follow, as well as salt and pepper. Flip those mushroom beauties over and spoon in a bit of the stuffing into each mushroom cap. I filled my generously because I had a ton of stuffing and didn't want to waste any. Feel free to put in as much or as little as you want.

Once you've finished this, put them back in the oven for about 5-7 minutes. I'm pretty sure I left mine in a bit longer because I got caught up on the phone, but I figure with these thick mushroom caps that was okay. And it was! I pulled these out of the oven 10 mins later and they looked amazing. 

Let them sit a bit in the pan so that they can set and aren't going to fall apart when you pick them up with tongs (which I find is the best way to pick these babies up). Feel free to eat as many as you want too! They're filled with nutritious ingredients! I ate 3 and was full, saving the other one for tomorrow which I'll heat up in the oven (I've never tried this so I'll update you on how this works). 

The only downfall to this recipe is the texture of the stuffing. Remember how I called the coconut flour and water mixture goop? Well it kind of is. I get that maybe Camilla is attempting to create the texture of cheese, or is using this as a thickener for the juices that come out of the spinach, tomatoes and mushroom, but it is a very odd texture to get used to. I'm still not a fan, however I think with time and more exposure I will begin to enjoy it just as I've become accustomed to the taste of coconut in everything I eat (it's actually one of my favorite foods now!). 

If anything, these make for a beautiful looking meal. Serve them for supper or as a side. And as I said, stuff them as full or as little as you'd like :)

Recipe

• Preheat Oven to 500 F (260 C) (personally I use 400 F, 500 seems a bit extreme)
• Large rimmed baking sheet, lined with foil and greased with coconut oil

4               Extra-large portobello mushrooms

2 TBSP    Melted virgin coconut oil, divided

2 tsp         Balsamic vinegar

2 TBSP    Coconut flour

1/2 cup    Coconut water or water

6 cups      Packed baby spinach, roughly torn

2 TBSP    Nutritional yeast

3 TBSP    Chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes

3 TBSP    Chopped pitted brine-cured black olives (optional)

                Salt & Pepper (and other spices you find yummy)

1.  Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop stems and set aside. Gently scoop out black gills of mushroom with a spoon and discard. Place the mushroom caps, hollow side down, on prepared baking sheet. Brush 1 TBSP oil and the vinegar over tops of mushrooms. Bake in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until tender. 
2.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine coconut flour and coconut water or water; let stand for 5 minutes.
3. In a large skillet, heat the remaining oil over low heat. Add spinach and mushroom stems, increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes or until wilted. Add coconut flour mixture, nutritional yeast, sun-dried tomatoes and olives; cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes to heat through and blend the flavours. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Turn mushrooms over on baking sheet and fill caps with spinach mixture. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until filling is golden brown.
5. Enjoy!

*Note: This recipe does not belong to me, nor did I create this recipe. See Camilla V. Saulsbury's book The Complete Coconut Cookbook for the original recipe.

Lemon Detox

I apologize that I did not put up the recipe for the horrendous detox as promised in my last post. One must be spontaneous at times and join in fun when it presents itself! However, the week has begun once again and I knew I needed to restart my routine somewhere. So as soon as I came home I pulled out the lemons from the fridge to let them warm up a bit so I might get better juice out of them.

The short story behind this detox is basically the result of my skin reacting to big city life after moving from living near the ocean for the past three years. I've never had problems with acne or breaking out (a considerable amount, I mean we all get little breakouts sometimes), but for some odd reason my skin hates this city (as does my hair, but that's another story). Expressing my troubles to my mother had her telling me to call my grandmother for an old recipe that they both used. Grandma was happy to oblige, digging out the recipe and handing it over the phone, my face cringing as she read off each ingredient. All I can say is good luck!

If you haven't been turned off yet, give it another paragraph. The recipe calls for the juice of five lemons. If you buy the lemons ahead of time and don't plan to use them right away, put them in the fridge to preserve them. They don't do great outside the fridge for long periods of time. When you are ready to use them, take them out and roll them on the counter to soften them up and release a bit of the juices inside before you cut them open. Cut them in half and squeeze the juice out of them. I don't have one of those hand juicers (though they'd probably be useful in this instance) and I'm not about to pull out the large juicer we have just to juice some lemons for this. I find I usually can get about 1 cup of lemon juice from the five of them, but if you can get more that's great! I squeeze the juice right into a liquid measuring cup so that I can keep track of how much liquid I need.

Once you've squeezed all five lemons, pour the liquid into a large bowl. Next you'll want to pull out the cream of tartar from the cupboard and throw in 1/2 TSP. (You think it's gross now, just wait) Next comes 3 TBSP of Epsom Salts. Now an important note about Epsom Salts or Magnesium Sulfate is commonly found in the bath section for soaking in. However! You need to make sure that the Epsom Salts say they are okay for oral use. Do not get lavender scented Epsom Salts and expect not to get sick, because I imagine you would. You'd think this is an easy find, but I found it quite a bit more difficult than imagined. I resorted to ordering a bottle online for a relatively cheap price and recommend that either you do this (because it will tell you online that they're safe for oral use), or ask your pharmacist about the ones in the store. Also, Epsom Salts are a laxative...so you need to pay attention to the amount I specify to drink each day or else you're going to have some issues. Below is a picture of the ones I use.

Once you have all these ingredients together, boil some water and measure out a cup. Pour this into the mixture and stir until everything has dissolved. If you find that 1 cup isn't enough, add another cup.

Lastly, add 1-2 cups of cold water to make a full quart (4 cups). So if you only put 1 cup of hot water in, add 2 cups of cold water. If you added 2 cups of hot water, add 1 cup of cold water. Stir this all together and pour into a resealable container (I use water bottles).

Now, every day you're going to drink 3-4 ounces of this. If you find the Epsom Salts bother your system, drink less. Start out with 1-2 ounces and up it if you can handle it after a while. You'll finish the batch within a couple of weeks and then you'll need to make another batch. Grandma told me to expect results in 1-3 months, so be patient. I'm on my second batch and I'm not sure how much it has been helping, but there is a difference in my skin. Whether it's this or the spring weather is hard to tell. Give it a shot though and let me know how it all works out for you!

Recipe

Juice of 5 lemons

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

3 TBSP Epsom Salts

Combine ingredients in large bowl. Add hot water to mixture and stir until all ingredients are dissolved. Add enough cold water to make a quart (4 cups). Store in fridge.

Drink 3-4 ounces daily.

Try 3-4 batches for results.*

*This is a "permanent" solution apparently. After talking with my grandmother she informed me you do not have to keep doing this daily after 3-4 months.

Good Luck!!! I'll keep y'all updated.

Cheers!

V

Saturday Pancakes

Sometimes I like to treat myself to a recipe filled with eggs. As part of the modified diet I follow I attempt to stay away from eggs. Dr. Terry Wahls explains that many people have an insensitivity to eggs and just don't know it until they try taking eggs out of their diet for a month completely and then eat 3-4 eggs a day and see if you have any increase in symptoms or noticeable reactions. Perhaps I'll try this in the summer when I'm not rushing between home and the university.

Pancakes were on the menu for today, as was sleeping in. Alas, waking up at 6:00 the past three weeks has taken its toll and I now only sleep in till 8:00. Fortunately I've adjusted well and found I wasn't tired at all. Getting up I headed to the kitchen and began to pull things out from the cupboards to begin baking. I'd found this recipe at http://ditchthewheat.com/coconut-flour-pancakes/ yesterday on my way home and decided to give it a try as I've attempted wheatless pancakes on numerous occasions and most have failed.

Following the recipe, I melted my coconut butter a bit to make it softer and easier to whisk before whisking it with the honey. Satisfied with the creamy result, I added the eggs one by one and was slightly unhappy that the coldness of the eggs cause the coconut oil to harden and create lumps in the batter.

I pressed on anyways, adding the rest of the ingredients as stated and found the batter less lumpy once I'd stirred it more. Throwing batter into the hot pan I waited impatiently and watched as these pancakes began to puff up. Out of the five I made I added chocolate chips to three of them when I put them on the pan. 

Now I need to let you know that if you're expecting fluffy, nommy tasting pancakes like you used to have growing up, this is not the recipe, nor are any paleo pancake recipes I've tried. Yes they puff up and the picture does do them justice as they were quite good. However, you'll find that you have to get used to coconut flour texture and the egginess of paleo recipes (if you're including eggs). I've done quite a bit of baking now using different flours (almond, coconut, chickpea, etc.) and every one has a different texture, none the same as wheat. But trust me, you'll find something you enjoy and it'll work for you. I used to hate almond flour, but have learned how it reacts and how to use it properly.

The end result deserves a 3.5-4/5 if you were to ask for my honest opinion. They were pretty good, but the texture wasn't right (and I may just need to get used to it too), but I've made other pancakes which were better. However, give it a try! It's the most simple and quickest recipe I've used for pancakes and made 5 medium sized pancakes. Add a little maple syrup over them and a cup of coffee and your Saturday is off to a good start!

Cheers.

V

Spring Stew

The calendar says spring, but today it felt more like fall. The wind was cold and rosy cheeks filled the majority of my morning. Gloomy skies and warming hands by the fire had me thinking about warm dishes to warm my soul once I returned home with smoke clinging to my hair and clothes. I hate these moments where I have the time and urge to cook, but don't have any recipes on me. Luckily we have data on our cellphones and there's a plethora of food blogs online.

I stumbled across http://paleoleap.com/ (and don't worry I've modified that link so you can click it and this blog will stay in one page while that webpage opens in a new window...technology these days), a wonderful site explaining what exactly the paleo diet is. If you're interested in exploring it further I suggest checking it out. It's a great place to start out and a great place to become informed on what this diet I follow exactly contains. I will mention here that I do follow a modified paleo diet, so there are a few more restrictions for myself and a few food items I include in my diet that necessarily aren't included in the traditional paleo diets.

Now let me inform you...I have a deep love for stews. A thick, warm, meaty stew is absolutely glorious at warming the soul, something I needed today. However, I find I don't make enough stews because I hate grocery shopping and always think I have to buy so many ingredients. What I must remember though is that stew is a great way to use up any vegetables that you have lying around! As I've been buying everything fresh as I use it since I'm out every day and have the time to stop at the grocery store on the way home, I had to buy most of the ingredients fresh, but it wasn't so bad!

The recipe can be found here, http://paleoleap.com/hearty-beef-stew/. I followed it for the most part, but again I must confess that I fail badly at using the same measurements as recipes do. They suggest it makes 4 servings, but I have plenty for 5-6 people. I bought a bunch of carrots (not like a bunch as in quite a number of carrots, 5, 6...a bunch as in a group of organic carrots tied together. I believe there were...6 small-medium carrots) and did not peel them, but washed and cut them up instead. I kept the tops of the carrots (the leafy greens) because guess what! Carrot tops are great for you! They're filled with calcium, potassium and vitamin C. You can juice them too and use it as a mouthwash. Check out other uses at http://www.thekitchn.com/5-ways-to-eat-carrot-tops-183415.

I used about five stalks of celery and a whole sweet onion. Tossing the vegetables in coconut oil, I added a potato as I sometimes eat these for a filler, though I try my best to avoid potatoes. While these were cooking on low-medium heat I began to brown my meat, something they do not mention in the recipe, but I recommend it. In fact I was reading about this before, a good trick for extra flavor is browning the meat in the pot you're using for the stew so that the juices of the meat and caramelized pieces which you can scrape off the bottom of the pan add lots of flavor. I shall attempt this next time I make this stew.

Once everything had browned I threw it all into the pot, opened the can of tomatoes and dumped them in, added beef stock and broth and a package of sliced mushrooms. A few dashes of rosemary and thyme with a sprinkle of salt and pepper were the finishing touches. Putting the lid on, I let it simmer for an hour, stirring every 15-20 minutes and waited in anticipation.

At the hour mark I took the lid off, gave it one last stir before leaving the lid off and letting it simmer another 45 minutes. Now I would be more careful with this next time. I found that the vegetables cooked too much, and perhaps I cut them too small, but one should keep an eye on how tender they want their vegetables. Mine weren't horrible, but they were on the verge of melting into mush in your mouth.

When I came back to the stove top my roommate had wandered home and informed me that I'd made our entire hallway outside our apartment smell delicious. Too bad she's a vegan, but kind of good for me as there's more leftovers of this delicious stew. Now I did mention that I liked a thick stew, and this is far from it. Because it doesn't really have any thickener in it (not sure if I missed this or messed it up somewhere) I found it quite liquidy. But that is okay! Because this is a spring stew. It is now officially spring. And the taste makes up for the lack of viscosity.

I worried that the meat would be tough and hard to chew when I browned it as it looked a bit fatty. However it melted in my mouth. I nearly swooned as I took the first bite of it and had to express my satisfaction of the tenderness to my non-meat-eating roommate. This recipe deserves a five out of five...pretty good for the first time I've made a stew in the new pot I purchased yesterday!
Tomorrow expect an interesting post on a remedy my grandmother has passed down to clear skin! It's absolutely terrible, but I had to try it to see if it works and am now making a second batch out of a total of three that she advises I drink.
Cheers!
V

What's This All About?

Another food blog? Just what the world needs.
However, I write as a typical Canadian walking the streets of the largest city in Canada. I'm not going to preach at you and tell you what diet is best and what it'll do for you, though I will add some of the benefits I've experienced. I'm not going to post amazing new recipes that I came up on my own with (because I'm secretly a horrible cook). What I am going to post is the recipes I've tested and tried, the experiences I've had following a modified paleo diet, as well as some pictures of what creations come from my kitchen.
Three months ago I lay in bed and wondered if I could change my life. I wondered if I could actually follow a paleo diet and see how it affected my deteriorating health. My motto used to be "you only live once so you'd best enjoy it" every time someone told me to try a diet to fight the pain in my joints. However, I eventually realized that I wasn't enjoying the life I lived and if food could help me gain a better life what was holding me back? My love for cheese? For carbs? No, not even those could hold me back.
Three months later and I'm feeling the positive effects good, healthy, wholesome food can have on your body. You don't think you have issues until you try better eating. I promise you, it's true. A salad over fries can do wonders for you in a day. It's not easy. I've had days I've made exceptions.
I've opened up a new book, a new journey down the road to becoming a foodie and I absolutely love it. Baking was my niche, now cooking is replacing that. What I hope to do is to expand the paleo world and combine my love of baking with new guidelines and ingredients. I ask you to follow along as I dive head first into this new realm of cooking and exploring new recipes.
Welcome to Dine with Dinos.