I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedily deedily.

Coconut butter is the latest obsession to hit the hodge house. With my roommate and I back on the paleo bandwagon, treat time is needing more and more creativity.

I saw a recipe for coconut butter a while ago and was admittedly super curious.  On a success trip, after my sunbutter recipe, I decided to give it a go.

See its stupidly easy. So I can't even really call it a recipe....

Get yourself some unsweetened coconut flakes. Blend the shit out of it in a vitamix or food processor (about ten minutes). You're done when it has the consistency of... you guessed it.... butter. 

But what the hell do you do with coconut butter, now that you've endured the whirrrrrr of the blender for ten plus minutes?

I let it sit in my fridge for two weeks.

And then today. I was inspired!

Coconut butter stuffed dates.

How could I go wrong with this idea?

So I snagged the tub of coconutty goodness out of the fridge, nuked it for a few minutes to soften it up, split some dried dates down the middle and then globbed a spoonful of coconut butter in the middle of said date And then reveled in coconut heaven. Obviously I had to share with my roommate. And of course, she had the idea to make it twenty times better.

"Paleo chocolate sauce?!?!" you ask yourself. Why yes, New Seasons sells this delcious concoction with unsweetened pear and pineapple juice and cocoa powder. Thus chocolate sauce.

So if youre feeling extra awesome, drizzle a little paleo chocolate sauce on top. Not feelin' saucy? Dust a little cocoa powder on top!

NOM.

tuscan kale and sausage soup

I threw together this tasty soup the other night, when I wasn't feelin' so hot. It's super easy, so I don't feel like I can take too much credit for its tastiness. But here ya go.

Ingredients 

• 2 tbl olive oil
• 1 large red onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 lb hot Italian sausage
• 3 small sweet potatoes, diced
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 6 cups chicken stock 
• 1 large bunch kale, chopped (5-6 cups)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium in a large soup pot. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add sausage. Cook over medium until browned. Add sweet potatoes, baby carrots and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are folk tender. Reduce heat and add kale. Cover and let stand for five minutes or so for kale to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

I'm in the middle of a crazy move, so all of my spices (sans salt and pepper) are buried deep in boxes. GEt creative with spices and such as you like it.

ch-ch-ch-chili!

That glorious chill of late fall is finally here.

My neighbor relentlessly sweeps brown, green, and red leafy intruders falling from the massive oak as they build a crunchy carpet over our shared backyard. His work is never ending, and seemingly pointless, the tree has only begun to shed. So I guiltlessly, stomp my feet through the autumnal piles as I clamor up to my tiny attic apartment.

I precariously balance my overly full grocery bags on the rail as I fumble for my keys. Door clicks and I barely open it and am tackled by two wiggling balls of fur.  My bags rip and soon enough onions, sweet potatoes and and carrots are rolling around my kitchen floor.

overwhelmed by love. I can't actually stay mad. 

My two little furry sous chefs inspect the produce rolling about the floor and are decidedly uninterested. 

Just as soon as they are overly excited, they are crawling back into their respective snoozy spots to sleep.

sigh. animals. 

To celebrate this delightful fall weather, I have decided that I  NEED to make chili. I saw PaleoGirl's recipe for Bison and Sweet Potato chili and I was admittedly intrigued. But I am broke broke, so  grass fed bison is just not in the books. But I take her recipe as a starting point and make my own delicious concoction, like I do.

Sweet Potato Kale Chili

So I give you Sweet Potato Kale Chili. 

I just got back from a four day stint in Hollywood where we pretty much ate out everyday. So as you can imagine, I am dying for REAL FOOD, namely dark leafy green. This chili hits the spot. Packed with hot green chilies, ribbons of kale and spicy ground beef, I am a happy camper (and continue to be, because this batch will feed an army for weeks).


Ingredients

• 3lbs grass fed ground beef
• 2 red sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 tbls coconut oil
• 2 yellow onions
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 8oz organic tomato paste
• 3 tbls cumin
• 2 tbls chili powder
• 2 tsp cayenne
• 15oz can tomato sauce
• 8 oz diced green chilies, hot
• 32 oz crushed tomatoes ( I used some my sister canned, so the seasoning varied)
• 1 bunch kale, cut into thin ribbons
• 1 tsp salt (more to taste)

Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium heat until thoroughly cooked. I use this time to prep all my veggies.
In a large soup pot, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add diced sweet potato and cook on high for about five minutes, stirring frequently.

Check on yo' bouef. If its done, remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Pour drippings into pot with sweet potatoes. (If its not done... carefully drain some of the drippings into sweet potato pot anyway and continue to cook)

Reduce heat under sweet potatoes, add onions and cover the pot. Let cook until potatoes are fork tender.

Add remaining, garlic, seasonings, and tomato paste. Stir to coat and let cook for one to two minutes. Add in all remaining ingredients, except kale. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Fold in kale, it will wilt and be delicious. Let flavors meld for roughly ten minutes, add seasoning to taste.

Serve with diced avocado and cheese if you go that route. :)

Paleo chocolate meringues

Yesterday was the most delightful blustery fall day. 

Despite some early morning tidying, manfriend and I lazed about the apartment and cuddled with El Pancho and Moe the Dog. 

The cold, rainy days always put me in the mood to fill my house with baked goods (and subsequently, my kitchen with dishes).

Since banishing gluten from my kitchen last January, any attempt to create something that remotely resembles a delicious baked good, has been decidedly disappointing.  Let me tell you--- there is no good replacement for flour in tasty treats like muffins or cakes. Sorry bout it. 

However.  I needed to bake and I needed some chocolate. But I'm in the middle of this pesky challenge, so no cheating! 

I was perusing Dessert Stalker and came across a few meringue cookies recipes. They looked mildly promising, so I pulled together my own little recipe. 

I give chocolate meringue kisses. Totally Paleo, totally only 4 calories a cookie.  

Yes I am that good. 

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 single serve packets Stevia (I like stevia because its natural, and not scary chemical. If you are of the sugar eating kind, sub a 1/4 cup granulated sugar here)
• 3 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder.

Preheat the oven to 300F and cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In your fabulous KitchenAid mixer, beat on high, the egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt and until the mixture starts to form soft peaks. Add in the stevia or sugar and continue to beat on high, until stiff peaks form. You can tell its ready when you lift the whisk out of the mixture and the meringue doesn't fall. On low, stir in the cocoa powder until fully incorporated. 

Drop tablespoon size drops onto the parchment paper. 

Bake for 24-30 minutes at 300F or until dried out. 

Serve with delicious cocoa :)

Balsamic grilled eggplant

Do you ever go to the store, pick up some produce and say to yourself "I need this. I will make something excellent with this." and then proceed to let it slowly die in your fridge?

Welcome to my life.

Eggplant

I always have GRAND ideas for this spongy, purple vegetable (fruit?).

But inevitable  it ends up staring me down each time I open the fridge. "What are you going to do with me?" "Stop neglecting me?" "I'm starting to go bad.... what a waste...."


UGH.

Okay. fine Eggplant. I will make something shmancy with you this time.

This is all part of my no-waste meal-planning, August.


Chowstalker has been a great resource for creative meals and happens to be how I discovered Life is Still Sweet's Balsamic Grilled Eggplant.

This recipe is everything this woman describes and more. The balsamic caramelizes, becoming sweet, a little crispy on the outside and soft inside. Amazing.

I actually made this for breakfast this morning paired with some eggs, diced tomatoes, and turkey sausage. Not having a grill readily available, I just fried these up in a pan and it worked just fine.
I altered the marinade a tad, adding 1 tsp of Dijon mustard to act as an emulsifier for the balsamic and olive oil.


I happen to have another eggplant hiding in my fridge... I definitely plan on repeating this recipe STAT.

Bacon Pumpkin Pancakes (Anxious for fall)

I stumbled upon Paleo Parents Pumpkin and Bacon Silver Dollar Pancakes the other day when I was bored    working really hard and simultaneously jonesing for fall. Pumpkin? Bacon? Two things I enjoy. Why not combine them?

This morning was the laziest of Sundays, so seemingly perfect for a lil baking adventure. 

unfortunately it is hotter than hell outside (broke 100F today) so I am still kicking myself for turning on the firey gas range in my 500 sqft apt. I really was just trying to channel fall by filling my apartment with autumnal scents of ginger, pumpkin, and coriander. Sadly I just made it feel like a fucking sauna. 

Admittedly, I did not do the best job on these lil pancakes. Although delightfully savory they were a bit crumbly. I assume this is due to my halving the recipe and screwing the up the wet-dry ratio. 

Still delicious, I paired them with some sautéed collards and tasty grapefruit wedges. 

I altered Paleo Parent's recipe---- I nixed the maple syrup, mostly because I didn't have any. And I added a 1 tsp each of ginger and cinnamon. Also I added in the reserved bacon fat in the mix, just to fully incorporate the bacony flavor.

Pretty tasty.

Paleo meets Vegetarian.

It seems that the fates have spited me by sending me a vegetarian man-friend mere months after I abandoned my vegan ways.... My grain and legume free diet clashes with his pizza-loving belly.
Compromise and creative cooking have been high on the priority list lately, because really I can't afford to go out all the time and I love to cook (but preferably not two meals)!

So I spent a few hours one afternoon thumbing through all my yummy vegan cook books ( I miss you old friends.) for recipes that the veg and the dino can both enjoy.

The Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction provided some great inspiration for happy tummies!

Last night's creation: Zucchini Pasta with tomato sauce, topped with Grilled Portobello Mushrooms (and a loaf of bread if you happen to be akin to that sort of thing....)

Super simple, healthy and I got the tasty seal of approval from the man who consumes more coca-cola and papa johns than I thought possible.

I'd love to share photos, but it was too tasty to wait for a photo shoot.... but here is the recipe.....


Zucchini Pasta with grilled Portos

Portobellos (adapted from Isa's Appetite for Reduction)

• 2 large portobello mushroom caps, destemmed (keep the stems, dice and add them to the sauce!)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tbls tamari
• 3 tbls balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp liquid smoke

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Place mushrooms, gill side up, in a small pyrex pan. Pour marinade over shrooms and let sit for 15-20 minutes. (while these guys are doin their thang, you should start the zucchini process)

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add caps, gill side down, into pan. Pour any remaining marinade over the shrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip over. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until center is tender. Remove from pan and cut into strips.

Pasta Ingredients 

• 4 large zucchini
• salt, pepper
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 qts water

Using a mandolin or a spiralizer thing (oh you faaaancy), slice your zucchini into long, thin noodley strips. You don't want to use the very core of the zucchini because the squash doesn't hold up well. So slice thinly on one side until you start to see the seeds. Flip to the next side, slice again until you hit seeds. Repeat on all four sides.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add zucchini strips and blanch for TWO MINUTES (no more or you'll end up with mush). Dump into colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Return noodles to pot and toss with salt, pepper and oil. Set aside.


 
Saucey Sauce

So I super cheated and used a jar of Newman's Own Sockarooni spaghetti sauce. BUT my mother did teach me something: jarred spaghetti sauce is never good left alone. So. If you want my cheater recipe, see below.

1 jar sockarooni sauce
1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbls olive oil

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and onion, saute until onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and turn up heat. Brown mushrooms and onions (5-7 minutes). Add jar of sauce. Bring to boil and then let simmer until the rest of dinner is ready.


Assembly?
Grab bowl. Scoop zucchini into bowl. Pour on saucey sauce. Add portos on top. Eat and enjoy.