Paleo Banana Goji Muffins

~delicious~

Quite possibly the BEST muffins I have ever made!  I am really starting to fall in love with my new Convection oven.  It’s either the oven or it was just a good day for baking.  Either way, I think in another life I would definitely cash in on my love for baking.

I added Goji berries to these muffins; one because they are super tasty, and two, because they are a widely used Chinese herb.  Otherwise known as wolfberry, lycium fruit or  Gou Qi Zi (Chinese pinyin), these berries are good for Liver health (in Chinese medicine speak).

Without getting into it too much, Gou qi zi helps to improve vision and eye health (the eyes are strongly correlated to your Liver).  In addition they nourish the kidneys (responsible in both Western & Eastern medicine as your source of energy – otherwise known as the adrenals), nourish blood and are very moistening in nature.  To break it down even further, these tasty little berries treat blurred vision (something I definitely need help with after 3 years of graduate school), anemia, dizziness, sore back and painful knees as well as cough.  In addition, they have been useful in managing Diabetes.

Hard to imagine such a sweet, small thing packs such a nutritional and therapeutic punch… but believe it!  There is such thing as something that tastes good and is good for you at the same time!

The goods:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 organic, farm fresh large eggs
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup goji berries (re-hydrated)
• 3 packets stevia

How to:

Preheat your oven to 350˚.

Mix all your dry ingredients (including the stevia) together in a larger bowl.  Beat your eggs and grapeseed oil in a smaller bowl.  Add this mixture to the dry mixture, mix together.  In your smaller bowl smash your bananas then fold into your batter.  Finally fold in your goji berries (pressed free of excess H2O).  Place in oiled muffins tins.

Bake for 20-22 minutes (keep in mind I’m using a convention oven, so your time will be up to 10 minutes longer in a regular oven).

Makes 6 good size muffins, eat just out of the oven with a pad of Organic butter!  Enjoy & let me know what you think!

~Erin

Chocolate-Coconut Protein Bites

A little sweet for you “primal’s” out there…  plus, it’s sugar-free and made out of only almond meal, so dig in.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond meal
• 1.5 scoops chocolate protein powder (I used Bluebonnet dual action)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 4 packets stevia
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup unsweetened large coconut flakes

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.  Mix the dry ingredients (almond meal, protein, baking soda, stevia & salt) in a medium bowl.  In a smaller bowl beat the eggs, and add the Grapeseed oil.  Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together.  Add most of the coconut flakes (leave just enough to top the ‘bites’ before baking) and mix.  

Cover your pan with parchment paper & spray with coconut oil.  Scoop the ‘bites’ onto the pan.  Then top them with the remaining coconut flakes.  Makes 12-15 ‘bites’.  Bake for 8-10 minutes (I used a Convection oven, so 8 minutes was plenty).   Your coconut topping should be just browned.

Until next time…

erin

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies

So good, even Grizzly wants some…  (though I know what you’re thinking… dogs will eat anything)… so you’re going to have to just trust me on this one.

Looking for a good pre and post workout carb load?  What better time to get your carbs in than right after a workout and what better time to enjoy some delicious protein rich, gluten-free cookies?  They are kind of like a cookie dough protein bar, but better 🙂

These cookies can be made sugar free as well, just substitute in the Stevia for the sugar below.  I made these for the first time for a group of power-lifters competing in a local raw lifting event to keep them energized and well fed and they just ate them up (literally).  

Keep in mind, these are gluten-free but not grain free, I felt the nut flour may be a little too heavy in this case.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
• 2 scoops Vanilla Protein powder
• 1/4 cup sugar OR  5 packets Stevia (can change packet # to taste)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup Organic butter
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 350˚.  Combine Pamela’s baking mix and protein in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whip eggs and add softened butter, vanilla & sugar.  Pour the liquid contents into the dry ingredients and mix.  Lastly add the oats and the peanut butter chips to the mix.  

Lightly grease baking sheet with coconut spray oil.  Scoop desired size cookie dough onto baking sheet (4-15).  Bake for 12-15 minutes, remove from oven and let cool.  

Eat as a pre-workout (1 hour out) treat to load glycogen stores for a killer workout.  

Until next time…

Cupcakes Galore

mmmmmm.... chocolate....

So, I have to give total props to www.elanaspantry.com for this, but since they turned out soooooo delicious; I thought I’d share.  I have to say I’m glad nobody saw me ‘taste-test’ the first one because it was ugly; and yet so delicious at the same time that I think I  may have blacked out.  So, it was also a good thing that I brought them to a party so that I didn’t devour the entire batch myself.

Ingredients:

Vanilla Cupcake Mix:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk egg yolks with handheld mixer until pale yellow, add grapeseed oil, agave, vanilla and lemon juice; and whisk again.  In another small bowl, whisk the egg-whites until they stiffen with a handheld mixer and add to the previous mixture.

In another bowl combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda.  Fold in the egg mixture and scoop the batter into your cupcake tins.

Bake for 20-30 minutes and let cool before you add the frosting.  For me it made 9 cupcakes.

Frosting:  

• 1 cup dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions:

Over low heat, melt chocolate with the grapeseed oil in a saucepan.  Add the agave, vanilla and sea salt.  Remove from heat and place in freezer until cooled (10-15 minutes).

Remove from freezer, whisk with handheld mixer until thickened and frost the cupcakes (as long as they are cooled) &…..

most importantly… ENJOY and maybe take a little longer to savor the goodness than  I did… keep checking in and one of these days I’ll work on a sugar-free (stevia) version.

till next time, be well ~

Erin

Pumpkin Protein Custard Squares

Pumpkin Protein Custard Squares

Ingredients:

• 1 can Organic Pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1 scoop Whey Isolate Protein *you could probably get away with using more than this*
• 1 tbsp Arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 3 packets Stevia

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a bowl whip the eggs, add all other ingredients and mix together.

Pour into a greased 9 by 9 pyrex pan and bake for 35 – 45 minutes until edges are browned and the smell of pumpkin is filling your house.

Take out and let cool.  The texture should be somewhat custard like.  Serve warm or keep in the refrigerator and serve cold.  Serves 6.

Nutritional breakdown: Total / Per square

• Calories:   454 / 75
• Fat:  23 g / 3.8 g
• Carb:  31 g / 5 g
• Protein:  36 g / 6 g

Top with Fage Greek Yogurt and some mixed berries and you’ve got yourself a delicious snack, breakfast or dessert!

Pumpkin a la mode, primal style... YUM!

Chocolate Maca Blueberry Scones

Craving a chocalat-ey treat?  Here is your chance to satisfy your sweet tooth without sugar & the added benefit of Maca (Lepidium meyenii).  Maca is one of my favorite herbs to supplement with.  It is an adaptogen; which means it helps you deal with stress (and who couldn’t use a little help with that)?!  It also helps with hormone regulation.  It has been said that the Inca used to eat this before going into battle to help fuel their stamina and strength and is a native herb grown in the Andean mountains.  It is a rich source of essential minerals, fatty acids and amino acids and can help normalize hormones; providing optimum levels of nutrients utilized by the body’s endocrine system. Oh yeah and they are grain-free too 🙂

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 6 packets stevia
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp maca powder
• 5 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a large bowl mix almond flour, cocoa, stevia, baking soda, salt & maca powder.  In a small bowl combine eggs and coconut oil.  Pour the egg mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix together.  Fold in the frozen blueberries & scoop onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy either as a breakfast with a warm cup o’ coffee or tea, a midday snack, or as dessert with a nice glass of coconut milk!

Erin

PS… The batch makes about 16 scones & be careful not to indulge too much… these babies pack a mean nutritional punch.  FYI for the 60 day challengers (at Skogg Gym)… Each scone is about 190 calories and about 16 g Fat, 6 g Carb & 7 g Protein.  The fat is mainly from the almonds & is a good source of clean healthy fats.  Hence, they should be a satisfying little treat & fit quite nicely into a Primal Diet.