Turkey Trot 8K 2016

Sam and I did the 8K Turkey Trot in Forest Park.  There were way more people than I was expecting.  It was a lot of fun and perfect running weather.  Even though I was slow, I did pretty well because  I ran almost the first 3 miles without stopping.  I haven't done that in a while!!!!  I was in the top 1/3 for my age range too

Sweet chocolate cake with Winter spices

• 4 oz Cortés Askinosie Chocolate 70 percent single-origin Honduran dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp high-quality natural cocoa powder
• ¾ tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ¼ tsp grated fresh nutmeg
• 1½ cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup unsulphured molasses
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• zest of 2 medium oranges
• juice of 1 medium orange
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• ¾ cup boiling water

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper; butter parchment liner.

In the top of a double boiler set over just-simmering water, melt chocolate, stirring frequently. When chocolate is completely smooth, set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add brown sugar and butter and beat on high until fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Add molasses, grated ginger, orange zest and juice and beat until combined; add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed until everything is homogenous. Add the flour mixture to the bowl in 2 parts, mixing for 10 to 15 seconds after each incorporation; scrape down the bowl and mix for 10 seconds more. With the mixer on low, stream in boiling water and mix until batter is completely homogenous, thoroughly scraping through to incorporate any dry patches.

Pour mixture into prepared springform pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, checking at the 40-minute mark for doneness. Cake is done when a wooden skewer or cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean or with a few crumbs, but remains slightly sunken in the center. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Release sides of springform pan and lift it over cake. Transfer cake to serving plate and slice to serve.

Butternut Squash Harvest Bake

• melted butter
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, thinly sliced
• 1 acorn squash, peeled, deseeded, thinly sliced
• 3 medium sweet potatoes, washed and sliced into thin rounds
• 3 apples, washed, deseeded, thinly sliced
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup sliced dried figs
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup local honey
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ cup pecan halves
• ½ cup chopped walnuts

| Preparation | Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with melted butter.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Place butternut and acorn squash in boiling water and allow to boil for 10 minutes, then add sweet potatoes and allow both to boil for 20 minutes.

Remove squash and sweet potatoes from heat, drain and rinse.

In the greased baking dish, layer boiled squash and sweet potatoes in a spiraling pattern starting at the inside edge of the pan and working your way toward the center. Layer sliced apples in the same pattern. This should give you one or two nice layers, depending on the size of the squash. Sprinkle cranberries and dried sliced figs on top of the harvest bake.

In a small saucepan, melt butter. Add honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir well. Drizzle mixture over harvest bake dish, taking care to cover entire dish. Transfer to oven and bake for 20 minutes or until apples are golden. Add nuts and bake for an additional 5 minutes to lightly toast walnuts and pecans. Serve warm.

Sweet potatoes in the oven

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 yellow onion, sliced thin
• ¼ cup almond meal
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 tablespoons coconut butter
• 4 tablespoons almond butter
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste
• enough bacon to cover the top OR cook and put inside

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×13 baking dish
3. Thinly slice 2 sweet potatoes and onion
4. Start layering the sweet potatoes in lines so you can’t see the bottom on the dish. Then layer with a little onion and a little almond meal. 
5. Keep on layering until all your sweet potatoes are gone.
6. Pull out a saucepan and put over medium heat.
7. Add your coconut milk, coconut butter, almond butter, agave (or honey), and spices to the saucepan and stir until the coconut butter and almond butter have cooked. Don’t boil. 
8. Once everything is mixed together, pour the mixture over the sweet potato layers. Then top off everything with a little bit more almond meal.
9. Cover the rest of the dish with strips of bacon (unless you chopped and cooked it to add into your gratin).
10. Cover your baking dish with aluminum foil and put in the oven for around 30 minutes.
11. Once the 30 minutes are up, pull out the dish, remove the aluminum foil, and put dish under the broiler for about 3-5 minutes, or until bacon is nice and cripsy (or however you like yours).
12. Let cool for 10 minutes or so then dig in.

Thanksgiving 2012

I made paleo and non-paleo dishes for Thanksgiving, I thought I would keep everyone happy that way and it worked!!!  One of our guests made sushi for an appetizer-food and art.  Aren't they spectacular????

I made these sweet potato biscuits.  I made them ahead of everything else so I could free up the oven, we ended up eating them as an appetizer.  They were the best thing I made yesterday.  I will DEFINITELY be making these again.

I made the prosciutto wrapped pears as well. They were the best looking thing I made, but I didn't actually have any of them....
Overall, everything was really good, but I am not a huge fan of the broccoli-cauliflower casserole, it is very bland.  Going to find an alternative

OK, so we had apple pie and ice cream for dessert.  Definitely NOT paleo, but worth it for a change....

Sweet potato bake

5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch rounds
2 small apples, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup 100% pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons organic grassfed butter
1 cup chopped pecans
Cook the yams in a pressure cooker for 6-8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, move the cooked yams to a large mixing bowl. To the yams, add the apples, butter, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and maple syrup and mix well. Spread the yam mixture evenly into a 11×7 glass baking dish. Top with pecans and bake uncovered at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Casserole

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole
2 ½ cups broccoli florets, finely chopped
1 ½ cups of cauliflower, finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
2 eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon sea salt
4 garlic cloves, minced
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the shallots, broccoli and cauliflower. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour the egg/coconut milk mixture over the broccoli, cauliflower and shallots and mix well. Bake in an 11’ round glass baking dish, covered at 350 for 45 minutes.

Sweet potato biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato or yam (equivalent to 2 cups mashed)
• 3 tablespoons Coconut Flour
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 6-8 strips of bacon, diced
• leftover rendered fat from bacon
• 3-4 tablespoons chives, thinly diced
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees.
2. Poke holes in your sweet potato with a fork.
3. Place in oven and bake for 30-40 or until soft.
4. Once the sweet potato is done baking, turn oven down to 375 degrees.
5. When your sweet potato is almost done cooking, place your diced bacon into a skillet and brown until crispy. Then place your cooked, crispy bacon on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up the excess fat. The fat that is left behind in the pan, you will use in your biscuits.
6. When your sweet potato is done, peel and place in a bowl and mash with a fork.
7. Then add in your eggs and mix well with your sweet potato. Then add your in your bacon fat and mix well.
8. Then your dry ingredients: coconut flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.
9. Finally add your diced cooked bacon and chives. Mix thoroughly
10. Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a large spoon to drop your biscuits on the sheet, shaping them as needed. Try to make them all equal in size so they cook the same.
11. Place in oven and bake for 22-27 minutes.

Dressing for turkey

1 lb mild Italian pork sausage
4 ½ cups mushrooms, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
6 celery stalks, diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon diced fresh sage
½ tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
½ cup dried cherries, finely chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
½ tablespoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. In a large soup pot, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent. Add the sausage and brown. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, chicken broth, cherries, almonds, sage, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the veggies begin to absorb the chicken broth. Transfer to a large glass baking dish, cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Prosciutto Pears for Thanksgiving

I'm going to make these for Thanksgiving.  I made them last year and they were great.  I found some Balsamic drizzle at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and this is a perfect opportunity to use it......

Prosciutto Wrapped Pears
½ red onion, very thinly sliced
2 pears
1 package of prosciutto di parma
Baby Spinach leaves
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 400. Heat the coconut oil in a small skillet and sauté onions until they are caramelized. (onions should be brown but not burnt). Peel and slice the pears into thick slices. Top each pear with a little bit of caramelized onion and one spinach leaf, wrap tightly with a piece of prosciutto. Grease a baking sheet with a little bit of grassfed organic butter, and place the pears on the baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. While the pears are baking, add the balsamic to a small sauce pan, heat over medium low until the balsamic is reduced down to a syrup like consistency, stirring often. Drizzle a small amount of the balsamic reduction over the pears and serve.