Paleo/Primal Pizza

I've seen various forums debating whether or not quinoa has a place in the paleo diet. But since I'm a foodie, I'm going to tend towards keeping as many ingredients on the menu as possible. And as long as someone more knowledgeable about the human body than myself is saying it's fine, I'm going to take that as a green light. Besides, quinoa is a complete protein. How can you beat that? Some people seem to have some issues digesting it, but if you don't, go for it!

The recipe for this crust is a variation of the pizza recipe I saw on a great paleo site: Paleo Diet Lifestyle.

Crust ingredients:
½ cup coconut flour
1 cup quinoa flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
4 eggs
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup coconut milk

Toppings:
Instead of cheese, we used onions sauteed in olive oil. Other toppings included homemade pork sausage, pepperoni, salami, arugula, olives, mushrooms, pepperoncinis and, of course, tomato sauce.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Grease a standard cookie sheet or pizza pan with coconut oil. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a small bowl beat eggs and combine with other wet ingredients. Mix wet mixture into dry mixture until well combined. The consistency will remind you of cookie dough. Then, spread dough into the prepared pan. You may need to use your hands to get it evenly distributed in the pan. Bake crust for 15 minutes before topping it. After it has baked, top it, and return it to the oven until your topping are nicely toasted.

Paleo Friendly Chocolate Pudding

So my husband and I have been on an anthropologically interesting culinary adventure the past week. Not that we're actually eating food prepared the way our ancient ancestors did in the Paleolithic Period. I don't believe earliest man was eating pulled pork wrapped in butter lettuce, roast over pureed parsnip, or paneed fillet of flounder. But we have been adhering to the oh-so-popular Paleo Diet, and guess what? -- It seems to work. After an initial shakiness which could only be attributed to the loss of fast carbohydrates and sugars in our diets, we feel really good! Already we're leaner and have lost a few pounds; though, honestly, neither of us really needs to lose weight (and probably won't lose much), but we'd like to better condition ourselves.

For me, who loves to bake, it's been challenging to stay away from the flour and sugar and cocoa powder. But last night, I made dessert for the first time this week and got my chocolate fix. Here's the super easy recipe for a paleo-friendly treat.

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp raw agave nectar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix it up. 

A better way to bag your groceries

The reusable grocery bag has become the trend in all food stores. Every bodega from Win Dixie to Whole Foods carries an Earth-friendly alternative to "paper or plastic?" But those fifty-cent bags don't always last so long or look so cute. Fortunately, the Internet has made the world a lot more accessible and a lot prettier. The chic shopper need look no further than etsy to find one-of-a-kind market bags to add a touch of fashionable finesse to your grocery-shopping experience. And let's not forget -- you'll be reducing your carbon footprint, as well!

Check out The Ruffled Rose! It's a new shop exclusively selling handmade market bags perfect for all your shopping needs!

Amazingly Awesome Brownies

I came up with this recipe last month and have been meaning to post it ever since. I was looking through various brownie recipes in attempt to figure out the best way to get the perfect balance between the cake-like and fudge varieties. This is what I came up with:

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 teaspoon instant coffee

Directions: Prepare a 9x13 inch baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a double boiler, melt 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate and 1 stick of butter, whisk in instant coffee. In a large bowl with a paddle attachment, combine other stick of butter and sugar, beat until fluffy. Add dry ingredients. Once combined, add eggs one at a time. Add melted ingredients and sweetened condensed milk. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake approximately 30 minutes.

On Thanksgiving I served these with some freshly whipped cream and macerated raspberries. It was a big hit!

Eggnog Cheesecake Bars

My first semester as an MFA in creative writing student is coming to a close. So last night I took these festive cheesecake bars with me to class. Between discussing Borges's "Death and the Compass" and Saunders's "Sea Oak" (two discussions I ended up contributing nothing to, as I'm twenty-seven weeks pregnant and simply failed to be in the proper mood to discuss said stories -- at least I contributed a snack) my fellow prose-producing apprentices and I sampled the goods. The response was positive (more so to the bars than the stories), and this morning when I had one from the refrigerator, I thought it was even better. The only immediate alteration I would make is adding more butter to the crust. It was a bit dry.

Ingredients:
Crust:
16 graham crackers
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 stick butter, melted (I would try using an additional 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling:
2 8oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature (I used the 1/3 less fat variety)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup eggnog
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine and pulse all crust ingredients until fully crumbled and moistened. Press crust into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, whip cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add remaining ingredients, beat until well combined. Pour into crust lined pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are firm and the center has just stopped wobbling. Turn off oven, but leave bars in the oven with the door closed for 15 minutes. Then open the oven door and continue to let the bars cool approximated 20 minutes. The slow cooling process prevented my bars from cracking.
I topped my bars with 2 ounces of melted white chocolate and about a 1/3 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Protein-powered Banana Bread

Yesterday, I made it facebook official, so today I'll make it blog official -- I'm 12 weeks pregnant with my third child! It's been fun being pregnant again, especially this time around because I've felt absolutely wonderful (which is something I attribute to running). But something else I'll share is that I've never been one of those women who considers pregnancy a time to eat whatever I want. I take baby building seriously, as I take my pregnant health seriously because I'm a natural homebirther devoted to staying low risk. Thus, I follow certain food guidelines and try to get extra protein with minimized white flour and sugar in my diet. And this delicious banana bread is a great way for me to get what I need in a tasty, easy way. And even if you're not pregnant (like my husband), you'll appreciate the benefits of the healthy ingredients I've stealthily added. I say "stealthily" because this bread really is so moist and delicious, you'd never realize you were getting extra protein, flax, and wheat germ.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, crushed
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup flax
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein (rehydrated with 1 cup water)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup pecans (or some other nut), chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a large bowl with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time; beat. Add crushed bananas; mix. Add dry ingredients and rehydrated textured vegetable protein (rehydrate tvp by cooking it over medium heat in a small sauce pan with 1 cup of water). Finally, mix in chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.

The food of New Orleans: freelancing about food

In May, I wrote a quick post about the freelancing I'm doing for Examiner.com on Attachment Parenting. Now, my fellow foodies, I'm writing about food in New Orleans. I've written three articles so far, so if you're interested in learning more about some of the best places to eat in Nola, check out my articles. And hop on over to Examiner to checkout what's new.