Raw Lemon Bars

I only slightly changed my friend, California Cavegirl Kindra's recipe "No muss, no fuss Raw Lemon Bars".  If you like Larabars, you'll love this quick and easy recipe.

Photo: Rawtarian

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds
15 pitted dates, +/- depending on how much juice you get from your lemon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
juice and zest from 1 lemon
1 cup raw coconut flakes
pinch sea salt

Directions:

• Place almond in food processor and process until coarse powder
• Add remaining ingredients and pulse until combined
• Transfer to a glass pan and press in the mixture so that it sticks together
• Refrigerate for about an hour for easy cutting
• Store in the refrigerator

Apple Crumble

To round out our Thanksgiving feast here is Cooper's favorite: apple crumble.  

Photo: Our Paleo Life

Ingredients for pie crust:

• 3/4 cup raw walnut halves or pecans
• 1/2 cup pitted, medjool dates
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Grind nuts in a food processor until finely ground and almost starting to turn into butter, or just starting to clump together.
2. Add dates, butter, and salt to the food processor, pulse until combined.
3. Press into a 9” pie plate.
4. Set aside.

 For the pie filling:

• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 apples, peeled, cored, cubed
• 1/4 cup apple cider 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan and add apples.  Cook for 8-10 minutes or until just starting to soften.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except arrowroot starch, and mix to combine.
4. Remove from heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer ingredients to prepared pie dish.
5. To the remaining liquid add arrowroot starch and whisk over low heat for about a minute until mixture is thickened.  Pour over apples.
6. Bake for 10 min.

For the streusel topping:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• a pinch of cardamom
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons raw honey

Directions:

1. Pulse all ingredients, except honey, together in a food processor until coarse crumbles.
2. Add honey and mix with hands to form a sticky, crumbly mixture.
3. Remove pie from oven and top with struesel.
4. Return to oven for 5 more minutes.
5. Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes.  It is best served warm.

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Thanks to PreppyPaleo for the inspiration for this delicious side dish.  We have officially added this accompaniment to our Thanksgiving lineup.  My husband loved it so much he had it again for lunch the next day.

Photo: Preppy Paleo

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. raw honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Salad:

6 cups mixed greens
4 cups chopped root vegetables - beet, parsnip, sweet potato, carrot
2 tablespoons unsweetened apple cider
1 tablespoon melted butter

salt to taste

4 slices of bacon
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425˚F.
• Toss root vegetables with cider and butter. Season with salt and bake for 20 minutes or until just starting to brown.
• While vegetables are roasting combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
• Cook bacon until crispy and crumble.
• Toss mixed greens with dressing, top with root vegetables, bacon, and almonds.

Stuffing Stuffed Acorn Squash

We're counting down to Thanksgiving!  I love Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  I love cooking in the kitchen with my husband and it seems this is the only day we get to cook together.

I've been building my tried and true recipe files.  As I pulled out my Thanksgiving recipes I realized we've been making our Good Eats Roast Turkey for 9 years!  Why fix what ain't broken?  After going paleo last year we made some adjustments.  I thought I'd share our favorites with you in case you'd like to add them to your holiday dinner.

This is my version adapted from I'm Good Fat.  I found this recipe and made it for my mom last month while she was out visiting.  I recently made this recipe again because I love it!!!  It tastes just like Thanksgiving stuffing without any of the bread.  This will be our stuffing this year.

Ingredients:

3 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed
coconut oil, sea salt, nutmeg
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 tbs coconut oil
2 lbs ground organic, pastured pork, grass-fed beef, grass-fed bison, or try a combination
2 large carrots, diced
sea salt
1 tbs minced parsley
1 tbs minced sage
1 tbs minced thyme
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 organic Fuji apples
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350˚F. Dot the inside of each acorn squash with coconut oil and sprinkle each with sea salt and nutmeg.
• Place the acorn squash cut side up in a glass baking dish and add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Cook the squash in the oven 45 minutes or until fork tender.
• In a large skillet sauté the onions in coconut oil until they start to brown. Add the ground meat, carrots, sea salt, and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add the parsley, sage and thyme and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, apple, and nuts. Stir until warmed. Season to your liking with salt.
• Stuff each cooked squash half with the stuffing mixture and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Brownies

Monday we celebrated our God-granddaughter, Hero's, 7th birthday.  She's such a blessing.  In honor of her birthday she got to sleep over at Grammy & Grampy's and we celebrated with a special treat.  My friend Kindra posted this recipe on my fb wall and I've been dying to try it.  I'm so glad I made it.  This is probably my most favorite thing I've made since going paleo.  It is so delicious!

Happy Birthday, Hero!

Raw Brownies - adapted from the Rawtarian:

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds
1 cup dates
5 tablespoons raw cacao (cocoa) powder
4 tablespoons unsweetened coconut flakes (or you can use shredded)
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
 
1. Place almonds in your food processor and process until they become small and crumbly.
2. Add dates and process until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the mixture turns a dark chocolatey brown.
4. Scoop into a brownie pan or small cake pan and press down firmly using your clean hands.
5. Refrigerate* for a couple of hours.
6. Store in the refrigerator if it lasts that long!

*You don't have to refrigerate it, but it is much easier to slice when chilled.