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.

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.