Susie's Famous Pumpkin Roll - Paleofied!

I can hardly believe I have successfully transformed this delicious treat into a paleofied masterpiece!  For my friends who have come to love the traditional pumpkin roll my husband and I have been making for 20 years, here is a much healthier version.  This one is grain free and gluten free and can be made dairy free or coconut free.

Photo: Carly Johnson

Directions for bread:

Start with the Best Pumpkin Bread EVER from an earlier post.  Do everything the same until you get to putting it in the pan.

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. Use coconut oil and grease and wax paper line a rimmed cookie sheet.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Smooth out batter to ensure it is evenly distributed.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes.
6. Invert pan onto a thin dish towel, remove pan and wax paper.  Allow to cool for 10 more minutes.
7. From 10-inch side, roll cake up in the towel.  Set aside.
8. Prepare filling.

Filling ingredients:

• 1-8oz package organic cream cheese or diary free option: 2 cans of full fat coconut milk, chilled in the fridge over night.
• 4T softened butter
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup or raw honey
• 1t vanilla extract
• 1T cinnamon

Directions for roll:

1. Beat together all the ingredients for the filling.  If using coconut milk, only use the cream that is sitting at the top of the can by pouring out the milk.  If the coconut milk is a little thin, add up to a tablespoon of arrowroot powder to thicken.
2. Unroll the bread and spread the filling evenly, covering all of the bread.
3. Roll up bread without the towel and wrap in plastic wrap.  Your bread may crack in a few places, but that is ok.  Just roll it up nice and tight.
4. Chill for at least one hour before slicing and ENJOY!

Fall Soup

Do you serve Thanksgiving dinner in courses?  Do you include a soup?  We don't usually but I thought I'd throw this recipe out there.  It's super easy and super yummy.  I was inspired by my friend Kindra's latest creation.  Please check it out at Bon Appetit Paleo along with the rest of her delicious posts.

Photo: The Gracious Pantry

Into a crockpot I threw:

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks (I cheated and bought it already cut up. Some days are like that.)
3 - 4 small, organic carrots
1/2 onion, cut into chunks
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup water
1 can coconut milk
1" ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
sea salt
1T cumin

Cover and set on low for about 10 hours.  When ready to eat, remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend ingredients.  Add more coconut milk, if needed, to get the consistency you desire.  No immersion blender?  Blend in batches with your blender or food processor.

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.