Lemon Muffins

I've made a few different lemon muffins over the years. One of my favorite was the Coconut Flour Lemon muffin that was nut free and very lemony. But today, I was looking for a fluffier version of that muffin. Strictly coconut flour muffins tend to be a little denser than an almond flour one because you need to use so much liquid to balance out the thirstiness of the coconut flour. I wasn't really looking to make this one nut free in particular so I played around with it a bit until I found a combo that I really liked. This Lemon Muffin is a coconut - almond flour combo that is just what I was looking for. You can add poppy seeds to it if you like them; I didn't add them because I didn't have any and they're not my family's favorite. Feel free to customize your own until you find your perfect Lemon Muffin!

Lemon Muffin
1/2 C almond flour
3/4 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
5 eggs
3/4 C applesauce
1/2 C honey
2 T lemon zest (about 1.5 lemon's worth of zest)
1 tsp. lemon extract
2 T poppy seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl. Add applesauce, honey, lemon zest and lemon extract. In another bowl beat eggs until they are foamy or fluffy. Gently mix eggs into flour mixture. Spoon batter into lined muffin tin. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm for regular sized muffins and 40 minutes for jumbos.

Back to School Lunches and Breakfasts for my Cavekids

Tomorrow the kids go back to school! I can't believe I  have a third grader and a fifth grader, but somehow it happened. The kids have decided to try to be 100% dairy and gluten free (yay!). So we have been working on how to make that happen. Even though I eat Paleo, it's not as easy to find things for the kids to take for lunch that fit into that category. I'll eat practically any vegetable, meat or fruit, but they are much more picky. The boy also doesn't really like cold meat, so we're working on ways to keep his meat warm or find meats he will eat cold.

As we start the school year, we're focusing on things I know they like and will try to add in other more adventurous items as the year progresses. So far in my preparations I've made a big batch of coconut flour chocolate pancakes to put in the freezer. Both kids like pancakes and can pop these babies in the toaster every morning to make their own breakfast. Add some precooked bacon and almond milk to that and they are set! Next week we may make some bacon and egg cups or pizza cups to have on hand for breakfast, but for now we're sticking to pancakes.

I also baked a big batch of chocolate chip muffins to put in the freezer. Instead of the applesauce I usually use in the recipe, I substituted zucchini puree. That way even if he doesn't eat the vegetables in his lunch box he's gotten zucchini anyway.  I also brought home a few blueberry muffins from our Farmer's Market Stall the other day just to give them some variety.

The kids will be packing their own lunches every night before they go to bed...at least that's the plan. I made a chart for them to consult when deciding what to pack. It's got 4 categories to choose from, and they should pick one item from each category. The 4 categories are: Protein, Veggie, Fruit, Treat. If they want an extra serving of one of the other 3, they can always leave out the Treat category, although I don't really anticipate that happening. In making this chart I asked the kids what they liked and listed those items. I figure if they both dislike turnips, there's no point putting that on the chart, right? So this is our chart so far...I'm sure we'll add more items as the year progresses and probably ditch ones that don't go over well.

Protein:
Boiled Eggs
Bacon and Egg Cup
Prosciutto
Jerky
Salami
Pastrami
Sliced Turkey
Ham Cubes
Meatballs
Chicken Legs
Salt and Vinegar Almonds - recipe to come!

Veggie:
Carrots
Pickles
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Spinach
Kale Chips - planning try out another recipe using the dehydrator

Fruit:
Banana - fresh or dehydrated
Apple
Applesauce
Nectarine
Peaches
Pears
Melon
Strawberries - fresh or frozen
Orange
Blueberries - fresh or frozen

Treat:
Chocolate Chip Muffin
Blueberry Muffin
Everyday Cookie
Smoothie in a Thermos

Here is what the kids packed for the first day of school. The girl chose pastrami, pickles, a banana and a blueberry muffin.

The boy chose pastrami, a nectarine, few pieces of romaine lettuce and a chocolate chip muffin.

I'm anxious to see what gets eaten and what gets brought back home!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

This weekend the Girl and I went on a Girl Scout camping trip on the beautiful Hood Canal. For one of the meals, the girls cooked it from start to finish in their cook shelter. The Girl volunteered to help with dessert which would be chocolate chip cupcakes. Since one of the girls in the troop also eats gluten and dairy free, I went to work making a paleo recipe that the girls could take to camp and easily make in a box oven. I mixed all dry ingredients into a Ziploc bag at home, then the girls added the eggs, honey and applesauce at camp. Simple!

 

They first needed to make the box oven (instructions here), then mix up the cupcake batter and cook it at their campsite. The results were better than I expected, really. Once we got the placement of the cupcake pan right (don't sit the pan directly on the coals!), then the cupcakes cooked up like they would have in a regular oven. The window on the top, that The Girl insisted on including,  made checking on the cupcakes much easier! I highly recommend a window in your box oven. And I highly recommend giving box oven cooking a try, just for the novelty of the whole thing if for nothing else. :)

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
1 C Almond Flour
2 Tbs. Coconut flour
3 Tbs. Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 eggs
1/2 C applesauce (one of those 4 oz cups of applesauce works great for traveling)
1/2 C honey
1 C chocolate chips (we used dairy free chips)

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, then add all wet ingredients to dry and stir in the chips. Scoop batter into lined muffin cups. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes in a regular oven. For box oven, use 9 briquettes and cook for about 30 minutes. Cupcakes will have gooey melted chips inside when warm.

What's for Breakfast?

 

Breakfast is probably one of the hardest meals to figure out for new-to-Paleo eaters, understandably so! Breakfast in this country usually consists of cereal, granola, bagels, pastries, toast, oatmeal and other such sugary grain-filled foods. What do I eat if I'm not eating grains? What else is there?

I've been hearing from even non-Paleo eaters lately, that they've been adding more protein to the start of their day with great success. Especially children, can benefit from a protein-rich breakfast rather than a sugar-filled one. Children with high protein breakfasts tend to have better concentration at school and less behavioral problems. And that makes sense, right? Filling our bodies with sugar before we try to go to school or work and think and get along with others just doesn't make much sense really. Also, considering that we eat breakfast 4-6 hours before lunch, having protein as a major part of that breakfast will keep us full longer than carbs will. Win-win!

So, now we're all convinced that protein is the way to go for breakfast foods, but what is there to eat other than eggs? Here's a list of my top 10 favorite breakfasts, in no particular order. What's your favorite breakfast food?

1. Fried Eggs with olives and a side of sautéed greens (time to make: 10 minutes)
2. Paleo pancakes (time to make: 30 minutes, but I usually have leftovers from the weekend in the fridge)
3. Trail mix cereal - a few handfuls of nuts, a few prunes and almond milk (time to make: 5 minutes)
4. Dinner leftovers (time to make: 2 minutes in the microwave)
5. Muffins or scones (time to make: 45 minutes, make over the weekend and eat throughout the week)
6. Paleo porridge (time to make: 20 minutes, make over the weekend and eat throughout the week)
7. Pre-cooked bacon and fruit (time to make: 3 minutes in the toaster oven)
8. Smoothie with banana, almond milk and almond butter (time to make: 5 minutes)
9. Almond butter dipped apple slices (time to make: 5 minutes)
10. Boiled eggs and fruit (time to make: 15 minutes, make over the weekend and eat throughout the week)

Paleo/Primal Apple Cider Muffins

'Tis the season for apple cider! One of my favorite drinks during the holidays is Warm Mulled Apple Cider. For Thanksgiving Dinner the last few years I've pulled out the crock pot and filled it with apple cider and mulling spices and let it sit on Low most of the day. Young and old alike love a mug of this golden yumminess.

This morning when I got up, I was in the mood to make muffins, and once I looked into the fridge and saw the jug of apple cider, I knew just what kind to make. Apple Cider Muffins! I was also sadly lacking in my usual muffin starter of almond flour, so I used coconut flour instead. They turned out very apple-y and cinnamon-y and were a big hit with both small and large family members!

Apple Cider Muffins
1 C apple cider (I prefer organic unfiltered unpasteurized and local!)
3 apples
1/2 C coconut oil - melted
4 eggs - separated
1/4 C maple syrup
1 C coconut flour
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Core, peel and dice apples saving peel to use. Separate eggs. In a blender add apple peels, apple cider, egg yolks and maple syrup. Blend until mostly smooth. In a small bowl, beat eggs to soft peaks and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine coconut flour and coconut oil; let sit for a few minutes allowing flour to absorb oil. Add blended mixture to coconut flour mixture then add cinnamon, cloves, baking soda and diced apples. Lastly fold egg whites into mixture. Scoop 1/4 cup of mixture into lined muffin tins. Bake for about 25 minutes or until muffin is slightly firm when you press on the top.

Honey Carrot Muffins

In the fall I often have extra veggies from my garden that we can't eat right away. We eat as many apples, pumpkins and carrots as we can, but after a while you just can't fit anymore into your menus. When that happens I make applesauce and pureed pumpkin and carrots to freeze. The purees freeze really well in old 32 oz yogurt containers for use throughout the winter. The other day I pulled out a pureed carrot tub to thaw. I wasn't sure what I would make with it, but today I put it to good use. I made Honey Carrot Muffins! (But the kids think they are pumpkin pie muffins because I used pumpkin pie spice in them. I don't plan to clear up that confusion as they both ate them and said they loved them.) You could use just about any fruit or veggie puree like pumpkin, apple, carrot, sweet potato, butternut squash in these and achieve the same results.  

Honey Carrot Muffins
1 C Carrot puree (or other fruit or veggie puree) - room temp
1/3 C Coconut flour
1/3 C honey
3 Eggs - room temp
1/3 C coconut oil - melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (could mix cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to make your own)
1/4 C almond flour

Bring all ingredients to room temperature and preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients and spoon into lined or greased muffin tins. (I made 18 mini muffins and 2 large ones.) Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until muffins are firm to the touch.