Friday, October 12, 2012

Raspberry Almond Scones

I'm on a roll!!!  Yet another successful experiment...even Grandma approved (and she's a Texan with a mean palate)!

Raspberries are on sale at King Soopers right now - 4 for $5.00.  So I bought 43.  Just kidding.  But I do love raspberries and I did buy a sufficient enough supply to serve a small army.  After dinner I decided to try to throw together a Paleo (ish) scone.  I say "ish" because they do have honey in them and that certainly would not be approved by our dear friends at Whole 9.  Annnndddd...I might have eaten them drenched in honey as well, but don't judge!  I'm not perfect!

Have you ever seen A Bee Movie?  I so fell in love with those fuzzy little buzzers.  It made me believe that all bees have personalities like they did in the movie and suddenly I have this immense adoration for the black and yellow.  Especially the fat, hairy ones.  I'm pretty sure those are the cute chubby boys with unruly hair that are always your best friend and never your boyfriend in High School.  Anyway...I'm pretty sure they're offended by Whole 9 and would like to protest their lack of approval for the luscious, sugary product.  I would sign their petition.  I love that shiz.

Wanna cook?


Raspberry Almond Scones

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 c honey
1/4 c coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 c almond flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4-1/2 c raspberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. 

Beat eggs with other wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Combine dry ingredients in large bowl (except berries).  Slowly stir wet ingredients into dry.  Mix thoroughly.

Divide dough in half, and roll each half into large balls.  Place each ball on a piece of parchment paper, cover with another piece of paper, and roll to about a 1/4 inch thickness.  Top one flattened roll with raspberries and cover with the other flattened roll.  You will have a raspberry sandwich of sort :-).  Gently squish the bread (which is not bread at all, don't worry) until the two layers of dough become symbiotic.

Cut dough into triangles or use a wide-mouth jar to cut biscuits (most importantly, dough should be roughly 1/2 -3/4 inch thick once prepared).  Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Serve with copious amounts of raw, unfiltered, delicious, gooey honey.
 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin haters, don't despair - this soup does not really taste like pumpkin.  Pumpkin lovers, don't worry...it'll satisfy your pumpkin craving.

I needed to throw together a recipe quickly this morning for a potluck later in the afternoon.  It was snowing outside (yes. snowing. insert angry face here.) and I hardly had any food in the house.  I was also too lazy to go to the store because, as I said above, it was snowing outside and when that happens I just want a fire in the fireplace and a good book.  Anyway...since it was freezing outside and the food would sit for a couple hours before the potluck, I wanted something I could keep heated in a crock pot. So...I decided to try my luck with a little experiment and it was a hit! - PHEW!

That was a really long story about nothing.  Sorry.  What I was trying to get at was: a) this recipe is super easy. b) you can keep it in a crock pot. c) you probably have most of these ingredients in your pantry. d) snow is stupid.




Spicy Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage (Boulder Sausage is a pretty clean brand, or make your own :-)
1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cooked (I cubed and boiled it)
1/2 cup coconut milk (full fat, canned - Thai Kitchen brand is best)
1 quart chicken broth
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of red pepper flakes

Method:

In large stock pot, heat olive oil.  Saute onions until translucent and lightly browned.  Add in pumpkin, chicken broth, sweet potato, and spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes.

In skillet, cook sausage until browned. Set aside.

Use immersion blender or pour soup contents into blender and mix until smooth.  Return to stock pot.

Add in sausage and coconut milk and heat through.

Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds.