New site!

Forgive me for the lack of postings lately.  I am working on transferring all of my recipes to the new cavewomanskitchen.com  If all goes well, and I have time, the site should be up and ready this week!  Thanks for your patience!


I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com or leave comments on my facebook page and if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Turkey Chili

ingredients
1 lb leftover turkey meat, white or dark
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced-I didn't add this, I despise green peppers
1 c corn
1, 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 c chicken stock
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 T ground cumin
dash of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

In heavy soup pot heat 1 T grapeseed oil, add onion and a sprinkle of salt, cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.  Add carrots, celery, peppers, turkey and spices.  Mix well.  Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and stock.  Stir until well combined and seasonings are throughout.  Add corn.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes, simmer for 20.  Top with green onions. NON PALEO: tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream.

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com or if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Carrot Cake-Birthday Cake

recipe inspired by Elana's Pantry

  When trying to decide what kind of cake I wanted to make for my birthday, I first wished for a light, fluffy, vanilla bean cake covered in cinnamon nutmeg frosting, then a chocolate cake with whipped buttercream frosting, and ultimately decided on carrot cake.  My Grandma Flint makes the BEST carrot cake and it is one of the few things that I miss being Paleo and Gluten Free.  Changing a recipe from wheat to gluten free is not as easy as switching out the flour.  Since it is my birthday, and some things are worth cheating, frosting was worth it for me, for today. (only on special occasions do I really cheat, but never with gluten)

ingredients

3 c blanched almond flour

2 t sea salt

1 t baking soda

1 T ground cinnamon

1 t ground nutmeg

1/8 c applesauce

1/8 c grapeseed oil

1/4 c agave nectar

1/4 c honey

5 large eggs

3 c grated carrots

1 c raisins

1 c walnuts, coarsely chopped

Next time I will add 1 c shredded coconut to the mix as well.

Pre-heat oven to 325 F.  Grease 2 9-inch cake pans with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, applesauce, agave, honey, and eggs.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Fold in the carrots, raisins, and walnuts.  Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.  Let the cakes cool in the pans 1 hour, then frost.

ingredients- Coconut Butter Cream Frosting NOT PALEO

1 cube unsalted butter, softened

3 3/4 c powdered sugar

a dash of salt

4 T half & half

2 t vanilla extract, or to taste

1 t coconut extract

Cream butter, slowly add powdered sugar, salt, half & half, vanilla and coconut.  When cakes have cooled completely frost and layer on eachother.  Top cakes with coconut flakes.

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com, if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Is it Worth it? Guidelines for Eating Out

We've had some friends/family call lately and ask "So are you done with your whole 'Eating Healthy thing' yet, can we go out to dinner and have some normal food?"  Yes we are done with our Whole30 Eating Challenge done by Crossfittheclub, and no we are not done eating healthy.  Eating healthy is a lifetime decision for us, not a temporary one.  I feel confident that when I eat out, I will find something that is both Paleo and normal.  Here are a few tips making healthy lifestyle choices when eating out.

1: AVOID GLUTEN
I have a gluten intolerance so for me, this is a must or I will be paying for it hours later.  Lucky for me I have a husband who after seeing how gluten effected me, cut gluten 100% out of his diet, making my temptation for it much less.  I would challenge you to cut out gluten for 30 days and SLOWLY reintroduce it. See how you feel.  If a sandwich sounds good, order it without the bun.
2: NO FRIED FOOD
I am a sucker for savory, salty foods, I avoid looking at them at all costs.
3: PROTEIN IS A MUST
If you have to pay to have extra meat on your salad then do it.
4: SUBSTITUTE THE CARB FOR AN EXTRA SIDE OF VEG OR A SIDE SALAD
Most restaurants will allow you to substitute a salad or an extra side of veggies instead of fries or rice.
5: NO SODA

My thought is always, "is it worth it?" and "how is this food going to make me feel in an hour?"  For me, some things are worth "cheating", but most of the time they are not.  Nothing feels as good as being healthy.

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com and if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Meatloaf

"Eeww, gross" is what came to my mind when I thought of meatloaf.  However, what could be more Paleo than meat and veggies cooked as one? So I decided to give it another go with Sarah's recipe.  As she states, this meal was a HUGE hit.  I am now a meatloaf believer.

Inspired from Everyday Paleo

ingredients

1 diced red onion
2 lbs of grass fed ground beef
1 cup almond meal
2 eggs
1 can tomato paste
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1/2 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp marjoram
cracked black pepper to taste  

Combine all ingredients together, mix with your hands to thoroughly combine.

Place in bread pan, drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 45 minutes @ 350 or until meat is cooked through.

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com and if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Blueberry Pancakes topped with Blueberry Maple Syrup

In honor of National Pancake Day I cooked up a delightful brinner, you know, breakfast for dinner.  That morning I saw my friend Natalie was making Blueberry Lavendar Ricotta Pancakes, instant inspiration!  In order to make them Paleo / Gluten Free I had to change a few things.  They turned out amazing topped with Blueberry Maple Syrup. (and maybe a tiny bit of ricotta). 

ingredients-batter
2 large eggs
1/4 c agave nectar/honey
1 TBS vanilla
1/4 c water
1 1/2 c blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS arrowroot powder
2 TBS grapeseed oil
blueberries

In a blender, combine the eggs, agave nectar, vanilla and water; process on high for about 1 minute, until smooth.  Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, and arrowroot powder, and blend until thoroughly combined.

Heat grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Ladle 1 heaping TBS of the batter onto the skillet for each pancake.  Once a crust is formed drop blueberries onto the pancake.  Cook until small bubbles form on the top of each pancake; when the bubbles begin to pop, flip each pancake.  When fully cooked transfer to a plate and top with Blueberry Maple Syrup, and maybe a bit of Ricotta Cheese.

ingredients-syrup
1 c. maple syrup Grade A
1 c. blueberries (or any other berry that you like)

In a heavy saucepan warm maple syrup and add blueberries.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Easy Peasy.  

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com or if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.

Apple Crisp

When we were invited to play games with some neighbors, I offered to bring something to snack on. (If I can control the food, I can make healthy lifestyle choices, and not rely on my self control).  Lucky for me our new friends are familiar with a gluten free lifestyle, and were excited to try something new.  This was a great dessert to warm us on a snowy night.

                                               

ingredients-filling

8 tart apples-Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into cubes

4 TBS grapeseed oil

2 TBS. honey

1 TBS arrowroot powder or 2 TBS cornstarch

1 tsp. cinnamon 

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla

To make the filling place apples in 9x9 baking dish.  Combine, grapeseed oil, honey and vanilla, toss with apples, making sure to evenly coat all the apples.  In a small bowl mix together arrowroot powder and cinnamon, sprinkle over apples.  Top with lemon zest.

ingredients-topping

2 c. blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 c. grapeseed oil, I use 1/2 grapeseed oil, 1/2 applesauce

1/4 c. agave nectar/honey

1 TBS. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350.  To make the topping combine the almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the grapeseed oil, honey/agave nectar, and vanilla extract.  Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until coarsely blended and crumbly.  

At this point in will look more like throw up than a crumble.

Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, cover with aluminum foil.  Bake 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until the top is golden brown and juices are bubbling.  Let the crisp cool for 30 minutes before serving.

I am Jessie, a modern-day CaveWoman. You can contact me at thecavewomanskitchen @ gmail (dot) com, if you are on twitter you can find my tweets here.