As I type this, we’re on the last of the ice cream in our freezer. Needless to say, that makes me sad even though the container we currently have in our freezer has been there for at least 3-4 weeks. Ice cream was never really a weak spot of mine although I do love me a big unhealthy bowl of mint chocolate chip or pistachio nut. But temptation aside,  I love having a container of ice cream on hand just in case the craving strikes. It is also a nice indulgence for the kids for the kids to have if they finish their dinner. One treat I can actually want to say ‘yes’ to!

Ice cream appears like such a time consuming treat to make but if you already have your ice cream bowl chilled and ready to go, making ice cream is really very easy! I usually always have the ice cream bowl chilling in our freezer for impromptu ice cream making moments, but since my son’s birthday was just recently, I needed as much freezer space as possible so now I have to let my desire for ice cream sit for another 24 hours. In other words, at the very worse, you’d have to wait 24 hours to fill your ice cream crave.

Lynne’s Notes:

• I hardly have fresh mangos around since they can be one of the more expensive fruits to buy. I get the frozen mangos from Trader Joe’s and just thaw what I need.
• After freezing the ice cream, it tends to freeze pretty hard. Just let it sit out on the counter for 5-10 minutes and it should be much easier to scoop. Midway through dinner, I’ll take the container out of the freezer to defrost a bit.

Family Verdict:

W-I-N

Recommended:

Y-E-S

Paleo || Mango Ice Cream
yields = approximately 32oz.
tools = ice cream maker
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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups mangos, cubed
• ⅛ cup fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup mango, julienned (optional)

PREP
Be sure to wash, wrap, and freeze your ice cream bowl 24 hours in advance prior to using.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender, add all the ingredients except for the julienned mango and puree until smooth.
2. Pour the puree into another bowl and add the julienned mango, if using. Using a rubber spatula, mix the fresh mango with the puree until the mango pieces are well incorporated.
3. Add mixture to an already prepped ice machine maker. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Mix for 15-20 minutes, or until it is the consistency of soft serve. Serve as is or store in another container, and freeze.

Source: adapted and inspired from Just One Cookbook and Civilized Caveman Cooking

Pancakes are one of my kids’ FAVORITE breakfast meals when it comes to starting their days off. If they could have their way all the time, one thing they would undoubtedly ask is to eat pancakes for breakfast all week long! So, when we eased our way into Paleo, I knew I had to find a recipe that would stand a good chance at the breakfast table when it came to pancakes. And I have! It’s nice knowing that the kids can enjoy their pancakes without the added influences that grain brings. And while some may argue that regular exposure to foods like pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc… even if made with Paleo ingredients, is not a good thing either, my perspective is that at least if my kids are eating those things, then at least they are grain-free and dairy-free, if I can help it! I don’t feel that breakfast should be like that everyday, although truth be told that my kids do have those breakfast options more than I’d like for the sake of starving tummies, but I still do my part to educate them and make sure meals for the rest of the day revolve around meats and veggies. After all, grain-free pancakes are still a better choice than Pop Tarts and sugary cereal, right? Pick and choose your battles wisely, hah!

Aren’t those flecks of vanilla bean just gorgeous?!

Lynne’s Notes:

• These pancakes handle much different than your regular standard pancakes. I find that the smaller I do them, the more control over the flipping I have; plus, makes for the perfect serving size for smaller kids as well as snacking. To do this, I use a small ice cream scoop, size #40 if you want to know.
• The batter is not as thin as your standard pancake mix so you can’t really roll the pan around to distribute the batter. Using either the back of your ice cream scoop or a rubber spatula to help spread the batter on the pan will work.
• Heat the pan on medium to warm up, then lower the heat down to low-medium as the pancakes brown pretty quickly. You will want to make sure that you can cook the pancakes at least halfway before they get too brown. Otherwise, you’ll feel obligated to flip them to avoid them burning and the batter will not be as easy to handle because it will not yet be set (ie. flying drops of batter).
• These are freezable and can be made in advance for those mornings when you’re in a rush and only have time to stick something in the microwave, or barely. Whatever is left, I normally sandwich between wax paper and store in a freezer bag for the next sitting.
• Scratch recipes are always a little more time consuming in general. If you are grinding your own almond flour, I would budget some time to spank out a huge batch of these to save for a later date. If you don’t have time to grind your almonds, either order almond flour or use Trader Joe’s Almond Meal. Trader Joe’s version will give the pancakes a heartier taste.

Family Verdict:

The boys are HUGE fans of the pancakes. Like I said, if they could, they would eat them for breakfast all week long!

Recommended:

The only drawback is the time it takes to make. It’s not so much that it takes forever but that you have to have some patience to get the hang of cooking non-traditional breakfast meals like this one. They will still be tasty even if they don’t resemble pancakes on the first run. But just like anything else, keep trying because these are a favorite around our table and I’m sure they will be on yours too!

Paleo || Vanilla Bean Pancake Medallions
yields = 12, 3.5″ pancake medallions
tools = spoon, measuring cup, or ice cream scoop, #40 (optional)
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INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/2 cups (180g) raw, blanched almond flour*
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
• 3 eggs
• 2 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• butter for pan

*If you have a coffee grinder available, you can make your own almond flour out of raw, blanched slivered almonds (I usually have a bag on hand from Trader Joe’s). Simply add the almonds to the coffee grinder and grind on the finest setting. I shake my grinder as it spins to ensure everything gets ground. I have found that sometimes I have to take an additional step (ugh, I know!) to pass the ground almonds through a small strainer to separate any small pieces that didn’t get ground down. You can also use this as an opportunity to grind whatever you have left and store in a glass container in the fridge so the almond flour is ready to use for the next time.

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine almond flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Scrape vanilla bean in with the dry ingredients and using a whisk, mix well.
2. In another bowl, or 2-cup mixing cup, add eggs and beat with a fork. Then, add water, honey, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking until smooth.
4. Heat your pan over medium heat. Then lowering it down to low-medium heat, add a pat of butter and melt it while coating the pan. Using a #40 ice cream scoop or a spoon, place about 1/8 cup of batter on the pan. Use either the back of the ice cream scoop, spoon or rubber spatula to spread the batter around the pan. You can probably cook 2 pancakes at a time.
5. Keep a close eye on the pancakes because they brown fast. You’ll want to flip them once the edges start to brown a little and the pancakes appears sturdy enough to flip. When ready to flip, flip slowly and carefully to keep the batter from flying. Cook on each side for 1-2 minutes, or until they appear done.

Source: adapted from Elana’s Pantry

When cold season rolls around, it’s always a good idea to be stocked with a good chicken soup recipe. This recipe has been in my recipe binder for over a year and when someone gets sick in our home, this recipe comes out of hiding and goes into effect immediately as part of our sick protocol. Even when sickness is not upon us, this is always a nice tasteful soup to enjoy on a crisp and chilly evening.

I appreciate the noodle-less version of the soup and it holds just fine without them. The combination of ginger, lemon, and dill really round out the flavors of this soup while also jump starting our bodies to handle the pressures of internally foreign invaders. Anyone who knows me well enough in the kitchen knows full well that when it comes to chicken in dishes like this, I loves me some shredded chicken. Especially in a chicken soup, it just screams homemade-ness all over it!

Lynne’s Notes:

• The lemon and ginger in the soup really give this soup it’s distinct flavor quality, next to the dill (which is nicely balanced with it). They can be up’d or lessened to your own personal liking and are also good choices to consume when one is sick for their amazing medicinal properties. I usually will make the soup as is and then add more lemon to my bowl because I love sour soups. To each his own…
• I always make a doubled recipe of this (reflected below) because when one person gets sick, so does another and this soup will go rather quickly. In the event there are leftovers and you don’t want to push this to the next day, this makes a great freezer meal at a later date! Pack it away in a freezer bag or container and save it for a warm meal when you or someone you care about isn’t feeling well.

Family Verdict:

My family loves this soup. They’re always going back for seconds and slurping up all the yummy goodness of the soup.

Recommended:

Make as much as you can, eat as much as you want, and slurp away!

Paleo || Chicken Soup with Dill
yields = 6-8 servings
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INGREDIENTS

• (2) 32-ounce containers low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 small onion, diced
• 5-6 gloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2″ knob grated ginger, finely grated*
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and cubed
• 2 large stalks celery, trimmed and cubed
• 2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

*PREP

When buying fresh ginger reserve some for freezing. Cut ginger root into 1″ knobs, place into a freezer bag squeezing out any excess air, and freeze. When a recipe calls for fresh ginger, simple take a knob or two from your freezer. Using a spoon, simple cup the ginger knob in one hand and with the thumb of your other hand, use the spoon to scrape off the skin of the ginger. You’re welcome.

DIRECTIONS

1. Using a large saucepan or Dutch oven, bring the chicken stock to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Once boiling, add the onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, and celery and lower heat down to medium. Cook, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add chicken to the soup and simmer until chicken is warmed through, 2 minute.
4. Stir in the fresh dill and lemon juice. Adjust lemon juice to taste starting with 2 tablespoons.

Source: adapted from Eating Well

While Hayley and Bill call this dish ‘Lo Mein’, a popular Chinese noodle dish consisting of meat, vegetables, and noodles (grains are a BIG no-no when eating Paleo so noodles are out *tear*), I opted to rename it as a stir-fry instead because I wasn’t fully convinced with cabbage as a suitable ‘noodle’ replacement, even if cut small (sorry Hayley and Bill! You can blame my hard-to-fool palate for that one!)

[Enter the possibly-unnecessary-tangent-but-I'm-just-gonna-run-with-it part of this post to explain why...] And the reason is probably because when I make pancit (a Filipino noodle dish similar to chow/lo mein), it already includes cabbage with noodles as the only addition after. So to take the noodles out, just leaves the cabbage/meat mixture, or to me, stir-fry. Now, I think my next round I will try to make ‘spaghetti squash noodles’ and mix that in and in my mind (it’s kinda crazy in there), that seems to emulate closer. Anyhow, this sillyness of verbal/typing vomit has gone on way too long.

Soo…. proper recipe naming aside (and to get back on track),… this dish is AMAZING and Bill was definitely onto something when inspiration struck him in the kitchen!

I may consider adding some shredded carrots on the next round as well as the spin on spaghetti squash noodles, but even without, those are not ingredients that will make or break the meal. We are only a family of 4 but I always double up recipes for leftovers to carry into lunch time the following day and for limitless indulgences until then.

Lynne’s Notes:

• This dish is mega-good! The recipe below is already doubled the original so that I can make it straight without the mental math. If you’re just trying it out, you can test run it using half of the ingredients without ill effects.
• The original recipe also calls for the dish to be cooked with sesame oil from the beginning. I opted to add the sesame oil at the end once off the heat to keep it from damaging and further oxidizing. No thank you damaged fats!
• I wish I had a wok, but I had to toss mine due to the material not looking so hot anymore. So instead, I just used a large skillet. Use what you have. No biggie.
• I forgot the sesame seeds. One bite, and didn’t bother. I was hungry…

Family Verdict:

The boys enjoyed the dish but were weirded out by the mushrooms. I had mushroom issues when I was little so I totally understand. So the compromise is that they still have to try it (“try everything at least once” is our motto) and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to eat it.

Recommended:

Can we say, “it’s going on the master recipe list”?! YEUP!

Paleo || Asian Chicken Cabbage Stir-Fry
yields = 8-10 servings
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INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• (2) 8oz can of water chestnuts
• ½ cup celery, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, halved and sliced
• ½ cup almonds, chopped
• 1 head cabbage, shredded
• 2 tablespoon minced ginger
• ½ cup green onions, chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Sesame seeds to garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Take your wok, or large skillet, and heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown them up. Cook the chicken for about 3-4 minutes or until mostly cooked.
2. Next, add the broccoli, water chestnuts, celery and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Then, add in the almonds, cabbage, ginger, green onion and garlic.
4. Season with the coconut aminos and cook until cabbage has softend, about 2-3 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat, stir in sesame oil, and garnish with sesame seeds.
6. Voila! Do your happy dance and enjoy this wonderfully asian-inspired dish!

Source: Slightly adapted from Primal Palate