I have been pretty good with my food consumption lately. I have been trying to stick to a mostly Paleo diet, however, the urge to bake struck me like a ton of bricks. I could no longer ignore the desire inside of me to whip up a batch of muffins. There were two ways that this could have ended up, I could have looked for a healthy muffin, loaded with fruit and whole grains, but instead, I opted to make a decadent treat full of peanut butter and chocolaty goodness.
I went to the internet and typed in chocolate peanut butter muffin. The first one that appeared was the one that I decided to make. I was definitely on a mission. I wanted to bake, I wanted it to be chocolate and peanut butter and I wanted it now! 🙂
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Tags: blogging, chocolate, cooking, food, homemade, peanut butter, pot luck, weekend
Last week I shared with you a Sweet Potato Stuffing recipe that included ground sausage. That recipe inspired me. Could I make my own sausage? I don’t have a sausage making attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer, but I know that sausage can sometimes be served as a patty. So, off to my cookbook collection I went.
Of course, I first went to my Paleo cookbooks. I thought that a sausage patty could be considered Paleo – I mean, a sausage patty is just meat. I was fortunate that within a couple of minutes, I found the basis for the recipe that I am sharing with you today.
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Tags: blog, cooking, family, food, homemade, Paleo, pork, recipe, spicy, weekend
When Jamie first shared this recipe with me, I was curious how it could be classed as Paleo when it is called stuffing. Isn’t most traditional stuffing made with bread, bread and more bread? However, once I read over the ingredients and tasted the finished product, I realized that you don’t need to have bread to make a perfect ‘stuffing’. Some sweet potatoes, sausage, apples and spices are all you need!
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Tags: apples, blog, cooking, family, food, homemade, Paleo, pork, pot luck, sweet potato, vegetable, weekend
For all the recipes that I have tried and all the time I spend in the kitchen, it is surprising, even to myself, that I have never made a batch of apple sauce. I KNOW! It is likely the simplest thing ever to make, yet I have never tried to make it myself. Maybe because I can buy an entire jar of it at the grocery store for only a few dollars? Anyway, this weekend I set myself a goal to make a batch of apple sauce!
The ingredient list is quite simple, apples, cinnamon and lemon. Yep, that is it! I found some recipes that called for sugar to be added, but when I buy apple sauce at the grocery store, I always pick up the unsweetened variety, so I opted to not add any extra sugar. It didn’t really need it, as apples are quite sweet on their own.
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Tags: apples, blog, cooking, food, homemade, Paleo, recipe
A few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network (no real surprise there) when Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Minute Meals came on. Now, I like these types of shows, however, I am quite skeptical that these meals can truly be prepared in fifteen minutes. By the time you get out all your pots, pans, knives, cutting boards and then prepare your food and measure out your spices, well, I just don’t think fifteen minutes is accurate, but the meals presented on this program are relatively quick and can be prepared for a delicious week-night dinner.
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Tags: blog, cooking, family, food, homemade, leeks, Paleo, peas, recipe, spinach, vegetable, week-night
Cherry tomatoes have to be one of my favourite snack foods. I just love the sweetness of the tomato and they really are adorable. Just little bites of summer.
When I was looking through one of my cookbooks for a new side dish, this recipe appealed to me. Confit Cherry Tomatoes. Now, I am not familiar with confit, in fact, the only time I see this term is when it refers to duck. Since I am not a huge fan of duck, the idea of confit has never really struck me as something I needed to try. But cherry tomatoes, well, I never pass up an opportunity to eat more tomatoes, so I figured it was time the confit made an appearance in our kitchen.
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Tags: blog, cooking, family, food, homemade, Paleo, recipe, tomatoes, vegetable, weekend
I have been spending a lot of my free time watching the Food Network. Specifically, I have been watching a lot of episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I don’t know what it is that draws me to this program, but I just can’t get enough of it. It is like I have an un-natural attraction to burgers 🙂
So, in watching an abundant amount of this program, I have come to realize that anyone with an oven and a few hours to spare can make delicious pulled pork. I always thought that I had to have a smoker in order to make a proper pulled pork, but a lot of the restaurants on this program dry rub their pork shoulder and roast it in the oven for hours. It looks like it comes out tender, juicy and fully shred-able. Based on my viewing, I decided to give this a try.
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Tags: blog, blogging, cooking, food, football, homemade, Paleo, party, pork, pot luck, recipe, sandwich, Super Bowl, weekend
I am going to have to admit to you, that I have never made cabbage rolls before. I have enjoyed them on more than one occasion, but I have never attempted to make them myself, till now.
When we were growing up, our Mom would make cabbage rolls a couple of times a year. It was a time consuming task, but we always enjoyed the effort, as there is nothing better than homemade cabbage rolls. Over the years, I have had the frozen variety, but they just don’t compare to homemade.
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Tags: blog, cauliflower, cooking, family, food, homemade, Paleo, photos, recipe, Super Bowl, tomatoes, weekend
This past week has been cold here in Ottawa. Real cold. That biting kind of cold that gets through your coat and multiple layers of clothing right into your bones. When it is that cold outside, all you want to eat is comfort food. Now for me, comfort food usually consists of lots of carbs; pasta and bread immediately come to mind, but in trying to eat healthier, I have decided to forgo the big bowl of spaghetti and make a stew instead.
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Tags: blog, cooking, food, homemade, Paleo, photos, recipe, vegetable, week-night
As part of my new year’s quest to re-discover healthier eating patterns, I decided that I need to make more of an effort to have breakfast everyday. I have fallen into a rut of just having a cup of tea or coffee for breakfast, but not eating any food. It causes me to get really hungry in the morning and then I find myself snacking or grazing all the way to lunch time. I know that having a real breakfast is going to be key to getting back on track.
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Tags: baking, blogging, breakfast, cooking, eggs, food, homemade, Paleo, party, pot luck, vegetable
Ruby Reduction 