So I bought a new pillow… I was excited for the new pillow… I tried the new pillow out last night… the new pillow is NO GOOD!!! 

I’m so disappointed! I spent 2 days searching Amazon for pillows, I read review after review and this particular pillow only received 5 or 4 star ratings. They were all positive, the only negative was that the pillow was smaller than your standard pillow size. So I decided to give it a go… well this morning I woke up with a sore neck again and well the pillow is just way too firm!

Grrrrr… anyway all I can say is thank goodness for Amazon free returns! For some reason Joe and I have been having bad luck with Amazon! He ordered 2 sets  of hiking boots and neither of them fit properly, I ordered a pair as well and same problem! So they’re all going back. We ordered a new set of boots each and fingers crossed those won’t have to be sent back!

On a much more positive note last night we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary! You can read about our second wedding anniversary here, as you can see I wasn’t eating Paleo then!

This year we had another quiet one at home and I made a cake for us… celebrations require cakes right :)

I made a simple dinner too but the cake was definitely the main event! 

The cake comes courtesy of The Food Lover’s Primal Palate, I changed up just a few ingredients but for the most part I followed the recipe given. The cake turned out great, the only thing that I might have changed is adding a little bit more honey to the actual cake although the frosting on top added a pretty good amount of sweetness.

Now onto the recipes!

Ras El Hanout Chicken with Roasted Butternut Squash & Garlic Cauliflower Mash

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts.
• 1 small-med butternut squash cubed.
• 1 medium or 2 small cauliflower washed, cored and the florets and stem cut into even pieces.
• 2 garlic cloves peeled.
• 1 Tbsp Ras el Hanout.
• Grass-fed butter/ghee/coconut oil.
• Sea salt.
• White pepper.
• Freshly cracked black pepper.
• Water.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Line a baking tray with foil or parchment paper.

Place cubed butternut squash into a mixing bowl and season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle a bit of melted grass-fed butter/ghee/coconut oil on top and mix.

Pour the squash onto the baking tray and spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until tender. Remove and place in a heat proof bowl and cover to keep warm.

While the squash is baking add some water into a pot, about 5cm/2in high and set a steamer insert inside. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.

Once the water has come to a boil add in your cauliflower florets and stem. Place the lid back on and allow to steam for 10-15 minutes or until you can easily pierce the cauliflower with a fork.

If you don’t have a steamer insert bring a large pot of water to the boil, lower the heat add in your cauliflower. Put the lid on and cook until the cauliflower is softened.

Turn off the heat and carefully remove the steamer insert or drain your cauliflower if you’re not using a steamer insert. Now the next bit you can either do in a food processor or a high-speed blender like a Vitamix.

Add your steamed cauliflower into the food processor/blender, you might have to do this in batches. On top of the cauliflower add 1-2 Tbsp of grass-fed butter/ghee, sea salt, white pepper/freshly cracked black pepper and grate the garlic cloves on top.

Process until you have a smooth consistency. Pour into a bowl, cover and set aside.

Once your sides are done you can get onto the chicken. Rinse and pat dry each chicken breast, then cut each breast in half and then into pieces (see photo).

Season either side with some sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

In a small mixing bowl add in some softened grass-fed butter (about 1/4 – 1/2 cup) and 1 Tbsp Ras el Hanout. Mix together until you have an even consistency.

Using a pastry brush, brush either side of the chicken breast with the butter mixture.

Heat a skillet on medium heat. Once heated cook chicken pieces in batches for about 5 minutes on either side. After each batch place chicken onto a paper-towel lined plate.

To serve place some of the chicken onto a plate and add some of your roasted butternut squash and garlic cauliflower mash on the side.

I was planning on adding some kale chips to this for some greenness but realised I’d run out of it! I think they would work great with this recipe and they’re quick and easy to make.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

Adapted slightly from here and here.

Ingredients:

For the cake - 

• 6 eggs.
• 1/3 cup raw honey.
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.
• 1/2 cup almond milk (preferably home-made).
• 1/2 tsp salt.
• 1/4 tsp baking soda.
• 1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted.
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used unsweetened cocoa powder).
• 1/2 cup organic coconut oil, melted.
• 1 cup raspberries, plus more for garnish (I used frozen raspberries).
• Chocolate frosting (I decided to use chocolate frosting as opposed to the chocolate ganache that is called for in the original recipe but you can use either).

For the frosting - 

• 1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips (I used these ones)
• 1/2 cup Almond oil.

Method:

Preheat your oven to 175C/350F. Grease and line a 22cm/9in round cake pan using a bit of melted coconut oil.

In a medium sized mixing bowl add in the eggs, honey, vanilla and almond milk and mix together using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer.

Add in the salt and baking soda and continue to mix.

Sift in the coconut flour and keep mixing until the batter is smooth. You may have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Next add in the cocoa powder and melted coconut oil and again mix until smooth.

Add in your fresh/frozen raspberries and fold them in using a spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth over to make an even layer.

Bake for 35 minutes.

Let the cake cool before removing it from the pan.

When the cake has cooled, you can make your frosting by adding your chocolate chips into a saucepan and melting them over low heat, making sure to stir frequently using a wooden spoon.

Once the chocolate chips are melted, remove from the heat and stir through the almond oil.

Pour into a bowl, cover and let it cool in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the freezer and blend with a hand mixer.

The original recipe says that the frosting will become fluffy after mixing but mine was still runny, I poured it over the cake anyway and set the cake in the fridge for a couple of hours until the chocolate on top set.

To garnish, add some raspberries on top.