Paleo Cinnamon Banana Bread

by 9 Comments

Paleo cinnamon banana bread

I try not to make/bake too many dessert or treat like recipes… ‘try’ being the operative word here because those things don’t last very long in our house and I definitely have poor control issues when it comes to such food! So I try and go as long as I can between making these things but when I do I want something SPECIAL!

One of my FAVOURITE treats is from my friend Alisa over at Paleo in PDX. I’ve made her ‘Cinnamon Roll Squash Muffins’ a number of times now and each time they come out a treat! The first time I made them I added in apples as well, you can see that version here.

Last week I really wanted to make these muffins again and was all ready to go but then I realised I didn’t have any squash of any kind, canned or fresh! And actually I’m not even sure I could find squash right now in England! I did have some bananas on hand though and thought why not sub these in for the squash instead! And then halfway through mixing the ingredients I thought why not turn this into banana bread instead? And I did! The result was a deliciously soft banana bread that was full of the flavour of cinnamon (just the way I like it) and with just the right amount of sweetness… [Read more…]

Grass-Fed Meat & Vegetable Muffins

by 18 Comments

Grass-ffd meat and vegetable muffins

Remember how I said I was ready to get back into teaching, well I’m booked in to visit with a teaching agency next week so they can help me look for work and place me in schools around our area. I’m nervous/excited/anxious about the whole thing! It’s been a while since I’ve been in an actual classroom, let alone in a new country so fingers crossed it all goes well. And hopefully I can start picking up some work soon.

I feel like the longer I’m out of the classroom the harder it will be to get back into things and I don’t want that to happen. I’m hoping for a full-time job but for the start I think doing substitute/supply teaching might be the way to go just so I can get back into the swing of things. Well I’ll let you know how I get on at the teaching agency interview next week!

In other news I recently discovered a UK based website that sells grass-fed/pastured meats and raw milk. Actually they started following me on Twitter and then I jumped onto their website and was like OMG! Seriously that stuff makes me more excited than a new pair of shoes (I’m so not a girly girl)! Anyway I ended up ordering a few things from them, some marrow bones, some beef liver and raw milk… I didn’t order any other meat though since our freezer is already packed full but decided to get some marrow and liver since these are often bits of the animal that people bypass but they are some of the healthiest part of an animal, plus they are usually cheaper than the prime cuts because of the fact that people bypass them. [Read more…]

Paleo Cinnamon Cardamom Pear Cake

by 17 Comments

Plate of paleo cinnamon and cardamom pear cake

There are times when I’ll be reading a book, browsing the net or doing some other usual every day task when all of a sudden I’ll get this voice niggling in my head saying ok I’ve got a recipe idea for you… I promise it’s not as crazy as it sounds!

It’s more like I’ll think of an ingredient and then all these other ingredients will come into my mind and I’ll think hmmmm what can I do with that and then BAM a recipe! Sometimes the translation between my brain and the final dish don’t always turn out how I’d imagined but most of the time things turn out GREAT!

Case in point this cake recipe I’m about to share with you. I was reading my book the other day and all I could think about were pears… no idea why but it just kept popping into my head, and then almond flour next and then all these other ingredients until finally I thought I NEED TO MAKE A CAKE!!!

And so I did… and it turned out bloody good! I just had a phone call from Joe at work telling me “I just had some of your cake it was delicious, you should have given me more”…. I WIN! And so does he because luckily I haven’t managed to gobble it all down myself so he’ll have some waiting for him tonight 🙂

Paleo Cinnamon Cardamom Pear Cake

Plate of paleo cinnamon and cardamom pear cake

Ingredients:
  • 1-2 large pears slightly soft.
  • 1.5 cups almond flour.
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted) + more for cooking the pears and greasing the cake pan.
  • 2 large pastured eggs separated (at room temperature).
  • 1/3 cup raw honey (melted).
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon.
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom.
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract.
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda.
  • Pinch sea salt.
  • Pinch cream of tartar.
Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Line a round cake pan (mine was 9 x 1.5in) with parchment paper and grease using a little melted coconut oil. Set aside.

Place a skillet on medium heat and add in about 1 Tbsp coconut oil. Peel your pear(s) and slice into even rounds. Add the sliced pear to the pan and cook on either side for a 1-2 minutes. Remove the pear slices to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.

In a medium-large mixing bowl sift in your almond flour, then add in your cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda and sea salt. Mix together and set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric beater, mix together your egg yolks, raw honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract.

Next take your egg whites and add in a pinch of cream of tartar. Using a whip attachment on your electric beater or stand mixer, whip the egg whites until you get soft peaks.

Now it’s time to put everything together. Add your egg yolk mixture into the bowl with the almond flour and spices and mix together.

Take a spatula and add in 1/3 of your egg white mixture and fold through. Do this another two times until all the egg white mixture is folded through. Remember to be gentle with this part as you want the cake to be soft and airy when it comes out.

Now layer your pear slices onto the bottom of the cake pan. Try to do it so that they overlap each other slightly.

Pour the cake batter on top of the layer of pears and using your spatula, spread the batter evenly over the top. You might think it’s not enough but trust me it will cover it!

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes* or until a toothpick/fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before flipping the cake over.

ENJOY!

* I’ve noticed that my new oven bakes things very quickly! It doesn’t even require preheating, so I’m still trying to get the hang of it. Check on this cake after 25 minutes just to make sure you don’t over cook it… but of course yours might take a bit longer.

Paleo Saffron Rose Water and Pistachio Ice Cream

by 23 Comments

Glass of paleo saffron rose water and pistachio ice cream

I’m always excited when I get to share a recipe on here, but I’m especially excited about this one! I’m not sure why it never occurred to me to make this particular recipe before but that now I have I’m glad I did…. it’s AMAZING! [Read more…]

Google+