the cavegirl dish

Paleo Sweet (ch)Eats: Strawberry Shortcake Cakepops

2013-05-03T13:03:00.001-07:00

My friend Emily is obsessed with Cakepops so I decided to make her a little treat for her birthday last night. I wanted to do something different from a traditional cake, so I found this great brown butter strawberry shortcake recipe from Roost (they have a pretty great looking meringue too).

I'll list the recipe below, if you don't feel like clicking on the original link, but first I'll explain the basics of making a cakepop.

There are tons of amazing blogs with ridiculously adorable and cray designs, but I went for a simple dark chocolate and coconut combo. Peruse the interwebz if you'd like to be a bit more adventurous.

Cakepop assembly consists of four steps:
1. Bake a cake
2. Form balls of cake once the cake has cooled to a manageable temperature
3. Stick skewers or lollipop sticks in the balls and freeze for 15-30 minutes
4. Dip, decorate, cool and nom!

Okay, so step 4 could easily be 5-10 steps in itself, but you get the gist.

Brown Butter Strawberry Shortcake
1 3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp maple syrup/honey
3 eggs
4 tbsp grass-fed butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup strawberries (chopped)

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Grease a 8" cake pan with coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a small sauce pan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until fragrant. If you are substituting with coconut oil, skip this step. In a separate bowl, blend the rest of the ingredients together, except for the strawberries. Then add the melted butter or coconut oil to the mixture until well blended. Fold in the strawberries and then pour the batter into the cake pan.

Bake for 25 minutes.

I melted some Enjoy Life chocolate chunks to dip my cake balls and then coated with unsweetened coconut.

Sweet and Tangy Tuna Steak

2013-04-28T18:23:00.001-07:00

I reached an all time record on money spent at Fairway today, but I'm not upset because its going to be a full week (or more) of delicious quality noms!

Lucky me, one of my roommates bought an extra tuna steak and asked me to come up with a little something. I decided to go for a sweeter, crisp marinade to reflect the warm weather today.

4 tuna steaks
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup coconut aminos
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 tspn chopped oregano
1/2 tspn ground black pepper

Mix the ingredients and marinade the tuna steaks for at least 40 minutes. Heat your FOC over medium heat in a pan, or grill the steaks for 5 minutes on each side.

Quick and easy! Happy nomming!

Hawaiian Short Ribs

2013-04-14T07:28:00.001-07:00

This recipe is partly courtesy of Martha Stewart (original recipe here). The slow cooker has become a great friend of mine... Only problem is that when I'm actually home, I'm very inpatient and want to check the cooker every hour. #culinarytorture

3.5-4lbs grass-fed short ribs (trim fat)
2 red onions - thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves - smashed
3" piece of ginger - peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup coconut aminos
5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp sriracha
3 cups pineapple - peeled and cubed
Chopped scallion

Line the bottom of a slow cooker with the onions, garlic and ginger. Line the short ribs tightly over the onions. In a bowl, whisk together the aminos, vinegar and sriracha, and pour over the ribs. Cook on high for 4 hours, then add the pineapple and cook for an additional hour.

Serve with caulirice and some roasted seaweed strips and enjoy!

Paleo Sweet (ch)eats: Strawberry Banana Muffins

2013-04-10T19:37:00.001-07:00

So I've joined cavecouple Tiff and John on their "Carb nite" experiment, which means a reason to come up with a few sweeter creations every 5-7 days... It's been a long time since I've baked anything that's really on the sweeter side, so I decided to go for a fruity number. I love baking, and they're delicious goodies, but eat one and give the rest of the batch away! Remember, sharing is caring!

1 3/4 cup almond flour
2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn salt
5 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
2 eggs
2 tspn vanilla
2 ripe bananas - mashed
1 cup strawberries - chopped

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. In a small bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix the banana and strawberries- make sure to drain the excess fluid from the strawberries. In a large bowl, which the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla. Then, add the dry ingredients and the fruit mixture alternately.

Scoop the batter into a lined or pre-buttered/oiled cupcake pan about 3/4 full each. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Pudding

2013-04-04T20:44:00.001-07:00

Is this even a cheat? This dairy-free, sugar-free, ultra low-carb pudding is TOTES AMAZE. (Am I late on that phrase? I feel like it's been around awhile and I've never pulled it out. So there's that.)

Well, I thought I was creative and original when I put this baby together, but while I googling Grass Fed Girl's original Dark Chocolate Gelatin pudding to credit her for the inspiration, I found that she did this same thing not a month ago. I guess my recipe varies a little bit, but still I feel I should give her credit since my recipe is based off her her chocolate pudding. If you don't already know who she is, check out her website, linked above.

Anyway, here's my recipe. I LOVE this. I started making the dark chocolate one as a non-cheat treat on our Carb Nite Solution diet but never having been a HUGE chocolate fan (I KNOW PALEO BLASPHEME) I wanted some variation. This is slightly higher in carb content because of the addition of pumpkin, but it's still pretty darn low carb.

Pumpkin Spice Pudding (Makes 2 servings)

1/2 can full fat coconut milk (please try to fine BPA free cans)

1/4 cup organic pumpkin puree

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 pinches stevia powder

1 pinch sea salt

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp gelatin (I use Great Lakes - grass fed!)

In a sauce pan, warm coconut milk over low heat, about 2 minutes. Add pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and stevia powder. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl, mix cool water and gelatin then pour mixture into the warmed coconut milk. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Remove from heat and pour into two small bowls. Refrigerate until set - about 2 hours.

Pudding will be slightly gelatinous on the spoon but has the mouth feel of pudding!

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Check out Grass Fed Girl's break down on gelatin. I don't need to repeat work that's already been done. :)

Also, don't use lite coconut milk - it WILL come out gelatinous, like that Jell-O crap. Speaking of, if anyone makes this and tries freezing it, please let us know how it turns out. I have an inkling it might turn out like Bill Cosby's Jell-O pudding pops. K, bye!

Macronutrient breakdown per serving:

Protein - 6 g

Carbs - 7 g (fiber subtracted)

Fat - 28 g

Oven Fried Chicken

2013-04-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hi, guys!

If you haven't seen some of the discussion on our FB page, then you probably don't know that I'm 6 weeks into the Carb Nite Solution. It's an ultra low carb program with a weekly refeed. Read the book!

Anyway, if I got nothing out of it, I'm at least taking away the best solution for breading. The author is a genius. (He really is - he does physics.) PORK RINDS. Chicharrones. The cleanest kind I've found is Domingo's Traditional Chicharrones. Ingredients: Pork, salt. Every other brand I've come across had some kind of chemical crap. Totally unnecessary. Anyway, the whole process of breading and oven frying these suckers is pretty simple, and I'm sure you could do it with any other meat. Chicken fried steak? Fish sticks? Done. Here goes:

Oven Fried Chicken
2 lbs chicken breast
1/2 bag Domingo's Traditional Chicharrones (or any other clean brand)
2 eggs
1/2-1 cup coconut flour
2 tbsp Seasoning blend of choice (I used Kirkland's organic blend and added chili powder)
1 tsp pure sea salt
1/2 cup palm shortening or coconut oil for frying

In a food processor, blend together pork rinds, seasoning blend and sea salt.

Prep chicken breasts. Place each breast between two large sheets of plastic wrap and pound flat (approximately 1/4 inch thick) with a meat mallet. Cut flattened chicken into desired size.

Using 3 separate baking dishes or large flat bowls, lay out pork rind "breading" in one bowl, whisk eggs in the second bowl and add coconut flour to the third.

Bring your frying oil to temperature over medium heat. This could take up to 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350º.

When the frying oil is heated, begin the process by dredging one piece of chicken in coconut flour. Shake off excess. Give it a coat of egg wash, then dredge in the pork rind breading.

Gently place in the hot skillet and fry each side for 2-3 minutes. Pull off of heat when done and set aside. Repeat until all pieces are pre-fried.

Arrange chicken on a baking rack on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

2013-03-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

When I was really starting to get into the Paleo lifestyle, I was hooked on these premade "Gourmet Buffalo Chicken Meatballs" available at Trader Joe's. Check the deets:

(img credit: http://www.whatsgoodattraderjoes.com/)

NAHT great. Could be worse, but definitely not as clean as we are now. I suppose every small step takes us just that much closer to our goal. Today, we'd never dream of picking these up - especially when we can make them ourselves.

Also, you guys must think we're obsessed with Buffalo chicken. Maybe we are. But what's not to like? Tangy, spicy, chock full of good fat (if you use the right kind... *cough cough* heads up, Trader Joe's).

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

1 lb ground chicken

1/4 C grass fed butter or ghee

3 T apple cider vinegar

2 T (or more) hot pepper sauce of choice (I used Frontera Chipotle Hot Sauce. Awesome ingredients. I heart Rick Bayliss.)

1/2 t chili powder

1/2 t garlic powder

sea salt to taste

Dump all ingredients into a sauce pan over medium-low heat. As butter is melting, stir to combine. Taste and add more hot pepper sauce and salt to achieve desired taste. Let sauce cool enough to handle.

In a large bowl, combine ground chicken and HALF of the sauce. Form into small meatballs, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Preheat large oven safe skillet over medium high heat. Coat with butter or ghee. Brown meatballs all around, in batches. When all meatballs are browned, add them all back into the skillet and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the meatballs.

When done, combine cooked meatballs and remaining sauce in a bowl and toss to coat.

Serve over salad or with you veggie of choice!

Cajun Shrimp

2013-03-20T19:52:00.001-07:00

Hi cave-friends! Sorry for our negligence... I've had a few recipes in stock, but life's been a little crazy and blogging-unfortunately-was put on the back burner. I'm going to blame it all on the excitement and anticipation of hanging with cave-baby Roarke for a week keke.

It was the BEST. WEEK. EVER. No exaggeration, the boy lights up the room. Not to mention the whole, spending the week eating good food, working out with CG Tiff, and lounging at home with my family.

CG Tiff and CB John have done an amazing job raising a beautiful, healthy paleo baby. He now. He has seven chompers and was nomming on liver wurst, sausage, olives, carrots, paleo crackers (recipe to come), etc like a champ!

Alas, my staycation is over and it's back to reality. This recipe is something I whipped up one weeknight when i just couldn't resistthe fresh seafood from Wild Edibles at the Grand Central Market. You can use either cabbage or caulirice with this bad boy, add in some other veggies like carrots if you'd like as well.

Cajun Shrimp
1lb shrimp -shelled and deveined
1 red bell pepper - julienned or diced
1 small yellow onion - finely sliced
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 scallion - finely sliced on an angle
1/2 head of cabbage -chopped or sliced finely
2 tbsp cajun seasoning (see below)

In a skillet, heat your FOC over medium heat and sauté the garlic and onion until the onion begins to turn translucent. Then add the red bell pepper, scallions, cabbage and cajun seasoning. When the cabbage begins to tender, add the shrimp and mix well. The shrimp will be ready when it begins to pink, be careful not too over cook, or it will be chewy and tough.

Cajun Seasoning (makes 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/4 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Happy nomming!

Cauli-orzo

2013-02-20T18:38:00.001-08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm having a bit of a love affair with caulirice and the like. It is so easy to take a head or two, "rice" them up ahead of time, and cook up fresh for each meal. It helps to have a food processor or

Cauli-orzo
1 head of "riced" cauliflower
1 onion - diced
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 tspn paprika
1 tspn cayenne
2 tspn cumin
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp gf butter (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet or large wok, heat the oil and sauté the onion until they become translucent, then add the garlic. Add the almonds, cauliflower and spices. Cook for a few minutes, then add the cranberries. Stir and cook over medium heat for five minutes, adding the butter if you choose to.

Honey Sriracha Wings

2013-02-09T08:30:00.001-08:00

I found this recipe on Food Network and am so glad I decided to give it a shot! I've made it twice now, with great reviews. I will definitely be playing around with different sauces for these crisp, baked wings.

For the wings:
2 lbs chicken wings
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp grass-fed butter
1 tspn garlic (granulated or finely minced)
1 tspn salt and pepper

Melt the butter and coconut oil, and whisk in the garlic, salt and pepper. Pat dry the wings and toss in the butter mix. Lay out evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400F for 45-50 minutes.

For the sauce:
5 tbsp grass-fed butter
1/4-1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup sriracha (here's Nom Nom Paleo's homemade recipe)
1 tbsp coconut aminos
Juice of 2 limes

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a gentle bubble and remove from heat. Set aside to toss your crisp wings in the sauce.

Thai Chicken in "Peanut" Sauce

2013-02-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

So I know, like, food looks and tastes best when it's not, um, all brown. But right now I don't care because this dish was TASTY. Yeah, the picture could be better but it's chicken with cauliflower "rice" with a brown sauce.

I guess you could add some colorful veggies or some green onion for more flavor and color. The beauty about cooking, or even finding interesting recipes on a random small blog is that you can always modify it to suit your needs and preferences.

All that being said, I'm really excited about this because it's my first pressure cooker experiment, ever. Since I'm high pressure cooking newb, I sourced the world wide webz and came across Pressure Cooking Today, and their chicken recipe. (Yes, their photo is 100x more delicious looking. I'm pretty sure it's the green onion that makes it.)

Anyway, here's the paleo version, inspired by Pressure Cooking Today!

Thai Chicken in "Peanut"(Almond) Sauce

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup homemade broth
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup coconut aminos
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon arrowroot or tapioca powder
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chopped almonds or nut of choice
green onions, chopped for garnish, optional -__-

Heat pressure cooker on medium high. Add coconut oil to the pressure cooker pot. Brown the meat in small batches. Set aside the browned chicken on a platter.

When all chicken is browned, add chicken broth, almond butter, coconut aminos, lime juice, chili powder and ginger. Deglaze pot and stir to combine.

Add the browned chicken back to the pot. Cover pot and lock lid in place.

Turn up flame to high and allow pressure to build. When the pressure indicator pops up, (or however your pot is designed to indicate pressure) reduce flame to low. Let cook for 9 minutes.

Turn off pressure cooker and allow pressure to release, either naturally or via quick release. Remove chicken thighs from the pot leaving the sauce.

In a small bowl, dissolve arrowroot/tapioca powder in 2 tablespoons water. Add mixture to the sauce in the pot stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. After sauce thickens, add chicken thighs and coat with the sauce.

I served with basic fried cauliflower rice.

Stuffed Flank Steak

2013-01-31T19:50:00.001-08:00

The other day, a friend from the gym asked me to make her lunch. Luckily, I had just done my shopping for the week at the newly opened Fairway a few blocks south (thank the paleo gods because it is amazing), and happened to leave out a bag of frozen spinach to thaw while I worked out. So impromptu post-wod lunch became a stuffed flank steak!

Stuffed Flank Steak
1lb grass-fed flank steak
1 bag frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup roasted red pepper-chopped
4 cloves garlic-minced
1/4 cup raw mozzarella (optional)

Butterfly cut the flank steak and lay out flat. Grass-fed cuts tend to be more fibrous, so you may want to even pound the meat to tenderize [Disclaimer: I was super lazy and did not butterfly my cut, but I recommend doing so]. Strain out all excess water from the thawed chopped spinach and mix with the rest of the vegetables. Lay out a thin layer of the stuffing on the butterflied steak and sprinkle the cheese on top (if you're using it), be sure to leave about an inch on all sides.

Begin on one end and roll up the steak. Use cooking twine and secure the roll, place on a baking dish and bake for 40-50 minutes at 400F. Slice up and serve! Get creative with your mix-ins for the stuffings, use sun-dried tomato, onion, olives, etc.

Happy nomming!

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

2013-01-27T15:23:00.001-08:00

I've been adding in some raw cheese here and there, and... I don't hate it. There's something about rich, melty cheese that just hits the spot. Sorry to the strictly dairy free, you can just leave the cheese off this recipe, it's still delish without (I promise).

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
1 spaghetti squash
1 lb grass-fed chuck
3 cloves garlic -minced
1 small onion -diced
1 tbsp crushed red pepper
15 oz tomato sauce
Salt and pepper

Cut the spaghetti squash length-wise and scoop the seeds out. Drizzle your choice of oil over the halves, place seeded sides down on a baking sheet and bake in a 400F oven for 45-50 minutes- or until tender.

While the squash bakes, cook the onion and garlic in a skillet for 3-5 minute in your FOC and then add the ground beef to brown. Add the sauce and red pepper flakes, and season to taste.

Once the squash has baked, bring up some of the "spaghetti" strands with a fork in each half. Then, fill each cavity with the meat sauce and cover with slices of fresh, raw mozzarella. Broil for 5 minutes- you'll know it's done when the cheese begins to bubble and brown. Garnish with fresh basil and nom away!

Zucchini and Carrot Curry Soup

2013-01-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

You know, for the past 7.5 months, I've been telling myself that "tomorrow will be a less hectic day." Alas, friends, I have ended each day going to bed repeating that same thought only to be proven wrong, day-in and day-out. NO ONE TOLD ME BABIES STEAL ALL YOUR TIME. So I'm warning you all. Not that it's not wonderful work, but truly, motherhood -- parenthood -- is no joke.

That being said, a big "Thank you" to CG Jenn for being the more consistant blog partner, and a big ol' "Get your ass in gear" to me.

I put this soup together for a friend on the mend from having surgery. She's a Crossfitting, firefighting, entrepreneur-ing mother of 4 who also holds down an office job. I don't know how she does it all. I'm exhausted just thinking about everything it takes to run a house of 6, not to mention everything else on top. She also just started a new business that's really taken off and I'm super happy for her. If you haven't heard of The Sox Box, check them out - awesome sox for your Crossfit and other such fitness needs!

Zucchini and Carrot Curry Soup
1 tbsp grass fed butter, ghee or coconut oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4-5 large zucchini, diced

2 medium carrots, diced
2 teaspoons curry powder
4 cups chicken broth
Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper
Cayenne pepper

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot. Sauté onion and carrot until onions are translucent. Add garlic and zucchini and cook until the garlic smells fragrant. Add curry powder and chicken stock, stir to combine. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Purée the soup with an immersion blender. Return to pot to reheat.

Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.

Hooray soup! I topped mine with rotisserie chicken to round out the meal.

Thai Shrimp Curry

2013-01-18T20:26:00.001-08:00

This recipe is inspired from something I saw during the countless hours I've amassed perusing Pinterest. Feel free to vary the amount of curry paste to fit your palette, I love my dishes on the spicier side.

Thai Shrimp Curry
1/2lb shrimp - peeled, deveined
15 oz coconut milk
3 tbsp Thai curry paste (I used red)
1 tbsp coconut palm sugar
1 red bell pepper - julienne
1/2 bunch asparagus - cut into bite size pieces
1 lime
Caulirice

Heat 1/4 cup of the coconut milk in a skillet and whisk in the curry paste. Once it begins to "bloom", add the remaining coconut milk and bring to a boil. Then add the palm sugar and mix.

Add the bell pepper and asparagus, and spritz in the lime juice. Cook for about five minutes and add the shrimp. Remove the skillet from the heat when the shrimp become opaque- be careful not to overcook or they'll be chewy!

Serve over caulirice and enjoy!

Roasted Bone Marrow aka bone butter

2013-01-14T18:09:00.001-08:00

I purchased some grass-fed bone marrow from Fresh Direct a loooong time ago, and they've just been waiting for me in my freezer. If you don't know much about bone marrow and its health benefits, here's a bit o' knowledge from Father Grok.

So, there's been a bug going around, and I decided I needed an extra boost of nutrients. Don't be intimidated by bone marrow, it's super simple! I roasted a batch, used some to spread on spinach bread, saved some to add to meatballs/burgers, and am currently using the leftover bones for broth. One batch of bones is giving me SO many different options!

Pre-heat your oven to 450F. Place your bones in a roasting pan or baking dish (some people like to soak their bones in water for 24 hours prior to use). Roast the bones for 15-20 minutes; watch the marrow to be loose and giving, making sure not to over-render/melt away the marrow. Season with raw sea salt and crushed black pepper, spread on bread or serve with a sharp salad (arugula and parsley, dressed in lemon juice and capers). Fun fact: this is Anthony Bourdain's choice as his last supper.

I used our spinach bread recipe, but used 1/2 cup of almond meal instead of the toasted pine nuts.

My leftover bones are currently soaking in water with three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and will be used for broth. Can't wait!

Spicy Butternut Squash Sausage and Cabbage

2012-12-12T19:40:00.001-08:00

I was originally going to make this as a pasta with spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles... So feel free to do so! I didn't have either at hand, but had some cabbage to use as makeshift noodles.

Spicy Butternut Squash Sausage and Cabbage
1 medium butternut squash - cubed
4 links spicy sausage
1 shallot - sliced or diced
4 cloves garlic - minced
2 cups diced cabbage
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp grass-fed butter
1 tbsp cayenne pepper

In a heated skillet, cook the spicy sausage in the coconut oil, breaking the links apart as they brown for about 5 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic and cabbage and sauté over medium heat.

While the sausage is cooking, boil the butternut squash until fork tender. Drain and pulse in a food processor for a few minutes. As it begins to purée, pulse in the butter and cayenne.

Add the butternut squash purée to the sausage mixture and coat completely. Serve and nom away!

Gobble Gobble, Turkey Pot Pie!

2012-12-05T19:32:00.001-08:00

Hey, folks!

Happy holiday season and a fantastic coming new year! (Threw that in there in case I don't get to post before we get through the rest of 2012. :\ Womp face.)

Here's a little something from Thanksgiving. We had another paleo dish swap at my gym, Thanksgiving style! I had a hard time coming up with something that wasn't pumpkin related, but I had been wanting to do a savory pie for a while so why not now? Turned out pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself. I wouldn't do this so often though, there's a bit of starch for thickening and binding the crust.

Turkey Pot Pie (serves 6-8)
3 lbs boneless turkey, white or dark meat, diced
2 tbsp grass fed butter, or coconut oil, divided
2 medium parsnips, in 1/2 inch cubes or smaller
2 medium carrots, 1/2 inch cubes or smaller
1 large onion, diced
2 cups mushrooms, diced
1 large bunch kale, removed from stem and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 cups broth
2 tbsp arrowroot or tapioca powder
sea salt and pepper

For crust
3 eggs
1/2 cup palm shortening
1 cup blanched almond flour (you want the fine texture versus the more gritty almond meal)
1/4 cup arrowroot or tapioca powder

In a large hot skillet, sauté diced turkey in 1 tbsp of your FOC (fat of choice) until browned on the outside. (Does not need to be cooked through.) This may have to be done in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Set aside.

In same skillet, melt remaining FOC and add parsnips, carrots, onion, mushrooms, kale and garlic. Sauté until onions are translucent, salt and pepper to taste.

Add cooked turkey.

Add broth and bring to a simmer.

In a small bowl, combine arrowroot powder with enough cold water to be more liquid than paste. Turn heat source to low and pour into liquid in skillet. Stir until the liquid begins to thicken. Turn off heat.

Dump contents of pan into a large baking dish and spread evenly. You can also use individual ramekins, as pictured above.

Combine all ingredients for crust in a large bowl. Pour and gently spread over baking dish.

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350º oven. Voila!

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Cave baby update! He's 6 months old. All grown and ready to find a job and pay rent. At least run errands to the farmers market?

He's now on some solids, including soft boiled egg yolk, a little liver, avocado and sweet potato! We're wholeheartedly endorsing the WAP traditional foods philosophy on nourishing our little one. He loves having breakfast with us.

He's so active and smart - am I biased? Sure. He's very vocal, social, engaging, physical and opinionated. The pediatrician remarked on all of these things and fully supports our lifestyle! Yay for open-minded progressive docs!

Sweet Potato Tuna Cakes

2012-12-04T18:11:00.001-08:00

This recipe can be used with freshly cooked and shredded tuna or salmon... I happened to have some tuna at hand, so that's what I went with.

Sweet Potato Tuna Cake
8-10 oz flaked tuna
1 cup grated sweet potato
2 eggs - whisked
1 small onion - diced
2 tbsp coconut flour
1/4 tspn sea salt
1/2 tbsp dill

In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients and form into patties. In a heated skillet, pan-fry the patties in your FOC (I used grass-fed butter) until they are browned on each side.

Happy nomming!

Sweet Potato Turkey Chili

2012-11-29T12:00:00.002-08:00

Oh the weather outside is frightful ... or starting to get that way at least! With the winter chill in the air, I really wanted something warm with a little kick. I haven't made chili in a while, so I broke out the slow cooker and whipped up a spoonful of hot paleo goodness to cook overnight while I slept! This is a really quick prep, throw it all in, mix, and wake up to a kitchen filled with delicious smells.

Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
3 sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped
1 medium onion - diced
3 garlic cloves - minced
28oz can crushed tomato
14oz can diced tomato
1 tablespoon cayenne or smoked paprika (depending on your preference)
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1lb ground turkey

Mix everything together in the slow cooker and set on LOW for 10 hours.

Happy nomming!

Coconut Chicken Tenders

2012-11-26T19:11:00.001-08:00

Did anyone else fall victim to the "Sandy 5"? Displaced from my powerless home, I found myself eating out most nights or snacking.... Definitely did a number on my body. Anywho, I'm slowly recovering from the wrath of Sandy and finally getting back into cooking.

This recipe is an easy transition back...

Coconut Chicken Tenders
1lb chicken tenderloin
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup almond/coconut milk
3 cups coconut flakes

Pre-heat the oven to 375F.

Set up an assembly line in shallow dishes of the flour, whisked eggs and milk, and coconut flakes. Dredge each tenderloin in the flour, then the egg mix, and finally the coconut flakes.

Line the tenders on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly toasted and the chicken cooked through.

I had mine sautéed spinach, kale and cashews. Happy nomming!

Skillet Taco Pie

2012-10-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well, hello! Here's a recipe I've been meaning to work on for a while now and today was the day. I found this pin on Pinterest about a month ago and I had forgotten about it. Admit it, you know we all go through Pinterest with the intention of totally gonna nail it and either a) let it get lost in the deep, dark, depths of your "BEST NOMs" board or b) this:

Image courtesy: http://craftfail.com

So I hopped on the Pinterest train about a month ago (personal account, not The Cavegirl Dish) and this Taco Pie was one of the first pins that made it on my Cavegirl Dish Project board. And alas, here we are today.

This dish was easy to make through the course of the day while I could get 5 minutes here and there. But of course, you can do it all at once.

Paleo Skillet Taco Pie
FOR THE CRUST
1 cup almond flour
1 large egg
dash sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1/4 tsp olive oil
1 tsp coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350º.

Coat cast iron or nonstick oven-safe skillet with coconut oil.

In a bowl, combine remaning ingredients. Let it come together and knead into a dough ball.

Set dough in center of skillet. Using hands evenly spread dough outward toward the edges until a lip forms along the sides. You may want to wet your hands or use a little oil on fingers to keep the dough from sticking.

Bake in oven for 10 minutes.

FOR THE FILLING
2 lbs grass-fed ground beef
2 tbsp taco seasoning (see below for recipe)
2 eggs

In a large pan, cook ground beef with taco seasoning until browned. Remove from pan and let cool.

In a separate bowl, combine cooled beef and egg. Pour into "tortilla" crust in the cast iron skillet and pat down to create an even layer.

Place in 350º oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Top with taco "condiments," slice and serve!

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I chose shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, guacamole that I had thawed a few days ago (so nice to have this pre-made and frozen!) and onions and peppers fried in the ground beef grease. I fried them while the filling was baking then added them to the pie for the last 10 minutes of the baking process.

Admittedly, this is a messy dish to eat. It came out of the skillet nicely, but once we dug into it, it was a taco esplosion on our plates. This dish is probably more for the novelty of it being a savory pie, but it was delicious nonetheless.

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Taco Seasoning (I was lucky I had all this stuff - I didn't have any prepared taco seasoning!)
1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Easy peasy. Also, here's an obligatory/gratuitous pic of the cavebaby with his new paleo teething toy.

Paleo Sweet (ch)Eats: Pumpkin Cookies

2012-10-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

I've had an itch to bake lately... maybe its the fall weather, the surplus of pumpkin in the markets, or maybe it's that I almost always have a hankering to bake. What can I say? It's like therapy for me. Anyhow, I've done pumpkin bread, muffin, brownies, and what I think is my most triumphant pumpkin related cavegirl experiment so far - the pumpkin roll. This time around, I decided to try a softer cookie of sorts. Hope you like it!

Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup hazelnut flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
3/4 cup coconut palm/honey OR 2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup grapeseed oil OR applesauce
1 1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tspn vanilla extract
Optional mix-ins: 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries, coconut flakes, pecans, walnuts, etc.
Note: I've included sweetener and oil alternatives for those on challenges or detoxes

Pre-heat the oven to 325F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, powder, soda and cinnamon. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sweetener until light and smooth. Mix in the remaining wet ingredients until well blended. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and then finally, fold in your optional mix-ins. (I was prepping the cookie dough while making dinner, so I chilled my dough in the fridge while I wrapped up my meal)

Use an ice cream scoop or tablespoon to scoop out even mounds of the "dough" onto the prepped cookie sheets. Bake for 25-30 minutes and let cool. These cookies are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, best served as soon as they've cooled to touch.

Bulgogi Burger

2012-10-08T18:36:00.001-07:00

I was hardcore jonesing for some Korean barbeque the other night. I mean, I almost ran to Koreatown to get my fix. If it hadn't been for my jumbo load of laundry drying downstairs, I might have caved and gone. Side note: someone had the nerve to pull my laundry out and steal my minutes! All my clothes were still damp and I had at least ten minutes left when I went back downstairs... Who does that?!

Sorry... I was really upset and am still not over the fact that in the process, they stole one or my wod knee socks.

Anyway, let's get back on track...This is a quick recipe, and one that you can make in bulk and freeze for later... aka perfect for my work/gym schedule.

Bulgogi Burgers
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 tspn garlic powder
3 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tbsp red chili sesame oil
1/2 tspn ground black pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
2 tspn sesame seeds
1 1/2 lb grass-fed ground meat

In a bowl, mix together all the marinade ingredients and work into the ground meat. Form into even patties, your choice in size. Heat a griddle or skillet with your fat of choice and cook to your desired temperature.

I grilled my patty just enough to get pretty grill marks on one side, flipped and covered for a few minutes to get a nice medium temperature burger.

Serve in a lettuce wrap, pure wrap, paleo buns, or plain with veggies or a salad. I had mine with sautéed brussel sprouts and radish kimchi.

Happy nomming!

Cinnamon Cranapple Pork Roast

2012-09-26T17:53:00.001-07:00

This is one of the easiest slow cooker recipes you'll find ... To be fair, most slow cooker recipes are really easy and simple. Most slow cooked pork roast recipes call for brown sugar or some added sweetener, but the apples and cranberries in this one does the job!

Cinnamon Cranapple Pork Roast
Pork Roast
2 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1/2-3/4 cup whole dried cranberries
Ground cinnamon

Slice the pork roast, leaving about an once along the bottom in tact. Stuff each cut with apple slices, dried cranberries and ground cinnamon, reserving some for the slow-cooker. Line the slow-cooker with some apple slices and ground cinnamon. Place the stuffed pork on top of the apples and cover with the remaining apple slices and cranberries. Cover with the ground cinnamon and cook on low for 7 hours.