Need a coffee pick me up??

I love coffee.  Ok, that's an understatement, but you don't really want my true coffee feelings broadcast all over the web.

Since removing refined sugar from my daily life, though, coffee has been harder and harder for me to drink.  I admit it.  I doctor my coffee up.  Sugar, cream, sometimes flavorings.  Mocha, caramel, I'm not prejudice.  But now...coffee makes me sad.  :(  I have yet to find anything that compares to refined sugar and bottled, flavored creamer for my coffee.  I'm thankful that the paleo lifestyle gives me TONS of energy and I wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day, otherwise, well, me and that sugar bowl would still be good friends!

I've made at least three homemade creamers.  I've used coconut cream, coconut milk and almond milk.  I've used maple syrup and honey.  None are good enough.  I did resort to just putting chocolate coconut milk in my coffee and that was ok.

In my never-ending search for the perfect paleo coffee, I found this recipe and just had to try it!  I enjoyed it a lot.  I'm sure the banana helped give it the sweet kick it needed.  I will make this throughout the summer.  The recipe says it is one serving, but it couldn't finish it quick enough, so you might be able to split it with someone.  Or not!!!

 

Banana Mocha Shake from Paleo Spirit

1 frozen banana, sliced

1/2 c ice cubes

1/2 c strong coffee

2 TBS cocoa powder

1 TBS honey

1 TBS coconut butter

Small splash vanilla

Blend in blender until smooth.  Enjoy! 

The link will give you directions on how to make coffee ice cubes.

If you don't want to make this, but enjoy cold coffee, you might try this.  I'm a fan and have a few stashed in my fridge.  Just an FYI, they do contain sugar.

Butternut Squash...A Trial Run

As we move into incorporating more and more fresh foods into our everyday diet, I am having to experiment and try new things.  I will admit, that up until a few weeks ago, I never had squash of any kind.  I have never, ever and I mean never liked pumpkin.  In my mind, squash = pumpkin.  I was proven wrong with spaghetti squash and have found I do enjoy it with a wonderful, thick, meat sauce.  Tonight we tried butternut squash.  Confession is good for the soul right?  I cheated a little.  I bought a bag of cut and washed squash at Trader Joe's.  All I had to do was roast it in the oven tossed with some olive oil, salt and pepper.  After it had baked about 30 minutes, I poured a maple syrup sauce over the top.  I do believe this is what made everyone (except Matthew) decide it was good!  That's ok, I'm not opposed to making life and food a little sweeter!

I put 3 TBS of maple syrup in a measuring cup and added 3 TBS of butter and about 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  I let this set on the stove while it was baking and let the butter melt into the syrup.  Once the squash was done, I just poured it over the top and stirred it up.  It was YUM!

My favorite "cheat", which really isn't a cheat, but it sure seems like it, is grilled stuffed mushrooms.  These have become a fan favorite around here.  I used to make a couple large ones, but now everybody wants a mushroom!!  I have had to grow these a bit!  Tonight I used smaller portabello mushrooms so everyone could have one.

Wash the mushrooms.  Cut out the stems, and clean out the gills with a spoon. 

Cut up 2-3 pieces of bacon real quick, and chop up some onion in your chopper.  Mix the bacon and onion with 4oz. cream cheese.

Stuff the mushrooms.

Top with shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  (Real, not fake in a can.)

These were all grilled up, with chili lime chicken, by my amazing guy!!!!

I added some oriental sweet potatoes...ok I was hungry....and we had an amazing dinner!  

Hurray for Pizza!!!!

I am thrilled to announce that Pizza has been officially added back into our diet!!! 

The kids are all ecstatic!!  Mike is even MORE ecstatic!!  If you know Mike, you know he lives and breathes pizza.  These past few months his pizza intake has gone from 4-5 times a week to 4 times a month...maybe less??  He'll never tell.  ;)

When I told the kids we were having pizza tonight, I pretty sure the neighbors heard them squeal.  It was a joyous occasion, with much celebration!

Finding a pizza crust that is paleo friendly, and not gross, is not an easy feat.  A lot of recipes resort to odd bases that aren't really dough.  Cauliflower is a big one out there.  I'm just not ready to venture into the world of cauliflower as a substitute for anything "normal" in my life.  Maybe someday, but that day is NOT today.  I found recipes for meat based crusts.  Ehhhh...that's a bit overwhelming and I'm looking for real pizza here.  I also found a few non-crust recipes.  Again, I want REAL PIZZA!!!

After quite a search, I finally found one that looked very promising!  I read on her blog that she had adapted a dinner roll recipe into pizza dough, I thought, "Winner, winner! Pizza dinner!"  Pizza dough and dinner rolls, yep, that's fitting right in with my need for bread-like crust.  I will be trying her dinner roll recipe soon!

First off, make sure all your ingredients are paleo kosher.  We do eat full fat dairy in moderation, so our pizzas do include cheese.  If you don't eat dairy, feel free to leave off the cheese.  As mentioned many times, I'm a crazy-nutso label reader.  If you are not making your own sauce from scratch, READ YOUR LABELS!!  Many have added sugar and other yuck.  This is one of two brands that I have found reasonable and tasty!!

You can find the pizza dough recipe from Paleo Spirit.  I was really getting the hang of the dough by the 2nd batch and they both turned out really well!!  It was easier than I expected it to be.  The kneading was simple and rolling it out was easy too.  I loved cooking it directly on the parchment paper.  No moving from paper to pan.  We did take the crusts off the paper for finally cooking, which I think I will not do next time.  Less clean up of melted cheese on the pan!

Look how pretty the crust was!!!!!!

I also think I will bake the crusts a bit longer.  My oven, even though it is only 4 years old, really cooks slow.  I have to cook everything about 5 minutes longer than suggested.  This recipe said 12 -15 minutes.  I baked mine at least 15 minutes, but it didn't look crispy like hers.  I thought it would be fine, but once the toppings were on it and re-baked, I found it could have been baked a bit more.  Definitely NOT gooey, but could be crispier.  

We did several toppings.  One pizza was sausage, uncured pepperoni and fresh mushrooms.  The 2nd had the same toppings plus chopped red onion and black olives.  You can change up your toppings, but I'd remember to stay heavy on the meat side: sausage, ham, bacon, pepperoni, ground beef.  You need the protein!!  Don't use canned mushrooms, use fresh.  You could do tomato, fresh pineapple, a paleo friendly BBQ sauce and chicken.  The toppings are endless!!

This will be a staple again in our family.  Everyone is thrilled!!!  I will have to make 3 pizzas next time for sure, maybe FOUR!!  I also found that I could make one crust, then while that one was pre-baking, make the next one.  Then we just baked in shifts.  The kids topped one while I baked the next crust, etc.  It was great to have helpers in the kitchen and they could add their own toppings.  I may try dividing the dough and letting them make individual pizzas sometime.  Not until I'm more adept at the dough, which shouldn't take long.

Everyone is going to bed fat and happy!!