Here’s a paleo dessert that you can sink your teeth into — a strawberry and apple crumble. It does taste a little different than the blueberry crumble I used to make in my sugar laden days, but this tastes great nonetheless. The crumble (top) uses macadamia nuts, coconut flour and a few other ingredients. (I love coconut so have not been having problems eating recipes that contain the flour.)
Paleo Apple & Strawberry Crumble DessertPaleo Apple & Strawberry Crumble Dessert
It really is yummy!
One thing I have found on the paleo diet I’m on though is that I don’t really have a need for dessert after dinner as I get full enough on the meal. So — although I have always liked desserts, I don’t seem to eat them as much as I used to.
That’s a good thing, right? Even if the desserts are healthy!
Winters and crockpots are always a good combination so we recently bought a new crockpot to allow our meals to slowly simmer.
This pepper steak was good and I have been eating it for breakfast as leftovers for a couple of days now. It is unusual to have steak for breakfast instead of cereal or toast but unusual does not mean bad. It’s quite filling actually.
The recipe calls for bean sprouts but we did not use them.
Asian Pepper Steak
The pepper steak was served with steamed broccoli and egg foo young-ish. Quite a funny name for a fritter-like pancake, no?
We included most of the recipe ingredients except for the ham so if you try this recipe, adjust the recipe to your tastes. That’s what cooking is all about — tasting and adjusting.
I am not a big fan of granola but my son is always coming up with different things we can have for our meals — including breakfast — so it was not unusual that paleo granola came into the picture as I recently threw out our Honey Nut Cheerios and other cereal that has been sitting in our pantry for awhile.
I had this granola with warmed Almond Milk. For some reason, I haven’t been able to drink Almond Milk cold. Is that unusual?
Paleo Granola
It tasted okay. The nuts in it were a little too large for me so I probably should have cut them up into smaller pieces. I’m not sure if that would have made a difference for me though as I’ve never been a big granola fan.
Overall, it is a good diversion from having eggs in the morning.
If you try it, let me know if you like it AND if you made any changes to the recipe. Thanks!
I recently took a trip to Seattle to check in on a friend who has started on hospice for the second time in a year. She looks healthy but did not remember me when she first saw me. Her dementia is getting worse and she is pretty much bed bound now.
She sits in her bed and “counts” her blanket as if she’s measuring it. Over and over again — she counts, one, two, three, four, five, one, two, three, four, five. This is not unusual to me as she was an avid hand quilter for many years and subconsciously she must be remembering those days.
While in Seattle, I also visited other friends. Most of them knew I have been trialling a Paleo Diet so they attempted to accommodate me the best they could. One couple in particular really went above and beyond the call of duty.
They made seasoned beef-filled green peppers with roasted eggplants, veggies and lemon dressing. The green peppers were absolutely delicious!
Stuffed Peppers Paleo Style
The roasted eggplants with veggies and lemon dressing was also good but a bit “juicy.” I’m including the “recipe” below but keep in mind that my friend doesn’t use a recipe and this is all from the top of her head. (Good luck if you try it!)
Roasted Eggplants with Veggies and Lemon Dressing
Dessert was baked apples. Yum!
Baked Apples
Since I had gone to visit my friends with another friend, they brought out a beautiful dessert torte. Oh! This was so tempting to me but I declined a few times and made it out of Seattle without one bite of this torte.
Torte
I had a great time in Seattle even though my reasons for going weren’t for “fun and relaxation.” It’s rare when I get to really relax because of visiting most of the people I know there.
Below is the recipe for the Roasted Eggplant …
Ingredients
2 eggplants roasted, then remove the skin and mash the pulp (make sure you poke a few holes in each eggplant so they don’t burst open)
Mash the pulp in a food processor on “pulse”
1/2 – 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
3-4 green onions chopped
2 T chopped fresh mint
1 medium tomato chopped (save some for decoration)
Dressing
1-2 garlic cloves crushed to a pulp
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
1/4 C olive oil
Instructions
Mix most of the above together then taste to adjust for how much salt and lemon you want
Decorate with the saved chopped tomatoes
Note: Â This dish tastes better if left to marinate a little in the refrigerator
The ratatouille was pretty good but a little soggy although I’m told that’s how it’s supposed to be. I enjoyed (again) the sweet potato mash but didn’t enjoy the Indian Spiced Butternut Squash as much as my husband did. I rated it a 3 on a scale of 5 (with 5 being the best) and my husband thought it was a 5. Go figure. For me, it had a tad bit too much lemon and cardamon seeds (only 2 pods though).
Ratatouille, Indian Spiced Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Mash
Had the butternut squash been spiced down just a bit I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But it really depends on the person and how spicy they like their food, eh?
The main ingredient in this gluten free paleo bread is almond flour. The texture is a little different than wheat or white bread — it’s a little more dense. But add a tad of butter — oops! now you know we’re not having butter on this part of our paleo diet journey — so, my husband had egg salad on his slice of bread.
Paleo Bread
Either way — dry or with something else it was good. But if you’re looking for something soft and mushy in your mouth, this is not your bread. A fried over easy egg would also be a good accompaniment with this bread.
It is filling though so slice your bread nice and thin …
Chicken pot pie, paleo style — that means no bread and this one was made with no bottom crust either. The top crust was made with coconut flour and other ingredients. It tasted pretty good!
Paleo Chicken Pot Pie
The pot pie was served with a delicious papaya pear arugula salad which was scrumptious. Arugula is a little bitter though so the papaya and pear helped to sweeten it up.
I had this meal as leftovers also and the pot pie heated through just fine and tasted the same as the day it was first made.
Lamb is one of my favorite foods to eat so when my son made slow cooked lamb I was quite excited to taste it. The lamb was served with a peach salad that had a peach cumin dressing. They both turned out very good (even as leftovers later in the week). In addition, we had a butternut squash that was served with tahini. Yum!
Slow Cooked Shoulder Lamb
For dessert we had paleo cheesecake. Uh, well, kind’ve cheesecake. It had no cheese so the name is a misnomer. The “cake” was good but quite heavy on the stomach, perhaps because it has a cashew nut filling that is blended with other ingredients. The topping was sweet enough as in a “regular” cheesecake.
Paleo Cheesecake
It is very hard to make a dessert that tastes like “regular” desserts as no sugar, dairy or gluten is used. Kudos to my son for his effort in trying to find us desserts that are palatable while eating paleo and watching our diet.
I love, love, love soup in the winter! I could have it every day if my husband wouldn’t get sick of it. Of course, normally I’d also have a nice piece of warm bread and butter with it …
No, no, no! Remember — no bread on this new paleo diet we’re trialling.
Actually, I didn’t miss the bread at all. This paleo chicken soup was that good. Period.
Paleo Chicken Soup
My son served the soup with chipotle sweet potatoes on the side. I was in heaven! Well, food heaven, anyway. (laughing)
Later, my son had made some pumpkin scones that were pretty good also. We normally give him a hard time when he makes paleo pastries as the texture is very different from a regular pastry — it’s more soft most of the time. There’s also the palette trying to get used to the taste of almond flour and coconut flour.
Paleo Pumpkin Scone
I’m not quite “there” yet but my palette is slowly coming around. (Not the best picture of the scone — sorry.)
Oh — on an “up” note, when I saw my doctor recently because of my bronchitis, she took my blood pressure and, guess what? It’s still normal. This paleo diet has brought my blood pressure down. Great news, eh?
I once read that “sugar clogs the system” and I believe it’s true. The body can repair itself if given a fighting chance. There are definite benefits to this diet.
You may be wondering if I’m still eating a paleo diet since I haven’t posted much lately. The answer is yes.
Unfortunately, I’ve been sick and today I found out I have bronchitis. I thought for sure the cold I caught was going away but it returned with more coughing, chest pain and a low grade fever. The doctor took a chest x-ray which I questioned because I “normally” get bronchitis when I get a bad cold and I already know what they prescribe  for the cure — antibiotics and prednisone.
Actually, I didn’t see a doctor but a nurse practitioner. Â She explained that the x-ray was needed because of the chest pressure although she didn’t “hear” much in my chest. I kind’ve knew the x-ray would come out negative. Should I have asked her not to give me one or would that have seemed too much like the patient telling the doctor what to do?
Anyway … here is a recent paleo dinner that we had. This salmon with basil pesto and tomatoes was pretty good but I am partial to both salmon and tomatoes and enjoy eating them both.
Salmon with Basil Pesto and Tomatoes
This was served with a blood orange salad. Have you ever had a blood orange before? This was my first time trying one and although it looked like an orange grapefruit to me, it did not taste that sour.
