Ahhh … the overweight butternut squash. What to do with this heavy vegetable?
Butternut Squash
Fortunately, I found a recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash which is paleo and quite easy to make (although I did tweak the recipe a little). The squash is cumbersome to work with — uncomfortable for small hands when peeling it. But — what an awesome burst of flavor the squash gives you in every bite! I quite enjoy eating this vegetable.
Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons Coconut Oil (or olive oil)
1 Butternut Squash
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Peel, seed, and chop the squash into 1 inch pieces and add them to a bowl.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Melt 2 tablespoons of oil then add the oil to the squash and toss together.
Add cinnamon, salt and pepper to the squash and toss together.
Roast the squash for approximately 35-40 minutes tossing every 15 minutes.
The squash is ready when soft — check by poking a fork through the squash to check for doneness.
Roast the Squash
Pretty simple, no? I served the roasted butternut squash with a salad and drumstick chicken.
It’s late afternoon … I sense an awareness of … what?
I turn my head to the left and listen but I hear nothing.
Standing still at the kitchen counter I wait expectantly, but I don’t know what I’m waiting for.
Evening comes and the sense of awareness continues. Acutely. It’s as if I am aware of every moment as it goes by. My perception is heightened.
I sense God’s presence. Calmness surrounds me — peace enters my heart.
As I prepare dinner, I’m aware of every thing that happens — as if each moment is THE moment in my life. There’s a stillness to my being.
The stillness continues all through the evening and into the night.
The next morning I wake up with the continued sense of awareness.
As the day wears on, slowly, imperceptibly, it’s gone.
And I wonder … how life would be different living in a state of heightened awareness, calmness and peace – living with the presence of God in my heart.
I made this paleo Tuna Salad because I wanted to try some new ingredients for my husband’s lunch — namely, artichokes. Â Blech! Â Or … so I thought. The original recipe has you putting the tuna salad in tomatoes but that wouldn’t work very well for a lunch so I changed it up a bit.
The recipe calls for 3 cans of tuna in oil — I reduced the amount to 2 since my husband usually takes other things for lunch in addition to a salad and I didn’t want this salad to go dry sitting in the refrigerator.
Here are the main ingredients … ooohh, the capers are almost off the photo.
Tuna Salad Ingredients (Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper not shown)
And … here’s the recipe for you with a few changes.
Ingredients
2 cans tuna in olive oil, drained
1/2Â cup artichokes, drained and chopped
1/4Â cup black olives, chopped
1/2Â small red onion, finely chopped
2Â tablespoons capers
2Â tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1Â tablespoon lemon juice (I used half a fresh lemon for this)
1 to 2Â tablespoons olive oil
Directions (pretty simple)
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl then season with salt and pepper.
And that — is pretty much it.
I am not a fan of artichokes but it tasted fine to me. My husband, whose the artichoke lover, told me that he couldn’t tasted the artichoke at all. Â Maybe that’s why it tasted fine to me. Â (laughing) Â I’m guessing that since the artichoke is chopped up, you don’t get the full flavor of the larger pieces.
So … Meghan, at Paleo Effect, has outdone herself again. I recently tried a paleo bread recipe of hers and now she came up with a white fluffy gluten free paleo bread. Go Meghan!  I like trying her recipes because, so far, they have all been tried and true.
This recipe was really easy to make and it definitely will take the place of “real” bread. So, for those of you who are gluten free but long for bread, this recipe is for you.
Since we don’t normally have bread on a daily basis, I sliced my loaf and put 2 slices in plastic sealable bags so that I could grab them in the morning and toast them. Yum!
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get started.
Ingredients
You’ll be combining all the ingredients together …
Mix Ingredients Together
To get a beautiful white loaf …
White Paleo Bread
Ooh la la! Â You absolutely must try it!
Ingredients
1 ½ heaping cups Arrowroot Powder
1 heaping cup Almond Flour
4 Eggs, at room temperature
4 Egg Whites, at room temperature
4 Tablespoons Walnut Oil
½ Tablespoon Kosher Salt
1 ½ Tablespoons Baking Powder
2 teaspoons Coconut Vinegar
Olive Oil Spray for your loaf pan (the original recipe used Coconut Spray)
Directions (the easy part)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients together in a bowl.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Spray your loaf pan with the Olive Oil Spray.
Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes. (The original recipe says 30-35 but mine took longer. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.)
And that is pretty much it! Â The coconut vinegar is a tad expensive, however, since you don’t use a lot of it and you’ll be making this bread a lot, it’s well worth the money.
Hope you enjoy it! And check out Paleo Effect‘s website — I haven’t been disappointed yet.
While visiting a friend recently, she made what appeared to be chocolate turtles. Have you ever had them? They’re not “real” turtles but a mix of caramel, chocolate and pecans. However, the ones my friend made had no caramel — only bittersweet chocolate and almonds.
I love people who can naturally cook, don’t you? No recipes needed. They just go to the cupboard, see what they have and make some wonderful recipe up as they go. That’s how my friend cooks. So — when I asked her for the recipe she laughed (as she usually does when I ask the question) and said “I don’t have a recipe.”
In talking with her, I’ve come up with a recipe for the homemade chocolate almond candy she made. I have to warn you — this is not a Paleo recipe as most Paleo-ites try to have no more than 85% cacao in their chocolate if they have chocolate at all. Â The one I used, which is from Trader Joe’s, has 72% cacao.
Still — I wanted to try it and it came out fine although the chocolate was a little soft after 3-4 hours. My friend told me they can take hours to harden depending on the weather and where you put them to cool. I forgot to ask her if they could be refrigerated to speed up the process. I’m guessing the answer would be yes.
Any type of nuts can be used but I chose whole almonds that I toasted in the oven. My friend has made this candy with hazelnuts also and they taste just as delicious. All you need are two ingredients … your dark chocolate and a nut of some kind.
Ingredients for Chocolate Almond Candy
I didn’t use a whole pound of chocolate. Temperance, temperance.
Anyway — here’s what I did and it came out beautifully. They can be addicting so I wouldn’t make them very often.
1) Put a large sheet of parchment paper and two spoons off to the side so you can have them ready to put your candy on. The size of the spoons will be determined by how large you want your candy pieces. The larger the spoons the larger the candy pieces.
The Lutsen Resort where we were staying had a brochure at the activities desk that showed a couple of different places you could go to purchase pure maple syrup so we decided to take a drive and check it out.
Heading up the Caribou Trail, we stopped at the first farm store called the Caribou Cream. The store was small and we were the only ones there when we arrived. After a few minutes, another couple joined us and a few minutes after that, one of the farmers came in. Both stores are on the “honor” system so you log what you’re buying in a binder and then drop your money in the container they have.
The farmer was quite talkative and I was happy we were able to interact with him. But, unfortunately, I was distracted by our conversation and forgot to take pictures. Oh well … we purchased a couple bottles of maple syrup and headed to our car.
Further down the road on the same Caribou Trail, we took a road called Honeymoon Trail then Barker Lake Road to reach the next maple syrup farm.
Driving to this farm, called Wild Country, was interesting as I saw what looked like plastic piping going from one tree to another.
Maple Syrup CollectionMaple Syrup Collection
The Wild Country Farm is much larger than Caribou Cream. Caribou Cream has 2500 trees that they tap compared to 18,000 for Wild Country. The number of gallons of sap collected in one year obviously are different also: Caribou Cream, 25,000 gallons and Wild Country, 130,000. The Caribou Cream has 45 acres of maple trees on its farm compared to Wild Country’s 320 acres.
The plastic tubing I saw that went from one tree to another is how they transport the sap to the “sugarhouse.” Oh — we finally reach the store.
Wild Country StoreWild Country Store
This store was similar to the Caribou Cream with shelves lined with “everything pure maple syrup.”
Wild Country StoreWild Country Store
Off in the corner, they had a sample of the plastic piping that they use to transport the sap from one tree to another.
Plastic Tubing for Sap Collection
After perusing the store shelves, we purchased some maple syrup and maple sugar and headed out the door.
On the way out, we noticed a LOT of plastic tubing lying on the ground.
Plastic Tubing for Sap CollectionPlastic Tubing for Sap Collection
Want to know more about maple syrup collection? The Wild Country has a website that gives you more information. Â Click here to visit their site.
I wasn’t able to find a website for the Caribou Cream, however, they do have a Facebook account. Click here to visit their Facebook page.
Before heading home the following day, we drove around and took one last hike on a steep trail that overlooked Caribou Lake. Â Here are some pictures of some of the scenery.
White Pine LakeLutsen, MinnesotaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/AreaCaribou Lake View/Area
Crisp mornings, blue skies, shadows falling — autumn has always been my favorite time of year.
A neighbor of ours recommended that we head to Grand Portage State Park to see the waterfalls while visiting the Lutsen, Minnesota area.
Grand Portage State Park is literally feet from the Canadian border. We could have gotten out of the car at the visitor center and walked across the border — that’s how close it was.
We were not disappointed in deciding to drive further north to see the waterfalls. They are beautiful.
The welcome center is very well maintained and once you enter the front doors, you simply walk across the hall to the other side and there are doors that take you to the trail that leads you to the waterfalls.
Grand Portage State Park Welcome Center SignGrand Portage State Park Welcome Center
The half mile trail is handicapped accessible — that is truly amazing!
Trail to High Falls, Pigeon River
There are a few benches for resting along the way although the trail is not strenuous.
Trail to High Falls, Pigeon RiverTrail to High Falls, Pigeon River
What’s this? Yup. A snake. Anyone know what kind it is? After encountering this one, my senses were a keenly more alert of my surroundings.
Snake
And we finally arrived. The falls are estimated to be 100-130 feet high. Approximately 3200 gallons of water per second come down these falls.
High Falls, Grand Portage State Park
Looking across the river, you see Canada.
Grand Portage State Park, Canada View
This is the Pigeon River — where the falls go when they “fall” …
Pigeon River
And I was treated to a most beautiful sight! A rainbow. So calming.
High Falls Rainbow, Grand Portage State ParkHigh Falls Rainbow, Grand Portage State Park
Nothing else could compete with the rainbow for beauty on this day. A beautiful end to a beautiful day.
I was tempted to head into Canada to a town called Thunder Bay but that would have made for a really long day so we headed back to Lutsen.
Click here for more information High Falls on the Minnesota Department of Resources website.
With cooler weather, low humidity and lots of sunshine having arrived in September, I have been spending a lot of time outdoors — weed pulling. Â (laughing)
Yes, the yard work never ends and the buckthorn weed continues to thrive. I have almost 1/2 of my property buckthorn-free — well, that is, until next year when the seeds in the ground start sprouting.
This week I found quite a few seedlings starting to grow — already. I’m ecstatic that I’ve made so much progress, even if it is on only half of the property.
Looking out at the remainder of the work I need to do, it will be a lot easier to pull the buckthorn when all the ferns die. The ferns are so tall and wide that it’s like walking through a jungle to try and find the buckthorn between and under them.
I have great news to share — I’ve signed my husband and I up for a landscape design class in late October. We’ll be taking pictures of our property to the class and will have a designer help us with landscaping ideas. I’m so excited! Of course, I’ll have to wait til spring to do my planting but that’s okay.
Next week the county will be meeting with me to give me a list of the Minnesota plants they feel would work well on our shaded wooded acre. I was approved for the $500 grant and am looking forward to planning which ones I’ll purchase.
My original goal was to work on the landscaping of the “back” yard over a period of 5 years starting next year but the buckthorn pulling work has made me realize that I could have started this a lot sooner — well, if my back holds out. Pulling gobs of weeds takes a toll on this aging over 50 body and working every day is not an option. This week I was able to work 3 days outside but I’ve done a lot of stretching to help with muscle soreness.
Because of the outdoor work I’ve been doing, I’ve had little time to post the new recipes I’ve tried so I have a backlog of them to share once I hunker down indoors. Soon. The colder weather will come soon enough.
Want to see the work I’ve done with the buckthorn pulling?
Here’s the “before” …
Before Buckthorn Pulling
And … here’s the after …
After Buckthorn Pulling
It’s pretty much the same area but a little different view. I’m hoping to have paths through my yard so I can meander while deep in thought. Â (laughing)
But, now it’s time to rest for Sabbath. Much needed rest for this sore body can’t come soon enough.
On our recent getaway, we took two hikes while we were staying at the Lutsen Resort.
The first one, called the Oberg Loop, is said to be “easy” according to the brochure, but I think it should be listed under “intermediate.” Most of the trail is easy but there are areas where you have to walk on uneven rock to get to the other side of the trail. This was a little troublesome for me as the first time we came across one such area we didn’t even know we needed to walk across the rocks to get to the other side. We wound up looking at the view and taking another path.
The Oberg Trail Loop
There is a rest area at the parking lot.
Oberg Loop Parking Lot
Here are a few pictures of what we encountered on the trail.
Oberg Trail Loop
Yes, this is part of the trail …
Oberg Loop TrailOberg Loop TrailView on the Oberg Loop Trail, Lake SuperiorView on the Oberg Loop TrailView on the Oberg Loop TrailOberg Loop Trail, Oberg LakeView on the Oberg Loop TrailView on the Oberg Loop TrailView on the Oberg Loop Trail, Oberg Lake
Once you reach the “top” of the trail, the views of Lake Superior are quite breathtaking!
View of Lake Superior, Oberg Trail
Here is one area where one could not see the other side of the trail without climbing over the rocks to the other side. Fortunately my husband was willing to do that as I would have turned around as parts of it were a bit steep.
Oberg Loop Trail
And here’s a picnic table … a nice spot to enjoy the views.
Picnic Table, Oberg Loop Trail
It was a good hike on a beautiful late summer Minnesota day. And the views are worth the time.
