Pumpkin Bread {It is even Paleo!}

This bread is not only "Clean" it is also Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free.

But 100% full of deliciousness! ((Seriously... it is amazing))

Every Octo-vember (october and november together)  I always make pumpkin bread. It's kind of my thing.

So after being diagnosed with Celiac I wanted to make it Gluten Free. So last year I subbed in GF flour instead of regular flour. 

Now that I am a total health nut and want to feed my body with the best of the best I went and pretty much reconstructed the entire recipe to be clean, healthy, delicious and lick the bowl good! 

I mean.. come on.. look at that goodness right there. 

You BETTER bookmark, print, email, pin this recipe or something because it is taste-tastic.  (I don't want to sound threatening or anything.. but why would you deprive your taste buds from this experience?)

The Fairest Pumpkin Bread in all the Land:

Soak and plump in boiling or hot water for later use:

1/3 cups raisins  (would be fun to try others like currents, apricots, cranberries, etc.)

Mix together in largest bowl:

1/2C of Honey (It helps to microwave it for mixing purposes)

2 Eggs

1/3C Water

1/3 C Coconut Oil

1C Canned Pumpkin

*** Regarding the honey, it makes it deliciously sweet but you could probably do less than a 1/2C and still have it be delicious. Also you can use maple syrup instead!

Add these to the above mixture until well mixed:

1 2/3 C Almond Meal (Learn how to make it here)

1tsp Baking Soda

1/4tsp Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Salt

1/4tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2tsp Cinnamon

6 shakes of nutmeg

** You can also add in 1/4tsp Cloves and omit the PPS & Nutmeg!

Mix in:

2/3 cups raisins that have soaked/plumped and have been drained

2/3 cups chopped walnuts.  Toasting them lightly in the oven on in a pan releases even more flavor.

You will have about 4 cups of soupy like batter.

Bake in 350° oven until tester, (skewer or chopstick or toothpick), comes out almost clean.  The bread will continue to cook a bit as it cools, so you never want to wait until this or most any other baked item is fully cooked to remove from oven. If you’re not sure, slide your tester in from the side and sort-of pull out a test from the center.  Better to undercook than over cook

Times:  times listed are the ‘test’ times.  Could take 10-20 minutes more, depends on your oven.

            When you check, check all the loaves and rotate in your oven as needed for even baking.

            1 regular sized loaf pans (check at 45-50 minutes, may go to an hour)

            3 mini loaf pans (check at 40 minutes)

            2 regular sized coffee cans (check at 1 hour) - makes really cool ‘bullet’ loaves that give circular slices

Serving:

            Great warm or cool.  Getting old—great toasted with melted butter, cream cheese, almond butter, pumpkin seed butter, yogurt, pretty much everything :)

 

Freezes amazingly well.  Wrap in tin foil.  Super for gifts or to take to dinner at a friends house—especially if they tell you not to bring anything—they can have it for breakfast the next day!

The entire loaf was gone by the end of the day! Now before you think I single-handedly ate it all which I totally would.. I decided to share it with some of my families friends that live in our neighborhood. 

Please let me know if you make it & I totally understand if it takes you a little to comment... your hands will be preoccupied with pumpkin bread :)

If you are interested in the non-GF version OR want the measurements for a large batch you can click here

&& yes just in case you were wondering -- I did name this bread with fairytale backgrounds because I am obsessed with Once Upon a Time.

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Ants On a Pumpkin

As a child (says the nineteen year old!) my mom would always put Ants on a Log in my lunches (wrapped in parchment paper to keep in place she is so smart.) . 

Yummy peanut butter & chocolate chips (or raisins) ... okay.. usually  chocolate chips inside a celery stick. It was such a delicious little treat!

So I decided to put a little twist on it!

I recently bought Pumpkin Seed Butter and trying to figure out the best ways to use it!

It has a very plant-esque taste so I wanted to make sure to pair it with something a little sweet!

&& I kind of want to toot my own horn for a second because I just think this picture looks like a creepy crawler of ooey gooey goodness. Just in time for Halloween :)

So to hop onto the 'everything pumpkin' bandwagon that all food blogs are on these days (no complaints here) I wanted to share this fun creation!

1 TBS Pumpkin Seed Butter 

10 Raisins

1 Celery Stalk. 

Yummy yum yum!!

Disclaimer: There is Pumpkin Seed Butter which is made from the actual seeds of a pumpkin and there is Pumpkin Butter which is pumpkin puree with maple syrup and other goodies! Both would probably be amazing in this.. but I used the SEED one :)

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Food of the Day {Oct. 29}

Today I went for another omelet! 

It was two eggs, broccoli, onions and a few slices of bell pepper! I topped it with tomatoes -- it was like a egg pizza. 

So I cut it up like a pizza and ate it with my hands :)

Here is a picture of what it looks like inside!

It is so amazing! They are freshly cooked meals in tupperware. Great for lunch, dinner or if you need to do meal planning for fitness reasons. 

Check them out here!

I hope one comes closer to my home!! 

I was on the road driving to and from Houston today (almost a total of 4 hours round trip!)

I really hate eating out because 1. it is hard to find a place that works with my food allergies that I trust and 2. I like to eat healthy. 

I came across a  billboard for My Fit Foods and so I exited the highway and gave it a go. 

Delicious salmon with a pear salsa on top of spinach! 

It was $10 but because I was a first time customer the worker ended up giving me it for free!!! How kind right? I was having a pretty rough day and it totally turned my day around! 

For dinner we made stuffed bell peppers! It is a recipe from my Practical Paleo Cookbook! One of our favorites. I like to sprinkle AllSpice on mine right before eating :)

If you are interested in the recipe -- make sure to say so in the comments :)

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Food of the Day {Oct. 25}

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I slept in today which was spectacular! Even more spectacular? I walked out into the kitchen & there was a glorious piece of bacon right next to the stove. 

Obviously I ate it. 

Then I made breakfast! It was a asparagus, zucchini, spinach 'frittata-omlet' of sorts.

But the best part about breakfast? The grapefruit. 

It was the sweetest grapefruit my lips have ever laid taste on. 

Usually grapefruits have a tart bitter bite to them, this one had just enough. It was scrumptious! 

Lunch was kinda a throw together mix. I started making a salad and then realized I didn't have any chicken to mix in with it. So I cracked open a can of tuna and then made a dressing with Coconut Aminos, Balsamic & Lemon juice. 

I call it - Chinese Tuna Salad. 

Eating it with chopsticks was the most .. interesting of experiences. 

Usually I down a salad in a matter of minutes. 

It took forever to eat this bowl. The last morsels were the most frustrating to stick-a-fy.

All today I was in the kitchen baking and making goodies to share with you all. I made homemade almond butter, almond flour, cookies, deviled eggs, and even chopped & marinated the ingredients for chicken kabobs. 

Lets just say my night will be filled with cleaning dishes (the only downfall to cooking)

For dinner I made one of my 'quick I am starving lets do this in 10min meals. 

 (freshly bought chicken for the making of chicken kabobs tomorrow)

I still can't get over how delicious that grapefruit was... 

I regret only buying one. 

But I now believe myself to be a master of selecting the 'chosen' grapefruits. 

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Spice Rub {Used on Ribs}

If I were to be stranded on a island and could have one thing. 

It would most likely be a endless supply of ribs 

(unless the island had pigs on it... the it would be buffalo wings)

First off can I just express how delicious ribs are. I mean... there is nothing more fun than trying to figure out how you got BBQ sauce on your eyebrow.

(does this happen to anyone else.. or is it just me?)

So this rub. Yum. Oh gosh it is good. It is so good - You probably don't even need ribs. 

You can just rub this mix on anything and it is probably going to turn out amazing.

*Cue harmonious angeles singing*

Just a forewarning, I am a 'eye baller' kind of gal. So although I am putting measurements up they are more guidelines. Sometimes it is more of a 'heaping' than a exact precise measurement. So when you see a + sign, that means you can be a little gracious ;) 

Spice Measurements for 1 Rack of Baby Back Ribs

1TBS Paprika

1TSP+ Chili Powder

1TSP Brown Sugar

1/2TSP Garlic Powder

1/4TSP+ Cumin

1/4TSP+ Cayenne Pepper

  (Or a spicy premade spice you already own)

1/4TSP Dried Mustard

1/4TSP Black Pepper

 (Or ~12 Grinds on a pepper grinder)

1/4TSP Salt

1/8TSP+ Cinnamon (Mmm)

Alright now stir it all up! 

I like to start putting the rub on the inner part of the ribs and then do the 'meatier' side last. 

Note: I recommend washing off the ribs after buying and then pat drying them before putting the spice blend on it!

Just pour or shake the rub evenly on the ribs!

Now there are two ways to go about cooking this baby. 

First off: Preset Oven to 250F & Cook for 2 1/2 Hours

Method 1: Cover ribs with tinfoil and Put in the oven

Method 2: Put ribs in uncovered for the first 1.5 Hours and then cover with Foil.

There isn't much difference but Method 2 results in a little more 'crispier' ends. 

&& There you have it! 

I love the rub so much.. I sometimes just eat it plain with only the rub  but it is also amazing with BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Rays anyone??)

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