dream cream: peach semifreddo

A while back, I posted my amazing recipe for peach ice cream. I also promised that I would some day find a way to make a healthy peach ice cream. Well spending a week with Mallory was a great motivator, since her diet excludes dairy. Back at Winthrop we would indulge in delicious ice cream, and since she's turned a new leaf, I had to make something amazing for her :)

I found a recipe for peach semifreddo in my clean eating magazine, and changed the ingredients a tad bit to make it a little closer to Paleo. The result was MM MM delicioso!!!

Ingredients:
1 cup non fat vanilla coconut yogurt
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup agave
3 egg whites
2 medium peaches, peeled and mashed

Line a loaf pan or dish with plastic wrap. In a large bowl, blend the yogurt, egg yolks and agave. In a medium bowl, beat 4 egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into yogurt mixture 1/3 at a time and stir until well combined. Add in the peaches and gently stir. Pour into prepared dish and freeze for 2-3 hours or until softly frozen. Flip pan onto a cutting board and slice into desired servings. Serve immediately.

perfect pesto pasta

I loooooove pesto! Pesto is so simple to whip up, is super nutritious, and incredibly delicious. You just put all of the pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender then pour over your food and you're done with your dinner. It doesn't get any better than that. I mean really, if I had to use one herb for the rest of my life and nothing else, it would be basil. Fresh basil is where it's at, and is super easy to grow!

Ingredients:
1 cup packed basil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1 T minced garlic
salt
pepper
red pepper
yellow onion, sliced
mushrooms, sliced
brown rice pasta
1 lb chicken, cubed

In a blender or food processor, add in the first 7 ingredients and pulse until well blended. Boil a large pot of water and add in the noodles. While the noodles are cooking, saute the chicken and pesto sauce in a large pan. Once the chicken is almost cooked, add in the mushrooms and onion. Saute until cooked through. Drain the noodles and add to the chicken mixture. Toss together and serve!

angeled eggs over tuna

I did a recipe overhaul on my usual deviled egg recipe, and these were delicious! This version is packed with even more protein, since I threw in a can of tuna. I also removed the vegannaise so these are now Paleo.

Ingredients:
12 eggs, boiled
1 can tuna
2 T spicy mustard
2 T horseradish
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
black pepper
salt
red pepper
2 T olive oil
1 diced jalapeno

Cut the eggs in half and spoon out the yolks into a large bowl. Mix all of the rest of the ingredients in with the yolks until well blended. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, which should be overflowing with goodness once you are finished. Enjoy your healthy, delicious, perfect snack!

the kitchen sink aka stir fry

Every single person who says they can't cook is lying. It's not that they can't cook, it's that they don't WANT to cook. Cooking isn't my favorite thing in the world either, but I'd like to have edible food on my table when it comes time to eat. If you "can't cook" make a stir fry. If you can cook but just don't feel like cooking anything, make a stir fry. Mallory is so awesome that she keeps a huge bag of frozen veggies in the freezer for whenever she wants to use them. You can use whatever you want... shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, bison (although I would never waste bison in a stir fry)... I mean the Chinese use cat in their stir frys so no complaints. I'm kidding for the most part so don't get offended. Anyway, this is what we threw into ours.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup liquid aminos
1 T garlic
2 T almond butter
1 T honey
1 T sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper
chicken, cubed
veggies

Marinate the chicken in the first 8 ingredients in the fridge for an hour or two. Saute them in a pan until chicken is almost cooked, then add in the vegetables. Serve once the vegetables are cooked to your liking!

fit for a wedding; italian wedding soup

Belly up for veggies! Let me just tell you what freaks me out the most about food: the length of time it lasts in a can/bottle/jar. For example, I cringe when I watch those Progresso or Campbell's soup commercials. How do they make the meat in those cans last that long without going bad? How is that still edible? And people eat this junk because it's fast food? Barf.

Soup is one of the fastest things in the world to make. Well actually, any healthy meal can be super fast. And by healthy, I am excluding all the "organic" or "healthy" canned or frozen meals with all of those nasty chemicals that make the food last longer. Seriously gross stuff. Mallory and I made this soup in a pinch with no recipe.

This brings me to another issue... just because you do not have a recipe or have never made anything before does not mean you don't know how to make it! Simply throw some stuff in a pot until it tastes good. It really is that simple. It's called learning how to cook. Besides, cookbooks did not exist when many of the delicious staples were first created. They were passed down by word of mouth or by watching and doing.... which in turn changed all the recipes by a little bit each time they were recreated. So who cares if your recipe doesn't match Mario Batali's or your great-grandmother's?

Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1 cup carrots
2 cups spinach
dash of parsley, black pepper, salt, and crushed red pepper

Throw it all into a pot and allow it to boil, then decrease the heat a little and allow it to cook until meatballs  are done.

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1 T minced garlic
1 diced yellow onion
1 tsp honey
1 T red pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup chopped celery

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all of the meatball ingredients together. Form them into balls, sizing them to whatever you prefer. Place them all on a slotted pan atop a baking pan and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss into the soup and serve!

paleo mixed berry cobbler

Back in high school, my group of friends and I would go to Kaminsky's at least two to three times a week for coffee and dessert. Yeah, we were cool.... at least, we thought we were ;) During my last visit to Charleston a couple of my friends and I were reminiscing those old days and how care free we were. I, on the other hand, miss the mixed berry cobbler I would get more than being back in high school which I relate to being more like in prison. But that's beside the point. I love that berry cobbler. Here's a much healthier, paleo version of my old school favorite dessert.

Ingredients:
Handfuls of fresh berries
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1 egg
2 T coconut oil (or grapeseed oil)
1 T cinnamon
honey

Preheat oven to 350. In a small baking dish, pour in all the berries and set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, blend the remaining ingredients, minus the cinnamon and honey. Sprinkle cinnamon and honey atop the berries, then top them with dollops of the dough. Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

mom-inspired steak

Again, not a fan of red meat. However, I can make an exception for this steak any day. I threw together a marinade inspired by my mom's carbi marinade, and it was phenomenal. And by phenomenal, I mean phenomenal. Best part? It only took 5 minutes to throw everything together (before marinating for an hour or so).

Ingredients:
rib-eye steaks (or flank, etc)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup zevia ginger ale
1/2 cup liquid aminos
6 cloves garlic
1 jalapeno, chopped roughly
1 T black pepper

Put all ingredients other than steak into a small blender or food processor until pureed. Pour it over the steaks in a shallow dish and allow to marinate between an hour and overnight. Grill it until desired doneness and enjoy!! Serve with asparagus sauteed in garlic and olive oil for an awesome dinner :)

Ernie's sausage balls!

It's gameday! There was a little joke made last year when Ernie made his sausage balls and Alabama lost to South Carolina.... but I'll save you all the laughs :) Anyway, Patti and Ernie came to visit last weekend and I made a healthier version of his lucky sausage balls. Although they were super delicious, Carolina lost. But hey, they were yummy!

Ingredients:

2 16 oz packages sausage (All natural, no msg or any additives)

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp minced garlic

1 T crushed red pepper

1.5 cups almond meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir well. Form into 1inch balls. Place on ungreased slotted baking sheet, atop a baking pan; bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with cocktail forks or toothpicks.