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I recently wrapped a refreshing visit to the beautiful Western Cape of South Africa – trip four, continent four and country nine of my See All the Things year – and it was quite an experience! So different from what I … Continue reading
This recipe is very special to me because it was one of my first Paleo/Primal recipe creations back in my early days of experimenting with grain free flours. When I was young and unhealthy, my go-to recipe for muffins or bread was Banana Chocolate Chip because my husband loved the combination so much. He and I were both very sad to see them go just because they had a little flour in them. But now, I just whip up a batch of these when the cravings hit – and MAN, do they hit the spot! I have to hide some from my husband or he WILL EAT ALL OF IT.
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread (or Muffins)
Ingredients:
3 bananas – smashed
2 Tbs butter
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 C flax meal
~1 Tbs water
1/2 C chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix bananas, butter, eggs and vanilla in a medium bowl until well combined.
3. Add almond flour, flax meal and baking soda to bowl and mix for several minutes – batter should be moist.
4. Stir in small amount of water (may not always be necessary, just depends on how wet/dry the batter is) and add chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan or lined muffin pan. Note that with grain-free muffins/breads, the dough will not rise much at all, so fill to proper height.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes (bread) or 18 minutes (muffins), until tops just turn brown and are firm to touch.
~Enjoy!
More Like This:
With Love and ChocolateChip Cookies
Primal Thin Mints
Double Chocolate Brownies
My husband and I have a farm share and heard share through a family owned farm about 45 minutes away from us ‘in the country’. It’s one of the best investments we’ve made in our health and nutrition, and we love knowing exactly where our food comes from every week. One of the coolest things about owning a bovine heard share is that we have access to tons of raw, non-homogonized grass-fed cow’s milk. Because we own part of the cow, we don’t have to follow the FDA’s silly little rules about raw dairy. Raw whole milk is the best tasting milk I’ve ever had. And trust me, that’s saying something (just ask my Mom, she used to force me to drink milk while holding my nose closed so I couldn’t taste it)!
While I still don’t drink much milk, I do enjoy several other dairy products regularly, so I use my yummy raw milk in fun ways. This year, I’ve spent countless hours working to make gourmet-quality ice cream at home. The best results so far were my Bourbon Butter Pecan and Mint Chocolate Chip – those are definitely going to be regulars in the rotation. Many of my recipes are custard based, so they took half a day to make, but I recently read of a different technique that is slightly less time consuming (though it does require using tapioca starch) so I gave it a go. IT IS DELICIOUS!
Dark Chocolate Ice Cream
Yield: 1 Quart
Chocolate Base:
1/2 C brewed coffee
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C grade B maple syrup
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
Cream Base:
2 1/2 C whole milk
1/2 C cream
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp tapioca starch
3 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
1/8 tsp ground sea salt
1/4 C grade B maple syrup
Directions
1. For the chocolate base – In a small, heavy-bottomed sauce pan,combine the coffee, cocoa powder and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and let boil for 30 seconds before removing from heat and stirring in the chopped dark chocolate. Stir to combine and set aside
2. Using just 2 Tablespoons of the whole milk and all the tapioca starch in a small bowl, whisk to make a thick and creamy mixture.
3. In a medium glass or metal bowl, whisk the softened cream cheese, salt and warm chocolate base – this should be like liquid fudge.
4. Fill a larger bowl or sink with a few inches of ice water (will be used in step 8).
5. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining whole milk, cream, and maple syrup. Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes, stirring regularly.
6. Remove pan from heat and gradually add the starchy mixture from step 2, whisking to combine. Return to medium-high heat and bring to a boil once more, while stirring, until slightly thickened (about 1 minute).
7. Slowly add the hot cream base to the chocolate base, whisking until thoroughly combined and smooth.
8. Place plastic wrap on the top of the ice cream bowl and set gently in the ice bath, adding more ice as necessary to effectively cool it. Let cool 30-40 minutes.
9. Pour ice cream into ice cream maker and spin until thick and creamy. Place frozen ice cream in airtight container with parchment paper or plastic wrap on the surface and seal with the lid. Freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.
As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to have a bit of free time to sit and surf the interwebs (or just read good and not-so-good novels), so I’ve decided to blog my top finds with you regularly. I plan to only post the interesting and/or helpful things I read related to nutrition, lifting and life. So, grab a cup of coffee, have a seat and enjoy! 
1. A fascinating ‘expose’ on artificial light and sleep disruption, including why it will probably kill you. Seriously.
2. If you haven’t read Time’s Bitter Pill yet, you’ve probably been hiding under a rock (or are from a country with a much better health system). Either way, check it out. This needs to stop.
3. This kick-ass article from veteran NFL player and CrossFit Football founder John Welbourn taught me that I’m only doing half the things I need to be doing everyday.
What other awesome articles have you found lately? Leave a comment below if you have thoughts on these topics.
I had the house to myself this evening, so I took advantage of it by catching up on DVR’d TV shows and baking. I have been craving chocolate chip cookies this week, so I did what I always do – I Googled recipes for an hour and then didn’t actually follow any of them. I really don’t know why I can’t just find a recipe that looks good and then make it. Maybe it’s because I like the adventure of ‘trying something different’ to see what I can create (or ruin).
Anywho, I found lots of delicious-looking stuff, including recipes I’ve made before, but the one I drooled over was this one from Against All Grain. So I decided to make these delicious cookies, sort of. Well, I didn’t really have any Palm Shortening or Palm Sugar, so that wasn’t gonna work…
Not to be deterred, with last Sunday’s Oscar’s ceremony blaring (I have to see Les Mis!), I made my own Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with the ingredients I have. For old times’ sake, I even attempted to eat the dough off the beater while the cookies hardened in the fridge – still not sure why I do that. Paleo cookie dough is nothing like regular cookie dough! It’s hard to even enjoy it. Does anyone else try to do that too, or is it just me? Well, the cookies are great once cooked.
With Love and ChocolateChip Cookies
Ingredients:
4 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 C raw wildflower honey
2 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C almond flour
2 heaping Tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 C chocolate chips (regular or mini)
Directions:
Yield: 2 Dozen
With Love and Chocolate 