Cherry Almond Chipped Muffins

At the cafe it is important to have tasty baked goods.  Because what good is a cafe without wonderful treats?  My taste-tester loves cherry and most things that have cherry are a safe bet that he will enjoy.  When asked what kind of muffin he would enjoy, he said those cherry ones you made....  Thanks for the hint!  Since I've made a variety of cherry muffins in an effort to find a GREAT recipe.  So we tried one that I thought I had made before, with a few alterations... (it was NOT the recipe from previous although they DO taste great).  Photos to come soon...

Cherry Almond Chipped Muffins

 Makes 12 muffins

6  large eggs 

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup honey

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sifted coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped dried cherries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre heat over to 400 F. 

Either: grease muffin pan with coconut oil OR line with baking cups.  (I prefer baking cups for ease of travel)

In a large bowl, combine eggs, butter, milk, honey, salt, vanilla and almond extracts

In a small bowl, whisk together coconut flour and baking soda

Blend coconut flour mixture into wet ingredients, whisking until there are no lumps.  

Stir in chopped cherries, slivered almonds and chocolate chips.

 and pour in batter.

Pop into the oven for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.  Personally, I dropped the temp down 10 degrees after baking for 13 minutes and baked another 5 minutes to make them a little more golden brown.

This recipe originates from the Primal Prairie Cupboard .  They've got great recipes over there.  Check them out.

Paleo Shredded Pork Tamales

This recipe takes some planning and a good bit of patience, BUT it is completely worth it.  Especially if you've been craving mexican foods and fajitas are not really hitting the spot.  These were exactly what we needed.  

I found the recipe on Chowstalker - my new favorite place to find fun recipes for what's in my freezer.  This recipe comes from the Paleocupboard, and there will be additional recipes tried from this site in the coming weeks.  They have some AMAZING recipes and I really look forward to trying them and sharing them all with you.  

We also improvised the recipe a bit to fit what had already been cooked up in the Cafe.  Nothing like re-purposing "leftovers".

Ingredients:

1 package dried corn husks

FILLING
2 pound pork shoulder

2 cups chicken broth 

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. chili powder

Dash red pepper flakes (optional)

DOUGH
4 cups almond flour
1 tsp. arrowroot powder
4 tbsp. cold bacon fat (or lard - which made it taste wonderful)
1/4 cup chicken broth (you can save a 1/2 cup of the cooking juices for this as well)

TOPPINGS
Hot sauce (for serving, optional)
Salsa (for serving, optional)
Guacamole (for serving, optional)


Directions:

Soak 8 corn husks in a bowl of very warm water. Be sure to keep them damp until you're ready to use them as wrappers. 

TO MAKE THE FILLING: (I did this overnight, so the kitchen was working while I was snoozing.... worked perfectly.)

Mix dry ingredients together. Sprinkle/rub evenly over the pork.  
Place the seasoned pork and chicken stock into slow cooker. Cook on low for about 7-8  hours, until pork is tender and shreds easily. 
When the pork is done, remove from pot and save the liquid. Allow the pork to cool slightly before shredding with a fork. I like to shred it in a bowl, this way all the juices stay with the meat.  Once the pork is shred, add just enough of the saved cooking liquid (about a 1/2 cup) to make the pork nice and moist, but NOT soggy.

TO MAKE THE DOUGH:
Add all of the dough ingredients to a medium sized mixing bowl and combine with a fork, making sure to break apart any clumps.
Set the dough aside for about 10 minutes.

TO ASSEMBLE THE TAMALES:
1. Place about 1/4 cup of dough in the center of a corn husk and spread around to form a square about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Place about 2 Tbsp. of filling in the center of the dough and gently fold the top and bottoms of the dough around the filling.
3. Fold the sides of the corn husk inward towards the center and then fold the top and bottom inward to form a rectangular shape.

4. Fill a large pot with a few inches of water and place over medium high heat. Add a steamer basket to the pot (pour out some of the water if the water level is higher than the steamer basket bottom). Add the tamales to the steamer basket. Once the water starts to steam, cover the pot and turn the heat to low. Steam the tamales for 1 hour.

5. Take the tamales out of the pot and allow to sit for about 5 minutes  Unwrap the tamales and serve with salsa, guacamole, and/or your favorite hot sauce.

The Chicks are getting bigger

After two and a half weeks with us the chicks are getting bigger.  Everyday we see new feathers taking the place of their sweet chick fluff.  Here are some updated photos of the little ones.

Silkie really didn't want to have her photo taken.
















 Roy said this was the best way to hold her without letting her fly off... I complained that I couldn't really see her growth!

This little one, while still small, IS growing and her feathers are coming in a really neat pattern.  She does look like she just rolled out of the bed all the time.

 This is our little Japanese chick,  I'm thinking of calling her Geisha.  She has the shortest, cute legs.

This is Lemon.  her wing span is just beautiful.  She is also going to be VERY plump looking.  I'm very excited about her.

Beautiful coloring coming in on her wing.  She is going to look like a chicken fire-work once she's all grown up.







She thinks if she closes her eyes, we'll leave her alone... WRONG.

Look at those tail feathers!  She's giving me the angry eyes as well!

Roy did not have as easy of a time getting the little ones to spread their wings.  (it's all in how you hold them.)

We have 4 birds with this beautiful coloring, each one slightly different.  How we will name them AND differentiate is beyond me at this point...

Bacon Wrapped Beef Dogs

If you thought you were going to have a heart attack eating a ton of bacon, then this will surely require the paramedics to be on standby.  I can't believe that I ACTUALLY served these up in the cafe.  More than likely this is a once-in-a-lifetime recipe.  And on a brief side-note, these are only good fresh -- reheat these and you're better off eating rubber.  No seriously, rubber is likely better for you and tastier.

I found this recipe on Chowstalker which originally comes from Nummy in my Tummy.  Below are her directions, with my photos of how it turned out...

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef 
4 beef hot dogs 
4 slices bacon 
2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (optional, but it does add a nice touch to the meat)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix ground beef and seasoning.  Divide into 4 portions, flattening each like an elongated patty.

In a large pan, cook all of the hot dogs.

Remove the hot dogs from the heat. Place one hot dog onto each ground beef patty encasing each hot dog so it looks like a large ground beef log.

Place the “meat log” back into pan, browning all of the ground beef.  Add 1/4 cup water at a time to prevent the meat from sticking to the pan.

Remove cooked meat from pan and carefully wrap 2 slices of bacon around each meat log.

Over medium heat, gently place the bacon wrapped meat back into the pan, rotating using tongs until the bacon is crisp.

Remove from the pan and allow to drain onto a paper towel for a few minutes.

Slice and serve. It goes great with Buffalo Wing Cream Sauce.

I think my favorite part of this meal was the Buffalo Wing Cream Sauce

 We also served up some coleslaw to have a nice crunchy vegetable with this meal.  

 Ingredients:

3 cups of coleslaw precut mix.  

3 TBS of Coleslaw dressing (we used Walden Farms Coleslaw dressing)

Overall, it was a pretty good meal.  It would have been great grilled outside.  If we ever make these again, I am going to try it that way!  And I'm going to fully follow the directions... Which would mean I have to read them completely too...  happy eating.

Slow-cooked shredded BBQ chicken

On Wednesday's I'm not home until late, and I really dislike having to prep AND cook fast before bed. Soooooo...... I like to put things in the crock-pot (or as we affectionately call it the crack-pot - no offense intended, its just a long running family joke.)  I've recently read an article about how you shouldn't eat red-meat every day, so, I've been cooking less of it.  Not that we ate ALL that much of it anyways.... but still, in the effort to reduce some flare up of an obscure intestinal bacteria, I made shredded bbq chicken.  This was effortless, seriously.  AND it tasted great and it made enough for 3 almost 4 meals, if we hadn't both skipped our afternoon snack.

So when in need of a wonderful meal, that takes almost NO prep, then this is for you.  Here goes...






Slow-Cooked Shredded BBQ Chicken
Ingredients:
3 - 4 Chicken breasts
Paleo BBQ Sauce (whisk the following together)

• 1 1/2 cup organic ketchup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 TBS spicy mustard (I love this stuff, but you could use honey mustard for a bit more sweetness)
• 1 TBS Steak Sauce
• 2 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• a sprinkle of cinnamon (it's good, I promise)

Directions:
Place the chicken breasts in the crock-pot   Cover them with the BBQ sauce, making sure they are completely covered with sauce.  This prevents drying out, and NO one, I mean NO ONE likes dried out chicken....  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours making sure they stay moist.  OR  cook on low for 8 hours.  If cooking on LOW, add in an extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth to keep the moisture in the chicken.  I promise you will appreciate this.  When the chicken is done, it will be tender when you stick a fork in it.  I mean it falls apart!  This is what you want.  Gently remove and place in bowl and shred with 2 forks.  Then spoon out the sauce from the crock-pot and mix in with the shredded chicken.  This keeps all that wonderful juice and flavoring IN what you're eating.  Wonderful. 











BONUS: Kale and Bacon salad

Ingredients:
2 slices of bacon
2-3 cups of Kale (removed from the stems, rinsed and torn apart)

Directions:
Heat your frying pan, I like to use a pan with a slightly higher edge to reduce grease splatter.  Place bacon in the pan and crisp.  Be careful to not burn, but make it so that is has some crunch.  For all of you who like chewy bacon, like my hubs, let it cook longer, I promise it will make it taste all the better. Once the bacon is nice and crispy, remove and place on a paper towel.  Immediately add your kale and cook until it turns a nice BRIGHT green.  Gently stir the kale as it's cooing to make sure it is green all over. Remove from heat.  Chop the bacon into little bits, and then mix into cooked kale.  Then.... ENJOY!

Stuffed Bison Burgers

As the weather gets warmer, we're turning up the grill and making tasty things outside.  Burgers are a summer favorite and these are sure to hit the spot.

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, sliced

6 slices of bacon, cooked to crispy

2 TBS of shredded cheese (optional)

1 Lb of ground Bison

Directions:

In your heated frying pan, cook bacon until crispy.  Set on paper towel to soak up the bacon grease.  Drain off most of the bacon fat. Reserve about 1 TBS of it to saute the onions in.  Cook until they are nicely browned, almost caramelized.  Chop the 3 strips of bacon into small bits and then mix with the cooked onions.  (Add the shredded cheese here, if you're using it.) Keep the other 3 pieces for topping off the burgers upon assembly.  

Heat up your grill.  You want to put these burgers onto a preheated grill.  There is nothing like trying to cook on an unheated grill.  Plus this also provides for more even cooking.  Also, be sure to clean your grill, there is nothing like tasting the last thing you cooked on your current meal.

Head back inside and prepare those burgers as the grill preheats.  

Take the ground bison and sprinkle with pepper and salt to taste.  Then form about 8 slim patties. Top 4 of the patties with the onion-bacon mixture.  Top these four patties off with the additional 4 patties and crimp the 2 patties together sealing in the stuffing.  Once all four burgers are assembled, head out to the grill and place then on the grill. Once finished, take inside and assemble.

We topped these off with slices of avocado and crispy bacon and a little ketchup.  We baked up some sweet potato tots to go along with this.  These burgers would be great with cinnamon-spicy sweet potato wedges.  

Asparagus & Ham Scramble

I love breakfast.  I love serving breakfast.  Thankfully, those who eat at the cafe, also LOVE breakfast!

I also love quick, especially as we're trying to get out the door, while still checking on the girls and making sure the dogs are staying in the yard, and generally getting the day going.

I have a couple of go to meals and since asparagus is in season, we'll be serving up lots of it. I believe that it's really important to eat what is in season, for a couple of reasons.  Reason #1 - In season foods taste better! Why would you eat anything that tastes awful? Fruits and veggies grown out of season are just flavorless, take for example tomatoes... winter tomatoes, in my opinion taste horrible, Just don't do it.   But a summer tomato fresh off of the vine... now that is heaven!    Reason #2 - by eating seasonally you give your body a variety of nutrients.  Ultimately, this helps our bodies function best, and we have fewer deficiencies when we eat seasonally.  Reason #3 - you support your local farmers by eating what is in season.  With CSA's, Farm stands, Farmer's Markets, we are able to support our local farmers and growers and what they CAN grow according to the seasons.  Supporting your local farmers, and economy, is incredibly important.  Alright, on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 - 3 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup ham, diced

5-8 asparagus stalks, chopped into 1" pieces

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat pan over medium heat.  Saute ham until lightly browned.  I like it to form a nice crispy edge on it, it brings out the flavor and savory bits of the ham.  Then add the asparagus.  Do NOT overcook this. They take just a couple of minutes.  The pieces will turn a bright green, if they turn grey-ish they are over done, and will taste bitter.  Add the whisked eggs and scramble.  Cook eggs to your liking.  ENJOY!

Bacon and Egg Cupcakes

Cupcakes for breakfast!  YAY.  These are a great quick morning breakfast.  My best friend's three little girls are visiting this week, and they love bacon and eggs and to change it up a little we took an old favorite and turned into a new favorite!  And what better Auntie than one who gives cupcakes for breakfast?

So here we go!  You'll need a 6-hole muffin pan.

Bacon and Egg Cupcakes

Ingredients:

6 strips of bacon

6 eggs

Add ins:

Chopped spinach

Chopped onion

Chopped Sweet peppers (or jalapenos - depending on how you like your eggs)

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Cut the strips of bacon in half. With 2 strips per muffin hole line the bottom of each muffin, so that they crisscross.  If you're putting in "add-ins" put them over top of the bacon.  Then crack 1 egg into each muffin hole.  It should look like a little bacon basket with an egg in the center.   Then place in the preheated over and bake for 20-25 minutes.  The longer you bake them, the more cooked the yolk gets.  So depending on how you like your eggs, they can be a little runny or fully cooked through.  When cooked to your liking, slip out of the muffin pan and serve.  They should come right out.  

These served up with some fresh fruit are delicious and bound to be a new favorite.  

ENJOY!