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Through the Paleo diet/lifestyle and the Whole30 my family, friends and I are becoming healthier! We are getting to our healthy weights, moving more, sleeping better and have better energy. We are suffering fewer mild medical issues and are just overall feeling better every day!

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days. We cook and enjoy a lot of great food that's both tasty and healthy. I hope you'll find some recipes here that you'll enjoy!


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Pumpkin Treats!

I bought a large can of pure pumpkin puree last week and then got busy using it up this weekend!  First, I made these pumpkin bars from Elena's Pantry:


Pumpkin Bars


½ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup agave nectar (I used honey)
2 eggs
1 cup blanched almond flour (I made my own and it wasn't blanched)
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves (I didn't have any cloves, so I used some pumpkin pie spice)

1. In a food processor, combine pumpkin, agave (or honey) and eggs.  Pulse for 2 minutes.
2. Pulse dry ingredients into wet for a full minute, until well combined.
3. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pyrex baking dish (I just rubbed a little coconut oil all over the inside of mine)
4. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes
5. Serve naked or with whipped cream (see what I did below)


I made a coconut whipped cream by refrigerating about 3/4 of a can of coconut milk (this Golden Star that I found at wal-mart is REALLY thick and works perfect for this!).  I put a splash of vanilla in a metal bowl with the chilled coconut milk and use my beaters to whip it into a whipped cream.  After the cake was cooled, I topped it with this whipped cream.  I wish I had taken picture, they were really good!  I was afraid with all that honey in it, that it would be too sweet, but the "frosting" wasn't very sweet, so the combination was PERFECTO!


Then I made these delicious pumpkin muffins from Balanced Bites.  These were a HUGE hit and I ended up making a second batch after the football game on Sunday.  We shared with some of our paleo friends!  

Ingredients
1/2 C butter or coconut oil, melted (I used coconut oil)
6 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C honey or maple syrup (I followed the author's advice and used 2 Tbsp each to equal a 1/4 C of sweetener)
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice/nutmeg (again, I used pumpkin pie spice in place of this and the cloves, 1/2 tsp)
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Grease muffin tray or use paper liners (my first batch stuck to the paper, so I switched to the foil liners for the second batch and that worked MUCH better!)
3. Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl together until well beaten (I used a whisk).
4. Measure dry ingredients into a sifter and slowly sift into the wet ingredients  whisking as you do so that you don't have lumps in the batter. (The batter got really thick as I added the last of the dry ingredients).
5. Divide batter evenly into the muffin tins and bake for apprx. 15-18 minutes or until slightly golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

I also made this pumpkin mug cake from The Preppy Paleo, but it was pretty bland :(



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