Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers
 
I haven't posted a recipe on this blog in a while because I have been working hard on my other two websites (The Girl Who Went Paleo and Angela's Gluten-Free Bakery) and I've been super busy preparing for our local farmer's market that I sell my gluten-free baked goods at. Thanksgiving is also around the corner and I've had to mentally prepare for that.

Other things I'm thinking about lately is opening up a food truck business (Paleo and GF items only), writing an e-book, and selling to one of our local mom&pop shops.

Life is busy, isn't it? Phew!
 
Well, here's a delicious paleo and/or primal meal all in one. It has the carbs, proteins and fats all in one pretty little package. Now, this recipe does include cheese so if you don't eat cheese, leave it out. Just add some salt and pepper and you're good to go!
 
Ingredients:
Serves 2
2 green bell peppers
1/2 - 3/4 pounds ground meat. beef, chicken, turkey, sausage.. whatever you like
3/4cup crushed tomatoes
1/2cup onion, diced
1/4cup bell pepper, diced (see notes below)
S&P (salt and pepper) to taste
1/4cup cheese, shredded
 
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and preheat a skillet over medium heat.
Slice off the tops of the bell peppers and reserve them for future use. Remove the seeds/ribs on the inside and discard. Using a knife, remove the stem from the tops of the bell peppers you just sliced and dice into bite sized pieces.
In a medium skillet, add the ground meat, onions and bell peppers and cook thoroughly (about 8-10 minutes) and season with salt and pepper. Drain the excess fat and place back in the skillet or clean bowl. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir thoroughly. Scoop the mixture into the bell peppers and top with cheese.
 

In an oven-safe dish, add a tiny bit of water - about 1/4 cup - and place the bell peppers inside and then bake about 40-45 minutes until the peppers have softened.
 

*Tip* If you want to make a lot of these and freeze them, make it all the way up to where you stuff the peppers then freeze them. When you want to bake these, transfer to an oven-safe dish and immediately bake. Do not defrost these. Baking times will be longer since it's frozen.
 
Eat and enjoy!


Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie
 
 
I really enjoy baking in the fall. Summertime baking is fun, but baking those fall desserts really makes me happy. I love it!

My mom has a great sweet potato pie recipe and I asked her for it. Hope it's okay to share mom! I made a paleo version of it so if you'd like that recipe, check it out at my other blog "The Girl Who Went Paleo." So here is the sugary version made with a wheat crust. It's just so delicious! I love this pie warm but it's even better after it's been refrigerated over night. Can't wait to make this again so I can eat the whole thing!
 
Really.

I'm the only one here who will eat it. SCORE!
 
Ingredients:
Makes 2 pies
 
4oz. unsalted butter, softened (1/2 stick)
2cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
2cups granulated sugar
1 - 5oz. can of evaporated milk (1/2cup + 2Tbsp)
1tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2tsp cinnamon
 
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350degrees.
In a large bowl, mix the butter, potatoes, sugar and milk until well blended. Add vanilla, eggs and cinnamon and mix well. Pour into the unbaked pie shells and bake for 1 hour or until set.
 
Tip: If you'd like, you can assemble the pie and freeze it, un-cooked. When you're ready to bake it, let it thaw out completely and bake accordingly.
Also, if you bake this pie and want to freeze it, cut the remainder of the pie into slices and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Freeze. When ready to eat, thaw at room temperature or microwave it for 15-20 seconds until thawed. It's delicious warm or cold.
 
 
 
Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Paleo Breakfast Scramble

Paleo Breakfast Scramble
 
 
Who gets tired of eating the same thing every single breakfast? I know I do and I just had to mix it up this week. I started by cleaning out my fridge. Anything that needed to be consumed that day was going into my breakfast. It's a fun way to reinvent breakfast and use leftovers from previous meals.
 
Here's what I did for this super fast and tasty breakfast.
 
Ingredients:Serves 1
1 small handful diced red potatoes
5-6 broccoli heads, diced
1 small bell pepper or any pepper of choice
7-8 slices of turkey meat
2 eggs
S&P (salt and pepper) to taste
1tsp cooking oil of choice, I prefer olive oil here
 
Directions:
In a skillet, heat up the oil on medium heat and add the diced vegetables. Saute until warmed through and add the turkey meat and cook until slightly browned. Next, add the eggs and scramble in the pan with the vegetables and turkey and cook thoroughly. Add salt and pepper and eat!


Friday, September 28, 2012

Delicious Angel Food Cake

Delicious Angel Food Cake
 
 
I can't tell you why I've never tried to make an angel food cake. I guess  making it was a challenge since I'm not the best at "folding" ingredients together, especially when egg whites are involved. Nonetheless, I went on towards reaching a goal and success! The first two angel food cakes I made were amazing. I also made some down right delicious gluten free cakes and they were also great. The GF ones fell a little but they tasted great regardless of the way they looked.

Today's recipe is for a regular wheat-based cake but I will be providing a GF cake recipe one day when I have enough time. This blogging thing really is a lot of work. It usually takes an hour or more for one blog post. (In case you didn't know.)
 
Any who, let's get to the recipe, shall we?
 
Ingredients:
2cups superfine sugar (granulated, fine sugar)
1 1/3cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2cups egg whites at room temperature (I used liquid egg whites)
3/4tsp salt
1 1/2tsp cream of tartar
3/4tsp vanilla extract
 
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Make sure your oven is ready to go or your cake will fall flat.
Combine 1/2cup sugar with the flour and sift together 4 times. This really does make for a light and airy cake so I highly recommend doing this.
Place the eggs whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment on high speed until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 minute. With the mixer on medium speed, add the remaining 1 1/2cups of sugar by sprinkling it over the egg whites. Whisk until thick and shiny then add the vanilla extract and whisk until thick, about another minute. Sift the flour mixture into the liquid mixture 1/4 at a time and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, smooth the top and bake 35-40 minutes until it springs back to the touch. I baked mine 45-50 minutes so please watch your time carefully.
Remove the cake from the oven and invert on a cooling rack until completely cool.
 
 
Notes: The top of the cake is slightly crunchy while the remainder of the cake is light and airy. Cut any remaining pieces and wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze up to 6 months. Remove from freezer and thaw on counter or microwave a few seconds until warm.

Eat this delicious treat and enjoy!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy
 
"Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food." - Hippocrates

 
My kids have been sick a lot this year with colds and ear infections. I'm not a fan of sickness (but who is?) and hate it when my kids get sick. I hate it even more when two of them are sick.. and I hate it even more if they get sick and then heal and then I get sick. HATE IT!

I was on a quest for finding a holistic and paleo cold remedy and luckily, I had the mixture right inside my pantry. Fresh, local honey and ground cinnamon. I usually find anything I want to make on pinterest. Everyone said it worked so I tried it early this year when the kids got sick. My throat started feeling scratchy and my lower back started to ache - which for me is the ultimate sign of sickness coming on.

I took the specified concoction and I was surprised that it worked. It warded off the cold and I only had a few aches the first day and I was more tired than usual on the second day and by the third day, I felt normal again. No cold! 
 
So, how does honey and cinnamon work to heal you? Well, let's take a look at the two elements.

First, honey is the only food in the world that will not spoil. Did you know that? I didn't until recently and thought, "wow.. those bees sure do know what they're doing!"
Second, honey is an antimicrobial, which means that it kills microorganisms that carry disease. In other words, it will feast on the germs and kill them before they spread into your body.

And how about the cinnamon? What does that do internally?

Cinnamon treats antiviral infections. Research has shown that it is an antiviral remedy which will kill the cold and flu virus internally.

We put the antiviral (cold fighter) and the antimicrobial (germ fighter) together and the most precious sickness fighter you can imagine has been created.
 
I've tried this twice this year and the benefits are amazing. I am proof that this does work and will continue reaching into my pantry instead of a medicine cabinet from now on. If you look for naturally safe solutions, you will find it. Just keep looking and digging and experimenting.

Cold Remedy Ingredients:
Makes 3 servings (take 3 times a day)
1Tbsp local, raw honey
3/4tsp ground cinnamon
 


Directions:
Stir the honey and cinnamon together in a small container and take 1tsp 3x's daily until all cold/flu symptoms are gone.
 
I mixed up several days worth of this mixture and gladly ate all of it.

I am not a medical professional. This is my own assessment and I will not be held for any misuse of this remedy.
 
Please let me know if you try this and how you like the results!

~Angela
 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Homemade Gourmet Marshmallow's

Homemade Gourmet Marshmallow's
 
 
During my visits at being a vendor at my local market, I thought I'd give marshmallow making a try. The first recipe was a flop ... do not use pectin!
The second, third, fourth etc.. were awesome and spot on every time. This recipe is so simple but I must warn you, you need to have a stand up mixer. This will need to mix 15 minutes and I honestly don't know if you could do it with a hand-held. That's all you have? Give it a try and come back and let me know how it worked!
 
These pictures were from the marshmallow's I made for a beach-themed baby shower and the lucky lady was having a girl. Apparently when I left, the last few were fought over because they were so good.. and yes, they're so much better than store bought and taste amazing roasted! MMM!
 
 
Ingredients:
1.5cups water (3/4cup in sugar mixture, 3/4cup in gelatin mixture)
4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
3cups granulated sugar
1 1/4cups light corn syrup
1/4tsp salt
2tsp vanilla extract
1cup (more or less) powdered sugar
 

Directions:Lightly spray a large jelly roll pan or 9x13 pan with any oil and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixter, combine 3/4cup water and the 4 gelatin packets.
Over medium-high heat, combine 3/4cup remaining water, granulated sugar, light corn syrup and salt and bring to a boil until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
With the whisk attachment on the mixter, carefully pour the hot mixture into the gelatin/water mixture on high speed for 15 minutes. The mixture will be light and fluffy and very stiff. After 15 minutes, add the 2tsp vanilla until completely incorporated.

 


 
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a lightly oiled spatula. Let rest 10-15 hours.

Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of marshmallow's and then flip out onto a cutting board (powdered sugar side down). Then sprinkle again on top. Cut into desired shapes and roll into remaining powdered sugar to prevent sticking.
 
I added about 10 drops red food coloring and swirled it in for a pink baby shower marshmallow.
I went a step further and dipped these halfway into chocolate and toasted coconut. I made some for the kids with mini chocolate chips on top of the dipped chocolate and also did a chocolate/white chocolate swirl.
*Note: If you dip these in chocolate, dust the excess powdered sugar off first or the chocolate won't stick.
These can be stored 2-3 weeks in an airtight container in the pantry or about 6 months in the freezer if tighly wrapped.
 
 
These also make excellet rice crispy treats as well as smores and can be placed on top of your coffee or hot chocolate. So good!

Eat and enjoy!