Paleo Herb Crackers

Just tried this recipe over the weekend from Multiply Delicious to go with some guacamole and they came out much better than expected!  Therefore, this recipe is largely unaltered from the original and I will definitely be trying more of their recipes in the future...

Paleo Herb Crackers

Ingredients
2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp favorite herbs of choice (I used pizza seasoning and dried rosemary)
2 Tbsp water
1 egg white
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp coconut oil, melted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Combine almond flour, salt, and herbs in a medium mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the water, egg white, oilve oil, and coconut oil.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until stiff dough forms and all dry ingredients are wet.

Place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to an even thickness of about 1/8 of an inch.  Transfer parchment to a baking sheet pan and remove the top piece of parchment.  Using a pizza cutter trim off uneven edges of dough, then cut the sheet of dough into cracker size pieces/squares.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn off oven and let crackers sit inside oven for an additional 10 minutes, until golden.

Enjoy with some guacamole or any other favorite paleo dip!

Guacamole

This is your basic guacamole recipe, which evolved from a recipe by the ever-awesome folks at Cook's Illustrated.  Feel free to adjust and play with the recipe to find your favorite variation.  Try this recipe with some Paleo Herb Crackers, yum!

Guacamole

Ingredients
2-3 medium ripe avocadoes
3 large scallions, thinly sliced OR 2 Tbsp minced red onion
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled, reserving 1 Tbsp of rendered fat (optional)
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and diced small
2 Tbsp lime juice

Directions
Mash the flesh of one avocado with the scallions/onions, garlic, cilantro, salt, cumin (if using), bacon and fat (if using), and tomato with the tines of a fork.  Cube the flesh of the remaining avocadoes and gently add to the mashed avocado mixture (if you want a more chunky guacamole) or continue to mash in with the avocado mixture (if you want a smoother guacamole).

Sprinkle the lime juice over the mixture and stir entire contents of bowl until well combined.

Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve with some raw veggies or crackers!

Enjoy!!

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

There is more than one way to stew up some apples.  Here is a simple, basic recipe that I like to start with.  Note that this recipe from Boston Organics originally called for BROWN SUGAR.  I regularly substitute maple syrup for the brown sugar almost 1:1 (sometimes the apples don't need that much sweetening), and I would rather have more spices (hence the larger amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg).

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

Ingredients
6 cups apples (Granny Smith or basic cooking apples), peeled and chopped
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple juice or apple cider
Dash of lemon juice (optional)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan (I like to use the Dutch oven).  Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender, stirring occassionally.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!