SCORE! - Almond butter cookies

I swear - I don't know how I haven't turned into a coconut. Ever heard that saying, when you were a kid and only ate chicken tenders or peanut butter and banana sandwiches? "One day you're going to turn into a chicken!" hah! But really - I add coconut flakes into smoothies, the coconut flour in paleo pancakes or cookies (below!), coconut oil I cook with and add to my bulletproof coffee and the coconut milk that I use for everything - including coffee now - YUM!

Sweets are an intense craving and something that, in my household, usually gets answered with cookies. Unlike brownies, I enjoy my cookies piping hot and will eat an entire package of Immaculate Baking Co. cookies within 2-3 days. Since finding out that I really DO have an issue with gluten - that it isn't just a health preference at this point, I had to part ways with them. They do have a gluten-free version which is equally delicious but until they resolve their use of canola oil (I'll do a post on that one day, ughhh loathe that shit), I can't partake!

After making delicious banana walnut paleo muffins, we tried an almond butter cookie recipe. Now, my husband doesn't enjoy peanut butter as he didn't grow up with PB&J (blasphemy, right??) and isn't a fan of almond butter either but throw a sweet craving his way and he will try just about any paleo-friendly dessert. (side note: my sweet cravings have been handled... sorta... with the return of candy corn - hey! don't you judge me!)

I got the recipe from here, who got it from another site. It's been tested, shared and is absolutely delicious! We usually make half the recipe and it yields 4-5 cookies.

©cavewomanmom

(Paleo-friendly) Almond Butter Cookies

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/3 raw, local honey
• 1 cage-free egg
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (or your choice of nut, dried fruit, etc.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Mix almond butter, honey, egg and baking soda.
3. Mix in coconut flour.
4. Add your chocolate chips (or whichever "treat" you chose!)
5. Using parchment paper (these stick a bit), pour your cookies whatever size you'd like them.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or so, until golden brown.
7. Let cookies cool on sheet for 5-10 minutes, depending on your patience level ;) and enjoy!

These cookies tend to look dry as hell but I swear, they're fluffy and oh-so-fragile. They are also delicious the next day if stored air-tight. Let me know what you think!

It's hot as hell (but I wanted tomato soup!)

The worst part about Texas is the weather - and the women who insist on driving huge ass trucks even though they couldn't drive a Smart car - but per usual, I digress...

It's September! I hear that fall is supposed to begin this month which means a few things:

• windows open, crisp fall air zipping through the house
• pumpkin candles. pumpkin wall defusers. pumpkin decorating. anything pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin and I'm IN
• apple pie baking
• soy chai tea lattes
• the itching desire to decorate the house for Halloween even though it isn't another month and a half away
• soup

I love soup. Broccoli cheddar, tomato basil, poblano chicken chowder... seriously, just a few of the kinds that get made in my house and eaten off of for a week. Especially that damn poblano chowder...

© cavewomanmom

Last week, we made roasted tomato basil because a) roasted tomatoes are like crack to me and b) we had SO many from the farmers market. [side note: this is one of my favorite things about farmers markets - not knowing what to expect, finding whatever is in freshest supply and figuring out your meals from there. So few go backwards - find the materials and then begin their craft - but that's the best, freshest, cheapest, environmetally friendly and healthiest way to eat and cook!]

© cavewomanmom

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1.5 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp unsalted, grass-fed butter (like kerrygold!)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 28-oz can of plum tomatoes, juice included
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 tsp thyme, fresh or dried
• 1 quart chicken stock or water (for a vegetarian version)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Toss the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. Put onto a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.
3. In a large stockpot, on medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, butter and cayenne/red pepper flakes for 8-10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.
4. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme and chicken stock.
5. Add the tomatoes from the oven, including any (delicious!) juices from the baking sheet.
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer, simmering uncovered for 30 minutes.
7. Eat as is or put into a processor, Vitamix, blender, etc. to make less chunky, if desired. Enjoy!

We rarely have the basil needed so we generally mix fresh and dried and we always eat it "chunky" - the tomatoes fall apart on their own and it's just delicious.

Vitamin C is my favorite vitamin - it's the yummiest!

I have so many things I want to write about and no time! Wahh.

First - I want to go on a rant about orange juice. The boxed crap that so many buy because, clearly, they've never had fresh-squeezed, unpasteurized juice.

Those cartons you buy? The oranges are months old. Citrus is a pretty fragile fruit and in order to keep supply going year-round (what other veggie or fruit do you know is available year-round like oj?), its stock supplied in huge tanks. Tanks where all the oxygen is sucked out - which makes it almost impossible to rot (yay) but makes it lose all of its flavor (boo).

Flavorless orange liquid? Yuck! But don't fret - fragrance companies, the ones that make those phthalate and endocrine disruptors so many people freely and excitedly splash all over themselves (but I digress...), have made NEW flavors and smells to make your orange liquid fun again. Wee! Each company has their own copyrighted "scent" or flavor so don't scoff at your mother-in-law for her Florida's Natural brand loyalty - it probably DOES "taste better" than Walmart's... PLUS they have those neat commercials that show how it's almost like reaching into the grove and picking your own oranges. Duh!

© cavewomanmom

Let me skip to the deliciousness we make almost daily - although you CAN buy it in some stores, here in Texas we have HEB and Central Market that sell many varieties fresh-squeezed, unpasteurized juices - fresh OJ. You can hand-squeeze it on a citrus juicer, which are under 10$ at Target or you can throw whole, peeled oranges into your vitamix. I don't know how it would work in a regular blender seeing as how thick and pulpy it is in my vitamix - I prefer the citrus juicer. It's good for my forearms and a good grip workout haha but really, I prefer the sweetness of just the juice. I know, I know - I'm missing out on all of the fiber and getting all of the blood-spiking sugars but I'm also getting vitamins and steering clear of Coca-Cola. One day at a time, remember?

Try it out. See if you don't notice that the taste, smell and COLOR is different. OJ isn't that bland color you see at IHOP - it's much more vivid and vibrant. It's a color that is always welcome at my breakfast table. It's kind of like comparing real maple syrup and pancake syrup (aka corn syrup) - once you go towards the light and have the real deal, however more expensive or time-consuming it may be, you can't go back! Oh and I've found that Valencia oranges make for the best juice with the least amount of oranges. Navel were such a bust, no matter where I bought them or what their ripeness was!

© cavewomanmom

(Disclaimer: it is not recommended that those with weakened immune systems such as the elderly, or for instance, my 10-month-old son drink unpasteurized juices. Fresh juice, consumed within hours after squeezing is fine, but it isn't recommended to squeeze a large batch and give to grandma or your toddler throughout the week. Since the fruit hasn't been heated, killing off nutrients AND any bacteria sources, bacteria can grow over time. Wash your fruit well before juicing/squeezing and consume shortly after.)

-cwm

Are you ready for some... salsa?!

I know the weekend just began but in my house, every other week is a three-day weekend and I often get lost in the shuffle so I totally forgot it's Saturday not Sunday.

Alas, I made my favorite salsa recipe for the games that are now not until tomorrow and thought: "hey I should post this!" either for when I inevitably lose my handwritten one or for when my friend's ask again how I made it. I also got some amazing tomatoes from the local farmers market on Thursday and couldn't wait to use them!

So here you go - the consistency is a bit thinner (it reminds me a lot of Chilis' salsa which is my favorite thing to get when I go) than traditional salsa but YUM:

Cavewoman Mom's Game Day Salsa

• 1 can of tomatoes and green chiles (14.5 ounces)
• 3 or 4 (depending on size) tomatoes (or a 14.5 ounce can, plus its juice)
• 1 tablespoon fresh jalapeños (or canned, just don't use pickled)
• 1/4 cup yellow onion
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

1. Combine the jalapeños and onion in a food processor or blender (I used my Vitamix) and blend for a few seconds to get them into smaller pieces (certainly no need to dice beforehand!)
2. Add tomatoes, garlic salt and cumin and blend/process until the desired consistency is reached. I really like my salsa more like picante sauce so I let it go in my Vitamix on speed 3 before turning up to 10 for a few seconds.
3. Chill! I swear - it tastes even better after being in the fridge for a few hours!

The yield is A LOT - we usually half the recipe unless it's a big get-together - around 32oz or so! Enjoy :) comment with some of your favorite ways to eat salsa - especially if it's paleo friendly.

-cwm

Busy bee (but no, we aren't getting any)

Haha. Just when my friends think I've "flown the coop", I turn it up a notch.

My husband and I have decided that we are going to live on the outskirts of where ever we are moved to (by his company) next so that we can have... chickens!

It all started with my usual annoyance with the FDA and their slack regulations about what exactly "cage-free" and "free-range" mean. Basically, those cage-free eggs we have been shelling (LOL - so many puns, I'm sorry) out for could just mean the chickens are living the same shitty (pun!) life they would have even if they were caged. It means beak-clipping is still allowed, it means they can be sitting around in a dark barn on a concrete slab, "cage-free." Same with "free-range" - it could mean they HAVE access to a door that leads to the outside, too bad they don't know how to work a door.

Now, I did find a farm that promises 108-square-feet of outside space per bird, which seems pretty generous. Only after researching the company did I find out that they feed their animals soy. Now, I don't think soy is in their usual diet and we already get so much soy in every other area of our lives - must we really get it in our eggs, too? Over 90% of American soybeans are GMO - not something I want in my house, labeled or not.

A lot of people think chickens are dirty, loud animals. They're dirty when you have thousands of them or don't let them roam freely. Chickens will always return to their coop at night so the daily maintenance is really just opening the door to their coop, that protects them from nightly predators, and shutting it after dark. Oh and the collection of their eggs - yum! Noise wise, roosters are always loud but I'm not really looking for fertilized eggs anyhow so I'll stick with owning classy ladies... who do make some noise around egg-laying time. Forget a dinner bell - that sounds like a breakfast-is-ready bell!

I also think it would be a great way to show my son how to take care of the planet and our animals. I think it would be really neat for a kid, instead of having a dog to feed, walk and bathe, to have chickens he checks in on and (probably, I mean he is a boy) chases around.

Nothing would make me happier than to know I'm eating food that's truly sourced locally (feet from my door) and treated humanely (no slaughtering of them once they stop baring eggs - then they can just be our feathered friends!). This got my husband into the idea of getting honeybees but I shot that down quickly - anyone that knows me knows I can't handle anything that buzzes, not even a butterfly that goes zipping by. I immediately run away, flailing my arms, which usually results in me getting stung. I can't control it at all...

Before I go from my random chicken post, I wanted to post a smoothie I made in my Vitamix yesterday for a mid-morning snack. It was oh-so-refreshing and my son enjoyed it as well - you cannot get any fresher than making your own!

Fruit Salad Smoothie

• 1/2 cup grapes
• 1 orange, peeled
• 1/2-inch thick slide of pineapple, core included (if using a Vitamix or other high-power blender)
• 1/4 cup of cucumber, peeled
• 4 ounces of carrot, or one medium carrot
• 1/4 of an apple
• 2 cups of ice

Combine ingredients and blend! I was able to fill almost two 16-ounce bell jars with this recipe so expect about 22-24oz of smoothie and adjust accordingly.

I thought the cucumber was a bit overpowering so I will probably omit it completely next time but I know a lot of people find cucumber refreshing so I thought I'd leave it :)

Let me know what you think - or what kind of recipes you'd like to see!