Stuffed Apples (Paleo)

Ha! I promised I would deliver a Fall recipe for this week! I tell no lies 😉
Actually, I made this for the first time back in January. But I gotta tell you, apples taste so much better in the Fall.
I dunno, maybe I’m biased (I’m not a winter person). But it just… does.
So anyway, I’ve been waiting 8 months to share. Enjoy!

Stuffed Apples (Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

2 apple, cored and poked with a fork in several places 

2 tbsp almonds 

2 tbsp raisins

1 tbsp shredded coconut 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp honey 

1 tbsp water 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and place apples on a plate. Combine the almonds, raisins, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse a few times, until the almonds are chopped. Divide and pour almond mixture into apples evenly. Whisk honey and water together. Pour over the apples and their down sides. Transfer the apples to a baking pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Once done. let cool for 5 minutes. Slice open, sprinkle on more cinnamon, and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (if desired). 

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Artichoke and Pesto Chicken Dip (Paleo)

So I have one more summer-like recipe to post (next week will be a fall recipe- I promise!) that is kinda a continuation of last week’s pesto recipe.

Hey- you gotta use the basil while it’s still fresh.

My mom and I devoured this for dinner one night, tossing aside the dippers and simply digging in with forks. With the broccoli, chicken, and artichokes, it easily makes a filling dip as well as dinner! 

Artichoke and Pesto Chicken Dip (Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

1 (14oz) can of artichokes, rinsed and drained, and squeezed of excess water 

My Nut-Free and Paleo Pesto

2 cups, cooked and shredded organic chicken 

Directions: 

In a food processor, combine artichokes and pesto until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in chicken. Serve! 

Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo)

I bumped this pesto up to the top of my “recipes to post” list because I wanted to share it before everybody’s fresh basil dries out.

My family and I are seriously obsessed with this pesto and have been putting it on everything (my favorites so far is pairing it with hamburgers, chicken, and salmon) 

And my friend who’s allergic to nuts has even been able to enjoy it because there’s no nuts involved! (Nut-free also means it’s more readily-available to make since we don’t always have containers of raw nuts around the house). 

To give it extra volume, I add a spear of broccoli to the mix. No fears though! The broccoli goes completely undetected, providing you still with a basil-pesto taste 🙂  

Pesto (Nut-Free and Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

1 spear of broccoli florets (thick stems discarded)

2/3 cup fresh basil, loosely packed 

1 handful of fresh spinach (optional)

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lemon juice 

2 large garlic cloves 

1 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Place broccoli florets into a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl of cold water to another 5 minutes. Drain out the water again and transfer florets to a food processor. Add rest of ingredients and process until smooth. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to allow pesto to cool and for flavors to set. Serve! 

Spicy Nut Butter Cookies (Flour-less, Sugar-less, and Paleo)

Once again, I found myself housesitting a couple months back now. 

A friend came over to keep me company and we both got talking about food (a common conversation topic for us).

Which led to a severe urge to make something. Thing was though, I only had a couple of odds and ends with me. So, we had to be a little flexible. Of course I’ve spruced up the recipe since that night, but this nut butter cookie is essentially what we got! 

And no, I did not forget to add in a sweetener to this list of ingredients. You just don’t need any! (Plus, we had no sweeteners on us when we made this originally). Therefore, these cookies are healthy enough to eat for breakfast!   

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure the nut butters are stirred before using! Or else the batter will be too runny (resulting in pancake cookies)

 

Spicy Nut Butter Cookies (Flour-less, Sugar-less, and Paleo) 

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp almond butter, stirred before using 

2 tbsp peanut butter, stirred before using (substitute in 2 more tbsp of almond butter if you’re paleo)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

1/8 tsp cayenne (optional for an extra kick!) 

1/8 tsp salt 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a cookie sheet. Combine and stir all ingredients in a bowl until everything is mixed in evenly. Drop about 1 tbsp of batter onto the cookie sheet for each cookie. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.