Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie Bowl (Paleo)

Hello all! It’s been a long time since my last post. For that, I apologize.

Clearly I am not good at keeping promises when it comes to posting.

In my defense though, cooking in Thailand ended up being more difficult than I originally thought. Between traveling on the weekends and teaching during the week, it was hard to find the energy to go to the grocery store and find the correct food items when they were all written in a foreign language. Not to mention, lugging everything back home in 100 + degree weather.

Interestingly, cooking in Thailand is more expensive than just going out to eat (a complete opposite from here in the United States). In fact, most Thai people eat out rather than make their own meals. You can read more about my experiences in Thailand here.

But, as of last week, I am back home in the United States! Meaning, back to home-cooked food.

One of the many things I already miss about Thailand is the fresh fruit. I can’t even describe the freshness… I would often go down the street to the fruit stand and have the fruit lady cut me up fresh pineapple/guava/papaya/coconut/cantaloupe. I couldn’t get enough of the stuff.

Sometimes, I would take the fruit back to my apartment and mash it up with a potato masher to make a fruit smoothie bowl.

And once, when I was visiting Pai in Northern Thailand, I had the most amazing smoothie bowl at a place called Bom Bowls:

Now that I am back home, I have my food processor to do the blending for me (a bit easier than using a potato masher…)

Luckily, I also had the foresight to bring home some hand-made coconut bowls from Thailand. Now I can pretend to be back in Thailand on a regular basis 🙂

Strawberry and Kiwi Smoothie Bowl

Ingredients:

1 banana, sliced and frozen

7 oz strawberries, sliced and frozen

1 kiwi (I kept the peel on)

1 handful of fresh spinach leaves

1/2 cup almond milk (or coconut water or water)

2 tbsp almond butter

1-2 tbsp honey (optional)

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a strong food processor or blender. Pulse until smooth. Pour into bowls and top with a garnish of foods (sliced fruits, dried fruits, berries, oats, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.)

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Raw Carrot Cake Balls (Paleo)

Easter recipe- carrot cake bites on the go!

Raw Carrot Cake Balls (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup nut butter of choice

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 dried ginger

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup carrot chunks* + extra for garnish (optional)

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut + extra for garnish (optional)

3 tbsp raisins

Directions:

In a bowl, stir together the nut butter, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and vanilla. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix VERY well (the mixture will seem dry at first, but it all comes together once the carrots get mixed in well). Roll your carrot cake dough into balls.

Optional: Place the extra carrot chunks and coconut into 2 separate shallow dishes. Roll your carrot cake balls into one of the toppings

Peanut Lime Dip

Last week I was listening to a radio station where they were talking about food combos that sound weird, but taste good together. Somebody called in and said that they like vanilla ice cream and hot sauce together…interesting…

So I started thinking of combos that I like together or might like to try. Immediately I thought of one of my favorites- pickles and peanut butter. Totally a combo that seems so wrong, yet works so well (dare you to try it). If anyone has any other unique combos they like, please let me know! I’m willing to try!

Now this dip does not feature pickles and peanut butter, but it does combine broccoli, lime, and peanut butter. What can I say, peanut butter makes the world go round. And so does almond butter. Oh, I could survive on those two alone… Anyways, this dip is packed with broccoli, making it filling and good to eat. Dare you to try! 

Peanut Lime Dip

Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli

3 tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)

3 tbsp peanut butter (or almond butter)

2 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Juice from 1 lime

Directions:

Chop the broccoli into florets and place in boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender. Afterward, drain and place into a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and place into the fridge until cool (it tastes the best as a chilled dip!). Serve!

Power Balls (Paleo)

Sorry for my disappearance as of late! Student teaching has quiet literally sucked the life out of me. And I mean this in the best way possible. I don’t think I’ve been so excited for school days since I was in 2nd grade. In fact, I’m starting to hate my weekends now. That’s when I do all my lesson plans 😛

Anyway, to help power my way (as well as yours) through another week, here’s a snack recipe!

Power Balls (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 cup nut/seed butter

1/4 cup honey

2 tbsp shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

pinch stevia

2 tbsp coconut flour

Optional: chocolate chips and/or raisins

Directions:

Combine all ingredients (except coconut flour and chocolate chips/raisins). Once mixed together, add in the coconut flour and chocolate chips/raisins and roll dough into balls. These can be stored on the counter or in the fridge.

Butternut Squash Banana Pie (Paleo)

A new Thanksgiving dessert recipe! Well, kind of. I wouldn’t limit this to Thanksgiving. It’s too good to eat only once a year.

Fear not if you think butternut squash is weird to include in a dessert (I have my Butternut Squash Chocolate Pudding, Butternut Squash Chocolate Truffles, and Chocolate Almond Butternut Squash Cookies to prove you wrong, by the way) because the taste of it is not detectable! This tastes like a good ol’ banana and peanut/almond butter pie. The butternut squash acts as a filler to make extra volume. And who would complain about a more voluminous pie?

Not this girl here 😉

And as a Thanksgiving special, I’ve included a 2 in 1 recipe! Pie filling and a pie crust. I have long stopped using store-bought pie crust. This recipe is a lot healthier than what you can find in a store. Plus it takes only 3 seconds to make!     

Butternut Squash Banana Pie (Paleo)

Pie Crust Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of raw nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts…whatever you fancy!)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1.5 tbsp water

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place nuts and and coconut in food processor and pulse until fine. Add in rest of ingredients. Pulse, scraping sides if needed. Dump pie crust into a 9-in pie pan and press down and up against the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Meanwhile…

Pie Filling:

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked and pureed butternut squash

1/4 cup nut butter of choice

3 ripe bananas

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in food process and blend until smooth. Spread in a prepared pie crust and freeze for 3-4 hours. If freezing for a longer period of time, allow to thaw before eating.