Coconut Veggie Curry (Paleo)

Hello, all! It has been a very long time since my last post. But, to let everyone know, I am alive and well and have been living in Thailand now for the last month and a half. You can see my adventures on my other blog, Teach. Eat. Travel. Repeat.

I’ve been loving my time in Thailand, but the one thing I was really missing was cooking. So, I invested in an electrical skillet/wok to make some home-cooked meals some nights. Meaning… I can start up this food blog again! This time, it’ll be featuring fresh and in-season ingredients that I pick up from my local food stands and market.

To kick this blog back off, here’s a very Thai-ish meal (minus the spice) that I prepared with all of the ingredients literally down the block from me!

Coconut Veggie Curry (Paleo)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into sticks

1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets

1/2 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets

1/4 head of cabbage, chopped

3/4 cup of water (broth would probably be better, but I can’t find any in Thailand!)

250g full-fat coconut milk

1/2 tbsp curry powder

Pinch of cayenne pepper (by all means, add more! I just needed a break from spicy foods)

125g shimeji mushrooms

2 tomatoes, diced

1 large handful of snow peas, ends removed

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oil over medium-low heat and add in your garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant. Add in your carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the water, coconut milk, and spices. Higher the temperature to medium heat and place a lid on top. Let cook, stirring occasionally until veggies shrink in size (about 15 minutes). Stir in mushrooms, tomatoes, and snow peas and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper and serve!

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Banana Flour Chocolate Banana Muffins and A Farewell

Well, it’s currently 1:13am in the morning and in a few short hours I will be on my flight to Thailand! Words can’t even describe how I felt/feel/will feel. Sorry for the dramatics, but I think this year abroad is bound be a life-changer for me.

However this brings me to a topic that I am not too happy about… the future status of this blog. No worries, this blog will still be up for those who need some recipe ideas. I don’t plan to ever take it down. It’s cringe-worthy, yet kinda cool to go back and read my posts from 5 years ago. (Yes, 5!) In an odd way, this blog has been a record of my college years. For those of you who have followed this blog, a big shout out and thank you to you!

Unfortunately, I’ll be unable to continue this blog for long in Thailand as I will not have a kitchen in my new home 😦 So, for the next few weeks, I’ll post recipes I’ve been meaning to. After that, it’s only if I have the opportunity to cook.

If you would like to know about my adventures in Thailand, feel free to follow my new blog, Teach. Eat. Travel. Repeat. I would love to share my journey with you!

For my last post, I wanted to write about this awesome new flour I’ve discovered- banana flour! It’s grain-free, paleo, and no,  it does not make your food taste banana-y.

Well, for this recipe it does because I used the flour to make banana chocolate muffins. So good. I can’t even…

Eat one for me while I’m away! 😉

Banana Flour Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup banana flour

3 tbsp cacao powder 

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup mashed banana

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 pinch stevia extract powder

1 egg

Optional- Chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor. Pour batter into a greased muffin tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool before eating.

Sweet Potato Bread (Paleo)

This weekend we had our first snow storm of the season. Of course it couldn’t happen during the week for a snow day from school… but hey, that’s life.

Actually, it was pretty nice to be stuck inside. My brother and sister were visiting at the time, so we all got to bum around together, watch Westworld, and eat a bunch of food. And with the leftover roasted sweet potatoes, I was able to make some chocolate chip sweet potato bread today!

Sweet Potato Bread (Paleo)

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tbsp honey

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp salt

pinch of stevia

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a bread pan with coconut oil. Combine all ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a food processor and blend. Stir in chocolate chips and then spread batter into the bread pan. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Let cool before slicing. In my opinion, this bread tastes best the second day! 

Butternut and Chicken Tomato Bake (Paleo)

First post of 2017! I’m expecting great things out of 2017:

1. I’m finishing Student Teaching and college in the next few months
2. I’m moving to Thailand to teach and travel!!!!!
3. I’m planning to continue to post recipes until moving day (and maybe even while in Thailand).

Needless to say, I am very excited for upcoming events!

Now, onto food. This is something I served at my family’s Christmas Eve party. It was a definite hit and gobbled all up before the evening ended. Enjoy!

P.S- Results are in! My most popular post of 2016 (with 2,681 views): Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas! 

Butternut and Chicken Tomato Bake (Paleo)

Ingredients:

4 cups butternut squash, cubed

2 tbsp avocado oil

salt and pepper

1.5 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 cup whole fat coconut milk

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups fresh spinach

1 egg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a bowl, toss together the butternut squash, 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper. Spread in a roasting pan and place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the other tbsp of oil in a skillet. Add the chicken pieces, salt and pepper, and cook all the way through. Add in the onion and garlic cloves and sauté for 2 minutes. Add in the coconut milk, sauce, and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute and then reduce to a simmer to thicken. Add in the spinach and cook until wilted.

Once butternut squash is finished, gently mix squash in with the chicken mixture. Transfer entire mixture into a baking dish. In a bowl, whisk an egg and then pour on top of mixture. Place mixture into a 350°F oven for 20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

This year’s annual Christmas Eve Sibling picture (I’m the one on the left!)

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (Paleo)

Time for a holiday cookie recipe! Double chocolate chip, to be specific 🙂 I LOVE how the texture of this cookie turned out- normally when I work with coconut flour, I get a super soft, crumply cookie. This cookie, however, has a crispy-er outside with a soft inside. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Pinch of stevia

1/2 cup applesauce

6 tbsp nut butter

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease 2 baking sheets with coconut oil.

In a food processor, combine the coconut flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and stevia. Pulse together. Add in the applesauce, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and egg and blend together. The batter should be dry- that’s okay! Stir in the chocolate chips.

Take a lump (about 2 tbsp) of dough, roll into a ball, place on the baking sheet, and press down gently. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before eating.