California hamburgers

We often eat our burgers with lettuce wraps (just like the protein style burger at In-N-Out, which by the way if you are in California and have food allergies, you can ask to be plain and "allergy burger" so they are more cautious). Sometimes we eat burgers also with just a salad or with with a side of broccoli but every now and then I make buns which makes the kids especially so happy. I make them to be honest mostly just to hear them say things like: "You make the best hamburger buns in the whole world!" The kids say these paleo (and AIP) buns are the best ever. I have had even non-paleo kids say that they are really good.

Instead of fries I often serve some kind of veggie side. Or serve the veggies as an appetizer as I learnt from my friend. I have noticed if I put the veggies as a side, the kids may leave them on the plate and just eat the burger but if I serve the veggies as an appetizer when they are at their hungriest, before giving the main course, the veggies might disappear quickly. This time the appetizer/side was steamed broccoli with lemon juice from our own lemons. The avocado in the burger adds creaminess without any sauces.

California burgers for four with a side of lemony broccoli 

1 lb ground beef
Herbamare or salt
1 tbsp tallow or other cooking fat for frying
broccoli
half a lemon
olive oil
avocado
lettuce
3 ripe (yellow) plantains or around 4 ripe burro bananas
1 cup arrowroot starch
1/3-1/2 cup water
1/4 cup avocado oil
1 tsp salt

1. Set your oven to 350F.
2. Prepare the batter for the buns: Peel plantains and chop them. Add everything to the blender: the plantains, 1 cup arrowroot starch, 1/3-1/2 cups water (add first the smaller amount but increase if the blender can't mix it), 1 tsp salt and 1/4 cup of avocado oil (you could replace some of this with water). Scoop eight pancake size piles of batter, for instance with the 1/3 cup measuring cup, on 1-2 parchment paper lined cookie sheets or jelly roll pans. Leave some space between as they may spread a little. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
3. Steam broccoli now so you can serve it as appetizers. Steam in a steamer pot until the fork just goes through, don't let them become mushy. Add a capful of olive oil, sprinkle some Herbamare on them and squeeze half a lemon on them as well.
4. Heat some tallow on medium heat in a cast iron pan (you could also grill the burgers!). Share the pound of ground meat in four pieces, form burgers, salt with Herbamare and fry from both sides until cooked.
5. Cut some avocado slices and get some lettuce from the garden (or your fridge :)) to go with the burgers.

Yellow Tail + Mango Ginger Salsa

The kids loved it. They especially love always the fresh fish as it has no "fishy taste" which develops as the fish ages.

(The problem with cooking at night is always the same, the pictures don't look so great as there is no day light! Every time I swear I will save some of the food for next day and take photos and almost every time it fails as there are no leftovers... Oh well.) 

Every week my kids and I go to the farmers market around the corner and buy organic vegetables, honey, fruit and pick up our weekly Community Seafood share. Community Seafood is a local community supported fishery in Santa Barbara, California. Their goal is to support the fishing community and sustainable ways of harvesting seafood.

I signed up a few months ago and our family has enjoyed the variety of seafood. I have tasted foods I have never tasted before, and may not have otherwise tasted, and learnt to prepare them too. Some of the new acquaintances have been mussels, oysters, ridge back shrimp and lobster. Some of the fish are new to me too. I grew up eating fish but mostly salmon, herring and some sweet water fish like perch.

This week's share was yellow tail. We have had it many times before and we usually enjoy it either grilled or fried in a cast iron pan. We like our fish simple. Usually we use just salt as a seasoning and squeeze some lemon from our tree on the cooked fish. For yellow tail I have made a few times a fruity salsa from fresh fruit I have had at hand like pineapple, peach, plums or mango. This week's salsa had mangoes.

I will post my most delicious paleo/AIP fish recipe experiments in future too. Stay tuned!

It is important to start with skin side up.
Otherwise the skin may stick to the pan.

Fried Yellow Tail 

yellow tail filets
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil

1. Cut the fish in smaller filets if needed. Leave the skin on.
2. Wash the fish and pat them dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel.
3. Heat a couple of spoonfuls of oil in your cast iron pan.
4. When the pan is warm, lay the fish pieces on the pan skin side up.
5. Leave them for a few minutes and turn them over.
6. Sprinkle salt on the fish and cover if you like.
7. Lower the heat a bit and cook until fish meat is white and flakes.

Mango Salsa 

1 ripe mango
1-2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1-2 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
juice from 1 lime
pinch of salt
a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped or cut small with scissors

1. Peel the mango and chop the meat in small pieces. I like to cut small slices against the pit first horizontally and then vertically to make squares and then cut along the pit to remove the pieces from the mango. Then repeat on the other side of the pit.
2. Put the mango pieces in a bowl and crush some of them with a fork to extract some of the juice.
3. Add lime juice, salt, crushed garlic and grated ginger. Let it sit for a while in the fridge before serving. If it is not spicy enough for your taste buds, add more ginger.

Use fresh ingredients for best results!

Veggie sides

I try to make sure we get plenty of vegetables every day. To help with this goal I have started to make often two veggie sides instead of one as I used to do.

With the fish and salsa I also served steamed asparagus that is in season now and sauteed purple mustard greens I got from the market as well. The asparagus I steamed just enough that it felt soft when I pierced a spear with a knife and tossed them in olive oil and sea salt.

The mustard greens I sauteed very lightly in a little bit of coconut oil and added a touch of salt. For sauteeing them I got instructions from the vendor at the market to heat the oil in the pan, add the greens, toss them in the oil, cover the pan and turn off the heat and let sit for just a little while. The greens stayed a little bit spicy in this way and were absolutely delicious!


What is your favorite way to prepare yellow tail?

Brussel Sprout Lover's Pan of Happiness

Did you know that in my native language, Finnish, brussel sprouts are called "rose cabbages"? I love that name! They do look like little cute baby cabbage heads. Anyway, this recipe is so good. You will love it, I promise! You will want to have this for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I do at least. If you ever meet someone who says they don't like brussel sprouts, offer them a taste of this dish! You might just convert them. Have I sold this recipe to you yet?

I loooove brussel sprouts in all forms so who am I to say though, but I have heard a lot of sighs of happiness from people eating this food. This is the best brussel sprouts recipe I know of.  What is your favorite way of preparing brussel sprouts? Please share in comments!

I usually buy sugar free and additive free delicious bacon from US Wellness Meats, for this day's version I had to use alternate bacon as they have been out, the bacon is so good. I am a part of their affiliate program so if you buy yours through my link above you support my blog! Thank you!

Delicious Sauteed Brussel Sprouts 

1/2 lb bacon 
a couple of pounds of brussels sprouts
1/2 lbs of mushrooms (optional)
1 big clove of garlic
1/3 cup of broth (I make my own delicious and healthy broth, learn how you can, too!)
1/3 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp creamed coconut
salt to taste

1. Prepare the brussels sprouts. Wash them, cut the hard bottom part off, remove any too wilted outer leaves and cut the sprouts in half.
2. Wash mushrooms and cut them in half. Very small ones you can keep whole.
3. Cut bacon in small pieces.
4. Brown the bacon pieces in a large skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and stir.
5. Add brussels sprouts and mushrooms and toss them in the bacon fat for a couple of minutes.
6. Add broth, coconut milk and creamed coconut and simmer on low until the brussels sprouts are as soft as you like them. Mix every now and then to prevent anything from burning. Add more liquid if it all evaporates to prevent the dish from burning.
7. Enjoy alone or with friends!

Super easy creamy chicken in the oven (AIP, paleo, dairy free, grainfree, gluten free)

This dish has almost a blue cheesy taste although it is dairy free! This food was so good that we were nearly fighting for the last bits. You have to try it, I am telling you! I created the dish kind of accidentally while we were staying in a cabin in the national forest in Finland. We were jetlaggy, tired, needed a dinner quickly and these were the only ingredients I had at hand. I had packed the creamed coconut in my suit case to use in place of milk in cooking. It keeps well, doesn't need refrigeration and I often bring some camping too. Now that I think of it, this would be perfect camp food. It could be prepared ahead of time in bags of foil and just be put on the campfire at dinner time. We are going camping for my birthday this week on the beach, guess what my birthday dinner will be?!

Easypeasy creamy chicken in the oven

2 lbs chicken thighs or breast, cut in strips
small bunch of spinach, chopped roughly (other greens would work too)
1 package of mushrooms, cut in half or quarters
1 package of creamed coconut (I use this one) (half a package might be enough but I used the whole thing)
1/2 lb of bacon (AIP friendly bacon available at US Wellness meats), cut in small pieces
a clove of garlic
salt to taste
coconut oil to grease the pan
A splash or two of water, white wine or broth in addition if the dish feels very dry as you are mixing it, I added some just in case

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease an oven pan with coconut oil.
3. Mix all ingredients in the pan. If the creamed coconut is solid, you can crumble it. The crumbles give the dish actually a cheesy feel. Use a garlic press to mince the garlic.
4. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked. Keep an eye so it doesn't burn from the top and add water or broth or wine and mix if needed.
5. Serve with salad. (Would be very nice with some gluten free noodles or boiled potatoes too if the dish doesn't have to be AIP friendly!)

TIP: If you don't want to use oven in the heat of the summer, you can just as well sautee the dish in a pan or a pot.

More AIP friendly recipes

Paleo Camping Food

Last weekend we went to Joshua Tree with some friend families to camp and do some rock climbing. I had never been camping yet completely grain free so I had to do some planning and preparing ahead but it was surprisingly easy to come up with a grain free camping menu.

Most of it was AIP friendly too apart from some gluten free sausages that might have had night shade spices and kids had some s'mores with gluten free graham crackers at the campfire. Here are some ideas for your future camping trips!

Check out also my post about traveling while on a special diet. The travel food ideas apply to camping too.

Equipment needed for the camp kitchen (on top of a tent, sleeping bags, pads, warm clothes and other camping gear you need):

a camp stove and fuel

lighter or matches

a frying pan and spatula

cutting board

knife
can opener *swiss army knife works for many of your needs

plates, cups, forks, knives and spoons

paper towels are the thing I always miss when I don't have them

hand disinfectant is handy to use after handling the raw sausage 

flash light, lantern or headlight if you plan on cooking in the dark

Dr. Bronner's liquid soap is handy for dishwashing and hand washing

a brush or sponge for washing dishes

coal if you use a grill

firewood if you want to cook on fire

Breakfasts:

Pancakes

I made ahead of time some plantain pancake batter at home and stored it in ziploc bags to use at the campground.

Breakfast Sausage and fried zucchini

I made a breakfast sausage mix before hand at home and stored it in ziploc bags to use at the campground. I have modified a breakfast sausage recipe from Nom Nom Paleo for this.

2 lb ground pork (at least 20% fat)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp salt

fresh herbs to taste (cut them with scissors in small pieces) - I used rosemary, thyme, sage and sweet marjoram

1. Mix everything together. Store in a container or a zip loc bag until you are ready to use them. 

2. Form little patties or sausages and fry in coconut oil or lard.

3. Cut zucchinis in slices and fry in the leftover fat from the patties (or bacon).

Sides: 

Sauerkraut or other fermented vegetables, sliced avocados, fresh fruit, fresh veggies like cucumbers and carrots

Lunches (all of these work as snacks too):

Persian cucumbers

Baby carrots

Crackers

Homemade fermented pickles or other veggies

Canned tuna or salmon (check ingredients)

Smoked salmon (check ingredients)

Avocados

Olives

Salads and coleslaws prepared ahead of time at home and packed in containers or ziploc bags. See a ziploc coleslaw recipe here.

Dinners

Tuna salad

Lettuce (ready cut in a bag is nice and saves trouble!)

Cucumbers, chopped

Olives

Canned tuna (or salmon)

Dressing prepared ahead of time at home and brought to camp in a leak proof jar:

1 part balsamic vinegar / coconut vinegar / apple cider vinegar

4 parts olive oil

1 tsp honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Shake to mix and serve with the salad.

Hobo Aluminum Foil Dinner

This you can prepare already at home to save trouble and time at the campground. 

Raw veggies and meats or fish of your choice 

Coconut oil

Salt

We used: 

turnips (some of us ate potatoes) - these I precooked at home

bok choy

spinach

pineapple

pork

mushrooms

Cut the veggies and meats and pack them in heavy aluminum foil (if you don't have heavy foil, it is best to double the foil). Before you close the packages, add some oil and salt. Put the foil packages on grill with charcoal or wait until the campfire has burnt  for a while so you can put the packages in the coals. Check from time to time to see if they are ready and that they don't burn. 

Happy camping! Please share your paleo camping food ideas in the comments below!

Plantain Pancakes (updated recipe!)

We make these grain free and vegan pancakes a lot. They are fast to make even on busy mornings. Kids love them, adults love them. Kids like to help making them. It is our new favorite breakfast in addition to leftovers and homemade maple pork sausage patties (I use the recipe from Nom Nom Paleo book for those). Last week I made some of this pancake batter at home to take camping and we fried them on our camp stove in Joshua Tree. During last months we have made all kinds of updates to the earlier recipe I posted. I started updating that post but there were so many updates that I decided to make a new post altogether.


I found this recipe from Purely Twins for grain free pancakes. I modified it a little to suit our diet. We have kept modifying the recipe to make it our own and here is the result of months of experimenting!

Our newest discovery were burro bananas as our grocery store was out of green plantains. They worked even better than plantains. The consistency of the pancake was amazing.

Grain free vegan pancakes
autoimmune paleo, vegan, grain free

1 green plantain or green burro banana (you can use yellow ones too, the batter will be just less starchy and more difficult to maneuver when turning the pancakes, I suggest adding 2 tbsp arrowroot starch or 1 tbsp coconut flour in this case)
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk or coconut kefir
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (I buy mine from here, affiliate link that supports my blogging)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of sea salt (I like Himalayan pink salt, affiliate link)

1. Peel the plantain, chop it and add in the blender or food processor (this is a perfect job for little kids!)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

3. Warm your pan on medium-low heat.

4. Spread the thick batter on the pan. You might need to spread it a little bit with a spatula so the pancakes are not too thick.

5. Cook on one side until you are able to turn them. They are ready when they seem solid.

6. Serve them with maple syrup, jam, berries, unsweetened apple sauce, whatever you like. My kids favorites are apple sauce and the other one's maple syrup. You can transform them to a healthy lunch (school lunch too!) or even dinner by adding spinach and making spinach pancakes. Or eat them later cold as "bread".

Have a great Easter weekend! Easter post coming soon!

Sirpa

Bone Broth And An Every Day Gourmet Soup

We eat a lot of soup. The base of the soup is always the same, homemade broth. The other ingredients vary as I use whatever I have at hand. Every soup becomes different in this way and is always a new adventure! Read on to learn how to make your own broth/stock and how to use it as a base for a soup made of foods you happen to have at hand. I like to eat this soup when I have it at hand for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Home made bone broth is healthy and delicious

The secret to a really good soup is in the homemade long cooked broth. The best restaurants make their own broths and you can cook delicious foods if you base them on your home cooked stocks. I save all bones and scraps of meat and veggies in my freezer and make broth out of them. You can use any kind of bones. Beef, chicken, pork, duck - all bones will do. You can buy grass fed beef bones from a butcher or health food store or use your leftover carcasses or bones from drumsticks or ribs. If you are not ready to use them, or don't have enough from one meal, you can freeze them in a ziploc bag to wait for a better moment and keep adding bones to the bag.

I prefer to use bones that have a little bit of meat attached to them, because the broth tastes better that way I think, but it is not necessary. I usually leave some meat on chicken carcasses for this purpose or add some leftover chunks of meat. Saving trimmed parts opf connective tissue (in that freezer bag) is a good idea too. Especially beef bones you might be able to use twice for two batched of broth!

Ingredients:

bones
water
(it is believed a splash or two of apple cider vinegar will help in removing minerals from the bones but some don't like the taste - I do like the added flavor)

Optional add ons (pick one or more to flavor the broth):

carrots
celery
bay leaves
whole peppercorns
fresh parsley or carrot tops
garlic cloves

Method 1: Slowcooker

Add the bones and any add ons in your crockpot. Add enough water to more than sufficiently cover the bones. Cook on low for 8-24 hours. Or even longer. I have sometimes had the broth simmering for days and just made sure to add more liquid from time to time. It has been nice to scoop a cupful of hot broth to drink and use in cooking straight from the cooker.

Method 2: In the oven

Add the bones and any add ons in an oven proof stock pot with a lid. Add enough water to more than sufficiently cover the bones. Bake in 200F for 8-24 hours. Or longer.

Strain the ready broth (you can try to use the bones for a second lighter batch) and freeze it or store in the fridge for up to a week and use in your cooking or drink by the cupful.

How to transform your broth into a delicious soup and get called a gourmet chef

1. Add chopped vegetables and meat in a pot. You can use up all leftover scraps from your fridge!
2. Pour in enough broth to cover the vegetables (you can replace some of it with water if you want).
3. Add spices to taste. I usually add salt, grated fresh ginger, crushed garlic, sometimes pepper.
4. Let simmer on low until the vegetables and meat are cooked.

TIP: My favorite soup contains chicken, white cabbage, kale, mushrooms and carrots with ginger and garlic. Sometimes if I am in a rush and don't have broth I boil a whole chicken in water for an hour or longer if I have time and in the meanwhile chop vegetables. When the chicken is cooked, I fish it out, throw the veggies and spices in to simmer and and then strip the meat from the bones and add the meat in the soup. The carcasse I keep for a second round of broth I cook for a longer time.

Finnish Salmon Soup

Fish soup is a very common food in Finland. It is often made with salmon, potatoes and milk and garnished with dill. If you don't have fish stock at hand you can use water only but homemade fish stock is easy to make and gives a delicious flavor to the soup. Stock made from fish bones and heads is also very nutritious, full of minerals and makes a great addition to a healthy diet.


How to make fish stock:

1. Get a few pounds of fish bones and heads from a fish store or the fish counter from a grocery store. You might have to call them ahead to reserve the bones as they sometimes just throw them away. You shouldn't be charged a lot for them.

2. Put the bones and heads in a big stock pot and fill with water. Add 1-2 bay leaves, a carrot and about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.

3. Bring to boil and let simmer lid on for at least a few hours or as long as 24 hours.

4. Strain the stock. You can collect the fish meat from the bones and add to the soup or eat as is later.

Salmon Soup

4.5 cups fish stock (some of it can be replaced with water)
1/2-1 cup full fat milk (I use coconut milk)
1 lb salmon, skin removed and cut in cubes
4-5 medium sized turnips (or potatoes if you are not avoiding night shades)
1 carrot
5 whole allspice
1 small clove of garlic
1 tsp salt
dill

Optional: you can saute some onions in a fat of your choice in the sauce pan before adding the stock.

1. Measure the stock to a big enough sauce pan and bring to boil.

2. Chop the potatoes and carrots and add them to the stock as well as the whole allspice berries and chopped garlic.

3. Let simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are easily pierced with a fork.

4. Add the fish, salt, milk and chopped dill. The fish takes only a few minutes until it is ready. Check one fish piece to make sure it is cooked.

Check out more great recipes from Phoenix Helix Autoimmune Paleo Recipe Roundtable.

Homemade Sausage

We don't really buy sausage anymore because it is hard, if not impossible, to find sausage that would be sugar free and night shade free. I took the plunge and bought a stand mixer with the meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment. The stand mixer is handy anyway in other tasks too like making these corn free and egg free marshmallows with honey as an occasional treat for camping trips.


Homemade Pork Sausage
paleo, AIP, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, corn free, night shade free, egg free, refined sugar free

2 lb pork from Rainbow Ranch Farms, cut in one inch chunks
1/2 lb fat (I used lard)
20 gr salt
5 mushrooms
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp fresh parsley, cut fine with scissors
3 tbsp apple sauce
1 clove of garlic
natural casings (I used these ones, affiliate link)

I made the sausages with a Kitchenaid stand mixer and its meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachment. I followed the instructions on this video. (I am not affiliated with Kitchenaid by the way, it is just the tool I happen to use.)

I first ground the meat with the lard and mushrooms in the food grinder. I gently mixed in all the other ingredients from above (except casings of course) and then changed to the sausage stuffer attachment.

According to the instructions on the video below I made the sausages. The sausages can be boiled, fried or barbequed. The video says you'll need two people to make the sausages but I did it alone. It was a little tricky but not impossible.

This recipe is posted also on Phoenix Helix AIP Round Table. Check it out for more great AIP friendly recipes!

Shrimp Fajitas (AIP, Paleo, Grain free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Corn Free, Nightshade Free)

I have missed Mexican restaurants while being on our healing diets. We used to often have a Mexican night at home too on the weekends and it was always so much fun. But now we don't eat beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers or dairy so that's pretty much it, right? In my cravings last night I took what we had at hand and with the help of guacamole made it resemble a Mexican meal. This dish is not really Mexican but it has a little bit of that feeling!

Shrimp Pineapple Fajitas

1 pound uncooked peeled shrimp
2 zucchinis
1/2 pineapple (I used the other half for pineapple dessert)
Coconut oil
Mushrooms
Salt
A piece of fresh ginger
Paleo coconut wraps (I use these)

Paleo Guacamole

Coconut kefir (it can sometimes become sour cream consistency or thicker if you let it sit in the fridge for a while)

1. Cut everything in bite sized pieces.
2. Heat a tablespoon or so of coconut oil in a frying pan (cast iron is a must especially in this recipe!). Start by frying the pineapples and ginger. When they have some brown color, move them to another dish.
3. Add another tablespoon of coconut oil and add the chopped zucchinis in the pan. Fry them until almost soft and add the uncooked peeled shrimp. Fry until the shrimp is ready which takes only a few minutes. Add salt to taste. Don't overcook the shrimp. It is pretty much done when it has turned red but check of course first before serving.
4. Bring all food to the table and everyone can make their own wraps with guacamole and some solidified coconut kefir if you wish.

Oxtail Soup

I like oxtail soup because I like the idea that nothing is wasted if an animal is killed for our nourishment. It is also the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. Even my selective seven year old said that he would like to eat it every day. In Finland oxtail soup is made traditionally from root vegetables and onions. I have added also some greens or cabbage and I like to add some ginger to bring flavor. Here is my slow cooker ox tail soup recipe. I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner when I have it at hand.

Ox tail soup

One ox tail, in pieces (if you'd have a whole tail, cut the tail in pieces from the joints)
Fat of your choice, I use lard or coconut oil
A carrot
Two turnips
One small rutabaga
A teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
One clove of garlic
A bunch of collard greens or kale of white cabbage
A zucchini or yellow squash
Salt
2 Bay leaves
Some fresh parsley
A couple of quarts of broth (or if you don't have broth at hand like I didn't today, I put in enough water and a couple of beef bones cut in half)
3 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
(a few peppercorns)

1. Chop the vegetables.

2. Melt the fat on a frying pan and brown the ox tail pieces and root vegetables.

3. Put all ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low overnight or 8-10 hours (talk about a tasty breakfast waiting for you in the morning!) or until the meat falls off the bone.

4. Fish out all the bones and tail pieces. Let them cool. (Fish out also the bay leaves and peppercorns if you want.) In the meanwhile puree the veggies with an immersion blender or press them through a strain. Or leave them as is especially if you have cut them really small.

5. Remove the meat from the tail bones and chop in pieces and add to the soup.

6. If you want to remove fat from the soup, stick it in the fridge and peel the fat from the top when it has cooled down and the fat is a solid layer on the top.

Check out this coconut oil giveaway too!

More autoimmune paleo friendly recipes, check out this roundtable where this post was published too.

Finnish Lamb and Cabbage Stew with Cranberries (grain free, dairy free, paleo, AIP)

This is a very traditional Finnish recipe. I got the inspiration to this from a cook book from 1910. I made it in a slow cooker but included also instructions for making it on the stove top. You could also cook it low and covered in the oven. I can imagine this being served in Finland with boiled and peeled potatoes but I have left them out because we are not eating night shades right now.

Lamb and cabbage stew (Lammaskaali)

1 head of white cabbage
2 lbs lamb shoulder (with bones)
1 tbsp lard, coconut oil or fat of your choice, optional
2 tbsp sea salt
2 bay leaves
Fresh or dried marjoram
water
OPTIONAL: 10 whole allspice berries (leave out if you are on AIP and haven't introduced fruit/berry/seed based spices back yet)

1. Cut the cabbage in eight sections. Remove the hard center.
2. Cut the lamb in chunks or steaks and break the bones if necessary.
3. If you wish, brown the meat slightly in lard or other fat in a cast iron frying pan. Remove the meat from the pan and add some water in it. Bring to boil and save the broth for the stew. (Tthis step can be skipped too.)
4. Arrange the meat, cabbage wedges and spices in layers in a slow cooker crock or a pot.
5. Add the liquid from the frying pan to the pot or the crock and just enough water to prevent the stew from burning. Check during cooking if water needs to be added.
6. Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours on the stove in the pot or cook on low in the slow cooker for about 8 hours. You can remove the bones and cut the meat in bite size pieces before serving but it is not necessary.
7. Serve with crushed cranberries.

Crushed Cranberries (Karpalosurvos)

Cranberries, fresh or frozen
Raw honey

Crush cranberries with a potato masher or a vegetable stomper (or pulse a few times in a blender) and add honey to taste. No need to thaw them if they are frozen. The crushed cranberries will keep in the fridge in a jar for a while. If you happen to have freshly picked lingonberries, feel free to replace the cranberries with those. :)

PS. I have a one gallon coconut oil giveaway in my blog! Check it out!
PS2. For more paleo and autoimmune paleo recipes, check out Phoenix Helix AIP round table where this recipe appears as well.

The Best Ever Fish Sticks (Grain Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free, Corn Free, Nut Free)

We made the best fish sticks tonight. They were beautiful and so delicious. I wasn't thinking about blogging about them as I just tried to make quickly something yummy for sick children (I designed the recipe in my head holding a napping feverish two year old) so I didn't measure of course so these amounts are very approximate but I'll give you good instructions! And I snapped a photo when I realized that these were going to turn out really good:

Our Favorite Paleo Fish Sticks

1 lb or so white fish filets like cod, frozen is fine (you can also use large uncooked peeled shrimp)
1/2 cup homemade coconut kefir 
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
3/4-1 cup shredded coconut
salt
dried powdered ginger
garlic powder
1 tsp of maple sugar (optional)
1/4 cup coconut oil

1. Thaw the fish. Cut it in pieces.

2. Take two bowls. Put in one bowl the coconut kefir and about 1/2 tsp salt, a pinch of garlic powder and a pinch of ginger. Put some of the fish to soak in the bowl.

3. Take the other bowl and mix in it the starch, the coconut and again about 1/2 tsp salt, a pinch of garlic powder and ginger and maple sugar.

4. Heat a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil on medium heat in a skillet.

5. Toss fish pieces (and we did shrimp too!) first in coconut kefir, then lightly in the flour mixture and fry on both sides until flaky (only a few minutes). You might have to add more coconut oil in between and even clean the pan.

6. Serve immediately with salad or sauteed greens (we sauteed chard and kale in coconut oil and home made chicken broth) or steamed vegetables.

I use this coconut oil. I order it often in gallon buckets like this because it lasts for a long time (a couple of years I believe, except not for that long in my household as some of us eat it with a spoon...) and it is cheaper that way. If you order by clicking on my links and have never ordered from Tropical Traditions in the past, you will receive a free book on Virgin Coconut Oil, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you. Thanks for your support!

Ready Steady Eat: Fast Wraps for Any Meal or To Go (AIP, paleo, grain free, dairy free)

Some days when I have to whip up a meal from the random ingredients at hand it feels like I am on the British Ready Steady Cook show (to be honest I sometimes in my mind pretend I am on it!). They had a similar show in Finland and I used to love to watch it. In the show two chefs competing with each other create delicious and inventive meals from a bagful of random ingredients. They don't know before hand what ingredients they get and they have a very limited time to complete the task. What fascinated me about the show was how these chefs were able to come up with delicious meals in such a short time without any recipes or previous planning from a bagful of random ingredients they had no say over. There was usually also a limit how much the ingredients could cost (not much at all). Those chefs are my heroes especially as I have never been a much of a recipe follower.
I felt like a chef from that show today as I had to prepare lunch quickly to starving family members from the ingredients I had at hand. This is what I had:

1 lb ground beef (organic from Rainbow Ranch Farms)
1 carrot
1 zucchini
a handful of crimini mushrooms
an avocado
coconut wraps (you could also use other tortillas you have, big lettuce leaves, collard leaves or for instance these plantain wraps)
fermented ginger carrots (you could replace this with sauerkraut or just leave out)
lettuce (I picked some from our container garden!)
cucumber (diced)

I also had spices, coconut oil etc. basic ingredients of course (I used garlic powder, oregano and salt).

I put the ground beef on a cast iron pan with some coconut oil on medium heat mixing and chopping it and turning it over every now and then. In the same time grated the carrot and zucchini and chopped mushrooms in small pieces. I tossed them in the frying pan as well. I added some salt, oregano and garlic powder.

The I ran out to get the lettuce and fresh oregano, chopped them and diced the cucumber and avocado.

When the meat and vegetables were cooked I piled all ingredients on coconut wraps and rolled them. Note: Don't cook the fermented carrots to preserve the probiotics.

Alternatively, if you don't have any wraps or leaves to use, you could just mix it all up to a salad and add homemade coconut kefir from your fridge (or olive oil and balsamic vinegar) for a dressing.

Ready, steady, eat!

PS. You could prepare all the ingredients and pack them in your backpack to go and roll the wraps while you are hiking, running errands, at the beach or park.

Have you already taken part in my giveaway that will end in a couple of days?

This recipe has been published on Autoimmune Paleo Recipe Roundtable in Phoenix Helix Blog.

Scrumptious Sides: Creamy Baked Yummy Yam

Creamy Baked Yam
Vegan, AIP, Paleo, Dairy Free, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free

a few yams, preboiled in lightly salted water and then peeled and cut in cubes or slices
1 cup of full fat coconut milk (or 1/2 cup of coconut cream and 1/2 cup vegetable - or chicken stock if not making it vegan)
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly juiced ginger (or dried ginger to taste)
coconut oil
half a clove of garlic
salt to taste


1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease a 9 inch oven pan with coconut oil.

3. Rub the garlic clove half on the sides and bottom of the pan for a slight garlic flavor to the dish. Toss the clove.

4. Place the yam cubes in the pan, add ginger and salt to taste and pour coconut milk evenly on the yams.

5. Bake for about an hour. Mix the yams once so they stay coated with the coconut milk.

I shared this recipe on Phoenix Helix blog's AIP Recipe Round Table. Find more Autoimmune Paleo friendly recipes from there!

Caramelized Ginger Chicken and Sauteed Greens

Before going on autoimmune paleo we used to sometimes go to a Vietnamese restaurant called Blue Hen in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles to eat yummy gluten free foods like pho and caramelized ginger chicken with greens. I am not going to attempt making pho on AIP (or wait...) but I did make a version of the ginger chicken (without the sugar!). This might be our new favorite food.

Sugar Free Caramelized Ginger Chicken and Sauteed Greens
Paleo, AIP, low-FODMAP friendly

4 chicken thighs
an inch piece of fresh ginger (or more to taste)
garlic (leave out if FODMAP's bother you)
coconut oil
salt
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp (or more to taste) maple syrup, grade B (optional)
1 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tbsp sugar free fish sauce like Red Boat (optional)

1. Chop ginger in sticks and garlic in thick slices and sautee them lightly in coconut oil. Lift them out but leave the oil that now has the flavors of the ginger and garlic.

2. Salt the chicken thighs lightly and add them to the pan, the nicer side down first. Cook on medium until the chicken has gotten some brown color and turn. Continue cooking until chicken is almost done.

3. Add ginger and garlic back to the pan on the chickens and drizzle the balsamic vinegar, coconut aminos on top as well. Cover and simmer on low until chicken is cooked. If needed, add a little bit of water to avoid them from drying.

4. Just before removing from the stove, drizzle the maple syrup (optional) and toss the chickens in it to caramelize them. The balsamic vinegar has caramelized the chickens slightly too so this is an optional step you can leave out if you want to avoid maple syrup.

5. Sautee bok choy (low-FODMAP!) in coconut oil or home made broth (or little bit of both) and add salt and fish sauce to taste.


This recipe has been published in Phoenix Helix AIP recipe Roundtable

Baked Orange Ginger Salmon with Roasted Root Vegetables and Bok Choy

Our dinner tonight became quite festive as you can see! It amazes me how with so few basic ingredients make so wonderful dinners. I am pretty sure our dinners are more imaginative and delicious than they were in our pre-paleo and pre-allergy life. Then it was easy to resort to pasta and tomato sauce type of dinners too often.

People sometimes say they feel bad for us that we can't eat certain foods. I wish people didn't feel bad for me because I don't feel bad. I feel great! I really don't miss any food that makes my body feel weird. I have discovered so many new foods on this journey that I bet I am actually eating more different kinds of foods now than when the main part of my diet consisted of grains and cheese, pizza and such things.

Just today I ate a salad with arugula, water cress, shrimp, lettuce, avocado, cilantro, lemon and olive oil for lunch. Yesterday I ate kaboucha squash and chicken and fermented beets and daikons. For breakfast I had tea and berries with coconut milk kefir. And sugar free bacon made of beef. (Did you know that you can make bacon at home? We did it once but that is another story).

Oven Baked Orange Ginger Salmon
Paleo, AIP

Serves 4

4 salmon fillets
2 oranges, sliced
Juice of half an orange
2 tbsp honey (leave out for a low-FODMAP/sugar free version)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp olive oil

1. Place orange slices on the bottom of a small oven pan. Lay the salmon fillets skin down on the oranges.

2. Mix orange juice, honey, cilantro, salt, ginger and olive oil together in a small bowl and pour on the fillets.

3. Bake in 350F until fish flakes, about 15 minutes. I baked them in the toaster oven as my root veggies were in the other oven in a higher temperature.

TIP: If your kids find ginger too strong, mix it in last and use on the kids' fillets the mixture before adding the ginger.

Roasted root vegetables

Leftover or your choice root vegetables: rutabaga, turnip, beet, daikon, yams, sweet potato, radish, carrots etc.
Coconut oil
Salt

1. Cut root vegetables in one inch pieces.

2. Put them on a oiled baking sheet.

3. Melt coconut oil if solid and toss the vegetables in oil and salt.

4. Spread them in one layer (use two pans if needed) and bake in 425F for 45 minutes or until done. Serve on bed of arugula.

Steamed Bok Choy

Steam bok choy with grated ginger and toss in some coconut oil and salt when they are done. Don't overcook them. 3-5 minutes is enough for me.

For more autoimmune paleo recipes check out Phoenix Helix weekly Roundtable!




I get my coconut oil from Tropical Traditions by the gallon because it lasts for a long time and buying in bulk is cheaper in the end. Click on the coconut oil bucket below for special sale prices (affiliate link, buying coconut oil through this link will support my blogging!) If you order by clicking on any of my links and have never ordered from Tropical Traditions in the past, you will receive a free book on Virgin Coconut Oil, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you.

Zucchini Noodles with Nut and Seed Free Pesto (Vegan)

I just love this food. It is fresh, tasty, raw and full of nutrients. You can eat it as a side or even as a full meal. The zucchini noodles can be eaten raw or lightly steamed.

The easiest way to make zucchini noodles is with a spiral vegetable slicer. I own the Paderno one (this one http://amzn.to/1AOm2c8 ). I bought it once for myself as a gift when my husband was on a long business trip and I needed cheering up. 

I am fond of this gadget because it is easy to use, you don't need to plug it in (just use your arm power!) and even the kids can do it (they also think it is incredibly fun).

Pesto
AIP, paleo, vegan, nut/seed free

About a cupful of fresh basil leaves packed tight
About a cupful of fresh spinach, also packed tight

1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil (or replace some of it with water if you don't want it so oily)
(Black pepper is optional)

Mix everything in a blender or food processor. Don't overdo it, the consistency doesn't have to be smooth like a smoothie. Mix with the zucchini noodles.

TIP: This makes more than you might need. Freeze the rest in small proportions for later use.

PS. I have been thinking in the last few days how people often react strongly to the term "paleo" and you hear all kinds of criticism. I am wondering if we could just call it "real food that makes you feel good"?

Rutabaga is the New Sweet Potato (and Turnip the Old Potato!)

Turnips on the left and rutabagas on the right.
They both taste good cooked and raw.

Paleo diets often replace potato with sweet potato. We don't tolerate it very well in our family so I have started using more turnips and rutabaga. Turnips make great fries and rutabaga is delicious mashed, roasted or boiled. Or raw actually too. I like turnip raw as well, cut in sticks.

In Finland I grew up eating both of these root vegetables, raw sticks for snack and especially on Christmas we ate rutabaga casserole. Turnip on the other hand was eaten in Finland before potato.

Rutabaga is white when cut raw but it turns beautiful yellow when cooked. 

Here is how we used rutabaga for dinner:
- Pressure cooked rutabaga cubes with mushrooms and sea weed (The recipe was from this book but basically you could just boil the rutabagas and mushrooms and kombu sea weed until soft if you don't want to use a pressure cooker - we have a pressure cooker because we plan to live on a sail boat and there it would be super handy!)
- Pork roast (Basically just salt the meat and stick in the oven on 350F until cooked)
- Steamed rainbow chard with coconut oil and sea salt
- Green salad with naturally cured olives, cucumber, lemon juice and olive oil

TIP: Eat rutabaga and turnip sticks for snack just like carrots.

PS. Paleo diet is sometimes criticized for huge amounts of meat. Look at the photo above - we eat mostly vegetables. They are our main dish and meat is the side!

A Leftover Stir Fry and Soup (and 11 days on AIP update)

We had meat, mushrooms and vegetables left from our shabu shabu dinner the other night and we fried them and some extra greens (rainbow chard) in coconut oil, added the juice from half a lime, some coconut aminos, sliced garlic and some Himalayan pink salt and it was absolutely delicious. More vegetables should have been added. One always forget how they shrink while cooked.

I used the same method to make yet another slow cooker soup overnight to eat for breakfast and lunch. I made this without white cabbage to make it lower in FODMAPs. This soup consisted of home made chicken broth, chicken and all the oldest vegetables from our fridge (daikon and daikon greens, bok choy, turnips, carrots, zucchini, squash, kale), chopped in small pieces. Added some salt. No other spices this time. After eleven days on a very simple autoimmune paleo diet I am starting to appreciate plain tastes and don't crave spices as much. Didn't expect that to happen.

After 11 days on the diet we feel pretty good. We sleep better. The world looks sharper and we feel calmer but also energetic. Our blood sugar regulation is better (I don't have to snack!). When I get hungry, I don't get weak or irritable, get this piercing hunger pain in my stomach or feel like I have to get something to eat immediately or I will collapse. I just feel this little hunger tickle my tummy and if I don't eat right away, it goes away and comes to tickle me later again but without all the extra sensations I described before. Stools are beautiful (sorry if too much information but stools are important, read more about - and look at pictures - how poop should be like here). The first week we were tired and had some headaches and food cravings but I think we are over that. We are so glad we started this experiment.