Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Paleo Diet.  I feel like we have tried just about every (fad) health diet: RAW, Vegan, Pescatarian and now Paleo.  Although, I have to admit - I really like this one.  We have yet to really add red meat and pork to the diet, but I am super happy to have poultry back on the pallet!

Soren still eats some gluten products (sprouted bread) and cow's milk from Snowville Creamery or RAW from a local herd share - but Rick and I have almost phased that part of our diet out.  When we do indulge - boy! do we feel it!  Like our date night this past weekend - my ears are still stuffed from the gluten in our beer and breaded mushrooms.  However, the food and beer were quite tasty.  We primarily keep only Hard Cider and Wine in the house now and only indulge from time to time.  We have even cut back significantly on ice cream - which if anyone knows me, is next to impossible!  I love my Jeni's!!

That being said - I was happy to comply when Rick asked me for Paleo cookies.  I found this recipe and I have to say, this Paleo thing is really growing on me!

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies:

3 ¼ cup almond meal

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract (or regular if you don’t give a damn)

½ cup honey, local preferably (maple syrup or agave nectar works too)

½ cup coconut oil, melted (I am going to try NOT melting it next time - my cookies end up a bit too cakey)

1 ½ cups cacao nibs (pure chocolate chips and vegan chocolate chips work too)

1.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Combine 3 and 1/4 cups of almond flour with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda.

3.  In a large bowl, combine 2 eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of either honey, pure maple syrup, or agave nectar (I like honey).

The Paleo Diet.  This is a new one in our household.  I feel like we have tried almost every health (fad) food diet out there - RAW, Vegan, Pescatarian and now Paleo.  I like this one though.  We still have yet to introduce red meat and pork into our diets but I am super happy to have poultry back on the pallet.

4.  Combine wet and dry ingredients then add 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  The darker the chips the more paleo friendly they are, but the dairy free ones taste pretty good.  Haha! *(The dough will look pretty wet, I placed my dough in the fridge to firm up a bit before rolling them into balls, but you can just pop them into the oven as is)

5.  Spoon them onto your parchment and pop them in the oven.  This recipe makes about 24 cookies, and i usually do 2 rounds of 12.  Bake ‘em for about 8-10 minutes (the tops will start to get golden brown).  If they go longer than that the bottoms burn because of the sugar in the honey.  No good at all.

6.  When I pull them out I let them cool long enough to get them off the parchment and put them in something sealed to go into the fridge.  I like them better out of the fridge because there’s no flour and they tend to be a little sticky at room temp.

Hot Cocoa

I LOVE hot cocoa. 

Today it snowed.  Not just any snow.  Those big snow flakes that leave you staring out the window in wonder.  How are they SO big?  How do they make it to the ground in one fragile piece?

I guess it's almost like motherhood.  I flashed back to the workshop and the moment I saw my little man again after three intense days.  How did he get SO big?  How did this little fragile life make it into the world through my body?

So it was time to venture outside in the snow storm.  Soren had a blast!  And of course, when we came back in from the cold - it was time for some hot cocoa.  

With some Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa and Snowville Creamery milk - Soren and I made some cocoa with Noi Sirius dark chocolate shaved on top.  Happy Snow day!

Four Seasons

I am a four seasons type of gal.  I need them all.  Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.  For me the cold means snow (usually - since I moved to the midwest, this has been debatable), snuggles, blankets, knitting projects and tons, I mean TONS of hot soup!

Since we are reintroducing chicken into our diets, I was incredibly excited to try out this recipe on a particularly cold, Winter day.

I love Deb's Smitten Kitchen website and could spend several lines singing it's praises.  But instead - I will leave the discovery up to you.  Deb Perlman just released her cookbook last year, of which I highly recommend.  One of these days someone will fall victim to my hinting and snag one for me (Ahem... Rick, wink, wink).  For now, I will stalk the website.

Here is the link to her wonderful Lentil Soup with Chicken Sausage and Chard (I used purple kale, it was far too beautiful to pass up and we used a fantastic basil and pine nut chicken sausage).  We did a few variations of it which is the beauty of Deb's recipes, their versatility.  Enjoy - we did!  

Cooking with Kids

Food is a test of patience for almost all parents, well let's be honest all parents (enough to make you want to yell...).  I don't care how good your little eater is - every time that wee person with a very large will munches on something foreign and new and goes back for their second piece you are singing with joy deep down.

Eating is an adventure.

So is cooking.

Soren has been my kitchen buddy since I can remember.  I want him to grow up with vast culinary knowledge.  I don't want him to remember learning to cook - I want him to always have known how to cook, for it to be something inherent, second nature.  Like I was playing piano…  I don't remember learning, I just always knew where the keys were - my memory was too young to register it.  

Although it is messy - almost all the time now - I love it.  A couple nights ago, Soren made our salad , he made ice cream with me, we made cookies - he even poured the flour into the mixer! - and now, he rolls out dough with me, cuts it and monitors me putting it into the oven exclaiming 'hot!  momma - hot!' and I respond, my heart swelling with joy - 'yes, sweetie - VERY hot.  sssss..ow!'

Cooking is fun - more now than it ever was….

JoAnne is teaching Soren how to juice a lemon - takes a lot of strength!

Yelling

This is not going to shed the most positive light on my parenting skills, but here it goes:

I yelled tonight (Soren's yelling gasp above is a positive one - kiddo LOVES his spinach smoothies after a nap!).  It was my fault - but I did.  And to top it off, it was over food.  I know some of you might be gasping and others rolling their eyes, but either way - this is NOT the way we do things in this household.  We talk, calm down before speaking with one another, we respect one another.  We don't scream.  Now, I know Soren is just a few months outside of turning 2 and his tantrums are pretty stellar, but we have been working on triggers to get him to communicate instead.  Why this grown adult couldn't pull it together tonight?  Is beyond me.

It started with dinner.  The past couple days have been tough with food - when most haven't up to this point.  I have posted, instagramed and enjoyed all the crazy, tasty - nutritous things Soren has devoured and now - he's 2.  And he is opinionated.  But my delisional self thought we would be different.  I thought making his baby food, nursing and cooking avidly in the kitchen - with him by my side would askew any 'picky' qualities of a typical toddler.  I was wrong.  He is going to have his days - and tonight was one of them. 

I made this fantastic kale and potato soup with Kroeger and Son's Italian chicken sausage (devine...really!).  I thought for certain he would eat it up.  But he wouldn't even try it - the salad, however?  Three servings!  Way to go almond slivers, spinach and feta cheese!  Now, I don't believe in bartering so there is no 'eat your dinner or you don't get dessert' nonesense, but I did think, maybe - distraction?  So I got the iPad and let him play 'trucks' as I tried to sneak a few bites in his mouth - just to get a taste.  Soren finally got fed up with my 'please'ing and having a spoon in his peripheral, that he stood up on the chair, picked up the bowl, gave me a scowl and chucked the soup at me.

I lost it.  'Soren Paul, that is E-NOUGH!'  I yelled (what does that even mean?!).  I did it.  And I knew, as soon as that scowl turned to fear what I had done.  He ran to me and I picked him up and immediately started apologizing.  I laid him in his bedroom to calm down while I cleaned up.  I heard a light pitter patter and turned around.  He looked at me sincerely and said very quietly 'sorry...'.  I picked him up and gave him the biggest snuggle I could.  I felt awful.  Still do.  But I learned my lesson and could afford to use that Daniel Tiger trigger on myself sometimes (in a singing voice, 'when you get so mad that you want to ROAR! Take a deep breath... and count to four: 1, 2, 3...4').  I don't think it's Soren being terrible at 2, it's me.  This year is about working on my patience and respect.  Loving my family unconditionally is easy.  But respecting and being patient with one another is a different story.

The night wasn't all lost though (over our short lived 15 minute drama).  Soren helped me make some homemade maple-vanilla frozen yogurt.  Love that guy so much!