Minty Hot Chocolate

I was at Costco the other day, and the Vitamix demo guy was giving out samples of a perfectly creamy, peppermint hot chocolate. I was intrigued, and took a sip. It was so very decadent, without any heavy cream or half and half...it was delicious. He told me what was in it, one of the ingredients being vanilla coffee creamer. Blech. Not something that I would want to drink every day.
I've been trying a few recipes for a dairyfree/nut free hot chocolate that Maddie can drink...and that she likes. As much as she loves canned coconut milk, it just doesn't work very well in hot chocolate for us. This recipe is so simple, and you make it in the blender!

The Cast of Characters

I took the Vitamix Guy's idea and ran with it. We've had chocolate mousse with avocado, so I really didn't think it would be too difficult...and it wasn't!

I used liquid stevia drops, and then tried it with pure maple syrup. It tasted much better with the maple syrup, but feel free to use honey or sugar too.

Minty Hot Chocolate

Makes 1 cup

! Tbsp Cocoa powder

4-5 drops stevia, or 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

2-3 drops mint extract

2-3 drops vanilla extract

1/4 of an avocado, sliced

1/2 cup boiling water

Put all of the ingredients into a blender, and pulse it a few times. Blend it until it's completely smooth, and there are no chunks of avocado.

Paleo Lunches

We're still in the paleo-type-of-food phase with Maddie right now, and I finally feel like I've hit my groove with making meals, and making them quick!
Most of our meals are totally paleo, but here and there I make something separate for Maddie, so that Charlie isn't totally missing out on the foods that he loves.
I have to say though, nearly everyday I'm amazed at what my kids will eat. Avocado? They'll pile that into their mouths faster than I can scoop it out for them. Broccoli? Served with a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar on top, they inhale it. I've been so thankful that we started feeding the kids real, healthy, nutrient dense foods, since they first started eating...I truly believe that's what has made them into the good eaters that they are.
I wanted to share two of my favorite lunch ideas that I've found come together really quickly, and are so good for growing bodies (and nursing mamas!).

Salmon Salad
1 can of Salmon (wild caught, BPA free cans if possible!)
1/2 of a cucumber, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1-2 shredded carrots
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
Drain the salmon, and mix everything together, to taste! I served this in bowls, with a side of fruit. It's loaded with protein, vegetables, and healthy fat!
**I don't have a picture of this one because...it doesn't look super delicious in pictures!)

Roast Beef Hash

Leftover Roast Beef Hash
1-2 C leftover roast beed
1 Large sweet potato, cubed and cooked (I prefer mine roasted with lots of coconut oil and garlic, but you can steam them too)
1/2 bag of frozen broccoli, steamed until fork tender
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
eggs
Chop up the roast beef so it's in small bites. Add a good heaping Tbsp of coconut oil to a cast iron skillet (or a frying pan!),put in the garlic and let it cook for a minute to soften it. Add in the beef, sweet potatoes, broccoli, salt and pepper. Try to mash up the sweet potatoes into the meat, but not completely...you still want a little bit of texture from them. While it's heating, fry up one egg per serving, in your preferred type of fat (PLEASE no vegetable/canola oil for my sanity's sake! :D ). Once the hash is complete, serve it up into bowls, and top with your fried egg.

**This is another one of those recipes that you can sub in whatever you have...ground beef/pork/turkey, carrots, onion, or any other type of vegetable that you have!**

Paleo Italian Wedding Soup

We've been in a different food territory for about the past two weeks. For about the past year, we've had some different digestion issues going on, and I finally felt ready to tackle them. I'll try to get into it more at a later time, but right now I'm still processing, and slightly overwhelmed. For now, we're pretty much eating paleo, minus sweeteners and fruits...which leaves.....meat, vegetables, and healthy fats. It hasn't bothered me too much, except that we can't even do eggs, which makes breakfast really really hard. No scrambled eggs, no egg and veggie muffins, no butternut squash pancakes (which are seriously delicious and totally fall-ish.). We're mostly eating leftovers and soup right now, which is really ok...I just miss pancakes and baked oatmeal :)

I've been experimenting a lot with soup lately, because it's so easy, and super quick. I can pretty much just throw whatever into a pot with some chicken stock, salt and pepper, and call it good. Thankfully, it's soup season, and everyone in my house loves soup...even Hannah was sipping on some chicken stock the other day!

Tonight for supper, I made my own version of Paleo Italian Wedding Soup. It was so yummy! I don't know why I haven't thought of putting meatballs in soup earlier. It makes a LOT of meatballs, so save some for lunch tomorrow! Or freeze them!

Italian Wedding Soup

Serves 6

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 Tbsp Parsley

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 onion, chopped finely

Soup:

6 Cups chicken stock (divided)

1/2 bag of frozen broccoli

1/2 bag of frozen cauliflower

1 1/2 Tbsp pesto (I used homemade, dairy free pesto, but you can use whatever you have on hand.)

Mix ingredients together, and form into balls. Heat a large stock pot over medium high heat, and drizzle in some olive oil. Once the pan is heated, put half of the meatballs in the pan to brown. After about a minute, flip onto the other side. You're not looking to cook the meatballs, just to get a good amount of caramelization on them...and to get some brown bits stuck on the bottom of the pan. Remove, and do the same for the other half. Take 1 cup of chicken stock and pout it into the pan (it will be loud and steamy! That's what you want!). Use a whisk to scrape the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan...that's where the flavor is! Add in the rest of the stock, the meatballs, and the veggies. Cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the broccoli and cauliflower are cooked through, and the meatballs are floating on top. Finish the soup off with the pesto, and salt and pepper to taste... And maybe some parmesan cheese if you can ;)

Note: feel free to add whatever veggies you'd like! Carrots, and potatoes would be good, or even some white beans to stretch it a little further. Next time I'll be adding some chopped kale for some more greens!

Enjoy!