Pumpkin Pie with Grain-Free Graham Cracker Crust

Pumpkin Pie with grain-free graham cracker crust
Makes: 1 pie plus extra graham crackers

Graham Cracker Crust Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup golden flaxseed meal
6 Tbsp coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla



Instructions:
Preheat oven to 250 F.
In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, flaxseed meal, brown "sugar" (or coconut sugar), cinnamon, cream of tarter, and salt.



Add the coconut oil and mix to combine.Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combine and the dough comes together.

Repeat with the other half of the dough, using a separate cookie sheet.
Bake for 40 minutes and increase the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 2-5 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Add in 1 egg yolk and 4 tablespoons of melted butter to a bowl, stirring to combine. 

  

Tear two pieces of parchment paper the size of a cookie sheet.
Lay one piece of parchment onto the counter an place half the dough on the parchment.

Top with another piece of parchment and roll the dough out into an even layer (about 1/4" thick).

Using a pizza cutter, score the dough to make cracker shapes. Using the dull end of skewer poke 11-12 evenly spaced holes into each cracker. Transfer the parchment paper to a cookie sheet.

Repeat with the other half of the dough, using a separate cookie sheet.
Bake for 40 minutes and increase the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 2-5 minutes until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.


Recipe from: Grain Free Graham Crackers
Net Carb Count*: 5.87 g net carbs (for 1/4 cup serving)--makes about 4 cups
Total Carb Count: 7.99 g total carbs (for 1/4 cup serving)

Pumpkin Pie Crust:

Take half of your graham crackers and pulse until a fine crumb. 

 

Then take 1 cup of pecan halves and pulse until a fine crumb.

 

Press into a pie pan, coming up the sides of the pan.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients:

1 28 oz can of organic pumpkin
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon 

Position one rack in the bottom of an oven and another rack in the middle and preheat to 350°F. 

On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the pecans on the middle rack until fragrant and lightly browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Pour onto a plate to cool, then finely grind in a food processor; take care not to overprocess them. 
In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg yolk and flaky sea salt. Add the ground pecans and the 1 1/4 cups flour and stir, working the dry ingredients into the butter mixture by smearing it against the sides of the bowl, until the dough comes together in large, shaggy clumps. 
On a lightly floured work surface, press the dough into a mound and knead until it just comes together. Press the dough into a flat disk, then transfer to a 9-inch pie dish. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Use the bottom of a metal measuring cup dipped in flour to smooth and even out the dough. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork, then freeze the pie shell for 30 minutes. 
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and process until smooth. Add the pumpkin purée, buttermilk and whole eggs and process until combined. 
Place the frozen pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the filling into the shell and bake on the middle oven rack for 30 minutes. Remove the pie from the baking sheet and transfer directly to the lower oven rack. Bake until the center jiggles only slightly when the pie is tapped, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack. 

To serve, cut into wedges and top with whipped cream. Serves 8.

Buttery rolls with cinnamon honey butter

Buttery rolls with cinnamon honey butter

Makes: 15 rolls

This year for thanksgiving I decided to make EVERYTHING from scratch for a few different reasons. First being that I am taking a whole foods approach, and I want to know everything that is in the foods I eat. second being that if I am going to eat foods that contain wheat or other grains I want to know exactly what is going into them so that I can buy the best ingredients possible.

I removed grains from all the recipes where it would not negatively affect the recipe (Pumpkin pie, apple pie, stuffed mushrooms) and used all natural sweeteners where I could (Pumpkin Pie, apple pie, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce) that way the few recipes I was making that contained wheat and/or sugar (these rolls, stuffing, gravy and jalapeno popper dip) I knew exactly what I was getting, and they are only a small component of the overall meal. Its easy to have wheat and sugar in just about every dish for Thanksgiving, and thats something that I really wanted to try and reduce this year, without sacrificing any of the flavor or texture.

Rolls Ingredients:

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water (luke warm)
1 large egg
4 1/2 teaspoons lard, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cup bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons melted butter

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients except butter in the order they are listed above using a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth and elastic.
 
Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise double in size, about an hour.

Once dough has risen, remove from bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into 15 balls. Oiling fingers will help keep dough from sticking to your hands.

Lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan. Place rolls onto baking pan, cover and let rise until double in size, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a light, golden brown.

After removing from the oven, brush with melted butter.

Butter Ingredients:

1 stick room temperature butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions: In a bowl with an electric mixer with whisk attachment beat butter until light in color, add in sugar, honey and cinnamon and beat until well combined, light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days, serve at room temperature.

Serve warm.

Paleo sweet potato casserole

Paleo sweet potato casserole
Serves: 10-12+



Makes 12 servings
4 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
juice of half an orange
Pecan topping
3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp melted butter

Instructions:


1. Bake your sweet potatoes in the oven at 375 for 45-60 minutes until they are fork tender.

2. After they have cooled, take the skin and remove it.
3.  Place cubed potatoes into your stand mixer and add in all the other ingredients. Using the mixer, blend until potatoes reach desired consistency and flavor. (You may like to add a little more coconut milk, spices, or syrup based on your taste.)

4. In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients until pecans are well coated.
5. Dump sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish and top with pecan mixture.

6. Bake in preheated oven until topping is browned–about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Thanksgiving Stuffing from Scratch

Thanksgiving Stuffing from Scratch
Serves: 10-12+


Ingredients:


2 round sourdough loaves (source from a quality baker), at least 2 days old
1 lb ground sage or (hot italian) sausage
3-4 leaves of kale, stems removed and finely chopped
1/2 package of sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks of celery
2 cans of sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 egg
2 quarts (approx.) of homemade chicken or turkey broth (RECIPE) warmed
1/4 cup of dried cranberries, rehydrated in broth before adding in
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
fresh parsley, sage, thyme, tarragon chopped

Instructions:

Take your sourdough bread and chop into bite-sized pieces. Place in a 200 degree oven and dry out for 10 minutes. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add in chopped fresh parsley, sage, thyme and tarragon to the butter and then gently saute the croutons in the butter until golden brown and crispy. 

In the meantime, in a large skillet, add in the ground sausage and brown. Bread sausage into small pieces. Remove from pan. 

Add in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, kale, and celery to the skillet and saute with 2 additional tablespoons butter. 

Once everything has softened, add the sausage back in. Adjust seasonings.

Add bread and sausage mixture into a large crock-pot and add in your softened dried cranberries and water chestnuts.

Whisk your egg and add it into the 2 quarts (approximately) of warm chicken stock, slowly pour into crock-pot while stirring ingredients. Once all liquid has been added, make sure that your stuffing is moist throughout. Cook on low for 4 hours, removing the lid the final hour to crisp up the top. 

Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip

Bacon and Jalapeño Popper Dip
Serves: 18



My jalapeno poppers are kind of legendary, I've made them for years now, not just for parties, but sometimes for dinner, they are that good! This year for thanksgiving I was looking to recreate some of my old recipes, and I've seen a few of these floating around with the onset of football season, so I decided to give a jalapeno popper dip a try.

First things first, my dip varies from others out there, because it absolutely had to contain bacon, that is the best part of my jalapeno poppers. Next, all the recipes that I saw out there used a very small amount of fresh raw jalapenos for the dip, YUCK! Everyone knows that the sweet and smoky deliciousness of a jalapeno comes from roasting it, like in my jalapeno popper recipe, so I knew I had to keep that element.

If you were looking to make this grain-free or primal, you could omit the cracker topping or use a gluten free cracker substitute, but being that it is thanksgiving, I've decided to omit grains where it made sense for the recipe, and that way the recipes that use grains are a special treat for Thanksgiving that doesn't sacrifice flavor and texture. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (8 oz.)  Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup  Mayonnaise
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
8-10 jalapeño peppers, roasted whole in oven until soft, then chopped
6 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
12 Ritz Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)

Instructions:

Roast your jalapeno peppers ahead of time over an open flame, or in the oven until the skins have blistered and softened. Remove skins and chop jalapenos. If you want to tame the heat, remove the seeds inside. 

Beat cream cheese and mayo in medium bowl until well blended. Stir in cheese and peppers.

 

Once cooked and well combined stir in the bacon bits.

You can either place into a small crock pot to warm through and serve out of, or place into a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.


Makes 18 Servings (2 Tbls Per Serving)

Nutritional Info: Calories 180; Carbs 13g; Protein 3g; Fat 13g; Fiber 0g

Blue Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Blue Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

20 whole Large Mushroom caps
8 ounces, Cream Cheese, Softened
4 ounces, Blue Cheese, Crumbled
Salt And Pepper
6 dashes Hot Sauce
6 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Clean tops of mushrooms with a damp cloth and remove stems.



In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, blue cheese, salt, pepper and cooked bacon bits together.


Divide cheese mixture evenly into mushroom cavities.

Bake mushrooms in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes  or until bacon is crispy, and the filling has melted. Top with grated parmesan and serve warm.

Recipe adapted from: Blue Cheese filled bacon wrapped mushrooms

Tom Kha Gai Soup

Tom Kha Gai with leftover turkey breast

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 quart homemade chicken stock (recipe)

1 14oz can of coconut milk

2 cups chicken meat, pulled (I used leftover turkey breast meat)

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon minced ginger 

1 teaspoon hot chili oil (or a pinch of cayenne powder or red chile flakes)

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon olive oil 

3 chopped green onions

4oz sliced mushrooms

Handful of chopped cilantro

Juice of 1 lime, plus slices for serving

Instructions:

Take olive oil and heat with chile and curry powder for a few minutes to permeate the oil. Add in minced garlic and ginger and sauté until fragrant.

Add chicken stock, bring to a simmer.

Add coconut milk and bring to a simmer, then add mushrooms and half the green onion and fish sauce.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add in chicken or turkey meat.

When ready to serve add lime juice and cilantro and top with remaining green onion.

Homemade Potato and Cheese Pierogi - Great Grandma's Recipe

Great Grandma's Pierogi

Makes- 8 dozen or so



Ingredients:

1LB of potatoes
6-8 large WHITE onions
6 sticks of salted butter
1 large tub of small curd whole milk cottage cheese

Dough:
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1/2 - 1 cup water
* you'll need three to four batches of this dough for this recipe. I typically make it as I need it so that it doesn't sit out too long. you want it to be soft and pliable, and letting it refrigerate or sit out too long will result in tough dough.

Instructions:

First you'll want to boil your potatoes, sorry I don't have an image for this, I forgot. But you all know how to boil potatoes anyways right? Cook them until they are fork tender and then remove from water, mash and allow to cool completely. You can also season your potatoes with salt and pepper at this point.

For chopping the onion it is best to use a food chopper, like I did, or even a food processor. They need to be chopped very fine and that kind of work by hand would result in a lot of tears.

After all of my onions have been chopped up I like to go through and see if any large pieces that didn't get chopped are in there, and pull them out.

Meanwhile, I melt 6 sticks of butter. I know what your thinking, how could you possibly use this much butter, but when your making 8-10 dozen pierogi and basically just topping them in butter to fry later, not that much butter is actually used.

Cook on LOW until butter has melted, and then add your onions, stirring in completely. Continue to cook on low until the onions are completly cooked and the butter has clarifyied. This is somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 hours. It makes your house smell delicious and doesn't require much supervision other than to stir occasionally.

You'll also want to drain the excess liquid from your cottage cheese, by placing 1 tub of cottage cheese in a mesh strainer over a bowl to catch the liquid. We don't use the liquid for anything, but if you find that periogi filling it too dry you can incorporated a little of this liquid back into the mix.

Once your onions have cooked strain the onion butter mixture with your mesh strainer and reserve the butter in a large bowl. The butter can be covered with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge at this point. Your onions that have been strained, but not strained completly dry, we want a little of the butter in the filling, can now be added to your cooled potatoes along with your cottage cheese.

Mix well, taste and add salt if necessary.

Next is your dough, after making the dough in the food processor you can use it right away. Sometime I make it ahead a put it into the fridge, but it can become very elastic and harder to manage that way.

You'll need to roll out the dough as thin as you possibly can, the thinner the better- we want it almost thin enough to see through, thats what makes a light and airy pierogi.

I recently purchased a periogi maker, after years of using whatever large cup or glass we could find, this made easy work of peirogi making, and a worthwhile investment for sure at only a few dollars.

Trace the outline of your peirogi dough, this peirogi maker is a 4" diameter, which makes the perfect size.

Then using your press add the dough and a spoonful of filling.

Press closed and see this little beauty pop out!

Reserve on a dry plate until you have a few to boil. Then take a large pot and fill with water and a handful of kosher salt to season.

Add your peirogi one at a time to prevent sticking and stir the water gently to prevent sticking to the bottom. The peirogi will float to the top when they are finished.

It usually takes about 2-3 minutes for them to float.

The next part can be a bit tricky, you'll need to dry the pierogi as best as you can and then move the to premanent storage, we use paper plates that can be frozen and stacked on top of one another. I usually dry my peirogi on a regular plate and then transfer them to paper so they don't stick. You'll want to get out your clarified onion butter, melting it in the microwave at this point.

I then take a large spoon and spoon the butter mixture over the pirogi plates enough to coat each one so they don't stick to eachother or the plate after freezing.

Now for the best part, once the butter has solidified to the surface of the peirogi you can take one and pan fry it in the residual butter. They become toasty and delicious on the outside and are soft and warm on the inside. I eat these beauties for breakfast, lunch and dinner, they are amazing!