Pumpkin Bacon & Chive Biscuits (Paleo, Nut-Free)

You might be wondering where I have been the last 9 months… and to answer that in one word, I have been BUSY! There have been a boatload of changes: bought a house, had to buy a new car, started a new full time job while still maintaining two other part time jobs. It’s been a little hectic to say the least. But I am happy to be back and although I haven’t had the time to make many new recipes myself, I wanted to share some that I have enjoyed making and munching on while I’ve been MIA.

These biscuits are brought to you by The Urban Poser whose blog I peruse quite often to find tasty recipes! So without further ado:

Pumpkin Bacon & Chive Biscuits (Nut, Dairy and Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

• 3-4 Strips of Bacon, cooked until crispy
• 1/2 Cup melted fat (Bacon grease works great here!)
• 1/2 Cup + 2 TB coconut flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 TB apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 Cup  pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 Cup finely chopped fresh chives (substitute: green onions)

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-In a large bowl combine the coconut flour, baking soda and salt

-In a separate bowl whisk together the cooking fat, vinegar, eggs and pumpkin puree until combined.

-Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients then add finely chopped bacon and chives

-Using a 1/4 cup measure, gently pack and drop the biscuits onto a parchment lined baking sheet

-Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges start to crisp

-Allow biscuits to cool for about 5 minutes and then enjoy!

Dee Dee’s infamous Pumpkin Bread (Paleo)

Switching over to the paleo lifestyle from the Standard American Diet can be overwhelming and challenging in many ways. It starts with replacing the classic boxed breakfast (cereal, oatmeal, etc), then removing the bread from your sandwich for lunch, and no pasta for dinner! It all seems ludicrous when you first approach it. After slowly switching over to real foods, the shock goes away and you realize that life DOES go on without processed foods, you suddenly stop craving them and actually start to find all that junk pretty unappetizing. There are, however, some things that you find you just can’t seem to stop missing. For me, one of those things was my grandmother, Dee Dee’s pumpkin bread. We would have it every year for thanksgiving and she would even make us each our own loaf to be cherished and consumed for as long as it would last.

My family has been hugely supportive of my lifestyle choices and have even taken the time to learn more about getting healthy through eating real foods. Each year they seem to switch out more junk for more real foods, primarily eat gluten free, and welcome my eating habits with open arms. Although thanksgiving is still a ways away- I cannot wait to bring my paleo form of Dee Dee’s pumpkin bread to the table and see how it holds up to “the real thing”. I have a feeling everyone will be pleasantly surprised by how amazing it came out!

Without further ado, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups palm sugar
• 2 cups pumpkin
• 1 2/3 cups coconut flour
• 1 2/3 cups tapioca flour
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cups shortening
• 2/3 cups water
• 2 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 2/3 cup raisins, soaked for 10min in warm water
• Coconut oil, for greasing

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-In a large mixing bowl cream together the shortening and coconut sugar

-Add the eggs, pumpkin and water to the mixture and whisk to combine

-Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well

-Stir in the nuts and raisins

-Grease a large loaf pan with coconut oil and add the bread mixture to the pan

-Bake for 1 hour or until the bread passes the toothpick test

-This bread is great heated up and slathered with some grassfed ghee, YUM!

Enjoy!

Bacon wrapped Japanese Sweet Potato (Paleo, AIP, LowFODMAP, 21DSD)

On Sunday-Funday I didn’t mention these amazing fries that we made because I figured that they deserved a post of their own! I would definitely recommend making these as an appetizer if your having company over, as they are sure to please a crowd! How can you go wrong with anything wrapped in bacon, really. Without further ado:

Ingredients:

• 2 Japanese (or other variety) sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick fries
• 1 pack of sugar-free bacon, cut into 4inch strips
• 1-2 TB. coconut oil, melted
• 1 TB. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees

-Toss cut sweet potatoes in melted coconut oil, turmeric, cinnamon, salt and cilantro

-Wrap each fry with a strip of bacon

-Place wrapped sweet potatoes on a tin-foil lined, rimmed baking sheet

-Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs

-Flip each fry and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the bacon is crispy and the potatoes are soft

-Serve with homemade sugar-free ketchup or just eat as is 🙂

Enjoy!