Banana, Berry and Walnut Muffins

My son and I had a busy day today! He loves baking so, as the rain continues to fall (you have got to love Ireland!) we decided to bake these muffins.

They are a good source of Omega 3 with the walnuts and the flax seed and make a good snack of breakfast alternative.

Makes 24

325 g Almond flour
100 g Chopped Walnuts
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup of milled flax seed
1 tsp of cinnamon (add more if you like it, I am not a huge fan)

5 ripe bananas
1 cup of strawberries or other seasonal berry, chopped
2 tbsp honey (less if your fruit is very ripe)
4 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 190C
Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl
Mash the banana well, use the most ripe bananas you have as they will help sweeten the overall mix.
Place all the remaining wet ingredients in with the bananas and mix well.
Next combine in the dry ingredients. Use a processer if you wish but ensure it is well mixed.
Pour into muffin moulds and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

So it has been a fairly hectic week around here as I was preparing to finish up my last job.

I had my first day at home and I am no trying to embrace domestic bliss!

It is different than I am used to but it will be nice for a while.

My Paleo lifestyle will have to be tweaked to suit my unemployment status, so I am a long way of being able to afford organic. Maybe some day.

Anyway myself and my son are bored this evening as its been raining ALL day so we decided to get in some baking. As my son is Diabetic Paleo friendly treats also suit him which is great. It is great but very rich recipe for brownies so we served Avocado Chocolate Mousse with ours to make it seem lighter. You need to be a true chocoholic (and not sweet made) for this one.

For the Brownies we used:

170grams of 70 % Cocoa Chocolate
220 grams Kerrygold Butter
1/2 cup of honey
5 egg yokes
1/2 cup of cocoa
2 tbs Vanilla extract (or mint)

Preheat the oven to 190C
Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over hot water until smooth
Add the honey and vanilla and stir.

Add beaten eggs yokes to the mixture gradually and whisk until well mixed
Add the cocoa powder gradually until well mixed
Stir batter into a greased tin and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes until cooked through
Cool in tin for a few minutes and then remove and serve arm with Avocado mousse

Moose:
1 x Avocado
1 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs honey

Blend with a handheld blender until smooth.
Check taste and add more honey or cocoa if required.
This tastes lovely and doesnt taste at all like avocado!

Enjoy

Irish Stew Crock Pot Styley!

This is a delicious dinner that I guarantee everyone will enjoy, Paleo or not!

Traditionally Irish stew includes potatoes but I left out this and had mine with mashed sweet potato instead.
It can be cooked in the stew either in chunks if desired.

This type of meal benefits from cooking for as long as possible to allow the meat to tenderise. This means you can use cheaper cuts of meat or even lamb chops and still get the same great result. I only had time to cook for 2hrs yesterday but it was till fine. You can also cook on the stove if you do not have a crockpot, but stir frequently. Please note: I am referring to what some may call a "dutch oven" rather than the crockpot many use. Likewise you can use a crockpot either - we just do things different here and I prefer the taste!

Ingredients
Feeds 2

300g lamb chopped into bite size pieces
3 x cloves garlic sliced
1 x medium onion chopped
3 x carrots sliced
Pepper
1 tbs Mixed dried herbs - Rosemary, basil, marjoram, thyme
1 tbs Dried Parsley
1 x litre chicken stock
2 x tbs olive oil

Preheat oven to 180C (reduce heat to about 140C if you are cooking slowly for more than 2hrs, you may need to add more stock intermittently)
Heat your crockpot on the stove and add 1tbs of the olive oil.
Add onions and garlic and cook until they start to colour, remove from pan and set aside.
Add remaining oil to pan and add the lamb. Brown well as this will help to add to colour of sauce.
Return onions and garlic to the pan and add the herbs and peppers.
Add hot stock and bring to the boil.
Add carrots, cover with lid and place in the oven.

Serve in bowls with mashed cauliflower or sweet potato.

Yummy and great for the incoming Autumn evenings.

If you have leftover stock keep it and drink it as a nourishing drink!