Paleo Mexican Spice Mix

Living in Brazil brings its challenges, among them the shortage of familiar foods. Ask any American who lives here what kind of food they miss the most and they'll likely tell you it's Mexican food, second maybe to decent peanut butter.

I knew this before coming down, so I stocked up on taco seasoning before we left. Then I read the ingredients.

I can't pronounce half the chemicals on the label, and I still don't understand WHY food manufacturers feel the need to put sugar in absolutely everything!

So, honestly I used the taco seasoning anyway. Now that I have run out (after only three months?!) I knew it was time to get busy and make my own seasoning mix, this time without the chemical garbage and sugar.

I poked around on Pinterest and took notes on a few recipes. I didn't find any that were exactly what I wanted, so I improvised.

Here's what I did:

1/2 c. Chili powder
4 tbs Cumin
2 tsp Onion powder
2 tsp Garlic Powder
4 tsp Dried oregano
4 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Dried cilantro
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 tsp Black pepper
1/3 c. tapioca starch
1 tbs sea salt

Throw it all in a jar and shake it up. Easy, peasy.

How it came out:

Excellent! I made a ground beef and veggie single skillet meal with it. I used about a pound of ground beef and filled the rest of the skillet with chopped veggies (onions, red and yellow peppers, chopped tomatoes and mushrooms) and added about 1/3 cup of the spice mix. We used raw green cabbage leaves as taco shells. The flavor was fantastic!

What I'd do different next time:

Use about half the Cayenne pepper. It was hot! We were sweating by the time we finished our meal, but it wasn't unbearable. We both like about a medium heat and this was just a little bit beyond our comfort zone, but not much. A home-made fruit popsicle for dessert was the perfect remedy.

I'll probably double the amount of cilantro next time too. I really like the flavor, but it wasn't strong enough with this mix.

Paleo Turmeric Tea

Natural pain relief? A natural anti-inflammatory?

And in a delicious drink?

I'll try that.

I found a few recipes to give me an idea of what goes in this warm and mildly spicy drink.

first was Golden Milk from Alli Woods.

Then there was Creamy Turmeric Tea from Mark's Daily Apple.

Here's what I did for my first try:

1 tsp turmeric (açafrão de terra)
1 tsp very finely chopped ginger
1 tsp butter

 Melt the butter for ten seconds in the microwave, just until soft. Stir in the turmeric and ginger to make a paste.

Heat one cup nut milk (per serving) of your choice (I used hazelnut) in a small saucepan, or in the microwave, pour it into your favorite mug. Stir in about 1/3 of the turmeric paste and some honey to taste.

Enjoy. 

How it came out:

More mild than I expected, but quite good! My hazlenut milk already has some vanilla added, which went well with these other flavors. I would enjoy this on a cold afternoon, especially if I'd been out in the weather. A great after-ski drink (like that's going to happen in Brazil ha!). A very nice alternative when you want something warm and soothing, but don't feel like having coffee or tea.

What I'll do different next time:

Maybe add a dash of nutmeg. Some recipes call for cayenne pepper, which I think I would like too. If you have unflavored nut milk, you could also add a few drops of vanilla to give it a more rich flavor.

A note of warning!

Turmeric STAINS. It is very bright yellow and will stain any clothing it touches. Be very, very careful not to spill a little bit on your sofa when you sit down to enjoy your steaming cup of goodness!

DIY Hazelnut Flour

The reason I worked up that recipe for the Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti was because I needed something to do with the leftover meal from my Hazelnut Milk recipe.

I didn't realize how much of the meal would be leftover! I thought more of it would, I don't know, liquify?

But I was left with all of these crumbly bits and didn't want to waste it. I did a bit of scouting around and figured out how to make it into flour.

Here's what I did:

Make delicious Vanilla Hazelnut Milk for my coffee.

750ml filtered water plus 1c nuts = 750ml nut milk

After squeezing out every last drop of liquid, turn the leftover meal out onto a foil lined baking tray.

I squeeze it out in three or four batches, emptying the bag each time.

Spread the nut meal around on the tray. It will still be clumpy at this stage so just chop it up with the side of a spoon until it looks about like this:

Mmmm. Crumbly.

Put it in your oven and set it for it's lowest temperature. Mine is on about 60c (140f). Let it sit for at least two hours. I also leave the oven door cracked to release some of the moisture which seems to help it dry faster.

Don't worry if it browns a little bit. My first batch did and I think it actually enhanced the hazelnut flavor, and my kitchen smelled so good! Just don't let it get more than a little bit golden brown. Reduce your temperature or turn the oven off it it's too hot.

When it comes out of the oven and cools it will still be lumpy. You can plop it into a food processor or blender to break it up and make it a nice fine flour. I store mine in the fridge in a glass container and try to use it within a week.

After blending

And there you go! So much easier than I thought it would be, and tons cheaper than buying it at the store! Especially considering that the meal was a freebie leftover from another recipe.

Note:

The nuts I used are raw with the skin still on them. I've soaked them overnight and let them dry thoroughly before storing them in the fridge. If you want a whiter flour, use nuts without their skins.

Also:

This will work with just about any nut. I'll try almonds next, and then Brazil nuts and see how they do.

Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Biscotti! Why didn't I think of biscotti?!

Brian is a big lover of the beautiful bread rolls that are piled up in his office every morning. He's making a big effort to go paleo with me, but the temptation to eat these soft french rolls is huge. My thought was to make something easy, portable and a bit decadent that he could take with him and eat instead.

Plus, I just made a batch of hazelnut milk and had the nut meal left over which I made into hazelnut flour.

My only problem was that I couldn't find a paleo recipe for biscotti specifically using hazelnut flour. I had to get creative. After scouring through quite a few recipes using almond flour, pistachios, coconut flour, etc. I figured I had a good idea of what I needed.

Here's what I did:

• 1 c. hazelnut flour
• 1/3 c. coco powder
• 1 tbs manioc flour*
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 organic free range egg
• 1/3 c. raw honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 c chopped (soaked and dried) hazelnuts**

Preheat your oven to 350f (or 177c).

Put all your dry ingredients into a food processor or blender and pulse until they're well combined. My home-made hazelnut flour was still a little bit clumpy and this also helped to make it more fine. When your ingredients are mixed well, put it all into a medium sized mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, combine your wet ingredients and mix well.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and smoosh it all together until it's good and sticky. Add your chopped nuts and moosh some more.

Now you'll have a nice sticky mess. Grease your baking sheet with coconut oil or butter, and grease your hands as well. This stuff is sticky! Scoop it all out of the bowl and form it into a log.

I know, I know

Yes, it will look like a giant turd. I laughed out loud at this point. Feel free to do the same, food can be hilarious, right? Or maybe I'm just a twelve year old boy, ha.

Now flatten that log into a rectangle about 3/4" thick.

More mooshing

Bake for 17 minutes, then remove it from the oven to cool.

Once it's mostly cool, cut the still-soft dough into biscotti sized pieces and lay them on their sides back on your cookie sheet.

Bake for 18 more minutes at 300f (or 150c).

Let cool completely. They should be nice and crispy once they're done. If they last longer than five minutes, store them in an airtight container. I have no idea how long they'll keep, and at the rate Brian is eating them I may never find out.

I'd say they're a big success! And I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow.

*You could substitute 1 tbs tapioca starch, or arrowroot powder
**I put the nuts in a plastic bag and crushed them with a garlic press, which is the heaviest thing I have in my kitchen. Note to self: buy a meat tenderizing hammer or something.

Let me know if you try making these, and how they come out!

Paleo Dessert - Dark Chocolate Almond Bites

I caved.

We've been really good about staying away from sweets, but my husband has a huge open space in his belly reserved especially for chocolate. He craves it!

He's been known to buy a dark chocolate bar or two on the sly (which is admittedly much better than the caramel milk chocolate bars he used to get!), so I got to thinking about how we could both enjoy a bit of a treat without mainlining the chocolate directly into our veins. Maybe by mixing it with nuts we could fool our brains into thinking we're eating a larger volume of chocolate while we're actually eating nutritious nuts? Brilliant!

I got to looking around and found an organic bar of dark chocolate in the baking aisle at the grocery store and improvised.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

• 100g dark chocolate*
• 1tbs organic grass fed butter
• 1 tbs raw honey
• 300g raw almonds (about 1 cup)**

Optional:

• Coconut flakes
• Pureed ginger
• 2 or 3 drops of peppermint oil
• 3 or 4 drops of pure vanilla

Melt about a teaspoon of butter in a cup and use your finger to rub a bit of it into the inside of your tiny paper cupcake cups. This helps the paper peel easily off the finished product.

Break the chocolate into small bits and melt together with the butter and honey over low heat in a double boiler, or be lazy like me and microwave it ten seconds at a time until smooth with no lumps.

Stir in the almonds to coat. You could probably add another half cup of almonds or so if you like them thinly coated.

With a small spoon, drop about four or five almonds into each paper cup. Pop them into the freezer for fifteen to 30 minutes to set the chocolate.

Once they've hardened you can pile them all into a plastic food storage container and keep them in the fridge. Or if you have no self control like me, you can keep them in the freezer so they take a long time to warm up enough to eat. Whatever slows you down.

*The bar I found was 76% cocao with very little sugar
**Best if soaked overnight and allowed to fully dry. You could put them in a warm oven for a few hours to speed up the drying process.

What else you can do:

• Sprinkle the top with coconut flakes, or even stir the coconut directly into the melted chocolate.
• Mix 1-2 tbs ginger puree (or more if you like it strong) into the chocolate. The ginger ones were my husband's absolute favorite! I got scolded for "stealing" one from him. I swear I heard him whisper "my precious" as he ate his that night.
• Use peppermint oil or vanilla to flavor the chocolate. Get creative!

Now we have a ready snack that satisfies our chocolate craving without completely blowing our carb quota. Somehow just knowing they're in the house keeps the hubs from sneakily buying it at the store so his random binges are more under control. Now I just need to talk him into eating one or two, instead of four.

And I need to talk him into sharing those ginger ones. Yum.

Paleo Ugly Dip

Ugly Dip has always been one of my favorite dishes to bring to a pot luck or prepare for Super Bowl parties, and I realized today that it's paleo friendly. What a great surprise! I'm making my grocery list right now to buy the ingredients for tomorrow's BBQ.

Ugly dip is a fresh chopped salsa and can be served with any meat, or scooped up with veggies. I used to serve it with tortilla chips, but those days are gone. I'm going to diagonally slice up some carrots for tomorrow's party and use them as spoons to shovel the dip into my face.

Why is it called Ugly Dip, you ask? Well... It's kind of gross looking once you stir it all up in a bowl, but don't let that turn you off! This stuff is so good, I've been known to eat it straight out of the bowl with a giant spoon.

Here's what you do:

4 med tomatoes
2 lg avocados
1 med purple onion
1 bunch of scallions
1 handful of chopped cilantro
2 sm cans chopped black olives
2 sm cans chopped green chilis*
2 tbs olive oil
2-4 tbs balsamic vinegar**
1-2 tbs garlic powder or chopped garlic (to taste)
1 tbs onion powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Chop all the veggies very small and throw everything into a big bowl. Stir it up and enjoy! If you make it the night before, the garlic and onion flavor will intensify. I have trouble doing this though because I spend the whole night sneaking into the fridge for "just one more bite", and it's all gone by morning.

What else you could do:

• *Use jalapenos or any other kind of chili depending on your tolerance of heat, or add a bit of hot sauce.
• **Use whatever kind of vinegar you like. I've made it with apple cider vinegar and balsamic, and both are really good.
• Chop it as fine or as large as you like. Some days I'm in the mood for a big, chunky salsa, sometimes I want it chopped smaller for easier scoopage.

How to eat it:

• Serve it over any kind of meat. It's especially good over burgers and chicken breasts.
• Top an omelet or scrambled eggs with it.
• Scoop it up with veggie chips (it's a bit chunky, so you'll need something wide enough to hold a mouthful on there.
• Eat it straight out of the bowl with a big spoon. Try not to growl and drool.

What Do You Have For Breakfast?

We're in the UK for a couple of months while we wait for our Brazilian visas to come through. I haven't posted anything here while we're gone since the idea of this blog is to document my Paleo eating journey in Brazil and, well, I'm not in Brazil.

However, a good point was brought up so I thought I'd make a note.

We had lunch with another couple on Sunday, good friends who we'll really miss when we leave here, and part of our long and winding conversation touched on Paleo eating.

Bruce's first question? What do you eat for breakfast if you can't have grains and can't have dairy? Breakfast in the UK revolves around toast, rolls, beans, milk, cereal, porridge and more toast, not to mention the milk in your coffee or tea.

In the spirit of figuring out what to eat without all of those things, I'm making a list of my breakfasts every day for a week. Here we go...

Sunday:

• Two hard boiled organic eggs with Brian's new special sauce (recipe to come soon because I can't remember what he put in it) and a touch of sea salt.
• Bullet Proof coffee

Monday:

• Two hard boiled eggs with special sauce and a touch of sea salt
• 1c raspberries
• Bullet Proof Chai Tea

Tuesday:

• Bullet Proof Chai Tea
• Leftover sweet potato mash from last night's dinner
• Chicken drumstick with peppers and onions

Wednesday:

• Chai tea with a half teaspoon of organic honey and a dash of extra cinnamon (I ran out of butter)
• Handful of raspberries and cherries
• Two scrambled eggs with chicken and veg (leftover from last night's dinner)

Thursday:

• Plain Chai Tea
• Two scrambled eggs
• A handful of green olives 

Friday:

•  Plain Chai Tea
• A handful of raw walnuts
• A few dried apricots 

Saturday:

•  Plain Chai Tea
• Two poached eggs with sea salt
• One piece of bacon

There we go, that's the whole week. I ate a lot of eggs this week. Usually there are more protein, usually meats leftover from the night before, but I seemed a bit short on those. My British kitchen is tiny, and somehow that translates into smaller meals with less leftovers.

Any questions?