Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped (optional)
2 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste (about 2/3 cup)
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. oil
Directions:
1. Fry ground beef in saucepan. Add onions if using and cook until tender.
2. Chop tomatoes to desired consistency.
3. Add tomatoes, paste, seasonings, and oil to the saucepan.
4. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through.
*Serve over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash, with a slice of Grain-Free Sandwich Bread sprinkled with garlic salt and your favorite veggie. (The photo is zucchini–cut into noodles with a julienne peeler.)
*I’ve even tried this with cherry tomatoes–it worked and had good flavor but was a bit more “watery” than typical sauce.
Rocky Road Brownies
Now, I will warn you up-front that this is a time-consuming dessert if you make the marshmallows and chocolate pieces from scratch–but in my opinion, worth the time. This recipe combines 3 different recipes of mine: Homemade Chocolate Chips, Homemade Honey-Sweetened Marshmallows, and Zucchini Brownies. I hope you like it!
Homemade Honey-Sweetened Marshmallows
Ingredients:
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup cold water, divided
2 packets unflavored gelatin
1 egg white
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
1. Line a 8×8 pan or loaf pan with parchment paper (the size of pan will determine how thick your marshmallows are).
2. Dissolve the unflavored gelatin in (1/4) cup cold water in a heat-proof bowl. (It will probably turn to a solid, but that is just fine.)
3. Heat honey & (1/4) cup water in saucepan on medium-high heat. Stir until dissolved, then stop stirring. Insert a candy thermometer and heat mixture until it reaches 240 degrees.
4. Meanwhile, whip egg white until soft peaks form.
5. Once mixture reaches 240 degrees, pour it into gelatin water and stir to combine. (The hot liquid will soften up the gelatin mass.) Add vanilla.
6. Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes, then pour mixture in a steady stream into whipped egg white, whipping to incorporate (a hand mixer works great for this). Whip until stiff peaks form. Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove and cut into desired shapes.
Homemade Dark Chocolate Chips
Yield: 3/4 cup chips
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup cacao or cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. arrowroot
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
1. Bring 1/2 inch of water in the bottom pan of a double-boiler to a simmer. Place top pan of double-boiler on simmering water and melt oil, cocoa, honey, and arrowroot in it. Cook two minutes more after it is all melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add vanilla. Stir.
3. Lift off top pan of double-boiler and carefully wipe off any condensation or water on the bottom of it. (You want to be sure no water gets into the chocolate or it may seize.)
4. Pour into small pan lined with parchment paper. (I used a bread pan and it didn’t even cover the entire bottom of the pan.)
5. Put in fridge for 2 or more hours.
6. Cut into little chunks and store in airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, divided
1 recipe Honey-Sweetened Marshmallows (prepared–see above)
1/2 cup Homemade Dark Chocolate Chips (prepared–see above)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine eggs, zucchini, applesauce, honey, and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Add baking soda, salt, cocoa and coconut flour. Mix until dry ingredients are incorporated into wet ingredients.
4. Fold in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.
5. Pour into a greased deep baking pan and bake for 20-35 minutes (depending on size of pan) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (I used a 12 1/2″ x 9 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ stone baker and it took 31 minutes.)
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle marshmallows over the top of the brownies. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips over the top of the marshmallows.
7. Return baking pan to oven and cook for 3-5 more minutes.
8. Remove from oven and devour!! (I used a spoon to serve it.)
New & Improved Paleo Zucchini Brownies
I have been given zucchini by three different people and I have had so much fun trying different zucchini recipes! I do have to admit though, that the ones I’m liking the best are baked goods…so yet again, another zucchini brownie recipe. In my opinion, these are better than the other zucchini brownies I posted. These are very moist and yummy.
Paleo Zucchini Brownies
Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 medium banana) or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup cocoa or cacao
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine wet ingredients. Mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients. Mix well again.
4. Pour into a greased 9×9 square baking pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Mine took 24 minutes in a 9×9 stone.)
*I am thinking that substituting unsweetened applesauce for the banana would work, but I haven’t tried it yet. Let me know if you try it and how it works!
*EDIT: I have tried unsweetened applesauce in place of the banana–works great!
Strawberry-Zucchini Muffins (with coconut flour)
It is September and I just picked another 3 cups of fresh strawberries! I’ve tried this recipe with both fresh and frozen and it is definitely easier to use fresh (easier to cut up), but if you use frozen, slightly defrost them first and they will be easier to cut into little pieces.
Strawberry-Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup shredded zucchini
8 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup strawberries, cut into small pieces, fresh or frozen
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine zucchini, eggs, applesauce (or oil), honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Add salt, coconut flour, and baking soda to wet ingredients. Mix until there are no coconut flour lumps.
4. Gently fold in strawberry pieces.
5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full (or more).
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes for regular sized muffins and 15-18 minutes for mini muffins.
*Makes 12 regular muffins and 6-10 mini muffins depending on how full you fill them.
Meatloaf (with veggies)
I know a lot of people don’t like meatloaf. I am not sure why. I have always liked meatloaf and lately have been experimenting with different veggies added to it. You can make this plain without any veggies (how I typically make it) or you can add a bit of whatever you have in the kitchen. This is how I made it last night, but feel free to try different veggies in it!
Meatloaf (with veggies)
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 cup zucchini, grated or finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 egg
1 garlic clove, pressed
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together, pat in loaf pan.
3. Top with homemade ketchup or bbq sauce (if desired).
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through. (Meat thermometer should read 165 degrees or higher.)
Serve with veggies and Mashed Sweet Potatoes!
Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (with Crumble Topping)
You can sweeten this bread up even more by increasing the honey a bit in the bread or by adding more honey to the topping. We think it is sweet enough just like it is! Enjoy!
Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (with Crumble Topping)
Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
3 Tbsp. sifted coconut flour
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
Bread Ingredients:
8 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup honey
3/4 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix topping ingredients together in a bowl with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, applesauce and honey with electric mixer (or whisk well).
4. Mix in zucchini and vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together.
6. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.
7. Pour into greased loaf pan and sprinkle crumble mixture evenly on top.
8. Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
*Store in fridge.
*You can make this bread without the topping as well!
Grain-Free Spaghetti Noodles with Garlic (Zucchini Noodles/Pasta)
Just like my other post that used zucchini as the noodles, I am astonished that these taste much better than they sound. I avoided all the recipes that used zucchini as noodles when I first started this diet, but really, they aren’t bad! They remind me slightly of egg noodles.
Grain-Free Spaghetti Noodles with Garlic (Zucchini Noodles/Pasta)
Ingredients:
1-2 zucchini
oil of choice (I used Extra-Virgin Olive Oil)
garlic salt
Directions:
1. Peel zucchini. (I take off the green peeling for a more “appealing” noodle-look but you can probably use the green peelings as well!)
2. Using vegetable peeler, peel zucchini to make ribbons/noodles. (Stop when you get to the seeds.)
3. Put noodles between 2 paper towels and pat to remove some moisture. (I’ve also read you can put them in a colander and let them drain for a half hour.)
4. Put zucchini noodles, oil and garlic into a large skillet. Saute for 5-7 minutes or until they have reached desired tenderness.
5. Serve with your favorite sauce!
*Try playing with your favorite seasonings. I grew up always having toast with garlic salt sprinkled on top so I thought I’d incorporate the garlic flavor in my noodles–I loved them! Let me know what flavor variations you try!
Paleo Coconut Flour Brownies (with secret ingredient–zucchini!)
I was given some zucchini and was having fun experimenting with different things I could do with it. I tried zucchini chocolate cupcakes but they had a very strange texture…I decided to make my Coconut Flour Brownie recipe and add a bit of zucchini and see what would happen. The result was great! It made the brownies more moist and you can’t taste the zucchini. So without further ado, the Zucchini Brownie Recipe:
Coconut Flour Brownies (with secret ingredient–zucchini!)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
6 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Directions:
1. Melt the butter or oil in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa powder and remove from heat.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, honey, salt, baking powder & vanilla.
3. Pour cocoa/butter or oil mixture into the egg mixture and mix well.
4. Add flour and whisk until there are no lumps (I find using a hand mixer works great).
5. Add zucchini and mix well.
6. Fold in nuts (if using).
7. Pour into a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 14-18 minutes. (It took mine 15 minutes to be done.)
Notes:
*You can also use an 8×8 or a 9×9 pan–just increase the time a bit. When you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean, they are done! We like to eat them with cut up bananas and fresh berries on top or Vanilla Ice Cream (with coconut milk) Enjoy!
*You can make a mint brownie version by adding 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract to the batter–this is also very yummy!