YIKES! Paleo Coconut Macaroons - Gluten and Sugar Free!

Delicious coconut macaroon “cookies” are so easy to make and are a great little snack for those of us who are for whatever reason looking to reduce sugar consumption and are avoiding grains. I personally love them, as I feel like I am having a treat while maintaining my limited IBS diet. 

You can certainly add a sweetener of your choice if you so desire as this recipe can be varied in so many ways. Instead of the lemon, add a bit of cocoa powder if it suits you, or perhaps some finely chopped nuts and or dried fruit.

Ingredients

• 3-4 egg whites
• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• squeeze of fresh lemon
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions 

1. In a bowl, combine the coconut flakes, salt, lemon and vanilla. Set aside.

 

















2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites 'til they form soft peaks. Spoon onto the coconut flake mixture.

















 

3. Carefully and gently, using a large spoon, fold the egg whites and coconut mixture together.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, make little mounds of coconut onto the parchment.

5. Bake in preheated 350° oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the coconut macaroons are lightly golden.

 

 These are fantastic right out of the oven and freeze well too!

This recipe originally appeared in the book Digestive Health with Real Food by Aglaee Jacob.I have made some tweaks and adjustments. I hope you enjoy this healthy treat!❉



Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

YIKES Smoothie Time! 5 Cool Smoothie Starters

Smoothies are a delicious way to pack in nutrition and get a fantastic start to any day. It's especially fun to make smoothies with interesting, exotic and seasonal tastes. But not everyone has everything they need on hand at all times to make the perfect smoothie. 

One solution is to make "smoothie starters"-- pre-mixed and frozen smoothies to pop into the blender with some almond milk for an instant treat.

It's the quickest way to an awesome smoothie on days when you don't feel like chopping anything up. With smoothie starters, you can buy more exotic fruits like coconut or pineapple and make lots of starters all at once, so you don't need to keep these exotic fruits on hand at all times to have your perfect smoothie.

Smoothie starters are easy to make. You'll just need some plastic cups or popsicle molds (Available from amazon.com or from many department stores, like Target.) And, of course, you'll need your ingredients!

There are as many ways to make smoothie starters as you can think up, but here are 5 cool recipes to spark your imagination. Make substitutions as needed or desired!

5 Cool Paleo Friendly Smoothie Starters

1. Fall Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 can of pumpkin or 2 cups pumpkin puree 
• Pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Optional: 1 banana, chopped

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, and portion into small plastic cups or popsicle molds; freeze.

2. Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 cups pineapple, chopped
• 2 bananas, chopped
• 1 cup pineapple juice

Same instructions, same deal!

3. Supercharged Blueberry Health Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1-2 ripe avocado
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 can coconut milk, full fat
• 1 cup blueberries
• Almond milk, as needed for blendability
• 2 tbsp spirulina
• 2 tbsp chia seeds

Place all ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend until consistent, then follow pour into cups and freeze. The lemon juice helps to preserve the avocado.

4. Choco-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1/2 lb pitted Medjool dates
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2-3 bananas

Place all ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend until consistent, then follow pour into cups and freeze.

5. Magic Mint Smoothie

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 avocado
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• Honey or your sweetener of choice, to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves or 2 drops mint extract
• 4 cups spinach (You can also add your spinach fresh when blending the smoothie!)

Blend or process the ingredients and pour into cups or popsicle mold.

When you're ready to use your smoothie starters, run hot water over the cup or popsicle mold until the smoothie starter pops out. Put the starter in your blender and cover with almond milk and any other add-ins you like. Run the blender on a low setting until the starter block has been blended up, then turn it to high.

Enjoy!❉


Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

YIKES Paleo, Gluten Free Blueberry Pie... Oh My!

 Late summer is the time for blueberries in Maine. This year, we ordered these blue babies by the box. When they came, I knew exactly what would hit the spot: A delicious blueberry pie.

Unable to eat the conventional blueberry pie, I was determined to come up with my own version. 

I felt the best approach was to use a variety of “flours” to create an acceptable stand-in for wheat flour. The blueberries this year are especially sweet, so I only needed a scant 1/4 cup of palm sugar (a low glycemic sweetener). You and your family and friends will love this blueberry pie, and no one will miss the wheat flour. 

Paleo GF Blueberry Pie... Oh my!

First step: Preheat oven to 350.

Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/3 c almond flour
• 1/2 c tapioca flour
• 1/2 c oz arrowroot powder
• 1/2 c coconut flakes (unsweetened)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 c + 2 tbsp butter, very cold, in pieces
• 1 large egg
• 4-6 Tbsp cold water
• 1 heaping tbsp honey

Paleo Pie Crust Directions

1. Measure and mix flours and salt in the bowl of your food processor.
2. Add the butter pieces to bowl. Process until crumbly.
3. Mix egg, honey and 2 tbsp. very cold water in a small bowl.
4. Pour egg and water mixture over flour mixture and process until the dough comes together. Add more water if needed to achieve a uniform ball of dough. Wrap and chill for at least an hour.
5. Divide the dough and roll each portion between two sheets of parchment paper. If the dough feels sticky you might want to dust booth sides with arrowroot powder. You can alternately press the bottom crust into the pie plate if you wish, instead of rolling.

  Blueberry Filling

• Maine Wild Blueberries -about 6 cups
• 1/4 c of palm sugar
• 3 Tbsp of arrowroot powder

Blueberry Filling Directions 

1. Mix the palm sugar and blueberries together in a large bowl. Sprinkle on the arrowroot powder and mix again.
2. Mound blueberries into the pie shell and cover with the second rolled crust. Cut slits in top crust to vent.
3. Cover the crust with foil and bake 40 mins. Take off the foil and continue baking for 10 more mins. to brown the crust. ❉

Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Going Paleo: Entertaining and Potlucks (With Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe!)

Lately, I have been talking with a friend and colleague who is interested in "Going Paleo." The Paleo eating lifestyle has been such a great thing for my husband and myself and I'm excited that someone I know is giving it a go.

To put it simply, the Paleo diet is based upon "wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era" (from thepaleodiet.com). It's focused on fresh meats (from grass-fed, free ranging animals), fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthy oils.

What the Paleo diet doesn't include is refined sugar, dairy, cereal grains, potatoes, or processed junk.

One of the challenges in adopting a new, healthy diet is that friends and family members might not do the same, which can make cooking for groups tricky! But it is not only possible to share great Paleo dishes with friends who aren't Paleo, but to impress their socks off while you're at it.

Recently, I compiled an email to my friend with Paleo food suggestions on what to do in regards to entertaining and potlucks. I'd like to share some of these with you. I can't take credit for the recipes and don't know at this point where they came from--  I will try to be better at that in the future!

For entertaining, a roast of some kind is always good-- and pretty easy, too. I always have good luck with pork roasts. I make at least two veggie side dishes and a salad. (Have you tried mashed cauliflower?-- it's wonderful!)

A soup makes a wonderful first or main course. You can create lots of lovely soups with a coconut milk base. Bisques come out great-- I did a Paleo lobster bisque for Christmas eve. Squash soup and curries are both superb! 

We recently enjoyed a great appetizer at a Paleo friend's house-- roasted califlower! Our hosts simply broke the flowers apart, tossed in olive oil and sea salt and roasted on a pan. Very, very good!

There are plenty of great Paleo desserts online, but I have to say that chocolate zucchini cake is one of our faves (the recipe is below, in case you'd like to try your hand at this delicious dessert!) You can even please your guests with delicious whipped "cream" on top. Did you know that you can whip canned coconut milk? Just refrigerate, pour off the liquid and beat. It makes a lovely whipped “cream."

Also, a nice arrangement of fruits and dark chocolate is always very nice, so easy, and very pretty!

Gathering Ingredients

These mini veggies are polymer, not Paleo (by Shay Aaron)

I use the internet for most of my recipe hunting. Paleo Comfort Foods is my go-to cookbook with great recipes. Its easy recipes make it an ideal guide for someone just starting out with Paleo eating.

I have found that even though I do a lot of cooking (my husband does too-- and he’s very good, aren't I a lucky gal!) most of the recipes that we use are easy and don’t require a lot of ingredients.

At first it my seem like you are buying a lot of expensive stuff--and it is at times expensive, but you adapt and find that these basic ingredients last quite a long time.



Stock up on these items:

Coconut oil  -- my number my one ingredient to have on hand
Canned coconut milk (I have it on automatic delivery from Amazon!)
Almond Flour (I buy from Nuts.com)
Coconut flour (again, Nuts.com)
Kerry Gold pastured butter (can be found in some local supermarkets)
Organic grass-fed meats (local and from US Wellness Meats)
Nuts, dates, figs
Avocados
VEGGIES and FRUITS!

 

Two Great Recipes for Paleo Potlucks and Entertaining 

Here's my suggestion for a great potluck salad. Try it and let me know how you like it!

Chicken or Turkey Salad w/ Pecans and Grapes

4 cups chicken, cooked and diced
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup red grapes, halved
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
4 handfuls of mixed lettuce greens

Instructions: Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Serve on lettuce.
Serves four (but easily doubled or tripled as needed!)




Moist Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 medium zucchini, shredded (equal to 1.5 cups shredded zucchini)
2 eggs, whisked
3/4 cup sunbutter or almond butter
1/3 cup raw honey
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Optional: For extra chocolate intensity, add Enjoy Life chocolate chips (soy, gluten, dairy, free), 1/4 cup.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Shred your zucchini. Use the shredding attachment on a food processor or grate by hand.
3. Once your zucchini is shredded, you need to remove the excess liquid. Zucchinis have a lot of it! Place between paper towels and squeeze! Use more paper towels as needed, but be sure to squeeze until the zucchini feels waterless.
4. Place zucchini in a bowl with the rest of your ingredients. Use a large spoon to mix well until all the ingredients are combined and you have a deep chocolate color.
5. Pour your ingredients into 9x9 pan
6. Place in oven to bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when you poke it.
7. Let cool, cut and serve!

Make up a batch of coconut cream to top it off, if desired.

Experiment and have fun with recipes and new ways of cooking! ❉

YIKES! Paleo Pumpkin Crunch Grain Free Cereal

Here's a great "cereal" recipe for those avoiding grains. On the Paleo diet, which I follow, I don't consume any grains at all. This recipe gives a satisfying crunch and a slight sweetness that is quite delightful.

Eat it with coconut milk or by the handful. It packs a great dose of healthy, whole ingredients.

I wish I could take full credit for this recipe but-- alas-- it is something I ran across on a blog and have lost the link to its author. If you know who its original author is, please post it in the comments.

My changes are slight tweaks to the cooking time and the elimination of  agave (not such good stuff,  healthwise, as it turns out). I replace agave with honey for the sweetener. I love the pink Himalayan sea salt and sprinkle it over the crunch as it bakes. Experiment with your own crunch for maximum tastiness!

Pumpkin Paleo Crunch

Mix in a big bowl these dry ingredients:
1/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds
3/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup blanche,d slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (you can also use the bigger flakes or a mixture of the two--

I order from nuts.com.)
1/2 cup raw almonds (slivers, or run them through the chopper)
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda

Mix in a small bowl these wet ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil (heat a little to liquify)
1/2 cup honey or coconut nectar or mixture of both
1/2 Tablespoon of real vanilla (watch that your vanilla doesn't have that evil corn syrup in its ingredients! I found some on the store shelves that does.)

1/2 cup pure plain pumpkin

Combine and bake!

Whisk the wet ingredients together and then pour them into the dry ingredients. Stir well and spread out on a big heavy-duty cookie sheets. Bake for about an 45 minutes in a 250 degree oven. Turn with spatula and spread back out. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. The crunch will darken as it bakes. It will also crisp up nicely while cooling.

Tip: Sprinkle with salt periodically throughout baking. I love the pink Himalayan sea salt!

After cooling, keep your delicious pumpkin crunch in an airtight container. Enjoy it with coconut milk. Add your favorite fruit if desired!

Cooling Crunch!

You might also like:

• YIKES Chocolate Zucchini Cake
• YIKES Paleo Bread & Butter Pickles
• YIKES Paleo Blueberry Pie
• YIKES Cantaloupe Salad Smoothie

Suzanne Anderson is the creator of YIKES! Studio Jewelry. Suzanne has been busy creating for most of her life. After graduating with a BA from Maine College of Art, she worked as a graphic designer and a painter. Suzanne works to ensure that YIKES! Studio creates work that is fun, beautiful, always interesting, and adorns the wearer with joy. Catch up with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Etsy, or her website at www.yikesstudio.com.

Beyond the Jewelry-- Smoothies!

Besides creating really fun and colorful jewelry for YIKES! Studio, I enjoy creating and eating delicious, nutritious, and colorful foods. I have been posting from time to time a few of my smoothies on my Facebook page. Many people have told me they enjoy those posts and have questions about the ingredients used.

I also get many questions about my eating lifestyle, called Paleo. I'm always happy to answer questions if I can, and I'd like to share a few recipes and share some great smoothies and other healthy, delicious and beautiful foods that are part of my life!

So here we go with my smoothie of the day...

First, some General Smoothie Info

First of all, I would say that you will need a good blender. I use a tangerine colored (this is important 'cause I gotta have color!) Kitchen Aid blender. I love it. It's so pretty and always looks so nice in its nook in the kitchen. When I whip it out to blend up one of these smoothie babies it performs miraculously. It was a good buy at around $100 on Amazon. That is really all that you need beyond a cutting board, a good knife and some great fruits and veggies.

I often think of these smoothies as mainlining nutrition right into the body. They go down so easily and give me so much joy! And what's not to love about starting the day off with a huge serving of fruits and vegetables plus the really good fat found in coconut milk? Can't be a bad thing.

My smoothies most always include banana (which can be frozen ahead of time), 1/4 avocado, and 1/2 can organic coconut milk (I have this on automatic delivery from Amazon as I use so much of it). When I tell people about the avocado in a smoothie, they often think that their smoothie will taste like avocado (which often gets a "yuck" response)! The avocado imparts a creaminess and and in the smoothie, it has no flavor at all. It's a miracle booster in your smoothie.



Cantaloupe Salad Smoothie 
Yes, that's right-- cantaloupe and salad! Really, this is good. Okay, no... its beyond good, it is incredible!

First of all I start out with some baby spinach, a handful of parsley (which is good for the liver) and some red leaf lettuce. About a dinner salad's worth. I give the greens a spin in my greens washer, tear it all up and put in the blender.

Next I add about a cup of frozen Maine wild blueberries, about a cup of cut up cantaloupe, 1/4 avocado, 1 banana, 6 ice cubes (I like my smoothies very cold) 1/2 can coconut milk, and approximately 1 cup of water.

Blend! I start on the chop setting and work my way up through puree to liquidfy. If your blender isn't blending you may need to add some more water.

None of this is exact and you can configure your smoothie to however you like it. The possibilities are endless!

About a dinner salad's worth of cleaned spinach, parsley and red leaf lettuce

Blender loaded and ready to fire up. I use the Thai organic coconut milk

Creamy, delicious, and nutritious! Drink through a straw for maximum joy.