Jalapeno Popper Dip

6 strips bacon
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

1 - 4.5 ounce can diced green chilies, undrained3/4 cups Greek yogurt or sour cream
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2  cups cheddar cheese, grated

Tortilla Chips for serving

Cook bacon until crispy. Crumble.

Stir together yogurt, cream cheese, and 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese. Fold in peppers and bacon.

Put in an 8x8 baking dish. Bake at 350 until lightly browned around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

Serve with chips or vegetables.

** Here is our favorite way to fix this! Prepare mini sweet peppers: cut off end, then cut in half lengthwise and de-seed. Stuff with cheese mixture and bake until browned. Yummm!!

Pumpkin Cake

A delicious paleo, gluten free cake. My pumpkin lovers heartily approved.

2 c. almond flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs

1 15 oz. can pumpkin

1/2 cup honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 9x13 inch cake pan, or spray with non-stick spray. 

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, with electric beaters on medium, mix together eggs, pumpkin and honey until smooth.

Add dry to wet and combine on low speed until smooth.

Pour batter into cake pan and smooth with spatula.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Completely cool on rack before cutting and serving.

Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

** You could probably substitute sweeteners, but you need to compensate for the liquid. I have not tried any other sweeteners in this.

Italian Salad Dressing

I already knew that homemade salad dressing is better and healthier than storebought, but it's one of my last holdouts of "trash" on my grocery list. I'm going to try to find recipes for all my favorites (if anyone can duplicate the Asian Toasted Sesame, please let me know!).

This was super easy to make and keeps for a long time in the fridge. The only thing is the oil solidifies in the fridge so I have to get it out early or set in a bowl of warm water to melt. Not a huge problem, as long as I remember! It's so delicious it makes up for it.

Italian Dressing 

1 cup apple cider vinegar (honestly any type is fine, but I do try to incorporate lots of unprocessed ACV into my diet. Just choose your favorite.)
1 1/3 cup olive oil 
2 tablespoons water
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
2 drops liquid Stevia (or about 1/2 tsp of your sweetener of choice)
1 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons sea salt

Pour ingredients into a glass jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid (you need to shake without leaking)
Cover and shake well. I used my stick blender but I don't think it made a difference and gave me one more thing to clean.
Store in refrigerator.

* You can adjust seasonings to your liking or based on what you have on hand. Really, it would be hard to mess this up. Even with no seasoning at all it would be a tasty oil/vinegar blend!

* It also makes a great marinade. I've used on pork and chicken so far. Add a little lemon juice if you like.

*Variations are endless! 

* This makes about 2-1/2 cups - not enough for my quart jar, but too much for my Good Seasons Cruet. 

Ginger Cranberry Sauce

We have lamb for Christmas dinner, and we go out of town for Thanksgiving, so we always buy a turkey to fix later in the winter so we can have the yummy leftovers. Today is that day! I always make my own cranberry sauce, but haven't fallen in love with any one recipe so I usually wing it. I write in down in case it's good, and today, it is!

My husband and I are eating paleo at the moment, so that makes sweetening a bit more difficult. This batch turned out with exactly the right ratio of sweet and tart for me.

Ginger Cranberry Sauce

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped (I used a naturally sweetened kind I got at the health food store. I can't remember the brand.)

1/2 cup orange juice

10 drops liquid stevia

Put everything in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

Cool and enjoy!

Vegetable Beef Soup

I love soup. My favorite method for making soup is to make some broth, then throw in whatever veggies we have on hand, and barley. I love barley!!

My dear friend Jill made this soup once when we were visiting her and we loved it! My 15-year-old son asks for it from time to time, so this is one recipe I do follow (well - I closely follow it. Ha)

I will first post the original recipe as given to me by Jill, then the variations I did. I don't vary too far, because this is an amazing soup. I would love to give it a more special name, because it deserves it!

Jill's Vegetable Beef Soup

(Most all amounts are approximate!) 1 lb ground beef browned 1/2 cup red wine ( I use what may be on hand, Merlot usually) 3 - 4 bouillon cubes salt & pepper to taste Tony Cacheres Cajun spice to taste 1 med onion chopped 1 tsp chopped garlic (to taste or health need in my house!) 3 - 4 carrots chopped, or sliced 1/2 purple (or green if you prefer - I just love the color!) cabbage, chopped 3 med zucchini diced 3/4 cup tiny pasta (I like alphabets) 1 large can diced tomatoes 3 large stalks celery chopped 1/2 bag of fresh spinach, chopped 2 boxes beef broth

Here's the order I do things: Brown hamburger and use wine to deglaze the pan after transferring meat to soup pot. Empty 1 box of beef broth to pot and set on low heat. Saute' onion, garlic, celery and carrots in small amount of beef broth so they can actually brown a bit. Add to soup pot, then add chopped cabbage, zucchini, and diced tomatoes. Add remainder of beef broth (use a small bit to dissolve bouillon), season and bring to boil. Add pasta to boiling soup, stirring frequently. I usually have to add water after pasta has cooked. Season to taste. I add spinach last, let it just wilt and serve. I don't let it cook down much to preserve the antioxidant punch and the color of course! Wonderful with some french bread and butter.

VARIATIONS by me:

I don't use bouillon unless I have some all natural ones around, which usually I don't because it's hard to find.

Since we're eating clean at the moment, I left out the pasta. I did add some barley because I LOVE barley in soup. However, the store only had "quick barley". I will never use that again! It turned to mush.

I added 3 cloves of garlic because we love it and it's good for you. :)

I used fresh kale, chopped up, instead of spinach. I'm on a kale kick so it was in my fridge anyway, but I've started using kale in almost anything that calls for spinach or parsley! I used about 2 cups and stirred it in AFTER I turned off the burner, so as Jill said, it wilted but didn't really "cook".

My broth and beef just happened to be from an organic grass-fed cow this time around because we happened to have it, so I like to think of this batch as "super soup".

Daniel then told me he prefers the kind of beef soup with "beef strips" to the one with hamburger. I've made this before using cut up stewing beef - it's great either way!

**This is the ONLY way I can feed my gang a meal using only one pound of beef!

Chocolate Frosting

My 12 year old daughter found this recipe online recently. She can't remember where she got it. It's absolutely divine. If a little thicker, it would be fudge! I can't believe the amount of cocoa called for, but it's amazing. Eat it with a spoon; I dare you to stop!

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 stick butter, softened
3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Stir sugar and cocoa together until well blended. Mix butter with 1 Tbsp cream. Gradually beat in sugar mixture, adding more cream as needed, until everything is combined and frosting is fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Frosts a 2 layer cake.

Honey Nut Cookies

Makes 8 to 12 cookies

1 Cup almond flour
2 T butter, melted
2 T honey
10 drops liquid stevia extract
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
large pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 275 degrees (you read that right).

Stir together all ingredients except almond flour and pecans until well mixed. Add flour until a smooth dough forms, then stir in pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto a lightly greased cookie sheet; form into flat rounds. Bake for about 15 minutes. They will brown slightly around the edges, but not all over. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

These are even better the next day, if they last that long.

I think the raw dough would make an excellent fruit crumble topping.