10 Healthy, Simple, & Festive Snacks, Lunches, & Treats for Wintertime

    

Fun food traditions don't have to be laden with toxic refined sugars and flours.  The kids and I are starting new wintertime culinary rituals that are fun and full of memory-making potential.  They've already made me promise that we do all of the following for winters to come.  Several of these were Pinterest finds, so I'll provide the link to each of those and a little note of how our experience turned out.

 My mom introduced us to these black olive penguins a couple years ago and have become a  wintertime staple ever since. My older kids (ages 10 and 12) help cut the carrots and our 6 and 9-year-olds can do the rest.  The 2-year-old more than happily helps eat them.  We give him a couple cream cheese balls and olives to play around with while the rest of us assemble them.

 We even roast chestnuts on a, well, closed oven.  We found a bag at Trader Joe's and have received them in our produce box before we started growing our own veggies.  We loved how they looked like little presents after roasting them.  Simply preheat your oven to 350º, cut a big "x" on the flat side of each one (I highly suggest adults do this part; it's tricky), and roast for 35-40 minutes.  Unwrap the chestnut presents while still very warm, but not too hot to burn little hands, and enjoy a warming, buttery treat.  Martha has some pretty yummy recipes for them if you have any leftover.

 This simple grape-and-cheese Christmas tree with a celery trunk (and little sprigs of thyme as pretty little dividers) was an easy and tasty snack that the kids put together themselves.

 We used our old hummus flower idea to make a Christmas star with hummus (here's a simple recipe) and heirloom carrots of different colors.  If you haven't grown your own, Trader Joe's has bags of them available.

 The most challenging snack were these snowmen.  The one I made with our 6-year-old fell apart, but our crafty 9-year-old pretty much mastered it.  There might have been some tears shed from disappointed little eyes after snowmen cracked and crumbled, but I think we might try them again next year.

 Homemade hot (or warm) chocolate is too simple not to make!  It's taste is far superior than powdered mixes, not to mention it's way healthier.  We rotate between Perfectly Frothy Raw Hot Cocoa and this Mexican Hot Chocolate.  When I'm really in a need for extreme chocolate, we pull out the Dairy-Free Sipping Chocolate Recipe.

 Need a little something more than chocolate to sip?  Indulge in this super-quick Egg(less) Nog.  It's a favorite.

 These Grain-Free Coconut Lace Cookies don't last long around here.  Buttery+thin+crispy= cantstopwontstop.

 Originally, I was shooting for a Paleo Peppermint Patty kinda thing, but I actually prefer these Paleo Bon Bons without the peppermint.

    I love recipes that are naturally grain-free without having to tweak anything.  These Gluten-Free Chocolate Cloud Cakes are a real show-stopper and simply delicious.

Happy festive, healthy kitchens, friends! xo

Grain-Free German Apple Pancakes Recipe with Paleo Options

As the mornings grow colder, I find myself wanting to tuck into something warm after waking up.  The smoothies get moved to snacks, and breakfasts that come out of the oven are welcomed once again.  I don't want to spend a whole bunch of time on breakfast; it's a busy part of the day over here.  This new favorite tastes and looks like it should've taken a lot more time to make than it actually does.  The key, my friends, is the right kind of tools.  If your household likes apples and you don't already have what my kids call "The Amazing Apple Machine," please, for the love of everything good and pure, invest in one.  I don't know about you, but I can't peel, core, and slice an apple in ten seconds by hand.  For this recipe, I whiz the apples through the "machine" and slice the spiraled apples in half.  The slices are the perfect thinness to naturally cook just enough during the process of baking the pancake, so there's no need to pan-fry them ahead of time.  You'll see what I mean in the recipe, but first, one more note.  If you don't have to be paleo, please choose the buttermilk option over almond milk.  Also, pretty please use butter instead of coconut oil.  The paleo version totally works, but the flavor of good, organic dairy from grass-fed cows...  I swoon.

NOTE:  If you happen to stumble upon a recipe that calls for coconut flour such as this one, you must only use coconut flour.  Coconut flour is very different than any other of it's kind and cannot be substituted cup-for-cup with any other flour.  You also cannot substitute coconut flour for any other kind of flour in a recipe or else you will end up with some sort of nasty.  Moral of the story:  Coconut flour recipes are for coconut flour only, and keep it out of any non-coconut flour recipes.  Thank you. Carry on.

Grain-Free German Apple Pancakes with Paleo Options
Serves 8, prep time: 10 minutes, bake time: 15-20 min.

• 1/3 cup butter (or coconut oil), for the pan
• 1 cup buttermilk (or almond milk)
• 6 eggs
• 2 tablespoons more butter, for the batter
• 1 tablespoon grade grade B maple syrup or honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (find a gluten-free recipe here)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 big or 3 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (see pictures above)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 425º.  Put 1/3 cup butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or a 9x13 pan and place in oven while it heats up to allow butter to melt.
2. Blend buttermilk, eggs, 2 tablespoons butter, syrup or honey, vanilla, coconut flour, and soda in a blender until smooth.  
3. Slice apples as seen above.  Mix cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl.  Add apple slices and toss to coat.
4. Remove hot pan or skillet from the oven once the butter is melted.  Arrange apple slices evenly  on the pan.  Sprinkle any residual spices over the apples.  Pour batter over the apples and place pan or skillet back into the oven.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the center of the pancake is set.  Cut into slices and serve hot with a dollop of butter and grade B maple syrup.

~ Browse more Riddlelove recipes here. ~

Crispy Lemon Ginger Waffles ~ A Paleo Recipe

It's true, it's been months since any new posts.  I haven't stopped thinking about sharing life here in this space, but in order to keep priorities in alignment (family first!), the blog has suffered.  Often times, good choices are hard choices.  I miss being here and hope to pick up a regular writing routine so very soon (after we have established our home school for the upcoming year!  More on that soon).  In the meantime, I give you this recipe as a peace offering.  This is no ordinary waffle.  Crispy, airy, flavorful yet not overwhelming...  This is our current favorite waffle of all time, and it just happens to be paleo.  I will be doubling this recipe in the future because they were inhaled before everyone was satisfied.  I might just make another batch for lunch, who knows?  All I know is that I can't stop thinking about them.

Crispy Lemon Ginger Waffles (Paleo)

Prep time: 10 minutes, cook time: 15 minutes to cook entire batch; makes 8 waffles

• 1 cup milk of choice
• 1/3 whole lemon (rind included)
• 1/2 knob of fresh ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 3/4 cup arrowroot powder (hazelnut or cashew flour will also work.  coconut flour WON'T)
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (or butter if you're not totally paleo like me)

1. Preheat waffle iron and grease with ghee if needed.
2. Place all ingredients in high-speed blender like the Vita-Mix and blend thoroughly.  Open lid and give it a stir, looking for any chunks, blend again if any chunks are found.  Batter is ready when completely smooth.
3. Pour about 1/2 cup batter into waffle iron to make each waffle.  Serve hot.  Optional garnishes are maple syrup, pear slices, and a sprinkling of organic cinnamon.

~ Browse more Riddlelove recipes here. ~