No-mato Hawaiian Barbecue Chicken

Your new BBQ is here.

This recipe was inspired by a Hawaiian barbecue dish I was told about. It sounded delicious, so I looked into how it was made. Sadly, half of the ingredients were things I couldn't eat. Sound familiar? Tomatoes, garlic, onion, soy sauce, the list goes on. So, while I couldn't make an exact flavor replica, this sauce is still pretty darn good and I love the unexpected pineapple hints.

Whenever I make a tomato-free recipe, pureed pumpkin is my go-to replacement. Just add some vinegar to give it the same bite as tomato. Maple syrup didn't seem like enough to create that recognizable barbecue sweetness, so I tossed in some coconut sugar. It was the perfect addition because coconut sugar tends to have a brown sugar flavor. Somehow, the use of these ingredients created the perfect barbecue base.

While the sweetness was there, the smokey flavor was missing. Throwing in bacon grease fixed that little problem. If you'd like an even smokier flavor, adding smoked paprika, if you tolerate it, really spices things up. I imagine chipotle pepper would pair well too. 

I couldn't have been happier with the result of this barbecue sauce. Sweet, slightly fruity, and just enough smokiness. This recipe will liven any dinner while keeping your stomach happy. Read below for the recipe.

Serves: 4-5

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 10 chicken legs
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1 cups broth
• 1/2 cup green onion chopped (green part only)
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 cup pineapple chunks
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs. bacon grease
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika (omit for AIP )

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and take out a glass baking dish.
2. Combine all ingredients in a pot and let simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the crushed garlic cloves.
4. Allow the mixture to slightly cool before pouring into a blender or food processor.
5. Blend until a sauce consistency is reached.
6. Place the chicken legs into the baking dish and spoon the sauce over them evenly.
7. Pour the broth over the chicken and place into the oven to bake for 1 hour, turning and basting the chicken every 15 minutes.

I hope you enjoy this chicken as much as we did! 

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

What's your favorite BBQ flavor?

Banana Bread Cookies { egg, nut, dairy, and grain free }

* FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

I love a good, warm slice of banana bread.

But sometimes you don't feel like making an entire loaf. That's where these cookies come in. They take little effort to make and little time to bake; a great way to get your banana bread fix in a jiffy!

The night I came up with these cookies, I was desperate for a sweet treat. The only problem was that I didn't have enough almond butter to make Paleo Maple Almond Butter Cookies, no lemon for Paleo Lemon Cookies, and I didn't have any chocolate chips to go the chocolate chip cookie route. However, I did have multiple ripe bananas. 

I was forced to create little disks of banana bread heaven. So I got to work mashing some banana, adding a little of this and a little of that until I felt like the mixture had reached cookie dough consistency. After some coconut flour, flax seed meal, and various other flavor makers, a solid dough was formed.

Banana Bread Cookies really do taste just like a bite of banana bread! Warm and bread like in texture, these cookies will be the perfect sweet tooth satisfier. I love making them in a pinch and they really hit the spot. To get started making these, read below!

Yield: 8 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas 
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 2 Tbs. flax seed meal
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon
• 2 Tbs. maple syrup or honey
• dash of sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl mash the bananas very well until smooth then add the maple syrup.
3. In a separate bowl combine remaining ingredients.
4. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
5. Roll the dough into 8 dough balls.
6. Place on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. 
7. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Enjoy the yummy bites of banana bread! Warm, cinnamon goodness awaits.

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

What quick treat do you use to satisfy your sweet tooth?

Rosemary Almond Crusted Salmon

* FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

Crunchy salmon is my new obsession.

At first the idea of adding a crust to my salmon didn't appeal to me. It reminded me too much of fish sticks, which I was never a fan of. But, after some recipe research, I was willing to give it a try. I'm so glad I did because it is delicious and nutritious! I'm so excited to share our version of almond crusted salmon with you.

I really do love to eat salmon. It leaves me feeling good and I know it's good for me. But it always seems like there are only so many ways you can doctor it up. Yup, we get stuck in the trusty recipe rut. So, it was time to use some good ole ingenuity and come up with something new!

The basis of this salmon recipe came from the fusion of a few different flavor combinations. There was rosemary fish, mustard maple glazed fish, and a simple almond crusted fish. I had a feeling that all of these flavors would go together beautifully. And to my surprise, they did!

A delicious crunch, an herbal kick, and a smooth sauce underneath. You have to try this for yourself, it defeats the oh-so-common dinner time monotony. We served ours with a side of vegetables and quinoa to make a wonderfully round meal. Read below to discover how to make this yummy salmon.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbs. brown mustard
• 1 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1/2 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 Tbs. rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and place parchment paper and a cookie sheet.
2. Mix olive oil, mustard, and maple syrup then spread mixture on the tops of your salmon fillets.
3. Combine remaining ingredients and crumble your mixture on the tops of the fillets, making sure it sticks well to the oil mixture.
4. Place fillets on the cookie sheet and into the oven to bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned and the fish is done to your liking.

I can't wait for you to try this recipe! It's so good for you and yet it has the taste of comfort food. Enjoy!

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

Which salmon recipe do you make over and over again?

Low FODMAP Marinated Chicken

Who doesn't love a good marinated chicken?

I know I do, it reminds me of good memories and summer cookouts. This chicken is juicy and packed with that tangy flavor that leaves everyone asking for seconds. If you have a grill, now would be a good time to use it! If you don't, it can be made just as easily in a cast iron skillet, which is what we used this time around.

The great thing about this marinated chicken is that it contains no nightshades, no FODMAPs, and no sugar. This is a true-blue good for your tummy recipe! Also, if you don't have the time to marinade the chicken, the cast iron skillet method is the best way to go. When using the skillet, pour all of your marinade in with the chicken, allowing the sauce to quickly flavor the chicken.

We've had to use this 'emergency' method for a quick dinner and, quite to our surprise, it worked! The chicken was still so flavorful. So, this means there are three ways to cook this chicken: on the grill after marinating, in a skillet after marinating, and in the skillet with no wait time! This way, you can enjoy this recipe by preparing it the day before or throwing it together in a pinch. Now, we can all have a taste of summer whenever we want.

We enjoyed our chicken with green beans and a roasted mixture of turnip and Japanese sweet potato.

Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4-6 chicken breasts
• juice of half a lemon
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbs. brown mustard
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together, making sure to pierce the chicken, and store in the refrigerator over night. Alternatively, this can also be made immediately, however marinating gives more flavor.
2. Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high and place the chicken on the bottom, then pour the marinade sauce over the chicken. If grilling, baste the chicken with the marinade every 10 minutes.
3. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for 30 minutes, flipping the chicken after the first 15 minutes.
4. After cooking, remove the garlic cloves and serve.

I love this recipe and I hope you do as well. Enjoy!

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

What are some of your summer cookout foods?

Paleo Lemon Cookies ( With Lot's of Flavor Variations! )

* FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you! 

Need a little zest in your life?

These cookies are the perfect solution. Any lemon dessert is automatically my favorite. It must be the interestingly delicious combination of sweet and sour. Mix that with a warm cookie and you've got a winner!

Packed with lemon zest, our lemon cookies are a wonderfully refreshing treat. They have that sort of melt-in-your-mouth, chewy texture, which I really love, don't you? I mean, a cookie isn't a cookie if it's not chewy. What's with cookies that have a cake-like texture? Shouldn't those just be called 'cakies'? Long live the chewy cookie *end

rant. Ahem, anyway, let's continue.

And if these cookies aren't already good enough, there are ways you could add a little more flavor dazzle.

 For example, you could toss in some blueberries or add white chocolate chips, if that's your style. You could even use raspberries or replace some of the lemon juice and zest with lime. OR, you could add shredded coconut and coconut chips! The options are endless. I don't know about you, but my mouth is watering Leave a comment below and share if you've tried one of these variations (or one of your own) and tell us how it turned out!

Read below to get started baking these little delights.

Yield: 8 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups almond flour
• 2 Tbs. coconut flour 
• 1/2 Tbs. grass-fed gelatin
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• pinch of sea salt
• zest of 2 lemons
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• Optional Add-Ins: blueberries, raspberries, lime, coconut, white chocolate chips, etc.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well until a dough forms.
3. Roll the dough into 8 balls, place them on the baking sheet, and slightly flatten each with the palm of your hand.
4. Place into oven and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Enjoy these zesty treats and don't forget to comment if you try one of the variations or invent your own!

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

Do you prefer cookies or 'cakies'?

Low FODMAP Egg Muffins

Weekend Brunch is calling.

And these egg muffins are answering. The flavors are reminiscent of a frittata, or an omelet. It's the kind of food you'd want to eat on a rainy Saturday morning. Although my family ate it for dinner along with our Paleo Orange Zucchini Bread Crumble. We have the strange habit of eating breakfast foods for dinner.

These egg muffins are packed with protein. Cheese, bacon, and eggs (of course) make this recipe nutrient dense. And, we added shredded zucchini to up the nutrition that much more. I don't know about you, but when my blood sugar starts

dropping, eating a boiled egg evens it out very quickly. Yet I feel worse and worse while I wait for the egg to boil. These muffins can be stored in the refrigerator for a quick fix in a sticky situation!

Not only are the egg muffins delicious, but they're also fairly simple to make. Place the shredded zucchini and green onion in the bottoms of the muffin tin and then pour your egg mixture over the top, garnishing with bacon. That's all! You could make your egg muffins any size. We used a muffin tin with six large slots, but you could use any size muffin tin that you would like.

Finally, an egg muffin without FODMAPs that I can eat! Get out that lonely zucchini in your fridge that you've been meaning to use and get cooking. And even better, get eating. 

Serves: 4-6

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 25

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup lactose free cream or coconut cream
• 2 oz. feta cheese
• 3 Tbs. grated Parmesan
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, grated
• 1/4 cup green onion chopped (green part only)
• 3 slices of bacon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.
2. Begin cooking the bacon while prepping the remaining ingredients.
3. Combine the grated zucchini and chopped green onion in a bowl, then place equal amounts of the mixture in the bottom of each muffin cup.
4. In another bowl, whisk eggs then add the remaining ingredients, except for the bacon.
5. Pour the egg mixture into each muffin cup.
6. Slice the cooked bacon into bits then garnish the tops of the muffins.
7. Place the muffin tin into the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Whether you're eating these for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a midnight snack, the egg muffins will satisfy your belly and your mouth. Enjoy!

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

Do you ever eat breakfast for lunch?

Paleo Orange Zucchini Bread Crumble

* FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you! 

Even paleo has its guilty pleasures.

This dessert is definitely one of them. The bread crumble is amazingly moist. Let's not forget the orange glaze for the top; it's addictive. I was honestly eating it by the spoonful.

If you like zucchini bread you will really appreciate this recipe. If you like oranges you will love this recipe. You may end up eating more than you should, just a warning.

Technically, if you'd like, you can leave the bread as is and pour the glaze over the top. However, with this dessert, I wanted to do something a little more fun. By making the bread into a crumble, it gives the impression of a bread pudding, trifle, and streusel all in one while still maintaining its own uniqueness. And it's so fun to create!

 In order to make the bread into a crumble, you get to allow yourself to revert back to your childhood for a moment. Let out your inner kid. Take your hands and just dig into that bread loaf and get all up in there like a toddler that got into finger paint. Use this moment to relieve some stress or to simply have a heyday. Alternatively, you could enlist the help of the nearest child. Either way, get that bread nice and crumbly!

Don't forget to douse the crumbles in the absolutely addictive glaze when you serve it. I will say once more, it is delicious. And remember, there's zucchini in here, so maybe it's not even a dessert. Maybe it's actually a salad *wink*. Dig right in and have fun with this palate pleaser. It does not disappoint.

Serves: 6 to 8

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour minutes

Total Time: 1 hour + 45 minutes

Ingredients

Bread

• 2 1/4 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 2/3 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/3 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 grated zucchini
• half of a peeled orange
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond or coconut milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbs. coconut oil
• zest of 1 orange

Glaze

• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. + 1 tsp. arrowroot flour
• Juice of 1 freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• zest of 1 orange

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a bread pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
3. In a blender combine the peeled orange half, the orange zest, and all wet ingredients. Blend well.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
5. Stir in zucchini, making sure to have squeezed out as much moisture as possible first.
6. Pour the batter into the bread pan and place in the oven. While the bread is baking, prepare the glaze.
7. Combine the coconut sugar and arrowroot flour in a coffee grinder or high speed blender and blend until a fine powder texture is achieved.
8. Transfer to a bowl, add remaining glaze ingredients, and set aside.
9. Once bread is baked remove from oven and allow to slightly cool.
10. Once cool, remove bread from the pan and crumble the loaf by hand.
11. Place a serving on a plate or in a bowl and generously drizzle with glaze. If you're not serving immediately, keep the crumble and glaze separate until ready to serve.

Welcome to your next new flavor obsession. Orange and zucchini bread just go so well together. I imagine you could also convert this into a lemon recipe (yum). Get ready for some ooey-gooey goodness. Enjoy!

***

A Spunky Inquiry:

Did you or someone you know every get their hands into something they shouldn't have as a kid?

Paleo Maple Almond Butter Cookies

* FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you! 

These cookies only have 5 ingredients!

So simple to make and yet so satisfying. They can be whipped up and in your mouth in just 15 minutes! Prepare to be amazed.

Does anyone remember those maple nut candies that you could find at just about any grocery store? That is exactly what these scrumptious cookies taste like, but they're a healthy version!

These really should be called 'I have basically no ingredients but I still want a delicious dessert' cookies. Seriously though, you probably already have these ingredients on hand. All it takes is almond flour, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt. That's it! And you don't even have to feel guilty about what you're putting in your body (you and I both know we've been there done that, probably too many times).

Making these cookies is as simple as it can get. Throw all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix, bake, serve. How easy is that? I'll tell you how easy, ridiculously easy. The next time you're craving a sweet treat, these cookies will be calling your name.

Couldn't wait to finish taking pictures before taking a bite!

Yield: 8 cookies

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• Optional: coconut sugar to roll dough in

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix until dough has formed.
3. Separate dough into 8 pieces and roll in the palms of your hands to form a ball (*Optional: roll each dough ball in coconut sugar and coat well).
4. Arrange dough on the baking sheet and slightly flatten, either with the palm of your hand or by making the traditional 'X' shape on the tops using a fork.
5. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool (or eat them before they're totally cool; it's okay, I won't judge).

I usually can't resist a freshly baked cookie and eat it while it's still hot, but they do slightly crumble if not allowed to cool first. Enjoy!

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A Spunky Inquiry:

Do you wait for your cookies to cool before chowing down or can you (like me) not resist yourself?