Quick Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce

This sauce goes together quickly and has a nice thick consistency that goes amazingly well on pork ribs (and probably anything else that could use a thick slather of sauce!) Play with the chipotle powder and make it as hot (or not) as you like. 

Quick Maple Chipotle BBQ Sauce

1 med onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tbsp coconut oil or butter 

1 can tomato paste (156ml)

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2/3 c maple syrup

4 T molasses

1 tsp salt

½ tsp chipotle pepper powder (increase or decrease by ¼ tsp depending on your love of heat!)

Sauté onion over med high heat until starting to soften and brown, add minced garlic cloves, sauté 1 min more. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well, bring to a boil then reduce heat to med low. Simmer for 15-20 min. puree with hand blender until smooth. Use right away, or Keep in fridge for up to a week.

Egg Drop Soup with Kale and Miso

I was driving home the other day, and talking to my hubbie on the phone(using the  Bluetooth in my car, of course...safety first!!) about what he was going to feed me when I arrived home (He had the day off, it was his turn to cook!). He was going thru all of the bits and pieces of leftovers in the fridge, but they were all spoken for already other dinners (these lovely Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes from Against All Grain were one of those meals). I could hear his frustration building as we spoke…there was NOTHING to eat quickly….or so he thought, silly guy! I had him start sautéing some veggies, and when I arrived home threw the rest of the soup together in a flash. We had two beautiful bowls of hearty, nutrient dense soup that was absolutely delicious, and ready in about 20 minutes flat. (and the bone broth was frozen too!) Dilemma solved, and in such a tasty way!


Egg Drop Soup with Kale and Miso

Makes 2 generous bowls of soup.

 1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup chopped kale, (approx 2 lg leaves) thick stem removed

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp avocado oil (or coconut, or butter)

2 cups bone broth (use beef or chicken, I believe we used beef )

1 cup water

1 tsp Mame miso (or miso of choice)

2 tbsp water

½-1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, look for one with good ingredients!)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Smoked sea salt to taste

This is a traditional soybean
Miso... there are many other
types. The flavour will differ
slightly, but any of them
would work!

In a medium pot, sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Add the chopped kale and sauté until the veggies just start to brown and soften, 3-4 minutes more approx.  Add bone broth and the first amount of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer. (if your bone broth is frozen, like mine almost always is, add the frozen stock to the veggies, put a lid on the pot and leave on medium heat until melted, then bring to a boil and simmer)

While it simmers, in a small bowl, mix the Miso paste with the second amount of water until well combined.  Add the sriracha if using, and stir into gently simmering soup.

Slowly drizzle the beaten eggs back and forth over the surface of the soup, taking care not to pour all in one spot. Lightly stir (you don’t want to mix the egg in totally) until the egg turns opaque, approx 1 minute.

Season with salt and serve warm. 

Coconut Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

After a long hiatus from putting pen to paper and writing down new recipes, I am finally back on track and getting some new creations posted for you!

This muffin recipe, and the Cranberry Coconut Breakfast Bars that I posted recently were created out of a need to use up a bunch of frozen bananas that were threatening to take over my freezer. There always seems to be that one banana that no one wants to use, and is sadly left to brown in the fruit basket on the counter. When it becomes painfully obvious that no one is going to go anywhere near it, into the freezer it goes, alongside the other strays, until I have enough to do something with. (or until they start to fall out when the freezer door is opened…whichever happens to come first!)

The latter was the case, and these beauties were born. The muffin itself is not very sweet, the coconut streusel topping adds just that perfect sweetness and texture to perfectly finish off the muffin. They are not large muffins, which suits me just fine. The bigger appetites in my house take two, but I find one perfect for a mid-day snack. They freeze very well, making the large amount of muffins perfect for filling up that empty space left by the frozen bananas J

Coconut Cinnamon Streusel Muffins (makes 24 small muffins)

Muffins:

6 eggs

¾ cup plain kefir or yogurt (full fat!)

4 bananas (very ripe…mine were frozen and thawed)

2 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar

¼ cup melted coconut oil

2/3 cup coconut flour

¼ cup arrowroot flour/starch

¼ cup coconut sugar

¼ cup chick pea flour

¼ cup ground chia seeds (grind in blender or buy already ground)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Streusel Topping:

1 Tbsp Cinnamon

3 Tbsp melted coconut oil

3 Tbsp coconut sugar

2/3 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 24 muffin tins with parchment liners or grease very well.  Set aside. 

Measure all of the muffin ingredients into an 8 cup mixing bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend together well, scraping down the sides with a spatula as necessary to make sure all ingredients are mixed.  Let stand while you mix the streusel.

To make the streusel: Mix all ingredients together well in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

Scoop the prepared muffin batter evenly into the lined pans. Top evenly with the streusel topping. (there is a generous amount of topping, you won't need to scrimp!)

Bake for 18-20 minutes in preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.

Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or wrap and freeze for up to 6 months.