Z Is for Zuppa Toscana (Slow Cooker)

     I could have gone the easy route with anything zucchini related, but I love soups so much. I love filling my tummy with warm bone broth full of love, and this soup is no exception. It's a remake of a restaurant that shall not be named's classic, but instead of white potatoes, I went with my beloved sweet potatoes. I also made my own Italian sausage.

Ingredients:
Sausage:
2 Tbs. coconut oil or bacon grease
1 lb. ground pork
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. onion or garlic powder (optional)
Soup:
4-6 sweet potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 onion, minced
4-6 slices of bacon, cut into pieces
4 cups bone broth
1/2 bunch kale; de-stemmed ant torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
1 Tbs. tapioca flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a sauté pan, over medium heat, combine pork, basil, oregano, marjoram, and onion or garlic powder (if using). Heat until no longer pink.

2. Place pork, broth, sweet potato, and onion in slow cooker. Add enough water to cover vegetables and meat.

3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or 4-5 hours on high until potatoes are soft.

4. Thirty minutes before serving, add flour to coconut milk, mixing well to remove lumps.

5. Add coconut milk and kale to slow cooker and stir.

6. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Y Is for Yakitori with Cauliflower Rice

     Traditional yakitori is made with mirin, which is a sweet Japanese sake, but since rice and alcohol are on the limited list, I just cut them out. I didn't miss it. This dish was wonderful. We just all wished we'd had more of it.

Ingredients:
Yakitori:
3/4 cup coconut aminos
4 Tbs. coconut sugar
1 small onion or garlic clove, pressed (optional)
1 lb. boneless chicken thighs
8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water
Cauliflower Rice:
2 cups cauliflower, riced in food processor
1 cup bone broth

Directions:
1. To prepare cauliflower rice, placed riced cauliflower and broth in a medium saucepan or rice cooker. If using a saucepan, bring to boil over medium-high heat and allow to cook for 12 minutes. If using a rice cooker, follow manufacturer's instructions.

1. Put coconut aminos, coconut sugar, and onion or garlic, if using, into a medium-sized sauce pan, and cook over medium heat until there is only half as much sauce remaining.

2. Let cool slightly while preparing chicken.

3. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.

4. Thread chicken onto skewers.

5. Begin grilling the chicken skewers on both sides without the sauce, when the meat starts changing color, brush the sauce on both sides, and continue grilling, brushing on sauce about 3 times total, and turning until done.

6. Serve half a cup of cauliflower rice with two skewers. Enjoy!

X is for Xia Ren Chao Mian

Ingredients:
2 cups of sweet potato, cut into noodles
8 oz. shelled, de-veined shrimp
2 onion, minced finely
2-3 cloves garlic, minced finely (I did not use this due to allergies)
3 green onions
10 oz. broccoli slaw
1/4 cup tapioca flour
Fresh ginger
Sauce:
1 Tbs. anchovy paste
3 Tbs. coconut aminos
1 tsp. coconut sugar
1 tsp. rice vinegar
Shredded red pepper for topping

Directions:
1. Boil sweet potato noodles for 2 minutes, drain, and spread on a paper towel to dry.

2. Combine sauce ingredients.

3. Lightly dip shrimp in tapioca flour on both sides and thoroughly shake off excess.

4. Heat wok over high heat, and add 2 Tbs. coconut oil. Cook shrimp quickly, just enough until they lose their translucence. Remove and set aside.

5. Add about another 1-2 Tbs. coconut oil to wok. Add onions. Allow to caramelize slightly. Add garlic and ginger then broccoli slaw. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add noodles and begin to toss with other ingredients.

6. After 2 minutes or so, add sauce and continue mixing until heated through.

7. Heap noodles onto 4 plates and top evenly with shrimp. Garnish with shredded red pepper and serve.

W Is for Winter Vegetable Soup (Vegetarian)

     This is a great post-workout meal or just a warm up meal for a cold night. It's sweet and savory and warm and happy-making. The only person who didn't enjoy this soup was Victor, but that's because he was sick and hadn't been able to eat anything for a couple of days.

Serves 10

Ingredients:
3 medium carrots, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbs. grass-fed butter or coconut oil
7 cups bone broth
3 cups cubed peeled red potatoes
2 cups cubed peeled butternut squash
2 large tart apples, peeled and chopped
2 medium turnips, peeled and chopped
2 parsnips, peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. pepper


Directions:
1. In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook and stir the carrots and onions in butter or coconut oil until tender.

2. Add the broth, potatoes, squash, apples, turnips, and parsnips. Reduced heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. Stir in the basil, thyme, and pepper; simmer 15 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.

V Is for Vanilla Cherry Coconut Milk Ice Cream

     I was never much of a fan of ice cream. Even growing up, when my parents would ask me if I wanted ice cream, I would get it just as a vehicle for rich fudge sauce. Then when I realized I had a lactose intolerance, it began to make sense. Then I tried coconut milk ice cream, and I was hooked. Although we don't eat it often, I do enjoy playing around with flavor combinations. This combo is delicious and fruity and was completely eaten up by my family in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup raw, local honey
1 cup cherries, use frozen if desired
1 vanilla bean pod
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Add coconut milk, almond milk, honey, cherries, and vanilla extract to a blender or food processor.

2. Using a sharp knife, cut open vanilla bean pod and scrape seeds into the mixture.

3. Run blender or food processor until blended. Blend longer for smaller cherries pieces or shorter for more chunks.

4. Follow you ice cream maker instructions.

U Is for Upside-Down Pineapple Cake

     This cake has caused me no end of stress and agitation. I've never made an upside-down cake, not even before I was Paleo. So just the thought of attempting this cake without a recipe made my heart race and my palms sweat. But I have to say that it turned out really well. It is super tasty and moist and fruity. I just made it today, but because we had coconut cupcakes for my husband's mother's birthday, we split up a piece to give it a try. As I'm writing this, all I can hear are "Mmmmm's" and "Oh my goshes," so I'd say it's a winner. The only drawback is that it's a bit on the pricy side to make, but this is a special-occasion/company kind of cake.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
2.5 cups blanched almond flour
4 eggs at room temperature
2/3 cups raw, local honey
1/2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup chopped tropical fruit (we used mango and pineapple)
Topping:
1/4 cup grass-fed butter or extra-virgin coconut oil
1 cup coconut sugar
1 20-oz. can sliced pineapple in juice
10 cherries, pitted (if using frozen, thaw)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease spring-form cake pan.

2. In spring-form cake pan, melt butter or coconut oil over low heat.

3. While butter is heating, combine oil, flour, eggs, honey, lemon juice, and vanilla in a food processor. Process for 45 seconds, until smooth.

4. Add baking soda, salt, and tropical fruit. Process for 15 seconds, to create a smooth batter.

5. Once butter in spring-form pan is slightly melted, turn stove off and make sure it is spread evenly over bottom of pan.

6. Sprinkle coconut sugar evenly over butter. Place pineapple slices into sugar. Add a cherry to the middle of each pineapple slice.

7. Pour batter into cake pan and place in the oven on the center rack. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

8. Allow to cool on wire rack for 20 minutes, then loosen the sides and remove the spring-form, leaving the bottom of the pan on the cake.

9. Invert the cake onto a cake plate and remove the pan bottom.

T Is for Turkey Sliders

     One day, I was eating sweet potato chips and reading a Paleo cookbook that was mentioning sliders, and the two things coupled in my head, and these are the delicious babies they made. I can't begin to explain how delicious these are. They're even better if you put them together and let them sit for about 5 minutes because the sweet potato chip bun softens a little, and the turkey gets moister, and they sort of fuse together into a little bite of heaven.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 Tbs. coconut oil or bacon grease + some for sweet potato chips
1 lbs. ground turkey
1 large egg
1 tsp. coconut aminos
1/4 cup of bacon, chopped
1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. onion powder
Dill Honey Mustard:
1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
2 Tbs. raw, local honey
1 Tbs. mustard, we use spicy brown, but you will get good results from any of your favorite mustards
1/4 tsp. dill weed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Slice sweet potato, thinly into about 20 slices. Brush lightly with melted coconut oil or bacon grease and lightly salt. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. While sweet potato is baking, melt 1 Tbs. coconut oil in skillet. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towel-covered glass plate. Set aside. DO NOT clean out pan.

4. In mixing bowl, combine ground meat, egg, coconut aminos, bacon, basil, marjoram, oregano, and onion powder until meat mixture is homogenous.

5. Roll meat mixture into about 10 golf-ball-sized balls. Press into patties.

6. Cook in skillet with remaining bacon grease, 3-4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

7.To make honey mustard, combine mayonnaise, honey, mustard, and dill. Mix thoroughly.

8. Use sweet potato chip as bun. Top meat with honey mustard and serve.