Mixed Berry Pie

In honor of Pi Day (see Apple Pie post) here is the second pie I made, mixed berry. It was sweet and tart and held together well!

Mixed Berry Pie

Dough from Brittany Angell's Club Angell recipe 'Copy Cat Pillsbury Pie Dough'. Sorry but you have to buy the recipe or I'll get in trouble...

7 cups of frozen berries (I used an organic mix of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)
1/4 cup xylitol
10 drops of liquid stevia
2 tsps. xanthan gum
2 TBS tapioca starch
1 tsp of lemon juice (optional, for added tartness)

I made the dough following Brittany's recipe*, rolled it out, put it in my pie plate and poked some vent holes in the bottom.
In a sauce pan, bring the berries, xylitol, stevia and lemon juice to a simmer over medium heat.
Continue to simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently.
After 10 minutes, strain the berries from the liquid and add them to a bowl, cover to keep hot.
Simmer the liquid for another 10 minutes.
While whisking, slowly add the xanthan gum into the bubbling liquids. It will begin to thicken immediately.
Turn off the heat and again while whisking, slowly add the tapioca starch. it will be pretty thick now.
Add the thickened syrup to the berries in the bowl (the berries should still be hot so the xanthan gum doesn’t start to harden).
Add the filling to the partially baked crust and add top crust. You can make this with our without a top crust. Crust is my favorite part of pie though and almost never made a pie without a top crust!
Bake at 350 degrees for another 7 - 10 minutes. If using a top crust, bake until top crust is golden brown.
Let cool on the counter for half an hour, chill in the freezer for half an hour more to speed up the process and serve room temperature.
Enjoy!!

* If you don't want to pay for her Club Angell recipes, which I highly recommend, you can Google 'paleo pie crusts' and go from there. Most of those will be pressed pie crusts, i.e. cheesecake crust. I did find this one that is rolled but have not tried it...

All rolled out and ready for the pie plate. I ended up just flipping it into the plate instead of rolling it on the rolling pin.

Poked some vent holes in the bottom and poured in hot berry filli





Fresh from the oven and smelling delicious!

The Best Apple Pie I Have Ever Made!

In honor of Pi Day on Saturday, (I just needed an excuse to eat pie!) I set out to make some pies. I researched a ton of recipes and decided on an apple pie and a mixed berry pie. I was so excited, there was giggling and clapping and child like excitement!
I have a history of getting very frustrated with pie dough and this dough was so easy to work with I was relaxed and actually enjoying myself the whole time. I will definitely be making these again! I took my beautiful pies to a friends house for an arm knitting party because I am 25 going on 86 and my friends who don't even eat Paleo like them! Sweet success!


Apple Pie

Dough from Brittany Angell's Club Angell recipe 'Copy Cat Pillsbury Pie Dough'. Sorry but you have to buy the recipe or I'll get in trouble...

5-7 apples depending on size, peeled and sliced (I used organic red delicious)
1 TBS of cinnamon
1/2 cup of xylitol
1 tsp of vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
I made the dough following Brittany's recipe*, rolled it out, put it in my pie plate and poked some vent holes in the bottom.
Pour the filling into the crust and cover with a top crust (I made a faux lattice top!) and place in oven.
I  covered the outer edge of the crust with foil for the first 20 minutes and then pulled it off for the last 20 minutes. it should bake for 40-50 minutes depending on the thickness of you apple slices.
Allow to cool before slicing.
Enjoy!

* If you don't want to pay for her Club Angell recipes, which I highly recommend, you can Google 'paleo pie crusts' and go from there. Most of those will be pressed pie crusts, i.e. cheesecake crust. I did find this one that is rolled but have not tried it...

Parchment paper dusted with tapioca starch.

Rolled out and ready for the pie plate.

Poked a few vent holes and then made my filling.

The stripes kept braking (it was hot in the house) but I could easily pinch them back together!

Nothing like the smell of hot apple pie!

Salty Lime Marinade

A few weeks ago, my dad, Matt and I went to Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse in Philadelphia. It was one of the best food experiences in our lives! They have pork ribs that are amazing, salty and citrusy. This marinade reminds me of those ribs and I LOVE it! I marinated chicken breasts for the week and they were so juicy and tender - so, so good!

Salty Lime Marinade
Adapted from Civilized Caveman Cooking

12 chicken breasts
1/2 cup of grapeseed oil
1 cup of lime juice
4 TBS chili powder
4 tsp oregano
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp sage
1 TBS salt
1 TBS black pepper

Prepare your marinade container, I used a mixing bowl lined with a garbage bag.
Add chicken breasts (or cut of choice) to container.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over top of meat.
Allow to marinate for at least 4 hours up to 12
Cook as desired. We baked chicken breasts.

Serve over a bed of greens, riced cauliflower, quinoa or some zucchini noodles! Yum!

Creamy Tomato Soup

Hello all!

Its been a crazy few weeks in my life so I haven't been posting anything, sorry! I'm going to try and be better about that...try!

Last week during yet another snow storm I decided I needed some comfort food and looked up a few different tomato soup recipes. This is a compilation of a few and I was out of a few things so I had to MacGyver a few things but over all it ended up being pretty good! It's on the spicier side as opposed to the creamy, souper (see what I did there??) sweet side but you, like me, can adjust the recipe to your hearts content. If it comes out good, let me know!!

Creamy Tomato Soup
Makes a big, comforting pot!

1/2 cup of oil (I used grapeseed)
1 pound of cherry tomatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, any color BUT green
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 cup of sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 TBS dried parsley
1 TBS dried basil
1/2 TBS dried oregano
1 TBS sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup of tapioca starch
5 cups chicken broth
1 28oz can of tomatoes
1 6oz can of tomato paste*
2 cups of coconut milk

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat, add cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic and pepper until soft and onion pieces are translucent.
Add sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine the tapioca starch and 1 cup of the chicken broth and whisk until smooth with no lumps. Pour into pot and combine.
Add the rest of the chicken broth slowly, stirring to make sure you don't get any lumps.
Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Turn up the heat and simmer until soup thickens but does not boil.
Reduce heat and add coconut milk, stir to combine.
Technically speaking the soup is ready to eat but if you want it to be more creamy you can either use an immersion blender or blend the soup in a blender in batches.

Full disclosure - I was not happy with the flavor when I first made the soup. I adjusted and tasted and adjusted and tasted some more before I was happy (I added all of those adjustments to the recipe) but the flavor bloomed so much after sitting in the fridge over the next few days! It is also a nice base to springboard other meals off of...I have added ground meat and zucchini noodles (that was dinner last night!) and baked sweet potato for an even creamier, sweeter soup! Use your imagination!

*I didn't have any tomato paste so after googling (that's a word right?) a substitution I reduced another can of tomatoes and added that!