I bought this awesome electric pressure cooker called an Instant Pot. This thing is king of the kitchen right now! It pressure cooks, sautés, steams, slow cooks, ferments, and lots more! The ability I am most excited about is being able to make cakes and bread in it! I thought this was so neat!! Most of the recipes I found for bread or cake are not Paleo compliant so I had to come up with one of my own! I used this steamed banana bread recipe and substituted ingredients for Paleo ingredients. The results were AMAZING! This pressure cooker Paleo banana bread is dense and moist! I am still incredibly shocked that this works in a pressure cooker!! You can get the Instant Pot IP-Duo60 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker here: Amazon

My mom used to make a very similar Pumpkin bread around the holidays! I plan to order more cassava flour and make a Paleo pressure cooker pumpkin bread! I am thinking it will turn out the same and that is really exciting!

Pressure Cooker Paleo Banana Bread!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup softened ghee
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 egg (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla
2 mashed, very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup cassava flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 cup cashew milk (or coconut, almond, etc)
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

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Instructions:
Add alternative milk (can use coconut, cashew, almond, etc) and cream of tartar together in a small bowl and set aside. (This makes “buttermilk”)
Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
Add mashed bananas and continue to mix.
In a separate bowl mix cassava flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to wet ingredients while mixing.
Add in the “buttermilk mixture” of alternative milk and cream of tartar.
Cover with foil. If you make a foil “tent” and spray with cooking spray it won’t stick!
In a greased 7 inch or smaller cake pan (I used my AMAZING 7 inch springform pan) add the mixture.
Add 2 cups of water to the instant pot.
Set metal trivet rack in the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Lower your pan filled with batter onto the trivet.
Close lid of Instant Pot and move knob on top to SEALING.
Press MANUAL 30 minutes. The Instant Pot will start to count down AFTER it has come to pressure.
When the Instant Pot beeps finished allow it to NATURALLY release pressure. Mine took 17 minutes, but this time varies.
When the pressure is gone and you can remove the lid do so.
Carefully remove the trivet and pan. Remove the foil. Allow to cool on a wire rack IN THE PAN. Once it is cool if will easily remove from the pan.
I let mine sit out until completely cool and then put it in the refrigerator overnight to enjoy with my coffee in the morning!

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I posted these on my Facebook page and everyone wanted to know my recipe. Honestly when I posted them I didn’t have a real recipe. These are so easy I just toss everything in a muffin pan, bake, cool and store so they can be reheated all week for breakfast. My boys love that they can pull it out of the refrigerator themselves and toss it in the microwave. When we reheat these we only heat them for around 40 seconds, otherwise they will get crunchy.

My general recipe for a 12 muffin tin:
12 eggs (we strongly prefer farm fresh)
2 heaping tbsp of cooked meat (we use turkey breakfast sausage, ham or bacon would work well also)
Various vegetables. If the veggies are hard like peppers, onions then we pre-saute them until they are soft. If the vegetable is already soft like spinach, kale or arugula we just toss it in.

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Directions:
Grease each cup of the muffin tin. We use a Pampered Chef tin so I don’t use liners.
In a large bowl scramble your 12 eggs.
Place 2 tbsp of meat in each muffin cup.
Add vegetables to the top.
Fill each cup with egg about 3/4 of the way to the top. The egg will expand.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes until the tops are golden and the centers are no longer runny.

To order your own non-stick awesome muffin pan please click here: Kati Woods Pampered Chef

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If you really want to change it up sometimes we add spices like creole seasoning or garlic. The boys really just like the turkey sausage and egg muffins. Experiment a little and see what your family likes!

The post Breakfast egg muffins appeared first on That Savage Life.

I am on a quest to find what the average family spends a month on groceries! I polled a ton of people on Facebook and I would love input from my readers!

What do you spend a month on groceries for your house?

How many people do you feed?

Do you buy some, all or no organic foods?

Click the picture below and it will take you to Instagram so that you can be a part of the conversation! If you don’t have Instagram that is ok! Leave me a comment here!

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I’m doing a little research for my blog and would love for my readers to answer this question for me!! Leave a comment here or send me a dm please! Also knowing if you buy all organic would help too! #research #blogger #foodblogger #food #help #question #feedbackneeded #qa #answerthis #paleo #weightloss #budget

A photo posted by Jennifer Hodgkiss (@the_paleo_gypsy) on Sep 15, 2015 at 11:10am PDT

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The post What is your monthly food budget? appeared first on That Savage Life.

We found ourselves with an abundance of overly ripe bananas. What I was wanting was Paula Deans Banana Cake with cream cheese frosting, but we all know that would have been a terrible idea! This recipe is my attempt to replicate the taste of Paula’s famous cake in a bar format that my family can eat.  The boys wouldn’t stay out of it and the entire pan of Paleo Frosted Banana Bars were GONE in less than 24 hours. My husband might have helped a little! These are great as dessert, but they are super awesome in the morning with a cup of black coffee! I like mine without the icing, but the boys really ladled their icing on! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

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Paleo Frosted Banana Bar recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter or Ghee
3 cups Casava flour or a mix of almond/coconut flour
2 cups Coconut Sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
3 eggs beaten
3/4 cup coconut oil
4 large very ripe bananas mashed
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions: 
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a large bowl gently combine butter, flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, eggs and oil. Don’t over mix. Just mix enough to combine ingredients.
3) Mash in banana, pecans and vanilla.
4) In a greased (you can use coconut oil) bar pan press the dough all the way to the sides.
5) Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until the dough is firm and cooked lightly golden brown.
6) Allow to cool completely and drizzle icing just before eating! (Recipe for icing to follow!)

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Icing:

Ingredients:
1 can COLD coconut full fat milk from the refrigerator.
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions for icing:
1) Open can and drain off the liquid. The fat should be solid.
2) Add coconut milk fat and vanilla in a bowl and whip with mixers until fluffy.
3) Drizzle and enjoy!

** You can also use a cashew cream cheese, but I have not tried this yet!

The post Paleo Frosted Banana Bars appeared first on That Savage Life.

So, it sounds really strange, but we got a whole bag of dried hibiscus flowers from bountiful baskets and I wanted to find something other than making tea to do with it. Thus Paleo Hibiscus Ice Cream was born! Plus he bought be this awesome new ice cream maker and I had to use it! I made homemade coconut milk and infused the hibiscus flowers! It turned out great and the kids loved it too! Plus the color is really cool!

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Ingredients:
4 cups almost boiling water
2 cups shredded coconut
1/8 cup dried hibiscus flowers
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp vanilla

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Instructions:
First, we need to make the coconut milk. If you want to skip this part canned, full fat coconut milk can be used. Bring water almost to a boil. Place 2 cups of shredded coconut in a blender (we use a Vitamix), pour 4 cups of hot water over it and blend on high until thick and frothy. During this part I added my dried flowers to the hot coconut milk mixture and allowed it to sit for about 15 minutes and steep. Next, using a nut milk bag or fine strainers strain the mixture. You will be left with a wonderfully creamy coconut milk. Then, allow the mixture to cool completely and add to an ice cream maker with the honey and vanilla and allow it to freeze for about 20! My boys decided to add some Enjoy Life chocolate chips to the ice cream about 5 minutes before it was complete.

The post Paleo Hibiscus Ice Cream appeared first on That Savage Life.

It’s no big secret that I am a southern girl who was born and raised in Texas. In the South we fry EVERYTHING! Seriously… have you heard of our famous state fair deep friend Oreos or deep-fried margaritas. Yes, that is a thing. Anyway, I digress. What I was really wanting was some good, southern fried chicken. Other Paleo fried chicken recipes with nut flours just weren’t cutting. They ended up soggy or had a strange texture. I wanted a good, crunchy, slightly salty, juicy, fried chicken. I was at the store buying our weekly 15 bags (they are tiny) of plantain chips and I had an epiphany. Plantain chip crusted fried chicken! We buy the Inka Chips brand that come in a green bag from Natural Grocers. I do not recommend the dehydrated plantain or banana chips. I have never had a good experience with them!

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I already had the boneless , skinless chicken thighs at the house so I rushed home, ground up the plantain chips (as my kids watched in horror as I crushed their favorite snack in the food processor), add some spices, coated and pan-fried the chicken. What happened next was a surprise to the whole family.  The paleo fried chicken was so good!! Like down home, southern fried chicken!  This is a MUST try!!

Now, I used four different types of oil on these to see which one crisped up the best and allowed the chicken to cook thoroughly without burning and I must say that animal fats take the cake for this recipe. I had a ton of bacon grease and it most definitely worked the best. I also tried avocado oil, grape seed oil and coconut oil. If I absolutely could not use animals fats I would go with coconut oil. It has a higher smoke point and can be used to fry with.

Ingredients: 
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you can use breast)
2 cups ground plantain chips
4 eggs
1/2 TSP paprika
1/2 TSP garlic POWDER
1/2 TSP Herbs de Provence (found in spice aisle at most grocery stores)
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil (animal fat preferred)

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Instructions: 
Pour oil into skillet (about 1/8 inch deep) and heat on low-medium heat.
Using a food processor grind the plantain chips until they resemble flour. Set aside.
Mix spices into the plantain flour. Set aside.
Crack eggs into a separate bowl, whisk and set aside.
Dip thighs into egg and then into the plantain mixture.
Pan fry on medium to low heat until coating is darker golden brown and chicken is cooked thoroughly.
Lay out on a napkin or on a cooling rack with a paper towel under it to catch extra grease.
Serve right away with salad, in a wrap or as part of a spaghetti dinner. Can also simply be eaten with a side of vegetables!

The post Paleo Fried Chicken appeared first on That Savage Life.

MMM. Brownies. Chewy, fudgy, thick chocolate goodness. We have tried several “paleo” brownies and just could not get into the texture or the taste of them so we decided to try our hand at Sweet Potato Brownies. We had an abundance of purple sweet potatoes lying around so we used those instead of the traditional orange ones. They don’t taste any different, but it does make the brownies LOOK darker instead of the orange tinge the traditional sweet potatoes give. I was a little skeptical of these when I was whipping up this recipe, but the results were awesome. The only regret is not having some raw milk on hand for these to go with!  My husband says he prefers these to any other brownies we have tried. We added chopped raw pistachios to ours, but you can omit those or add any nut or dried fruit of your choice! Try it out and let me know what you think!

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Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies!

Ingredients:
Two cups of sweet potato (cooked and peeled)
3 eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup raw honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbs coconut flour
3 tbs cocoa powder (we used special dark)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Enjoy life chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped raw pistachios (optional)

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Instructions:
Bake and peel the sweet potato. Mash and measure out two cups.
Add egg, oil, honey, vanilla to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Fold in coconut sugar, coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and chocolate chips.
Pour batter in a 9×9 greased baking pan.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The post Fudgy sweet potato brownies! appeared first on That Savage Life.

No-cook fresh cranberry salad!

This year we are not able to go home for the holidays so I decided to try to make a few of my mom’s Thanksgiving recipes Paleo! This recipe is one of our family favorites. Most people have some sort of cranberry dish on their thanksgiving table. Most of which are the canned, jello-like “cranberry” or a cooked cranberry dish. This cranberry salad is made with fresh ingredients and is served cold. It is sweet with a slight nutty flavor from the pecan. I actually eat it right out of the fridge. I find that this is better after it sits for a day in the fridge, so it is perfect as a make-ahead Paleo dish for Thanksgiving.

Fresh Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
1 bag of whole cranberries
1 green apple
1 peeled orange
1/2 cup of raw honey (melted)
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup celery

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Instructions:
Pulse the cranberries, apple, orange, pecans and celery in a food processor until course, not fine. I would do this individually and combine all in a large bowl.
Pour melted honey in bowl and mix well with the rest of the ingredients.
Refrigerate at least two hours before serving. Stir, then serve.

The post No Cook Fresh Cranberry Salad appeared first on That Savage Life.

Purple Sweet Potatoes

Purple is probably one of my all time favorite colors. Boy was I surprised to find out that PURPLE sweet potatoes existed! We discovered them while looking through Pinterest and I asked our local grocery store to order them for me. It took them a few months to actually get them in, but I was so excited once I had them in my hands! These potatoes are so vibrant and fun to work with. Plus the kids think they are really cool!

Our favorite way to eat them is first baked, then pan-fried in coconut oil. Using this method to cook them does something magical to them. The outside gets a delicate, sweet crispy layer while the inside is bright and soft. They are crunchy, soft, sweet and we like to add a little salt to the outside to give it a little salty kick. These are so good that my husband request them for his lunch. He eats them cold right out of his lunchbox. Below is our method of cooking them, but I will also link you to some other amazing recipes that I am dying to try!

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Instructions:
1) Wash the purple sweet potatoes.
2) Slather coconut oil on the skin of the potatoes.
3) Place on baking sheet in oven.
4) Bake at 400 degrees until a knife is easily inserted into the potato. Usually this takes around an hour, but it will vary depending on the size of the potato.
5) Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6) Slice into round disks.
7) Put a few tablespoons of coconut oil in a frying pan on medium heat.
8) Fry purple sweet potatoes until the outside is darker and crispy.
9) Lightly salt if desired.
10) Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container.

Check out these other interesting recipes for purple sweet potatoes:

Mashed Purple Sweet Potatoes:
http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2013/11/mashed-stokes-purple-sweet-potato.html

Purple Sweet Potato Muffins:
http://jaybirdblog.com/purple-sweet-potato-paleo-muffins-with-rosemary-golden-raisins/

Sweet Potato Gnocchi:
http://sarahlynnsmile.com/2014/01/08/paleo-purple-sweet-potato-gnocchi/

Sweet Potato Soup:
http://balancingpaleo.com/2013/12/15/purple-sweet-potato-soup/

Sweet Potato Brownies:
http://morethanpaleo.com/sweet-potato-brownies/

The post Purple Sweet Potatoes appeared first on That Savage Life.

I always see the banana pancakes when I scroll through Pinterest and wanted to try them. Bananas in our house never make it to the brown, banana bread stage. Heck, they don’t even make it past the green tip phase before my boys devour them! I bought some plantains to fry in coconut oil and never got around to it. I had these plantains sitting on the counter almost rotting so I decided to try a little experiment!

Did you know that plantains are higher in nutritional value than bananas?

Per 100 grams plantains have:
2% more iron
3% more magnesium
4% more potassium
16% more vitamin C
21% more Vitamin A

Besides the higher nutritional value of plantains I like to cook with them because they don’t get slimy like a banana does. They are dense and hold up really well to mashing and cooking. The key to sweet pancakes without added sugar is a super ripe plantain. The skin must be extremely black and shriveling before it is sweet. Cut lengthwise down the plantain to open.

These pancakes were quite the surprise! With only two ingredients they turned out fluffy and really delicious! My husband and I ate them plain, right off the skillet. The kids drizzled theirs with maple syrup. Either way they were wonderful and will be a Paleo breakfast staple around here!

Two ingredient fluffy plantain pancakes:

Yields 3 four-inch pancakes per plantain

Ingredients: 
1 BLACK SKIN RIPE plantain
1 egg
(optional) Pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
(optional) top with pure maple syrup

Instructions:
Mash together one plantain and one egg. (Add spices if you want) Once mashed together put in blender or use a stick blender to puree the ingredients. Mixture should be liquified and thick.
Heat a skillet on LOW heat with coconut oil.
Pour about a 1/3 cup of mixture into the skillet on LOW heat. When bubbles start to appear on the top of the pancake it is time to flip. Make sure it is on LOW. These burn easily. Low and slow is the key!
While cooking don’t mess with them or press them down. This will make them light and fluffy!
Serve and enjoy!

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