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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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!

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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.

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.

Silky Paleo Pumpkin Pie

It is that time of year when the leaves are changing, the weather is crisp and pumpkin EVERYTHING is available! I can only handle seeing so many pumpkin desserts before I have to try to make them myself! I made this pie and put it in the fridge to cool and set-up while I was at work. I got home and my husband and kids had devoured almost all of it leaving me a small piece to try. Luckily I was able to get pictures before they claimed it.

My goal here was to have a thick, silky pumpkin pie. The cream of the canned coconut milk really makes a huge difference in the way the pie turns out. It is easy to remove just the cream. When in the can the coconut milk will separate from the cream. Don’t shake it up or incorporate it at all. You want to pour off the liquid or just scoop out the thick, creamy part to use and discard the liquid. Once all the ingredients are mixed together put them in the blender or a food processor. This is the best way to fully puree’ all the ingredients and make your pie nice and smooth.

Ingredients for almond flour pie crust:
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup palm oil shortening
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions for the almond flour pie crust:
1) Combine all dry ingredients.
2) In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients. Be sure to melt palm oil before combining.
3) Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
4) Press into a round pie plate.
5) Fill with pie filling

Instructions for paleo pumpkin pie filling:
1) Combine all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blend very thoroughly until mixture is smooth and silky.
2) Pour into prepared pie crust.
3) Wrap pie crust with foil or pie crust protector.
4) Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.
5) Remove from oven and allow to cool in refrigerator until pie is set firmly.
6) Slice and enjoy with some delicious coffee.

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These little treats came about because we did not have graham crackers on hand when we started the fire! We really try to stay away from all gluten and grain when we started eating Paleo foods 8 months ago. I saw some gluten-free graham crackers at Natural Grocers and they were just so expensive and it has been my experience that most store-bought gluten-free products don’t taste that great anyway. So we skipped them and came up with our own version of S’mores that we actually love more than the traditional version! You can use chocolate bars in the middle or anything else you can come up with! We would love to hear about your fillings!  They were a HIT with all of our guest and we hope that your family loves them too!

Instructions:
-Break apart Hershey bar and set aside.
-Place GIANT marshmallow on a stick and slow roast it. Lightly brown the outside evenly all the way around by turning slowly. If it catches fire, blow it out and move marshmallow back from the fire. The key is to not allow it to burn because the marshmallow will flake and you won’t have a nice pocket for your chocolate to fit into.
-Once it is nicely browned, use your fingers to remove the outset crust from the marshmallow.
-Insert chocolate and press together.
-Enjoy!

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Since starting our Paleo journey I have been on a hunt for the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie recipe. I wanted a cookie that was soft and chewy and that still tastes good the next day! I also wanted a cookie that took very little time to prepare and a recipe that was not full of complicated instructions or hard to find ingredients. I heard rave reviews about Against All Grain’s Real Deal Chocolate Chip cookies and decided to try them. I checked out the recipe, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. I substituted some ingredients and let me tell you, these cookies are blow-your-mind good!! My husband and kids ask for them often! My husband’s co-workers have tried them and friends of mine have had them and not a single person disliked them! They are THAT good. Just trust me and try them for yourself! The best part is these cookies are gluten, soy, grain and dairy free!

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup ghee (you can use grass-fed butter if you tolerate it)
• ¼ cup coconut palm sugar (We like Navitas Naturals Organic Coconut Palm Sugar)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons raw local honey 
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups almond flour (We like Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour)
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour (We like Nutiva coconut flour)
  
• ½ teaspoon baking soda 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup chocolate chips (We like Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips)

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Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Using a food processor (or high powered blender) mix ghee, coconut sugar, honey, vanilla and egg until smooth and combined.
-Add almond flour, baking soda, salt and coconut flour and mix just enough to combine ingredients. If you over mix baked goods tend to get hard once they are cooked.
-Scrape sides down and add in chocolate chips of your choice. Mix with a wooden or rubber spoon.
-Form 1 1/2 inch dough balls and place on a cookie sheet. We use a Pampered Chef stoneware, but you can also add a Silpat or parchment to your cookie sheet and it will be fine.
-Cookie do not spread much so you will need to form them as you would like for them to come out.
-Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden browned. The cookie will still be soft to the touch in the center. Remove and let sit and cool on a baking rack.
-Best enjoyed right away, but if you need to save any cookies place them in an air-tight container.

The post Perfect Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies! appeared first on That Savage Life.

It is almost a nightly occurrence that my 5 year old excitedly ask “what’s for dessert?”. Most of the time we tell him we aren’t having dessert, but last night I decided to create something quickly, easy and healthy! We don’t usually keep (or make) Paleo-fied treats in the house because we want to get used to not having sweets around, even if they are better for you than tradional sweets.  When I originally “went Paleo” I did Diane Sanfilippo’s 21 Day Sugar Detox and it gave me the opportunity to re-train my tastebuds. After the 21 days I no longer craved sweets the way that I did pre-paleo. Now, we don’t eat ice-cream, candy, or other sugar laden and processed foods for dessert. Instead we create our own tasty sweet treats from the healthy ingredients I do keep in the house. This is great because WE control how much sugar goes into the dessert and how much sugar our boys consume. The kids helped me search the kitchen for something cookable that we could turn into “dessert” and were super excited with the outcome of their experiment! There is only four ingredients so grab a banana and get started!

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana
1 tbs coconut oil
1tsp cinnamon
1 tbs raw honey

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Instructions:
Peel and slice the banana (we made circles, but you could slice lengthwise).
Heat coconut oil in a skillet on medium heat.
Add diced bananas and cinnamon to the oil.
When the bananas start to brown flip them.
As the bananas start to brown on the other side, drizzle the raw honey onto the cooking bananas.
Let the honey melt and warm while you flip the cooking bananas again.
When they are browned and warm, serve in a bowl!
You could even add coconut cream to this!

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What is your favorite, simple, Paleo dessert?

The post Fried Banana Dessert appeared first on That Savage Life.

When I was a kid my grandmother used to make Mexican Wedding Cookies every year at Christmas. Since she passed away there haven’t been any made. This year we found her old cookbooks and what we think was her “secret” recipe! We took a leap of faith and used the old, crumpled, well used recipe. It worked! The cookies only have THREE INGREDIENTS and are SUPER tasty and easy to make! The family was super excited to have an old favorite back!

Here is the recipe we found…

1 cup butter (real butter, no margarine)

1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar divided

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup finely ground pecans

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cream the butter and 2/3 cup of confectioners’ sugar until it is light colored.

Add vanilla

Still in the flour, salt and finely chopped nuts (the finer the better unless you like chunks)

Roll a tablespoon of dough into a cylinder shape

Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes

Take out of oven when done and cool for two minutes.

Roll in Confectioners’ sugar

Let cool COMPLETELY and roll again

Enjoy (best with coffee or tea)

The post Russian Tea Cakes a.k.a Mexican Wedding Cookies! appeared first on That Savage Life.

Ingredients:

1 bag popped popcorn

10 candy canes crushed

1 package white chocolate coating

Instructions:

Pop bag of popcorn and let cool. Remove un-popped kernels.

Crush Candy Canes

Add Candy canes and popcorn to large bowl

Melt Chocolate coating as instructed on package.

Pour melted chocolate and carefully stir until all the popcorn and candy cane pieces are coated.

Turn out onto wax paper and spread.

Allow to cool and harden.

Once hardened enjoy or seal in a gallon sized ziplock bag!

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