Totally not local...but not every meal can be that way.

So, even though I call myself the Local Food Lady, we all know that I don't eat local 100% of the time!  The main crux of doing this blog and writing about my food choices is to strive for local foods. There are plenty of items that I haven't looked for locally (quinoa is a good example) or that I know definitively aren't grown locally (hello morning coffee!!). 

The mister and me are participating in a nutrition challenge at our gym.  He's following the Paleo diet and I have opted to eliminate sugar and gluten from my food sources. So, since I prepare most of the meals in the household, my dinners will be paleo, but my breakfast and lunches will not.

In essence, the difference between our two nutrition challenge choices is that I am continuing to eat: dairy, oatmeal, legumes, fruits (raw, cooked and dried) and gluten-free starches (like quinoa).  I'm also having a tiny, tiny bit of local, raw honey in limited dishes like my morning oatmeal. People who embrace the Paleo diet as a lifestyle choice will incorporate honey or maple syrup on a minimal basis, but the mister is attempting to avoid these sweeteners completely.

Also, anything that comes from a box or is packaged should have 5 grams or less of sugar per serving and should note "gluten free" on the label.

What's the reason behind this?  1) it's a challenge and 2) let's see what kind of impact these changes have on my body.  Over the last few months, I realized that I was relying on flour-based starches too often for dinners (hello pasta!) and if I saw a pizza on a menu, I was jumping to try it.  So, I began to scale back on the pasta and pizza dough, and have begun to remember that when dining out, a salad with lean proteins is a smarter option in lieu of a pulled pork sandwich doused in bbq sauce. 

What is the biggest challenge for me?  Beer!  I'm a big fan--beer geek, is a better term--of microbreweries (our local one, specifically) and the mister and me have an entire refrigerator in our basement dedicated to our love of beer.

I completely eliminated the 2 Splenda that I would put in my 20 ounce coffee and eliminated my secret stash of small chocolates. Instead, I'm drinking my coffee with half-n-half and opted for 85% dark chocolate that has 1g sugar per 1" square.  That said, I was in the mood to create a Paleo-friendly dessert that incorporated my favorite flavor--chocolate! 

I came upon a recipe for Paleo Chocolate Pudding. Hmmm...wondering how this would work out. As you know, I am inspired by recipes and rarely follow them to a T. This is what I used for my puddin':

- 4 very, very ripe avocados (it helped they were already chilled in the refrigerator)
- 1/4 cup of Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup buckwheat honey (it's dark like molasses)
- 3 tbs. creamy almond butter (unsweetened)
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. bourbon vanilla extract (you can use any extract you wish--almond, mocha, mint)
- spices: nutmeg, cinnamon

I tossed it all in the Cuisinart and and it came out looking just like pudding.  I tasted it and could not believe how AWESOME it was. It was the consistency of incredible fudge. I even went so far as to walk upstairs to the mister with a spoon and said, "ok, there's some honey in this, but you MUST try it!"  I think the Hershey's Special Dark was the slam dunk.

I packaged it up in individual servings for my lunch this week.  I cannot wait to make this again.  The only local ingredient on the list was the buckwheat honey. Even though we are 75 miles from Hershey, PA, I  don't think Hershey's cocoa powder counts.

Next time, I'll probably add some fresh mint from the garden (2nd local ingredient!) and give it a mint chocolate chip flavor. 

Not only is this Paleo-friendly, but it's vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free and the only product that is not vegan-friendly is the honey (I'm not opening that beehive here). 

Paleo-friendly puddin'

Snacks!?! Why not!

So, I had a plethora of kale in my garden this year. Yes, a ton of it. It's still growing and was one of my most successful crops from the raised beds. I even planted more for the cooler fall temps.  

My go-to kale dish usually involves garlic and EVOO and is sautéed . It's not too inventive, but I know what I like. 

This weekend, we had some more fall-like temps and my Instagram and Facebook feeds were filled with images of fall-inspired creations.  One I hadn't tried before were kale chips!  

So, on the first day of fall, I grabbed that excellent kale and got to work.  Here's what happened:

Preheat the oven to 300°. While the oven is warming, grab some cookie sheets and cover with parchment paper.  

I had a 1 gallon Ziploc bag stuffed with pre-washed and de-stemmed kale, so I was already ahead of the game.  I put about half the bag in a large bowl and drizzled with olive oil. From there, I added some garlic sea salt and make sure to get all of the leaves coated with the olive oil.   

With the other half of the kale, I dusted it with Chipotle Chili Powder.

Both sheets went into the oven for about 20 minutes.  They weren't quite done, so I let them cook for another 5 minutes and then swapped the locations of the cookie sheets in the ovens for another 5 minutes (total of 30 minutes in the oven). I removed the cookie sheets and then let the kale chips cool for a few minutes. 

The house smelled so good and I was looking forward to trying these chips as soon as they cooled. I was so looking forward to trying these that I ended up hovering over the stove as I "sampled" several chips...over and over again until there were just a few servings left for storing!  

Lessons learned: try turning up the heat to 325° to reduce cooking time; do NOT overcoat the kale, as it will take longer to cook (I think I used a little bit too much and will reduce my EVOO next time); get creative with the spices/herbs that you use! 

There's something awesome about double chocolate cookies.

So, as I have said before, the mister and me are doing a nutrition challenge. We are on day 14 right now. One big thing I'm missing is beer, but also I have had a craving for something sweet. Since we are avoiding sugar, even a teeny bit of honey (I'm talking a droplet) is enough.  It's amazing how the palate will change when you eliminate something from it. 

Yesterday evening, I decided to indulge that sweet craving and make some double chocolate chip cookies.  

• 1 and 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• scant 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 c. buckwheat honey (you can use regular honey)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips - I used "Enjoy Life Mega Chunks"

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat egg, honey, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
5. Melt coconut oil, pour into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
6. The mega chunks are a little too big, so I suggest chopping them first.  Stir in chocolate chunks.
7. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, create balls of cookie dough, about a tablespoon in size. Give them a little thumb print because they won't spread out like normal cookies.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

They were incredible with some almond milk.  Enjoy!!

We made popcorn! At home! On the stovetop!

So, back in May, we received organic corn kernels from our CSA.  I put it in a jar, sealed the lid tight and put it in a dark, cool cabinet.  We don't have an air popper, so I wasn't sure what to do with it, until the other night...

The mister and I had finished dinner and were getting ready to watch a movie.  He said he had an idea..."let's make popcorn!"  It seems that the mister had done his research and said we had everything we needed!  So, here goes:

Ingredients:

• corn kernels -- approximately 1/2 cup
• canola oil
• butter/salt/whatever else you want to top your popcorn with

We took our large soup pot and coated the bottom with canola oil.  Turn on the heat to med/high. We added three kernels of corn to the bottom of the pot and covered it with a lid (our pot set has glass lids).  When the oil is hot enough, and the three kernels pop, then pour in your 1/2 cup of corn and cover again.  Shake the pot vigorously over the heat.  The corn should pop quickly.  Wait until the frequency has slowed down a bit, turn off the heat and allow the last kernels to finish popping.  Grab a wooden spoon and mix up the corn a bit. Transfer to a bowl and add your favorite topping.  We went for butter, salt, and a touch of parmesan cheese. It was fabulous!!!  And without the $9 movie theater price tag.