Mosquito Repellent Spray (do not eat)

I was looking for an alternative to DEET for mosquitoes and a friend gave me this recipe for mosquito spray.
In 4 oz. glass spray bottle with fine mist, mix 3 oz distilled water with the following oils:

• 15 drops citronella 
• 10 drops lavender 
• 10 drops eucalyptus 
• 5 drops lemongrass

Make sure you use a glass spray bottle since oils will penetrate plastic, and use high quality oils. 

Chopped Broccoli, Apple & Kohlrabi Salad

1½ lb. broccoli chopped (with stems) 2 large apples chopped 1 cup chopped Kohlrabi 1/3 cup raisins 1/2 cup coarsly chopped walnuts 2 Tbsp. walnut oil 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 2 Tbsp. honey 1 tsp. poppy seeds salt & pepper (to taste) 1/4 tsp. sea salt Mix the broccoli, apples, kohlrabi, raisins, and walnuts in large bowl In a small bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients until well blended Pour over broccoli mix and toss to coat Refrigerate about 30 minutes and enjoy Next time I make this I'm adding crisp bacon... just didn't have any today (well none left over after breakfast)

Chocolate Coconut Cake and Caveman Cajeta

½ cup butter
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup raw honey
½ cup coconut manna (coconut butter)
½ cup strong black coffee

2-3 avocados
1 ripe banana
¼ cup real maple syrup
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1 Tblsp ground cinnamon
½ c shredded coconut
¾ c coconut flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan with butter.
In small saucepan, melt butter then add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.Remove from heat. Add honey, coconut manna, and coffee and whisk all together.
In large bowl or mixer, beat avocados and banana until smooth. Add eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat well. Add the cocoa mixture and beat well. (make sure it has cooled enough that it won’t cook your eggs as you beat it in.)
In small bowl, stir your dry ingredients together then fold into your wet ingredients.
Pour into prepared pan and bake about 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely... while you make Caveman Cajeta. :)

Caveman Cajeta
1 cup pitted dates soaked in water for 1 hour
1 Tblsp coconut rum (optional)

1 c shredded or flaked unsweetened coconut
1 c chopped pecans

¾ c raw honey
2 Tblsp butter
1 can (13.66) coconut milk (I used Thai House)
⅕ vanilla bean scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla)

While dates are soaking...
toast pecans and coconut in 350 F oven for about 20 minutes until fragrant -  cool
put honey in pan on medium heat and bring to rolling boil. Gradually whisk in butter, coconut milk, and add vanilla seeds. Let boil slowly over medium heat for 20 - 30 minutes, whisking occasionally.  

drain dates, reserving ¼ cup water. Place in food processor or blender with reserved water and  coconut rum. Process until dates are well blended. Add coconut milk and honey mixture and blend until smooth. Pour over toasted coconut and pecans and stir together. Spread over your cake.
Lick your bowl clean ;)

Spiced Protein Muffins

1-1/2 c raw zucchini
1/2 c raw carrot
6 eggs
1-1/2 c sweet potato, cooked and mashed
3 scoops vanilla egg white protein (I used Vitol)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 c ground flax seed
1/3 c almond flour
2/3 c shredded unsweetened coconut
2/3 c chopped pecan
2 tsp stevia powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tin with paper cups or grease with coconut oil.
Shred carrots and zucchini with food processor then transfer to mixer.  Add egg and sweet potato, blend until incorporated.  Add all other ingredients, blend until smooth.
Divide batter into 12 large muffin cups, bake 20-30 minutes or until lightly browned on crowns and set.  Serve immediately, or keep in refrigerator.

I have these in the oven as I'm posting this recipe... the smell is heavenly

p.s. These tasted ok, but I think next time I'm going to omit the zucchini in favor or pumpkin or more sweet potato, use maple syrup in place of the stevia, and up the spices a bit... I will keep you posted.

Cream of Mushroom & Sweet Potato Soup

I had some mushrooms and a half of a baked sweet potato in the fridge and needed to use up the last of a can of coconut milk so I thought I'd see what I could make out of it... this is NOTHING like the mushroom soup you'll get from a can! Makes about 2 cups of soup (I think)

Since I rarely measure unless it's necessary, these are approximate portions.

Saute 1 clove minced fresh garlic and 1/4 cup chopped onion in about 1 Tblsp coconut oil until onion is almost translucent.
Cube the sweet potato (abut 1/2 of a baked sweet potato) into cubes. If you don't use a baked sweet potato, just cube it up and saute it with the onion & garlic.
Toss in about 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms and continue to saute for about 2 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup water, a pinch of  sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and 1/4 tsp paprika.
I added about 1 tsp Frank's hot sauce... I love the extra kick... I mashed up some of the sweet potato to give it a creamy consistency.
Continue to cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until soup is at a steady simmer.

I enjoyed this one so much I was glad my daughter declined the spoonful I offered her... more for me! ;)

Paleo Pudding

Well, I've been slacking! Time to come back :)
I made what I'm calling Paleo Pudding
2 bananas
1 avocado
¼ cup pineapple juice (or a splash of lemon juice)
½ cup coconut milk (coconut butter would be better if you can find it)
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and mix together until creamy
Feel free to throw in frozen fruits, cocoa powder, almond butter, unsweetened coconut flakes, nuts, or whatever you can imagine, just keep it paleo... you want to play with flavors.
Trickiest part of this one is not slicing your tongue on the blender blades trying to lick them clean - ;)

I altered a recipe that I found in an All American cookbook and "taste tested" them on my co-workers. (I thought they were wonderful, but had to make sure since I'm part Norwegian and have been told our taste buds are "off") Since my co-workers keep asking me to bring more and tell me they love my balls, I thought it was safe to share the recipe...
**forgive the photo - I had to snap it with my phone**

Coco-Mocha Truffles

2 cups ground pecans
36 dates, ground up
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 Tblsp agave nectar
1/4 cup strong black coffee
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

Mix thoroughly in food processor or by hand then roll into bite size balls. Roll balls in additional unsweetened coconut, and enjoy!