Paleo Bagels

Today recipe comes from Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry.  Since I am trying to go gluten free for a month and just eat healthier in general, these are my substitute for New York bagels.  Now, they are no where near as good as the bagels near me, but they are filling and still good.  You can top them with any type of nut butter to keep it paleo or cheat and put butter (like I did...not very healthy) or peanut butter on them. Elana also suggests smoked salmon or scrambled eggs would work well with these too.  I'll have to try that next time.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a donut pan with coconut oil and dust with coconut flour.  In a food processor (or mixer, like I used) pulse together the almond flour, flax meal, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the eggs and vinegar and pulse until thoroughly combined.  Next, pipe the batter or spoon the batter (like I did) into the donut pan.  The recipe makes 6.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of a bagel comes out clean.  Let the bagels cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve.

To store, leave at room temperature overnight, then refrigerate in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Power Pina Colada Smoothie

This was my breakfast this morning, and it was delicious, I didn't even need to add agave nectar, honey, or stevia to make it sweet.  My husband bought me Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry by Elana Amsterdam about a month ago.  She's also the author of the Gluten-Free Cupcakes and Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, as well as a food blogger of www.elanaspantry.com. 

At first I wasn't sure what the paleo diet was, but apparently it is a gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and legume-free diet.  The diet also avoids processed food, but we all should avoid those type of foods.  Anyway, this recipe has a lot of coconut ingredients, but I honestly didn't taste any of it.  It wasn't an overwhelming flavor, you taste the pineapple and strawberries more.  It also called for egg white protein powder, but I just used my rice protein powder instead. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup bottled coconut water
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries ( I used fresh to avoid brain freeze.)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup or 1 serving of rice protein powder (I used the vanilla flavored one by NutriBiotic.)

Puree in a blender and enjoy! Serves two just in case you wanted to know.  ;-)