"Cornbread" Paleo Muffins

This is totally not my recipe (I've decided that while I cook many things well, I'm not the best baker).  I got it from here, with a few tweaks.  I changed up the amounts of flours (instead of all coconut flour I added almond flour as well) and I made muffins instead of a skillet cornbread.  Let's just say that the recipe made 15 muffins and I don't have any left after dinner (we had them with my Spicy Turkey Chili/Stew).  It tastes even better than the real cornbread muffins we used to eat a few years ago.  Enjoy. And try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Ingredients

• 1/2cup of Coconut Flour 
• 1/4 cup of almond flour
• ¾ cup of Tapioca Flour 
• 4 Eggs
• ½ cup + 1 TBS Coconut Oil, melted
• ¼ cup of Raw Honey
• ½ cup of Full Fat Coconut Milk (room temperature)
• ¼ cup of Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1½ teaspoon of Baking Soda
• ½ teaspoon of Salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine the apple cider vinegar and coconut milk in a glass and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, salt, and baking soda and whisk together.
4. Melt the coconut oil and add to the dry ingredients and beat on medium until combined.
5. Whisk the eggs and add them to the mixing bowl. Beat until thick and pasty.
6. Stir in the honey into the coconut milk and apple cider vinegar mixture.
7. Using a hand mixer, add the liquid in two batches and finish with the 30 second high beating.
8. Add batter to muffin tins (if not using silicone ones, then grease really well).
9. Bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Chunky Monkey Muffins

Okay, so this recipe is more "treat" than Paleo, but it's still gluten and dairy free (if you use dairy free chocolate chips, such as Good Life chocolate chips--I didn't have any on hand, so I just used regular dark chocolate chips).  I got the recipe from here.  The only sub I did was to replace the butter with coconut oil.  I'm glad that I'm bringing them to a potluck tonight, because I could easily eat half of the recipe in one sitting.  Like I said, it's a treat.  :-)

Preheat oven to 350.

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour (first time using it, and it definitely makes them more "cakey" than almond flour--I found it in the same area I find the coconut or almond flours)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup coconut crystals
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chocolate chips, such as Good Life (dairy and soy free)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix flours and baking soda together in a bowl.  In a larger bowl, combine coconut oil, coconut crystals, bananas, vanilla and eggs.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.  Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Spoon into muffin tins lined with foil liners (or use those nifty silicone liners placed on a baking sheet!).  Bake for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.  Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

Stacey's Thighs

My awesome SIL came up with this recipe.  My husband loved it because it has a bunch of his favorite flavors.  My kids liked it because it had bacon in it.  I made two pans worth, because that's just how I roll, but you could probably halve the recipe if you don't like to eat as much as we do.

4-5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or two packages)
3 TBS coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup spicy brown mustard (no sugar added)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
S&P to taste
A bunch of brussels sprouts (I used one of the bags from Costco-- 2lbs?), trimmed and cut in half
6 strips of bacon, chopped

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix melted coconut oil, mustard, balsamic and S&P in a large bowl and add chicken.  You could probably do this step ahead of time and keep it in a ziploc bag until needed (I love to do most of my prep on Sundays).  The only issue is that the coconut oil would solidify. Not sure if that would be a problem or not. Pop the chicken in the oven in a decent sized roasting pan and set the timer for 20 min.  While the thighs are roasting, cook your  chopped bacon in a large pan and when cooked (I actually precook bacon on Sundays as well, so it was already cooked for me), add halved brussels sprouts and saute until tender (medium-ish heat), seasoning with S&P.  Once the oven timer goes off, arranged the brussels sprouts around chicken and bake for an additional 10 minutes or so.  I served mine along with cauli-rice, with some of the cooking juices spooned over.  Thanks Stacey!