Two Kitchens, One Passion

I am finally posting another recipe to wrap up 2015!  I think my New Year's Resolution should be to add recipes to the blog more often...I really fall off the wagon here when each new school year starts.  If you've been searching for a gluten-free waffle substitute that tastes like the real thing, then you have found the answer!  Even my husband, who can eat gluten, said if he didn't know they were gluten-free he would have guessed they were made with real flour.  The coconut fried bananas really tied everything together and made these waffles the perfect way to start out our last day before ringing in the New Year! AND to make them even better, these waffles offer a protein punch of almost 20 grams of protein per waffle. Pumpkin Protein Waffles & Coconut Fried Bananas Yield: 2 servings (2 waffles) Ingredients 1/4 cup vegan vanilla protein powder, I used Sunwarrior Warrior Blend Vanilla 1/4 cup almond meal 1/2 cup tapioca star...

Every once in a while I get in really creative and artsy moods, some of which end up with some interesting outcomes.  One example that has been extremely useful and fun for Dan and I is a Date Night Jar that I made as a gift for Dan last year.  I took an empty Ball jar, decorated it, and filled it with large popsicle sticks on which I had written ideas for date nights.  We have been trying to choose one stick every week or every other week and the result has made for some really fun dates! The stick that we chose this week read "Make a dessert together."  Dan immediately made a joke about how we were going to make a "desert" together, so I decided to turn his joke into a creative challenge by coming up with an idea to make a dessert that doubled as a desert!  These cupcakes were not only fun to make, but tasted absolutely amazing.  This is by far the best Paleo cupcake recipe I have baked.  If you are having a desert themed party I definitely recom...

I am so glad that it will finally be summer soon so that I can get back to posting recipes more regularly!  With the hustle and bustle of the school year and teaching I always get severely behind in my blog posts.  Over the rest of this month I plan to make up for my recent absence my blogger by posting many new and delicious recipes for you to try. Many of my posts this month will be related to a nutrition challenge that I am currently taking part in with my Crossfit gym.  We just started a 30 day Primal diet challenge based on Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint ( www.marksdailyapple.com ).  This diet is not much different than how I eat on a regular basis, but I am excited to use this month as a great time to focus on clean eating 100% and testing out new recipes again. I am going to start a string of new recipe posts with one that I made a while ago - Grilled Primal Bison Burgers on Cauliflower Buns.  The cauliflower buns worked even than I e...

If you have not watched the movie Chef , it is a comedy that follows the life of prominent chef from Los Angeles (played by Jon Favreau) after he quits his job and launches a food truck with his young son.  It is a light-hearted film that truly highlights the passion people can have for the food they cook.  Although I am not a culinary expert, I can relate to this film because it is my own passion for cooking that got me to start this blog in the first place.  I love being able to share my recipes and tips on following a healthy lifestyle with others. I get inspiration for my cooking from lots of different places, ranging from other food blogs to my personal cravings on any given day.  My inspiration for this meal came directly from the food truck "El Jefe" in this movie ,  which served up the signature Cubano sandwich.  I have never actually had a true Cuban sandwich, but my [almost] Paleo version was the best damn sandwich I have had in a long  tim...

After watching the movie Chef  last week, I was inspired to create a Paleo version of the traditional Cuban sandwich.  I am going to keep you waiting another day to see the final result, but for now I am revisiting my plantain sandwich bread recipe because it is just so good!  I revised my recipe slightly in an effort to help the bread rise more, which turned out to be a success. Plantain Sandwich Bread 2.0 Yield: 2 servings Ingredients 2 green plantains 1 cup lite coconut milk 1/4 cup flaxseed meal 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp sea salt 1 tsp apple cider vinegar Directions  Preheat your oven to 425° F. Peel your plantains.  You should only be using green plantains for this recipe (they are more starchy), so they will most likely be difficult to peel.  Just be patient! Add your plantains,  coconut milk,  flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and apple cider vinegar to a food processor and p...

In a recent post, I created a recipe for Plantain Recovery Muffins .  The past couple weeks I have been diligently working to perfect this recipe in order to provide you with a perfectly textured AND delicious protein recovery muffin. The recipe below is the final outcome of several trial batches of these muffins.  The end result is a gluten-free muffin that has a texture like its real wheat counterpart, and a flavor that is perfect for eating after a hard workout.  You can see in the picture just how airy and fluffy these muffins turned out! I have been enjoying one of these scrumptious muffins after my long hot vinyasa yoga sessions or intense Crossfit workouts.  It's the perfect way to start replenishing your body with the protein and carbohydrates it needs after exercise! A note to my sweet-toothed friends: Feel free to increase the amount of maple syrup to a 1/4 cup for a sweeter treat. Plantain Protein Muffins Yield: 9 muffins Vegan, gluten-free,...

What are some of your favorite things to do when it's snowing outside and you're stuck at home?  A few of my favorites include cuddling with my husband (or our dog), reading a book in a cozy chair, watching a movie, and drinking some creamy hot chocolate.  With the snowstorm we got in Maryland this past weekend, hot chocolate was a definite necessity to keep warm!  Rather than making a traditional hot chocolate, I decided to make a Superfood (& Super Delicious) version of this favorite hot drink.  The result was a super creamy, super healthy, and super chocolately drink! One cup of this will allow you to reap the benefits of the superfoods explained below (for additional information, click on the links for each food): Coconut Oil: Nutritious source of saturated fats with antioxidant properties Maca powder : Rich in vitamins B, C, and E.  May also improve sexual function in men AND women, relieve menstrual issues, and increase energy! Cinnamon : Ant...