Bacon Egg and Cheese Breakfast Muffins

From the Kitchen of the Veggie Vixen

Special thanks to RealFoodOutlaws for the original recipe here.

6 eggs
8-12 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled (I used 8 Hormel Black Label)
1/3C coconut flour, slightly rounded
1C favorite cheese, shredded or diced (I combined munster and jack)
1/2t smoked paprika
1/4t salt
1/2t baking powder
4T fat (I used 2T bacon grease and 2T melted butter)
1/2t dried parsley
1T garlic, minced
1T flax meal, slightly rounded
fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix eggs, coconut flour, paprika, pepper, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl and let sit aside for a few minutes. It should be thick like cookie batter.

Shown here with all ingredients well mixed together.

Add in crumbled bacon, fat, cheese, garlic, and flax meal.

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees until the egg has puffed up and they are golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.

On their way into the oven!

Just less than 20 minutes later.

Paleo-ish Shepherd's Pie

Visit our YouTube channel here for full cooking tutorial with Baking Beauty.

The Paleo-ish Shepherd's Pie is comprised of three layers: ground beef, sauteed vegetables, and mashed cauliflower. I use Italian sausage seasoned beef as the base of my Paleo-ish Shepherd's Pie. Here is the spice mix:

Italian Sausage 
1 lb lean ground beef 
½ t black pepper
1 t dried parsley
¾ t dried Italian seasoning
½ t garlic powder
1/16 t dried red pepper flakes
3/8 t crushed fennel seeds
¼ t paprika
½ t minced dried onion
½ t salt

Brown ground beef. Add seasoning mix when beef is about half way browned.

The Middle layer of the Shepherd's pie is sauteed vegetables. I like to use green beans, onions, and peppers. I saute them in a little olive oil and a teaspoon of minced garlic until slightly soft. The Shepherd's Pie is topped with mashed cauliflower:


Mashed Cauliflower  
1 head of cauliflower 
1 t minced garlic
1 t butter 
2 oz full fat cream cheese 
Freshly ground pepper to taste
 
Steam cauliflower. Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
 
Layer the ingredients together in an 11 cup Pyrex dish, sprinkle paprika on the top and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Add extra sharp cheddar to the to top and place under broiler on high for 5 minutes. Enjoy! <3 Baking Beauty

Berry Kale Gummies

Last night I made a new flavor of gummies. I found a recipe here and used this brand of kombucha, bought on my field trip to Whole Foods Market last weekend. I altered it a bit to meet my sugar-free needs.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water (divided)
• ½ cup (8 tablespoons) gelatin powder
• 1 dropper full Valencia Orange Sweet Leaf Stevia Sweet Drops
• 1/2 cup kombucha (Here's how to make Kombucha)
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup pureed fruit(I used a strawberry, blueberry, cherry, and kale blend)

Instructions

1. Note: It is important to have all ingredients ready before beginning as you'll need to work quickly once you start.
2. Puree fruit to create a puree the consistency of applesauce or a little thinner. For me, defrosted frozen berries pureed in a blender or food processor work perfectly. Set aside one cup of pureed fruit.
3. Set aside one cup of kombucha and/or fruit juice.(Here is how to make kombucha)
4. Boil ½ cup water.
5. Place ½ cup cool water in a medium sized bowl or quart size mason jar.
6. Add ½ cup gelatin powder and stir quickly to create a paste.
7. Quickly add the ½ cup boiling water and stir again briskly.
8. This should form a thick but stirable liquid.
9. Add the sweetener and stir.
10. Add the kombucha/juice and pureed fruit and stir well. You can stir with a spoon or whisk, or use an immersion blender to make it really easy.
11. Very quickly pour the mixture in to molds or a greased glass baking dish or other greased dish and allow to cool in fridge for 2-3 hours.
12. Store in fridge in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks

I lined a brownie pan with clear wrap for a mold.

After the gummies set up I was able to pull them right out with the clear wrap.

Then I sliced them into tiny squares.

and sealed them in a quart sized, dated bag.

More Chia Pudding

 I decided to make some more chia pudding for my upcoming road trip and store it in individual servings for my cooler. This is the recipe I started with, but I played around with some new flavor combinations and came up with these:

First Blend(in a mason jar):
1 cup Crio Bru brewed cocoa
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 dropper full Chocolate Sweetleaf Stevia Sweetdrops
1/4 cup chia seeds
a splash of almond milk(add last, until the jar is nearly full)

Combine all ingredients. Put a lid on the jar and shake well, refrigerate. Come back in about a half hour and shake some more so the seeds don't all stick together. It will be ready to enjoy in 2-3 hours. Then I poured mine into little containers to have easy grab and go servings.

Second Blend:
1 cup Bengal Spice Herbal Blend Tea brewed
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 dropper full Chocolate Sweetleaf Stevia Sweetdrops
1/4 cup chia seeds
a splash of almond milk(add last, until the jar is nearly full)

 Combine all ingredients. Put a lid on the jar and shake well, refrigerate. Come back in about a half hour and shake some more so the seeds don't all stick together. It will be ready to enjoy in 2-3 hours. Then I poured mine into little containers to have easy grab and go servings.

 Third Blend:
1 cup Crio Bru brewed cocoa
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1 dropper full Chocolate Sweetleaf Stevia Sweetdrops
1/4 cup chia seeds
a splash of almond milk(add last, until the jar is nearly full)

Combine all ingredients. Put a lid on the jar and shake well, refrigerate. Come back in about a half hour and shake some more so the seeds don't all stick together. It will be ready to enjoy in 2-3 hours. Then I poured mine into little containers to have easy grab and go servings.

Chai Chia Pudding

On the left is when I first placed it in the fridge, Right is after an hour or so.

The other day I went on a field trip to Whole Foods Market and found some chia pudding. Whole Foods Market is over an hour from my house and I have a ton of chia seeds on hand, so I decided to try and make some for myself. I found this awesome recipe. I left out the honey and used English Toffee Sweet Leaf Stevia Drops instead. I also used almond milk instead of coconut milk because I had just made some. It came out just as nice as the kind I bought from the store and it was unbelievably easy. I'm excited to play around with different flavor combinations.

Paleo Chili

This chili has no beans and an interesting blend of spices. I found a chili recipe and altered it until it was my own. I like that it does not use any canned tomatoes, yet is incredibly easy to throw together and go on about your day.
Here is the recipe:

2 lbs ground beef 

olive oil 

3 whole tomatoes

half a white onion, chopped

1 bell pepper(any color), diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

pepper

sea salt

4 T chili powder

2 t garlic powder

2 t cayenne*

1 t oregano

1 t ground cumin

¾ t powdered mustard

½ t curry powder

3 stevia packets

Cook onions, peppers, and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Add beef and cook thoroughly. Add seasoning when meat is half cooked. Take 2 tomatoes and puree with stevia powder. Dice up 3^rd tomato. When meat is done cooking add all tomatoes. Simmer on low-2 for several hours, stirring occasionally. 

*I like a good amount of spice, but this was a bit too much spice for my kids.  

<3 Baking Beauty 

Roasted Veggies and Mashed Cauliflower

Mashed Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower 

2T minced garlic

1 t butter 

2 oz full fat cream cheese 

1/3 C full fat sharp cheddar, shredded at home 

Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower until soft(about 8 minutes). Add all ingredients to the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.

I add all of the extras to the blender before adding my steamed cauliflower.

Mashed cauliflower looks and tastes pretty similar to mashed potatoes.

 Roasted Brussels Sprouts(My Favorite!)

1 lb fresh Brussels sprouts
1-2 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Place Brussels sprouts in a glass dish, drizzle with olive oil and toss until Brussels sprouts are thoroughly coasted. Add salt & pepper to taste. Roast in preheated oven at 400 for 35-40 minutes.

 Roasted Bell Pepper

2 sliced bell peppers(any color)
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Place bell peppers in a glass dish, drizzle with olive oil and toss until thoroughly coasted. Add salt & pepper to taste. Roast in preheated oven at 400 for 35-40 minutes. Broil on high for 3 minutes. (They come out nice and sweet!)

My husband made steaks to accompany these sides. Delicious!