Rosemary & Lavender Almond Meal Biscuits.

Before I say anything, let me just say that these are super tasty.  Who can go wrong with rosemary and lavender?

I found this recipe a few months ago and made them a couple times, as is, before making some of my own adaptations.  When I just happened to see lavender at the farmers market last weekend, I knew right away that these biscuits needed it. And later on, as I reached in the cupboard for the Grape Seed oil, my hand went straight for the Walnut Oil, instead.  So I decided to go halfsies on the oils and use both.  Tell me, is there any oil--in all of existence--that tastes better than Walnut Oil?  Oh, please.

If you plan on making a batch of these for yourself, I suggest also perusing the link above.  She has an excellent recipe for Clementine Marmalade that perfectly compliments these yummies.

Without further ado.....

Rosemary & Lavender Almond Meal Biscuits
makes 4 larger or 6 smaller biscuits


2 1/2 cups almond flour, plus 1/3 cup for dusting the dough
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup grape seed oil
1/8 cup walnut oil
2 eggs
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary
1/4 tbsp lavender
1/2 cup water (for adding moisture to the dough mixture, if needed)



Directions: Combine almond flour (2 1/2 cups), salt, rosemary, lavender and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the oils, eggs and honey. Mix your bowl of wet ingredients into your bowl of dry ingredients until a nice dough forms. If dough seems too dry and clumpy, add extra water (1 tbsp at a time) as needed.

Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, sprinkling extra flour to avoid sticking. For larger biscuits roll dough to about 1 inch thick and cut biscuits using a biscuit cutter or the mouth of a mason jar. For smaller biscuits roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Shape dough biscuits, by pinching the sides a little to give them a nice curvy shape.

Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake on 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the outside.


Enjoy!!

Portabello Pizza

Since changing our diet a few months ago, Christopher and I have had to get pretty creative with our meals.  In January, after doing some research on the causes of inflammation and disease, Christopher dove head-first into the Paleolithic diet--which is, in a nutshell, grain-free, dairy-free & sugar-free.  I, on the other hand, chose to participate only in part, at first--what I called "Half-Paleo"--but now I'm all in, eating just like a caveman.

This "pizza" recipe is a creative way of getting around the two "essential" ingredients of crust and cheese.  The crust?  A portabello mushroom.  The cheese?  Well, there is none.  But what it lacks in cheese, it makes up for in delicious meats and veggies.


Portabello Pizza
(serves 2-4 people, depending)

4 large portabello mushrooms
4 oz. no-sugar (or low-sugar) marinara sauce
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
6 oz. lean Sausage
6 oz. Turkey Pepperoni (or any other pepperoni with no additives)
1 handful of Basil leaves (chopped)
2 cloves Garlic (minced)
1 handful of Spinach
Pepper

Directions: Remove stems from mushrooms (save for other use).  With a spoon, scrape out the underside of the mushroom caps to remove the "ribs" (black scales).  Saute the Sausage until nearly-cooked and remove from the pan.  Saute the onions and red pepper until desired.  On a greased baking sheet, lay out the portabello "crusts" with undersides facing upwards.  Spread with marinara sauce.  Top the mushroom "crust" with the rest of the ingredients.  Add any other topping or herbs you'd like.  Bake at 350• for 15-18 minutes.


I mean, seriously.  I know that's not the best photo I could have taken (we were hungry!) but look at how stacked those things are.  They're falling apart all over the place.  It's definitely a fork-and-knife type of dish, not finger food.  But whoa.  Yum!

a bit about food.

{or an Ode to Spring}

Personally, a change in weather could really do me some good, how about you?

In February, we had a handful of beautiful days.  Days that caused me to believe that Spring was here early and would stay for more than just the weekend.  I'd washed the sheets, cleaned the tub and made extra room in the dresser drawers for Spring to unpack its bags and make itself at home.

Well, it seems I was fooled.  It's not here to stay quite yet.

On days like today, when it's cold and Christopher's not around, all I can really muster the energy to cook is the simple stuff.  Like bacon.  And hard-boiled eggs.  You know, stuff that's warm and tasty but you don't have to spend a lot of time messing around with in the kitchen.

Instead of cooking something fresh and new for myself, what do I do?  I pull out the most basic items in the refrigerator, stick them in a pot, set the timer, and run back into the living room where I throw the nearest blanket over myself whilst shivering. And then I sit waiting very impatiently for the food to finish doing it's thing.

Okay, so I got up a few times to flip the bacon.  But that's hardly worth mentioning.

Spring, when are you coming back?!  When you dropped in for a few days, I kicked Winter out.  But now you're gone and Winter's back at my doorstep!

morning tea in the window.

Anyone who owns a cat very well knows that the second you put an object in an unexpected place, it must be inspected and quality-checked.  The reason?  Nobody truly knows.  But, rest assured, your cat will undoubtedly commence with the investigation and hopefully come to some sort of conclusion as to the best course of action.

What's this?  I've never seen this here before.  Sniff sniff.

 I mean it seems okay.  I just don't really understand why it's here of all places.

I guess I'll ignore it for a few minutes and make sure nothing suspicious happens.

Seems fine, I suppose.  But does it have to be so obtrusive? Perhaps I could just kick it off this ledge here...