Tasty (Paleo!) Cranberry Orange Scones {Grass-Fed Dairy}

Paleo: so hot right now. Let's talk cavemen.

In the strictest sense, some would say that a Paleo diet would not include dairy at all. Some camps argue that as long as the dairy comes from a grass-fed source and is full fat, its acceptable and could provide benefits. Whichever side of the debate you find yourself on, the beauty of Paleo is that is does not have to be one-size-fits-all. You do you.

That said, I love scones. They are maybe one of my favorite baked goods and I looove baked goods. One of the keys to making good scones, of course, is cold butter. So for today, I am on the side of "have your grass-fed-butter and eat it too."

I found a great sounding clean-scone recipe here and thought that with just a few tweaks I could take an already awesome looking recipe and make it Paleo. So, yesterday I gave it a whirl and its definitely worth sharing. The recipe, that is. I'm not sharing my scones. 

Paleo Cranberry Orange Scones

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Adapted From Amy's Healthy Baking

1 1/2 C Bob's Red Mill Paleo Flour Blend*

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

Minced Zest of 1 orange, juice saved (about 1/4C)

2 T Grass-fed Butter or Ghee, cubed (Chilled or frozen until use)**

1/2 C plain, full fat, Grass-fed Yogurt

3T Honey

1t Mexican Vanilla

1/2C Cranberries

1T Egg white for egg-wash, beaten

First things first: Heat Oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in orange zest. Cut butter cubes in with forks or pastry cutter.  Once butter is cut in, blend in yogurt and orange juice until incorporated. Blend in honey and vanilla. Fold berries into the batter. Batter should be a moist bread dough that you can pick up with your hands. Shape into a ball and place onto a pan lined with parchment paper. Flatten the ball into a circle and with a brush or clean fingers, brush the egg white in a thin layer on top of the circle.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  Cut into 8 pie slices and enjoy with your coffee. The cavemen had to drink coffee or they were most definitely a different species. AmIright?!

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*You'll see that I'm pretty specific on the flour choice and that is because if you went with all almond flour, your scones would be really soft. All coconut flour, and they might turn out really dry. The alternative/clean baking flours are all very fickle and serve well in certain instances - so I think the benefit to using Bob's Red Mill Paleo BLEND is that it combines attributes of many different alternative flours without you having to worry about ratios and blending. Its a little crazy expensive though so feel free to experiment and let me know what you try out!

**I'm almost always someone who has no problem substituting coconut oil for butter but not here...don't mess with scones and their butter.  

Savory Sweet Potato & Veggie Hash

Originally the dish was served to me with Salmon - I love it that way too, but it is just SO versatile!

Five years ago, I took my first big trip as a mom - a cross-country flight to Seattle, SOLO with my 10 week old daughter. To say I was nervous heading into it would be the understatement of the century. I thought "She's going to cry, or just make a lot of noise and everyone around me will be so mad to be near us..."  I contemplated cancelling the trip, but it was an exciting opportunity to check out a new city and meet my husband there for a long weekend tagged onto his work trip.  We went for it.

Essentially the opposite of all of my fears came true on my travels.  People can be so good to one another.

I stepped onto the plane and the flight attendant immediately ushered me to the front row so I'd have extra room to move around. When I turned to the man next to me to preemptively apologize for the next four hours, he assured me that he too, a dad, had been in my shoes and he was there to help if I needed anything. Later on in the flight, too timid to ask for help, he saw me shifting to get up for a bag and told me to sit down and relax as he got my bag for me. And my daughter, she was happily nursing or sleeping the entire time. I always think back to that trip and remember the angels that helped me get through one of my first experiences as a mom.

The other thing I remember from that trip is a meal I had. Kind people and yummy meals. That'll do it. Every fall since then I have done my best to recreate the autumnal meal and every fall, it takes me back to that Seattle hotel room when my husband was at a work meeting, my newborn was asleep next to me, and a delicious room-service meal assured me that even as a new parent I would be able to enjoy grown up things.

Each year I change the ingredients a bit and I encourage you to do the same. This is the first time I added asparagus (not exactly a fall veg) as the market had some that looked good. Next time I think I'll try some parsnips... the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Savory Sweet Potato & Veggie Hash
2t Olive Oil
1 Medium Sweet Potato, peeled & diced (2 cups)
1c diced onion
1c diced baby Bella Mushrooms
1c asparagus, trimmed and cut to 1cm "diced sized" pieces
2c de-stemmed, chopped Kale
Salt & Pepper to taste

Dice the Veggies.

Heat the oil over medium heat.

Cook the onion until slightly translucent, about 2 minutes.

Add Sweet Potato to the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes until it starts to soften, just slightly.

Add mushroom. Cook another 2 minutes.

Add asparagus.

Add chopped Kale. Stir veggies until the kale is wilted. Turn off heat.

Season the Hash with salt & pepper, to taste.

Serve Hash alone, with Salmon, Eggs over-easy, scramble it in eggs for breakfast - this hash is SO seasonal and versatile!

Do my kids eat the entire hash? Sadly, no. 

But I make some of the sweet potatoes alone and they will happily munch on those!

Good ol' fashioned chicken noodle soup. In 10 minutes.

As the temps start to drop, I get excited for the crockpot and all the roasted veggies. But to be honest, some of the stuff I am most looking forward to (chili, stew...), it would be shocking to me if my kids ate it. I always do my due-diligence and require they take a bite of new things. (They are not otherwise allowed to say they don't like it.) Sometimes the bite is all it takes to make a fan, sometimes they still aren't interested. In any event, they still need to eat, and mama is a vegetable pusher.

So one of my favorite ways to push veggies is with a batch of good ol'fashioned chicken noodle soup. But it also needs to be fast. So I have been making a 10 minute chicken noodle soup that is loaded with veggies and every person in my family asks for seconds. Mama's pusher-dreams come true.

10-minute Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 4-6

6-8c low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (add more if you like once the noodles are al dente)
1c Frozen corn
1/2c frozen peas
1c sliced carrots (i have been using fresh because I always have them on hand but frozen would work just fine)
2c chopped broccoli (another veg I almost always have fresh on-hand, but save the chopping step and use frozen if you like!)
2c uncooked noodles (I'll use whatever I've got but whole wheat rotini is a good go-to. Bonus points for using Banza chickpea noodles - in soup my kids don't notice a difference)
2t Flavor God Garlic lover seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste
2-3c No salt added, rotisserie chicken, chopped

Add broth to medium saucepan and turn heat the medium-high. Add all veggies. Once broth is at a boil, add uncooked pasta and seasoning. Cook until al dente, about 8min. In the last few minutes of pasta cooking, add chicken. Serve. (I throw an ice cube in each kid's bowl so I can save my breath cooling it down for them and still eat mine warm! Magic.)