Prairie Oak Homestead

These are fantastic! I love these muffins. So easy to make and high in protein. And who doesn't love a little dark chocolate. :) Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins (grain free) 2 eggs 1/2 c greek yogurt (use cherry) 1/4 c maple syrup 1 t vanilla 2 1/2 c almond flour 1/4 t salt 1/2 t baking soda Mix wet and add to dry. Mix well with whisk or spoon. Bake for 15-18 min in 325 degree oven. Enjoy! Pin It

These are absolutely fantastic!  I had tiny cinnamon chips from an Amish bulk store and wanted to use them up. I came up with this... 2 1/2 c almond flour (the flour I used is Honeyville almond flour) (the best almond flour!) 1/4 t salt 1/2 t baking soda 1/4 c cinnamon chips 1/8 c chopped hazelnuts 2 eggs 1/2 c yogurt (I used greek vanilla yogurt) 1/4 c maple syrup 1 t vanilla Mix wet and dry separate then mix them together by hand until blended. Fill muffin cups and sprinkle top with more cinnamon chips and hazelnuts. Bake at 325 for 15-18 min.  Super yummy! Pin It

For the cake 1/2 c coconut flour 1T arrowroot powder 1/4 t salt 1/2 t baking soda 4 eggs 1/2 c agave nectar 1T vanilla Mix dry and wet separate and then beat together with a mixer. Pour into 8x8 pan and bake 30 min For the icing 3 strawberries 1 stick of butter 1/2 t vanilla 3-4 c powdered sugar 1 T cream Puree strawberries and add to mixer and beat until well mix Pin It

I found this recipe on Pinterest and had to share! I will be making mine with grain free chocolate chip cookies. (you can find that recipe here on my blog). These look SO delicious!   I am so in love with these darn chocolate lava cookies! What is it about a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed with decadent, rich, melted chocolate that makes it so irresistible?? Especially when topped with vanilla ice cream. These are one of Kev’s favorite homemade treats, and he usually asks me to make them at least once a week. They are so simple to whip up, and such a treat! Let’s make some right now :)   All you really need for these fabulous cookies is your favorite cookie dough and a bag of chocolate chips. My favorite cookie dough just happens to be Picky Palate’s , and it works perfectly for this recipe, but you could just as easily use a store-bought mix or even refrigerated cookie dough. Slice and bake cookie dough would be so simple here! But my heart will al...

This chicken seemed so simple, yet it was so flavorful! I recommend you give it a try. :)   Cinnamon Chicken 1 3lbs chicken, cut into 8 pieces (breasts, drumsticks, thighs and wings); ½ tsp sea salt; ½ tsp black pepper; 2/3 tsp cinnamon; 2 cloves garlic, minced; ½ tsp paprika; 1 onion, sliced; 1 cup water or chicken stock Preheat your oven to 400 F. In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic and cinnamon. Rub the chicken pieces with this mixture and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature. Place the chicken pieces in a large roasting pan, sprinkle the meat all over with the paprika and add the onion slices to the pan. Cook for 35 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 F.  Stir in a cup of water to the roasting pan and continue cooking for another 50 minutes. Serve and use the juices from the pan as a sauce. I got the recipe for the Cinnamon Chicken here.  Pin It

This recipe comes from Caveman Food. You can see the original recipe  here Sometimes you just want something crunchy, or you want something to spread your favorite dip on rather than just eat it with a spoon. This is one of the banes of low carb/paleo existence. Luckily, it's dead easy to whip up some almond crackers to satisfy on both counts! You can enjoy them as is or use them as vehicles for other tasty food such as guacamole or pate. You could even make them into dessert by adding some cinnamon or pie spice to the dough and perhaps a touch of honey or maple syrup. GRAIN FREE ALMOND CRACKERS ingredients: 1 cup almond flour 1 egg white 1 pinch salt (that's it!) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the almond flour, egg white, and salt until it forms a paste. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Make sure you use parchment paper, because if you don't you'll end up chipping your crackers out of the pa...

For those of you who like to make your own breakfast sandwiches, I found an easy way to get your eggs done fast and have a perfectly circular shape.... Spray your muffin tin and crack an egg into each spot... Well that was easy. Stick these in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until done. Pin It

This post comes from Elana's Pantry I hope you enjoy these! :) All of you regular readers know that I have an obsession with making healthy (ok, "healthier") gluten free cake pops .  Well, this obsession continues for Valentine's Day. I spent an afternoon in my kitchen last week in total chocolate chaos.  I even tweeted about it (if you're not involved in the party that's over on twitter you may want to join, I'm there several times daily, tweeting away ).  On twitter I stated, or shall I say, tweeted,  " my kitchen is covered in chocolate and I can't say why ." Well, now I'm saying why.  My kitchen was covered in chocolate because I was making gluten free Valentine's Day cake pops two ways.  First, pictured above, they are coated in white chocolate.  Next, below, the cake pops are coated in dark chocolate.  While they have very different flavor profiles, they're equally tasty and decadent in their own ways.  Of cour...

I can't begin to tell you how good these are! With all my issues with my disease, I am trying different things to help slow the progression. Becoming grain free is one of them. I was already gluten free due to Celiac, but now I will be cutting out all grains...rice, beans, corn, etc.  These lovelies were made with ALMOND FLOUR that I ground myself.  I used the almonds with the skins on for more nutrition and fiber. These stayed wonderfully soft unlike my other chocolate chip cookies made with rice flour. (they stayed soft for a day). My family scarfed these down! Here's the recipe 5oz almond flour (1 1/4 c) (you can grind your own in a coffee grinder or get it at the store) scant 1/2 t salt 1/4 t baking soda 1/4 c honey or maple syrup 1/8 c oil (grapeseed, coconut, macadamia) 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 to 1/2 c chocolate chips of your choice (I used scant 1/2 c semi-swt Ghiradeli) Heat oven to 325. Mix almond flour, salt, and baking soda well. In a small bowl, mix hone...

Turtle Cheesecake Bars Crust 3 cups finely chopped pecans 1 stick unsalted butter, melted 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt Cheesecake Filling 24 oz cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt or sour cream 3/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla 3 large eggs 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Toppings 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted 1 11-oz bag caramel candy, unwrapped 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 6 tablespoons milk, divided Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with parchment paper, so that parchment extends over long side of pan. In a bowl, mix crust ingredients together with a fork; press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.  Bake crust for 20 minutes; while crust bakes, prepare filling. Cream together cream cheese, yogurt or sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. After crust bakes, remove from oven and immediately sprinkle on 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Pour filling over chocolate chips and return to o...

 Add ingredients to crockpot in order as written... 16 oz roasted unsalted peanuts 16 oz roasted salted peanuts 1 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips 4 oz bar german chocolate broken 1 24 oz vanilla almond bark broken Do not stir Put crockpot on low for 3 hours. After 3 hours stir and drop onto wax paper and let cool. :) You could substitute the german chocolate for butterscotch chips if you wanted.  

for the baking season! Due to my increased weakness, I have started making up cookie dough and freezing it. I don't want me or my family to miss out on the yummy treats I have made every year.  My solution was to make up different cookie doughs and freeze them. When it's time to bake, then all I have to do is take it out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge and put the dough on a cookie sheet and bake! :) We will have holiday monster cookies, sugar cookies with sprinkles, peanut blossoms, bird nests, peanut butter balls, and caramels. :) What are some shortcuts you use during the holiday season?

I attempted to make fudge today. I made this recipe. It seemed easy. I didn't have the strength to make longer processed kind. Hope it turns out...never made fudge before. *gasp* Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge, an easy fudge recipe, is made with only 4 ingredients.   Ingredients: 6-ounces (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup butter 1 cup sifted powdered sugar Preparation: Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and butter it. In a double boiler, melt chocolate, peanut butter and butter. Stir to combine. Stir in sugar until it melts. Pour into prepared pan. Cool and cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

This deliciousness comes from Tasty Kitchen. This was fantastic. Turned our wonderful even with being modified to be gluten free. :) This bread has the goodness of an apple pie wrapped up in a streusel topped quick bread. Preparation Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. If using a glass loaf pan bake 25 degrees lower. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugars together until combined. Add the buttermilk and baking powder; and beat until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; and beat until combined. Add flour, apple pie spice and salt; beat until combined. Toss the apples and nuts in a bit of flour before adding to the batter. By hand, stir in the nuts and apples. Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Prepare the streusel topping (instructions below) and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean...

Just like cinnamon rolls, but with a few add-ins like pumpkin, maple syrup and nutmeg! Delicious fresh and warm out of the oven and perfect for fall! Ingredients FOR THE ROLLS: 1 package   (2 1/2 Teaspoons In A Package) Active Dry Yeast ½ cups   Warm Water ½ cups   Warm Milk ¼ cups   Melted Butter, Cooled ⅔ cups   Granulated Sugar For The Dough, Plus 1/4 Teaspoon For Proofing Yeast 1 teaspoon   Salt ¾ cups   Pumpkin Puree 6 cups   All Purpose Flour (give Or Take 1 Cup) _____ FOR THE FILLING: ¼ cups   Maple Syrup 2 Tablespoons   Melted Butter ¾ cups   Brown Sugar 2 Tablespoons   Cinnamon ½ teaspoons   Nutmeg - Optional _____ FOR THE GLAZE: 2 cups   Powdered Sugar ¼ teaspoons   Vanilla Extract ¾ teaspoons   Maple Flavoring Or Extract 3 Tablespoons   Milk Prepar...

Arepa Recipe   2 1/2 c hot water  1 t salt 2 c p.a.n corn flour (precooked corn meal) 2 t melted butter  Mix salt into the hot water Add the corn meal to the water slowly and stir until a soft dough forms. It will feel like playdough. Not sticky, not dry. Let dough rest 15 min After dough rests, patty it up into 3 in x 1 in circles. The dough should not be sticky nor dry, but just right. Heat oil or butter in a skillet and fry the circles 6 min per side on medium heat to get a nice crust to form on the outside. You want them to brown a little. Once browned, put in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 min until they sound hollow when tapped. Remove from oven and slice open (but don't cut all the way in half) and stuff with eggs, cheese, black beans, shredded beef, etc. Enjoy! We ate this A LOT in Venezuela and I missed it so much I had to make my own. They turned out great and brought back great memories of my Venezuelan friends. :) I love learning about foods from other c...

I was so excited to find the pre-cooked corn meal here in our town to make arepas! It is the same brand I found in Venezuela. Arepas were a staple in Venezuela and they are naturally gluten free. :)  I liken them to a corn english muffin. You can put anything in them...eggs, cheese, black beans, meat, etc. I am going to make some Saturday Lord willing. Here is a recipe 2 1/2 cups masarepa cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 2 3/4 cups hot water 2 tablespoons melted butter Vegetable oil Preparation: Stir salt into arepa flour. Pour hot water over flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Stir in the melted butter. Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes. If preparing the thicker, Venezuelan style arepas, separate dough into 12 pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Place each ball in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap or two ziplock bags and flatten gently with the bottom of a pot. Arepas should be about 3 inches in diameter and almost an inch thick. Use yo...

This is how I make whipped cream. PLEASE don't buy it in the freezer section...yuck! It is SO easy to make your own from scratch! All you need is 1 c heavy whipping cream, 4 T sugar, and 1/2 t vanilla. Use your mixer to whip this up in a jiffy! Set your mixer on high... Mine usually ends up on 9 or so...It's about here that I add in a pinch of cinnamon. :) You want to whip it until you get stiff peaks...don't whip too long or you'll get butter! (Another great thing made from scratch!) :) I used it on the Pumpkin Cream Tarts I posted in an earlier post. Very yummy! This whipped cream will be great on pies this holiday season and whatever other desserts you love to use whipped cream in. :)