Banana Bread Bites

I love banana bread. Growing up, there was nothing better than my grandmother’s fresh, warm banana bread. My favorite part was the just-under-cooked center of the loaf. Unfortunately, I’m not a baker like Grandma Statz. I can bake. Sometimes I will bake. And, occasionally, my baking works very well (e.g. check out my Orange-Cranberry Bread). But I am not a baker.

So, I was really intrigued and excited when I completed this recipe the first time. Admittedly, I was aiming to make banana cream pie-like balls or macaroons. (Brent loves Banana Cream Pie, and if you haven’t tried our recipe for it, you should.) When I took my first bite of these, however, the texture and flavor were nothing like banana cream pie. Instead, it reminded me of that just-under-cooked center of banana bread. The best part? There’s only a little cooking and no baking required!

Kanom Jeeb Bites

Kanom Jeeb is a steamed Thai dumpling that is usually served in a dough wrapper. It’s one of the indulgences we allow ourselves when ordering Thai food occasionally. We love them and their tangy dipping sauce, but realized the things that make it delicious (pork, crab, water chestnut) have nothing to do with the wrapper. Then, inspired by Russ’ awesome Gyoza Bites from his book Paleo Takeout, and we knew we had a winning recipe idea.

These Kanom Jeeb bites are very easy to make, and are a delicious paleo appetizer or a meal split between two people. We devoured them pretty quickly, and are really looking forward to making them again.

Pomegranate-Bacon Arugula Salad

I have been craving salads a lot lately. To mix things up a little bit, I pursued lists of seasons vegetables and fruits to find something we do not normally eat. I came across pomegranates. After a little more research, I learned that they are actually most commonly harvested October through February; but sometimes the harvest is earlier or later. Still, I couldn’t resist looking for them at the store and, just as I had hoped, the international market had them.

This is a fairly simple salad, but it packs of lot of flavor. In fact, it has all five basic tastes: bitter, salty, sour, sweet, and umami. It’s light but satisfying, and beautiful, too! We hope you will enjoy it.

Forgotten Roast

Forgotten roast was a staple at my house growing up, especially during the winter. The original recipe, I’m told, comes from a Campbell’s recipe book from the 1950s. We used either cream of celery soup or cream of mushroom soup, usually the condensed kind. Last week we shared a homemade cream of celery soup that is great, and that’s what we used to put together this forgotten roast recipe.

As we enter September and fall is quickly approaching, it is a good idea to get these recipes in the queue. If you’d rather not do this in the oven, you could even put it in your slow cooker overnight. There’s nothing like waking up to the smells of a paleo forgotten roast. We know you’re going to enjoy it.

Cream of Celery Soup

Creamed soups are a fairly regular staple in our house, ranging from mushroom soup to curried carrot soup. Even in warm weather, we enjoy the variety of a good soup. Growing up, the only cream of celery soup I could recall came from a Campbell’s soup can—and when it was used, it was part of a stew or casserole. That being said, I was curious if I could make a cream of celery soup that could stand on its own.

I’m happy to report that cream of celery soup is delicious. Heather was fine with me making this for part of another recipe (coming soon), but didn’t think it would have a lot of flavor. To my surprise, she was a big fan. We are adding this to the list of things she previously didn’t enjoy, including: brussels sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms, onions, and the list goes on.