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Nut-Free Paleo Chewy Granola Bars

February 16, 2013 in Nut-Free Baking, Snack Bars, Snacks

Nut-Free Paleo Chewy Granola Bars | The Paleo MomAsk and ye shall receive.  Well, if you’re my sister-in-law–who e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago with a plea for help.  She needed a granola bar recipe that was gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free to go to a nut-free school with her daughters and accommodate her daughters’ food sensitivities.  (Clearly, any recipe I come up with will be grain-free too.)  Oh, and her kids don’t like dates or raisins.  Did I have anything that would work?  Erm.

So, I set to work and came up with this recipe.  Given how quickly each iteration of this recipe was devoured, they’re obviously kid-approved.   Inspiration comes from many places for me (pleas for help being one of them). I’ve actually had many requests for more nut-free treats like these, either for those of you with nut allergies or for those of you with kids who go to nut-free school or classrooms.  So, it’s good to get the occasional motivation to create something new like this.  And, while I can’t develop brand new recipes for every special request, I guess if you’re related to me, you can go ahead and make elaborate recipe requests.  ;)

If you want to change up the flavors here, you could use your favorite dried fruit or add some fun spices.  But, I do have to warn you that my husband used the P-word to describe these (Perfect).

I cut these into 16 squares.  If you want to cut into rectangles to be more granola-bar like, if would make about 10.

Ingredients:

  1. Grease a 9″x9″ pan with coconut oil or palm shortening.  Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Coconut flakes should be chopped to the size of large flakes of oatmeal. Pepitas should be chopped to roughly the size of sunflower seeds.  Apricots and cranberries should be chopped to the size of raisins or slightly smaller.
  3.  Optional:  toast chopped flaked coconut in a skillet over medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes, until lightly browned.
  4.  Blend eggs, honey, salt and cinnamon to completely combine (about 20 seconds).
  5.  Combine all the dry ingredients.  Pour blended eggs over and mix to fully combine.  Pour into pan and press down evenly.
  6.  Bake for 18 minutes.  Let cool completely then cut into bars or squares.

Nut-Free Paleo Chewy Granola Bars | The Paleo Mom

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Celebrating the BIG 10K with a GIVEAWAY! (Or Three!)

January 9, 2013 in Giveaways

Wow!  I can not thank you all enough!  You support and enthusiasm is what makes this hobby-turned-career-blog-adventure-thing so fulfilling and motivating and just plain old awesome!

Er, in case you missed it, I just hit 10,000 likes on Facebook last night.  I also recently hit 2000 followers on Pinterest.  Twitter is not that far behind.  I also recently hit over 1,000,000 page views just since I switched the blog over from Blogger to WordPress in September.  Crazy!

I promise not to let it go to my head. :)   Well, maybe a little, just for a little while (because weeeeeeeeeeeee!)–but I’ll come back down to Earth quickly.

So, what am I doing to celebrate this big milestone?  Why, of course, another giveaway!  Actually, THREE giveaways!  Gotta share the love!

What am I giving away?  Three packages:

Package 1

A jar of NaturAlmond Almond Butter
A package of unsweetened noGRAINola from Primal Paleo Concepts
A $30 gift certificate to Itsumo Ahi Jerky

Package 2

A jar of NaturAlmond Almond Butter
A package of unsweetened noGRAINola from Primal Paleo Concepts
A $25 Gift Certificate to Massa Natural Meats

Package 3

3 Paleo Chocolate Bars
AND
3 Packages of Grass-Fed Jerky
from Hunted & Gathered

These giveaways are entirely sponsored (and I thank my sponsors profusely for letting me share their fabulous products in this way!).  Packages 1 and 2 are limited to US Residents only (due to shipping restrictions).  Package 3 is available to anyone anywhere!  Woot!

Want to know more about the products I’m giving away?

NaturAlmond is a family-owned small food business based in Atlanta, GA that makes the best almond butter I’ve ever tasted.  It’s crazy good!  NaturAlmond hand selects the highest quality of almonds from California.  Their almond butter is handcrafted in small batches to ensure freshness and flavor.  By slow roasting the almonds, the essential oils are released to maximize the taste and then ground to the ideal consistency. A touch of natural sea salt is then added to each batch. By not outsourcing production, they personally monitor each step in the process and guarantee quality in a peanut free environment.

Primal Paleo Concepts‘s motto is “the best nature has to offer with 0% Yucky Stuff”.  Their granola  is naturally low carb, no sugar added and paleo-friendly.  Yay for crunch and convenience!  My husband’s first words when he tried this granola were “Ohh!  Me likey!”.  My youngest is equally as addicted–straight out of the bag, too.  Ingredients are super simple: Organic Coconut, Almonds, Prunes (unsweetened, unsulfured), Carrots, and Himalayan Sea Salt.

Massa Natural Meats is a family-owned and operated farm raising purely grass-fed beef in the valley and foothills of Northern California.  Massa Natural Meats and the Massa Ranch in rural Glenn County is an active participant in numerous conservation efforts geared towards agricultural sustainability.  For large orders (i.e.: 1/4 or 1/2 beef) that are going to be shipped a long distance, Massa Natural Meats is now able to ship “airport to airport” via airline at VERY reasonable rates.  They do not have a minimum purchase of any sort and are now offering free shipping for “by the cut” orders over $100 with code “FreeShip100″ (good for anyone who wants to stock up on quality grass-fed meat!).  This gift certificate can be used toward your meat order and/or shipping expenses.

Itsumo Ahi Jerky makes a paleo-friendly tuna jerky that just rocks.  High in DHA and EPA omega-3 fats, easy to digest protein, sustainably fished, free of processing and artificial additives, and produced in an environmentally-concious way.  Plus talk about convenience food!  I keep a pouch of this tuna jerky in my purse for emergencies.  The ingredients of the paleo tuna jerky are: yellowfin tuna, pineapple juice, rock salt, ginger, garlic, onion, nutmet, black pepper and liquid smoke.  I happen to know that they are also working on some new paleo-friendly products that will launch soon.  You can also use the coupon code PALEOMOM for 10% off!!! (good for anyone who want to try these products!)

Hunted & Gathered are dedicated to providing high-quality, environmentally-friendly goods for people who care about what goes into and onto their body.  They have a great appreciation for handcrafted, functional goods, which is why their chocolate and jerky are so famous in paleo circles.  The ingredients of their Paleo Chocolate are: organic cacao solids (60% min), organic virgin cacao butter, organic dark agave nectar, organic cacao powder, organic coconut oil, organic carob, organic cinnamon, and Himalayan crystal salt.  The ingredients of their Grass-Fed Jerky are: strictly pasture-fed beef, salt, herbs and spices, vinegar, organic brown sugar (less than 1 gram).

So, how do you enter?

For EACH of the items below that you do, leave A COMMENT on THIS POST saying what you did.  Yes, that means that you can enter up to 9 times.  And yes, that also mean that you could win more than one package!

Make sure to include your e-mail address (the comment form asks for it) so that I can contact the winners.  Please also mention what country you live in for each comment you leave (or you can mention “USA” or “Outside the USA”) because only one of these giveaways can be shipped internationally.

To enter please do any or all of the following:

  1. Check out NaturAlmond’s website and/or like them on Facebook.
  2. Check out Paleo Primal Concept’s website and/or like them on Facebook.
  3. Check out Itsumo Ahi Jerky’s website and/or like them on Facebook.
  4. Check out Massa Natural Meats’ website and/or like them on Facebook.
  5. Check out Hunted & Gathered’s website, like them on Facebook, and/or follow them on Twitter.
  6. Support me by liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter or Pinterest, and/or subscribe to my RSS Feed (to get my posts e-mailed to you).  If you already do, share your favorite post (like maybe this one?) or recipe of mine with your friends and help spread the word!
  7. Support me by linking through the links on the sidebar of my page any time you make a purchase from Amazon, Tropical Traditions or US Wellness Meats (you don’t need to buy the item you link from with any of these sellers).
  8. Support me by buying and wearing The Paleo Mom swag.
  9. Support me by making a donation of any amount through Paypal.

Three winners will be chosen at random from the commentors below.  This contest will close in 1 week.

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Paleo Granola

March 5, 2012 in Breakfast

This is another great alternative to eggs for breakfast in the morning.  I also love this granola by itself (like a sweet trail mix) and often find it hard not to grab a handful every time I walk past the jar!  There are lots of different recipes for paleo granola out there.  Mine reflects the tastes of my family, none of whom like dried fruit in their granola.  If you would like to add dried fruit to yours, just mix it in right when you pull the pan out of the oven, then let it cool it the pan.

Ingredients:

 

1.    Preheat oven to 300F.  Line a large baking pan with parchment paper.
2.    Mix coconut, nuts and seeds in a big bowl.  Add cinnamon and nutmeg and stir to coat.
3.    Melt coconut oil and honey on low heat on the stovetop or in the microwave.  Add vanilla.
4.    Pour coconut oil mixture over nuts and seeds.  Stir to coat.  Pour out onto prepared baking sheet and spread out evenly.
5.    Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool completely in pan (for larger chunks), then pour into a plastic container or bag for storage.  Extra tasty served with berries and milk alternative of your choice!

Do you need help finding any ingredients?  Check out  Important Pantry Items for the Paleo Baker.

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