Vegan Cheesecake 1

http://minimalistbaker.com/7-ingredient-vegan-cheesecakes/
Vegan Cheesecake

I had just over a cup of cashews, so did not have quite enough. Also I did not have dates, so I added 3 T of brown rice syrup to the walnuts and that worked fine. Also, I used brown rice syrup instead of agave. And I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk. These were hard to pop out, and get soft very quickly.

This was good, but I think the coconut made it a little richer and softer than I prefer. The next time I make this it will be a coconut milk/cream free version.

Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

http://www.accesshollywood.com/grain-free-recipes-for-the-whole-family_article_98913
Pepperoni Pizza Pasta

This was really good. It is in the Meals Made Simple cookbook p. 166. The yellow squash has a lot of seeds in it, so I wasn't able to julienne as much as the spiral slicer would have done. I may buy one of those someday.

Pot Roast in the Crock Pot

My Instant Pot *low* function cooks a little too low, unfortunately. I'm glad I kept my old 6 quart crockpot, as it can hold more and does better at sensitive slow cooker stuff.

I had two 2-lb chuck roasts and wanted to do them both at once. I used this recipe as a guide (http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-best-chuck-roast-356560) but did not add the mushroom soup since it has wheat & dairy. I put in a few yukon gold potatoes and some carrots, and onion and celery too. I may have put in a small amount of cabbage, I forget. I put all that on the bottom and then put the meat on top. I did sear the meat, and then the two roasts were slightly overlapped since they were bigger. I think I added coconut milk to this to replace the mushroom soup, and it turned out fantastic. I couldn't taste any coconut, but it was the best pot roast I've had in a long time. I served it to the Parkers and there wasn't anything left at the end of the meal.

Next time I would like to add mushrooms too.

Gluten Free Banana Bread

http://minimalistbaker.com/one-bowl-gluten-free-banana-bread/

Gluten Free Banana Bread

This is a great recipe. I used coconut milk instead of milk, and did not add the sugars. I used bob's red mill gf flour blend since I had it on hand. Also used trader joes almond meal. And old fashioned oats. This is very good, and is sweet enough without the sugar.
David thought it had too much baking powder that added a bitter taste, and that it was too dense.

Spanakopita Soup

Spanakopita Soup p 89 from Primal Cravings.

I did not like this at all. There was way too much spinach for my tastes, and I don't like lamb served this way as there are no strong flavors to counter the lamb flavor. David liked it a lot though.

Shredded Tenderloin Pork

I had 5.5 lbs of tenderloin pork, 3 roasts worth. I seared them with onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 T cumin, 1 T oregano, and olive oil. Then I pressure cooked for 70 minutes. It was partially frozen initially, so if thawed I would subtract 20 minutes or something. It wasn't very flavorful on its own, but with tostadas and other toppings it worked fine. It shredded easily, but didn't have the same flavor as a pork butt because it was so lean. I prefer the pork butt/shoulder for shredded pork.

Moo Shu Cabbage Cups

Moo Shu Cabbage Cups from Primal Cravings Cookbook, p. 90.

This was great in a tortilla. I did not bother with cabbage cups, but I did chop up and saute some cabbage to go with it. It was very good, we all loved it. It makes a great filling. Although I must say it tastes nothing like the Moo Shu Pork I remember from chinese restaurants. Those had a sweet plum sauce. I might try and add that sometime.

Caramelized Coconut Chips

Caramelized Coconut Chips from Well Fed cookbook, p 153.

This was pretty yummy and quick. It is quite salty, just like popcorn. I may use less salt and more cinnamon next time to see if it is more of a sweet treat next time. I was satisfied after a few bites too, there is more than half of it left.

Overnight Breakfast Casserole

From Against All Grain/Meals made simple cookbook, p. 62.

Use more potatoes, fewer eggs. I had to put it under the broiler at the end since the top wasn't cooked in my instantpot. Also, I did it on medium for 6 hours. It may cook faster in a standard crockpot that has a wider base. David thought it was bland and he missed the cheese. I used ground pork intead of sausage because that's what I had, so next time I should get some italian sausage and add in more seasonings. I also used regular unpeeled potatoes instead of sweet.

I thought this was yummy and a nice change on standard crockpot dinners of x over rice or soup.

Creamy Pesto Pasta

http://againstallgrain.com/2012/03/31/springtime-creamy-pesto-pasta/
Creamy Pesto Pasta

This was really good. The zucchini was time consuming to prepare with my julienne slicer, but the end product was good. I used more basil than the recipe called for, but not a ton more. I would make this again for sure. Might try rice pasta next time. I used hot dogs instead of prosciutto.

The cashew based sauce was great. I am dairy-free now and so am glad to have an alfredo type option.

Poached Salmon

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/poached_salmon/
Poached Salmon

This was quick but I did not care for the soggy consistency of the skin. I prefer the skin to be crispy, so this isn't my favorite method. I ate it with homemade mayo on top though and it was a great topping.

Chicken Enchilada Empanadas

Primal Cravings cookbook p 108, Chicken Enchilada Empanadas

These were really good. It took almost 90 minutes to make dinner though, so I won't be doing it too often. Also I really don't like goat cheese, and I ended up picking it out of the ones I ate. But it turned out well. I used 2 silpats and a flat plate to squish the dough into flat rounds. Also I should have covered the dough since it got kinda dried out and didn't roll out as easily by the second half. Also, I could only fir 6 empanadas on the baking sheet so I did two rounds of baking. The second batch was ready after dinner, but we didn't need them anyway. So next time I might try to do two small sheets instead of one large one.

Thai Beef Stew

http://againstallgrain.com/2014/07/07/crockpot-paleo-thai-stew/
Crockpot Thai Beef Stew

I used a different red curry paste, and this was good. (it was actually a blend of two). I used only about 3 oz of it because I know from experience the one linked in the original recipe is extremely mild. I served it over rice.

Microwave Hummus

http://minimalistbaker.com/best-ever-5-minute-microwave-hummus/

This is quite thick, but good. There is a lot of tahini, which makes this more strong flavored.

Fried Rice

I did it in the style of this website: http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/12/cambridge-fried-rice/

I used parsnip, green onion, carrot, and celery. It was great. I sliced them in the food processor. I had some mild sausage so used that, but it turned out to be more spicy than I anticipated. I also added soy sauce and sesame oil to the vegetables as they were cooking, and turmeric to the rice as it fried in coconut oil. Having a wok is so nice to make stuff like this that needs a large volume. I put all the cooked food into another bowl as they were completed like the recipe shows. Then I mixed all together at the end. Next time try it with plain ground pork or other meat that is not seasoned.

5/2017: This works well with quinoa too, if the quinoa is not soggy.