I haven’t shared recipes lately, but this paleo brownie muffin recipe was a must share. I found it on pinterest, of course. It’s a yummy, easy-to-make dessert brownie made out of garbanzo beans. Yes, that is right. Garbanzo beans.

1 can 15oz chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained, rinsed

3 eggs

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup chocolate chips (we use Enjoy Life semi sweet)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare 12 muffin cups with liners or by spraying with cooking spray.
3. Put all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in blender or food processor.
4. Blend until smooth.
5. Divide batter in muffin pan.
6. Top with chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Ours took more like 22 minutes

Amazing! These will definitely become a staple at home.

Thanks to Beachbody for this recipe!

Ligia

When I first saw this recipe for baked avocado egg, I thought there was no way I was going to try it. I couldn’t wrap my mind around baking an egg inside an avocado. But…

Wait. One of my favorite omelettes is the California Omelette which has avocado and eggs.

So I tried it and I LOVED IT.

So this recipe is so simple to make, but I have failed more than three times to get the whole egg inside the avocado. It spills out, so I did come up with a solution. Buy a BIGGER avocado.

Here is what you need:

A large or extra large avocado

Large egg (two if you plan to make the whole avocado)

Salt pepper to taste

Paprika to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice avocado in half.

Spoon out quite a bit of avocado. I put it in a dish for later use. Guacamole perhaps.

Carefully, I balance the avocado on a rolled up piece of foil so the avocado doesn’t lean over and cause the egg to spill (that’s what happened to my first attempt).

Carefully, I mean really carefully, crack the egg into the cavity of the avocado.

Add salt, pepper, and paprika to taste.

Cook it for 18 minutes. ( I have seen many different times and degrees this is what has worked for us)

Yum.

Okay, not so pretty. I think this was one of my first attempts. See how the egg is oozing out. The avocado was a wee bit too small.

I love making it and love eating it even more. There are several variations too, add bacon, cheese. The possibilities are endless.

Ligia

I grew up eating plantain. Pretty much ate it once or twice a week. My family is from Guatemala, in Central America, and plantain is a staple there. So, I know how yummy and delicious they are. As an adult, though, I never tried cooking them myself. Part of the reason was I really didn’t know how to buy them.

You see, in order to cook them the way I grew up eating they have to be pretty ripe (top picture). I would see them at the grocery store and not really know if they are ready to eat or not. So I just didn’t buy them.

Then when we started the Paleo diet and I was missing my carbs, I remembered plantain. I looked up on pinterest how to cook them and buy them. I not only found a ton of yummy recipes, but I also discovered that you can eat them when they are green too (bottom picture). There are different kinds of recipes using green plantain but the most common is called Tostones. Tostones are fried green plantain used like chips.

Both Tostones and Fried Plantain start the same.

1. Slice off the ends of the plantain.
2. Using a sharp knife you cut the seams of the plantain. You can’t peel them like you peel a regular banana. Once you cut the seams, you peel them off slowly along the seam.
3. Then you slice them. You can do circles or ovals (like in picture)
4. Put some oil in a pan. I use coconut oil. My mom uses vegetable oil.
5. Fry them on both sides. This is the last step for Maduros (ripe bananas). They are sweet to eat. You can sprinkle sugar and sour cream (non Paleo) and eat them. I just eat them plain.
6. For tostones, you take it further. Once they are out of the pan. You take a flat glass or something like that and mash them. They will look like this:
7. Then you re-fry them until they are crispy.
8. Add salt at this point or even before step 6.

I have made tortillas with plantain and pancakes. Next we are planning to try making sandwiches with them. I am adding a couple of links to interesting recipes.

Plantain-Two Ways basically the same post as this one but she has some cool pics.

Plantain and Steak Sandwich-this one we are going to try next.

Nachos- two different versions: here and here.

Ligia