The Paleo Pact

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Egg-Free, Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie; in fact it’s basically my whole family’s favorite pie. When I set out to make an egg-free, paleo pumpkin pie I went through a few rounds of pies before I finally got it perfect. On my finally pie, the one where I knew I’d figured it out, I ate a slice before I went to bed convinced that it would be there for breakfast when I woke up.

It wasn’t. The culprit? My brother! I was not happy…he ate the whole pie while I was sleeping! Thankfully it was easy enough to whip up another one.

Here is a quick and easy recipe for egg-free, paleo pumpkin pie.

INGREDIENTS

15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons coconut sugar
3/4 cup coconut milk (remove the cream from the can first adding it to a measuring cup then add remaining liquid until you have 3/4 cups needed for the recipe)
1 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoon tapioca flour
gelatin egg (1 tablespoon gelatin, 1/8 cup hot water)
1 pie crust (our coconut pie crust goes great with this)

RECIPE

In a food processor combine everything except the gelatin egg and pie crust.
Pour mixture in a saucepan and heat over low heat for 10 minutes. (you can expect to see an occasional bubble and steam but you do not want a stream of bubbles)
In a small bowl whisk together gelatin and hot water. (add gelatin to water quickly while whisking)
Add pumpkin mixture and gelatin egg to food processor, process until combined.
Pour mixture into pie crust and place into fridge.
Let set for 2 hours.
Serve when ready.

This pie is simple to make and after your first time or two you won’t even need to think about it. Not to mention that when I make this I only usually need to pick up pumpkin as I have everything else in my house, you probably have most of the ingredients too.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

The Pasta Alternative

We always receive questions on substitutions from our readers, which makes sense because if you’ve found something you really like you don’t want to give it up. One request in particular that we receive regularly revolves around options for paleo approved pasta.

Many people will automatically assume that because you’re paleo you can’t have pasta…pasta is generally made out of wheat after all so it makes sense. Not to worry though, there are many alternatives for pasta that are paleo approved.

Here are the top options you have for paleo approved pasta.

Spaghetti Squash- it’s easy to cook and when it’s done it’s a perfect replacement for pasta. You can also use it as lasagna noodles by layering the squash and creating it’s own layer to act as a traditional lasagna noodle.
Zucchini- If you have a spiral slicer or salad shooter you can make noodles out of zucchini. It’s similar to the spaghetti squash but it another great option.
Make it yourself- if you’re up for the challenge there are tons of recipes out there to make you own pasta with coconut or almond flour as replacements for traditional pasta flour.
Buy it- If you’re looking for a more hearty pasta but don’t have the gumption to make it yourself you can find what you need at the local health food store. We buy a brand of pasta called Cappellos Pasta, they use paleo ingredients and it’s delicious.

These are some of the top options for paleo pasta alternatives that you can use when preparing meals. We encourage you to try them all, you may find that you regularly use more than one option in your meals.

As a side note, make sure to read the instructions when cooking your own or store-bought paleo pasta. The cooking times can vary greatly from what you may be accustomed to with traditional pasta.

Happy Experimenting!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Mango Key Lime Pie

Pies are such a great treat but when you’re trying to make them paleo and cut out any refined sugars and processed additives it can seem impossible feat. Thankfully paleo pies are often easier to make than normal pies.

Key lime pies have always been a favorite of mine and when I decided to make my own paleo version I wanted to spice it up a little. I had mangos sitting around my house and thought, wouldn’t that be delicious. It was delicious and I’m happy I get to share it with you, here’s an easy recipe for mango, key lime pie.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup mango puree (roughly 1 ½ mangos blended in your food processor)
1/2 cup of blended avocado (ripe avocados work the best, it is roughly 1 avocado blended in your food processor until you have a creamy, smooth mixture)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
3 tablespoons coconut sugar
3/4 cup coconut milk (scoop out the cream at the top of the can first then add the remaining liquid until you reach 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
rind 2 key limes, grated
2 teaspoons tapioca flour
gelatin eggs (1.5 tablespoon gelatin + 1/4 cup hot water)
1 pie crust (goes great with our coconut pie crust)

RECIPE

Mix all ingredients together in food processor, except gelatin eggs; until thoroughly combined.
Pour mixture into saucepan and heat over low heat for 10 minutes. You’ll see a bubble escape here or there, it should not be bubbling regularly.
In a bowl whisk together 1/4 cup warm water and 1.5 tablespoon gelatin until slightly frothy (sprinkle gelatin over water slowly when whisking).
Pour both mixtures back into processor and pulse until thoroughly combined.
Pour into pie crust, let cool and stick in fridge to set. This will take roughly 3 – 4 hours.
Slice and serve!

There are a lot of ingredients in this pie but it’s nutrition packed. Not to mention that it doesn’t take long to prepare at all, at the most you’re looking at roughly 30 – 40 minutes to prepare your pie. Then all you need to do is let it cool; it’s the best part about a no bake pie.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Coconut Pie Crust

For anyone who’s made pie crust you know that it is a “specific” kind of task. You have to use the right ingredients; the right steps and you need to end up with the correct consistency at the end. Furthermore, when you think of making the traditional pie crust recipe into it’s paleo equivalent you may not know where to start because you literally need to replace all the ingredients with something different.

The following is an easy recipe for a paleo pie crust. What’s even better is you most likely already have the ingredients you’ll need. It requires a little more attention but even if you don’t have a ton of baking experience you’ll be able to handle it.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups of shredded coconut (just coconut, it should not be sweetened)
4 tablespoons coconut oil
4 tablespoons cashew butter (you can replace this if you’d prefer almond instead)
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt

RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place coconut in food processor and process for a few minutes until shredded coconut looks almost like it has been grated.
Place processed coconut into a bowl and set aside.
In a small microwave safe bowl add coconut oil and cashew butter, place in the microwave for 30 seconds or until coconut oil has melted.
Add coconut oil and cashew mixture to the processed coconut; also add the honey and salt.
Mix together until thoroughly combined.

Press coconut mixture into pie dish forming a pie crust.

Place in oven and bake for roughly 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove and let cool before adding filling.

Note that sometimes the pie crust may fall down towards the bottom of the pie dish slightly during baking. If this happens it’s not a problem at all, simple use the back of a spoon to push the crust back into position. As the crust cools it will harden and maintain its intended shape.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover
@melissavandover | melissavandover.com

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

https://thepaleopact.com/paleocleanse/

Lazy Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Spaghetti is a go-to favorite for many families. However because of the speed of life and the time crunch that we find ourselves in, we resort to a quick version of our favorite staple. The quick version is often times less than nutritious.

Here is a simple way to make a lazy, spaghetti meat sauce that is both nutritious and paleo.

INGREDIENTS

20 ounces of paleo pasta sauce, roughly 1 jar (you can use an organic, paleo sauce available at your local market or you can use our marinara sauce recipe)
1/2 – 3/4 cup of water
1 pound of ground beef

RECIPE

Over high heat, combine pasta sauce, water and ground beef in a large pot.
Let cook on high for roughly 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Break up meat as needed to prevent it from clumping.
After 20 minutes cover, reduce to low or simmer and let cook for 1 hour.
Stir occasionally.
Serve with your favorite paleo pasta or spaghetti squash.

We provide you the option to adjust how much water you would like to add to this recipe, less water will provide a thicker, meatier sauce. Adjust the water to your liking. Additionally it is important to continue to stir the sauce during the first 20 minutes, this will help to break up the meat and prevent it from clumping.

This is a simple recipe that will leave your family and friends thinking you spent hours preparing a meal for them.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Paleo Smoked Salmon Wrap

Wraps are one of the easiest things to make. Which means they are a perfect solution for lunch, a quick meal on the run or even a picnic. This recipe happens to be one of my favorite wraps, it’s hearty, filling and packs a nutritious punch.

INGREDIENTS

2 coconut wraps (www.paleowrap.com)
salad mix (I prefer a mix of kale and brussels sprouts)
3 – 4 ounces of smoked salmon
1/2 avocado, sliced
salad dressing of your choice (I used a fig balsamic dressing)

RECIPE

Place salad mix into wrap.
Top with salmon, avocado and salad dressing.
Wrap and enjoy!

It’s that simple to make and incredible delicious. This recipe makes two wraps but feel free to adjust it to make the quantity you need.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Paleo Cleanse Services Offerings

Hi Everyone,

We’re excited to announce that we’ve just launched our Paleo Cleanse Services page. We receive requests all the time from our readers for more direct, one-on-one help with items related to Paleo Cleanse and transitioning into Paleo full time. To help serve our readers better we decided to offer some of the most requested services.

To take a look at our featured services please visit our Paleo Cleanse Services page here.

To good health!

Camilla & Melissa

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Carrots, Apples & Ginger Oh My!

The summer is the perfect time for some refreshing juice. It’s also a great way to incorporate some nutrients that you may not usually consume into your diet. This happens to be one of my favorite juice recipes, it’s a wonderful and refreshing mix of carrots, apples and ginger!

INGREDIENTS

1 apple
3 – 4 large carrots, peeled
1/2 a thumb size of ginger root, peeled

EQUIPMENT

juicer (I purchased mine at my local grocery store for $30, it works like a charm)

RECIPE

Cut your apple, carrots and ginger into chunks that will fit in your juicer and juice them!
That’s all folks!

This recipe is very simple and can easily be adjusted to your taste buds. Try different amounts of each ingredient until you find the perfect combination for yourself. I also like to serve mine over ice.

Happy Juicing!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Sweet Potato Steak Fries

This recipe was inspired by my co-author Camilla. She had told me that while baking steak in her oven, she would cover it with vegetables and everything would be done at the same time and ready to go. This sounded delicious and almost too easy to be true, not to mention it required only one dish which I’m a huge fan of. So I decided to give it a shot but I decided to change it up a little with sweet potatoes and make sweet potato steak fries.

INGREDIENTS

steak (your choice here, I used two fillets)
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium sweet potatoes

RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350 °F.
Skin sweet potatoes and cut into fries, keep sweet potatoes roughly 1/8″ thick to ensure they cook quickly.
In an oven safe dish, place steak and cover with sweet potatoes.
Pour coconut oil over sweet potatoes and steak, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake until your steak is cooked to your liking. This will depend upon your type of steak and it’s thickness.
Remove the steak and let cool.
Stir sweet potatoes to cover with steak juices. Continue to bake until you can easily poke a fork through your sweet potatoes, then remove and let cool.

***note: you may have noticed that this recipe doesn’t have times and this is largely because the size of your steak may require you too cook it longer and leave the sweet potatoes in for much less time. or vis versa. For reference, I had 1″ fillets. I cooked the steak covered with sweet potatoes for about, 20 – 25 minutes and then I cooked my sweet potatoes for about another 20 minutes. Keep your eye on this while it cooks and follow the general cook times listed for your steak, when the sweet potatoes can be poked through with a fork they are done as well.

This will quickly become one of your favorite ways to cook sweet potatoes. They’re easy to make and packed full of flavor. If you’re not a fan of steak you could easily play with this recipe and try switching out the type of meat you’re using.

Have fun and happy cooking!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!