The Super Bowl is this weekend, which, I dunno, means something about football. To me, it's just always been a terrific snacking opportunity. Being Paleo for parties and sporting events is often pretty difficult, which is why I always try to eat dinner before I go, and always contribute a dish so I know there's at least one thing there that I can snack on.

This year, I'm bringing my Paleo take on Pigs in a Blanket! If you haven't noticed yet, my Paleo version of anything that is usually covered in bread is just wrapped in bacon instead. I also made a honey mustard sauce for dipping, because I think Super Bowl snacks are all about dipping, and I totally love a little homemade sauce to fancy up a dish. Happy Super Bowl weekend, friends, and go...team, go!

   

Ingredients:

One to two packages of cocktail smokies

Bacon (I love Trader Joes' Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon)

Two tablespoons Dijon mustard

Two tablespoons of honey

Salt, pepper, and a spritz of lemon juice to taste

1. Cut each strip of bacon into three parts.

2. Wrap each piece around one of the sausages. Secure with a toothpick.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

4. While that's in the oven, put mustard and honey in a bowl and mix together with a spoon.

5. Add salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

6. Serve the honey mustard with your Paleo Pigs in a Blanket and enjoy!

 

I have a confession: I don't own any fancy kitchen gadgets. I need one of those spiral things that turn vegetables into noodles, but I don't have one. While I want a juicer and an espresso maker with a steam wand and a food processor, I'm also in that weird liminal space between forgetting your kitchen things in storage and creating a wedding registry full of awesome stuff that other people will probably buy for you. Normal, right?

Whether you're with me or not, you can still make Paleo pasta with zucchini with just a vegetable peeler.

Ingredients:

Three or four zucchini

One pound of grass-fed beef

Half an onion

One can of crushed tomatoes

Garlic (fresh or powder), crushed red pepper

Olive oil, salt, pepper

1. Chop onion and add it to a large pan with some olive oil.

2. Once the onions are sauteed well, add beef. 

Season with salt, pepper, and a few shakes of crushed red pepper.

3. Brown meat and when it's cooked through, add can of tomatoes and reduce heat to low.

4. With vegetable peeler, slice zucchini into flat, long noodles (see image below). Don't cut yourself!

5. Transfer meat sauce from pan to a bowl and quickly saute zucchini noodles with some more olive oil and about a teaspoon of garlic.

6. To serve, plate the noodles and spoon meat sauce on top. Enjoy!

  

Fall is coming to an close and I think we're finally entering the end of Pumpkin Everything Season--to me, Christmas and New Year's Eve feel more like chocolate and caramel things. But I didn't want to let it go without one more festive pumpkin recipe! And when Lavazza sent me some coffee to try out and challenged me to create a complimentary recipe, I knew these little pumpkin custards would be just perfect.

Ingredients:

One cup of canned pumpkin

One teaspoon vanilla extract

One teaspoon cinnamon

Four eggs

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

One cup of canned coconut milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Boil some water.

2. Mix the pumpkin and the spices into one bowl. In another, lightly beat eggs and add maple syrup, vanilla, and coconut milk.

3. Slowly add egg mixture into pumpkin mixture and combine well.

4. Pour the mixture into half-cup ramekins. Put the ramekins in a baking pan and carefully add boiling water to the dish so that it surrounds them. Don't spill water into the custard! Not that I did that or anything (I totally did).

5. Gently place the pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes (this will totally depend on your oven--mine were totally done after half an hour, but I've read other custard recipes that call for an hour of baking time. They'll be done when you put a knife into the center and it comes out clean).

6. Serve with coffee!