Simple Paleo Chocolate Cake

In honor of reaching my day 30 (of my Whole30) I am sharing this delicious chocolate cake recipe with you. And yes, it's paleo!! My husband is not much of a dessert guy but he's always been a fan of chocolate cake drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and caramel sauce (otherwise known as a Better Than Sex Cake). Recently he asked if I could make one for him, so I scoured the internet and Pinterest, sure someone had attempted to make this style cake with paleo ingredients. I didn't find anything like it!! But I did find plenty of ideas for chocolate cake. While I was searching for a recipe, I realized that my brain can translate into paleo. I was reading recipes without a single compliant ingredient and "translating" to compliant ingredients. Here is the final cake we came up with. We couldn't make a poke cake style exactly, where the sauce soaks into holes you poke in the cake, so the sauce became a topping instead.

Paleo Chocolate Cake with Caramel Sauce

For the cake:
1 c. almond butter
2 large eggs
1/3 c. melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 c. coconut palm sugar*
1/3 c. water*

For the caramel sauce:
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/3 c. coconut palm sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease 9x9 pan well with oil of choice. (Coconut, olive...)

Pour can of coconut milk in sauce pan on medium low heat and add sugar for topping. When steam begins to lift turn heat down to low and allow to reduce up to an hour, stirring occasionally. When reduced to about half remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place all ingredients for cake in blender or food processor. I found it easiest to leave the almond butter out until all other ingredients were well mixed and slowly add it. When it is well mixed pour batter into your greased pan and spread out evenly. Place cake in oven and bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve cake with coconut milk topping and enjoy!!

Feel like making it feel a little fancier and  have time to plan ahead? Store an opened can of coconut milk in your fridge for a few days and it will turn into a whipped topping like consistency!


*You can also use maple syrup or honey, but if you use a liquid sweetener omit the extra water.

The Truth about Grains

It seems as if everyone has jumped on the gluten free band wagon these days! Stores are over flowing with products originally designed for people with celiacs, but these products are purchased by just about everyone!! What's the big deal about gluten and why do we cut all grains in a Paleo / Primal diet?

The truth about grains and their nutritional value may be a new thought to you. The main purpose of a grain is to reproduce for it's parent plant. It is a little package specially designed to help it grow into a new plant itself. To make this little package something desirable to eat, it needs to be processed. During processing the bran and germ portion of the grain seed is removed, and thereby removing the fiber content. Later fiber is added back in to these foods, but adding it back in does not provide any benefits.

Some may ask, what about whole grains? They have fiber that is useful to the body! If you look at whole grains only for their fiber content you may see them as beneficial. But when you look at the whole picture it doesn't seem worth it to get your fiber from whole grains instead of fruits and vegetables that pack a nutritional punch along with their fiber content.

Aside from fiber, whole grains contain a problematic protein that for many can cause serious health issues. Celiacs are an obvious example, gluten causes an immune reaction that if not treated properly (by cutting all gluten from the diet) can be departmental if not deadly. But gluten is just the most commonly talked about protein that can cause issues. Prolamins found in wheat, rye and barley can cause irritation in your stomach and cause a leaky gut, meaning that these particles can pass into your blood stream. When those particles are able to cross over they cause and immune response. Grains like corn and oats contain a different prolamin protein that may cause a similar response.

This immune response can show up as a number of different things like asthma, allergies, arthritis and even as autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, Grave's and Hashimoto's disease. For people who deal with an autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis, continuing to eat these proteins and grains only compounds the problem. It creates more inflammation in a body that is already trying to quiet many other inflammatory fires.

Perhaps your skeptical about this information. You have the opportunity to become your own experiment. Try cutting out all grains from your diet for 30 days. See how you feel, and then reintroduce them slowly to find any adverse reactions. Personally I did not see benefits until I cut out all grains from my diet. Once you see the benefits, it is very rare for someone to feel the need to add these problematic foods back into their diet.

Paleo Lifestyle for an AutoImmune World

Paleo / Primal way of eating has taking the world by storm. Is this just another fad? Another weight loss gimmick that will be here today and gone tomorrow? And what does this way of eating have to do with autoimmune diseases, more specifically MS? Many people are asking these questions, and I'm assuming you are wondering some of the same things since you are reading this blog.

What is a Paleo / Primal diet?
 I don't like using the word diet. People throw it around so easily, and usually it refers to a change in eating for a short amount of time to lose a certain amount of weight. Paleo / Primal is intended to change your eating habits for the rest of your life, and at least change the way you see your meals. Making educated choices when it comes to what you put in your mouth. The general rules of any Paleo / Primal diet are as follows:

DO NOT EAT:

• Grains, including pseudo grains like quinoa
• Dairy, including cow, goat and sheep milk products
• Legumes, including soy, peas, green beans and peanuts
• Potatos, except sweet potatos
• Refined Sugars

DO EAT:

• Plenty of grassfed meats including beef, pork and chicken
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Vegetables, including sweet potatos
• Fruit
• Nuts
• Healthy fats from olives, avocados and olive oils

What effect does a Paleo / Primal diet have on autoimmune diseases?

 It can have a profound effect. Many have reported that their autoimmune disease and symptoms have gone into full remission from following a Paleo / Primal diet. Why is this? The biggest theory has to do with a leaky gut. Particles from grains and dairy can get through your intestines, and into your blood stream. For a healthy person, their immune system takes care of these particles and they have no serious problems. For someone with an autoimmune disease, your immune system is already seriously confused. It has been attacking itself, and doesn't really know what to do with these foreign food particles in your blood stream. This confusion can cause more inflammation in a body that is already trying to cool many other inflammation fires. Cutting out these proteins can help cool inflammation and possibly help you get rid of it forever.

What is the AutoImmune Protocol?
 The AutoImmune Protocol is an addition to a Paleo / Primal diet that asks you to cut out:

• Eggs
• Nightshades, like tomatos, eggplant, peppers, tomatillos
• Nuts
• Seeds

We will discuss the reasons behind cutting out these specific foods in further posts.