Paleo(ish) Whipped Cream

My new favorite  coffee tool is liquid stevia. You can find it at trader joes, whole foods, etc. It is a zero calorie sweetener that is actually natural!

So after experimenting with it for a while I developed this recipe.

Paleo Whipped Cream

1/4 cup of cream or almond milk
5 drops of liquid stevia

Simply mix ingredients with frother and you have amazing whip cream for your coffee!

Paleo Caramel Sauce

I have a cousin who loves Starbucks as much as me, she is particularly in love with their Caramel Mocha Frappuccino. Frappuccinos are synonymous in paleo as a sugar coma. So I'm working on developing a healthy yet tasty "Fauxccino"(get it? Faux+ccino).
My first successful component of this drink was the sauce! A caramel glaze.

Paleo Caramel Glaze

2 Tbsp. of Honey
1 Tsp. of Butter
1 Tbsp. of Milk/Coconut Milk

Put honey and butter together in the microwave for about 30 seconds, to get everything melted and gooey. Mix in the milk until the sauce is consistent throughout, you could also whip it if you feel the desire too.
Enjoy!

Look for the rest of the recipe soon!

Paleo McDonalds

Credit paleodietlifestyle.com

I know this is a coffee blog and all, but I think you'll like this. I'm going on a trip in a little while and I realize that there will probably be a time when my only option for food is the fast food giant McDonalds. Rather than winging it and feeling like crap on my trip, I'm going to go in with a plan. Here is my compilation of the best food (I stress 'best' because there really aren't any 100% paleo foods at McDonalds).

Breakfast

1. Try one of their break fast sandwiches without any bread. 
2. Coffee or Latte (just watch out, they will want you to add syrups).

Lunch

1. Go for the McDouble without a bun or ketchup, it has the most real ingredients and protein for the price.
2. Apple slices
3. Side Salad (watch the dressings)
4. Water

Dinner

1. Premium Salad with Grilled Chicken
2. French Fries (if you do potatoes and can handle vegetable oil)
3. Iced Tea (unsweetened)

Starbucks Splurge on Paleo

You know that moment when see that Starbucks Frappuccinos are 50% off and you are really want one? This happened recently to me. I know that Frappuccinos are definitely not paleo, but when you need to bend the rules (or use your 10% non-paleo food as my family puts it) how do you do it without getting sick? The last time I had a slice of cake I was as sick as a dog. My strategy here is to watch the sugar as only a couple of their Frappuccinos have wheat. In my opinion, having artificial sugar once in a great while is better than the insulin spike from refined sugar.

Tip #1

• Go for the "Coffee Frappuccino® Light Blended Beverage" without whip. According to Starbucks's website there is no added sugar in it.

Now that is literally coffee, milk, and ice blended. For me, if I'm going to splurge I want something with a little more flavor.

Tip #2

• Most major flavors have "Light" options, such as mocha, cinamon dulce, caramel. These use artificial sweeteners to keep the sugar content below 23g.

Credit to Starbucks.com

The only problem with the light type is that it is made with non-fat milk. From a paleo perspective, it is better to have whole milk than non-fat. You can order whole milk in your "light" drink, but I can guarantee the barista will give you a weird look.

Tip #3

• Forget the whipped cream, it is really foamy sugar and oil.

I have encountered some Starbucks with real whipped cream, but most don't have it.

Tip #4

• Don't be afraid to order a tall/small.

If you don't know how your body will handle milk and artificial sweeteners now that you started paleo, this is a good idea.

Tip #5

• Make your own!

You can then control the ingredients and even make it pure paleo if you want. Check out this recipe!

PALEO FUDGE!

I was surfing the internet for paleo recipes and came across this guy from The Detoxinista . I edited it a little bit. After you try it, it is hard to stop making it.
I'm seriously warning you!
It's like darn good.

Paleo Fudge
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon almond butter
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch fine sea salt
Directions:Mix ingredients in a small bowl and it is ready to eat. I personally microwave mine and mix again as the  almond butter can be hard to entirely mix in. I've also found that putting it on a piece of wax paper and freezing for 15 minutes turns it into like a candy bar. Enjoy!

The Perfect Cappuccino!

After repeatedly attempting to create a good Starbuck's like cappuccino, I think I got it!
I turned on my budget espresso maker this morning and concocted this recipe:

Paleo(ish) Cappuccino

3 tablespoons of espresso (or 6 for a double shot)
1/2 cup of half and half or milk
1 teaspoon of maple syrup (optional)

Put 1/4 cup of the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds, whip with Ikea frother and add maple syrup if you want. Microwave the rest of the milk in microwave for 30 seconds and leave in the mug, add espresso and mix. Then pour the foamed milk on top. Enjoy!

Iced Latte

After a long period of trial and error. I think I have developed a Paleo Iced Latte that is pretty tasty!
Sorry the recipe is a little vague, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing.

About equal parts brewed coffee and almond milk.
1 tbsp of maple syrup
Ice to taste

Put the (preferably hot) coffee in a glass, then add maple syrup. Use the super frother thing to mix in the syrup. After, add the almond milk, froth. Add ice and enjoy!

Here is a picture of the glass, it didn't last long enough to take a picture!

Caramel Latte! Paleo Style

A quick (yes a little vague) recipe I developed.

Starbucks Caramel coffee

Almond milk

Maple syrup

I brewed about 2 cups of coffee, poured equally into three mugs. I threw probably 2/3 cup of almond milk into the microwave for a minute. Whipped with probably a tablespoon of maple syrup, poured equally over the mugs. I prefer to mix my latte just enough so that the coffee and cream are mixed but the foam is still mostly cream.

Let me know what you think!

Staying Paleo at Starbucks

We have all run into the situation where you need a quick coffee. It gets a little bit trickier at Starbucks with all the lingo that sounds like foreign language.

1. Normal Coffee

You are pretty safe with any black coffee. Just watch decaf coffee because the decaffeination process usually uses potentially harmful chemicals.
If you need a form of cream go with whole milk, it is the lesser of the evils. They also offer soy for our lactose sensitive friends if you are willing to consume a bean product.

2. Chocolate Beverages (Hot Chocolate)

These are full of sugary syrups and sweetened cream. It's best to avoid these.

3. Espresso Beverages

Espresso or Americano (espresso with water) is the best choice, but it is not for the faint of heart as they are strong. If you are willing to drink milk these are safe : Cappuccinos (espresso with milk), lattes (espresso with more milk than a cappuccinos), and Espresso con Panna (espresso topped with whipped cream). Also, anything that is added to them (vanilla, caramel, mocha, etc) is generally full of sugar.

4. Frappuccinos

Frappuccinos are coffee or tea blended with cream, syrups, and ice. As much as I love these, they are full of sugar even if they aren't sweet (Green Tea Frappuccino has 33g of sugar in 8oz). I would avoid these all together.

5. Smoothies

Starbucks advertises real fruit smoothies which that is true, but they put whey protein and fiber powder in them too. Besides that, they too have enough sugar to put you in "sugar-coma".

6. Teas

All pure teas are paleo (except passion, they add syrup to it), watch out for the latte and lemonade versions because they have added sugar. Also opt for the full leaf version (if available) because of the lesser quality of bag tea (see my earlier posts).

7. Refreshers

These are sweet beverages with caffeine derived from coffee without the coffee flavor. Starbucks says they are fruit juice, real fruit, and their green coffee extract. Which is all paleo right? Not so fast, the "real" fruit juice is concentrate with added to sugar to reconstitute.

8. Food

Most Starbucks food is sweetened or contains wheat, the only exception I could find was their fruit blend.

If there is any other Starbucks goodies you want to learn more about go to www.starbucks.com (where I did my research).

UPDATE
I have tried the "light" Frappuccinos, they use a sugar free syrup and have less overall sugar. This is a good choice to splurge on if need be.

A Paleo Macchiato?

This morning I woke up with an urge that would (when I wasn't Paleo) drive me to the nearest Starbucks. How good does a Macchiato sound? For non barista people a macchiato is pretty much a chocolate latte. Because I don't eat refined sugar and no one else on the web had an easy paleo recipe, I invented my own.

I microwaved (I know it's not technically paleo, but it is so convenient!) about a 1/3rd cup of half and half milk for 1 minute. I poured it into my milk frothing cup, added 1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. You can then use the milk frother to whip everything together into a fluffy cloud. Add as much brewed coffee as you want and be sure to mix everything again. Enjoy!

Let me know how yours turned out on the comments below.

Tea Bags vs. Loose Leaf Tea

For some tea lovers, loose leaf teas are the only way to go. Others choose tea bags for convenience or price. Why is it even an important question? Aren't tea bags the same as loose tea but in bags?

Bag teas are the majority of the teas sold in the US, they are the cheapest teas available from the bottom of the tea barrel. Most people only have tasted bagged tea and deem tea gross or bad tasting. I don't blame them! They brew quicker than loose leaf making them great for convenience but not taste.
The way bagged tea came about was a tea merchant in NYC decided to ditch expensive tins for tea transport and sale, instead he put the tea in silk bags. Confused customers put the bags in hot water and brewed their tea very easily and bag tea became the new normal in tea. Gradually, because you can't see through a tea bag, the quality of the tea was reduced because "no one would know". Now you know the story of the bag tea we have today.

Once you try loose leaf tea you will not want to go back.

From a paleo perspective, bagged teas can have chemicals in the paper bag and some of the benefits of tea are lessened because the dust used doesn't retain its nutrients during storage well.


Loose leaf tea not only tastes better but you can brew it more than once!
So why not try it out? There are also full leaf teas in large bags for the ease of cheap bagged tea and the flavor of loose leaf tea.

My High-Tech Equipment

For every task there is necessary equipment! So here is an overview of the tools I will be using.

#1 The Metal Barista Cup

It may not be a necessity, but it is very handy for espresso style drinks. I use it to foam milk in because the curved sides prevent flying foam from getting on you. Ikea $5.99

#2 The Milk Frother

This simple piece of technology creates milk foam/froth and mixes the drink. I couldn't live without it.
Ikea $2.99

#3 An Espresso Maker

It doesn't have to be $200 to make espresso. I picked mine up on clearance for $10 and it tastes the same as Starbucks! GSI $35

#4 PerfecTea maker

Now you don't need my fancy loose leaf tea maker, just something that can brew tea. Teavana $19.95

#A Mug

We, of course, need a mug to drink our creations. I like ceramic mugs without any graphics, they can take a beating and the microwave surprisingly well!

A Hearty Welcome!

The weather is cold outside and we all want our warm mug of something. If you're paleo, like me, you know it is not as easy to find those tasty drinks. There are few versions of our favorite coffee house drinks that are paleo. That's why I'm here, to create, test, and pass along paleo beverages. Now I'm not strict paleo so I will occasionally include milk in my recipes.

If you are wondering what the paleo lifestyle is and its benefits check this site out: Link