I decorated my daughter’s birthday cupcakes with purple M&Ms (which are not Paleo!) Of all of my cake recipes, this is my favorite so far.  The cake flavor and texture is fabulous and what better (or more classic) way to top a vanilla cake than with a light and fluffy dark chocolate frosting (you can also skip the whipping step for a more ganache-like texture).  You can definitely serve this cake to non-Paleo company (I just did at my daughter’s third birthday party and everyone loved it!). I have made this cake both as a layer cake and as cupcakes.  It works very well eithe ..read more

When you get bored of garden salads, this salad has it all:  peppery arugula, sweet strawberries, spiced pecans, the tang of goat cheese (if you tolerate goat dairy and chose to include it in your diet) and a zesty lime dressing to finish it off!  You can make the pecans ahead of time and store any leftovers in a plastic container in your fridge.  There is a little honey added to the pecans.  It’s not enough to result in candied pecans, but it’s essential in helping the spices stick to the nuts. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 6 minutes for pecans Serves: 2   ..read more

This just may be the most decadent breakfast ever.  It’s perfect beside some eggs and sausage for a luxurious Sunday Brunch.  In fact, we treat this more as dessert in our house than a breakfast because it is quite sweet.  I had never cooked plantains before going Paleo and I have fallen in love with the flavor of super ripe plantains (a kind of cross between banana and apple). These plantain pancakes are delicious both warm and cold, so I often make a larger batch of them in the evening (and I just scale up or down depending on how many really ripe plantains I happen to have ar ..read more

I have been working on this recipe on and off for years, going through dozens of iterations to get the perfect shortbread texture using combinations of grain-free flours and starches for the bottom layer of these custard bars (the custard was actually much easier and I nailed it in the third iteration). And, as I get ready to launch my new website, Nutrivore.com in the coming weeks, I had all but given up ever being happy enough with this recipe to share it… until I tried it one last time using Beth Blends Grain-Free Flour Blend. Wow! Over the last year or so and after Beth sent me some bags o ..read more

I got carried away buying mint at the Farmer’s Market and was looking for some new inventive ways to use it (besides homemade mind tea and strawberry-mint margaritas!).  So, I had one of those “what do I have in the fridge that will go with…” moments, and came up with this unique and ridiculously delicious Shaved Brussels Slaw.  It was amazing beside lamb (because mint and lamb are the bomb), but also tasted great with chicken and pork!  It’s delicious enough that you could even turn it into a dinner salad by tossing in some sliced steak or cubed chicken (in which case it would ..read more

When I cut into our big pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern this year, the pumpkin smelled so good!  It’s a funny thing about eating very strictly Paleo:  foods that used to smell great don’t anymore and foods that used to be sorta ordinary smell FANTASTIC!  I resolved to eat that pumpkin in addition to the pie pumpkins I had already purchased. I wanted to try something savory with my new abundance of fresh pumpkin and I remembered a recipe posted on www.robbwolf.com for pumpkin chili.  The recipe itself wasn’t that inspiring to me, but the idea was!  One of the foods tha ..read more

I love to roast large hunks of meat.  It’s easy and quick to prepare, the meat lasts several nights (yay for leftovers!), the meat is usually much cheaper per pound than more labor intensive (by the butcher) cuts, and roasts are delicious!  This is my favorite way to cook a pork loin roast, which is surprisingly lean.  I typically buy conventional pork loin because it is so lean (at least until I can afford to eat pastured meat exclusively!).  I like to buy the whole tenderloins at Costco (typically around $2/pound) and butcher them myself (takes about 5 minutes to cut it i ..read more

These Perfect Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes truly are perfect. They are easy enough to handle that you can make them a decent size, they have a great spongy and not too soft texture, and they have a terrific pumpkin flavor.  The secret was to use pumpkin powder, which is simply ground dehydrated pumpkin.  I have used store-bought pumpkin powder and I’ve made my own; both work equally well. You might have to adjust the temperature a bit with your first batch or two until you know exactly what setting to use with your stove, cooking fat, and frying pan.  Also note that pumpkin pancakes a ..read more

Many micronutrients are immune modulators, meaning that sufficient amounts of these substances are required to regulate the immune system. Although epidemiological studies reveal a correlation between dietary intake of specific nutrients and increased risk of autoimmune disease, these studies are mostly designed to direct future research rather than to insinuate causality. In truth, in most cases, we don’t know if nutrient deficiency is a precursor to autoimmune disease or if nutritional deficiency is a result of autoimmune disease. Dietary insufficiency or malabsorption issues contribute to ..read more

After suffering from fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, and chronic headaches and migraines, Laura reversed her autoimmune symptoms by changing her diet and lifestyle using the Autoimmune Protocol. As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and AIP Certified Coach, she is passionate about helping other women in their journey to better health.  Laura has been featured on CBS, WUSA9, Great Day Washington, and in Paleo Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine, and Tysons Premiere Magazine. When she’s not working with clients, you can find Laura playing games with her two boys, cheering on Duke basketball w ..read more