Apple, Carrot Cake

We celebrated my daughter's 5th birthday today with friends and family.  She needed a cake that was grain, dairy, and sugar free, and she requested that it be an apple, carrot cake.  I used this Paleo Carrot Cake recipe as my starting point and made a few adaptations to make it work for her party. 

1 cup honey
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
12 eggs
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 1/8 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots (about 3 medium)
1 1/2 cups shredded apples (about 2 apples)

I peeled and roughly chopped the carrots and apples, and then I shredded them in my food processor attachment for my Ninja Mega Kitchen System.  Mix all the ingredients together saving the carrot/apple mixture and coconut flour for last.  For cupcakes, I baked these for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

For icing, I made this recipe for Salted Raw Carmel Dip.  Typically, I make this to serve as a sweet dip with apple slices for a special treat for the kids, but I thought that the flavors would go well with the carrot cake too.  It was a hit!  The kids, and especially the all important birthday girl, loved it.

Sloppy Joes (GAPS and Paleo friendly)

Sloppy Joe's are a kid favorite at my house.  I have to admit that I grew up eating Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce and served it to my own kids.  What's wrong with Manwich, right? Unfortunately, it is not GAPS legal for a couple of reasons.  First, it contains high fructose corn syrup.  Second, it is sold in a BPA lined can. 

So what's a mom to do?  Find a recipe and make it herself.

Here's the basic recipe that I use:
GAPS Legal Sloppy Joes

My kids love this!  Although the first time that I made it, they picked around the peppers.  The next time I made it I made the sauce separate from the ground beef so that I could puree it before adding it to the beef.  Worked like a charm!  I saute the onions, peppers, and garlic with ghee in a skillet.  Then I mix this mixture along with the other ingredients for the sauce into a food processor to puree it.  Then I just brown my ground beef in the same pan and stir in the add the sauce once the meat is cooked thoroughly.  No more chunks and kid approved!  I typically serve this with these Coconut Flour Biscuits or Paleo Sandwich Rounds and a green vegetable.  In order to avoid BPA, I made this recipe with Bionature Strained Tomatoes which is sold in a glass jar.