More Food Processor Love

The love affair with my food processor certainly isn't dying anytime soon. In fact, day by day our love grows (ha, now you know I've taken a dive off the deep end!). I've been using my new gizmo for everything, from turning my paleo cocoa bites into something even more delicious to stuffing dates with "almond cream cheese" to making paleo "rice."  Ahh the marvels of the food processor.  So, to start off (and no, there's no picture of these), two Saturday's ago we had a 1/2 way mark potluck at Milestone Crossfit, it was a little paleo celebration of being half way through our eight week challenge.  Since we've all sworn off sugar and everyone else was bringing meat and veggies I decided to do a variation on my paleo cocoa bites.

Mexican Hot Chocolate Truffles
2 6oz Bags of Pitted Dates (nothing added to them)
1 5oz Bag, Unsweetened Coconut
2 Cups Cashews
1 Cup Pistachios
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Teaspoons Chipotle Pepper Powder
1 Tablespoon Mexican Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

This one is easy - it's really one step...throw everything in the food processor and pulse until it's chopped up nice and tiny and can be formed into balls, bars, etc. If your mixture needs a little moisture to come together, add hot water by the tablespoonful slowly (1 tbsp at a time).

These were a huge hit at the potluck, once of our coaches swore it was better than chocolate and one of my fellow challenge members told me 'bless you' for bringing them.  Ha, guess we are all surprised at how much we missed the sweet goodies!

My next feat from the food processor was to make some paleo 'rice' - using the fabulous instructions on Nom Nom Paleos' post about cauliflower rice, I  whipped up a big batch of 'rice' with one of the monstrous heads of cabbage in my weekly Farmhouse Delivery box.  I was really surprised at how simple it was to create rice.

A slightly blurry photo of just the rice:

What did I eat with my 'rice' you ask?  Well some amazing and quick Chicken Tikka Masala!  That recipe will be coming along shortly, I promise :)

Finally, to round off my food processor related creations, almond stuffed dates.  Nope it's not just an almond stuffed in a date.  In an effort to keep the book club snacks paleo, healthy and tasty I keep trying to find something interesting to take along.  With a few of the leftover dates from my truffles I searched for inspiration.  Interestingly, the vegan nut 'cream cheese' recipes I've seen provided just the right inspiration.

There are tons of variations on how to soak nuts and turn them into a cream cheese type texture, this is just the way I did it, I can't wait to experiment though to find new ways to do this and new flavors.

1 Cup Raw Almonds, soaked overnight in water
1-2 Teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar
3-4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1. Soak almonds overnight in water. After they have soaked, blanch them for 5 minutes in very hot water.
2. Pour off the hot water, pinch off the almond skin and set aside the almond meat.
3. Blend almonds with all remaining ingredients in a food processor.

*If it does not reach the texture you want, add a little bit of water (teaspoonfuls) until it does.  I added basil infused sunflower oil at this step to give it a little basil flavor.

Bacon-Wrapped, Almond Cream Cheese Stuffed Dates
1/2 Cup Almond Cream Cheese
14 Dates, Pitted
7 Strips Thinly Sliced Bacon

1. Split a date in half like a hot dog bun, leaving it intact.  Fill with a teaspoon or two of the almond cream cheese and freeze for at least one hour.
2. Remove from freezer and turn oven to 375 F.
3. Cut bacon into halves, use one half strip of bacon per date and wrap around.
4. Place dates on a baking rack (raised above cookie sheet) on a foil-lined (easier clean up) jelly roll pan.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until bacon is crisp or close to done, if bacon is not yet ready feel free to crisp it under the broiler.