Lil Cheezy

No cheese while Paleo?

I have a solution to this....

You do not have to say goodbye forever.

I would say in my first month or two I craved pizza and bagels the most. And what makes those two things so great? Cheese. How can you have pizza and bagels without some sort of cheese? You can't. Not ever worth it!

After the first 30 days of eating strictly paleo, I planned a cheat meal -- as it's okay to do cheat meals from time to time. However, I got very sick after indulging. 

When I wasn't paleo, I had been eating SO much cheese. I would get extra cheese on everything. Cheese was present in every one of my meals. My mom actually said to me recently, "Do you remember how much cheese you used to eat?" 

How could I forget? Now I realize that I didn't ever take the time to think about how it made me feel, or see how my body reacted to it. 

After my first cheat, I threw up for 3 whole days due to "blue cheese fondue" over potato chips. Excessive choice -- I realize this. Delicious choice, too. But I am so happy that I did eat it, because I may never have known that I so clearly have an aversion to dairy. I had been so used to feeling awful after all of these years eating cheese, and I didn't even realize it - and I didn't want to realize it either. 

Alas, here I am. I haven't had cheese in a while (and I am surviving!).

After scouring the internet, I ultimately was able to find the perfect recipe -- it MELTS and TASTES like real cheese!

I can't even think about taking credit for this cheese recipe though -- I have to give all props to Amy from Paleo Cupboard. This is amazing!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup raw pine nuts
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 dried oregano
• 1/2 dried basil
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• Dash of garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 tbsp grass-fed gelatin
• 1/4 cup extra light olive oil (plus a little more for greasing your ramekins/glass bowls)

Preparation

1. Place the nuts in a medium saucepan and cover the nuts with water. Place over medium-high heat and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow to lightly boil for about 15 minutes or until the nuts are very soft. Drain the nuts and transfer them to a food processor.
2. Add the dry ingredients/spices (salt, oregano, basil, black pepper and garlic powder) to the food processor and blend well until the mixture begins to form a paste.
3. Place the almond milk, lemon juice, vinegar, gelatin and olive oil in a medium saucepan. place over medium-high heat and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and allow to lightly boil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. The liquid will foam up, so I tend to stay by the stove and stir pretty continuously so that there is no over flow. The more you stare, the less foam build up there will be. 
4. Transfer the liquid to the food processor with the nut paste and blend until very smooth. Lightly grease the inside of 3 8 oz ramekins (or whatever glass bowls/cups you have in the kitchen) with extra light olive oil, and pour the liquid into each. Note: To oil the ramekins, you can use a basting brush or place a little oil on a paper towel and wipe the inside of the cups to coat.
5. Place the ramekins in the fridge and allow to set for about 2 hours, or until firm. If you plan on leaving the "cheese" in the fridge for more than a few hours, cover the top with plastic wrap. 

See below for pictures of my step-by-step reenactment -- and the final product!

I love to put this cheese on my eggs in the morning, or on paleo pizza. We've even made awesome nachos with it (obviously using homemade sweet potato chips instead of tortilla chips).

I hope you enjoy! You MUST try this. You won't need the real deal.

My next venture is finding a cream cheese substitute... So I will keep you posted!