Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole (and the Rest of Sunday Dinner)

Sunday is a big cooking day at Casa de la CupcakesOMG! It's when I go shopping for the next 4 days of paleo meals and do little more than stand in the kitchen and cook for 6 hours, wash my hair, and watch Drop Dead Diva. By the end of it, I'm pretty much in no mood to make an entirely separate meal to celebrate the end of a day of what should be rest. However, this Sunday, Kyle and I had company for dinner and we wanted to do something a bit more special. Perhaps inspired by our recent trip to Texas, Kyle was all aflutter at the prospect of making pulled pork, so that's what he did while I whipped up my favorite mayo-less cole slaw and a new recipe for sweet potato casserole. And of course, it was all entirely paleo.

 As a kid Even now, my favorite part about the sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving was the toasted marshmallow topping. I would eat just the marshmallows and my grandmother would add more to the potatoes and toast them again because I liked them so much. So okay, we're agreed that marshmallows have about as much nutritional value as a tank of gas, which is why I subbed in a cinnamon maple pecan topping instead.

Four gigantic sweet potatoes later, whipped with some coocnut milk, spices, maple syrup, and a toasted pecan topping and your new paleo-improved side dish is complete!

Kyle's cousin Brooke made dessert--homemade peach ice cream made with grassfed cream, roasted peaches, egg yolks, and maple syrup. I mean, it was G.D. incredible y'all!

Sweet Potato Casserole
Makes a ton (i.e., 12 servings-ish)

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• juice of half an orange

Pecan topping

• 3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. While water comes to a boil, peel and dice sweet potatoes into large chunks.

2. Add sweet potato chunks to water. Boil until fork tender--about 10 minutes.

3. Drain potatoes, then dump them back in the large pot with all the other ingredients. Using a hand mixer, blend until potatoes reach desired consistency and flavor. (You may like to add a little more coconut milk, spices, or syrup based on your taste.)

4. In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients until pecans are well coated.

5. Dump sweet potatoes into an oven safe dish and top with pecans.

6. Bake in preheated oven until topping is browned--about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Like a Kid in a Whole Foods Store

{Aisle upon aisle of organic packaged food. You get the oxymoron in that statement, right??}

Did you know that the Whole Foods in downtown Austin is the city's biggest tourist attraction? I know right, seems wrong to me too, but that's what the lady in "Candy Island" told me. Whether it's a lie or not doesn't really concern me, because I brought my camera and took pictures of everything to share with you. I'm pretty sure there's a segment of the Austin population that assumes I'd never seen a grocery store before. I swear, you've never seen one like this.

{Oodles and oodles of fresh, local, organic herbs}

{The produce section was vast and gorgeous}

{I saw these and had to have them! They reminded me of the cane sugar
sticks you get in your fruity cocktail on vacation. I've yet to use them.}

{And here, we have the spice aisle. Or as I like to call it "Spice Isle," for no good reason other than I think it sounds cool. They literally have giant jars of any spice you can imagine.}

{I know it looks like poo...I mean, I know it...but it's actually chocolate peanut butter.
Freshly ground!! Yeah, not so gross now, huh?}

{Okay, yeah, it still looks like poop.}

{Also part of Spice Isle, oodles of flavored cane sugars. The vanilla bean spoke volumes
to me, but unfortunately, I didn't think travelling with a pound of a powdery
white substance was the smartest thing I could do.}

{The bakery had an amazing selection of pastries. I'm still regretting not trying one of these white chocolate brioche rolls.}

{Candy Island is just one of many pods like this in the flagship Whole Foods. They also had a version for the seafood, meat, wine, and pasta sections where you could actually sit down and order food.}

{I've got a thing for vanilla. What can I say?}

{Fourth of July themed chocolate-covered apples}

{Gorgeous marbled chocolate bark.}

{Pretty marzipan fruit. So much prettier than it actually tastes.}

{Marshmallow cups that look like cupcakes!!! I can't even.}

{I mean, don't even get me started on the cookie bar. It was EVERYTHING!}

{Longhorn cookies}

{I mentioned earlier the different pods where you could actually sit down and eat. Well, Kyle and I stopped for lunch at the seafood pod. We had this amazing calamari appetizer...}

{...and I had these fantastic tilapia tacos. Possibly the best I've ever had. If they don't have what you want--not likely--you can pick something form the seafood case and they'll prepare it for you. The best part? Everything was around $10! I would eat here every day if I lived in Austin.}

{And then we got a Root Beer Float. Why? Because why not?!}

{Following our adventure around Whole Foods, we checked into our room at the W.
The room was the perfect combination of Austin eclecticism and W style.}

{Heavenly bed. Truly heavenly.}

{The W stocks Bliss toiletries for guests. I probably swiped 3 days worth of refills
to take home with me. FYI, we stayed one night.}

{Eventually my root beer float sugar high started to wear off, so I sought refuge in the vanilla jelly beans I found at Whole Foods. They're almost TOO cool for the W.}

Anyone else been to this Whole Foods? How great is it?? How many hours did you spend there? And what did you eat??

Friday Fun Find: Sephora Pure Beige Eyeliner

{Sephora Nano Eyeliner, $5}

I've heard that upon birth, your eyes are the size they will be the rest of your life. Like, they don't grow. Your face grows around them. I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is, I’m sure my mom suffered through many questions about her baby’s Japanimation-style eyes. Despite my freakishly small hands, I don’t suffer from the same diminutiveness on my face—my “big eyes” are one of the things I get complimented on the most. So the last thing I need is to make them look bigger, but does that stop me? NEVER! Which is why when I spotted this shimmery beige eyeliner at Sephora with my little big eye, I had to have it.

Legend has it that beige and white liners used in the waterline of the eye can help open the eye and make it appear larger. As we’ve established, I don’t require help in this area, but I do want to look bright-eyed and bushytail, so my fellow wide-eyed ladies will be happy to know that it has the added benefit of doing that. I’ve been using it in my waterline, but I’m sure you could also use this on your top lashline to an ethereal, summery look. A bit of mascara, a little peachy blush on the apples of your cheeks and BAM, you’re in the murda bizness. 

This Just In: Austin is Still Weird

{Me in front of a Barbarella wall--I later found out this was actually the
front of a bar aptly named "Bar-barella." Clever, Austin. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrry clever.}

I'm no fool. I know you've all been dying to see pictures of my trip to Austin a few weeks ago. Well, you're in luck, because today I don't feel like blogging much, so I'm just gonna slap some pictures up and let you marinate in your jealousy. Enjoy y'all!

{The first Tex Mex meal of the trip. There were about 4 total. In 7 days. In my mind, it wasn't enough.}

 {A random planter covered in stickers.}

 {Live music is EVERYWHERE in Austin, and it's all really good. The locals take it for granted though. The people dancing in this picture are probably not locals.}

 {On our first night out, I was approached by a man who asked me what my favorite animal was. I replied, "something I'm not allergic to." Then I took my assignment more seriously and said "Seahorse!"He then took out a sheet of foil, told a few jokes about a fight between a grilled cheese and a taco, and a few minutes later I was holding this amazing creation. I can't think of a better story to characterize Austin.}

 {I saw this wooden hitch and felt compelled to do a lil' ho down.}

{Then I was like, "oooo, it would be such a good 'blogger' picture to take a close up of this old driftwood at an angle."}

{I mean, you can't go to Austin without a trip to the legendary SaltLick for barbecue!}

 {Kyle had never had a Big Red, but he was convinced he needed to order one. He's partial to red...you know. Anyway, he hated it, but it reminded me of my childhood. I used to love the bubblegum flavored soft drink. I'd actually forgotten about it, as it's only available in Texas? I think? Is that right? Maybe Arkansas, but then that's probably it.}

 {I got the mixed plate of sausage, ribs, and brisket.}

 {They also serve it with this amazing German potato salad...}

 {...beans...}

 {...and gorgeous fluffy white bread.}

 {Look, I ate it all, okay??? I'm not even a little embarrassed.}

{Kyle and I in front of a fountain that's probably important but I don't know 'cus I don't read plaques or whatever at the University of Texas.}

If you're wondering where all the pictures of the Whole Foods are (Whole Foods was founded in Austin, in case you don't know), they're getting their own post because it was just.that.good.

Who else is a fan of Austin? What's your favorite BBQ place? And what do you do stay cool in the heat???