Easter time...treat time!!

Look, I know you know that I whole heartily believe that Paleo peeps need to lay off the sweets. And I know you know that sugar is sugar no matter what form, albeit different qualities. That being said....It is Easter time and in my world that would call for a cute little coconut cake in the shape of a fluffy white bunny, or a yummy carrot cake. Well, I don't have that kind of recipe for you today, but I do have.......... Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pie with a Coconut Crust!!! Whoop-whoop!! I mean C'mon!! I could just throw all those ingredients in a blender, drink it and it would taste good, but I put a little more effort into it than that. I even made the mac butter myself. Follow me and I will tell you how this pie went down......

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1 Tablespoon of REAL maple syrup
pinch of salt

Filling
1 can of FULL FAT unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup of enjoy life semi sweet chocolate chips
1 package of knox unflavored gelatin
3/4 - 1 cup of macadamia nut butter (if you are making it yourself you need.. 1cup of macadamia nuts, 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut oil, 1 Tablespoon of REAL maple syrup, and a pinch of salt) 
chopped macadamia nuts for garnish

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees

2. First things first, make the crust. In your food processor dump your coconut, coconut oil, syrup and salt. Process until it starts to begin to come off the sides of the processor. About 2 minutes.

3. Dump mixture into an 8X8 glass baking dish and press into the bottom of the dish to form the crust. Bake in the 350 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You want it lightly, lightly brown but not burnt.

4. If you don't have store bought mac nut butter, make it.  So while the crust is baking, let's do that. You can wipe out your food processor real quick or not. Doesn't really matter. But in your food processor dump 1 cup of Macadamia nuts. Start processing.

5. You will have to stop, scrap down and start multiple times. Once it starts blending drizzle in the maple syrup, add your pinch of salt and drizzle in your coconut oil. It will probably take about 5 minutes of processing until your nuts start to look like nut butter.

6. Once it is done, scrap out into a large bowl add your 1 cup of chocolate chips to this bowl as well and set it aside

7. Check on your crust!! Don't forget about it. Once it is done set it aside to cool down.

8. Now in a medium sauce over medium heat pan dump in your coconut milk.

9. Sprinkle 1 package of plain gelatin in the milk and stir.

10. You want the milk to almost come to a boil and you want to keep stirring it until all the gelatin is dissolved. This will take about 5-7 minutes.

11. Pour your hot milk over the nut butter and chocolate chip mixture and let it set for about 3 minutes

12. Grab a wisk a mix it all together until smooth

13. Pour onto your prepared crust and place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours.

14. When you serve, garnish with chopped macadamia nuts

15. Eat it! :)

Quick Fudge Recipe

Just a quick recipe for you guys. I hope you like it!! :)

1 cup of cashew butter
1/4 cup of raw honey
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
2 Tablespoons of coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of walnuts (optional)

In a food processor blend all the ingredients except the nuts. The mixture should start to pull from the sides of the processor. Dump contents in to an 8X8 or even a loaf pan and press the mixture down flat into pan. Press walnuts into the top of mixture if your using them. Place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours. These must stay in the fridge.

Paleo at Costco??? Let's Go!!

During the last couple of paychecks, I've sorta botched my grocery budget. I'm not sure what happened, or how it happened but I've found my food didn't last as long as I anticipated. I'm now looking for ways to save. Today my MIL asked if I wanted to go to Costco with her. I said yes, and grabbed a pen and paper to record everything paleo that I saw and the price to compare. I thought I would share my findings with you today....just in case you are interested. :)

Pacific Gold jerky (just beef and spices, but not grass fed beef) - (2) 8 oz. bags - $14.49

Dates - 48 oz. - $6.99

Kirkland brand marinara (no sugar) - (3) 32 oz. - $5.49

organic tomato sauce - (12) 15 oz. - $6.99

organic stewed and diced tomatoes - (8) 15oz. - $5.99

organic tomato paste - (12) 6 oz. - $5.99

canned mushrooms - (12) 4oz. - $6.65

pistachio in the shell - 48 oz. $15.69

pistachios shelled - 32 oz. $18.99

sliced almonds - 32 oz. $9.69

pecans halved - 32 oz - $12.89

walnuts - 24 oz. $23.99

almonds - 48 oz. $12.79

macadamia nuts - 24 ox. - $17.99

balsamic vinegar - 1 liter - $10.99

rotel - (8) 10oz. - $5.99

olives - (2) 21 oz. - $5.69

sun dried tomatoes - 32 oz - $8.89

hearts of palm - (2) 25 oz. - $8.99

artichokes jarred - 32 oz. - $5.39

organic salsa - (3) 32 oz. - $7.49

wild canned albacore tuna - (6) 5 oz. - $9.99

wild canned salmon - (6) 6oz. - $12.39

wild sockeye salmon canned - (3) 6 oz. - $10.99

wild sardines - (6) 5 oz. - $9.99

organic chicken stock - (6) 32 oz. - $10.99

unrefined, cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil - 54 oz. - $15.99

extra virgin olive oil bertoli - 3 liters - $16.99

kirkland brand EVOO - 2 liters - $11.49

pure vanilla - 16 oz. $6.89

minced garlic - 48 oz. - $4.29

sea salt - 30 oz. $2.79

almond butter - 26 oz. - $6.99

organic brown eggs - 2 dozen - $7.69

almond milk - (3) 64 oz. - $7.59

wild frozen salmon - 3 lbs - $26.89

frozen shrimp - 2 lbs - $12.49

coconut water - (6) 1 liter - $14.99

frozen stir fried veggie mix - 3.5 lbs - $7.49

avacado - 6 count - $3.99

onions - 5 lbs - $5.59

organic spring salad mix - 1 lb - $4.49

organic baby spinach - 1 lb - $4.49

bell peppers - 6 count - $6.99

organic carrots - 10 lbs - $6.79

peeled whole garlic - 3 lbs - $4.99

organic chicken breasts - 3.5 lbs. - $19.71

organic whole chickens - 2 - $22.39

Some of the things I didn't think to look for and I didn't see are coconut and almond flours, and guacamole. Other than that I was fairly impressed with what I found! They did have lots of organics there which I was happy to see and a LOT of paleo friendly fare. There was however no grass fed beef there. :(  I'm gonna be crunching some numbers to see if this is something that will help out the budget. I hope this post helps you with your paleo budget too!!

Paleo Heaven

So it's Monday.....and I'm sitting at the computer, multitasking. Chomping on my breakfast of bacon and cherry, spinach, coconut milk smoothie and getting my blogging duties done. Also in the process I will be trying to recover from one of the busiest weeks I've had in a long, long while.

I had the awesome opportunity to be in the audience at a taping of a show featuring Sarah Fragoso of Everyday Paleo fame. It was a loooooooong night, but well worth it. I met some wonderful people who all shared the same story. And that story was that was that Paleo nutrition has saved our lives.

I ended up being the first one there. I was traveling the farthest so I wanted to make sure that I was on time. When I walked in I was greeted by Sarah's husband John. Super nice, but so was EVERYONE! Next in was Sarah's assistant Dana. We chatted for a while about Sarah's new cookbook which I have but haven't really gone through it yet.

Then Jason Seib just strolls by after getting his make-up done, a hilarious thought just on its own!! Dana introduces us and I am so nervous and stuttering. If you don't know Jason let me tell ya a bit about him. He owns and operates Clackamas Physical Conditioning in Oregon. He has changed the lives of the dedicated people that have walked through the doors of his gym. He has written blogs on Everyday Paleo that are just so helpful while living this lifestyle. The co-runs www.eplifefit.com with Sarah. There and also on his FB he will answer and try to help you with any questions you may have. They also have a podcast that is chock full of wonderful information. And last but not least he is the author of the highly anticipated book, The Paleo Coach. Obviously I am a huge fan of this dude!

Well, we chat it up about Hashimoto and the differences Paleo has made in my life. He mentions that it is stories like mine that keep them doing what they do even when it goes against the grain, so to speak. haha! He leaves and about 5 minutes later comes back and sits next to me to ask if I spell my name with and A or and O. He gave me an autographed copy of his book that hasn't even been released yet. SO AWESOME!! I have been looking so forward to this book!!

Next I meet a pretty huge dude. Like...he is BIG! Fit....but BIG! He was very funny and super sweet. Then after talking to a couple of other people he walks out of the room and all the dudes in the room start getting giddy!?!?! What is happening? Why are all this dudes getting all flustered over that guy, who's name is Forrest Griffin. Come to find out, from my friend who is a fan, that he is a UFC fighter, and kind of a big deal. Now I can understand the reaction from all the men in the house!! haha!

So we taped 2 shows that night and each show had some guests and a cooking segment....MY FAVORITE!!! 

Sarah made some food for us too since we were STARVING! We had yummy, spicy Mexican Stew and some Chicken Salad in pepper boats and  on cucumber rounds. She also had some Bubbies Pickles, which Jason and I smelled as soon as the cart was rolled out. They are his favorite too. I mean seriously we just bought some yesterday and my two girls literally jumped up and down and cheered when they saw me get them off the shelf!! haha!

The next episode featured the story of a Nashville Cardiologist Thomas Cabell. This story was amazing. Long story short he recommends Paleo to his patients. Their were also a couple of his patients there who's lives where change by eating real food!! Also we met Miss Hawaii 2011 Christie Oclaray. Who come to find out has both Hashimoto and Graves disease. She keeps it under control by eating Paleo.

So at the end I finally got to actually meet Sarah. She was so kind and signed a copy of Paleo Pals to my kiddos! I am SO extremelly tired in this pic!!

Next up was a women's conference at my church. I was teaching in one of the breakout sessions on Paleo Nutrition. 

Pic of my white board. Showing the difference in eating S.A.D and Paleo, the vicious sugar/processed carb cycle, and that we actually DO eat carbohydrates. 

The sessions were so fun. People were so interested and had lots of questions. But my favorite time was at the end when people stayed over to talk about some of the personal health stuff they were going through. My goodness, I know all too well of the frustration they are going through when they are doing all that they are told to do and getting no results. I was blessed to be able to witness hope in their eyes after hearing my story. That same hope that I grasped onto when Teri Wingo told me that I need to eat this way. It was just a huge honor and blessing to be able to share things with people that could give them a better quality of life! If one person changes and becomes more healthy all the planning, prepping, and anxiety was worth it!! :)