Sugar Free New Year Tips

I got a huge response both on my FB page and in my inbox about the New Years resolution of cutting out the sugar. Well guess what folks.....this is it. It's about that time! I, myself, am pretty excited! I know I need to get control of this sugar problem. And this sugar free new year will be sure to do the trick. SO, since so many of you are on board, I thought I would share some tips with you on how you can prepare for this month, so you will have some great success!! Here goes!

1. Get Rid of It
Clean out the cupboard and the fridge and get rid of the crap foods. Period.

2. Food Prep. Food Prep. Food Prep.
If I've said it once...I've said it a thousand times!! It is soooooo important to set aside a day or two a week for menu and food prep. But when it comes to this month of no sugar the most important thing to prep is your emergency snacks. Prepped veggies and pre-made dressing, nuts, kale chips, small banana, small apple, almond butter snack pack, beef jerky are all the types of things that can help to have on hand so you don't reach for the sugar.

3. Distraction
When the cravings come.....and they will....have a plan. My plan is exercise. I usually crave sugar when I am bored. SO when the cravings com and won't go away I will jump on the treadmill and jog or walk them off. Have an emergency contact person. A person you can call when you are about to give in. They will talk you off the ledge, or meet you somewhere for a talk and a coffee or to go on a walk with you. Writing or yoga is often a good thing to do to get your mind off of cravings as well.

4. Accountability
Have a supportive place to go where you can share your struggles and successes. Paleo Mommy facebook page will be that for me and I hope you as well. I will share my daily struggles and thoughts and I will also share my menu and daily eating. I sure do hope you guys will share those things with me as well.

5. Try to Keep Dining Out to a Minimum
You know as well as I that there is hidden crap in just about everything when it comes to eating out. It seems to be easier when trying to avoid sugar to just eat at home. Just stick to your pre-planned menu (see #2) and that way the dessert menu doesn't taunt you either!! :) 

That's all I have folks! If you have anything to add, please do! Check back here or on the FB page for updates and to share your experiences! Good Luck!! We've got this!!

5 Christmas Desserts that even NON-Paleo's will ADORE!

I know, I've been there. That Christmas party where everyone is gathered around the dessert table munching on gluten filled sugary baked goods. This year....why not have your own party....complete with your own dessert table?? You can do it, and all your non-paleo friends won't know what hit them. Here is my list of the top 5 Paleo Mommy desserts that even non-paleo's will adore!


Lets start simple with these Almond butter cups! To keep it even simpler they can also be made into balls, kind like a paleo version of the buck-eye.

#1 Almond Butter Cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup plus 1 and 1/2 cup of melted enjoy life chocolate chips

1/2 cup of almond butter (you could really use any nut butter except for peanut here) 

1/2 T of raw honey 

12 cupcake liners or silicon cupcake cups 

Now what?

-Line a cupcake tin with liners 

-Melt the 1/2 cup of chocolate 

-Spread just enough chocolate in each liner to just cover the bottom. It doesn't take much. 

-Place in the fridge to harden. Should take about a half an hour.
-Mix together almond butter and honey. Place 1/2 T of mixture on top of hardened cooled chocolate. -Press down to flatten it a bit, but not letting it reach the outside edges of chocolate. (see pic) 

-Place in the fridge again for about 5 mins




-Melt the remaining chocolate and fill the cups just until the almond butter is covered. I use a baggie and pipe in the chocolate. You could use a spoon just as easy. 

-Tap the pan to make sure all the air bubble release and everything settles properly. 

-Place in fridge for 2 hours and enjoy.







Who likes Cupcakes? Wait...Scratch that.....Who DOESN'T like cupcakes? Here is a delicious moist cupcake perfect for your table. Heck bake it in a cake pan and make it into a cake if ya want. The power is YOURS!!


#2 German Chocolate Cupcakes 

Ingredients for cake

3 medium size ripe bananas 

3 eggs 1/2 cup of coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract 

1/2 cup almond butter 

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa 

1/3 cup coconut flour 

1 teaspoon of baking soda 

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2 Tablespoons of maple syrup 

pinch of salt


Now what?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees


-In a food processor combine all of the ingredients together until incorporated.
-Divide evenly into 10 silicon cupcake molds or lined cupcake tin
-Bake at 350 degrees for approx 25 minutes. inserted toothpick should come out clean.


Ingredients for topping

12 dates, pitted

1/4 cup of coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract 

1/4 cup plus another 

1/4 cup of slivered almonds 

1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut 

1/4 cup of chopped pecans

Directions for topping

-For the topping soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes.
-Drain and toss into food processor
-Add in coconut milk, almond extract and 1/4 cup of slivered almonds and 

-process for about 2 minutes. mixture should be thick and somewhat smooth. 

-Scrape contents of food processor into a medium bowl 

-Add remaining 1/4 cup of almonds, coconut, and pecans

-Mix all together

-Divide mixture among the top of each cooled cupcake 

Oh we can't forget cookies....Santa needs some cookies, right? How about my Double Choco-nutty Cookie recipe? 

#3 Double Choco-nutty Cookies


Makes about 2 dozen cookies


Dry Ingredients

-3 cups of almond flour

-1 teaspoon of baking soda

-1/3 cup of cocoa powder

-1 pinch of salt



Wet Ingredients

-2 eggs

-1/2 cup of maple syrup

-1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

-1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon of water

-1 teaspoon of almond extract



Add In's

-1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or nut of your choice, or no nuts at all

-1 1/2 cups of enjoy life chocolate chips


Directions

1. preheat oven to 350

2. combine all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl

3. combine all of the wet ingredients in a bowl

4. add the wet to the dry and mix well

5. add in nuts and chocolate chips and mix

6. scoop out cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet

7. bake for 15 minutes, cookies should be soft but easy to move to a wire rack to cool.










Nothing says Christmas like TRUFFLES!!! Take this recipe and make it your own with different flavorings. This recipe uses rum extract but experiment with different ones like.....vanilla, peppermint, orange....go crazy people!! You can also roll the truffles in coconut flakes, espresso powder, or nuts if you would like.


#4 Rum Truffles

Ingredients

Makes about 16. You can easily double it.

1/4 cup canned coconut milk

1/2 Tb of coconut oil

8 oz. enjoy life chocolate chips

1/2 tsp of rum extract

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa for dusting


Now What?

1. In a double boiler melt the chocolate chips.

2. When they are completely melted take off heat

3. Add in oil, milk, and extract.

4. Make sure it is thoroughly mixed

5. Cover with plastic wrap and let set at least 6 hours at room temp

6. Scoop out in 1/2 Tb scoops and roll into balls ( messy)

7. Place on parchment lined tray and place in fridge for 30 mins

8. Place cocoa in a bowl and roll each ball in cocoa to cover.

I had an awesome picture of these but for some reason I can't find it. This makes me angry. Maybe if I eat some of these I'll calm down! :)




#5 Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas


And last but not least....A fun one for the kiddies.....Chocolate dipped frozen bananas. I have fond memories of my mom bringing me one of these home from the county fair every year when I was a kid. You don't really need a recipe for these so here is how to make them.


Peel 6 or so bananas and skewer them with a long lollipop stick or a chopstick

Place on a parchment lined sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for a few hours

Melt a bag of enjoy life chocolate chips and dip the frozen bananas in the chocolate until all covered

Roll dipped banana in seeds, nuts, or coconut and place back into the freezer for an hour

Enjoy


Or you can do the whole process with sliced bananas for a quick "grab and toss in yo mouth" treat. Here is a pic of those....







I want to thank you all for reading and I'm hoping for bigger and better things to come in 2015. But for now I just want to with each and every one of you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a GLORIOUS NEW YEAR!! Keep it healthy, ya'll!

The Perfect Snack

Sweet, salty, crispy, crunchy......sounds like the perfect snack doesn't it? Well, it pretty much is. What if I threw the words healthy, and guilt free into the mix? Unbelievable? Nope! I have found it. Jackson's Honest Potato Chips have accomplished this task. I won 6 bags of their sweet potato chips and I have to refrain from continuously munching on them. They are so good and addictive. But my favorite part....the ingredient list.

Sweet potatoes

Organic coconut oil

Sea salt

Yep, that's it. 3 HONEST to goodness ingredients. (See what I did there???? Jackson's HONEST potato chips) Oh, never mind! :) Anyway, you can order from their website if you would like to try them or if they aren't yet available in your local Whole Foods. I am one of the UNlucky ones, as they aren't available in my nearest Whole Foods yet. Hopefully soon. I would LOVE to try out their other flavors!!

So since I had an abundance of chips, I figured I'd think "outside the bag" and make up a recipe using them. The first thing that came to mind was chicken....so let's bread it in potato chips!! It's not crazy, it's yummy...trust me! This is how it went down...

2 boneless skinless chicken breast
4 T of grass fed butter
1 cup of pulverized Jackson's Honest Sweet Potato Chips (I threw them in a food processor till I got a pretty small crumb)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne or more if ya like it hot (and I do)

Preheat oven 450
-Split the two chicken breast in half lengthwise so you end up with 4 cutlets.
-Flatten them out with a meat mallet to get them about 1/4 inch thick. We are cooking them at high heat for a short period of time so they won't dry out. (See how I avoided saying the word 'moist'? Ugh!)
-Melt the butter in one shallow dredging dish
-Mix the chip crumbs with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne in another shallow dredging dish
-Coat cutlets in butter then in crumbs. I mean REALLY coat it in the chips, press it in there.
-Place chicken on a wire rack over a backing sheet and place in the center of the oven.
-Bake for 12-15 minutes until chicken is 165 degrees and no longer pink.

I must tell you, I am ashamed to admit it, but my kids and husband hate sweet potatoes. GASP! I know! I know! I don't understand either, but they do. Anyway, my kids tore this chicken up! I asked my husband to try it and didn't tell him what it was. He LOVED it! I ended up telling him it was breaded in sweet potato chips, to which he would usually somehow change his mind and hate what he just said he loved. But this time he said it was so good, he didn't care that he just ate sweet potatoes! Score one for mom, and score a big one for Jackson Honest Potato Chips!! Thanks guys!!

Do You Like Yummy Things??

Now let me ask you this.....do you like FREE yummy things??? Well, the Holidays are fast approaching, and we need to start getting prepared! Now, if you've been around here any length of time, you know that I'm not a big proponent of sweets on a normal basis. But let's keep it real y'all....sometimes you need a freakin' cupcake for sanity's sake! And you know at Thanksgiving and Christmas I don't want to be the odd ball walking away from the dessert table. BUT I'm not going to gobble down gluten either! Soooooo.....I think I've come up with a solution for you....How 'bout you enter my contest for a $20 gift certificate for delicious Paleo desserts! That's a whole 'lotta cupcakes!!

We have a local bakery here called Mason Dixon Bakery (which will become Mason Dixon Bakery and Bistro on January 2nd 2015!!!) (Can you tell I'm excited!?!?!?). When I am in need of a treat, I scoop up the kids and head on out. Lately my baked good of choice has been the Paleo Brownie! It is DELICIOUS!!

I mean really!?!? Look at that! Yes, it is a good as it looks! My girls usually pick out a Chocolate Heaven cupcake or a cake pop. 

But this isn't just for local peeps either. See, Mason Dixon Bakery SHIPS these delectable cookies, cakes, pies and breads all over the country. If you win the gift certificate you could use it to order Paleo desserts for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table. Maybe a German Chocolate Cake.......

Or maybe a Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, or a loaf or two of Pumpkin Pie bread......Oh, yeah, you're right, that IS a Pumpkin Cheesecake right there in the top right corner!

Also....do you remember eating stuffing before Paleo? For me, it was one of the highlights of the Thanksgiving table. Mason Dixon Bakery also offers Paleo Stuffing Mixes. I am actually going to be buying some for our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Heres' the deal....TO ENTER....

1. "LIKE" Mason Dixon Bakery on FB here and tell them "Paleo Mommy sent me"

2. "LIKE" Paleo Mommy on FB here
3.  Comment on the contest announcement on the Paleo Mommy FB page and SHARE to let me know you have completed the  requirements.

The lucky winner will be selected on Tuesday at noon! Good luck and share away! 

My apologies, but I bring COOKIES!!!

Wow, it has been a minute since I have blogged. I am very active on my Facebook page so visit there if you have time.... but blogging takes up way more time so I've been absent. I'm sorry. But.....I'm bringing you cookies along with my apology today!! Your welcome!! :) Anyway, as most of you know, I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom of two, so needless to say since school has started I have been UBER busy! They are my #1 priority. I have been cooking up a storm though, and in the next couple of weeks I plan on bring you some yummy recipes to try along with some oldies that are perfect for the cooler weather! But as promised, today, I will give you my new Double Choco-nutty Cookie recipe. My kiddo's kinda decided the direction for this cookie, they wanted kind of a brownie cookie and this is what popped out of the oven! Enjoy! If you have every enjoyed anything that this blog has to offer please share with your friends. Thank you for reading and Happy Paleo/Clean Eating!!

Makes about 2 dozen cookies
Dry Ingredients
-3 cups of almond flour
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-1/3 cup of cocoa powder
- pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of maple syrup
- 1/2 cup of melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon of almond extract

Add in's
- 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or nut of your choice, or no nuts at all
- 1 cup of enjoy life chocolate chips

Directions
1. preheat oven to 350
2. combine all of dry ingredients in a large bowl
3. combine all the the wet ingredients in a bowl
4. add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix well
5. add in nuts and chocolate chips and mix
6. scoop out cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet
7. bake for 15 min, cookies should be soft but easy to move to a wire rack to cool. Continue cooking for a harder, crispier cookie.

New Smoothie

So I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding "drinking" your food in the Paleo world. I know that it is frowned upon. I also know that for the most part it is frowned upon because people usually fill their smoothies with tons of fruit and milk. Well, I do make smoothies for breakfast. Mainly because it is easy for me and because it is a great vehicle for some nutrients and minerals that I wouldn't normally get throughout the day. So in case you are wondering here is my new morning smoothie and the reasons why I use those particular ingredients.

1/2 frozen banana - sweetness, potassium, good for digestion
1 cup of coconut milk
1T of cacao nibs, unsweetened - flavanoids, heart healthy
1 T of chia seeds - good for digestion, protien, omega 3
1 T of coconut oil - healthy fat, aides in satiety, too many others to mention...google it
1 T of Great Lakes gelatin powder - protein, bone health
5 dashes of turmeric - oh, where to begin..anti-inflammatory for my purposes
5 dashes of cinnamon - blood sugar regulator and it tastes good!
2 brazil nuts - selenium, thyroid health

That's it folks. I do love this smoothie and ONE of my daughters do too. She thinks it's like chocolate chip milk! haha!

Crisis Averted

So a few weeks ago....I avoided a crisis. A major, major crisis. Here is what went down.

I was testing a feux cheesecake recipe. It had lots and lots of raw cashew in it. I spent the night soaking the nuts, because as we all know...the phytate can be broken down by soaking and dehydrating. Then I tried out the recipe that I was testing. I was a COMPLETE bust! I have no idea what I did. It went all brick like and separated on me. I was SO mad and upset and depressed. I mean, do you know how expensive that many cashews are? Geez! Anyway, my first response.....what kind of crappy food can I get my hands on to devour? Normally, it would do me no good to go hunting in the pantry cause there isn't anything there but some canned goods, almond and coconut flour and nuts. But I happened to have some avocado oil chips in there for my girls lunches. I eyeballed those suckers, picked them up and was ready to let all my emotions out on those delicious crispy, salty potato slices and then check the freezer for some coconut milk ice cream! But......I thought to myself..."what in the world do you think you are doing? Is this gonna fix the recipe? Is this mixture just gonna come together for you after you make yourself sick eating a whole bag of chips? What will this accomplish?" And the answer is nothing. Sure, I will feel a little bit better while I'm munching..... but after the fact I will STILL have a screwed up cashew mixture and the only thing different is that, in addition to that,  I will feel like crap. That's not helpful. So I put the chips back down and went to clean up the mess in the kitchen.

So people, I still struggle with emotional eating and I do not always avoid the crisis. Sometimes I give in. That's life. That's being human. But learning to realize it and learning to recognize my tendencies and why and when I'm reaching for a certain food item is important. And I'm learning more and more about myself throughout this whole process.

Sooooooo on that note.. here is some stuff we HAVE been munching on around here.
This week it is just me and my girls since my husband is away in London for a mission trip. I figured it would be a good time to post some stuff we have been eating....ya know, just in case you want to try it out too. I am in the process right now of developing a small free ebook for people who subscribe to my email newsletters. I will let you know as soon as that is done.


Fake Out Rice Bowl

1 small Japanese sweet potato, shredded, and liquid squeezed out in a clean kitchen towel
1/2 pound of hot italian sausage out of the casing
1small bunch of kale, shredded
12 cremini mushrooms, slices
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 Tablespoon of coconut aminos
Salt and pepper to taste

-In a skillet over medium/medium high heat brown the sausage

-Remove the sausage leaving the fat, add olive oil if you need more fat for cooking. Take some out if you have too much

-Add in mushrooms and onion, cook until they have a bit of color

-Add in the kale and cook until wilted

-Add in the sweet potato, garlic powder, onion, powder, S&P and coconut aminos, and cook till shredded potatoes is cooked through. About 5-7 minutes.

-Add back in the sausage to warm through and serve.

Rosemary Chicken and Roasted Veggies

1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 sweet potato, sliced into wedges
1 bulb of fennel, sliced into wedges
3 shallots, quartered
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, minced about 2 Tablespoons
1 lemon, you are gonna use the zest and the juice
about 1/3 cup of chicken broth
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425

-On a baking sheet, toss your veggies with olive oil to coat and salt and pepper to taste. Spread out in a single layer and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Flipping veggies over halfway through.

-Mix up the the zest of the lemon, the minced garlic and the minced rosemary together

-Season the chicken liberally with S and P and then coat the chicken with the zest, garlic, rosemary mixture and a little splash of olive oil and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

-In an oven safe sauté pan heated over medium heat place in your chicken. You want to get them nice and browned on both sides, careful to watch so you don't burn the garlic.

-Once both sides are browned add in the juice of the lemon and the broth, scrape up the bits from the pan

-Throw it in the oven for about 8-12 minutes or until cooked through and internal temp reached 165

-Serve with roasted veggies and pour sauce from the pan over the chicken, taste for added salt and pepper.

Avocado Tuna Salad

1 can of wild caught tuna
1/2 of an avocado
1 Tablespoon of pickled jalapeno's, chopped
1/2 of a shallot, minced
juice of 1/2 lime
S&P

Mix all the above ingredients.
I served mine on some iceburg lettuce and grape tomatoes tossed with some evoo, S&P and spritz of lime juice. Some minced cilantro would probably be good with this too if you swing that way.

Meatball Soup (I'm not a big soup fan, but this IS good!)

As you have read in the title, I am not the biggest soup fan. After eating soup, I usually am looking around for my actual meal! Let me tell ya, I was stuffed after this soup and a side salad.  I saw a lot of people talking about italian wedding soup so I wanted to see if I could come up with a primal version. There is cheese in this recipe, I assume you could leave it out. There is only a couple of Tablespoons of raw grass fed parm in the meatball. Also I would assume you could use any meat you want, but I did not test that. I have been hearing chefs talk a lot lately about mixing meats for meatballs....ya know beef, pork, and veal for the best meatball??? So I decided to mix the meat in this recipe as well. The end result turned out really good. I invited company over to try it along with me. I NEVER do that, but I thought with all these ingredients together, it HAD to me good. My company (my MIL) is not a kale fan (GASP, I know!!) but she really loved this soup. We also chatted about how good it feels to eat and eat good without any guilt. Try this recipe, I am sure you will like it.


For the meatballs
a little over 1/2 pound ground chicken (I asked my butcher to grind up some chicken thighs for me, It was a little over 1/2 pound that he gave me but I'm sorry I didn't look at the exact weight. I just threw it in)
1/2 pound of chicken sausage ( I show you what I used below)
1 T of minced garlic
2 T of raw, grass fed parmesan
1 egg
1/4 cup of minced parsley
1/3 cup of steamed, riced or pureed cauliflower
1 teaspoon of pepper

This is the chicken sausage I used for the meat mixture. You could use any chicken sausage as long as the ingredients are clean. These ingredients are organic chicken and spices. Period. Works for me. 

SO the first thing I did was to take out a couple of these links and process them just like this...

Then, I just dumped this mixture in a bowl and added all of the other meatball ingredients.

After mixing this all together, I formed tiny meatballs and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet. I used about a teaspoon size scooper. We want some small meatballs for this recipe.

The mixture is pretty wet so after making the meatballs, I covered with plastic wrap and stuck them in the fridge for about a half an hour. Then bake them at 350 for 30 minutes. 

Next for the soup

1/2 large onion, small dice

4 small or 2 large carrots, small dice

1 celery stalk, small dice

2 Tablespoons of your favorite fat, I used 1 T of olive oil and 1 T of grass fed butter

8 cups of homemade chicken stock or low sodium high quality box stock 

4 cups of shredded kale, sliced in thin ribbons

2 Tablespoons of minced fresh dill

It will need salt and pepper for sure, so add to taste

SO in a heavy pot add your fat over medium heat and then add your onion, carrot, and celery. 

Let that cook for a while until your veggies are nice and soft. About 5-7 minutes. 

Then add your stock.

Turn up the heat and let the soup come up to a boil. 

Once boiling add your kale. 

Turn heat back down to medium and let the kale wilt down. About 5 minutes.

Then add in your cooked meatballs and let them re-heat if need be. Don't be to aggressive stirring the soup at this time. We want to keep the meatballs in tact. Let this cook for about another 5 minutes. Don't you want to just start eating this right now? But wait....hold out for more flavor, we aren't done yet!

Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the dill and taste for seasonings. I'm telling you, it will mos def need some salt. Add it. 

Stir in the dill gently and let is sit for about 5 minutes, just for that dill flavor to get all up in there!! YUM.

There ya have it, it's ready to go. Enjoy!

Crab Cakes and Yummy Chipotle Sauce!!!!

I adore crab cakes. It used to be what I always ordered when we went out to a seafood restaurant. But now I don't really like going out to eat and if I did I couldn't order the crab cakes any longer. :( Time to make my own and here's how I did it.

Crab cakes
12 oz of wild caught crab meat
1/4 cup PLUS 2 T of tapioca flour
2 T of coconut flour
1-2 eggs (will need to see how dry your mix is to determine how many eggs you need)
1 tsp of old bay seasoning
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of baking powder
4 scallions (sliced thinly whites and greens)
2 T of coconut oil

-In a mixing bowl combine crab meat, flours, 1 egg, seasonings and scallions
-IF your mixture is too dry and won't hold shape at all then add your other egg.
-Heat up the oil in a skillet over medium heat
-Make cakes out of your mixture. I used a 1/4 measuring cup and pressed the mixture down into that and flipped it out into my hand. It made about 8 cakes.
-Once your oil is hot and shimmering, add the cakes to the pan
-Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side until they are nice and golden brown


Chipotle Sauce
3/4 cup of home made mayo
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (depending on how much heat you want. I used one for mine)
1 scallion
1 tsp of dijon mustard

-In a blender combine the above ingredients and serve along side or on top of crab cakes

I served myself these golden brown nuggets on top of some broccoli slaw and commenced to devour! I hope you enjoy these. Please share with others! :) 

Cottage Pie....YUMmers!

This week I had some grass fed beef fresh from the farmer defrosted in the bottom of the fridge. So I went hunting through the rest of the fridge to figure out something for dinner. The cauliflower caught my eye and I immediately thought Cottage Pie. (which is like Shepherds Pie except in Shepherds Pie you use ground lamb as the meat, which is still yummy!) Anyway here is what came about...

Cottage Pie
1 batch of mashed cauliflower (make sure it is well seasoned for this recipe)
1 T of fat of choice
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of red pepper flakes
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 lb of grass fed beef
2 T of tapioca starch
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of coconut aminos
1 tsp of dried oregano
2 tsp of tomato paste
1 tsp of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 cup of chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

-In a dutch oven heat up your fat of choice, I used lard, over medium heat

-add in garlic and pepper flakes and stir until you can start to smell the garlic

-add in mushrooms and let them cook down

-add in carrots and onions and cook until they become soft

-add in beef and cook until browned

-sprinkle tapioca starch over contents and stir it in

-add in salt, dried oregano, and coconut aminos

-make a little hot spot in the center of your pot and add the tomato paste, stirring and cooking it in the center until you can start to smell it. Then stir it in with the rest of the contents.

-Add in stock and rosemary, stir together and cook until nice and thick. This should happen fairly quickly due to the tapioca starch.

-Pour into a casserole dish and top with your batch of cauliflower mash. If you are primal you can top with a little grated raw grass fed cheese

-bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes

-let stand for 15 minutes before serving

Here is what it looks like....I mean seriously....that filling.....just set me down with a big spoon!!

Cauliflower Mash

For someone who thought they didn't like cauliflower....I sure do love this stuff. I could live without mashed potatoes FOREVER because of this stuff. Here is what you do....

-Cut the florets of a head of cauliflower
-Steam it until it gets tender
-Transfer the veg to a blender or I use my ninja (hi-YA!)
-Add a couple of T of raw grass fed butter (if you can tolerate it) and salt and pepper to taste
-Blend

It comes out looking like this..

Now... some people like it to be more of a puree, so if that is you, just add some chicken stock in the ninja until you reach your desired consistency. Me? I like it just. like. this!

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Today is a special birthday party day for my youngest daughter! I was going to wait till after the contest to share this recipe but the bday girl requested this bread for breakfast and it is soooo yummy. It has one controversial ingredient in it though...coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is low on the glycemic index but it could be a gut irritant for some people. As with ANY treat I don't recommend that they are eaten on a daily basis. We thrive very well on NO sugar. Treats should be reserved for just that....occasional treats. Ok, I'm done ranting... let's get to the recipe!


Apple Cinnamon Cake

3 T of coconut sugar
1 T of cinnamon

1 apple, diced

1/2 cup of coconut sugar
6 T of softened grass fed butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of almond flour
1/4 cup of coconut flour
1/4 cup of tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup of almond milk
1/4 cup of apple cider







-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-prepare a greased loaf pan

-in a small bowl mix the 3 T of coconut sugar and cinnamon, set to the side
-in a large bowl mix the remaining sugar and butter
-add the eggs and vanilla and
-wisk until incorporated
-add in the dry ingredients and mix, should be fairly thick
-add in almond milk and cider, mix until all is incorporated

-dump half of the batter into the greased loaf pan
-sprinkle the top with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture and 1/2 of the diced apple
-repeat with the rest of the batter and the rest of the cinnamon/sugar and apple
-press apple into batter
-bake at 350 for about an hour

Now don't PLEASE remember about our contest!! See last post for details! I will be choosing a winner of Melissa Joulwan's new cookbook Well Fed 2 tomorrow!! IF YOU SHARE THIS POST AND LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS YOU WILL RECEIVE AND EXTRA ENTRY TO THE CONTEST!! So share away!! 

New Year.....New Giveaway!!!

It's still January. Some of you are still holding onto those New Years Resolutions. Congrats! I know lots of you have healthier eating goals for the new year....thats what my last post was all about. Some of you have started eating paleo, whole 30, or sugar detox. And some of you are on the verge of giving in and giving up.

Well, I have something that can help you with your healthier eating goals! And something that will help you to keep on keeping on. Most of us run out of steam with our eating goals because we run out of ideas. We eat the same thing day in and day out and say to ourselves, "I can't LIVE like this!" What if I told you that the wonderful Melissa Joulwan (from the very delightful blog The Clothes Make the Girl, and the suburb cookbook Well Fed) has agreed to give one of my readers a copy of her latest masterpiece, Well Fed 2!!

Some time ago she released her second cookbook and very generously sent me a copy to cook from and let me tell you.......You thought the first one was yummy???....Well Fed 2 is even yummier!! I mean...how could that even be possible? My absolute favorite thing about her recipes are her use of spices. It is my personal opinion that home cooks don't utilize spices nearly enough. It is also my opinion that spices not only hold incredible flavor but some pretty stellar medicinal and healing qualities as well. Other cultures that know and understand the benefit of these spices BEGIN with spices as the base of their dishes and build on that. We tend to throw some spices in at the end of our cooking and we tend to use the same spices over and over again instead of learning and venturing outside the box. We should attempt cook with the rule: Spices to begin a dish, and fresh herbs to end it. Side note: I subscribe to Alton Brown's podcast and he recently did a show with the owners of The Spice House. Very informative...you should check it out! Anyway, Melissa doesn't just throw spices in willy nilly. There is a reason for each one. I credit her for my new found love of spices and spice mixtures. Boring food be gone!!

The spice and sauce sections in the book are invaluable on their own. I would absolutely buy this book for just those alone. When you have those under your belt, in is impossible to have another bland meal.

The burgers, balls, and bangers section of the book is my absolute favorite! The name is pretty great to! As you guys know.... I make LOTS meatballs to keep on hand every week anyway, and there isn't one in this book that isn't absolutely delicious! She is a flavor genius!!

There is also a section for quick meals. And we all need more ideas on how to get some fuel in us quick to avoid the drive thru!!

You WANT to own this cookbook and here is your chance to WIN it. If you love it (and you will) pay it forward and get a book for a friend who is struggling with new ideas for food. Sometimes people just need a little support and guidance to keep on keeping on!

Here's how to enter in just 4 easy steps:

1.  LIKE The Clothes Make the Girl on FB
2.  LIKE Paleo Mommy on FB
3.  Share this blog post with your friends and family. The more people that participate the more giveaways we can have. 
4.  And finally, leave a comment right here in the comment section letting us know that you did all the above. 

A winner will be randomly chosen on Monday January 27th and will be announced on the blog. You will have 24 hours to respond or I will have to chose another.

Good luck with your goal (I am here if you need any encouragement or support) and Good luck with the Giveaway!! Get busy!! :)

New Beginnings

The new year symbolizes new beginnings for most: a new start, or a do-over, if you will. And with the New Year, come New Year’s resolutions – resolutions that are usually thrown out the window after two weeks...two excruciating weeks. Do you know what the #1 New Year’s resolution is? To lose weight. Oh how I have been there! EVERY year was more of the same thing - but not anymore. I have been “Paleo” for the past 3 years. Now it is a way of life, but it has been a long road. What follows is my story for those of you who don’t know.

I found out after the birth of my second child that I had Hashimoto’s. Hashimoto’s is an auto-immune thyroid disease. Symptoms included being cold all the time, depression, losing my hair, fatigue, and gaining weight despite eating a well-balanced diet and doing P90X six days a week. All this prompted my visit to the doctor. My doctor put me on meds and sent me on my way. But nothing changed. I just got more depressed! As I sat outside of Madison Drugs (a local compounding pharmacy) getting ready to pick up some vitamins, I prayed. I asked the Lord to heal me as I had countless times in the past. But I also prayed that if He wasn’t going to heal me that He would at least show me a way to help myself. I was in tears and desperate. While talking to the pharmacist, he noticed I was sad and asked what was wrong. I told him my recent diagnosis and his response was, “Well, obviously you are gluten free right?” To which I replied, “What is gluten?” I had no idea! The pharmacist gave me a list of foods that I should and should not be eating. When I got home, I googled each of the foods and a basic Paleo diet kept turning up in the search results. I threw myself into studying the Paleo diet and consulted multiple resources after starting with material mostly from Robb Wolf, a leading Paleo expert. I switched out my diet immediately. And I also stopped working out until I could wrap my head around this diet change and get into a routine. Just 30 days later I had dropped 30 pounds and, more importantly, I had no Hashimoto symptoms! Needless to say, I’ve remained “Paleo” ever since!

I personally don’t care for the Paleo label since most people don’t really understand what that really means. For me, MY Paleo diet includes the following: high quality lean meat and protein (grass fed beef, pasture raised chicken and pork, pasture raised eggs), every vegetable  under the sun, high quality healthy fats (avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil), some fruit, some nuts, sweet potatoes and winter squash. I have kept this diet for the past three years and plan to continue with it.

Perhaps you made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight in 2014. I would encourage you to tweak that slightly and say instead to “get healthier.” Losing weight may be part of that overall goal, but getting healthy should be the main focus. If going Paleo isn’t something you’d want to try, perhaps you could try to eliminate processed foods and foods high in sugar. Those two changes alone will make a significant difference in your health, and you will very likely lose several pounds to boot. If you have any questions about Paleo or the science behind it, feel free to email me! In the meantime, I will share with you one of my most popular recipes. It has been featured on many of the premier “Top 10 Paleo Recipes” sites. Small changes can produce big change! So take charge and start making small positive changes to better your health. 

Spicy Slow Cooker Chorizo Chili

1 Lb of grass fed beef

2 fresh chorizo sausages, casings removed (about 1/2 pound)

1 onion, diced

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce

1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 can of rotel (I used hot)

2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped

2 TB of chili powder

1 TB of cumin

S&P to taste

-brown off the beef and chorizo in a skillet, drain, and toss in crock pot

-in the same skillet cook off the onions and garlic. You can skip this step, but I like getting a little color on the onions before throwing them into the crock pot.

-add remaining ingredients, stir

-cook on low for 4-6 hours

-garnish with avocado, cilantro, red onion

-enjoy