Carbonara, Soup and Willy Wonka?

Wow! So much going on.... I just finished throwing my daughter her 5th birthday party!! It was a Willy Wonka party! Needless to say...there was A LOT of candy! But hey! You only turn 5 once!! Needless to say NONE of this candy was touched by me! It was a super fun time. And all the work that was put into it was worth it. Here are some pics if you are interested! SO FUN!

SO after that, I started have some health problems. I have since gotten the all clear, but it kinda rattled me! Hence the delay in my posts!! Sorry!!

Now onto some recipes!

Paleo Taco Soup

1lb grass fed ground beef
1 onion diced
1 green pepper diced
1 yellow squash diced
1 small can of diced green chili
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of beef broth (or more if you want it more soupy)
1 jalapeño diced (keep the seeds if you want the spice, omit if you don't)
2 tbs of chili powder
1 tbs of cumin
1 tbs of garlic powder
1 tbs of onion powder
1/2 tsp of paprika
salt and pepper to taste

So this is super easy. In a pot brown your beef. Remove the beef after it's done and put in the onion, green pepper, squash, and jalapeño. Cook until soft. Add the beef back in, and at this time add all your spices. Cook until the spices become fragrant. Now add all the rest of the ingredients. You are gonna simmer this for about 20 or 30 minutes. Now if you want the soup more soupy add more stock. I like mine a little thick. Like a stoup.... stew/soup. :) It is better the next day after all the flavors have come together even more. This would also be great with pork or shredded chicken and topped with some guac or sliced avocado!!

The next one is super easy too!!

Spagetti Squash Carbonara

1 md. roasted Spagetti Squash
6 slices of diced bacon
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes (optional)

In a pan brown your diced bacon until crispy and when just about done, add your garlic. Make sure to keep moving it around...you DONT want burnt garlic!!
Once bacon is nice and brown and the garlic is cooked and softened... add your spaghetti squash. When your spagetti squash is coated in the fat and heated through... take the pan off the heat!
Beat up your egg yolk and add it to the pan. The heat from all the food in the pan will cook the yoke. It should look custardy and thick. Make sure all the squash is coated. Now if your squash if giving off too much liquid you can put it back on a low heat.
I like to top my with lots of fresh cracked pepper and some red pepper flakes.

Spicy Garlic Chicken Spaghetti (squash that is)

So I told you guys I was working on a yummy spaghetti squash recipe and I think I have found it. I asked my friend to taste test it before I posted and she gave me a big thumbs up. BTW go "like" Warrior Sistas on FB!! :) Anyway, here it goes...

Ingredients: Serves two good portions
2 small chicken breast or 1 large
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup of sliced cremini or button mushrooms (or whatever kind you like)
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 cup of your favorite organic sugar free marinara sauce
salt and pepper
olive oil
roasted spaghetti squash


Step 1: Season chicken with salt and pepper and over medium heat get the oil hot....Add your chicken and cook it till it is just about cooked through.

Step 2: Once it has good color on both sides, take it out of the pan and slice it thin. Don't worry if it isn't completely done. We will finish cooking it later. We don't want over cooked rubbery chicken here.

Step 3: With the remaining oil still in the pan toss in your garlic and pepper flakes and stir them around until fragrant. Then add your mushrooms and cook till they begin to get a bit brown. 

Step 4 : And your sliced chicken. This is where you will finish the cooking process on the chicken. Make sure it get nice and coated with the garlic and pepper flakes and that it is done!!

Step 5: Then add your sauce. (didn't get a pic :( sorry) Let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes.

Finally: Place some of your roasted spaghetti squash in a bowl and top with your spicy, garlicky, sauce with chicken and then just do one more thing...... EAT IT!! 

Hope ya'll like it as much as I did!! :)

I love fall....and squash....

Let's talk about roasting squash. I love them! And I didn't know I loved them until I started eating Paleo. Thank you Paleo for introducing me to the winter squash.....acorn, butternut, spaghetti...whatever...I love them. Here is a pic tutorial on how to roast a spaghetti squash...just incase ya wanna know! :)

Step 1: Wash your squash...That is actually super fun to say!!

Step 2: Cut it in half and scrap out all the seeds

Step 3: Rub it down with some coconut oil or EVOO and season with salt and pepper

Step 4: Place cut side down on a baking sheet and throw in a 400 degree oven until tender and easily pierced with a fork. This took about 40 minutes.

Step 5: with a fork, scrap out the flesh. It will automatically shred up like spaghetti.

 Step 6: Eat it. This was a fairly small squash and I will end up with about 3-4 servings. Cost effective for sure!!

Need a recipe to go with your roasted spaghetti squash? I'm working on a pretty tasty idea right now. Stay tuned!!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?!?

To answer the question.....umm...I guess I am. I am NOT a huge football person. I'm from NC. We are college basketball people! GO TARHEELS!! But when I moved to AL 6 years ago, I was bombarded with the question.....Alabama or Auburn???? Huh?? Which one?? You gotta pull for somebody??? You gotta pick??? Tell me now so I will know if we can be friends or not!!! I have lots of friends that LOVE football and will have lots of football get togethers during this season. So this post is for them. I am actually going to one of these get togethers on Saturday, but mainly for social purposes, not so much football purposes. :) So with that being said.... here are a couple of recipes that I have brought to game night and were HITS as well as some new ideas. Hope you enjoy them.

1. Baby pizza bites. This comes from PaleOMG (surprise)  These things are delicious and SUPER SIMPLE TO MAKE!!
http://paleomg.com/baby-pizza-bites/
Click the link for the actual recipe but it is basically, mushrooms, sausage, and pizza sauce. So simple so yummy. I actually just bought already made up mild italian sausage from earth fare for even LESS work when making these. SO GOOD!


2. Bacon wrapped sweet potatoes.Also YUMMY!!

Preheat oven 350
Cut up 2 peeled sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces
Season with a sprinkle of chipotle powder (hot)  or chili powder
Wrap each piece in an adequate size piece of bacon, use tooth pick to secure
Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 45 minutes turning 1/2 way through


3. Chili is a good food for football parties...especially when it starts to get cooler. These are bunch of the top Paleo chili recipes. My fave is the first one.

http://www.squidoo.com/best-paleo-chili-recipes


4. Chips and dip. Not traditional potato chips and french onion dip. But sweet potato chips and guacamole. You can absolutely make your own sweet potato chips, but if you in a pinch you could use Terra chips. Be warned these are only oil and sweet potatoes but the oil is canola which we try to stay away from. But here is a great recipe for your own sweet potato and plantain chips and some awesome guac. P.S. you can make the sweet potatoes indoors as well. On the stove top or in the oven. Again from PaleOMG, what can I say.... I love her!

http://paleomg.com/chunky-pineapple-guacamole-grilled-sweet-potato-chips/


5. Deviled eggs
I came up with these suckers when I was just wanting something different for breakfast.
Halve hard boiled eggs
take out the yolk
mix it with guac, chopped pickled jalapenos, and chopped bacon. (amounts are as you would desire)
fill up the eggs with the mixture
top with a sprinkle of paprika
and EAT IT!

I had store bought Wholly Guacamole in the fridge here so I just used that. Click on the link for what the product looks like and for a coupon!! :)


6. BGT's. Not BLT's but BGT's.  Bacon, guac, tomato. Basically these are just little bacon sammy's.
Cut strips of bacon in half
Place on a broiler pan and cook bacon in the oven till crisp
layer one crisp piece of bacon, sliced to fit piece of tomato, dollop of guac ( I use pre made wholly guacamole here too, I actually like the spicy kind for this), and top with the second slice of crispy bacon to make a mini bacon sandwich.

7. Chocolate Chip Cookies. You need dessert right!?! These are my favorite Paleo chocolate chip cookies that I have made so far. Love them!
http://beta.primal-palate.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookies/


I am so sorry that I don't have pics of these but most of the time they disappeared before I could get a shot. They are that good! I hope you try some of these for your next football party! So Roll Tide or War Eagle....whichever you would prefer! :)

Vanilla Carmelitas Courtesy of PaleOMG!!

I know what your thinking. Geeez lady, you just got off of your sugar detox......a dessert already?!?

YES! This flippin' recipe has been taunting me every since I saw it a couple of weeks ago. I had almost everything here to make it so what's the big deal??? Well, I'll tell ya. I've made it....It is a'flippin'mazing.....and now it keeps telling me to eat it. It kind of reminds me of german chocolate cake! I have to find people to share it with. Shouldn't be hard, right??

So I'm gonna show you step by step how I made PaleOMG's Vanilla Bean Carmelitas - minus the vanilla bean (didn't have any and they are uber expensive)

Find Juli's amazing site and recipe here.

After I preheated the oven I mixed all the above ingredients for the crust and pressed it into a coconut oil greased square baking dish...

Placed that in the oven and baked it for about 10 minutes. It looked like this when it was done.....

I sprinkled the chocolate chips on top. 

This are the chocolate chips that I usually use. Just FYI. :)

Anyway off to assemble the topping....

Processed the soaked dates and added my FAVE brand of coconut milk and some water. Then I just let it go for about 5 minutes.

This is the magic "caramel" that it made. O.K. just for this "caramel" alone.... she (Juli) is a frickin' genius! This stuff was awesome...wanted to grab a spoon and a seat and go at it! I mean look how gorgeous it is....

Then added the cashew mixture to the caramel mixture....

OMGOODNESS!! Pour all of this yummy goodness on top of the crust and chocolate chips..

Put it back in the oven for a few and this is what happened...

I mean....SERIOUSLY!!! Go here and make this......NOW! DO IT!

But if you live near me and want some, please let me know and I will share so I don't consume the whole, entire thing! 

It's OVER!

The next 21 days I will be blogging about my adventure doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I will posting how I'm feeling, and also about the food I'm eating. I will not be able to post recipes from the program itself. However if you would like those recipes, information, about the program, or would like to join this or up coming 21DSD them clink the link on the side of this page.

The 21 Day Sugar Detox is OVER!! I'm not really celebrating though.... It has been great! I have lost 5 pound in the last 21 days. I didn't even think my body would do that, so I am very grateful! I have found some new energy. Not the highs and lows normally associated with sugar in all it's forms. After the first week is has been smooth sailing for me. 

We have been out of town a lot lately. As a matter of fact we just got home from NC. I have come to realize that unless it is a quality Paleo restaurant.....then I really don't like eating out. You just never REALLY know what you are going to get. I just feel so much better, when I eat at home. Even when I eat the "cleanest" thing on a menu, I'm still going to get horrible oils (ya know, those ones mentioned in the 21dsd manual...) in that food and also tons of sodium for sure. Not to mention possibly gluten in some restaurants who aren't that safe with their practices.

Check out my FB page and the album named NOMS for the latest on all the pics of the food I have eaten on this detox. It was quite simply....amazing food for sure. I'm going out right now as a matter of fact for more ingredients for more detox friendly foods. Now does that mean that I'm not gonna make some pumpkin pancakes.....NO..... now that I'm off the detox I will most definitely make those!! I've been staring at the pic of them in Practical Paleo for two weeks now haha! I'm just saying I love some of those detox recipes SO much I'm gonna keep them in my arsenal even while NOT detoxing!

So I wanna know how you guys that did the detox as well ended up?! Tell me! :)

Remember you can always check out the detox for your self here.

Days 11 and 12: 21DSD

The next 21 days I will be blogging about my adventure doing the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I will posting how I'm feeling, and also about the food I'm eating. I will not be able to post recipes from the program itself. However if you would like those recipes, information, about the program, or would like to join this or up coming 21DSD them clink the link on the side of this page.

Days 11 and 12 
Still doing good. Haven't lost anymore weight but thats o.k. Heck I didn't think I would lose any, so 5 pounds is pretty SWEET!! My energy is good and my emotions are good! Not really moody or depressed. That's a good thing right!?! :)

Food has been pretty sparse. Actually got some groceries today and I have some awesome food coming up in the next two weeks and hopefully some awesome pictures to match. So far on the menu I've got....

Mustard glazed chicken thighs
Broco-cauli chowder with bacon crumbles
Italian style stuffed peppers
Bacon wrapped chicken thighs
Cauliflower mash
Roasted asparagus
Suateed spinach with pine nuts and raisins (no raisins in my portion-21DSD)
Zucchini noodles and bolognese 
Stuffed mushrooms
Green Salad with balsamic vinaigrette 
Steamed brocolli
Crustless quiche with bacon

Man, I'm ready to get cookin'!! All of these recipes are coming from Practical Paleo. An AWESOME new book from Diane Sanfilippo, BS, NC. She is also the maker of the 21 DSD that we are doing right now. Wanna join?? Click the 21 DSD icon on the side of this blog and you will find all the info you need to start!

Also, We will be traveling to a wedding this coming weekend. We will be gone for 3 days I think. Time to take the detox on the road! I will be documenting how I eat while we are out and about. Guess what will be traveling in my purse....You'll have to wait and see.