The Importance of Preparation!

Hi Guys!
How is the Christmas Season treating you so far? I think I have got ALL of the shopping done. Kinda makes me sad cause I love buying gifts. Maybe I should be a professional shopper!?!? Anyway, there are LOTS of parties and get togethers that are happening around this time of year. And that is what brought me to this post.

If your goal is to stay paleo throughout the season then you must be prepared. I have heard many people complaining about getting desperate and reaching for the bread or the cheetos cause they were hungry and there was nothing else in the house. After further questions we come to find out there always IS something else in the house but it is EASIER to grab the already prepared stuff, like the bread and cheetos. And I completely agree!! It agree that it IS easier to grab stuff that is already prepared! That is why I suggest that keeping prepped paleo food is uber important!

Now we can talk about preparedness in the sense of meal planning first. For example, pick a day and prepped your food for the week, or at least most of it. I have a example of one afternoon this week that I prepped for 3 meals. It went something like this......

Made lunch.... Roast Chicken, oven roasted asparagus, and salad

When I finished lunch, and while the girls were still finishing theirs, I prepped another meal from the leftover chicken. I picked off all the chicken, chopped up some poblano and red peppers, onion, garlic, ginger, and mushrooms and placed them in a bowl to do a stir fry.

Wrapped it with plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge for later use.

Then I prepped another meal.....cleaned and trimmed a pound of brussel sprouts while 3 strips of bacon were cooking on the stove. Placed the sprouts in a baking dish with some olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme, and chopped and added the bacon when it was done. Wrapped it in plastic wrap and that goes in the fridge too.

After that, I prepped the chuck roast that was to be cooked in the crock pot. I seared my roast on all sides in the same pan that the bacon cooked in. While that was getting a good crust on it, I sliced an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic and threw them into my crock pot insert. I placed the roast on top when it was finished, hit it with some salt and pepper, placed the top on and stuck it in the fridge.

Whenever I'm ready put the crockpot on I just added 1/2 cup of stock and a couple tbs of steak sauce to the roast and let it go for 8 hours. And the brussel sprouts just went in the oven on 400 for about 30-40 minutes, mixing them around every so often.

Do you remember that stir fry that is sitting in the fridge? I popped that into a pan with some sesame oil, coconut aminos, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes.  It was delish and it was my breakfast AND  lunch that day. I topped it with some guac at lunch time just to change it up a bit.

Meal time prep is pretty simple and so helpful on the weekdays when you are busy and want to avoid the drive through. I have a previous post about this as well the goes into more detail. Check it out!

Now what about snacks? How can I just grab something quick to snack on and avoid the doritos!!?! My first suggestion would be to rid your house of the doritos but I totally understand that that isn't reality all the time.....other people live in your house too! :) Same here! :) But my next suggestion would be......you guessed it....PREP!!!

Here is a list of things that you can have ready for you to grab and snack on. Use little baggies and and keep them in individual serving in your fridge or pantry for even easier access.

hard boiled eggs
veggie strips and guac (I use the wholly guacamole single serving packs for ease of use)
jerky
nuts (make sure you eat only your serving of these....it can get out of control..trust me...I know)
egg cupcakes
individual containers of soup
premade paleo muffins or bread divided into servings (need a recipe?? Here is one )
Deli meat, meatballs, or chicken breast divided into servings

Please, please, please prepare....it will make things so much easier and healthier. This is absolutely what I care about most........My desire is for you to be the healthiest YOU that YOU can be!!  I'm just letting you know what has cause me to slip in the past, and how I fixed it, so maybe we can avoid you all going through the same thing!

Now on to some fun stuff!! Santa is visiting us all in a couple of weeks. Now we all know Santa LOVES him some cookies...who doesn't? Well my favorite cookie is NO-Bake cookies. My Mama used to make them every Christmas! Ya know the cookies with 2 cups of sugar... 1 cup of peanut butter and 3 cups of oats.... Yeah, those are the ones. Well I was on a search for a paleo version and I made my own. They were good but I didn't add enough ingredients so I googled and found fastpaleo.com's version. Luckily it was all the ingredients I was already using I just needed different amounts.... I really liked these...my kids did, and my HUSBAND AS WELL!! (Anytime my husband like anything paleo it makes me really happy!!)  I have a few suggestions for these though.... Here is the recipe from fastpaleo.com

1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup of coconut oil or butter
1 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa or cacao powder
1/3 cup of almond butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut

place honey, fat and powder in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat
bring mixture to a boil, let it boil for 1 minute, then immediately remove from heat
stir in almond butter and vanilla until incorporated
mix in coconut
drop cookies on wax paper and place in the fridge until set.

the author said you can store them in the fridge or at room temp and that they like the texture out of the fridge.


Ok, this is a great recipe! I would advise however to use the coconut oil instead of the butter, the flavor and texture are great. And I also prefer them IN the fridge. There is a huge difference in the way they tasted last night and the way they tasted this morning. I LOVED them this morning after being in the fridge over night. It reminded me of those samoa girl scout cookies!!! <3<3<3 Another thing I would recommend playing with is the nut butters. I'm thinking about trying a macadamia nut butter instead. Sounds fairly awesome to me!! :) SO, I'm thinking that Santa WILL NOT be disappointed when he comes to my house and has these cookies waiting for him! Actually, I'm fairly certain he will be thrilled!! :)

Well, that's it for today! I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas! May the Lord bless you in the coming year! If you haven't done so already head over to Paleo Mommy on facebook and give me a "like". I put recipes, pics, and updates over there way more often than on the blog. I'm working on getting a website, so hopefully that will be awesome! Remember to PREPARE and keep it healthy this holiday season!! <3

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I really hope you guys have a super fun and tasty holiday! I have 3 recipes (2 new) for you and they are just in time for the holidays! First up is the Pumpkin Pie. This is the same recipe as the pumpkin pie bars but I just put them in a pie dish for thanksgiving... And please remember these are TREATS that should be consumed on special occasions only, and not on an everyday basis. :)

Pumpkin Pie

Crust

preheat oven 350 degrees 

1 1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 tsp of baking soda
teeny tiny pinch of salt
1 Tbs. of grass fed organic butter (coconut oil might work if you don't do any grass fed butter)

Process it all together in a food processor until ground. Press into pie pan and bake for 15 minutes.

Filling
5 pitted dates
1 Cup of organic pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 Tbs coconut oil
1/4 cup organic shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Process dates first until they are really tiny and then just add all the rest and blend together. Place on top of the crust and spread it out. Place in the fridge until cool and firm. I place halved pecans on top as well (optional)

Chocolate Pie
crust
Preheat oven 350 degrees
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 cup walnuts
pinch of salt 
2 Tbs of either grass fed butter or coconut oil
Process all together and press into a pie pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Filling
1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate chips (found at earth fare and whole foods)
1 can coconut milk (please use full fat Thai Kitchen brand others won't set up right)

Place the cup of chocolate chips in a medium size bowl. Heat up coconut milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it would be hot enough to melt the chocolate. Keep stirring and don't burn it. Once milk is hot pour it over the chips. Mix till it's all well blended, pour into crust and refrigerate over night. 

Yummy Breakfast bread

This one is inspired by The Civilized Caveman himself! He posted this awesome recipe for Banana bread this morning and I really wanted to try it but didn't have all the ingredients, so I tweaked it using what I had and this is what popped out. I really love it, and my girls keep begging me for more. But I'm TOTALLY gonna try his recipe when I have all the ingredients, because they ALWAYS rock!! Be sure to check him out! 

2 bananas

1 cup of organic pumpkin puree 

1/2 cup of almond butter

4 tbs of grass fed butter (or coconut oil)

1/2 cup of coconut flour

1 1/2 Tbs of pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

pinch of salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Proces the bananas, puree, butter, and nut butter until smooth.

Add flour, spice, vanilla, baking soda, powder and salt, mix till incorporated.

Pour batter in a bowl and mix in nuts and coconut by hand. 

Grease glass bread baking dish with coconut oil and pour in batter. 

Cook for 55-60 minutes. Check with toothpick. Let it cool and eat. We couldn't wait for it to cool completely though. :P

Who's ready to EAT!!!????!?!?!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!! :)

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!