You're eating WHAT???

I have to tell ya....before Paleo there was no way I was eating or drinking some of the things that I do now. And there are still some things that other paleo people eat and drink that I think....."I am NEVER eating THAT!" Today I will be sharing the top 5 things I would've NEVER eaten before paleo, but now is a staple in my diet.

1. Brussel Sprouts - I hated them...or so I thought. I tried them in a salad and I tried them in a slaw, but it was so nasty to me that I said...NEVER AGAIN! That was, until I tried Everyday Paleo's version of roasted brussel sprouts with bacon...Ummm...they were DA BOMB! And now I don't even need the bacon..GASP!! I know, I know..... but I still love them just roasted in some olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. And you wouldn't believe it, but I even crave brussel sprouts now.

2. Kombucha - I hate tea. Like, literally, it makes me gag. So the thought of me drinking fermented tea with weird looking scum floating in it seemed never likely. But I love the stuff and I can actually tell a difference in the way I digest food when I drink it.....floating scummy stuff and all. I don't get it all the time cause it is pretty pricey, and I haven't gotten to the point where I'm willing to try to make it myself yet. :)

3. Bone broth - Never heard of it before paleo. And I never used my left over bones from cooking for anything except the trash. Now I look at those bones like they are gold. And the weirder the bones the better. I mean what makes a better broth that some chicken feet and ox tail? haha! Speaking of bone broth I have found this company that delivers real bone broth straight to your door. Check them out at Real Bone Broth. This is a pic from their site.

4. Winter Squash - I never even knew how to get those things open much less how to cook them. I wasn't a big veggie person before paleo so I would usually skip the produce section all together on grocery trips. I didn't even know what these little things that would come out in the fall were. But fall is now my favorite time of year (food wise) and it is due in large part to winter squash. Roast them, puree them in a soup, stuff them with some spicy sausage....anyway you cook 'em... I'll eat 'em!

5. Coconut Oil - Coconut oil, because that just sounds weird and I'm sure it tastes weird too, but it is used ALL the time now in my house, and not just for cooking.

So what are your top 5 thing you never thought you would love before paleo?



Moving on....last night I was thinking about the spicy cashew chicken that I usually get at Thai Garden and I thought...let's try to make this a soup. And here is what came of that....

Spicy Cashew Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 1/2 T of olive oil

1/2 t of sesame oil (if you don't have sesame oil, just use 2T of olive oil)

1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced or 3 shallots thinly sliced (I like the shallots)

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 - 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated (depending on how much you like ginger)

1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1 small container of white mushrooms, sliced

2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded ( I used some left over rotisserie chicken)

4 cups of chicken stock

1 zucchini, peeled and julienned with a julienne peeler or cut with a knife into long noodle like strands

2 bunches of baby bok choy, cut into thin strips, could substitute one bunch of kale cut into thin strips if baby bok choy can't be found

1/2 cup of cashew butter

1 cup of water, hot

garnish - chopped cashews, and red pepper flakes


- Over medium heat, in a soup pot. heat the olive oil and sesame oil.
- Once oil is hot add your onion, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and mushrooms. You made need a bit more oil, add if necessary.
- Cook until onions are soft and mushroom cook down and get some color.
- Add in your cooked, shredded chicken and mix. Cook until chicken gets heated through.
- Add in your 4 cups of stock and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling add zuchini and bok choy or kale. Let this come up to a boil then turn the heat down to simmer.
- Let the mixture simmer for about 15 minutes or until the veg is cooked.
- In a seperate bowl mix the 1 cup of hot water with your cashew butter and start to get it melted. Then add that mixture to your soup. Make sure you mix thouroughly to get all the cashew butter melted into the soup.
- Serve and garnish with chopped cashews and red pepper flakes.

If you would like more liquid in your soup feel free to add more water or stock to your liking.

I'm actually eating this for breakfast as I type and I still love it!! haha! I'm thinking of swiping some of the spicy thai seasoning off the table at Thai Garden for the next time I make this and use that instead of the red pepper flakes. YUMMMMM!! I'm telling ya, if you don't like spice, I wouldn't suggest you NOT make this recipe. In my humble opinion the spice is necessary!! :)

Have a great day!!

Super simple and SUPER yummy one pan oven roasted chicken and veg!!

Guys, Let me tell you......this is an awesome recipe!! I was watching Cooks Illustrated one night on PBS and this recipe was on. I can't really remember the exact measurements (no worries my measurements were still awesome!) and I changed an ingredient or two to make it Paleo. The whole family dug this meal and my 5 year old went on and on and on about how awesome the chicken was. So lets get started.

Now if you don't really like handling chicken too much you can just buy 2 bone in chicken breasts, 2 bone in chicken thighs and two chicken legs. Or you can save a heck of a lot of money and just buy a whole bird. That way you have some awesome stuff to make bone broth with later!! yum!

Let me give you the low down on how to cut up a chicken. This was not easy for me tonight since my knife was totally dull. Fixed that problem and the hubs already ordered a sharpener online! :)

First things first, cut off the wings. We aren't gonna use this in the recipe so save them for some bone broth.

Flip the bird over and cut out the back bone. I find this easier with kitchen scissors.

Now that the back bone is out, the only thing left holding the leg to the breast is skin so cut the leg and thighs right off.

Now we want to separate the leg from the thigh so flip it over and you will find a line of fat. Cut right on that line and you will find the joint to cut through.

Next use your knife to cut right down the center of the breast bone. This'll take a bit of muscle. 

Now, I didn't get a pic of this but you are gonna CUT EACH SIDE IN HALF AGAIN. So you will end up with four pieces out of these two breasts. Kinda cut toward the fat end of the breast a bit so they will cook evenly. 

You will end up with 8 pieces of chicken....2 legs, 2 thighs, 4 pieces of breast. I have them on paper towels and I will pat the top of the chicken as well so they are dry and will crisp up nice for me. 

Now that you know how to cut up a bird you can make this recipe.

What you need:

8 pieces of chicken cut up as I've shown you

1 yellow onion, cut in wedges

2 cups of brussel sprouts, halved

2 cups of sweet potatoes, cubed

2 cups of carrots, cubed

1 tsp of thyme

1 tsp of rosemary

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbs of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

For the herb butter

2 Tbs of ghee, melted

2 tsp of thyme

1 tsp of rosemary

Salt and pepper

Run your knife through all the herbs so they are nice and fine.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Yes I know that's hot!! :)

First, make an herb butter to brush on top of the chicken. To make this just melt the two TBS of ghee and add the 2 tsp of thyme and 1 tsp of rosemary.  Add a good pinch of salt and some pepper. Set aside for later.

Chop all of your veggies so they are all in good size chunks and all approximately the same size so they cook evenly. 

Place the veg and garlic in a large mixing bowl and top with olive oil and 1 tsp of thyme and 1 tsp of rosemary. I chopped these very fine before putting them with the veggies. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix it all together to coat all the veg with the oil and herbs. Add more oil if needed.

Next pour all the veg onto a baking sheet and make sure you place the brussel sprouts in the middle so they will be less likely to burn.

Place your chicken pieces on top of the veg. Since the breast tend to cook quicker place those in the center on top of the sprouts and the rest of the chicken around that.

Now brush your chicken pieces with the herb butter.

Place in the over for 35-40 minutes. And enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Ah, the New Year! There's just something about a fresh start, a clean slate, a new year of new possibilities, that makes us so optimistic.  That being said, how many of us start out with this new attitude and by Feb 1st we are looking for our new fresh start and clean slate again? I know I have. This year, aside from striving to be the person God created me to be and live as healthy as possible, I have a new and VERY big goal. To write a cookbook! It is a scary and exciting thought, but that is what I would love to do. It is my dream. Sometimes it is scary to put your dreams out there for all the dream haters to smash and dash them! haha! But there it is....My dream is to write a cookbook. Don't get me wrong I have a lot to learn and a ways to go but I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about the subject. We shall see what happens!

So what about you guys? What are your goals and dreams for 2013? Don't be afraid to share them!! :) I am testing some recipes right now and have 3 more that I have down on paper to try next week. I will post one of them for you guys on the blog. Thank you all for your support and I hope to meet a lot more people here at Paleo Mommy in 2013. Have a wonderful New Years Day!!

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!! :)