Paleo Pumpkin Bread

When eating strict paleo I try to have a "bread" of some sort around at all times.  It helps with the cravings and makes you feel less like you're on a diet, and more so that you're just living this lifestyle.

This is so delicious that most people can't tell that it doesn't have flour or sugar!  Enjoy!

½ cup (generous scoop) Coconut Flour

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp Ground Nutmeg

¼ tsp Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

½ tsp Baking Soda

¼ tsp Sea Salt

½ cup + a little more Organic Pureed Pumpkin

6 eggs

4 Tblsp Coconut Oil

1/4 cup Pure Grade B Organic Maple Syrup

1/4 cup Honey

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Organic unsweetened Raisins or Walnuts if desired (about ½ cup to taste)

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Wisk dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

In a mixer, beat eggs.  Add remaining ingredients except for pumpkin and mix well.  Add pumpkin and mix again.  Slowly mix in flour and beat until most of the flour lumps are gone.  Fold in raisins, etc.

Grease loaf pan VERY VERY well with cooking spray.  If you’re making muffins, use a bare pan well greased, or aluminum foil muffin liners.  Do not use paper as it will stick to the muffins.

Bake Bread for approx 30mins or until cooked through.  Start checking it at 25mins as some ovens cook differently.  

Bake Muffins for 18-20mins

Makes 12 muffins or 1 loaf of bread

Football Sunday, Paleo Style

Who says you still can't enjoy "Football foods" and be healthy paleo?  Well, make these for those nay-sayers and shut them up with a mouth full of BACON, BABY!


Sausage Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños 

Preheat oven to 365
You'll need:
- Jalapeños (divide the number of total pieces you want by 4 and that's how many peppers you need to buy.  Each pepper makes 4 pieces).
- Hot Sausage (I use our grocery stores organic brand)
- Bacon (divide the number of total pieces by 2. Each slice makes 2 pieces).

Simple:
Cut the tops off jalapeños.  Then, cut in half, lengthwise (hot dog style).
Destuff the jalapeño core and seeds. *Read warning below for this part
Cut each long piece in half width-wise (hamburger style).
Stuff each pepper piece with a ball of sausage
Cut each bacon piece in half and then wrap around the pepper/sausage.

Place wrapped pieces on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20-30mins depending on your oven and how crispy you want the bacon.
Turn each piece over and broil on high for 2-5mins to crisp up the bacon which was resting on the pan and needs a bit more of a crunch.

Let cool (duh), and enjoy!


*Warning- pull your shirt up over your mouth/nose during the jalapeño prep part of this recipe.  I was quickly resembling a chain smoking cougher before I realized what was happening.  The fumes from the jalapeño seeds will definitely get to ya'.  But, like childbirth, totally worth it.

** Ps- Thanks Steph for this recipe!

I'm Baaack

Well, after like, a bajillion years off, I'm back.  I've had 2 kids along the way and have gotten "fat," thus, it's time to focus on staying "strict" paleo and get ME back!

I hope to use this blog to keep on track, and also force myself to branch out from our "same 10 meals" menu.  If I know people are reading I'll be forced to put some new stuff on here...at least that's the theory.

During our four years of eating paleo, we've learned a few things:

1) It's not easy, but can be made very manageable.  Sure heating up a microwave dinner, or picking something up through the Drive-Thru is much easier, but with the right prep work a delicious paleo meal is not out of the question each night.  I'll share some tips each week.

2) It's nearly impossible to be STRICT paleo and live a normal life. Work, kids, husband, household chores, laziness, etc all get in the way.  There's no way in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks that I'm making my own mayo, bbq sauce, ketchup...you get the idea. Ain't nobody got time for that!

3) It's a lot easier to have kids eating paleo than we thought.  It actually makes life much easier, we all eat the same meal and that's that.  I don't have to make a billion things each night!

4) We feel SO much better when eating paleo.  Sure Five Guys is awesome, but it doesn't make your body feel very good.

So...with that said, here's to a year of new recipes, tips/tricks, and vivid dreams (all you paleo people know what I'm talking about)!  Cheers!

Tacoless Tacos

AKA- Lettuce Wraps
These are super easy, and much more filling than they look!

Tacoless Tacos

Ingredients:

1 head of Lettuce

2lbs Ground Beef (we use Bison instead)

1/4-1/2 Onion chopped

Cumin to taste

Red Pepper flakes to taste

Cayenne Pepper to taste

Basil, Oregano, Parsley to taste

Pepper to taste

Allspice to taste

*It takes a lot of the spices for 2lbs of meat, so don't be shy...shake away!

Brown the meat and drain off the fat.  Add 1/2cup of water to the skillet and then add all of the spices until it tastes spicy enough for your liking.  

Cover and simmer on low about 10mins.

Spoon a bit into each lettuce wrap and enjoy!!

I added grilled radishes too

Have LOTS of napkins on hand!

Sweet Potato and Apple Goodness

This recipe comes from Thomi- the queen of Paleo :)
It's perfect for dessert, breakfast, or a snack!  Let me preface with: I don't like sweet potatoes normally, but this, I LOVE!!

Here's what you'll need:
*This makes enough for dessert every night for a week for myself

2 large Sweet Potatoes
2-3 large Organic Pink Lady apples
Ground Cinnamon

Bake the sweet potatoes on a foil lined pan (poke holes in them first) at 425degrees for 40mins
While the potatoes are baking- cut up the apples into tiny squares and toss them in a baking dish.
After the potatoes have cooked, drop the oven to 350degrees
Cut up the potatoes into tiny squares as well, and mix in with the apples.  You should have fairly equal parts potato and apple.
Sprinkle cinnamon all over and mix the potatoes and apples until they look ugly/brown coated.

Cook the baking dish of potatoes, apples, and cinnamon in the oven for another 30mins until the apple juices have started leaking.

Eat cold or reheat in the microwave.

Enjoy!

2 large sweet potatoes

Be sure to peel the skin off before cutting into tiny squares

Potatoes and Apples mixed pre-cinnamon

Post-cinnamon ugly but o-so-good and ready to cook!

E-A-S-Y Crock Pot Chicken

This post comes to you pre-realization that Corn is in fact NOT paleo.  Whoops.
I have been Paleo for almost 9 months and had no clue that corn is considered a grain.  Clearly I don't eat much corn.

So.  Make this without the Corn- sub in water chestnuts, snap peas, or any other veggie you wish.

CrockPot Mexican Chicken

* 1/2-1lb Chicken Breasts per person

* 2 8oz Jars of Organic/ Low-Sodium Salsa (I use Trader Joe's brand)

* veggie of your choice

Put salsa and veggies in a crock pot; stir them so they're mixed together.

Put chicken in the crock pot and cover with the salsa mixture.

Bake in Crock Pot on High for 3hrs, or low for 5-6hrs.

Scoop out chicken with a spoon and get some of the "goodies".  

*Don't use a fork to take the chicken out- it will be tender and shred-able...you will get splattered with salsa like I did :)

Enjoy!!

There's 1lb of Chicken Under there
Boy, is this yummy!!

DIY Ham

I've been eating paleo for 8 months now.  Three of it was very strict since Husband was deployed, and since I've been about 90-95% paleo.  We go out once or twice a week, so I have a few cheat meals here and there....that's enough to keep me level, rather than loosing weight and getting down that last size that just won't seem to melt off my legs (bastard athletic legs)!

Over the last week, I've taken a hard look at what I'm eating on a daily basis: My attempt to figure out why  I'm not getting smaller, given the cajillion calories (yes, I in fact burn 1 cajillion calories. Not thousand. Cajillion. Get it right) I burn at CrossFit each day.  I determined I'm eating too much fruit, and too much salt (and obviously the cheat meals each week don't help either).

The fruit is coming from my smoothies.  While they are the most delicious thing I've ever tasted (with the exception of Coldstone Creamery chocolate/peanut butter milkshakes), they give me 3-4 servings of fruit in one pop.  Not good for blood glucose levels, which means not good for weight loss.  *Insert sad face with tear running down my cheek*

The salt is coming from deli meat.  I know deli meat isn't Clean; it comes from animals shot up with hormones, fed God knows what, and processed to the Nth degree to get it looking all nice and perfect before it hits the grocery stores.  But, to my defense, it's ridiculously easy to roll up and take with me on the road for work every day.  I'm not blessed enough to be able to cook each day, so I need meat/protein that is transportable.  Deli cold cuts were my answer.  Until I talked with Mama Bug about the sodium content and havoc it can wreck on weight loss attempts.  I looked up the sodium of my favorite Boars Head Maple Ham, and of course realized I was consuming 48% of my daily amount, in 4 slices of meat! EEK!

48% isn't awful for someone not eating paleo and trying to loose a size (I'm not saying weight anymore, it's not the number I care about, it's the size-- CrossFit doesn't allow small numbers, it allows mass amounts of muscle).  For someone like myself, who does not get sodium from anything else in my diet, nor uses salt on ANYTHING else, that's a huge amount of sodium in my diet.  My body is essentially holding onto all of that and soaking it up.

My solution- buy an uncooked Ham and make my own lunch meat (I will also make turkey and chicken each week for variation).  Doing this takes my sodium levels from: 1, 710mg (6oz Boars Head Honey Maple Ham) to 1,400mg (6oz Organic Ham Butt).  Not a huge change, but that little bit of sodium supposedly (according to paleo "experts") will make a huge difference.  Here's to hoping they're right!

Here's how easy it is to cook your own ham; not to mention it comes out to be $3/lb this way, vs. $8.99/lb when it's on sale in the store!!!!!

18lbs of Goodness!
Cook ham for approx. 4hrs

Cut ham into slices until you're left with this...

Can anyone say "that's a ton of meat!"?!?

Bag Ham into weekly portions
(this is for Husband and myself each week)

I froze the bags and pull out one each week.  The 18lb Ham made enough for 8 weeks!!!
*You're welcome Ziploc for the free advertising