Paleo Blueberry Pancakes

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!  In honor of a nice weekend at home, here's my Completely-Made-Up recipe for Blueberry pancakes.  Tweak as you wish and share your thoughts!!

Paleo Blueberry Pancakes

4 eggs- beaten

1 smashed banana

1 cup blueberries

3/4 cup almond flour/meal
1/4 cup coconut flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

protein powder if desired

Mix all ingredients except blueberries with a blender.  Fold in blueberries.

Cook on a skillet just as you would regular pancakes.  They will take slightly longer to cook through than normal pancakes because of the banana's, so cook just below medium heat and be patient.  Wait for bubbles in the middle of the pancake to start popping before flipping, if you flip sooner the middle will be mushy from the banana.

They are dark in color because of the cinnamon

Enjoy!

Easy Marinade Glaze

This is my go-to "I have chicken defrosted but what the heck should I do with it?" recipe.
I use it on Salmon, Chicken, and Pork Chops..it's great on all three!  It's a sweet/natural sugar recipe, so be sure to use it when consuming a lot of protein, this way your glucose levels won't spike as much.

Sweet Marinade Glaze

1/2 cup Natural Honey

1/4 cup Organic Balsamic Vinegar

Heat honey in a small sauce pot over low-medium heat.  Once honey has thinned out, add balsamic and mix together.  Let sit on heat for 1min, then cool for 1min before adding to meat as a marinade.

Marinate meat for 1-1.5hrs.  I pour sauce into the baking dish with the meat and cook it in the sauce as well.

*Amounts will vary depending on the amount of meat you're cooking. I use this as a base for about 1lb of chicken and go from there.  

Enjoy!

Paleo Banana Bread

Some people can eat paleo without ever craving "bread."  I'm not one of those.  So here's my solution- "bread" without all the bad stuff.  I make mini-muffins most of the time, that way I can just pop one in my mouth and feel like I'm part of America :)  Enjoy!

PALEO BANANA "BREAD"

½ cup (generous scoop) Coconut Flour

2 Tbs Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder

¼ tsp Sea Salt

1 cup Smashed Bananas (the more rotten, the better)- usually around 2-3 whole bananas

6 eggs

4 Tblsp Coconut Oil

1/4 cup Pure Grade B Organic Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Honey

1 Tbs 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 banana and mix well.  Add banana and mix again.  Slowly mix in flour and beat until most of the flour lumps are gone.  Fold in raisins, etc. if desired.

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
Bake Mini Muffins for 12-14mins

* Makes 12 muffins/24 mini muffins or 1 loaf of bread

"Fried" Flounder

This is a great way to feel like you're eating what the rest of America eats, but still stay clean and healthy!

Paleo "Fish sticks"- Good!

"Fish Sticks"- Bad 

Ingredients:
* Flounder Filets- enough to feed everyone who's eating. Usually 1/4-1/2lb per person
* Eggs
* Almond Meal
* Herbs such as Basil, Parsley, Oregano, etc.

Preheat oven to 425degrees.
Grease a baking dish.  Beat eggs in a medium sized bowl (For 1.5lbs of Flounder I used 3 eggs).  Next to the bowl, pour Almond Meal on a dinner plate and mix in herbs as desired.
Rinse Flounder to make sure it's clean.
Dip filets, one at a time, in the almond meal, lightly coating each one.
Dunk each filet into the egg mixture, then coat again with Almond Meal.  Do this for each filet, placing it into the baking dish when complete.
Bake for 10-15mins depending on thickness of the Flounder.  It should flake apart easily once it's done.
Let cool for 2-5mins and enjoy!

Pistachio Encrusted Salmon

Thanks, Rita for this amazing recipe!

Ingredients:
* Wild Caught Salmon Filet (enough to feed number of people who will be eating. Usually 1/2lb- 1lb per person)
* Dijon Spicy Mustard
* Unsalted/Roasted Pistachios

Preheat Oven to 375degrees.
Clean the salmon and place in a glass baking dish.  Coat salmon with a thin layer of mustard.
Crush pistachio's in a food processor until they're crumb-like.  Sprinkle pistachios over salmon until you're no longer able to see the mustard.
Bake for approx. 20mins until salmon is dark pink and flakes when a fork is inserted.
Enjoy!

Paleo Trail Mix

This is a staple around our house! A great snack to grab and take with you for the day; it makes about 16 snack bags worth of Trail Mix!!

* 5 cups nuts and seeds (I always use slivered almonds, flax seeds, pecans, and sunflower seeds; you can use whatever you want- pumpkin seeds are great too- but make sure you use at least 2 – 3 cups slivered almonds, as these take the place of what is normally oats). MAKE SURE ALL NUTS ARE UNSALTED/ORGANIC.
* 1/4 cup honey 

* 1/4 cup organic grade B mayple syrup
* 1/3 cup coconut oil (if you've never used coconut oil; it comes in wax form. Remove lid, and heat in microwave for 1min to melt).
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 

* 1/4 tsp ground ginger
* 3/4 cup organic raisins 

* 1/2 cup organic unsweetened dried blueberries or other dried/unsweetened fruit

* 1/2 cup organic unsweetened dried cranberries or other dried/unsweetened fruit
* 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (if desired)

Mix honey, syrup, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove. Let it cool for a minute. Mix nuts in a big bowl and pour sauce over them. Mix well. Spread the nuts and seeds out on a greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 300 degrees. Allow the pan to cool slightly (no more than 3mins or it will start to form together) and then put the mixture into a bowl. Mix in dried/unsweetened fruit & enjoy!