My Favorite Homemade Guacamole

          Guacamole is one of my favorite snacks! The best part is that it can be made in less than 5 minutes, and it doesn't require too many ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 2-3  large, ripe avocados
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 4 tsp lime juice
• 1/3 c onion
• 1-2 Serrano peppers
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder

       *Sometimes I will add 1-2 tbsp of salsa for extra flavor. It tastes great either way!

Preparation:

1. Chop the onion and peppers into fine pieces.
2. Remove the pit from the center of the avocados, and scrape out the remains into a mixing bowl.
3. Add the lime juice and cilantro next. Be sure to mix it well.
4. Finally, add the sea salt, peppers, and garlic powder. Some people may want to add more/less salt or pepper to appeal to your taste buds!

          I love to make this at least once a week! With a little tweaking from another Paleo food loving friend, Jessica, I have found the perfect guacamole recipe for me. You can eat it with homemade sweet potato chips, as a topping on your favorite meats, or just as a side by itself. With summertime coming into full force, this can be the go to snack to bring to a cookout with friends/family! I have another great dip recipe, Paleo Spinach Artichoke Dip, coming soon! I would love to hear feedback from your favorite recipes or new treats you have tried!

Paleo Meatloaf and Veggie Stir Fry

          I have one more delicious recipe to share before I head out of town for the weekend. I made this two nights ago, and everyone loved it. One of my closest friends, who does not eat Paleo, actually told me that she loved this more than regular meatloaf that she has had before!

 

Paleo Meatloaf

Ingredients: (Meatloaf)

• 1 package of natural ground turkey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c almond meal
• 1/2 c yellow onion
• 2 small baby bell peppers
• 2 tbsp dry parsley
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp olive/coconut oil

Ingredients: (Sauce)

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5-6 tbsp organic ketchup (Regular ketchup will do as well if that is what you choose to use!)

           *I purchased this ketchup from the Healthy Life Market in Barboursville by the Huntington Mall. It is the most Paleo ketchup that I have found, besides making my own. It is a great alternative whenever you may not have time to make some yourself and you want to keep it Paleo! I will be posting a Paleo Ketchup recipe soon!

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Dice the onion and baby bell peppers into fine pieces.
3. Mix ground turkey, eggs, and almond meal together in a large mixing bowl.
4. Next, add the onions and peppers, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano to the meat mixture.
5. Lather the baking pan with a little olive oil to keep the meatloaf from sticking.
6. Add meat to the pan and bake for 45 minutes.
7. While the meat is baking, mix the olive oil and organic ketchup in a small bowl. You may want to add a little salt and/or pepper.
8. After the meat cooks for 45 minutes, take it out of the oven, and add the sauce evenly to the top of the meat.
9. Place back in the oven for 20 minutes.

Veggie Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 c broccoli
• 1 c cauliflower
• 1/3 c onion
• 1/3 c mushrooms
• 1/3 c carrots
• 1/3 c bell pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Preparation:

1. This preparation is simple! Add olive oil to a medium/large pan.
2. Chop the vegetables in 1/2 inch pieces or smaller depending on what you like.
3. Add the vegetables to the pan, along with the lime juice, salt, and pepper.
4. Sauté for 20-25 minutes until vegetables are golden.

          *The ingredients for the stir fry can vary. I have used sweet potatoes, different kinds of squash, beets, and many more vegetables. The preparation is the same. I love to change up the ingredients to give the stir fry a different kick every time!

          Have a great Memorial Weekend everyone! Safe travels if you are headed on any trips. I would love to hear what recipes you all are cooking up! Please send them to me so I can share them with everyone else and try them myself! (:

Paleo Banana Nut Muffins and Dark Chocolate Chip Bread

Paleo Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c almond/coconut flour
• 1/4 c water (may vary depending on the thickness of your batter)
• 2 tbsp agave
• 1 tbsp olive/coconut oil
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/3 c walnut pieces

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a muffin pan with olive or coconut oil.
3. Smash the banana in a mixing bowl. Use a little water to help soften the banana and make it easier to mash.
4. Add the almond flour and eggs until you create a liquid mixture. This is where I will add some extra water if it is too thick, but usually the two eggs are enough.
5. Next, add the cinnamon, agave, and walnut pieces.
6. Bake for 15 minutes until the muffins are toasted on top.

          This is a very quick and easy recipe for a delicious dessert. These muffins taste identical to regular banana bread unfriendly to the Paleo diet.


Paleo Dark Chocolate Chip Bread         
          
          The ingredients for this bread is identical to the ingredients for the banana nut muffins above, with two exceptions.

• Replace the walnuts with 1/3 c of Sunspire Fairtrade Organic 65% Cacao Chips. These can be found at Kroger in the healthy food section.
• I do not always use the whole banana with this bread. I will only use 1/2 to 3/4 banana.

           The preparation is also the same as the preparation for the Banana Nut Muffins. I made the Paleo Dark Chocolate Chip Bread in a loaf shaped baking tin, but either of these recipes can be made any way you choose, as muffins or as bread.

 

 

          Both of these Paleo friendly recipes are great for a sweet tooth! I try to only make Paleo desserts one time a week. They are a perfect way to change up the diet, while keeping it healthy, but they are still not good to eat in excess.  

Why Not Have These Everyday?         
          
          I have had many conversations with Tiffany, one of the Dieticians who inspires the members at our Crossfit box, and my friend, Allison, about why one should eat Paleo treats in moderation. Allison showed me a link to the site, Humans Are Not Broken, which discusses the reasons why one should not make too many Paleo desserts. Here is a condensed excerpt from this site:

  

          "The major problem with elaborate Paleo foods and desserts is that they are calorie-rich and low on nutrition. This is exactly why SAD (Standard American Diet, such as pizza, processed foods, and junk food) doesn’t work. And here we have Paleo folks mimicking the SAD approach! Unless you are a growing, active child or you have trouble with putting on weight, these foods should not be on your everyday menus.

 

• Avoid Paleo processed foods. Nut flours, oils, butters, etc. are processed foods. That doesn’t make them toxic, but it does make them easy to overeat. Do you think human beings have had a chance to evolve a mechanism for detecting when too much coconut oil, almond butter, or coconut flour has been consumed? I don’t.
• Avoid snacking between meals. Admit it, before you learned how to make Paleo muffins, you rarely snacked between meals. And when you found out Larabars were Paleo? Fuhgeddaboudit. Even if you did snack a bit, the foods were less calorie dense and probably more nutritious."

          I still plan on using Paleo flours and nut butters in some of my recipes, but this is why you should not make them a main food group of your diet. Do not worry, there will be many more Paleo goodie recipes to come. Sticking to the main Paleo eating guidelines is the perfect way to go. Do not be afraid to add a little Paleo sweets in there every now and then, but try not to overdo it!

Making Paleo Shopping Easier and The Whole 30 Preview

          While reading the Crossfit Journal, they stated that keeping your buggy around the perimeter of the grocery store, while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Your body doesn't want to ingest foods with extensive shelf lives. You want to stick to the meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats. I am doing a clean out of our pantry and refrigerator today to remove the rest of the secretly unhealthy foods in our house.

          I recently began the Whole 30 Challenge. It is not much different from my usual Paleo eating, with the exception of taking away my Paleo treats, such as pancakes, muffins, etc. It is simply more strict and tough for those with a Paleo sweet tooth like me! If anyone is interested in this challenge, or simply seeing some other foods and additives to avoid on a regular basis; here is a partial excerpt straight from the Whole 30 Program Website.

Our Whole30 Program, as outlined.

• Eat real food – meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed.
• More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program;
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial, alcohol or tobacco products, grains, legumes, dairy, carrageenan, MSG or sulfites, white potatoes, Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life. 

 

                Also, a fellow Paleo Blogger/Crossfitter from our area, Dinah Houston, shared this photo on Facebook recently. These are a few hidden ingredients in foods that we all should try to avoid. I had heard about the dangers of a few of these ingredients before, but some of the warnings were new to me!

Dinah has many fantastic recipes on her site! Check out her blog for some yummy Paleo meals/snacks.



Feeding Ger Sasser, Dinah Houston's Blog

 

Scottish Eggs

          My mom made these for the first time last spring, and we always complained that they were not made enough! It is a great breakfast all mixed into one.

Ingredients:

• Dozen of eggs
• 1 package of sausage (I used nitrate/hormone/antibiotic free from The Wild Ramp.)
• 1-2 tsp of sea salt
• 1-2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 c almond flour

Preparation:

1. Boil 8-10 eggs over medium to high heat. Peel once they have cooked and cooled.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F while you prepare your boiled eggs.
3. Crack one egg into a large bowl. Add the sausage, almond flour, as well as the salt and pepper.
4. Take an egg sized portion of sausage (perhaps bigger) and cover the outside of the egg. You do not want any part of the boiled egg to be visible. The sausage will still be sticky, even with the almond flour, but it will stay put if you mash them into a ball shape around the egg.
5. Cook on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes. They will seem cooked on the outside, but you want to be sure to cut into them and check that the inside is done. Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash

          This was our dinner last night (and Tom's lunch today)! I saw many of the Crossfit Thunder ladies posting about making this, and Tom and I had to try it ourselves. I will be making this again later this week.

Ingredients: (Bacon Wrapped Chicken)

• 1 package of all natural or free range chicken tenders/breast
• 1 package of nitrate free bacon
• 1-2 tsp sea salt
• 1-2 tsp ground pepper
• 1-2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Dash of cayenne pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Sprinkle the chicken tenders or breasts with the sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, olive oil, and cayenne pepper.
3. Have one piece of bacon for every piece of chicken and wrap it around its width. I would wrap two pieces around larger breasts.
4. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. You are looking for the bacon to be crisp. Cut into the chicken to make sure it has cooked all the way through.

         This is a simple recipe that can spice up our regular chicken breasts! Now, on to the second part of our dinner.

Ingredients: (Sweet Potato Hash)

• 2-3 sweet potatoes
• 1/2 c white onion
• 1 mango (optional)
• 1-2 tsp of sea salt
• 1-2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. Add the olive oil to a pan, and warm over low heat.
2. Soften the sweet potatoes in the microwave then slice them into 1 by 1 inch pieces. Add to the olive oil in the pan.
3. If you would like to make your hash a little sweet, slice a mango in the same 1 by 1 inch pieces. Add to the sweet potatoes.
4. Cut the onion into fine pieces. Mix in the potatoes (and mango, if used). Increase the stove top to a medium heat.
5. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the mixture, and continue to stir every few minutes.
6. Cook until golden (fried) and then serve!

          This recipe is similar to the Butternut Squash and Apple Hash recipe, but you want to be sure that the potatoes become more golden brown to have a more crunchy texture. These will resemble fried potatoes more than the butternut squash. I will be posting many more sweet potato recipes for the other sweet potato lovers out there!

Butternut Squash and Apple Hash

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 1/2 butternut squash
• 5 pieces of bacon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1-2 tsp olive or coconut oil

Preparation:

1. Rinse the squash and apple with cool water.
2. Chop both into 1 by 1 inch pieces. You may need to soften the squash in the microwave to make it easier to slice.
3. Place a skillet over the stove and grease with olive or coconut oil.
4. Add the butternut squash and apple. Cook over medium heat for ten minutes or until hash is tender. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper.
5. While the squash and apple is beginning to cook, add bacon to a separate skillet. I use nitrate free bacon found at Kroger.
6. Once the bacon is crisp, remove from the skillet and crumble the throughout the squash and apple mixture.
7. Add extra salt and black pepper if needed.
8. Continue to cook the mixture until apple and squash is golden.
9. Serve and enjoy!

         This is a great recipe for the breakfast lovers! It resembles fried potatoes, but tastes even better! It is a quick fix and makes around 8 servings that can last for days. If you are wanting to make a little extra, simply double the amount of squash, apple, and bacon, because I know this meal goes quick in my house.