Sun Cups – Addicted!
Posted: July 18, 2012 Filed under: Dessert, Snacks Leave a commentI almost don’t want to tell you about this. Because, if you are anything like me, these suckers will be a gateway into a serious addiction. I’m talking about an almost completely legitimately paleo version of REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS. Are you kidding me. I ate two packages yesterday. Fortunately, these are actually kind of tough to find, so as long as I avoid the only store you can buy them at in the Seattle area (PCC) I think I’ll be okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Ingredients: Dark Chocolate* (cocoa liquor*†, cane sugar*, cocoa butter*†), Sunflower Seed*, Glucose*, Cocoa Butter*, Sea Salt. Oh, and evil. Pure evil.
Steak, Sweet Potato Slices & Grilled Asparagus
Posted: July 18, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment
We are moving into a new house! Yippee! It’s big, beautiful and has an amazing kitchen. We’ve been eating out since we’ve been super busy, however last night I cooked this up and the whole family ate it up (except the sweet potatoes, my husband hates those). This was really easy to make and delicious. I’m not going to write a recipe since this is really super easy, but give it a try and enjoy!
Meanwhile, enjoy our wall of boxes:
Marinate the steaks and asparagus in your favorite paleo-friendly italian dressing for 30 mins. 1/2 way through marinating, coat the sweet potato slices in olive oil and sea salt and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 mins in a 350 deg. oven. Grill the steaks for for 8 minutes on each side, flipping every 4 mins. After the first flip, add the asparagus to the grill and pull them off when they are charred.
Enjoy!
Roasted brussel sprouts & bacon with sweet potato slices
Posted: July 2, 2012 Filed under: Dinner, Dinner Parties, Sides, Vegetables | Tags: bacon, brussel sprouts, dinner, olive oil, paleo, roasting veggies, sweet potatoes Leave a comment
Did I mention that my husband is in the UK for 6 whole days? I’ve been trying to manage the house, keep the kids entertained, feed them healthy food, and try to stay SANE. I am not terribly good at any of these things, which is why the house looks like this:
I think I succeeded with dinner tonight, though. This dinner won rave reviews from the crowd, even the picky 2 year old audience member who kept begging for “more please”. That never happens. This is super easy and very low-maintenance, but tastes like a fussy meal. If you follow the cooking instructions, you can cook both the sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts at the SAME TIME. In the SAME OVEN. Even if your oven was made in 1963. The sweet potatoes are divine. Crispy and a little salty on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside and all around delicious. Plus, they are so pretty!
Roasted Brussel Sprouts & Bacon
1-2 lbs brussel sprouts
1 large shallot, sliced thin
1/4 lb thick-sliced bacon, chopped (I like hemplers applewood smoked bacon)
2 tbsp olive oil
sea salt & pepper to taste
splash of balsamic vinegar
1. Preheat oven to 400 deg.
2. Put everything in a bowl, stir to coat
3. Put in a large enough baking dish so the brussel sprouts are in one layer
4. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 mins
Roasted sweet potato slices
Sweet potatoes or yams, sliced into 1/2 in thick slices
Olive Oil
Sea Salt to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 deg
2. Toss sweet potato slices with olive oil & sea salt
3. spread in a single layer on a baking sheet
4. bake for 40 mins, flipping once
If you want to cook them at the same time, the brussel sprouts should cook on the bottom shelf and the sweet potatoes on the top shelf.
Enjoy!
Dinner Out – Red Robin
Posted: July 2, 2012 Filed under: Beef, Dining Out, Dinner | Tags: beef, dinner out, paleo, red robin Leave a commentI know what you’re thinking – what?! Red Robin? That doesn’t seem very healthy or paleo. Isn’t that the place with the sky-high milkshakes and ice cream pie? Why yes, yes it is. But, they’ve also redone their menu to make it more paleo-friendly. My husband is in the UK right now, which means that I’ve got six (SIX!) days home with our kids. Alone. Oh, and it’s summer break. Who is the genius that decided to take most of these 6 days off? That’s right, it was me.
Anyway, enough whining. My 7 year old son insisted on going to Red Robin and I obliged, thinking “oh, great. I’m going to have to eat something I don’t want to or beg the waiter to do something special for me”. I was super surprised to find a bunch of great options on the menu!
I ordered a bunless guacamole burger minus the cheese and mayo with a side of sweet potato fries. Sure, they were definitely Alexia’s fries and the beef was definitely NOT grass-fed, but the burger came wrapped in lettuce, the fries were hot and my kids were happy!
Dark Chocolate-covered Macaroons
Posted: June 11, 2012 Filed under: Dessert, Dinner Parties | Tags: chocolate, coconut, dessert, honey, paleo Leave a comment
I am typing this on my phone, so I won’t be overly verbose, but this is about dessert. Real dessert. Not “I am eating paleo so I am going to pretend this tastes as good as real dessert” dessert.
This is decadent, chocolately, coconutty yumminess. I hope you make these, and I hope you love them.
Paleo (ish) chocolate-covered macaroons
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
2 egg whites
2 tbsp honey
Splash of rum
Chocolate sauce: 6 oz 86% dark chocolate, 1 tbsp butter. Melted together in a double boiler. You can easily forgo the butter.
Preheat oven to 350 deg F
1. Whip egg whites and rum until stiff, slowly adding honey while whipping
2. Fold in coconut
3. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet
4. Bake for 15 mins, until cookies are mostly firm but slightly spongey
5. Cool the cookies
6. Once cool, dip in the chocolate sauce (or drizzle over the top with a spoon)
7. Refrigerate for 1 hour to let chocolate set
Note that, because these have butter, they should be kept cold until serving or the chocolate will get messy. Enjoy!
Snacks!
Posted: June 5, 2012 Filed under: Snacks | Tags: aidells, larabar, paleo, snacks, sweet potato chips Leave a commentWhen people say you have to COOK EVERY MEAL when you eat paleo, they are wrong. There are lots of yummy snacks out there that are mostly paleo-friendly. Since I am a mom of two (in fact, right now my 7 year old is talking my EAR OFF while I try to write this blog), I have to have snacks to eat on the go. Especially on workout days, otherwise I won’t remember to eat!
I thought I would share some of my favorite snacks and quick-eats with you:
“Food Should Taste Good” sweet potato chips! Only ingredients are: Sweet Potatoes, Sunflower Oil & Sea Salt
Cherry Pie Larabars – just the right amount of sweet, tangy goodness
Aidells Chicken & Apple Sausage (cut up, with a little cut up avocado and some peppers, it’s a meal!)
Just a few tips! More to come…
Paleo Chocolate Pudding
Posted: June 3, 2012 Filed under: Dessert | Tags: avocados, chocolate, dairy free, gluten-free, paleo, paleo dessert, pudding, raw honey, sweet tooth Leave a comment
I have had a major sweet tooth of late. I’ve tried to be good (really!), but I’ve been consuming fruit like crazy. I came across this recipe on the diet/lifestyle blog “Delighted Momma”. I didn’t make any changes, except halving the recipe so it would fit in my teeny tiny food processor. It was delicious and tasted so decadent! It’s very rich, just sweet enough, and so satisfying, since unlike regular pudding, this recipe uses fat and protein-packed ingredients. It’s quick and easy too (I whipped up a batch 5 mins before I left to go to the gym). Enjoy!
Paleo Chocolate Pudding
1 whole avocado, skins and pit removed
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp honey or 1 tbsp raw honey (or, probably, 1 tbsp maple syrup)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 banana (optional, but the pudding will be pretty avocado-ey without the banana)
1. Put everything in a food processor
2. blend until smooth
3. Refrigerate until set (about 1 hour)
4. Try to eat it in 2 sittings instead of 1
