Peppermint Klondike Cups

Photo courtesy of PaleOMG

This treasure of a paleo treat was born from a recipe posted by my latest paleo idol, PaleOMG.  Modified slightly, these were very quick and easy and were a BIG hit at our CrossFit RTP holiday party.

Peppermint Klondike Cups

Ingredients

1.5 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup coconut butter (melted)

1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp peppermint extract

pinch of salt

1 bag (10 oz) dark chocolate chips

Directions

Place all ingredients except for the chocolate chips in food processor and blend until the texture is only slightly chunky.

Place about 2 Tbs of the mixture in silicone muffin liners and press down until flat (I found my fingers worked best for flattening).  Place mixture-filled liners in the freezer to cool while you melt your chocolate (either by microwave, double-boiler, or, like what I did when in a pinch, a warm oven).

Pour about 1 Tbs of the melted chocolate over the coconut mixture in each cup.  Put filled cups back in the freezer for about 20 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.

They are now ready to enjoy!!

Notes

When the cups first come out of the freezer the chocolate will be very hard so you may want to have them sit a room temperature for a couple minutes before biting into them.  Leftovers keep very well in the fridge afterwards.

It is my suspicion that reversing the coconut and chocolate layers (swirling the chocolate to get some up the sides) might be a good idea.  Although, when eating, the chocolate does tend to melt onto your fingers; and mouth; and any other body part that comes in contact...

ENJOY!!  I know I did...  ;)

Paleo Herb Crackers

Just tried this recipe over the weekend from Multiply Delicious to go with some guacamole and they came out much better than expected!  Therefore, this recipe is largely unaltered from the original and I will definitely be trying more of their recipes in the future...

Paleo Herb Crackers

Ingredients
2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp favorite herbs of choice (I used pizza seasoning and dried rosemary)
2 Tbsp water
1 egg white
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp coconut oil, melted

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Combine almond flour, salt, and herbs in a medium mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the water, egg white, oilve oil, and coconut oil.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until stiff dough forms and all dry ingredients are wet.

Place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to an even thickness of about 1/8 of an inch.  Transfer parchment to a baking sheet pan and remove the top piece of parchment.  Using a pizza cutter trim off uneven edges of dough, then cut the sheet of dough into cracker size pieces/squares.

Bake for 10 minutes.  Turn off oven and let crackers sit inside oven for an additional 10 minutes, until golden.

Enjoy with some guacamole or any other favorite paleo dip!

Guacamole

This is your basic guacamole recipe, which evolved from a recipe by the ever-awesome folks at Cook's Illustrated.  Feel free to adjust and play with the recipe to find your favorite variation.  Try this recipe with some Paleo Herb Crackers, yum!

Guacamole

Ingredients
2-3 medium ripe avocadoes
3 large scallions, thinly sliced OR 2 Tbsp minced red onion
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin (optional)
6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled, reserving 1 Tbsp of rendered fat (optional)
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and diced small
2 Tbsp lime juice

Directions
Mash the flesh of one avocado with the scallions/onions, garlic, cilantro, salt, cumin (if using), bacon and fat (if using), and tomato with the tines of a fork.  Cube the flesh of the remaining avocadoes and gently add to the mashed avocado mixture (if you want a more chunky guacamole) or continue to mash in with the avocado mixture (if you want a smoother guacamole).

Sprinkle the lime juice over the mixture and stir entire contents of bowl until well combined.

Adjust seasoning with salt, if necessary, and serve with some raw veggies or crackers!

Enjoy!!

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

There is more than one way to stew up some apples.  Here is a simple, basic recipe that I like to start with.  Note that this recipe from Boston Organics originally called for BROWN SUGAR.  I regularly substitute maple syrup for the brown sugar almost 1:1 (sometimes the apples don't need that much sweetening), and I would rather have more spices (hence the larger amounts of cinnamon and nutmeg).

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

Ingredients
6 cups apples (Granny Smith or basic cooking apples), peeled and chopped
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup apple juice or apple cider
Dash of lemon juice (optional)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan (I like to use the Dutch oven).  Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 45 minutes or until the apples are tender, stirring occassionally.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Ratatouille

It has been a long hiatus!!  Sorry about that folks.  The format from now on will be a little different: a very brief recipe will begin my post, with any details at the bottom.  Let me know if you have any comments/suggestions!

Here's our latest "favorite" from the ever awesome folks at Cooks Illustrated.  We deconstructed this and paired it with our Paleo Meatballs to have an excellent meal of meatballs on a bed of roasted veggies, covered in a tomato sauce.  Yum yum!

Ratatouille

Ingredients

2 large eggplants (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds) cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds) cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 medium ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste


Directions

Prepare the eggplant (see details below).

Adjust two oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions, heat oven to 475 degreees F, and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil.

Toss eggplant, zucchini, and 2 tablespoons of oil together in a large bowl.  Spread mixture evenly in a single layer between the two baking sheets.  Sprinkle with salt and roast, turning the veggies and rotating the sheets every 10 minutes, for 30-40 minutes.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion, season to taste with salt and pepper, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until soft and golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

In the original recipe, everything is then cooked together, but we kept them separate.  At this point, we added the chopped fresh herbs for about 1 to 2 minutes and then served with the tomato portion ladled over the roasted veggie portion.  Season with salt and pepper or additional fresh herbs to taste.


Notes and Details

To prepare eggplant for cooking, it is important to remove the bitter juices (especially with the larger, globe eggplants).  Believe me, I've tried going without this step and the dish can almost come out inedible, depending on the eggplant.  It's simple, you just have to plan on doing this step ahead of time.  I did this first and then worked on the meatballs while the salt was working its' magic:
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Place cubed eggplant in a large colander set over a large bowl.  Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of table salt and toss until the eggplant is evenly covered.  Let the salted eggplant stand in the colander for at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours.  Rinse the eggplant well under running water to remove the salt and remaining bitter juices.  Spread the eggplant evenly in a single layer over a triple thickness of paper towels, cover with another triple thickness of paper towels, and press firmly on the eggplant with the palm of your hands until the eggplant feels dry and compressed.
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Summer squash can be substituted for one or both of the zucchinis.  I did a 2:1 summer squash to zucchini substitution for this recipe.

If you don't have a Dutch oven, any heavy-bottomed sauce pot will do.  And you can substitute your choice of cooking fat for the oil in this step.

That's it!  Buon appetito!!

Paleo Pad Thai

With a slogan like "Paleo Diet Recipes that don't look or taste like dog food", I was intrigued.  This recipe from Health-Bent is a winner.
Don't forget to read the Notes and Details at the bottom of the page!!

Paleo Pad Thai

Ingredients

1/4 cup fat
2-3 zucchinis
1 onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced fine
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
3 Tbs almond butter
1 Tbs chili garlic sauce
2 Tbs fish sauce
the juice from 1 lime
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 Tbs cilantro, whole leaves or coarsly chopped (optional)

Directions

Slice the zucchinis lengthwise with a mandoline (see notes below).

In a saute pan over medium heat, melt the fat of your choice.  Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and saute until they are just starting to get soft (about 2 minutes).  Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the cilantro and whisk together until well mixed.  Add to the sauce mixture to the pan when the onions are just starting to get soft.  Stir to combine.

Add the zucchini to the pan and mix them around so that they are evenly covered with sauce.  Saute until the zucchini is hot and is just starting to soften up; about 10 minutes.

When the zucchini is done, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cilantro and serve!

Notes and Details

A 1/4 cup of fat does seem like a lot at first; but trust me, it is the proper amount.  I used a mixture of fats to make up 1/4 cup: about 1/3 of that was the rendered pasture-raised local pork fat we get from our friends at Old Havana and I filled the rest of the 1/4 cup with coconut oil.

We don't own a mandoline, but the cheese slicer portion of our multi cheese grater fit the bill beautifully!  Plan C was to try and press hard with a peeler, because I have no confidence in my ability to make thin, uniform zucchini slices with a knife.  I only had 2 zucchinis and so I subbed in a summer squash that didn't change the flavor of the dish at all and just made more of it.  Goody!!  No worries about there being enough sauce either, with the 3 veggies there was plenty of sauce to go around.

If you are doing the Whole30 or Paleo challenge or other jump-starting program, you need to be cautious with the ingredients in your sauces.  Sugar and soy sauce are common ingredients in items such as chili garlic sauce.  Try making your own chili garlic sauce if you are having trouble finding a store-bought one.

My hubby suggests adding some color to this dish with addition veggies such as asparagus or peppers.  Get creative!

The folks at Health-Bent suggest pairing this dish with any kind of grilled or pan seared meat or seafood, and we agree!  Needing to go grocery shopping, we were lacking in the meat department tonight, and so we discovered that this dish tastes excellent even on its own.

Enjoy!!

Chicken Thighs with Balsamic Sauteed Fennel and Oranges

This recipe for a delicious meal comes to us courtesy of the Crankin' Kitchen.  Which I guess was also adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Chicken Thighs with Balsamic Sauteed Fennel and Oranges

Ingredients

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I used 6 boneless, skinless thighs because that's what I had)
sea salt and freshly groung pepper* (see notes below)
1 Tbs olive oil or other paleo fat
1 fennel bulb, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced thinly crosswise
1 orange, sliced into 8 wedges
2-3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.*

Heat the olive oil or fat in a cast iron or oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat.  Place the chicken thighs in the skillet, skin side down if they have skin, and cook for about 7 minutes.  Flip the chicken over and put in the oven to finish for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken thighs.

When the chicken is done cooking, remove the skillet from the oven, place the chicken thighs on a plate, and pour off all but about 2 Tbs of the fat left in the pan before returning the skillet to burner on medium heat.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the fennel just becomes soft and the balsamic has thickened and coated everything.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Serve the chicken on top of a bed of fennel and extract some of the remaining juice in the orange wedges by squeezing them out over the chicken.

Notes and Details

*The original recipe says to "coat" the raw chicken thighs with salt & pepper; however, in my unexperienced hands, this led to inedible, salty chicken.  To season the chicken prior to cooking them, just a light sprinkling will do.  Chicken thighs are full of flavor naturally so not much seasoning is needed here.

Hope you and your loved ones enjoy!

Thanks!

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Hi again!

I made these first for a CrossFit RTP community cook-out and they were a hit.  Remember, notes and details are now at the end of the post, AFTER the recipe.  I want to mention that this recipe is my version of the one posted by Caveman Gourmet.  My permutation:

Avocado Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

12 eggs
2 avocados
2 garlic cloves, crushed and shopped fine
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs spicy brown mustard
sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and horseradish to taste

Directions

Hard boil the eggs* (see notes below for additional detail), peel and slice lengthwise.  Reserve 6 out of the 12 yolks to add to the avocado.  Mush up the yolks and avocado together with the remaining ingredients and mix until creamy.

Spoon the mixture into the yolk pocket of each egg half.  Sprinkle with more paprika and enjoy!

Notes and Details

Yes, I will admit it, I had to look up how to boil an egg on the internet.  I'm not afraid to say it, I have narcolepsy and it just became easier over the years for my husband to do all the cooking and so I am WAY out of practice.  Especially on the weekdays, when I would be so sleepy that it would take me hours to do something simple; if I even made it to the kitchen awake at all after work.

Here is how to perfectly hard boil an egg: Perfectly Cooked, Easy-to-Peel, Hard Boiled Eggs

I hope you like these!!

A Couple Old Favorites (Part 2): Roasted Veggies

Hi Everyone!

As promised here is another favorite veggie side dish that comes from the genius of my hubby's mother, Toni.  We have been enjoying this dish for a couple years before starting the switch to Paleo, and it is a great one for flexibility and minimal prep: Roasted Vegetables

In an effort to streamline my blog posts/recipes, I am rearranging the text to put the notes and additional details AFTER the main recipe.  Please read all the way through if you have questions/concerns.  Or just comment/contact me!
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Roasted Veggies

Ingredients

olive oil
balsamic vinegar
garlic (5+ cloves crushed and finely chopped)
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar*
1 tsp lemon zest
1 bell pepper, cut into slices
1/2 eggplant, cut into about 1/2 inch half-moon slices
1/2 onion, cut into about 6 wedges and the layers separated
fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme)

Directions

In a container/zip lock bag combine all the ingredients--EXCEPT for the herbs--and marinate for at least 30 minutes.  At the end you may want to sprinkle some fresh herbs before serving.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the marinated veggies in a single layer on the foil.  Place in an oven heated to 400 degrees F on the middle rack and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping the veggies about halfway through.

When all the veggies look cooked and have a nice crispiness forming (about 40 minutes), remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle on some fresh chopped herbs.

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Notes and Details

You will notice that one of the ingredients (sugar*) is not Paleo.  Because I am still doing my 30 day bit, I simply omit this ingredient and the result is still delicious.  However, substituting a "Paleo Sugar" such as maple syrup or raw honey could work great here.

There is nothing more frustrating than a recipe that doesn't give the amounts!  Sorry about that, but this one you will have to trust your gut on and find your own happy amount of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, especially if you are switching up the types and amounts of veggies that you are roasting.  For the veggies listed in this recipe, about 1/2 cup olive oil and 3 Tbs balsamic is good.  You are aiming for about a 3:1 olive oil to balsamic ratio.  You can use more or less garlic, depending on your taste, as well.  The eggplant will absorb a lot of the oil and flavor, which makes them so darn good by the end. :D

Once you have prepped all your ingredients and combined the marinade in your container/zip lock, go ahead and add the veggies to the marinade and coat well.  We like using a zip lock because you can really mush the marinade around the veggies and get them thoroughly coated, but my inner environmental Nazi gets a little peeved sometimes by the use of plastic.  Toss the marinating veggies anywhere you please (the fridge, the counter, etc.) to sit and soak in the juices.  You want them to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes; of course, longer is better and I like to aim for an hour.

When you are ready to bake your veggies, heat your oven to 375 or 400 degrees F, depending on the temperament of your oven, with the rack in the middle position.  Cover a baking pan (rimmed cookie sheet, or other heat-conductive pan with shallow side-walls) with aluminum foil.  You can skip the aluminum foil, but the juices do tend to burn onto the pan pretty harshly with this recipe.  Arrange the marinated veggies on the aluminum foil in such a way that they cover the pan in a single layer.  If you have more veggies then what will fit in the pan you can do this recipe in batches or save the marinated veggies to bake the next day.

If you are adding some faster-cooking veggies to this recipe (such as asparagus), place them on the pan with the other veggies when you are flipping them or when you have about 15 minutes of baking time left.  Squash such as zucchini and summer squash can also be used with this recipe and can be incorporated from the very beginning.


Et voila!!  Irresistible veggies!!!  They are even better the next day as leftovers!

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What do you want next?  Another dinner, maybe some snacks?  I know that my avocado deviled eggs are in high demand...how about that one?

Happy Living!!

A Couple of Old Favorites (Part 1): Sauteed Mushrooms

Ciao a Tutti!!

My super awesome hubby (cape and all) made dinner tonight so I get to catch up on a little back-log of recipes I need to post.  So here are a couple of my 'pre-paleo' favorite sides: Sauteed Mushrooms and Roasted Vegetables.

Sauteed Mushrooms

These sauteed mushrooms are an adaptation from the recipe "Champignons Sautes au Beurre" by the brilliant Ms. Julia Child published in her cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."  As an aside, this cookbook is a veritable treasure-trove of amazing recipes; highly recommended for so many reasons!

I promise you, this recipe is so good you will want to eat the mushrooms on their own and/or will find yourself wanting to add them to all kinds of other dishes.  Ms. Child adds the following advice: "Successfully sauteed mushrooms are lightly browned and exude none of their juice while they are being cooked; to acheive this the mushrooms must be dry, the butter [fat and oil] very hot, and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan."  My permutation:

Ingredients:

1 Tbs of pasture-raised pork fat
3-4 Tbs of olive oil
1 lb fresh mushrooms (white, button, baby bella, whatever your heart desires) washed and left whole if small or sliced or quartered if large
Optional: 1 to 2 Tbs minced shallots or green onions
sea salt and fresh pepper to taste

Heat a heavy-bottomed pan or skillet over high heat with the fat and oil until it has come to temperature (about 1 - 2 minutes).  Add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan for 4 - 5 minutes until the mushrooms are all well coated and they start to absorb the fat.  In 2 to 3 minutes the fat will appear on their surface and the mushrooms will begin to brown.  As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.  If you want to add shallots/green onions, toss them in with the mushrooms when you have about 2 minutes left and saute with the mushrooms over moderate heat.

Enjoy!!!

Next post: A DEE-LICIOUS roasting of some wonderful veggies as prepared by my incredible mother-in-law (and nutrition guru of 25+ years), Toni.  Seriously, I don't know how this woman does it.  And her food is amazing!

Happy Living!!

Paleo Meatballs

Welcome back!

Well, I have some recipes to catch up on (we are on Day 11 after all!).  Some of them were excellent and some need a little adjustment before I post them.  And some of our old stand-bys are passing the test beautifully.  To get this recipe roll-call going, we're going to start with tonight's meal: Paleo Meatballs.

Already prejudiced towards my Italian Grandma Lucy's homemade-non-paleo-version, I did not have very high expectations for these 'health-food' meat mounds.  But I was pleasantly surprised and my husband gobbled these down, as if he forgot they were 'healthy'.

There are a few sources to reference when discussing where I got the idea for this recipe, but they were all relatively the same and I simply adjusted it slightly for the items I had in the fridge and what I wanted to use up before it went bad.  To see the original recipes, you can check out CrossFit Football, Everyday Paleo, and/or Food.com.  Here is my permutation:

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb ground pork
2 celery sticks, chopped small/thin
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
2 Tbs fresh oregano
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon or spicy brown mustard (whatever you have that is 'paleo')
2 eggs
about 1 Tbs garlic salt
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Mix all of the above well in a large bowl.  Shape about 2/3 cup of the mixture into balls (or enough to make the meatball just smaller than your fist, they will cook down smaller by the end).  Cook the meatballs however you prefer; in the oven, on the range, or in a slow cooker.  I browned mine in a dutch oven with 1 Tbs pasture-raised pork fat (from my friends at the Old Havana Cuban Sandwich Shop) and 2-3 Tbs olive oil, or however much was needed to coat the bottom of the dutch oven.  I preheated the oil on medium-high and then added my meatballs.

Once the meatballs were done, I removed them from the pot to make the sauce:

Ingredients

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 handful of fresh basil leaves, torn coarsely
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

With the meatballs resting on a plate, I deglazed the dutch oven with the diced tomatoes, added the rest of the ingredients plus the meatballs, returned the sauce to a simmer and reduced the heat to low.  After the flavors melded (about 10-15 minutes) serve up with your favorite veggie sides!!

Buon appetito!!!

Just Getting on the Wagon

Greetings!

I've never blogged before, never really had a diary as a kid neither.  But I just started getting into something recently that has been changing my life tremendously and it really should be documented (even if my mother is my only reader!).  I hope that some of what I post here might be useful to others as well and not just a reference for myself (and my mother).

First of all, let me introduce myself.  I am a narcoleptic basketcase.  I am a 30-something married female scientist.  Typically, before my big "transformation" I would say that I was only able to live about 50% of my life (and most of that was at work, when my narcolepsy medication was effective).

This big "transformation"?  Well, it's not an overnight thing, but my introduction to CrossFit and the CrossFit community has changed my life.  I will save most of the details on how I was before and how I am now for my "About Me" section (if I even have one of those; again, never really had any blog experience, reading or writing).  But, in short, that lead to my current adventure with "Paleo" eating and the "Paleo Lifestyle."

I am currently on Day 11 (as of March 28, 2012) of the Whole30 program and it is NOT EASY!  The purpose of this blog is to catelogue the recipes, experiements, and resources that I have found helpful to living a better, more healthy and enjoyable, life.

Please feel free to ask me questions about anything.  I am just starting on this new chapter and I am in NO WAY an expert.  But if relating what I learned from my experiments thus far could help someone else in a similar situation hoping to achieve a similar goal, then this is all worth it.

Good luck to you all and happy living!!