Grub, Caveman style.

My kids have had the last two days off from school which allows me more time to cook a decent breakfast. Yay! Today we had over medium eggs, sweet potato hash and turkey bacon.

Sweet Potato Hash:

-Large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
-1/2 cup of a diced yellow onion
-Coconut oil or Olive oil for cooking
-Salt and pepper

Wash, peel and cube your tator into about 1/2 inch size cubes. Next, throw your potato cubes into a microwave safe bowl and heat until soft, about 1 minute. While your spuds are in the micro, heat a skillet on medium heat and add about a tablespoon of coconut oil and toss in your diced onions. Cook the onions a few minutes until translucent and then add the sweet potatoes. Stir the spuds around to make sure they are fully coated in the oil so that they will get a nice crisp. You may need to add more oil later on if it looks like the potatoes are drying out. Add a dash of salt and pepper and cook until the sweet potatoes are crispy and golden.

This hash is a great recipe base for many other recipes. When I am cooking for myself and not my picky veggie eaters, I will sometimes add green and red bell peppers with mushrooms to make a Southwestern hash. You can also cook real bacon first and then crumble it up while the hash is cooking in the bacon grease. Cooking it that way is seriously amazing! Make sure you are using high quality ingredients and nitrate free bacon when you can. Serve these babies up with scrambled, fried or over easy eggs and you have a healthy and hearty breakfast. Enjoy!

The 2 minute Paleo Blueberry Muffin (If cavemen had microwaves)

I discovered this nifty little recipe a while back from Delighted Momma. It is great for a quick breakfast or if you are craving a little carb pick me up after dinner 😉 The approximate carb count for this about 22 grams. I will admit I was a little afraid of this recipe at first. Could something thrown together that quick and cooked in the micro really taste good and actually LOOK like that? The answer is YES! 

What you need:

• 3 tbs of almond meal
• 1 tbs of honey
• 2 tbs of unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 3 tbs of bluberries
• a dash of salt
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder

Directions:
Add all dry ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and then add the liquids. Mix everything up together and microwave for 1.5 to 2 minutes. I checked mine after 1 minute to see how things were looking and it took mine about 1.5 minutes but it probably depends how powerful your micro is. If you have an aversion to microwaving things (some do!) you can bake for about 15-20 minutes. Enjoy!

Paleo Comfort Food: Spaghetti Squash and Spicy Meat Sauce

The weather is chilly and the season for comfort food is upon us! One of my favorite go to dishes this time of year is spaghetti squash with a meat sauce. This can easily be made with ground turkey, chicken or beef. If you are in a rush to get dinner on the table you can skip a few steps by buying a jar of ready made tomato sauce but it can be tricky finding one that does not have added sugars or other ingredients that are not Paleo friendly. There are a few good pre-made sauces out there, you just need to take extra caution when looking over the ingredient lists.

Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Meat Sauce

• 1 large spaghetti squash
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium sweet onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper
• dash of garlic salt
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese (This is an optional ingredient depending on whether you eat dairy or not)

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slice spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Brush 1/2 tablespoon olive oil onto the cut side of each squash and season with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Place cut side up on a large, rimmed baking sheet or in a glass dish and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, until the squash insides easily shred with a fork.  Be careful not to overcook as squash can become mushy.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and and cook for 2 minutes. Add turkey and garlic and cook until turkey is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and add Italian seasoning.
3. Add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes and stir well to combine everything. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and more salt and pepper if necessary.
4. Scrape out insides of spaghetti squash with a fork. Serve with meat sauce and enjoy!

Original recipe and photo courtesy of foodgawker.com

Lean Protein ideas…

While I am a huge fan of the rewards of muscle gain, I am NOT a huge fan of all the work that goes into the nutrition and eating part! But, here I find myself in the middle of a 12 week muscle building regimen and I need to spice up my chicken! I am not a fan of grilling my chicken and then eating it for 5 days. I tend to do a lot of crockpot proteins and then prepare it for a few days and then prep again for the rest of the week, because let’s face it, food is so much better fresh! So, I am wondering if any of you out there have ideas on new ways to cook chicken, or any other lean protein for that matter, and what spices do you use? This week I have been eating a lot of chicken thighs with various spice combinations and lots of oven roasted veggies.  Any fresh and new ideas would be appreciated!

Paleo Pumpkin Cake bars with Cinnamon Icing

Pumpkin Cake
1 c pumpkin puree
1 c almond butter
1/2 c pure honey
2 cage free eggs
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves

Cinnamon Icing

1/4 c coconut butter (You can buy this or find a recipe HERE.)
1/4 c pure honey
1 t cinnamon

*NOTE- If you can easily find coconut butter to buy, I would strongly suggest this. I decided to try and make my own and it is just tricky business. I think it is hit or miss and I would rather it be a hit every time and not dirty every dish in the house trying to concoct the stuff, so those are just my two cents… :0

For the Pumpkin Cake

Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a medium sized bowl, combine all the cake ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Pour into an 8×8 oven safe baking dish.  Bake until completely cooked through, about 30 minutes.

For the Cinnamon Icing

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and use either your mixing blade attachment or a whisk to beat the ingredients until well combined. Texture will be like that of a glaze that you can drizzle.

Once the pumpkin cake has cooled, cut it into 9 squares and remove from the pan. Important…if the cake is not completely cool you are not allowed to go on. If your cake isn’t cool, the icing will just slide right off into a pile of goop and all will be lost.

Use a small offset spatula or a spoon and drizzle the frosting over the top.

Store the Pumpkin Cake Bars you haven’t immediately annihilated in the fridge. The icing will harden in the fridge, let it come to room temp if you’d like it soft or micro for a few seconds.

Enjoy!

Original recipe adapted from foodrenegade.

Pumpkin Spice Granola-Grain Free, Gluten Free

This recipe is so simple and tasty plus it will make your house smell amazing!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (100% pumpkin, no sugar added.)
1/3 cup coconut oil, liquefied
1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 Tablespoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
8-10 dried dates, pits removed & chopped
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine the pumpkin, oil, syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, & ginger. Whisk together until combined fully.

Step 2: Add almonds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, dates, and coconut to the wet mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.

Step 3: On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread the granola mixture out in an even layer with a spoon.

Step 4: Bake about 40 to 45 minutes or until the mixture is looking crisp. Make sure to stir at the halfway point so it doesn’t burn! (About 20 minutes in…) Mine took closer to 45 minutes to cook.

Let cool on pan for a few minutes and then put in an airtight container. This recipe is great to eat by itself or with coconut milk poured on top as a cereal. I also threw some on top of my home made coconut ice cream. Yum.

Original recipe adapted from unBearablyGood

Paleo Nut Butter Brownie Bar

This recipe changed my life. Seriously…since learning my body can’t tolerate any type of grains, I thought my days of fluffy, melt in your mouth sweets were over. Then I came across this baby. It has no added sugar or flour and yet it still tastes like a freakin brownie! It’s amazing. Obviously it’s not going to be like cheesecake factory amazing or cupcake a la mode amazing, but come on, for Paleo it’s pretty damn good 😉 Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups almond butter
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Mix the nut butter, honey, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Be sure to really mix the ingredients well, since chunks of egg or baking soda could easily hide behind the nut butter.

Bake in a 9×13 dish at 300 F degrees for 25 minutes, until the edges start to turn golden brown for a bar texture. If you are looking for more of a thicker, gooey brownie texture, bake in a 8×8 brownie dish for 35 minutes or so or until edges are golden and toothpick comes out clean.  I always make this recipe in the brownie dish, because it is beyond amazing.

Original recipe adapted from Salted Paleo.

What’s Your Motivation?

Get Back Up!

When life knocks you down, like really really knocks you down, it can be one of the hardest things to get back up again. Especially after you have fallen so many times before. I recently went through a rough patch which left me quite literally on my ass, sprawled across the carpet wondering why my life had to be such a Bitch. I find that when I am struggling with stress and emotional issues, my health and fitness goals seem to come to a screeching halt. It suddenly becomes really hard to resist that initial 1 little chocolate cupcake, that turns into 3 or just saying screw it, and diving headfirst into a cheese covered, pepperoni smothered pizza. Yes this is not Paleo, in fact I call this Faileo and of course I am going to feel even worse after consumption but what the hell. My point to all of this rambling is this, yes life can be and will be hard, there is no doubt about that. You may end up with a night in your life or hell even an entire weekend full of booze and doughnuts but that is OKAY. What matters is who you decide to be and what direction you go after you have been dealt a rough hand. I realized the day after my incredibly crappy day that I did not have time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. So life sucks sometimes, and you shoved your face with sweets to console yourself. Well…get up and move on. Do not look back and feel guilty, move forward and keep fighting. You will get knocked down a lot in life, but it is what you decide to do after you are down that matters! Even if if takes you a day or two or three…to get back up, you can always GET BACK UP!!!

It’s Hump Day again!

The week is halfway over, keep up the hard work and stay focused on your goals!