Paleo Roasted Pie Pumpkin

Listen to me carefully. "Pumpkins are not just for decorating."
Repeat after me - "Pumpkins are not just for pie."

You know those cute little pie pumpkins? Pick up a couple of those and roast them. They make a great side dish, especially this time of year. I actually crave them in autumn. They are also extremely good for you.

I had Ger cut them in half for me. ( breaking both bones in both wrists makes this really tough, so if he's here, I get the help. If no one is here to cut them in half, I just microwave them a few minutes in a glass dish with 1/2 inch of water - just until I can cut them in half.)
I scooped out the seeds and the stringy stuff with a metal tablespoon.
I put them, cut side down, into a 9 x 12 inch metal cake pan. Then I added water until it was 1/4 inch deep.
I roasted them in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes.
I took them out of the oven and poured off the water. I flipped them over and set out coconut oil, Kerry Gold Pasture butter, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, sea salt, and raw agave nectar. Everyone dressed their own pumpkin -half. Yum!

I served the these pie pumpkins with my "Paleo Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Tenderloins." Delicious!
If you have any left, you can scoop it out and keep it in the refrigerator for a few days. You can use it in place of canned pumpkin, like in my "Dinah's Paleo Cake in a Mug."

Paleo Cocoa Spoonful

          To start with; nothing was measured.

           I (Jess) put a large spoonful of cashew butter in a ramekin.  To this, I added 1/2 a spoonful of dark cocoa powder, agave nectar, a splash of vanilla, a dash of pumpkin pie spice, and a pinch of cinnamon.  I microwaved this for 15 seconds, stirred, and enjoyed!

It's kind of like fudge. When you are in a big hurry and just need a tiny bit of something a little bit sweet, try this. Almond butter is what we usually do this with. Mom bought cashew butter and Ger wouldn't eat it - he says cashews are poisonous raw and have to be roasted..... but it cost a lot, so mom wants to eat it, then not buy any more!!!!

Daisy tried mind control to get mine...it did not work!

Paleo London Fog

Jessica loves a London Fog from Starbucks. She's seriously working on her budget and has found a way to make one at home that is really good! So, every time she drinks one at home, she's saving over $4.
I bought her some nice Earl Grey tea bags at the grocery and some Vanilla Coconut Milk. (the vanilla coconut milk was actually an earlier mistake - I always buy the  Original, not the Vanilla, but they were in the wrong place at the grocery and I didn't notice!)

So, Jess put around 12 oz of vanilla coconut milk in a small pan on the stove. She heated it up slowly, on about a 3, until it was hot, but not at all boiling. She put an Earl Grey tea bag in and simmered it another 3-4 minutes.  Then she poured it into her favorite mug (Hedwig) and drank that lovely scented concoction.  She likes it as good as Starbucks, maybe better, since the coconut milk has more calcium, it's paleo, and her version doesn't have who knows how many pumps of vanilla syrup. Oh, and don't forget the price!!  
I would have made a cup of Earl Grey in water, then added some vanilla coconut milk, but her version is really nice. It's perfect for fall - you should try it and tell us what you think!

Grass Fed Sweet Potato Meatloaf with Pesto Mushrooms

This meatloaf may not look done in the photo but its the sweet potato in there. It was sweet and delicious. It went very well with the Pesto Mushrooms and roasted zucchini.

I diced 2 small organic onions.
I peeled and diced 1 sweet potato. I put it in a glass bowl with water, for 5 minutes, to soften, and then poured off the water.
I put the onions and the sweet potato into a big mixing bowl. I added:
1 cup oats
2 eggs
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp Salt Traders Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt ( salttraders.com )
freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 - 2 lbs grass fed beef
I mixed this up and put it into a big square baking dish that had been rubbed with coconut oil.
This went into the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

I put 5 containers of sliced golden shitake mushrooms in a big skillet. (they were on sale....) I added chicken stock and a container of pesto. (from the cold case because tonight I didn't have time to make my own...) I cooked them until tender while the zucchini roasted in the oven, all covered in coconut oil, basil, and sea salt.

Italian Pork Chops Paleo Ish

So, John, one of the trainers at our box, is allergic to chicken. His wife, Cheree, told me how she made my "Chicken with Spinach and Ricotta, Paleo Ish" with pork chops on top and that I should make it and share it on this blog. I tweaked it some....and it's a great idea! Thanks, Cheree!

I wilted a 10 oz container of organic baby spinach in a skillet with a tsp of coconut oil and 3 TBSP of water. I put that into a big mixing bowl.
I opened and drained the juice off of a can of organic diced tomatoes and put that into the bowl. (If you don't drain the tomatoes enough, you will have a ricotta mixture under your pork chops that's pink and soupy!)
Then I added:
 12 oz Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
2 oz shredded mozarella
3 organic eggs
I stirred this all up and put it into a 9 x 12 pan that had been rubbed with coconut oil.

I placed 8 thick-cut pork chops on top.  I seasoned them with turmeric, smoked sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and a tiny bit of oregano.
The last thing I added was about 2 TBSP of Garlic Mustard, spread out on the top. ( the mustard is the kind that has the whole mustard seeds showing in the mustard - wow)

I baked this in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. You will want to adjust your time if your pork chops are thin-cut.
Isn't it nice to eat a meal like this at home and know what you are eating? It will also taste delicious tomorrow at lunch.
Plan your meals. Food is fuel and is so important to your WODs and your health!

1800s Cabbage Paleo

This is a take on an old cabbage recipe. We enjoyed it with roasted carrots, parsnips, and sweet potatoes,  and a pork sausage with no fillers, etc.

I took 1 head of cabbage and cut it into strips. I cooked it in water until tender. ( Some people like it mushier than others - here is where you would adjust. We don't eat ours too mushy.) Then I poured off the water and removed the cabbage from the skillet for the time being.

Then I put 1/4 cup Kerry Gold Pasture butter and the juice of 1 lemon into the skillet to melt and heat up slowly. I removed a bit of this mixture and put in a small bowl. To this bowl I added 1 large egg, to temper it. I stirred it up completely and then poured it back into the skillet. I stirred this and cooked it on low....it should look a little like a custard thing. THEN I added the cooked cabbage back in. When it was heated up, it was ready to enjoy!

So, I thought this sounded odd - cabbage with butter, egg, and lemon? But Ger is always my deciding factor. Here's what he said - " Hey, this cabbage is so good it's ridiculous! I could eat this stuff all day!"
But, it didn't last all day.......

Paleo Banger Sausage Soup

If you've been reading this blog a while, you know that we love Banger Sausage from Whole Foods - there's just something about the spices they mix in that is so lovable! Well, I thought I'd pulled out grass fed burger from the freezer, but it was the sausage. (so Jess didn't label them, but she went to get them and split them up and bagged them and put them in the freezer - I'll take it!) Maybe it was meant to be, because I made up this soup.

In a skillet I cooked about 3 lbs of Banger Sausage. (We have the butcher take the casings off, or, if we call ahead, they just don't put it in casings in the first place.)

In a stock pot I put 6 cups of water, 2 small cans of Muir Glen Organic tomato paste, 1 can Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, 6-8 medium zucchini, sliced, 1 orange sweet pepper, diced, and a head of broccoli. ( If you have other veggies, get creative - it's soup!)

I spiced it up with 2 tsp Smoked Sea Salt, freshly ground pepper, 1/4 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp basil, and 1/2 tsp dill. This needed to cook for around 20 minutes.

As soon as the Banger Sausage was done, I put it into the pot, too. It just tasted so warm and healthy! Ger ate it for breakfast again. What a compliment!

Let me know how it goes.

Paleo Apple Date Cake

This is a moist and delicious slice of fall! I made this up yesterday and it's almost gone this morning! I started out thinking I wanted to do an apple cookie, so I guess I'll still play around with that one day soon. Kim was my inspiration for this because she picked apples and brought some to me - they were not perfect, flat-tasting grocery-store apples - and they deserved to be high-lighted in a recipe.

So, I wanted extreme gooey-ness. Here is how I achieved that.

I put these ingredients into a saucepan:
1 1/2 cups apple, chopped
1 cup dates, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup water
I put this on the stove and got it boiling. I let it boil for 5 minutes.
I poured this concoction into a large mixing bowl. (don't pour off the water)

I immediately added 2/3 cup coconut oil and stirred to melt the coconut oil. See? Gooey.

In my 2-cup measuring cup I cracked 3 organic eggs and beat them a bit with a fork. I added:
2 TBSP honey (or maple syrup)
1 tsp vanilla
I mixed this and poured it into the mixing bowl and gave it a stir.

I washed and dried my 2-cup measure. (the other one was in the dishwasher)
I put 1 1/2 cups almond flour in there. I added:
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda and gave that a stir.
I folded this dry mixture into the big mixing bowl. I did it gently. I didn't need to beat it to death here.

The last thing I did was fold in 2/3 cup chopped pecans.
I put this into a 9 x 9 square dish that had been rubbed with coconut oil.
It cooked for 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
LOVE

Orange Roughy in Coconut Milk Paleo

I love orange roughy. It doesn't smell "fishy" and has a light, sweet taste.

I thawed 2 packages of orange roughy.
I rubbed a 9 x 12 glass baking dish with coconut oil.
I placed the fillets in the dish and poured 1/2 cup coconut milk over them. I sprinkled them with Maine Woods Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt, lemon pepper and freshly ground pepper. I also put a little Private Selection Signature rub - Asian on them. This blend has black sesame seeds.

The dish went into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. It might take a couple more minutes if your fish is thick.

In the meantime, I filled a skillet with fresh broccoli and cauliflower. I splashed this with Basic Chicken Stock and simmered while the fish cooked. I added a can of Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes and 1 TBSP Kerry Gold pasture butter.

What a clean, fresh meal to fuel your life!

Chicken Breasts with Spinach and Ricotta, Paleo ish

It's not often that Ger asks for something not 100 % paleo, so I must admit I got excited when he asked for "something chicken with ricotta and spinach."  I remembered how I used to make chicken breasts that took forever - you had to make a slit in one side of the chicken breast and stuff it with the ricotta mixture - it was delicious, but it took too long! I knew I could make it faster, and better because I wasn't going to use frozen spinach like I used to put in it.
So, this isn't really paleo - it has ricotta cheese, but if you want a delicious dish and you can eat a little dairy now and then, try this!

I wilted a 10 oz container of organic baby spinach in a skillet with 1 tsp coconut oil and 3 TBSP water.
I put that in a big mixing bowl.
I diced up 1 1/2 cups of Baby Bella mushrooms and put them into the bowl.
I added 24 oz (3/4 of a 32 oz container) of Whole Milk Ricotta cheese, 2 oz shredded mozerella, and 3 organic eggs. I stirred this up with a wooden spoon and placed it all in a coconut oil rubbed 9 x 12 pan.

This sure didn't look like anything I've cooked lately......

I don't know about you but this seemed like a great way to have the same presentation and flavors without having to try to put that mixture into the chicken breasts. Besides, my crew eats big, and I am busy!
Next, I topped this ricotta mixture with 8 antibiotic-and-hormone-free chicken breasts, smoked sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

The last thing I did was top the chicken with about 16 oz of a nice sugar-free organic pasta sauce. ( Read the labels - hidden sugar! This recipe may have some dairy but it still doesn't have sugar or grain!)

You can see that you don't have to be all pretty about it - just pour it on there. I put the whole thing into a 350 degree oven for one hour. Done. Fabulous.

This last picture is how it looks when it's cooling, right out of the oven. It's hiding all that gooey goodness in the bottom of the pan. When you put it on a plate, it looks amazing, and the taste, well, you will be glad it made 8 servings.
Of course, you could half it if you wanted to.......

Pumpkin Paleo Crunch at CrossFit Countdown

I think they liked it!

PUMPKIN PALEO CRUNCH

Let's face it - we all love Steve's Paleo Krunch. It's delicious. You can't stop eating it until it's gone. It supports a great cause. You can order it at stevesoriginal.com.  But, then you have to wait for it to get to your house.

So, I've been in a "ready for fall" mood lately AND I was craving Steve's Paleo Crunch. I looked around on the sites and there are some great paleo recipes for this kind of stuff. Here's my take on Steve's great idea: Dinah's great idea:  PUMPKIN PALEO CRUNCH.

Mix in a HUGE bowl these dry ingredients:
2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 cup roasted salted sunflower seeds (Whole Foods are so good)
1 1/2 cup almond meal
3 cups unsweetened coconut chips (shredded will also do, but I like the big chunks. Order from nuts.com.)
2 cups raw almonds (slivers, or run them through the chopper)
1 TSBP cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
(Don't forget to mix - the baking soda needs to be mixed in)

Mix in a small bowl these wet ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil (liquid)
1/2 cup raw honey
1 TBSP real vanilla
1/2 cup pure pumpkin

Whisk the wet ingredients and then pour them into the dry ingredients. Stir and spread out on two big heavy-duty cookie sheets. Bake for about an hour in a 250 degree oven. Take them out and stir them and spread them back out. Stick them back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Stir it up and put it in a huge container, or bag it up in baggies after it cools off. I need 1/2 cup servings for us, but Ger's going to want much bigger servings.

Doesn't it look good in the oven? It still smells good in my house, too! Let me know how your batch goes. It makes a LOT! (but you will be glad)
Lots of people are eating this in a bowl, like CEREAL, with coconut or almond milk. Wow!

Grass-Fed Burger Skillet

So, in this big skillet I browned 2 lbs of beautiful grass-fed burger.

I diced 2 organic yellow sweet onions and browned them in a smaller skillet with a TBSP of coconut oil, until soft.
  I put the onion into the burger when it was done.
I added 2 cans of Organic Diced Tomatoes. (OR, 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 jar marinara sauce)

While simmering, I added:
 1 tsp Smoked sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric
freshly ground pepper.

The last thing to go in is optional but it thickens it up so nicely - a heaping TBSP of coconut cream concentrate, or what many call coconut butter.

It's not in the picture, but we added some diced Kerry Gold cheddar cheese.  Have YOU had Kerry Gold Cheese? Pastured cows really make a big difference. We don't do much cheese, but a little of this stuff now and then is AMAZING. Try it.

ALSO, if you love CABBAGE, you can also throw in a small head of cabbage, chopped, after the burger and cook until tender. Delicious!