Paleo Roasted Cauliflower

People who don't love cauliflower should roast it. Like most vegetables, roasting cauliflower in coconut oil brings out the carmelized richness, almost a sweetness to it. If you don't believe me, you should try it.

 I preheated my oven to 425 degrees.
Next, I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I rubbed coconut oil on that.

I took a huge head of cauliflower and cut it up into bite-sized pieces. I put them on the cookie sheet and added 1 TBSP of melted coconut oil. I mixed this up with my hands and then spread the pieces out.

I sprinkled them with minced garlic, (Try garlicgold.com if you haven't yet.) smoked paprika, Cherry Wood smoked Sea Salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

I roasted them for 25 minutes. Perfection!

Cocoa Mint Protein Balls

My healthy kids don't need an Easter basket but they never complain when I make protein balls - or Delight Bites, as we call them. These are close to my basic, and much loved, Cocoa Delight Bites, but they have mint extract in them to kick up the Progenex Locha Mocha protein and the dark cocoa! They also have pecan pieces. They are going fast! Yours will, too.

I put all the ingredients in a big bowl.

4 scoops chocolate protein powder, piled up, not leveled off  (Progenex Locha Mocha makes the very best ones! progenexusa.com)
1 TBSP dark cocoa
1/2 cup coconut oil, NOT melted (tropicaltraditions.com is the best. Vitacost is really good, too)
2 TBSP agave nectar ( or honey )
2 TBSP raw almond butter
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I love the unsweetened coconut chips from nuts.com)
4 TBSP coconut milk, as needed, maybe more
1/2 cup pecan pieces
4 - 6 drops pure mint extract

Stir with wooden spoon until a dough-like look appears. It takes a little stirring, and kind of happens all at once. You may need a bit more coconut milk, or if it's too thin, you could add some more protein powder. Then I scooped them out with my Pampered Chef cookie scoop. I put them on waxed paper and popped them into the freezer. 

They were pretty incredible.

Breakfast Deviled Eggs

So, it's Easter weekend and many people will be cooking more than usual and gathering family together. It's a great time for a deviled egg recipe. So, I have a guest blog from Kim.

Breakfast Deviled Egg Omlets

1. Boil a bunch of eggs. Cool them. Peel them.
2. In skillet put bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and bacon finely chopped. Cook with coconut oi.l
3. Slice eggs in half putting yolks in a bowl and mix in veggies (like making devil eggs)
4. Put yolk mixture back in egg halves.
5. Eat
Yummy"

Kim is just the best. She sent me this recipe she made up. I said, "Hey, it sounds like a nuce guest blog. Did you happen to shoot a picture of it?" Well, no, she didn't, but she went back and made them AGAIN so she could shoot this picture! 

Thanks, Kim. I'm making them in the morning. 

By the way, Ger and Cassie did 13.4 today at the box. She got 72. He got 113. Beasts, aren't they? I am so proud of them.

Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin with Butternut Squash and Mushrooms

Some days I just know I am not going to be able to cook. I try to plan ahead. Today was like that, so, yesterday I picked up an all-natural pork tenderloin, 2 packages of fresh diced butternut squash, and a package of fresh mushrooms that had portobellos and shitake. ( I usually chop up my own stuff, but today I didn't have time.)

This morning, I put all the things I'd bought yesterday into the crock pot, along with 1 cup of basic chicken stock, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and 1/2 tsp dried rosemary.

I cooked it all day long on low. I served it over last night's leftover asparagus. I am so glad I planned ahead because we wanted to eat a great meal while we watched the announcement of 13.4. Did you see Spealler beat Holmberg?

This photo is of Ger stretching out his lower back with Cassie's help. 

Tuna Avocado Salad

Paleo eating doesn't have to be time-consuming and expensive. Sometimes it can be very simple. I find that the cleaner I eat, the better I feel, don't you?

This is a tuna avacado, or "tunacado" salad and it's a delicious way to fuel up and get back to the things I needed to work on today. I bet you will like it, too!

I mixed the following things in a bowl:
50/50 blend of organic baby spinach and field greens
1 can sustainably caught albacore tuna(in water; no salt; PBA-free can)
1 ripe avocado
1/2 slice uncured bacon, crumbled (saved from breakfast although not easy to do)
1 TBPS pecan pieces
Garlic Gold Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing (garlicgold.com)
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Llama Burger Skillet with Tomato and Spinach

This was a delicious skillet dinner that we ate on spaghetti squash earlier this week. We've been very happy with our grass fed llama purchase. You can contact Clarence Evenson at asgaardllamas.com. Llama doesn't have the "game" taste like deer and it's grass fed and very healthy.

I cooked up 2 packages of llama burger in a BIG skillet with 2 TBSP of coconut oil. I added 1/2 cup diced organic sweet onion. When that was done, I added:
1  25 oz jar of Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce ( with no added sugar)
1 can Hunt's 100 % Natural tomato sauce
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 TBSP coconut cream concentrate (tropicaltraditions.com has the best)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 big handfuls of organic baby spinach

I'd put a spaghetti squash, cut in half, seeds scooped out, and cut side down, in a glass baking dish with some water in the bottom of the dish about a quarter of an inch up. This cooked in a 375 oven for about an hour. I knew it was well done when I stuck a fork right in easily.

I haven't actually been "feeding Ger Sasser" this weekend. He's in Atlanta at a Coach's Prep Course. 

Paleo Apple Pecan Crunch

I love my Pumpkin Paleo Crunch. Love it. People tell me how great it is. People eat it with coconut milk when they are craving cereal.
I decided I needed to do a version without pumpkin, and that's how the apple pecan version was born. It's really good, just to snack on, or like cereal.....

I put the following ingredients into a huge bowl:

1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced
2 cups pumpkin seeds
1  1/2 cups almond flour
3 cups unsweetened coconut chips ( you know I love the big chunky kind from nuts.com)
2 cups pecan pieces
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2 TBSP cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt
I stirred that up so the baking soda was intermixed in all the ingredients.

I put the following ingredients in a small bowl:
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup raw honey
1 TBSP vanilla

I whisked the wet ingredients and then stirred them into the dry ones in the huge bowl.

I spread this mixture out on two big heavy-duty cookie sheets. (If you don't have big ones, you may need 3 cookie sheets - you don't want the mixture TOO thick when you spread it out)
I baked them for an hour in a 250 degree oven - yes, 250 - low heat because we are looking for the crunch!
Then I took them out and stirred them and spread them back out and put them back into the oven for another 30 minutes.

Ger got 272 reps on 13.3! That's impressive, yes? Well, he ate this stuff the night before....

Garlic Gold Turkey Burgers

Healthy antibiotic-free turkey burgers are a quick and easy way to make a nice dinner. These were delicious because of the wonders of Garlic Gold. (garlicgold.com)  I don't know how they keep the toasted organic garlic crunchy in the organic extra virgin olive oil - it seems like it would be mushy, but it's not.

I took 4 turkey burgers and cooked them in a skillet over medium heat with 1 TBSP of Garlic Gold in the skillet. I'd just shook the container so the garlic would be stirred up and not all in the bottom. I turned them frequently to coat the garlic-y goodness on both sides as they cooked. I also sprinkled them with a little sea salt, and some freshly ground black pepper, and that was it. Quick. Easy. Healthy. Delicious.

I love this time of year, gearing up for Regionals, everyone pushing themselves and getting PRs. I really was having a great time in this photo - - although it looks like I am completely stressed - - - I am behind Isaac, holding my head with both hands so I won't yell....lol.

Paleo Bacon Chocolate Chip Bars

It's a snowy Sunday, March 17th, so Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone. I thought about making a version of brownies with mint extract, or Bailey's Irish Cream in them, but I opted for these....and I am so glad I did!  Ger and Cassie are finishing up Outlaw Camp with Rudy in St. Louis today, so I hope they try these bars when they get back tonight. They put up big numbers on 13.2 yesterday while they were there.

The first thing I did was to cook 4 slices of uncured bacon in a small skillet, cool them, pat them with paper towel, and then crumble them and set them aside.
Next, I rubbed coconut oil on an 8 x 8 glass baking dish.

I mixed these dry ingredients in a bowl:
1  1/2 cups almond flour
2 TBSP coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

I mixed up these wet ingredients in another bowl:
1 TBSP vanilla
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1/3 cup real maple syrup (you can substitute raw honey or agave nectar)


I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stirred. Next, I added:
1/2 cup  Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dates, chopped ( I use the whole dates, and chop them since the chopped dates have sugar added)
all the crumbled bacon

I pressed the mixture into the baking dish and baked them at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. That's it. They really just need heating up a bit - there's no egg, or anything that even has to be cooked. You could just eat them cold..... but warm is best!

Llama Burgers

We just watched 13.2. Annie and Lindsey were just power-houses! (Ger and Cassie will be doing 13.2 in St. Louis this weekend.) We ate these burgers while we watched, with avocados and veggies and red grapes.

You can make them with grass fed burger, deer burger, llama, or bison - whatever combination you want to do.
I mixed in a bowl:
1 lb llama burger
1 lb bison burger
1 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt (salttraders.com)
1 tsp tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric
freshly ground pepper, to taste

I made big patties and cooked them over medium heat in my favorite big green skillet in 2 TBSP coconut oil.
Oh, yum! I am feeding Ger Sasser some serious nutritional paleo fuel.

Now, about this llama..... we named him Leon, just for fun, before we got the meat from the processor at Whitlock's. There's a llama farm near me, just one county away, and I talked to him about sharing my source, in case any of my local CrossFit friends ( and other healthy eaters) are interested in an alternative grass fed meat source.  Mr. Clarence Evenson said that would all right by him. So, if you are interested in a llama for your freezer, contact this nice fellow at asgaardllamas.com.   (I guess they can't all be "show" llamas...... I am glad, because it's delicious AND it's less expensive than the grass fed beef sources I know of.

I have a Llama Chops recipe on here and will soon be posting my Paleo Llama "Sloppy Joes," a Crockpot wondrous recipe. Let me know, too, on here, if you have any questions.

Beet Juice Chocolate Cake

In honor of Wod 13.1 in the CrossFit Open, I made up a beet juice chocolate cake. I know how healthy beet juice is for oxygen intake AND I know that chefs make Red Velvet Cake with beet juice when they have concerns about red dye.
It did not taste like beets! ( you know that earth-taste that beet juice has?)
I rubbed coconut oil on a 9 x 13 baking dish.

I combined the dry ingredients:
3 cups almond flour
2 TBSP coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP saigon cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa

I combined the wet ingredients:
 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup raw honey (or agave nectar, or maple syrup - interchangeable, so pick your favorite)
2 organic eggs
1/2 cup beet juice
1 TBSP real vanilla
1/2 tsp all natural butter extract (optional)

I mixed the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stirred with a wooden spoon. This batter was reddish-brown and fairly thick. I put it into the prepared dish and pressed it down with the wooden spoon.
I baked it at 350 degrees for  30 minutes.

In a little saucepan I made the glaze. I put:
3 TBSP coconut oil
2 TBSP dark cocoa
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
(optional; 1 tsp pasture butter from grass-fed cows, or a handful of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips - but I knew Ger wouldn't want that in there...)

I order my Biotta beet juice from vitacost.com because I can't buy it anywhere around here.

Paleo Cherry Bars

I have always loved dried cherries. Most of them have a little sugar though. You can find them, and cranberries, in apple juice now. But, finally, I saw that nuts.com had tart cherries with no added ingredients at all. We love them. We make a pucker-face when we start on them though, so be forewarned.
Anyway, I wanted to make a "paleo cherry bread" out of them, but it turned out more like bars - really good bars!

The first thing I did was set out 4 eggs so they would be room temperature. ( If you don't do this, the eggs will turn your melted coconut oil into a solid again.....)

I put the following items in a mixing bowl:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
2 TBSP coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

I stirred this up, then added:
1 cup unsweetened organic tart cherries
1/2 cup goji berries (also from nuts.com)
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1 cup walnut pieces

I stirred that up.

I put the wet ingredients into  the 2-cup measure I'd used to measure the almond flour so I could stir it all up before adding into the dry ingredients:
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted
1 TBSP maple syrup ( you may want 2 TBSP, or honey, or agave nectar)
4 eggs ( room temperature)

I stirred these wet ingredients with a fork and then poured it into the dry ingredients and stirred it all up with a wooden spoon.
I prepared 2 small pans by rubbing coconut oil on them. (You could use one 8x8 pan for thicker bars, or a 9x12 for thinner bars if you don't have the 2 little pans like mine.)

I spread them out and pushed down on them a little with the back of the wooden spoon and put them into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. I took them out and put them on a rack to cool.

I hope you try them. You can tweak the kinds of nuts as long as you have the same amount - the same thing goes for the fruit - you might want to substitute some raisins or cranberries, but watch out for hidden sugar. Sugar is the devil.