Paleo Pineapple Whip

When I was a little girl, a long time ago, my mom and dad, my little sister, and my Nana and Papa would always go to the Kentucky State Fair. Every year, in August, we would have a cone of Pineapple Whip. It was my favorite part; better than petting the baby goats, seeing the odd chickens, smelling the First Place hay, being amazed by the stitches in the best quilts.

Years later, I didn't go get my Pineapple Whip every year at the Ky State Fair. Then I found it at Disney World - Dole Whip - and now and then, that brought back all the memories.

Then I went paleo and I just miss something once in a while, and try to "paleo-ize" it. Well, this stuff is easy and incredible and I am going to eat it as often as I want this summer!

I hope you do, too.

So, I'd bought a container of fresh pineapple spears. I threw it into the freezer. Later, I opened my Cuisenaire 7-cup food processor (it also works in the blender)  and threw half of the frozen spears in there, along with 1 tsp of raw honey (tropicaltraditions.com) and 1/4 cup of organic coconut milk from a can.

I put the top on and hit the button. After a couple of minutes, it was Paleo Pineapple Whip!  We all loved it.

I went through both containers of pineapple and we all want more, and YOU WILL, TOO!

This photo looks like grass fed butter but it's just amazing paleo pineapple whip. I shot it and ate it out of this cute little Pyrex dish that was my Nana's sisters. I thought that was somehow appropriate.

By the way, Happy Memorial Day. I hope lots of you did Murph today. My time was 54:56, which was better than last year's 64:43. I am grateful to be able to do it at my age. (with jumping pull-ups and girl push-ups, but my wrists are stronger than last year!)

Egg in a Sweet Pepper Slice

Happy Saturday! Happy Memorial Day week-end!  Happy 2 Weeks Until Central East Regionals, 2013!

This is not really a recipe, just a nice idea.
 I sliced a sweet pepper - red, yellow, orange, green - and laid it in my pan. I'd already made sausage in the pan, but a tiny bit of coconut oil would be great first, too.

I cracked my farm-fresh egg right into the pepper and let it cook slowly. I flipped it over carefully because I like my eggs done.

These eggs made my family smile. I think I'd seen this idea in an old cooking magazine a long while back, but I can't give credit because I don't have a clue which one it was.

Friends sometimes ask me if every recipe I have comes out just right the first time..... and most of them do. I think and plan first, sometimes stewing over something for weeks before I whip it up. Sometimes I make something new, and immediately make it again, with the tweaks needed. A few come to mind - I made Dinah's Paleo Cake in a Mug 5 times in one day, until it was perfect and exactly what I was looking for. My Paleo Dark Chocolate Heaven took a few times, too!  But, I don't usually show on here when things don't work out.....
but here's the first "crack" at Egg in a Sweet Pepper Slice......

My peppers weren't flat against the bottom of the skillet so..... the eggs didn't stay contained! Laugh at me.  I did.

They were pretty impossible to flip well, too.
So, learn from me. Use the flat part of your skillet only. If you want to make many at once, use a griddle - nice and flat!

Paleo Pizza with Sun Dried Peppers and Bacon

I've been tweaking the paleo pizza crust that's sweet and heavy from so much almond flour. This is a very nice change. It uses some almond flour but also coconut flour and arrowroot powder, which seem to lighten things up!

In a large mixing bowl I stirred the dry ingredients:

1 cup almond flour
1/4  cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Then I whisked in the wet ingredients:
3 eggs
3 TBSP olive oil (or macadamia oil)
1/2 cup organic coconut milk from a can

I spread this gooey mixture on parchment paper on a cookie sheet with a rubber spatula.

See my spatula marks? It doesn't feel like our old pizza dough. (grain is bad...grain is bad for us....)

I baked this in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then I took it out and thought about what to top it with.  I'd bought sun dried peppers and sun dried tomatoes with a pizza in mind........ I love nuts.com!

6-7 TBSP organic pasta sauce that has no sugar in the ingredients
6 sliced sun dried peppers (try the ones from nuts.com - they are amazing)
4 sun dried tomatoes (yes, nuts.com, although these were a little too salty for my taste...)
1 fresh yellow sweet pepper, diced
4 slices cooked and crumbled uncured bacon
a tiny sprinkling of grated cheese (I was out of BallyShannon so I used a nice Pecorino Romano)

I put the pizza back into the oven, still at 375 degrees, for 10 more minutes.

Isaac has already asked me to make this again tomorrow. I think I'd better double it........

Crock Pot Grass Fed Beef Roast

This grass fed beef roast was so delicious. I knew I would be busy all day but it just took a little prep work - that's all.
I put 2 TBSP coconut oil in the bottom of my crock pot and then placed the roast in.
3 organic sweet onions, cut into big pieces, and 2 lbs of organic carrots, peeled and chunked, went in next.

On top of that I put 1 can of organic tomato sauce, (read your labels - no added sugar!)  1 cup of water, 2 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt, (salttraders.com)  freashly ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp turmeric, and 1/2 tsp smoked paprika.

The crock pot worked its magic on high for 4  1/2 hours. ( If you will be gone all day, it will be even better on low for 9 hours or so)

It's fool-proof. Please peel your own carrots. Those bagged ones are not good - you know what they spray on them, right? you've read about it on here before???

We are getting so excited for Central East Regionals. Come find me in the crowd and say hello!  I will be the one screaming for Ger Sasser - but I won't be the only one!!!!  He was on the photo on FaceBook's CrossFit Games - Central East Regionals today - doing his muscle-ups. Did you see it?

The WODs were so hard on me the last 2 days I couldn't seem to get a clear photo today at the box... I was oxygen-deprived, or they were moving fast!!!!

Pumpkin Protein Balls

We love protein balls around here. It was time for a new flavor profile, so today I made these pumpkin protein balls. Ahhhhhh, you are going to love them!

I put all the ingredients into a big mixing bowl:

1 cup protein powder ( ITP, SFH, or Progenex Vanilla would be great or any other flavor that would make sense, like Cinnamon Roll )
1/2  cup coconut oil, not melted (tropicaltraditions.com, my favorite)
2 TBSP raw honey
2 TBSP raw almond butter
2 cups unsweetened coconut chips (the chunky coconut from nuts.com)
1/2  cup pumpkin
2 TBSP coconut milk (or organic milk)
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice

I stirred them up with a wooden spoon and scooped them out onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Scooping with a cookie scoop made this job quick and easy, AND they all come out the same size.

I popped them into the freezer for after dinner. Pumpkin is a nutritional powerhouse, like Ger!
Enjoy!

       Beautiful ingredients make beautiful food. Eat real foods. You'll be stronger and healthier.

If you want to check out a great article about Twelve Foods That Contain Highest Amount of Protein just click the link from Fitness Volt.
 Protein is so important to our health and strength, so don't get in a rut. Get your protein in many different ways.

Paleo Blueberry Crumble

One of the first things I ever loved to bake was a Quick Cherry Crunch from the 1975 edition of the Joy of Cooking cookbook. I always made it with blueberries (I was a "tweaker" even then....) I've been working on a paleo version of that and I've got it right.... right here.... right now.  I don't miss the oatmeal or white sugar at all!!!!

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and rubbed coconut oil on a 9 x 12 inch glass baking dish.

This photo will help you with the 4 parts of this recipe - a picture's worth a thousand words. Parts 1 through 4 go from the bottom left to the top right of the photo.

Part 1 - I put 1/2 cup POM pomegranate juice and 1  1/2 TBSP Arrowroot powder in a small bowl and stirred. (If you haven't used arrowroot powder, it replaces corn starch in a much better way) I let that stand probably 10 minutes while I did everything else.

Part 2 - Into a 2-cup measure, I put:
             1/4 cup pasture butter (Irish butter)
             1/4 cup coconut oil
             1/4 cup raw honey
I heated this mixture in the microwave until liquid so I could stir it.

Part 3 - In a mixing bowl I put:
           3/4 cup almond flour
           1/4 cup coconut flour
           2 TBSP arrowroot powder
           1/2 tsp baking powder
           1/2 tsp baking soda
           1/2 tsp sea salt
           1 cup nuts ( I used 1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces and 1/2 cup macadamia nut pieces)
           1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips (the big chunky kind from nuts.com or   tropicaltraditions.com) The coconut is optional but so delicious!

Part 4 - 3 cups fruit. (I used 2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed, and 1 cup apple-sweetened dried cranberries. I've used all fresh blueberries, too. Any berry mixture will be good, like blackberries, or raspberries.)


Now, everything was ready.  I stirred Part 2 and poured it into the mixing bowl of Part 3. I stirred with a wooden spoon, until blended and thickened to make the pastry mixture.   I pushed half of it into the baking dish. It didn't cover the bottom of the dish but it plumps up a lot when it cooks, so don't worry. Here's a photo from the last time I made it.

                                                                 See?

Next, I put Part 4, the fruit into the dish and spread out the fruit.
Then I stirred up Part 1 again, because the arrowroot powder sat in the bottom of the POM juice.  I poured this over the fruit.
The last thing I did was put the second half of the pastry mixture (Parts 2 and 3) on the top and baked for 30 minutes. Paleo Perfection!

This is after-dinner ankle stretching - Outlaw approved. 

Crock Pot Llama Roast

This meal was at least 4 lbs of llama roast.  ( I've done it with grass-fed roast, and steaks, too, so whatever you want to make tender and dark and tasty in the crock pot will work)

I put the thawed grass-fed meat into the crock pot, bones and all.
I added:
1 small onion, diced
2 TBSP coconut oil
3/4 cup strong leftover coffee
1/4 cup molasses
2 TBSP chicken stock
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 small can organic tomato paste
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2  tsp turmeric
1/2  tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt (salttraders.com)
freshly ground plack pepper

I let this cook on low for 8 or 9 hours. I stirred and picked the bones out, pushing any bone marrow out of the bone and into the crock pot! Do you know how good that stuff is for you?
I put the crock pot on low and ran two forks through the meat, to shred it some. Then I made a couple of quick side dishes.

I love this recipe. If you haven't had llama, you should try it. (Check my other llama recipes for my source)
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I am making this meal for my crew AND Miguel and Darren, because they won't be anywhere near their moms on Mother's Day. (They're in Kentucky for their job - that's a long way from Oregon) They call me "Momma Ger." That's so cute.

Broiled Asparagus

Don't tell me you don't have time to cook. You really can MAKE time to cook most days. Broiled Asparagus is quick! I made it with my Paleo Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders and slices of vine ripened tomato. The whole thing took barely over a half an hour.....

I broke the ends off the asparagus - they will break where they should - and threw the ends into the compost pile.
I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. I laid the asparagus on it and I drizzled 1 TBSP Garlic Gold Oil on the asparagus. I spread them out evenly and shook a little Garlic Gold Nuggets on the top.
(garlicgold.com)
I put the pan under the broiler for 4 minutes.
See how easy that was?