Green Vegetable Skillet

I put 2 TBSP coconut oil and 1/4 cup basic chicken stock into a big skillet. On medium heat, I added:

1 head of broccoli, chopped into big bite-size pieces
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small container sliced portobello mushrooms
2 handfuls of fresh organic spinach
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato
1 handful pecan pieces
1/2 tsp basil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

I cooked, stirring frequently, until done, but not too mushy.

Why do people say they don't have time to cook? Do they have time for more illness in their future? Your food is your fuel, so be mindful of your intake. Thanks for trying my paleo recipes and sharing them with your friends. Some of you also might not know that we have a Feeding Ger Sasser fan page on Facebook, and we'd love for you to "like" our page, and share photos of your food. 

Spinach Turkey Burgers

We are such big eaters. (Maybe it's all those back squats....) Here's another way I kept hunger at bay recently........

I chopped fresh organic spinach until I had 2 cups. I put this into a large bowl and added:

1 lb healthy ground turkey
1 tsp minced garlic   (or 2 garlic cloves, chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
smoked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I mixed this up with my hands.

I put 2 TBSP of coconut oil in a skillet and made patties with the turkey burger mixture. It made 6 patties (You could get 12 slider-sized burgers) I cooked them about 6 minutes on each side.
Since I had a huge skillet, I scooted them over and warmed up the leftover red peppers and broccoli.

Then we ate lunch.
Then Ger went back for more, but there wasn't more, so I MADE MORE! (good thing I had another lb of turkey....)
He really like them, and you will, too.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers

I know I am on to something good when Ger says, "Mom, you didn't make nearly enough of these...." so I am planning to make them again really soon. I wasn't sure if anyone would eat them, so I made 12 and cooked the leftover chicken livers in a skillet for Daisy....I didn't tell Ger that part. But, I should have known that I can wrap bacon around about any food and this crew will eat it.

This one is so easy! I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, for easy clean-up.
I poured the liquid off a container of chicken livers and laid them on paper towels.
I cut uncured bacon into halves. Then, I laid all the bacon on the cookie sheet.
Next, I laid a chicken liver on each piece of bacon. They hung over on both sides, but that's ok.
I topped each chicken liver off with 1/2 tsp Emeril's New York Deli Style All Natural Mustard,  (very clean ingredients) smoked sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Then, I rolled the two ends of the bacon up over the top of the chicken livers and flipped each one over so that the bacon stayed around the chicken liver. (You might want to just stick a toothpick in each one - but I was out of toothpicks...)
They went into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  I served them on a slice of cold, fresh sliced tomato.

Some people broil their bacon wrapped chicken livers but I don't like how it changes the consistency of the liver... and makes it so dry.

Butternut Squash Bread

This paleo butternut squash bread looks like a dessert, and it is, but without the coconut jam on top it's not very sweet. (sweet enough for all of us with a healthy "paleo sweet tooth." If you roast your own butternut squash, it works perfectly but the one in this photo is made with a BPA-free can of butternut squash. You can find it at Whole Foods, but it's not in the groceries in my part of the country, so I order mine from vitacost.com. It's good stuff and it makes this recipe so moist since it's all full of squash!


I rubbed an 8 x 8 glass baking dish with coconut oil.

I mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl:
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 TBSP almond flour
1 TBSP + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

I mixed the wet ingredients in a bowl:
1 can butternut squash   (OR 1 can pumpkin - it works great, just a little different taste)
5 eggs ( I set them out for a few minutes so they are not so cold)
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 TBSP raw honey

I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet ones with a wooden spoon and added:
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips (the big chunky coconut from nuts.com is my favorite)

I poured this mixture into the baking dish and cooked it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. (Stick a knife in it - oven times vary and I like things pretty gooey.....)
You could do this as muffins, too, with a shorter oven time.

I love this photo from Central East 2013.  PLEASE don't giggle because his first S in his last name is covered up by the ring strap.......

Paleo Mexican Dinner

Well, Ger was craving "something.... Mexican - Paleo" and this is what I did:

In a huge skillet, I browned 2 lbs of grass fed burger (cow, bison, llama, venison) in 1 TBSP of coconut oil. As soon as that started to brown I added:
1 small organic sweet onion, chopped
1 TBSP cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt (or your favorite sea salt)
1/2 tsp red pepper
1  28 oz can of diced tomatoes (check label for no added sugar)
1  10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro
1  4 oz can diced green chiles

I let it simmer a good long time.

I laid out artisan lettuce, avocados,  and limes. Everyone laid their favorite lettuces out on the plate and topped them with the grass fed Mexican mixture. Then we added thick slices of avocado and squeezed lots of fresh lime on the top.

It was as good as it looks in these photos. Make this one soon. You will be glad you did!

Rotisserie Style Crock Pot Chicken

I don't live in a town where you can pick up a really healthy rotisserie style chicken at the grocery. Have you read the ingredient labels on those things? some are bad, and some are worse. So, I tried to make this happen at home, as easily as possible. I think I got it right, because Ger ate 2 huge platefuls of this (and spaghetti squash with marinara, cherry tomatoes, and portobello mushrooms) and said, "Oh! It was SO GOOD I ate TOO MUCH!" That's music to my ears. So, here's what I did:

I rubbed the inside of my crock pot with coconut oil.

I sprinkled the bottom of the crock pot with a little sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper, and oregano, and a LOT of smoked paprika.

I rinsed one big organic chicken and took out the inner paper thing. I patted the chicken dry and put it into the crock pot, like the photo, along with the liver and gizzard for Daisy, my paleo jack russell terrier.

Next, I sprinkled the top of the chicken with all the same spices that I'd just used in the bottom of the crock pot, in the same amounts. I didn't measure, but you can see from the photo that I used a LOT of smoked paprika.
I added 1 TBSP of water. That's it.  I put the lid on and cooked it on low all day, more than 8 hours and it was delicious. It may be SO GOOD YOU EAT TOO MUCH, TOO.

There's Ger on the left. I loved those purple 2POOD shorts. It was a great memory when Ger was called a "big dog." He is. (AND he eats like one!)

Coconut Flour Cocoa Cupcakes

I mixed these dry ingredients in a small bowl:

1/2 cup coconut flour
2 TBSP dark cocoa
2 TBSP almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

I put a very small saucepan on the stove, on low, with:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup pasture butter (mine was salted - if yours isn't salted, you may want to add a tiny bit more sea salt in your dry ingredients)

I just heated this until the butter and coconut oil melted. Then I took it off the stove and let it sit a little. (You don't want to put eggs in if it's very hot)
I added these other wet ingredients to the saucepan mixture:

2 eggs
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup maple syrup (or 1/2 cup raw honey will work, but the taste has more depth with maple syrup)
2 TBSP vanilla
2 tsp apple cider vinegar (trust me.....)

I stirred this mixture up and in a few seconds, it thickened. (it's that magical coconut flour thing)
I put 12 cupcake papers in my muffin pan and then put the cupcake batter in them with a cookie scoop.

I baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

I can't begin to tell you how good they were. NOW, paleo people don't eat a "treat" very often, but if you're going to have one, have a healthy one. This is a great one. I ate one, all dark and warm as soon as I could pick one up.

 Later, after dinner, we all ate them with ORGANIC COCONUT JAM spread on the top with a butter knife. It's from the company Coconut World. Kim had given me this stuff.....it's new to me...ingredients are organic coconut milk and organic coconut syrup. Well, words cannot explain how yummy that was on those paleo cupcakes.

Paleo Raspberry Pineapple Whip

This is Paleo Raspberry Pineapple Whip. Please refer to my Paleo Pineapple Whip for the recipe. All you have to do is half the amount of pineapple in the original recipe with fresh, then frozen, raspberries.  (Maybe you can even go pick some yourself this week-end....)

It was yummy enough to get a mention on here and the color is incredible. So is the taste!

You know what else is incredible?  Ger Sasser is ranked 10th in the WORLD on the 2013 Crossfit Leaderboard. There's no denying his amazing performance this year at Centra East Regionals. I wish the powers that be would invite athletes to the Games in a more fair way....... Nick Fory's mom feels the same way - we talked about it on Facebook yesterday. It's hard. But, make no mistake, those boys will be back!

Wild Caught Salmon with Parsley and Pom

                                                    

Once again, I have a recipe for you that doesn't have a photo of the finished product. We ate it! So, the next time I make salmon this way, I will take a photo and add it to this post. 

First, I made up a marinade:

1/4 cup Lemon Myrtle macadamia nut oil  (or olive oil)

1 TBSP balsamic vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

4 TBSP Pom pomegranate juice

1 tsp organic dried basil

1 tsp sea salt

1 TBSP minced garlic (garlicgold.com has amazing organic minced garlic!)

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Stir this up and add:

1 bunch FRESH parsley

Spread this out on a big cookie sheet.

Next, I placed my big slab of salmon, FLESH SIDE DOWN, right onto the marinade. I pushed the fish around a little just to make sure there was good contact between the fish and the marinade. I covered this tightly around the edges of the pan with aluminum foil and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

I took the pan out and uncovered it so I could FLIP THE FISH OVER. (flesh side up now) 

I covered it tightly again with the same aluminum foil and cooked it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I always check the fattest section of salmon for doneness - yours might need 5 more minutes. 

This stuff is SO good for your body and your brain. Enjoy!

Paleo Pineapple Chicken Kabobs

This is a very versatile recipe since these kabobs can be cooked on the grill, in your grill pan on top of the stove, or in the oven. ( It rained so hard here yesterday that our 5pm WOD wasn't Helen after push press - it was today's 150 burpees for time. So......my kabobs went into the oven)

I stirred up a marinade:
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
3 TBSP local honey
2 TBSP melted coconut oil
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp Private Selection Signature Rub - Asian ( or any other rub high in sesame seed content)
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
1/4 tsp ginger ( or more, to taste)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I put a small amount of the marinade in a bowl and added 1 fresh pineapple, in chunks. I stirred it up, covered it, and put it in the fridge.

Next, I cut up 5 big healthy chicken breasts into chunks and stirred that up in the rest of the marinade. I covered this and put it in the fridge also. I left these 2 bowls in the fridge for 2-3 hours. (This is when I went to the box for the surprise 150 burpees.....)

Then I cut 2 green peppers into chunks. ( You can change things up here - mushrooms, zucchini, and yellow squash also work very well.)

I put 18 wooden skewers into a tall glass of water to soak for a few minutes.

I laid 2 big cookie sheets out and rubbed them with a little coconut oil.

I skewered the chicken, pineapple, and green pepper and laid them sideways all the way down my big cookie sheets. The marinade had, of course, gotten chunky as the coconut oil set up in the fridge, but I placed those chunks onto the skewers and drizzled a couple of TBSPs of the marinade over them, too. I had a couple of skewers that were just green pepper and pineapple - don't worry about getting every skewer exactly like the rest!

The last thing I did was cut a lime and squeeze it's juice over the skewers. (a lemon will work, too)

I placed them into a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. I took them out and grabbing one end of each skewer, gave them a flip, to turn them over a bit. I put them back in the oven and cooked them 10 minutes more. (These times might depend on the size of your chicken chunks...)

They were so delicious. Try this soon. ( and if you cover your pans with heavy-duty aluminum foil, clean-up will be a breeze! Grilling them is a breeze, too.)  There was a little bit of leftovers! I ate them for breakfast......

Kerry got a nice shot of Ger here from the burpee muscle-up WOD Friday at Central East Regionals. Ger is ranked 10th in the WORLD on the CrossFit leaderboard for 2013. There is no denying what an incredible athlete he is.
 Under his owl tattoo is a latin phrase that means, "In All Things Prepared." It's a great phrase to live by.  (proud mom moment)

Paleo Blueberry Whip and Paleo Blackberry Whip

Ger and Cassie are heading up to Columbus tomorrow. Isaac and I are riding with Kerry on Friday morning, EARLY. Poor Daisy will go to be boarded at the "spa." I made my Paleo Crock Pot Chicken Thigh Dinner and my Garlic Kale Chips with organic red kale.

After that, I'd read today that Lisbeth Darsh is crazy about blueberries - they are so healthy and sweet - so I bought 2 little packages of fresh blueberries and froze them. I placed them in the food processor along with 1/4 cup of organic canned coconut milk and 1 tsp raw honey. I pushed the on button and listened for the sound to change to a "gloppy" sound. It was fast and easy and delicious.

Next, I pulled out two frozen containers of fresh blackberries and did the same thing.

                                                                        See?

I still like the Paleo Pineapple Whip the best. Cassie and Isaac say the Peach Whip is the best. Ger's thinking it's maybe the Blueberry Whip now!  No one here like the Blackberry Whip best. (although they all love my Paleo Blackberry Bars)  I think it's because of the the little seeds....

Paleo Peach Whip

So, I'd bought 4 big ripe peaches. I peeled them and let the juice drip into a Tupperware container. I diut them into bite-sized pieces and Put a lid on the container. I place it in the freezer before I started to make dinner.

 After dinner I opened my Cuisenaire 7-cup food processor (it also works in a blender) and threw the frozen peaches in there, along with 2 tsp of raw honey (tropicaltraditions.com or vitacost.com  - it's not in my grocery here.....) 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 Peach Whip!  We all loved it.All four of us loved it. Ger and I still like the Paleo Pinapple Whip the best. Isaac and Cassie liked the Paleo Peach Whip. It looks like we are tied!  Let me know which one YOU like best here, or on the Facebook fan page for Feeding Ger Sasser.

Happy Wednesday morning. Ger registers at Central East Regionals tomorrow. I need to make another great dinner and MORE of my Pumpkin Paleo Crunch, for the road trip. 

Paleo Pumpkin Cake in a Mug

Paleo Pumpkin Cake in a Mug

I haven't had a Ghirardelli Dark chocolate chip in so long.... and I was thinking about how good one of those would be this morning....with 2 slices of uncured bacon and a mug of coffee...... but I'd promised Ger - no chocolate chips in the house. So, I made a Pumpkin version and I didn't miss those chocolate chips at all!  We are gearing up around here for Central East Regionals 2013,  and I will be a sugar-free spectator, in my Crossfit Countdown shirts - - - can't wait!

I rubbed coconut oil inside my big coffee mug.
I added the dry ingredients and STIRRED:

1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
(I stirred with the fork I was going to eat it with)

Then add the wet ingredients:
2 TBSP local honey ( if you use raw honey, heat it a bit first; Pure maple syrup or agave will work, too)
2 drops real vanilla
1 egg
3 TBSP pumpkin (from a can - this is what makes it so moist)
1 heaping TBSP dried goji berries (optional; dried cranberries would be nice, too)

I stirred again, making sure I'd stirred all the almond flour up off the bottom of the mug.

I put it in the microwave for 1 minute and 50 seconds.

Dessert for one. Or, breakfast, with bacon and coffee! 

Zucchini and Kale Skillet

I put 1 TBSP coconut oil and 3 TBSP basic chicken stock in a big skillet.

Next I washed and cut up 4 small zucchini and stirred it up in the skillet. I cooked it on medium and tore 1 bunch of organic kale (one of the best vegetables you can buy for your money!) and stirred it into the skillet, too. I flipped it over now and then for maybe 8 minutes.

I added 3 TBSP pepitas - pumpkin seeds. (nuts.com has organic pepitas which are no shell pumpkin seeds. Love them! I use them in my Pumpkin Paleo Crunch and Apple Cinnamon Paleo Crunch, too)

I added 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, a sprinkling of red pepper, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Simple and delicious powerhouse side dish. Healthcare in a skillet!

We ate it with a big slab of salmon.

Paleo Cocoa Nib Cake

Cocoa Nibs are roasted cocoa beans. They aren't processed to death like so much chocolate. They add a nutty, crunchy level to recipes. They are a powerhouse! They are one of the highest magnesium leveled foods in the world - that works with with MUSCLE FUNCTION and BONE STRENGTH.

Cocoa nibs don't just have magnesium. How about calcium, iron, copper, zinc, and potassium? That means high antioxidant levels. And, it tastes like the purest form of chocolate....because it is!

I stirred the dry ingredients in a big bowl:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1  1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 TBSP arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

I stirred up the wet ingredients in another bowl:
1 can pumpkin
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP canned coconut milk
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 TBP vanilla
1 egg (room temperature, so it won't thicken the melted coconut oil)
1/4 cup raw honey

Next I stirred the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

I folded in:
1/2 cup whole dates, chopped
1/2 cup cocoa nibs (nuts.com are very nice)

I put this mixture into a coconut oiled 9 x 12 cake pan and baked in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Yummy healthy no guilt treat! The photo has a slice of this Cocoa Nib Cake with a dried pear half from nuts.com. We also had it served with fresh blueberries. If you are needing a treat, at least have a healthy one and know what the ingredients are. You'll be glad you did!

Paleo Cabbage Rolls

Ger got 2 PRs at the box this morning - a 285 lb snatch and a 320 clean and jerk.  I knew he was going to be hungry!  You can see the video on the Feeding Ger Sasser fan page on Facebook if you'd like.

I brought a large stock pot of water to a boil and threw in 10 large outer leaves of a cabbage. I immediately turned it down to just simmering and cooked them for 5 minutes. I didn't want them to be too "fall-apart-y..."

I drained them and set them out on a big cookie sheet to wait.

While the water was coming to a boil I worked on the filling.  I put 1 TBSP coconut oil in a big skillet and added 1 diced organic sweet onion and 1 TBP minced garlic. ( I didn't have fresh garlic) I sauteed that until the onion was soft, just 4-5 minutes. I then took it out, and set it aside.

I used the same big skillet to brown 1 pkg grass fed ground beef and 1 pkg fresh ground pork.  I added 1  1/2 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt, (salttraders.com) freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, and 1/4 tsp thyme.

When it was all browned I splashed a little chicken stock on it and added the onion mixture back into the skillet and let it all cook down until I couldn't really see the chicken stock anymore. (If your sausage is really greasy, you may want to spoon some off. I expected to do this, but mine was fine)

Next I put a few spoonfuls of the meat mixture onto each steamed cabbage leaf, kind of in the middle. I folded the out side edge in, then the sides, and then flipped it all over toward the thick part, so that the thick part is on the bottom. I put each one into a 9 x 12 cake pan.  Then I poured a nice jar of pasta sauce (without sugar) over it all and put it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

It was really good!