Paleo Roasted Patty Pan Squash

I love these squash and they are hard to find in my area - farmers just don't seem to grow many of them. I found these at The Wild Ramp in Huntington from the Pottager.

I cut 2 patty pan squash into quarters and then again, to make 8 pieces from each squash. Next, i scooped the seeds out and threw them into the compost.

I rubbed 2 TBSP coconut oil on the pieces and spread them out on a baking pan.

I sprinkled them with minced garlic, (garlicgold.com) sea salt, dill, and black pepper. (Use the herbs you like - I was out of basil....)
I roasted them in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes.

You CAN eat the rind of these squash, in case they are new to you and you were wondering.

Paleo White Peach Cobbler

I went to Central City Market this morning and found a bounty of fresh produce. I wanted to do something with the beautiful white peaches first so this is IT! Now, you can make it with yellow peaches, too, but if you can get fresh local ripe white peaches..... well, you won't regret it!

I peeled and sliced 6 big white peaches and laid them in a 9 x 12 baking pan that I'd rubbed with coconut oil.
In a bowl, I stirred up the following ingredients:

1/3 cup local honey (if you use raw honey, you might want to warm it a bit so it will mix better)
2/3 cup unblanched almond flour (but blanched would be fine)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 cup organic coconut milk from a can
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup pecan pieces

I put this mixture on top of the peaches and spread it out a little. (It didn't cover all the peaches)

In a small glass dish I melted 4 TBSP pasture butter (Kerry Gold, from grass fed cows) and then poured it over the top of the cobbler.  (Is your mouth watering yet? Wait until your kitchen starts smelling like heaven....)

The last thing I did was to sprinkle the cobbler with a little cinnamon.

I put it into a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Isaac and I really love this one. Ger and Cassie will be back tonight - I bet they like it, too!!!!!!

Some people like a nice peach cobbler with some paleo vanilla ice cream on top, or maybe just a splash of heavy whipping cream.....

Here's one of my favorite photos of Cassie. She's quite an athlete in her own right, a great Crossfit coach, and does an amazing job with Crossfit Countdown's Crossfit Kids classes. I am proud to be feeding Cassandra Dawn Poff.

Roasted Green Beans

If you always make a pot of green beans with bacon, I am sure they are delicious! This is the time of year to eat them - they are more pod than bean and don't do all the dried beans things to you that are so bad for your gut.  Now, there might be another way to make green beans that you will like, and it's fast!

I washed and cut the ends off my green beans. (These weren't the ones that you have to string, but you can roast that kind, too.)
I put them on a big cookie pan and added 1 TBSP coconut oil. I rubbed them with my hands and spread them out.
 I sprinkled them with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and minced garlic. That's it. (garlicgold.com is my favorite and it's organic)
I put the into a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes.  I like them so much! They shrunk up a good bit, so next time I'm going to prepare a bigger portion.

I served them with zucchini and yellow squash chips and Orange Roughy in Coconut Milk Paleo.

What'd you have? I hope it was healthy fuel for your busy life.

Bison Oven Meatballs

I'm always thinking about simplified cooking with quick clean-up for my paleo people. Meatballs....I used to form them nice and round with my hands and then cook them in a skillet, trying to get them to turn over and stay there..... no, not so much.

Here's how I did it:

In a large bowl I put:
2 lbs bison burger
2 large farm fresh eggs
3 TBSP almond flour
1 tsp minced garlic  (you know we love garlicgold.com, right?)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I mixed this up with my clean hands. Then I washed my hands and covered a big cookie sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Next, I got our my cookie scoop and scooped out the meatballs onto the pan. (SO much faster) It made about 35.  I put them in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes.

The photo shows them with my paleo barbecue sauce. It's on this blog as "Moist Paleo Meatloaf with Paleo BBQ Sauce."  You can also just put the word meatloaf into the search box in the top left corner.

If you make bigger meatballs than mine, you might need to adjust your oven time. You might want to add onion. Also Ger said I should put them on a rack next time since they sit in the fat as they cook and might make a little goo around them. I didn't think it was a big deal.

                                                     
                                                                 Meet  Mikko Sasser.

You can also half this recipe if you don't feed the army that I do. That's what my daughter, Jess, does. She halves the recipe and cooks it for the same amount of time, but puts it in a loaf pan, so it's like a little meatloaf.

Apple Chips

Apple chips are delicious, just to snack on, on salads, and so many other different ways. We love them on salads at Panera Bread. We used to have them add apple chips to the cobb salad with avocado - so many of us were ordering that, with an apple as a side, that the people that worked at Panera were calling it the Crossfitter salad!
Then, someone pointed out to me that they were charging a dollar (!) every time we had those apple chips added. So, that's when I dug the dehydrator off the top shelf of a basement closet......

I washed and sliced 7 apples. Any kind of apples would work, but these were pink something-apples, really sweet and crunchy.  I put them in a bowl of water with two lemons squeezed in there. This is so they won't turn so brown.

I laid the pieces of apple onto the 4 trays of the dehydrator and dehydrated them at 135 degrees for 6 hours. (I might go a little longer next time, but it might depend on the juiciness of the apples, too)
That's it!  Isaac came into the kitchen when the apple chips were done and put one in his mouth.....then picked up an entire tray and took it with him!

This is my dehydrator. You can check them out online. There are lots of different price points and sizes. I also checked to make sure dehydrators didn't use much electricity since they stay on a while.... no worries there!

Asian Kale Chips

I've got 2 kale chip recipes on this blog that use the oven but I like these better. We all do! I've had this dehydrator for years (from making jerky with Ger when he was little, but it still works!) and now I'm going to be using it a lot!

I started with these  - Asian Kale Chips. I stirred the following ingredients up with a whisk, in a BIG bowl:

1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP Garlic Gold - the Garlic Gold oil that has the crunchy minced garlic in it. garlicgold.com.
1 tsp almond butter
1 tsp smoked sea salt
1 TBSPPrivate Selection Signature Rub - Asian (or other Asian blend that has lots of black sesame  seeds)
1/2 tsp thyme
 black pepper, to taste

Next, I took 2 bunches of organic kale and tore it off the stems and into big bite-sized pieces. I put all the kale in in big bowl and mixed and flipped and massaged it until it was all covered evenly. (Yes, the kale fell out of the bowl now and then and I just threw it back  in.)

I placed the prepared kale onto 4 trays in the dehydrator. It was a lot but I made it work, like a puzzle.

See? I put the dehydrator lid on and plugged it in. I turned it to 135 degrees for 4 hours. It shrank up some but not as much as the recipes for the kale chips in the oven. The texture is just better, too. We loved it.

If you are interested in a dehydrator, ask your friends, check ebay, craigslist, or even Goodwill. People get them and then don't use them, kind of like home workout equipment - lol. They don't use very much electricity at all, either - I checked.

Kill Cliff Kiwi Popsicles

Ok, I'm going to throw it out there - now and then I have a really good idea.

I was thinking about how hot it is at the box and how hard everyone is working and all the PR's that are going up on the board for July, 2013. I was thinking about this after many, many back squats, while drinking a Kill Cliff, and sitting in front of  a huge industrial fan. My Kill Cliff was very cold, but not as cold as the ones we had at Central East Regionals, right out of the ice. So, I figured that the COLDER the Kill Cliff, the better.......... then I imagined this:

Kill Cliff Kiwi Popsicles!  I used one can of Kill Cliff and 3 kiwi. I cut the ends off the kiwi and then peeled them, sliced them and cut the slices into halves. I poured a little Kill Cliff in each popsicle section, then put in some kiwi (very ripe and sweet) and then topped them off with more Kill Cliff. I placed the holder-stick parts in each little compartment and put them into the freezer. I made 6 but it wasn't enough..... we are all addicted to Kill Cliff.

Yes, it's true, the colder the Kill Cliff, the better!

We LOVE them! We want popsicle molds that are bigger now! And, I am making Kiwi Clementine Popsicles next! Try them. Make them for your athletes, your children, yourself! Just make them.

If you can't get Kill Cliff at your Crossfit Affiliate or your GNC, you can get them at killcliff.com.

(Farrah loves them, too!)

Paleo Kiwi Pineapple Whip

So, I'd bought a container of fresh pineapple spears. I threw it into the freezer. I also peeled and sliced 4 kiwi and froze them, too. ( the fruit should probably freeze a couple of hours; freezers vary. Also, if I've let the pineapple freeze overnight I set it out of the freezer about 10 minutes before I make this recipe.)
Later, I opened my Cuisenaire 7-cup food processor (this recipe also works in the blender)  and threw half of the frozen spears in there, along with half the kiwi, 1 heaping tsp of raw honey (tropicaltraditions.com) and 1/4 cup of organic coconut milk from a can.

I put the lid on the food processor and processed until smooth. I put it into bowls. Then I did the same thing again with the rest of the pineapple and the kiwi.

We all loved it. Ger said, "We have a winner!"

I told him it was a special recipe made to bring about back squat PR's tomorrow.

Can you tell which bowl is Ger's?

Marinated Mushroom Skewers

Ger made me back squat more than I was planning to load on the bar tonight, but, you know what? I did it. 6 rounds of 6. I guess Ger knows how strong I am better than I do. Thanks, coach! Lots of good coaching going on tonight, and busy classes! I just love seeing the Crossfit Kids classes starting up, too. We have some really great little dudes and girls in those classes.
So, I was hungry when I got home from the box.

I soaked 7 bamboo skewers. I made up the marinade by stirring up the following ingredients into a small bowl:

2 TBSP Macadamia Nut oil (olive oil works great, too)
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dill
1/2 tsp red pepper
sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Next, I got a large container of portobello mushrooms and several sweet pepper rounds of different colors out of the fridge and cut them up. I cut each mushroom in half, top to bottom, like in the photo.
I skewered the vegetables and laid them in a pan.
I used a silicone brush to coat the vegetables. There was a little left and I just poured it on there, too!  I set the pan in the fridge for 30 minutes. (more would be fine, too)
(Then I cooked a big skillet of grass fed llama and sausage in organic pasta sauce.)

After the mushrooms had marinated 30 minutes, I popped them into a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. (They will be fine in there for a while if they need to stay warm a while longer....)

Pretty. Delicious. See?  They will be great this way on the grill, too!

Dark Chocolate Nut Butter Mousse Cups

Well, now I know how to get this dessert's secret ingredient into Cassie. She doesn't like avocado a lot, except in my Paleo Mexican Dinner, and now, in this dessert.

 So, they went out to lunch today with Cassie's mom and dad, and Ger was looking at a photo of some mad-crazy peanut butter dessert, full of sugar and grain and who knows what kind of else??? So, he sent word to me that wanted a "not-too-guilty paleo dessert, but peanut buttery." 

What? Peanut butter? I got myself to the grocery before he changed his mind, and bought the MaraNatha organic peanut putter with a hint of sea salt (ingredients: peanuts, sea salt - - NO CANE SUGAR) Then, I came home, fired up the food processor, and knocked this one out of the ballpark!

I set out 6 Pampered Chef glass prep dishes. (Use whatever dessert dishes you like)

For the CRUST, I put the following ingredients into the food processor:

8 dates
1/4 cup pecans
1/4 cup walnuts
2 TBSP Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 TBSP honey
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

I processed it until it looked like this photo and then pressed it down with the back of a spoon. (Just this part is completely yummy by itself! I know, I tasted it, of course, more than once....)

I washed out the food processor bowl so I could use it again.

For the DARK CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER MOUSSE, I put the following ingredients into the food processor:
1 ripe avocado (I peeled it and threw away the pit)
2 TBSP Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
3 TBSP local honey (2 TBSP might be enough with raw honey....up to your sweet tooth)
3 TBSP MaraNatha Peanut Butter (or almond butter, or any other nut butter, but peanut butter's yummy when you haven't had it in forever...)

I processed this until it was blended and you couldn't see any green. This then went into 3 of the containers. (My food processor is a 7-cup machine, and I worry about putting too much into it at a time.) So, then I made a second batch of this for the other 3 crusts. If you do this in a blender, you could do it all at once.

I put them into the fridge for a couple of hours before we ate them.

Isaac says to tell you they are not sweet enough for him, so be forewarned. He says they need more of the crust part, too. He's my critic. Ger said, "Wow, mom, that is really, really good! I'm eating another one right now!"

Lemon Shrimp Kebabs

I took 3 packages of large frozen shrimp and thawed them in the fridge. I sliced 4 lemons in thin slices. I soaked 10 bamboo skewers in water.
I covered a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil and rubbed a little coconut oil on it.


I skewered up the shrimp and lemon slices. Each skewer had 9 or 10 pieces of shrimp on there and 3 or 4 lemon slices. I went through the lemon slice twice and then pushed the edges together a little so they made a "u" and didn't take up as much space on the skewer.

I laid each skewer on the pan sideways - my cookie sheets are nice, big, heavy ones - I love them. You should have them, too, if you don't.

I sprinkled them with:
minced garlic (I used fresh from a jar.  Dried minced garlic works, too)
smoked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
cumin
oregano

I didn't measure.

I cooked them in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes. (You might want to look at yours at 10 minutes - ovens vary....)

We slid them off the skewers and squeezed the roasted lemon on them. We had zucchini as a side. It was a quick and  delicious paleo meal. That's how we need for things to be, right?

Please "like" the Feeding Ger Sasser fan page on Facebook - we'd love to talk about food with you there!

Paleo Almond Butter Cookies

I was missing peanut butter cookies - the ones where you would press a fork into the top of them in both directions..... and, you know what? I can eat these instead, and not feel cheated, at all!

I put all the ingredients into a big bowl:

3/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup coconut oil ( this needs to be set up, not melty, so I put it in the fridge for a few minutes)
1/2 cup honey (raw or local honey, or agave nectar, if you must)
1 large egg
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1  1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 TBSP arrowroot powder (cornstarch will work, if you haven't switched over yet)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

Using a wooden spoon, I had to work to mix it up because it was a thick mixture.

I put parchment paper on two cookie sheets. I used a cookie scoop to portion out about 24 scoops.

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Then, I tried one. Then, I tried another one. (You will, too!)