Gluten-Free Apple Sunflower Seed Bars

Combine in a small bowl:
2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats ( I love McCann's, and remember: a little old-fashionaed oatmeal now and then won't spike your blood sugar like most grains.... who is 100 % paleo anyway?)
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Combine in a bigger bowl:
1/4 cup melted grass-fed butter
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup honey  (I used to make this recipe with 3/4 cup honey but 1/2 is enough for us now. Either works.)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Alternately stir in dry ingredients and 1 1/2 cups applesauce.
Then, stir in:

 2 small apples, diced
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (or more....)

Rub coconut oil in a 9 by 12 pan. Add the cookie bar batter and spread it out. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20-25-30  minutes.

Today was Barbells for Boobs at Crossfit Countdown. It was a great event and there were lots of people there having fun. When I get a photo of Michael stanley in his sports bra I'll have to share it here.....

Bacon Egg Artichoke Gluten-Free Pizza

I woke up at 3am earlier this week and made notes about this idea on my phone.....so I would remember to try it on the weekend. I am so glad this one woke me up! It's awesome with all it's paleo crust and uncured bacon and over-medium eggs and artichokes and just a hint of KerryGold cheese....

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.

I baked this in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes.
I took it out and added:

 1  6 oz jar of drained artichoke hearts
4-5 pieces of uncured bacon, cooked and crumbled
3-4 eggs
2-3 TBSP KerryGold cheese (your favorite - mine is Ballyshannon or Dubliner)
pinch of smoked sea salt on the eggs
oregano, to taste

I put the pizza back into the oven for 10 minutes. My eggs were over-medium. You may want to adjust your cooking time here depending on how you like your eggs!

It was awesome. I hope you like it, too.

Chocolate Chip Cherry Protein Balls

I put the following ingredients into a mixing bowl::

1 cup chocolate protein powder  ( SFH Chocolate Protein or Progenex Locha Mocha or whatever protein you like best)
1 TBSP dark cocoa ( If you use a protein like TEN Institute's ITP just double the cocoa)
1/2 cup coconut oil, NOT melted
2 TBSP raw honey (You may find that 1 TBSP is enough for you)
2 TBSP raw almond butter (or toasted pecan butter or organic peanut butter)
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes ( the chunky coconut chips from nuts.com is the best!) 
1/3 cup chocolate chips ( Ghirardelli Dark)
1/3 cup dried cherries
4 TBSP coconut milk, as needed, maybe more.

I stirred them up with a wooden spoon until a dough-like look appears. It takes a little stirring, and kind of happens all at once but you want to make sure you've mixed the ingredients well. You may need a bit more coconut milk, or if it's too thin, you could add some more protein powder. 

I scooped them out on a parchment covered baking pan with a cookie scoop and popped them into the freezer for 1/2 an hour. Then I put each protein ball into a snack bag and put them back into the freezer so we could just grab them when we needed them.

These are in the Kill Cliff fridge at Crossfit Countdown right now (put $ in envelope that's with them)....unless Ger has eaten them all. He said they were AMAZING.

Perfect Bar Fruit Bowl

While we were in Charlotte for the GRID quarterfinal and semifinal matches last week, we tried Perfect Bars. The Perfect Bar people had a table set up and were giving away samples at every match Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They were just the nicest people to talk to and their bars really are PERFECT!  

 So, the Perfect Bar guy said you could order them online at perfectbar.com or you could get them at Whole Foods, etc.    Well, the closest Whole Foods is 99 miles away from my house so Marsha, Bill, Isaac, and I went to the Whole Foods in Charlotte while we were there to stock up. They are found in the refrigerated cases, not with other bars. I tried every flavor but one and love them all but Peanut Butter's my favorite.

While we were in the Whole Foods this lovely blonde gal came up and talked to us - she'd noticed our Perfect Bars AND she had the most lovely English accent ever. I'm going to tell you what she said and I want you to read this in your best English accent, like I'm doing while I type it, ok?

" So, you're new to these Perfect Bars?  Well, they really are perfect. You see, you've got to try them my favorite way. You take a bowl....and you fill it with lovely berries of all sorts..... and then you take aPerfect Bar, whatever kind you like, and break it up into chunks on the top. Then, you heat it up just a bit, and give it a stir. It makes this sort of lovely...pudding."

She was so right! I don't know who she was, but I wish I could tell her that I loved her idea.  The first photo is wild blueberries with a Peanut Butter Perfect Bar warmed and stirred.   This photo is before I warmed it.

I hope you check them out. I ALSO hope Ger and Cassie start carrying them at the box!!

Roasted Chestnuts

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."
 Most people know the holiday song, but how many of you know where a chestnut tree is?  I'm glad I do. Kim invited me over to pick up some chestnuts so I took Panera salads, we had lunch, and then we picked up 10 lbs of these big fresh chestnuts. Her dog, Raleigh, probably ate a lb or so, too. Aren't they beautiful?

I have some in the fridge - I've read they are good for about a month like that.
I have quart freezer bags in the freezer, too. They're good for 4 months or so.

Here's how I roasted chestnuts:

I cut an X into each chestnut. I was going to choose nice big heavy-feeling chestnuts, but they all fit that description! I made sure that I cut deep enough into the chestnuts that I got all the way through the shell. I did this on the most flat side of each one.

I rubbed coconut oil on them and placed them on a baking sheet. I put them into a 425 degree oven for 12 minutes. During this roasting time, the shells curled back.

After taking them out of the oven, I let them cool for 10 minutes, so they were still warm but not too hot. This was the perfect time to peel back the shell and brown skin.

I love them warm and served beside a little smoked sea salt to dip them in.

I know they are starchy but they also have a lot of nutrients and I think they are yummy!

I watched the National Pro GRID League Final while eating them today - Ger's SanFrancisco Fire team took on the DC Brawlers on NBC today in the first GRID final. #gridfan #gridmom

Ger and Cassie are flying home today. I know everyone at the box is so excited to have them home.

Crock Pot Roasted Pumpkin

I bought this lovely pie pumpkin from my favorite farmer at the farmer's market the other day, thinking about how it would exactly fit into my oblong slow cooker.....it seems like I always have pumpkin on my mind every October.

So, I came home and washed my pumpkin, dried it off, and rubbed it with coconut oil.

Next, I rubbed a little extra coconut oil in the slow cooker.

I stuck my pumpkin several times (maybe 10 times) with a fork, leaving little holes. Then I laid it down in the slow cooker, covered it with the lid, and cooked it on low for 7-8 hours.

When the time was up, I unplugged it and took off the lid to let the pumpkin cool off some.

After a few minutes, I placed it on a cutting board and easily cut it in half.  I took out the stringy stuff and the seeds for the compost pile. I scooped out the pumpkin to use in recipes all week.
(It's easy to fill quart freezer bags with this mixture if you can't use it all up so you can use it at a later date.)
If you like pumpkin recipes, just put the word pumpkin into the search box on this blog - I've got lots of different things for you to check out!

I had to eat one big slice immediately, with maple syrup and cinnamon. Sometimes I like it savory, with grass fed butter and smoked sea salt.  Yum!