Spicy Quinoa

I made a spicy quinoa the other night. It makes a great side dish and I wanted to share it with you. Now,  I've adjusted the recipe because when I first made it, it was way too SPICY. NO, really, it was.

I started with:

1/2 cup organic quinoa (I like the nuts.com quinoa. Have you tried it?)
1 cup water

I cooked this over medium heat in my smallest sauce pan until the water was mostly absorbed, but the quinoa still has its shape and isn't mushy.

I added:

1 organic yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup Mina Harissa Spicy Moroccan Red Pepper Sauce (I had TWICE as much in the first batch...)
2-3 TBSP coconut cream concentrate (coconut butter)
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Then I stirred a couple of times while it was over low heat, just to blend the flavors.

Big Healthy Cookies

These healthy cookies - Let me know what you think. I think they are pretty much amazing! I think they are so healthy I can eat them for breakfast with my coffee with coconut oil, grass fed butter, and blackstrap molasses. (I'm trying not to eat another one before then.....)  Katie says we could call them "Better Than the Crap on the Shelves at the Store" - true that.

Here's how I made these big cookies:

In a large bowl I combined:
1  1/2 cups almond flour  (I always use the non blanched but blanched will work)
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

In a small bowl I combined:
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP peanut butter  (or almond butter)
2 TBSP water

I poured the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredients and stirred with a wooden spoon.

I folded in:
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips  (I know this ingredient isn't paleo, Ger; I just can't help myself...)
1/2 cup unsweetened chunky coconut
1/2 cup cranberries

I measured them out with a 1/4 cup measure, almost full and then gave them a pat to flatten them just a little. It took 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. I left them lots of room to spread out. (I think it made 16 BIG cookies.)

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes and then let them cool completely on racks.

They don't take long and they are totally worth the effort. Check the ingredients and add what you don't have to your grocery list.  Fuel up!

Paleo Slow Cooker Spiced Apple Cider

This.
This spiced apple cider.
This stuff made someone hug me.
This stuff almost made me want to put up the Christmas tree early....almost. I am excited about making this recipe for holiday gatherings and family gatherings and right-after-shopping-trips.....

I hope it lends a happy atmosphere to your gatherings, as well.

I poured 1 gallon of apple cider into my slow cooker. (Kroger had some from a local orchard)

I added the following ingredients:

1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1 organic orange, cut into 4 pieces

I put the lid on and put it on low for 4 hours. (It would also be fine to be on low all day)

I squeezed the orange pieces and gave the cider a stir just before serving.

 I left it on warm the rest of the day so it was always ready.

It was warm and perfect AND the house smelled amazing and festive. Put this one into your plans!

Cookies n Cream Pecan Protein Balls

First I put 2/3 cup pecans halves on a small baking sheet and spread them out evenly. I roasted them in a 250 degree oven for 10 minutes. This releases their flavor! When they were cooled I broke them up into smaller pieces. (You could just buy the pecan pieces and roast them.)

I put the following ingredients into a mixing bowl::

1 cup Cookies and Cream protein powder  ( Muscle Pharm, Optimum Nutrition, Myofusion - many brands have this flavor. If you want it to try it with your favorite protein, just use vanilla and crumble up a couple of Oreos in the mixture.....)
2/3 cup roasted pecan pieces
1/2 cup coconut oil, NOT melted
2 TBSP raw honey (You may find that 1 TBSP is enough for you)
2 TBSP organic peanut butter (or toasted pecan butter or raw almond butter)
1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes ( the chunky coconut chips from nuts.com is the best!) 
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).

                                                Beautiful ingredients make beautiful food. 

Buttered Sweet Potatoes with Molasses

Ger and Cassie came over to eat dinner with Isaac and me recently and I served this new recipe. Everyone loved these Buttered Sweet Potatoes with Molasses. (Organic blackstrap molasses have a solid mineral benefit - copper, iron, calcium, magnesium)

I put the following ingredients into a large skillet:

2 TBSP Cherry Balsamic Vinegar (Pampered Chef has a great one. So does Flying Olive. You can make this with regular balsamic vinegar, too, but put the Cherry on your grocery list.)
3 TBSP Kerry Gold pasture butter
2 TBSP organic blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp turmeric
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
3-4 TBSP water

I stirred this up over low heat.

I washed, peeled, and cut into bite-sized chunks - a skillet full of organic sweet potatoes - it depends on the size; sometimes it's 5-7. Got big. You're going to love them and hope you have left-overs, which are great thrown into salads later or under over-medium eggs for breakfast the next day.

Anyway, I cooked sweet potato chunks in the skillet over medium high heat, stirring often so that the ingredients coated the sweet potatoes as they softened.  I turned them to low after they softened some.
(You may feel like you need another TBSP of water later on- sweet potatoes are all different)

Here's a pic of the whole delicious meal:

And here's some Barbells for Boobs shots: