Diet Plans for Crossfit such as Paleo Blueberry Lemon Bars

I rubbed an 8 inch square glass pan with coconut oil.

 I stirred up the following ingredients all at once:
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 heaping TBSP coconut oil, melted
2 TBSP honey
2 tsp vanilla

I spread this out in the prepared glass pan and baked it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

The next layer is the lemon yumminess.
First, I squeezed 1/2 cup of lemon juice and set it aside.

I took a saucepan and put:
 3 organic eggs
 1/4 cup raw honey (or agave nectar, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

I stirred this up. Then I put it on the stove on medium low. From this point it must be stirred almost continuously or it will make a scrambled egg kind of thing on the bottom, and you don't want that. (although it will still taste good)
 While this started to heat up, I put:
 6 TBSP of coconut oil, one at a time into the egg mixture. I kept stirring.... letting the coconut oil melt and when it all melted.
 I added the 1/2 cup of lemon juice. (all at once lol) I continued stirring til it began to thicken. (If you aren't sure if it has thickened, it hasn't thickened enough. It will happen and it is worth it!)

When it was thicker, I poured it over the top of the layer in the glass pan and spread it out.
The last thing I did was wash 1 cup of blueberries and pushed them into the lemon layer. They went into the fridge for an hour and then.......WOW

These blueberry lemon bars are part of our Crossfit diet meal plans

I always double this recipe now and use a 9 x 12 pan. it's just too fabulous!

Protein Shakes - Shake It Up

I love a cold protein shake after a tough WOD. I always feel like I earned it!  There's something about that "window of opportunity," the time that you can replace protein for your muscles.... Ger explains it much better than I do.

Ger (spring 2014) uses protein from TEN Institute now. He was looking for a cleaner protein to ingest and really was impressed with what he saw when he started looking into the different ingredients.  When my two bags of Progenex are gone, I'm going to try it next.

The rest of the family uses Progenex for our shakes. We've tried all their flavors and love chocolate and vanilla the best. (We use a ton of it for my Cocoa Delight Bites and Vanilla Date Delight Bites, along with all the other recipes for protein bites ) My favorite is Tropical Vanilla Progenex in coconut water. But, we don't want to get bored here, so sometimes we have a Locha Mocha Progenex with coconut milk and an extra tsp of cocoa. That makes it really dark! We had been using the Myofusion flavors a couple of years back, but the thickness and some of the ingredients were worrying me......

Another great thing you can add to your protein shake is pomegranate powder. I get it from Amazon and the brand is Navitas Naturals. It helps keep your immune system up and running. It doesn't change the taste of your shake much, either.

I also sometimes put chia seeds in my protein shake, too. These seeds help with long term energy. I like to get chia seeds from nuts.com and white chia seeds from vitacost.com.  I even hide a little turmeric in there sometimes. (You really need to throw turmeric into your food every chance you get!)

I have friends who swear by Beverly protein, too.

update Jan 2015 - I am loving SFH recovery protein - I have both the chocolate and the vanilla and use this brand or TEN Institute all the time now, for shakes and for all the recipes here that use protein. Check them out. Let me know what you've switched to in the comments section, ok?

What protein do you use?  Favorite flavor? What do you add to your protein shake?

Paleo Pepper Sandwiches

             This was a great idea and I want to give credit where it's due. I saw a pic on Facebook and followed the link. It was primalparent.com.  They used peppers instead of bread - what an amazing paleo idea!
 So, tonight I made these and they were a big hit! Here is how I did it:

I washed and cut up red and green peppers, into thirds.  I fried up 2 12 oz packages of uncured bacon. I sliced up some little organic seedless cucumbers. I laid out portabello mushroom slices and shredded carrots, brown mustard, and a little nice cheese.

             We loaded them up using one piece of red pepper and one piece of green pepper for the "bread." Wow! They were crunchy and SO GOOD!

             Here's a pic of everything ready for us to make our Paleo Pepper Sandwiches.

So, it's summer and the sweet peppers are cheap and fresh from the garden. eat up!

Paleo Asparagus with Roasted Pine Nuts

               Asparagus is in season. It costs less now and we should all eat as much as we want! This recipe doesn't take long and we loved it.

              I took 1/3 cup of pine nuts and poured them in a small pan. I shook the pan so that the pine nuts spread out evenly. I toasted them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Then I set them aside. ( This step makes all the difference in the taste of the pine nuts. Don't just throw them in.)

             I broke off the bottom of the ends of 2 bunches of asparagus. I broke them up and threw them in a big skillet. I added 2 TBSP coconut oil, (olive oil would work, too) sea salt, and pepper. I cooked this for 6 minutes at medium high heat. In the last minute I squeezed a little lemon juice over the top and stirred the roasted pine nuts in.

            Some of us put a little sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top. Bliss.

Paleo Tacos with Summer Salsa

So, I was going to have grass-fed burgers tonight, but Ger called me from CrossFit Countdown and said, "Mom, Kim has me wanting Paleo Tacos. They sound so good. Can't you make that? Wouldn't that be good?" It did sound good, and thanks to Kim, this is what I did.

I cooked half a diced white onion in a little bacon grease in a skillet. Then I added 2 lbs. of grass fed ground beef, 1 1/2 tsp McCormick Chipotle Chili Powder, 1 tsp Smoked Paprika, and a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

While that cooked, I made up the salsa. I put in a 28 oz can of organic diced tomatoes, ( I poured off most of the liquid) 1 1/2 cups cole slaw mix, 1/2 of a red onion, diced,  2 small organic mini seedless cucumbers, chopped, a splash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. ( You can also add fresh cilantro or basil if you like) I stirred this up and put it in the fridge.

When we put them together we used large romaine leaves, the ground beef mixture, the salsa, and then slices of avocado. It was very delicious. We ate like CrossFitters! Ger doesn't usually like cucumber, but he didn't complain about this one.  Isaac slept through the whole thing, but there's leftovers.  zzzzzzz-z-z-z

We forgot all about the roasted acorn squash in the oven! Hey - more leftovers. Tomorrow I will be glad about that!

                             This Summer Salsa will be good on eggs in the morning....

Paleo Zucchini Chips

I took 2 big cookie sheets and covered the bottoms of them with parchment paper. (foil would work, too) I rubbed coconut oil on my hands, then on the parchment paper.

I washed 5 zucchini, cut off the ends, and then sliced them very thin. (I've used the food processor for this if I am making mountains of them for some reason....) I laid them on the parchment paper, touching. I didn't overlap them, but I really packed them in there, like a puzzle. (I knew they were going to shrink...)
 Next, I brushed them with a light coating of melted coconut oil with a little silicone brush. I sprinkled them with smoked sea salt and garlic powder. (you can get a little creative here...basil or dill, smoked paprika - I know all of those work well here!)

I popped them into the oven on 250 degrees for 40 minutes, then rotated the pans and let them go another 35-40 minutes. You will have to watch them at the end - you want them to be "chip"more than just baked zucchini. Wait for them to brown a little.  They are really good!

(Look how much they shrank! They were touching each other....)

Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Basil

Eggs are wonderful. They aren't expensive, even when you buy the ones without hormones or antibiotics. I have a local farm egg source now and I can't believe how big and delicious these eggs are!  They are an excellent protein source and they are delicious many different ways. Ger has 4 eggs and 2 egg whites many mornings, cooked in coconut oil usually, with the yolks just a little soft.

Today I wanted scrambled eggs for lunch. It would be fast, fresh, and delicious. I melted 1 tsp of Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter Tub - 17.6 oz. - Butter  (Kerrygold butter is from grass-fed cows. You can find it now at most Kroger and Sam's) in a small skillet. I added 3 eggs, one TBSP coconut milk, and a pinch of smoked sea salt, and stirred that up with a spatula. I scrambled the eggs and just before they were done, I added a heaping TBSP of fresh basil, chopped. It was simple bliss with coffee and fresh cherries.

Eat eggs. They're good for you. They are not just for breakfast, either! I have several interesting recipes starring eggs on this blog. Search box it.