Jared's Super Awesome Sweet Potato Surprise

This is Jared, CrossFit Countdown's newest Level 1 Certified CrossFit Trainer. He took 2nd place at the WV Mountaineer Games and sometime in the day, he was refueling with the mixture in the photo. I asked him what he was eating, then asked him if he would share his recipe in this guest blog. Lucky for us, he agreed!

Jared says:

"Ingredients -
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
2 apples peeled and diced into small cubes
1/2 cup pecans
2 TBSP honey (or agave nectar)
1/2 TBSP cinnamon
salt to taste
2 TBSP coconut oil (or any oil you like)

Heat oil in skillet. Add diced sweet potato and saute for about 10 minutes. Add apples and saute until tender. Add honey, cinnamon, sat, and pecans and mix well. Taste and make any adjustments needed. (more salt and the like) Also, if the mixture becomes dry during cooking, you can add a little water, apple juice, or oil until you get a desired texture.
Enjoy!"

Jared brings good food to our meals at CrossFit Countdown. He's a fireman with mad skills in the kitchen. Let's all try this recipe!

Paleo Pork Tenderloin

This Paleo Pork Tenderloin was a celebration tonight. Ger won the WV Mountaineer Games yesterday and that was 2 years in a row! So, today I made his favorite thing, my Paleo Lemon Blueberry Bars, and then I made this beautiful all-natural pork tenderloin. This is such a great way to do it: it's always so moist and tender.

I heated my oven to 500 degrees. I put aluminum foil in a 9 x 12 pan and rubbed a little coconut oil on it. I laid a 2 1/2 lb pork tenderloin in the pan, put a TBSP of coconut oil on top, and also added these dry herbs to the top:

1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp smoked sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

I cooked the pork tenderloin uncovered in that hot oven for 15 minutes. ( That's 6 minutes a lb) Then, I turned the oven off and put the timer on for an hour. I did not open the oven door - even for a little peek!  The oven gets hot and begins to cook the tenderloin and when I turned it off, the oven just slow-cooked it for the hour, slowing down as it went and leaving it all moist and juicy and perfect. It got plenty hot in the center - no worries.

I fixed a skillet of yellow squash, zucchini, and peppers with marinara sauce.

Here's a great pic of one his PRs yesterday. (He got a 270 snatch and a 315 lb clean and jerk.... what a day) We had 6 athletes competing from CrossFit Countdown - all were in the top 10 - and we took 4 of the 6 podium spots. All of us enjoyed the day so much. Hooty and his judges ran a great competition at Mountaineer CrossFit. Jared Chamberlain took 2nd. Cheree Ross Davis took 1st in the Ladies Division and Sam Hartman took 3rd. It was a day to remember.

Paleo Fried Chicken Legs

Everyone says fried chicken is a southern thing....a bad southern thing. But, when you fry them in a skillet with coconut oil, they aren't nearly so bad for you! They are GOOD!

I melted 2 heaping TBSP of coconut oil in a skillet. When it was hot, I put in the organic chicken legs ( I think I  cooked 9 - big skillet - big appetites!)
 I did not take the skin off of them. Some like it on and some like it off, so the ones that don't want it can take it off themselves.
 I seasoned them with Smoked Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper AND Private Selection Signature Rub in Kicked Up Poultry, a spice-blend from Kroger.

I got them browned and then turned them over to brown on the other side. I sprinkled them again with the same things.
When they were brown on both sides, I added 2 TBSP water, put a lid on them and turned them down. for 10-15 minutes more. This insures that they will be done in the center, and moist and delicious.

Then I had time to get  some vegetables going.

Come on, guys, have a chicken leg!
(If you're in a hurry, and have no time after work, you can make my Crock Pot Chicken Legs Paleo Recipe)

Paleo Chicken and Sausage Soup

Soup is fast, easy, warm, and filling. This one has lots of protein and so many nutrients from the kale and carrots. The broth is delicious! It has a can of pumpkin hidden in it and you can't taste it at all but it deepens the broth in such a nice way. ( You know I try to get pumpkin into everything I can!)

I started the broth in a big stockpot. I put in 1 32 ox container of Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock, 16 oz of water and 1  15 oz can of pumpkin. I stirred this up and left it on medium low heat.

I put a 19 oz package of Italian sausage, cut into bite-size pieces, into a skillet. (try to find healthy sausage with no preservatives)

While the sausage cooked, I peeled and cut up 1 lb of organic carrots. I put them into the broth and put a lid on it, and turned it up to medium high. This is a very important step. Many people go for the convenience of those carrots that look like peeled baby carrots - they aren't baby carrots, they've just been put through some machine that cuts them that way. They start losing their nutritional value, too! I use them myself when I am in a raging hurry, but taking the time to peel whole organic carrots will make a difference in taste and fuel.

When the sausage was done, I put it into the stock pot.  I used the same skillet to next cook a 20 oz package of chicken tenderloins, cut into bite-sized pieces.

While the chicken pieces cooked, I added most of a 1 lb bag of kale, and a 16 oz can of diced organic tomatoes to the stock pot.
When the chicken was done, I put it onto the stock pot. I added 1 TBSP of Salt Traders Smoked Sea Salt, and some freshly ground black pepper. (If you don't have smoked sea salt, you might want to add a tsp of Liquid Smoke, or some Hickery Bacon Salt)

This stuff is really good. It's good for days, too, IF it sticks around that long!

                                                     My boys eat good! That's important!

Pumpkin Pecan Paleo Pancakes

I hope everyone remembered to set their clocks back, or had devices that do it automatically.

Today we have an extra hour and I love this day in the fall. (not so much in the Spring...) I cannot get enough pumpkin this time of year, so I tweaked up some great-tasting pancakes this morning. They are Ger-approved. (and the rest of us, too!)

I stirred up 5 nice eggs in a bowl.
I added 1 cup of pumpkin. ( I love the 365 pumpkin form Whole Foods)
Then I put in 1/2 cup almond flour and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder.
Next went in:
1/4 cup coconut milk (almond milk would work, too)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP local honey
1 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 pinch sea salt
1 TBSP + 1 tsp MELTED coconut oil
1/4 cup pecan pieces

I stirred until smooth and fluffy with a wooden spoon.

I heated a skillet (not too hot) and added a little coconut oil.  I poured the batter into the skillet with a 1/4 cup measuring cup. This makes them all the same size. After about 3 minutes I flipped them with a spatula and let them cook on the other side for a minute or two. It never takes as long on the second side. I flipped them out onto plates. I put a little coconut oil into the skillet for each batch of 3 or 4.

We really splurged and had a tiny bit of KerryGold Butter (from grass-fed cows) on them. They were so good with my coffee!

Try them. You won't even need syrup, like the old days. Paleo forever, because it works - it makes you feel so much healthier.

                                         
                                                Let me know how they turned out for you.

Crockpot Paleo Poached Pears

I put 1 1/2 cups organic orange juice, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 package of Reduced Sugar Craisins, 1 TBSP cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp valencia orange peel (buy it with the spices) into my crockpot.  I turned it on low.

I washed, and quartered 5 pears. I cut the core part from each piece. I didn't peel the pears - a lot of the nutrients are found in the peel. I put them into the crockpot and let it cook on low for several hours.

When a fork would go into the pears easily, I turned it down to "keep warm."

When I was ready to serve them, I put them on a plate and put a big spoonful of the orange juice stuff on top. I added toasted pecan pieces and a few raspberries for garnish. I also sprinkled just a bit of the valencia orange peel on top, too.

These can be made if your pears are ripe or not so ripe, but very ripe pears will not take as long to cook.  Remember, you don't want your crockpot on high; you just want to simmer them.

They are so pretty!

Paleo Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Pecans

So, if you love pumpkin like I love pumpkin, this will be a favorite. It's easy!

I put 1/2 cup pecans on a small cookie sheet in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, just enough to get them smelling all toasty. While they were toasting I stirred up the paleo pudding. (the second time I made this, 2 days later, I toasted some big coconut, too)

I put the following things in a big bowl:
1 can coconut milk ( I used Native Forest Unsweetened Organic Coconut Milk from vitacost.com)
1 can pumpkin
1 TBSP cinnamon
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup agave nectar (you may want a little more but it's plenty sweet for people used to paleo)
1/2 tsp sea salt

I stirred it up.
I turned off the oven, but left the pecans in there. I poured the pumpkin pie pudding evenly into 4 white coffee mugs and placed them into the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Then I took them out and topped each mug of pudding with some of the toasted pecans.

OH, WOW!