Leeky Eggs

I tried something new this week - Leek! If you have never had a Leek, it has a very mild onion flavor. When the leek is cooked down, the mild flavor becomes even more mild. It made a wonderful base to my breakfast this week. I really liked the flavor combo, although I will tell you that Adam wasn't a huge fan. I will use it again, for sure, but will leave it out of Adams portion :) If you are looking to try something new, don't be afraid - give it a shot! I think you will be surprised.

Ingredients:

• 1 leek, green portion diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 5 strips of bacon (one for eating while the eggs cook)
• 4 eggs
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove bacon from skillet.
2. In the same skillet, add the diced leek and bell pepper. Saute until leek is tender - consume 1 piece of bacon.
3. Create 4 small wells in the leek mixture and crack 1 egg into each well
4. Turn heat down to medium (if it is higher than that), cover, and let the eggs cook until done
5. Chop remaining bacon and garnish the eggs with it and a sprinkle of salt & pepper

Creamy Spaghetti Squash

One of the first "new foods" I learned about when I first researched Paleo was spaghetti squash. I am sure you all know what it is....but on the off chance you don't....spaghetti squash is a variety of squash that, when cooked, a fork can be used to shred the squash into spaghetti-like strings. The spaghetti squash has a really mild (almost bland) flavor that is a noodle substitute for all of us paleo-folk. There are probably a thousand recipes for Paleo Spaghetti that uses this type of squash, and I think I have made 100 of them.
Each recipe has been fine...but that is the problem, they were just "fine". No spaghetti squash recipe has ever made me jump up and down. I decided that I needed to try something different with spaghetti squash. And I hit a gold mine with this recipe! This was the perfect side dish and was rich and creamy - a combination I have really missed! This recipe makes a ton, which was fine by me! I ate on it for days :)

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 6 strips of bacon (or more)
• 1 Tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 6 eggs
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half*, scoop out the seeds, and place cut side down on a plate. Microwave for 10 minutes (this is much faster that 40 minutes in the oven!)
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy. Once bacon is crispy, remove the bacon from heat and set aside.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, whisk in the arrowroot powder to the bacon grease and let it cook for a few minutes.
4. While the arrowroot cooks and thickens, combine eggs, coconut milk, Italian seasoning, parsley, salt and garlic powder in a bowl until fully combined.
5. Pour egg mixture into skillet with arrowroot, stirring frequently, and cook eggs until cooked through, approx 3-5 minutes.
6. As the egg cooks, chop the cooked bacon.
7. Shred spaghetti squash with a fork to create "noodles" and add to large bowl. Add egg mixture to the bowl of noodles and mix to incorporate. Stir in bacon pieces
8. Enjoy as a side dish or even as breakfast!

Preparation and a breakfast recipe

In my opinion, preparation is the key to cooking. Before I began eating paleo, I rarely cooked. And when I did, it was a grilled cheese & Campbell's soup, or a box of noodles & jar of Ragu. I wouldn't even season the meat. When I first began cooking I would tend to get stressed as it always took a lot longer to prepare and I was not good with my time management skills. I would start cooking at 6:00 and by the time I measured ingredients, preheated the oven/stove, made the dish and side's, we were eating at 8:00. Over the months, I have learned that preparation is key. ANYTHING that you can do the night before, or even a couple of hours before, will help tremendously when it is actually time to cook. For the recipe below, I chopped the sweet potato, onion, and bell pepper the night before and stored it in tuperware in the fridge over night. I also patty'd (is that a word?) the sausage the night before. This way, in the morning while getting ready for work, all I had to do was throw the sweet potato, onion, and bell pepper in a pan with a little oil and saute it, put the sausage in another skillet to cook, and then fry my egg. The ONLY reason I was able to eat this full, nutritious breakfast was because I had prepared. Cooking paleo is not difficult, it is easy really because you are working with whole foods, but it does require time, planning, and preparation!

Breakfast Hash

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb bulk breakfast sausage
• 1 sweet potato
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1-2 eggs; or however many you want

Instructions:

1. Patty the sausage to your preferred size. I made them roughly the size of sliders
2. Peel and chop sweet potato into bite sized pieces
3. Chop yellow onion and bell pepper
4. In a skillet over medium heat, add the sausage patties and cook until done. Then remove patties
5. In a separate skillet over medium- high heat, melt a little bit of coconut oil then add the bell pepper, onion, and sweet potato. Saute until sweet potato is soft and can be easily pierced with a fork
6. In the same skillet that you cooked the sausage fry an egg, or two. I like my eggs sunny-side up and to do this, I turn the skillet to medium- low (about 3 on my stove) and crack the egg. Then I just let it sit until the white part of the egg is cooked through. 
7. When everything is done, plate some of the sweet potato mixture, then add the sausage patty(s) on top, and then finally your egg! Enjoy!
8. 
   

Breakfast Pizza

Lately I have been getting a little tired of my normal breakfast routine. I have been eating the same thing for breakfast, during the work week, for the past couple months or so. I don't usually mind eating the same thing over and over.....but it was time to change things up a bit. The only requirement for this dish is that it last for the week. I like to make a big breakfast on Sunday nights and eat on it for the majority of the week. This Breakfast Pizza was amazing. I was so excited about how it turned out! I will definitely be making this again soon!

Ready to go in oven

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 7 eggs
• 1/2 lb ground sausage
• 1 red bell pepper
• Spinach, a couple handfuls

Instructions:

Hot out of the oven

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Peel and slice sweet potato into circles. You want them to be pretty thin
• Line the bottom of an 8'' cake pan with sweet potato slices (I would recommend spraying the pan first with coconut oil) . Its okay if they overlap each other. They will shrink some in size while it bakes, so use more than needed to cover the bottom. Place cake pan in oven while you prepare the next steps
• In a medium skillet, brown the ground sausage
• Dice the red bell pepper while sausage is browning, and sweet potatoes are baking
• Once the sausage is done, stir in red bell pepper. Remove sweet potatoes from oven
• Beat eggs in small bowl and pour over sweet potatoes. Evenly distribute sausage/bell pepper mix over eggs and top with spinach
• Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until eggs have set
• Cut into pie shaped pieces for easy removal   

Breakfast Taco

Originally, I was going to make another breakfast scramble, or Frittata for my big breakfast bake on sunday. Somehow, time got away from me and it was way past my bedtime when the pork was finishing up, but I wanted to be sure I finished the breakfast so I wouldn't be rushed in the morning, while running out the door to ITF. I came up with this breakfast taco!! You could even make this/eat this more as a breakfast pizza. If you have little ones, or guests over, it actually would be fun to have each person make their own! But, I like using my hands to eat, so I made mine a taco.

B'Fast pizza?!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground meat (I used pork)
• veggies of choice (I had broccoli and green bell pepper on hand)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp minced onion
• 2 eggs
• Coconut oil spray (or any nonstick spray)
• Salsa - check your ingredients!

Instructions:

1. Brown meat in skillet along with garlic and onion
2. Saute veggies in a separate skillet  until soft (I didn't use FOC (fat of choice) but you totally could throw in some evoo or coconut oil)
3. Whisk eggs in small bowl
4. Spray small skillet with oil and heat over medium heat
5. Pour eggs into small skillet and DO NOT DISTURB. Let the eggs cook almost all the way through. You can flip your egg towards the very end to allow it to brown on both sides
6. Top your egg with meat and veggies, top with salsa, fold like a taco and consume!

Nom Nom!

Green Eggs & Ham

For St. Patrick's Day I wanted to make a festive breakfast! Lucky for me, The Food Lover's posted a recipe for "Green Eggs & Ham"! Brilliant. This meal was delicious and I really might make it every weekend. The pesto was awesome and would be a wonderful addition to any meat.

Kale Pesto:
Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Kale, de-veined
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup EVOO
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, pulse kale and pine nuts. Add in garlic and continue to pulse
2. While the mixture is processing, slowly add in EVOO
3. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until everything is evenly blended

Eggs & Ham

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 slices bacon (ham style)
• 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
• Black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat
2. Crack eggs in skillet, season with black pepper, then cook on low until whites are cooked through
3. In another skillet, cook bacon until crispy (I only had turkey bacon on hand)
4. Plate eggs over bacon, drizzle with kale pesto, and serve with avocado and green grapes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Chicken & Egg Frittata

Breakfast is the one meal that I struggle with most. Dinner is easy for me, and lunch is usually left over dinner or a big salad. But breakfast......I'm always rushed to get out the door in the mornings so I usually just boil an egg the night before and eat that with a piece of fruit. It will last me until lunch, but can get kind of boring. And I am trying to lose a few pounds, so I need to watch my fruit consumption. I recently learned that if you are trying to lose weight, limit your fruits. When you do eat fruit, stick to melons and berries. So, I will still have some fruit, but I am changing up my fruit choices. I cooked something Sunday night that will last me through the week....and it is so good and flavorful.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 Tbsp red onion, minced
• 3 Tbsp green bell pepper, minced
• 1 heaping handful of shredded carrots
• 1 small handful chopped broccoli
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 12 oz cooked, shredded chicken
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• S & P to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a non stick skillet saute onion, bell pepper, carrots, broccoli and garlic until veggies are soft, approx 8-10 minutes
3. Add chicken to skillet, continue to cook
4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and coconut milk until combined
5. Pour egg mixture in skillet and stir until eggs are combined
6. Transfer egg and veggie mixture to a greased 8x8 pan. Season top with S&P
7. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn oven to broil for 5 minutes until edges are slightly brown

Breakfast :-)

Breakfast Sandwich

I had quite a few Paleo Buns leftover from Valentine's Day. I didn't want them all to go to waste, so I made a pretty delicious breakfast sandwich, if I may say so myself :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Paleo Bun
• 1 egg
• A few pieces chopped lettuce
• A spoonful of organic salsa
• A dollop of raw sauerkraut

Instructions:

• Toast paleo bun in toaster oven for a couple mins
• Prepare egg to your liking
• Layer egg, lettuce, salsa, and kraut on bun and ENJOY!