Amelia's Spicing Pecans

Every now and then I stumble upon a little gem. Case in point, these delicious spicing pecans. Adam and I actually bought some last summer at Pepper Place and LOVED them. We ran out pretty quick and honestly had forgotten about them until last weekend when we went back to Pepper Place. We spotted the booth and knew we had to buy them again. The man who own's it said they are starting to distribute to some local stores. The only one I can remember that he said was Earth Fare. He has other flavors such as coffee and chocolate, and another that I can't think of (not sure why I can't remember anything!!!); however, the Herb flavor is the only one with no sugar. SO if you are 'paleo' this is our only option. The other flavors are really good though! The chocolate flavor would be awesome sprinkled on ice cream, and I think the coffee flavor would be awesome crunched up as a crust on red meat.

I used the herb pecans this week on chicken. I think they would be really good on a mild fish, too. Maybe tilapia???

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken tenders
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2/3 cup herb spicing pecans, crushed

Instructions:

1. Combine honey and dijon mustard. Marinate chicken in honey/mustard mixture for a few hours in the fridge
2. Remove chicken from mixture and sprinkle crushed pecans on both sides
3. In a large non stick skillet, over medium heat, cook chicken for approx 6 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink

Tropical Chicken Salad

I am not one of those people that HATE mayonnaise, you know, those people that despise the word and the thought of seeing mayo would make them sick...... I actually liked it on some things (gasp!)! However, when I decided to adopt the Paleo lifestyle, it was the first thing I threw out. I didn't miss it much for the first few months...but then...the craving for chicken salad hit. There are about a million paleo recipes out there in cyberspace for paleo chicken salad and they all required homemade paleo mayo. SCORE!!! Except.....have you tried to make paleo mayo?? While it is possible, and pretty tasty, it is really time consuming and it doesn't take much to mess up and have to start all over again. Believe me. BUT I wanted chicken salad and that was what it required. Unfortunately for me, I am too lazy to make paleo-mayo chicken salad as often as I craved it.

That is, until now! I recently read on a paleo-bloggers website (If I could remember which one I would totally give them due credit here) that they used COCONUT CREAM as a sub for mayo!!! #brilliant This is, without a doubt, the best chicken salad I have ever had. And I have had a lot of chicken salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed - I used left over rotisserie chicken (EASY!)
• 2 peaches, chopped
• 2 Tbsp dried, unsweetened cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• A few shakes of dried chives
• A handful fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup chilled coconut cream *
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Mix the first 6 ingredients in medium sized bowl
2. *Chill a can of full fat coconut milk. I stuck the can in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
3. Once the can is chilled, open the can and scoop out the firm cream on top into small bowl
4. Using a fork, mix the creme around to loosen it up a bit
5. Mix the cream with lemon juice, salt and pepper, then stir into chicken salad
6. Serve on top fresh spinach leaves 

Best. Banana. Bread. Ever.

I've been making a lot of cookies and cupcakes lately and wanted to try something a little different. IMO, the great thing about banana bread is that it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a snack....don't you just love versatile food??!?! I adapted the recipe from one at paleomg.com which called for 1.5 cups cashews. Well, I was about 1/2 cup short so I added in 1/2 Tbsp pine nuts and 1 Tbsp almond butter, because that is what I had. If you'd rather omit the pine nuts and almond butter, by all means use the full 1.5 cups of cashews; however, this is the recipe I used...and it was honestly the Best. Banana. Bread. Ever.

Ingredients:

• 2 large bananas, ones that are brown and spotty
• 1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews
• 1/2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 1 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 Tbsp almond oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Put cashews/pine nuts in food processor and process until very fine. This should resemble flour
3. Once you get your cashew flour, add almond oil while processing, until it creates cashew butter. If you must, stick your finger in and taste it - but don't eat it all. It will be hard to refrain.
4. Peel the bananas and roughly break them into pieces. Add to food processor along with almond butter and process until liquidy. 
5. Next, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs then add almond flour, honey, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly until well combined into batter
6. Grease a bread pan with coconut oil, pour batter into pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the bread  passes the toothpick test.
7. Remove from oven and let cool, then slice and serve. I promise you, you will want to eat the entire loaf. I had one piece, and then I split the loaf in half and sent some with Adam and took some to Irontribe. (I wish I had kept it all for myself)

Chicken And Cabbage Salad

As I mentioned in a post last week, I am really trying to be more conscience of my spending habits in the grocery store. I got really carried away for a few weeks making elaborate, albeit amazing, dinners and tons of treats. That gets expensive. Fast. I have been trying to save those elaborate meals that require lots of ingredients and time for the weekends and eat more low-key during the week. I hope you didn't read: Tasty meals on the weekend, boring/bland meals in the week. Just because my weekday meals are more 'simple' they still have lots of flavor, and are very satisfying and delicious. Below is the recipe for the Chicken and Cabbage Salad I had for lunch today.

Ingredients:

• EVOO
• 1/4 bag shredded cabbage
• 1 can chicken
• 8 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp tarragon
• 1/4 tsp of each: basil, rosemary, minced onion
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Heat EVOO in skillet over medium heat. Add cabbage to skillet, once hot.
2. Allow cabbage to wilt slightly, then add chicken, tomatoes, and spices
3. Heat throughout and drizzle with lemon juice before serving

This would also be a good side dish if you wanted to leave out the chicken. You can also sub the shredded cabbage for broccoli slaw.

Leftover Lunch

One night this past week, I cooked Apple and Onion Porkchops, except this time I stuck them in the oven for an hour. For lunch one day, I mixed all my leftovers together for a yummy salad! I chopped the rest of my romaine leaves from Crock Pot Roast Lettuce Wraps, added my cooked pork chops (apples & onions), and used the Strawberry Salsa for the dressing. I love when my leftovers make a completely new meal!!!