Pumpkin Granola

If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times. I MISS CEREAL! Pre-paleo, I could have literally eaten cereal for every meal. My favorites were Grape Nuts, Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Honey-O's, and Honey Nut Cherios. YUM! My favorite part of it all was getting to the sweet milk once I had eaten all the cereal.
I was coming up with a new recipe to make grainless granola when I found this recipe on PaleOMG's website. I decided to make it, mainly because there is pumpkin in it! And, well, its October. So you should eat pumpkin every week! This may be the best grainless granola I have ever had. I poured almond milk over it and it made the perfect cereal! You can store the granola in an airtight container and it should for 7 - 10 days.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 8-10 dried dates, pits removed, then chopped
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin (make sure you don't get pumpkin pie filling! There should be one ingredient - and that is pumpkin)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded, coconut
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, add your pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and all spices. Mix well
3. Next, add your nuts, seeds, and chopped dates. Stir well to combine.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the granola evenly across the parchment paper.
5. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring half way through.
6. Once it is finished, remove from oven and LET COOL. This will help everything harden and stick together.
7. Eat it alone, or pour almond or coconut milk over it for a delicious cereal!

Baked Avocado

I am going to go ahead and apologize for two things. The first is that I did not measure anything while preparing this. That includes how long I baked the avocado. I am going to do my best in approximating the measurements/time, but as with all recipes, tweak to your liking, and always keep an eye on whatever is in the oven. The second thing I am going to apologize for is really two-fold. This avocado is hands-down the best thing ever. I am totally obsessed with it and will probably be spending all my money on avocados for the next few weeks. If you end up doing the same, well, I'm sorry. And because this is so good - I have to apologize to FIVE because my baked avocado is better (IMO). Not only is mine better, it is actually paleo, unlike FIVE's version. I'm not really sure why people think FIVE's baked avocado is paleo. I mean, since when has tons of cheese, butter, breadcrumbs, etc been paleo? Never. That's when.
As a validation of this deliciousness, Adam (who does not like avocado, guacamole, etc) LOVED this. I put half the avocado on his plate and he ate the whole thing!!!!!! If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will.

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado, halved and seed removed
• 3 slices good quality bacon
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• handful of toasted almond slivers

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy. Remove bacon and once cooled, chop.
3. Using a spoon, remove the avocado meat from halved & seeded avocado. 
4. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the chopped bacon, avocado meat, chili powder, and lemon juice
5. Once combined spoon the avocado mixture back in to the avocado skins
6. Top with toasted almond slivers, or toasted nut of choice
7. Bake in preheated oven for approx 15 minutes

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)

Pineapple Salsa

There is a new health foods store in town, Earth Fare. I have been a few times and for the most part, I like it. There are a few things in which I prefer the Whole Foods way, but all-in-all its good! One of the awesome things they do is send you amazing coupons! So far I have gotten, FOR FREE, a 4lb whole chicken, a pint of blueberries, and a pineapple! The blueberries were used in this recipe, the chicken is in the freezer for a meal later on in the week, and so it was time to cut up the pineapple! I have never cut a pineapple before, but it's really easy. Just Google it. I should have taken a picture of each step - that's what a good blogger would do....

I decided to make salsa with the pineapple because I LOVE salsa. This would be a great topping for chicken, steak, or fish as a light summery meal; or if you aren't "paleo" have it with some tortilla chips! Now THAT would be good :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pineapple, cut into rings
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 small red onion, minced
• Juice of 1 lime
• Fresh cilantro, for garnish

Instructions

1. Cut the pineapple into rings, then in a skillet over medium heat, grill the pineapple rings for approx 3 mins on each side. You want the pineapple to have a slight golden color.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the bell pepper, onion, and cilantro
3. Once all the pineapple rings have been seared, cut them into small pieces
4. Mix pineapple, bell pepper, onion, lime juice, and cilantro in bowl
5. Consume!

Cinnamon Muffins

Need a tasty breakfast that you can grab and go?? Try these Cinnamon Muffins!!!

Ingredients:
Muffin Mixture -

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 Tbsp coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 3 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Topping:

• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil 

Instructions:
Muffins:

1. Combine flours, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl
2. In a large bowl blend oil, honey, eggs and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet ingredients and scoop 1/4 cup at a time into lined muffin cups - they will rise!
4. Spoon cinnamon topping (below) onto muffins
5. Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350 degrees

 Cinnamon topping:

1. Melt coconut oil
2. Combine honey, cinnamon and melted coconut oil in a small bowl. Set aside until muffins are ready to be topped

*Not sure where my picture of this one is....I'll keep looking.

Beef Jerky

Here is the recipe that I used for the beef jerky that I made for Tribal Wars. The flavor was subtle, which I purposefully did because I didn't want to make it too spicy since I was sharing. The next time around I will definitely kick up the heat.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs beef (I used flank steak)
• 2/3 cup coconut aminos
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions:

1. Place meat in freezer for a few minutes - this will help you slice it thin. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients.
2. Slice meat thin and marinade the meat in fridge for about 6 hours
3. Rinse slices and place on dehydrator trays to cook over night or around 8 hours

Apple Chips

I can't remember if I have mentioned this or not - but I finally purchased a dehydrator!!! It took me a while to convince myself I needed one, but I am so glad that I went ahead and got it! I ordered it off Amazon and it was pretty cheap. It's not the nicest one they have but it gets the job done EVERY time. Since it arrived, I have been making lots of jerky and apple chips! This recipe for the apple chips produced the best apple chips that I have tried! I got the idea to boil them first from Marks Daily Apple - I loved that the cinnamon was cooked right in to the chip and not sprinkled on top.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsweetened apple juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 large apples

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, add apple juice and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil
2. Meanwhile, remove the top and bottom of the apples and thinly slice them. Remove the seeds from the individual slices
3. Place apple slices into boiling juice and let boil for approx 6 minutes, or until the become almost translucent. Remove with a spatula and pat dry
4. On a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack, bake the apple slices for about 40 minutes in a 250 degree oven
5. At this point they should still be a little wet and flimsy. If they are dried and crisp then stop here! You got lucky.
6. My chips were still soggy so I put them in the dehydrator for about 2 hours. You want to watch them so they don't get too brittle and burned

Fruit Roll Ups

Tomorrow there is an event hosted by IronTribe called TribalWars that I will be competing in. Each team consists of 4 people and there are THIRTY FOUR teams competing! That is 136 people!!!! All the teams are extremely competitive and there has been a lot of smack talk going around! Every one is really serious about it. I even had t-shirts made (a lot of teams are also!) that has our team name, Wall Ballers, on the front, our individual nick names on the back, and on the sleeve it says 'ITF Tribal Wars 2012'. We are bringing our A game and are pumped to compete! The event begins tomorrow morning at 8:00 and is scheduled to end at 12. Each team will compete in 3 different WODs that will really test our skills and push us to our limit! I will be taking tons of pictures and will update everyone with a post next week. This is the second annual TribalWars and it is going to be amazing.
I am so excited that I literally could not sleep last night, and I have a feeling I won't be able to sleep tonight either.
This week I have been busy making treats for my team (and Adam's team too!). On the menu: fruit roll-ups, apple chips, beef jerky, pepita clusters, and pumpkin donuts (I will post the other recipe's next week, too) I will also be stocked with dark chocolate espresso beans, trail mix, Lara Bars, raw veggies, hard boiled eggs, and beer for afterwards! Here is the recipe I used from dkgetsfit.com for the fruit roll ups. They turned out pretty good and they have a little spice to them which adds a nice dimension. Next time I am going to try a peach and mango combination! The options are endless for these delicious snacks!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups frozen strawberries
• Sea salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Puree fruit in blender until liquefied. Add sea salt, honey, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Blend until well combined
2. Line 2 cookie sheets with tin foil, then line the foil with plastic wrap. Using a few pieces of tape, tape down the sides of the plastic wrap to the foil. I know this sounds crazy but trust me on this step
3. Pour approx 2 cups of fruit mixture on to each cookie sheet and tilt/shake it until evenly distributed
4. On the lowest setting possible for your oven, dehydrate the fruit for approx 10-12 hours. My oven was set to about 140 degrees. I left my oven unattended for a few hours and everything was fine, so don't worry. 
5. Once the fruit is no longer sticky to the touch remove from oven and (after removing the tape) roll the leather and then cut into individual servings. I then used some butcher's twine to tie each piece.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake Bites

Last weekend was Adam's birthday and we had a lot of our friends get together at Avondale Brewery to celebrate. It was a day spent with good friends, drinking good beer, eating crawfish......and BABY BITES! If you haven't had a Baby Bite before, well you are missing out. There is a bakery in Homewood, Pastry Arts, that makes bite sized cakes and they are delicious! I bought a few dozen of them to have as treats for everyone that came to party with us and I am pretty sure I ate more than my share. I wish I was joking and I wish that I had been strong enough to say no to them. But I wasn't and I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoyed every single one.! The only good thing the Baby Bites might have done for me is it got me thinking that I should make a Paleo version-ish! I've made plenty of Paleo cookies, cakes, and brownies so I knew that making bite sized cakes was possible! I decided to make a banana chocolate chip version because I have made banana chocolate chip bread before...and well, I had bananas that were really ripe and chocolate chips. Do yourself a favor and make these. They would be yummy for brunch, too! Next week I'm going to make a double chocolate chip cake bite to take to a dinner party!

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed. Think brown spots.
• 2 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 Tbsp apple butter. Ingredient check!
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups almond flour (will make approx 12)



Happy Birthday!

• 1/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a large mixing bowl add mashed bananas, almond butter, apple butter, vanilla, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine well.
3. Once combined, add in almond flour and combine. Then add chocolate chips and incorporate into batter
4. Using a medium ice cream scoop so they are all the same size, scoop batter onto a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. 
5. Bake for approx 18 minutes or until the tops are golden. Let cool for a few minutes before you try to remove them from the baking sheet as they are soft.

*I used Kime's Cider Mill brand of apple butter that I found at Whole Foods. It is pretty cheap and is also really good on paleo pancakes and other paleo baked goods!

Roasted Acorn Squash

This is a great side dish or snack to make during the week! If you are going to save some for leftovers, I wouldn't advise drizzling the balsamic over the pieces you are saving. Just wait until you are about to eat the leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 1 acorn sqash
• 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut off top and bottom of acorn squash, then slice squash into circles. Remove seeds and slice the circles in half
3. On a parchment lined baking sheet, lay squash in single layer. Sprinkle with sea salt
4. Bake for approx 35 minutes or until squash is tender
5. Meanwhile, heat balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Allow vinegar to reduce by half
6. Remove squash from oven and drizzle with balsamic vinegar

Pumpkin "Donuts"

Pumpkin is one of my favorite foods to cook with. It transforms any boring dish into a dish that is bold in flavor. Typically in the fall I get obsessed with it and put pumpkin in everything I make, and lately I have been missing the orange goodness. I decided to make a muffin that would last for a few days and that I could send with Adam on his work trip as a snack. I wanted these "muffins" to be really moist and almost gooey like pumpkin pie. As with most baked goods these were even better the following day (IMO). Adam really liked them as well and kept calling them donuts!! So hey, I will go with it: here is the recipe for Pumpkin DONUTS! This recipe will make approx 12 donuts.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree. Make sure you don't get pumpkin pie filling. Read ingredients - there should only be one (pumpkin!)
• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 3 medium eggs (or 2 large)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Nut of choice for topping

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix pumpkin and almond butter together until well combined
3. Add honey, syrup then beat eggs in one at a time
4. Add dry ingredients to wet. Combine well.
5. Fill muffin cups (or muffin tin that is oiled) 3/4 full
6. Top with nut of choice
7. Bake for 20 minutes

A Perfect Valentine's

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and my day could not have been better. It started out with a tough workout, with Adam, at IronTribe. I also took off half a day from work so I could get a head start on getting dinner prepared. It was SO much fun playing in the kitchen all afternoon. I wish I could do it full time. It has been such a nice surprise to enjoy and love cooking as much as I have found I do. Here is a peak into our Valentine's Day evening....

Adam is not a huge sweet/dessert fan. That doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy sweets, he just won't eat a lot of it....like me. Besides cooking him dinner, I wanted to get him a little something else. Adam does, however, LOVE fruit. So I made him a fruit basket filled with his fav's, and I searched all over the internet for the perfect, personal touch. Fruit stickers! They said : I'm going banana's over you, Orange you glad you're my valentine, I love you berry berry much, We make the perfect pear, You're so sweet, and You're the apple of my eye. I thought these were adorable! I also got him a card that said You > (cupcake). Because he is :)

I tried to make our dinner a little fancier for Valentine's Day. We cook a lot and because of that, I wanted last night to somehow be different than our typical night in. I thought that creating a menu would do the trick, so that is what I did! I came up with four courses to prepare for him.



 The first course was an assortment of cheddar cheese on (homemade!) Herb Crackers.






The second course was Chicken Salad Crostini. This is basically toasted "bread" topped with chicken salad. Again, all homemade!  





For the third course, which was the entree, I cooked Duck!! My dad had gone bird hunting a few weekends ago and brought us back duck, quail, and chucker. Adam and I thought that duck would be good for our special Valentine's day dinner. It turned out great, although I think I cooked it about 3 minutes too long. I served it with sauteed apples and roasted broccoli.



The last course was dessert, and it was amazing!!!!!!! Chocolate & Raspberry Pot de Creme is a treat that I will someday make again. Although it is technically Paleo, it should still be considered as a treat and therefore I can't make it ALL the time! Because I would eat it constantly. I saw this on The Food Lover's page (link on the right) and knew I had to give it a try. Adam really loved this as well and was excited when I told him that there were 2 more ramekins in the fridge :) And that says a lot considering he doesn't eat too many treats!

He also surprised me with some beautiful roses and an awesome apron. It was so appropriate since I am cooking so much now, and I tend to make a mess when I do :) We had a wonderful Valentine's day together and I hope you had a good one, too!

Chicken Salad Crostini

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 3 slices sugar and gluten free bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup dried basil
• Garlic Mayonnaise
• Sundried tomatoes, for garnish
• Paleo Buns, halved 

Instructions:

1. Wash chicken and cook over medium high heat until done throughout
2. Shred chicken into large bowl and add bacon, basil, and garlic mayo
3. Lightly toast the paleo buns. Top each half with chicken salad and top with sundried tomatoes

Paleo Buns

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp honey

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flours, rosemary, salt, baking soda)
3. In food processor, process eggs, honey, and apple cider vinegar. Add dry ingredients to food processor and process until well incorporated. Transfer to mixing bowl and add coconut oil. Stir until well blended.
4. Use a medium sized cookie scoop and drop scoops of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes about 12 buns

Herb Crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp herb/spice of choice
• I used equal portions of Pizza Seasoning and Rosemary
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp coconut oil, melted

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, herbs/spices) in mixing bowl
3. Whisk wet ingredients (water, egg white, oils) in small bowl
4. Incorporate wet ingredients into dry and combine well
5. Place dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll out to an even thickness, roughly the thickness of a cracker
6. Using a sharp knife, or pizza cutter if you have one, trim uneven edges of dough, then cut the sheet of dough into cracker size squares
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Then turn oven off and let crackers sit inside oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Yummy Yummy Guacamole.

I recently stumbled upon some amazing guacamole from.....yep, Whole Foods. It happened at the perfect time as I was getting somewhat bored with eating my plain, raw, veggies. I thought I would pick some up and give it a try. Now, it's on my weekly grocery list. This stuff is SO good on everything; veggies, eggs, plantain chips, fish tacos, salad, I've even used it as a condiment for my grilled steak and chicken. The ingredients are 100% paleo. I've been known to add a few spices of my own, like some garlic, to put a different twist on it. Do yourself a favor and swing by Whole Foods to pick some up.

Fried Plantains

Lately I have really been craving chips or something crunchy. Gone are the days of "healthy" Baked BBQ Lays and tortillas with salsa, so I had to make something that would satisfy my craving. I have made Kale Chips in the past and they are really good (I will post recipe soon) but I was really wanting something different. Plantains! Adam LOVES plantains so I thought I would give it a shot and fry some up. I have always been a little scared of plantains mainly because they look really old and nasty with all the bruises and dark color on them. BUT they turned out really good and totally satisfied by desire.

Ingredients

• 3 plantains (the more bruised and black, the better)
• Coconut Oil
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

• Slice Plantains into chip-sized pieces *
• Heat coconut oil to medium-high heat in saute pan. Use enough to cover the bottom of the pan
• Add plantains to oil and cook until it begins to brown (approx 2-3 mins)
• Flip plantains and cook for an additional 2-3 mins
• Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels
• Season with salt and pepper

*Here is a helpful hint that I discovered while slicing the Plantains that I wish I had known before I started :)

Cut the tips off the Plantain. Then slice the plantain with the skin on. This will help keep the plantain from squishing out everywhere. Once sliced, you can easily remove the skin.