Chili Sweet Potato's

I find that from week to week I tend to buy the same ingredients at the grocery store and sometimes, it's hard to get creative with meals. Anthony expressed that one day he missed chili, so as I was searching for recipes online and as usual I don't have all of the ingredients, so as usual, I improvised, upon searching for recipes, I found one where this woman had put her chili over sweet potatoes and I knew that was something Anthony would do.

For to people, cut two sweet potato's in half and then put desired type of fat ( coconut oil, olive oil, ghee, butter etc...) in between them, cover in foil and bake at 425 for one hour

For the chili:

1 package of all natural ground turkey

(brown the turkey and drain the fat before mixing with other ingredients)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 large can of tomato sauce

1 tiny can of tomato paste

1 green pepper, diced

spices to taste: Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, salt &pepper.

Heat on high for 30 min and let warm for 30 min or longer if desired

Pour chili over sweet potato slices, enjoy!

Paleo, when you get sick?

So what... I've been lazy over the past month and some, I've taken a hiatus from blogging and Anthony has been reminding me lately that I should continue to blog. Well, all it took was getting sick and being bed and couch ridden for me to finally get motivated to do this again.

Day 2 of being sick, is much better than day 1. Day 1 was awful and we won't even go into details today's accomplishments consisted of watching Mrs. Doubtfire, Mayor Cupcake and now Waiting for Superman; doing the dishes, job searching, taking out the trash and walking to get the mail and now blogging. If you have read before you understand that my diet is clean, exercising is a must and daily thing for Anthony and I and healthy lifestyle is how we live. But on the rare occasion of getting sick, especially the kind of sick where it feels like your life really might end and the only one that can make you feel better is mom. However, at least my mom's remedies to getting well are nothing even close to Paleo, chicken noodle soup, sprite and crackers. Luckily my husband is smart and brought home chicken noodle soup and sprite anyways but in all seriousness, for those who are die hard paleo, what is one to do? My stomach wouldn't keep good old H2o and apple slices down so I knew there was no hope but to cheat on paleo, and I'm sure glad that I did. I tried googling what paleo things you ought to eat when you are sick, but the only results that come up are what happens when you are sick of eating paleo. Well, I'm not sick of eating Paleo, I just want to know what will settle a stomach that is paleo?

As for a recipe, I recently made what I would call guacamole soup, and it's exactly what it sounds like.

It was dark when I took the picture and the lighting in our apartment isn't great, but I will post it anyway.

(Serves 2)

In an oven:

- cut 1 sweet potato in half, cover in desired oil or fat (olive oil, coconut oil, butter whatever you please or have on hand)

-cover in foil twice (so the oil doesn't leak out or make a mess on your pan, saves time with dishes)

-bake for an hour at 425

-once the sweet potato is squishy, place is bowl and mix with hand mixer until smooth.

-Add sweet potato to soup in crock pot.
In a crock pot:

-coat bottom of crock pot with about 2 inches of chicken broth

In a bowl mix:

- 2 avacados

-1/2 diced onion

-1/2 tomato

- garlic and onion powder to taste

Add in shredded chicken breast, I just used left over from the night before, I used 2 chicken breasts worth.

with hand mixer, mix until creamy

-place guacamole in crock pot and mix with spatula until smooth and mixed in with chicken broth, cook on high for 30 min and warm for the rest of time, when sweet potato is done mix that in as well.

Enjoy!

Paleo Pot Roast

I probably have the funniest husband in the world...seriously, I was only able to capture a photo of this but we were in Bed, Bath and Beyond trying to find curtains for our new apartment and I turn my back and look what this man (kid) is doing: 

Correct, he was sliding in and out through the curtain displays, I seriously almost peed my pants in the store I was laughing so hard. This is just one of many funny things he does, I need to start video taping them. Anyways... I know Paleo is defined as lean meats and rump roast isn't probably the most lean meat there is and you get more nutrients from raw vegetables rather than cooked ones. But it sure was delicious and well worth the cheat if you call eating non lean meat a cheat. Pot Roasts are really quite simple, especially if you have a crock pot, if you don't have a crock pot, look online you can find some good deals and it is well worth the spent money. (Ours was a wedding gift, thanks Claire, we love it! That's a good way to get one too...get hitched.) So where I was going... a Pot Roast... Really with a crock pot you can't mess it up, you can make it how you like it, but this is how I like it, it's also what we had on hand.

1. Take the rump roast season with salt and pepper on all sides

2. In a skillet, sear on all sides at a medium heat for about two minutes

3. While meat is searing:

     Put all natural chicken broth or stock in crock pot (Trader Joe's has the best kind of chicken broth/stock I can find...so far)

     Cut up desired vegetables

     -I tend to like the typical vegetables when I think of a pot roast such as:

      Carrots, Celery and onions, sweet potatoes might be delicious too, but I have not tried it yet

4. Once meat is seared place in slow cooker

5. Put Vegetables in after the roast

6. Cook on High for 4 hours and warm until you are ready to eat.

....See the great thing about a crock pot was I was able to make dinner in 15 minutes and go about my day, all while letting the meat cook because I didn't really have to stay at home and worry that the apartment was going to burn down. By time dinner was ready the meat literally was falling apart, it was amazing! We might have ate the whole roast in one night...no judgement please.

A new way to do dessert

I know what your thinking.... a new way to do dessert and you show me a bowl of orange slices and a sliced banana....really? Really. For a nice-not-so-guilty-sweet-treat after a meal place desired fruit in a bowl and place in the freezer for the course of making dinner and eating dinner then after dinner for those of you who also have a sweet tooth or an addiction to sugar like a do, sharing a nice bowl of frozen fruit makes it a whole lot more exciting than just regular fruit...really.

Or I have to give credit to Anthony for this next one

He is the creator of this masterpiece and he deserves the credit for it. He took one large apple and cut it into slices and placed it on a plate in two lines, because there is two of us. Then he took cinnamon and slightly coated the apples and then added some 85% coca dark chocolate from Trader Joe's and placed it top. He put it in the microwave for about 3 minutes....really until it melts and doesn't burn the chocolate and then we enjoyed, it was very sweet and very rich and very satisfying to that sweet tooth of mine!

Delicious Asparagus

My sister, Heather, texted me this picture the other day and for anyone who knows me, I have this strange love for dinosaurs. I also have the enormous hate for push-ups so it was quite fitting for me. Anyways when Anthony and I first started dating, we did the whole long distance thing between Kansas City, MO and West Lafayette, IN. It's about an 8 hr drive...more or less depending on the way you take, how fast you are driving and the time of day you travel (which is most of the day). Anthony told me he was going to arrive at my house right around dinner time, which everyone knows the way to a man's heart is through his stomach and this was the first thing I ever cooked for him (which at this point in life everything I cooked tasted awful) so I spent all afternoon getting everything together and sitting by the oven to make sure it didn't burn and here is a replica of what I produced!:

 Looks Delicious, right? I have to say I didn't make him asparagus that first time, I don't really remember what side made after all. But! One time we went to his sister's house (Melanie Madonia) and she made this awesome asparagus that I couldn't get enough of and she told us how simple it was:
-Asparagus (we used one bundle)
-Olive Oil
-salt
-pepper


Put asparagus on a pan
drizzle olive oil over the asparagus
season with salt and pepper to taste
place in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes
enjoy!


Now for the chicken

-Take chicken breast and... well... I believe people call this tenderizing the meat, where they hit the chicken with a little ridged hammer, but we don't have one of those...so my fist worked too...the meat was thawed thankfully...it's okay to laugh, I did too when I actually typed it out how ridiculous it sounds, but it gets the job done.
- season meat with:

• garlic powder
• onion powder
• cilantro
• pepper
• salt 
• olive oil

all to taste, then squeeze a lime over the chicken. Once seasoned then you place the vegetables of choice onto of the chicken. My preferred vegetables of choice for this meal are:
-Avocado slices
-Tomato slices
-Onion slices
and some cilantro (optional, I really like cilantro)


Then bring the two ends on the chicken and place one underneath the other while keeping the vegetables in the middle. (roll hamburger style, not hotdog style)


Place on pan and put it in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes or until the juices run clear and enjoy!

Apple Pie Attempt #1

Apple Pie Attempt # 1....your probably hoping to see an attempt # 2 in the near future....and that will come...sometime.  I have been baking a lot and Anthony and I have decided to try Paleo-Zone so that means cutting down on the baked goods. Although recipes and what not will still be posted instead of delicious dessert-like treats, it will be more towards the measurements for two people of 40%protein 30% carbohydrates and 30% fat (per person) for now at least. With our recently intensity up-graded WODS from Crossfit to Seal Fit, this 40:30:30 ratio is subject to change depending on how we feel. ( I feel like a piece of Chocolate cake but that's not Paleo....yet.) Anyways back to this apple pie I tried to make....it turned out to be more of an apple crisp with a crust, but it was still good.

What's in it:

• 2 C Coconut Flour
• 1 tsp Agave
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cups Coconut Oil
• 6-9 tbsp Ice Water
• 6 cups Apple- peeled and sliced
• 2 cups dates
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1 tbsp Arrowroot Powder

Combine coconut flour, agave and salt. Mix in ice a few tbsp water till crust forms and will hold together. With 3/4 of the crust, place in the bottom of a greased pie plate with your fingers.  Once crust is formed, in a blender mix the remaining ingredients except the apple until it forms a paste. Then mix the paste and apples in a bowl to coat the apples with the paste. Place mixture on to the pie crust and dust with cinnamon and then dust your work surface with additional coconut flour. Using the remaining 1/4 crust, roll out and cut into strips to form a lattice topping. Be gentle, as the crust is very soft. Once completed, place in a 325 oven for 35-40 minutes.

**Be sure to consume within 3 days, but the 3rd day our pie went bad...maybe we just had bad apples but it was sad to waste a good pie.

Banana Bread so good, it had to have it's own post

No joke, this is by far probably the best tasting thing I have made yet. Anthony and I nearly freaked out it was so good and had to contain ourselves from eating the whole loaf once we tried it. It's nothing like a Crystal Kirgiss Banana Bread, there will never be anything delicious like that, but it is phenomenal and a must-try recipe! I obtained the recipe from:

http://www.elanaspantry.com

It's an awesome gluten-free website, not all things are paleo but a lot of them are and I would tell you to check it out. However, my recipe differs a little from hers because of the ingredients I had available that I thought would make suitable substitutes and they did! So here is the moment you have been waiting for:

• 3 bananas (about 1 ½ cups) mashed
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 tablespoon agave
• ¼ cup ghee
  
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 cup coconut flour
• ½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Place bananas, eggs, vanilla, honey and ghee in a food processor
2. Blend ingredients together in food processor
3. Blend in coconut flour, almond meal, salt and baking soda
4. Scoop batter into a greased loaf pan
   
5. Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes
   
6. Remove from oven and allow to cool

 I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!