Carrot Cake Pancakes!!

Say what?! Oh yes! I am making these! Every week, I peruse tons of recipes to prepare my weekly meals. No, I don't go to the grocery store every week and just buy stuff, that's how you waste valuable dollars! You must make a list!!

I know I haven't posted what I've been cooking for a while but don't worry we've been eating! I've been back to the gym consistently and it feels so good!! Anyway, I came across this little gem of a recipe and in memory of my Grandma D. these are for her!
Keep in mind, I follow a GFCF diet and egg free and YES, these still were delicious. Cream cheese would have really topped it off!

What you need:

• 1 cup carrots, shredded (I used my food processor)
• 3 eggs I used 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal mixed w/ 6 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup almond meal 
• 1/2 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 tablespoon coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• lots of: cinnamon & nutmeg
• handful of raisins

What you do:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl: almond meal, coconut flour, baking soda and powder, and spice together.
2. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients: carrots, eggs (or your sub), coconut milk, coconut oil, and raisins. Mix thoroughly.
3. Heat a large skillet up under medium-high heat and use coconut oil to grease the surface. I used a EVOO spray.
4. Pour batter into small pancakes onto hot griddle. Cook on both sides for 3 or so minutes.

5. Top pancakes off with coconut butter and maple syrup.

Adapted from this great site

Chicken Fajita Salad

Ahhh, Saturday! I felt like it was a productive day today. I was able to sleep in a bit and enjoyed a nice breakfast. I made gluten free, dairy free, egg free blueberry pancakes. Not the almond ones from a previous post and I also had bacon. I prepared my weekly shopping list while watching Anne Burrell on her Food Network show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. I also decided to clean out my closet a little and was able to get $40 from a consignment shop. Not bad for clothes I wasn't wearing anyway! Oh and I went for a nice bike ride after breakfast. Perfect weather today!
Dinner tonight was a Chicken Fajita Salad. Very simple, yet tasty ingredients.

1/2 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup salsa (I used Trader Joe’s mild)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 cup olive oil (divided)
2 limes, juiced (divided)
12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 each red, yellow, & orange pepper, cut into strips

 

Directions


In a large bowl, stir together salsa, chicken broth, chili powder, salt, paprika, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1/4 cup olive oil, and juice from 1 lime. Reserve 1/4 cup of this mixture. Add the chicken thighs to the bowl and stir around to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (and up to 24 hours).

Start your grill or you can use an indoor grill pan. Once ready, cook on each side about 4-5 minutes per side.

 Saute peppers for 5 minutes, until softened but still slightly crisp.

Whisk the reserved 1/4 cup of marinade with 1/4 cup olive oil and juice from 1 lime in a small bowl. In a large serving bowl, layer romaine lettuce, sauteed vegetables, and sliced chicken. Top with dressing and serve.

Super Simple Steak & Salad

Well, I finally made it back to the box tonight...I mean the gym. For all you non Crossfitters, that's what we call the gym. My legs are going to feel this one! 150 squats, lots of running, amongst other fun things! Anyway, coming home to make this simple dinner was just what I needed.

Ingredients

• 4 sirloin steaks, 1-inch thick, about 10 to 12-ounces each
• 2 cloves garlic, cracked from skin and halved
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
• 4 sprigs rosemary very finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper or grill seasoning, if desired
• 4 cups arugula leaves
• 2 heirloom tomato or 2 medium vine-ripe tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 lemon

Directions

Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high to high.

Rub room temperature meat with cut garlic. Drizzle the meat with olive oil, rub with rosemary and season liberally with salt and pepper or grill seasoning. Cook steaks 4 minutes on each side for medium, let rest 5 minutes then slice.
Dress greens and halved or chopped tomatoes with the juice of 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt and pepper. Pile salad on top of sliced steak

Simple, yet tasty dinner!

I found this recipe on Cosmopolitan Primal Girl's site and thought, hmmm, turkey and blueberries? Interesting! I'll try it. After reading the comments on Cosmo Girl's site, I was even more convinced to try it. If you can use egg, go for it instead of the flax seed that I used.
I paired this with a bag of pre-cut sweet potato fries from the produce section of Trader Joe's...love those things!

Here's how to whip these suckers up!
1 LB ground turkey
3/4 cup blueberries
Sage
Thyme (I didn't measure my spices- use to your liking)
1/2 shallot, small dice
1 clove minced garlic
1 T flax seed, whisked w/ 3 T of water (this is your egg- use 1 yolk if your tummy allows it)
Mix w/ your hands to make 8 smallish patties
Preheat your coconut oil or butter in your pan...get your pan hot!
Cook for about 4 min/side on med heat

I also ate 3 macadamia nuts as my healthy fat for a complete meal!

Pasta-less Lasagna

Should be pasta-more because less indicates that something is missing. This was delicious and I highly recommend you give this recipe a shot! Damn, that's good is all I could say after eating this!
Going gluten free, dairy free, egg free, I haven't missed pasta! Prior to eating "this way," I ate my fair share of pasta, bread, cereal. Living with a single dad, yes I enjoyed boxes of cereal!! Miss ya Dad!!

This recipes if adapted from Everyday Paleo cookbook but here is how I made it
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 LB grass-fed ground beef
3 mild Italian sausage taken from their casings
oregano
fresh basil, chopped (you have to use fresh)
crushed red pep
S&P
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, juices drained
1 6 oz can tomato paste
5-6 zucchinis, using a mandolin (I need a mandolin so I used my food processor) To Do: Buy mandolin

Preheat oven to 350
In a soup pot or large fry pan add your meat
Let that break down a bit and then add your garlic
Add in your seasonings to your liking
Once the meat is browned, add the drained diced tomatoes & tomato paste
In a 9x11 glass baking dish place a layer of your sliced zucchini and add a layer of the meat mixture
Top the meat with another layer of zucchini and top with the final layer of remaining meat mixture
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes
Allow your lasagna to sit for 5-10 minutes before digging in!

Try it!! You WON'T miss the cheese or heavy pasta!! This pic does it no justice.

How do the Moms do it??

It's the perfect time for this discussion. With SJP's movie 'I Don't Know How She Does It' opening Friday and after having lunch with 2 friends yesterday that are also full time working moms. While having lunch, since I had NOTHING in common with this topic, I found myself listening to their struggles. It seems like it comes down to time management. They were talking about running around, making lunches whether at night or in the a.m., time for breakfast and dinner! Well, their dinners consist of something thrown together or eating out. Since I am an advocate of planning your meals weekly, I wonder how the moms do it. Whether you are a full time mom, a stay at home mom, or a mom with grown kids, how do you do it? What is your weekly meal plan? Is there a plan or lack thereof? If you're interested in my weekly meal plan, let me know. I would be happy to share.
This was dinner 2 nights ago. Blueberry maple BBQ chicken with sweet potato fries. Yummy!

Sunday Breakfast

There's something about a homemade breakfast on the weekends, especially Sunday. This is something I have always enjoyed. Waking up, no where to rush off to and coffee! I would much rather prepare a healthy, homemade breakfast vs. eating out since I can't eat typical "breakfast" food in restaurants. Today, I opted for almond-meal blueberry pancakes. This recipe is adapted from my Everyday Paleo cookbook (buy it here for 2% cash back).
Heat up your cast iron griddle while you prepare the following:
2 c. almond meal
1/2 c. finely shredded unsweetened coconut
3 tbsp. flax seed mixed into 3 tbsp. water (mix this up prior to adding to your batter)
1 c. coconut milk or other non-dairy milk of your choice (rice or almond would be good)
1 apple grated
1 c. frozen organic blueberries or chocolate chips for the kids
3 tbsp. cinnamon
Mix all ingredients together. I used a 1/4 c measuring cup and on to my hot griddle (use coconut oil or evoo cooking spray for your griddle prior)

Cook for 4-5 minutes per side over medium heat. They tend to be pretty moist due to the coconut and apple so give them time to brown and crisp.
Enjoy with your cup of coffee with coconut milk as I did!

Healthy variation of "Lo Mein"

·           Chicken or beef  (I used organic, free-range chicken)

·           1/4 cup almonds, chopped

·           1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half

·           1/4 cup celery, chopped

·           1 tablespoon minced garlic

·            2 cups broccoli

·           2 cups shredded cabbage

·           Toasted sesame oil

·           Coconut aminos

·            Sesame seeds to garnish

  Process:

 Clean all vegetables and trim fat from meat (if applicable).

      Cut broccoli, chicken and mushrooms into bite sized pieces.

 Thinly slice 2 cups of cabbage (about half the head of cabbage).

 Chop almonds, celery; mince garlic.

 Heat wok over high heat.

 Add sesame oil, swirl to coat bottom of wok, then add meat.

 Cook meat for 3-4 minutes, until mostly cooked.

 Add in broccoli, celery and shiitake mushrooms; cook for 2 minutes

 Add in almonds, cabbage, and garlic. Add a splash of coconut aminos (2-4 tbsp). Cook 2-3 minutes, until cabbage softens a little.

1.     Remove from heat, garnish with sesame seeds, and enjoy! Adapted from http://www.primal-palate.com/

Chicken can be good

Late post from 8/19
Friday was a chicken day! For lunch, I enjoyed a salad from Jason's Deli called Nutty Mixed-Up Salad with no cheese and w/ Oil & Vinegar. I get the large and eat the whole thing. Their chicken is so plump and juicy! The salad has nuts, seeds, apple, & berries and I just can't get enough of it.

For dinner, I made it simple yet tasty. I decided on lettuce wraps with Roma tomato, organic, free-range chicken, and Sunday Bacon. I seasoned the chicken with garlic salt, basil, poultry grill seasoning, & some olive oil and on to the grill.

What a crock!

Yes, you guessed it. I used my crock pot today! This is the one I have...found at Target Hamilton Beach 6 QT I absolutely love it. Our friend from Australia bought it for me when my last crock pot completely overcooked my meat! Before work this morning, I prepared Broccoli Beef inspired from Stephanie O'Dea's endless selection of recipes from her 365 Crock Pot Recipes site when I got home from work, I simply through in a bag of frozen broccoli. We had a friend over for dinner and had enough for 3 well deserved servings!

I used 2 grass fed rib-eye...read why I choose grass fed and enjoyed it with a nice glass of wine.

It's all about the sides

Do you ever get home from work and really don't feel like cooking? Well, that was me tonight. I actually feel like that a lot but once I decide what I am going to make, start to really get into it. First, I like making new things and second, I like eating new things. I knew I was going to have chicken tonight. Sometimes chicken can be so boring. I looked in the fridge and had some prosciutto I wanted to use up. I didn't want prosciutto wrapped chicken. I did a quick search and my main course inspiration came from Food Network's Tyler Florence http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pan-roasted-chicken-with-prosciutto-rosemary-and-lemon-recipe/index.html
I didn't have a whole chicken but I did have organic, free range chicken that would work and I had everything else.
For sides, I made paleo broccoli slaw...so good you need to try it. So easy too, since Trader Joe's sells the broccoli slaw ready to go...just add oil and apple cider vinegar, ground mustard and s&p, oh and I add raisins.
My other side was from Paleo Table...Mango Salsa! Why don't I use mango more often?! This one was really good too...highly recommend it. http://www.paleotable.com/2011/01/coconut-dusted-fish-with-mango-salsa.html

Early Dinner

My husband was surprised when dinner was ready by 6 pm. Typically I get home from work or the gym by 7ish, so to have dinner "early" was a shock. It is Sunday today, so I had the time. Tonight, I decided on a Taco Salad which should be called a "taco-less" salad because the salad had no corn chips or tacos involved. I saw this recipe on http://www.paleotable.com/ check out her site for tons of great recipes!
What I liked about this recipe is that it doesn't call for one of those spice packets that you mix into your meat; you actually combine your own spices! I couldn't find the El Pato sauce for the avocado dressing so settled for plain tomato sauce. I still liked the dressing!

Best part is, left-overs for lunch tomorrow!

This week's shopping list

Every week I prepare what I am going to cook for the week. That takes some planning for me. I love cooking new things and researching new recipes to try. I usually mix it up with chicken, beef, seafood, and a salad option. I like variety! Ask my husband, I rarely cook the same thing twice. So for this week's menu, I am preparing taco salad, coconut dusted fish with mango salsa, broccoli beef in the crock pot, and a mushroom & cauliflower salad.

Today, I had a late lunch but a light lunch. Last week, I was watching Anne Burrell from Secrets of a Restaurant Chef on Food Network. I really like watching her. She really is good at what she does at making you want to eat what she is making. She's very descriptive and animated and I like that. She was whipping up a Braesola and lightly pickled mushroom & cauliflower salad. Here are the ingredients...

• 6 cremini mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 head cauliflower, thinly sliced on a mandolin
• 3 fresh thyme springs, leaves picked
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano
• 1/2 pound braesola, thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 cups baby arugula
• Big fat finishing oil

I couldn't find braesola so I used Prosciutto de parma found at Trader Joe’s
I used my food processor and chopped the mushrooms, onion, and cauliflower. I only used about 1/4 of the onion since they sometimes upset my stomach. I also did not use the parmigiano since I am dairy free and to be honest I didn't miss it. It was a very good, healthy lunch.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/braesola-and-lightly-pickled-mushroom-and-cauliflower-salad-with-crispy-parmigiano-recipe/index.html