Sweet Potato Pancakes

These are DELISH!! We started making them and now they are a staple at least once a week. They are so easy and they taste great! You can modify as needed, and if you dont like spicy, dont add the green onion or Cayenne... experiment as needed!!

*Disclaimer: Sweet potatos are considered paleo in moderation. If you are trying to maintain the Paleo Lifestyle be careful when you consume these. If doing a Paleo Challenge typically sweet potato is "allowed" only within 30 minutes of a WOD.*

What you need:
- Two Sweet Potatoes (this makes 8 pancakes)
- 4 Pieces of All Natural Bacon
- Green Onion
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Sea Salt
- 2 Tsp Cayenne
- 2 Tsp Black Pepper

What you do:
- Fry up bacon while peeling sweet potatoes.
- Use cheese grater and shred 2 sweet potatos

- After bacon is done, drain grease and leave pan coated and add grease as needed. 

- Cut up green onion and bacon, add to potatoes.

- Add 2 eggs to shredded potatoes and mix by hand.

- Add sea salt, Cayenne and black pepper

- Mix up very good by hand, mix will be very sloppy

- Preheat nonstick fry pan at Medium heat.

- Shape pancakes, try to make them about only about 1/2 to 3/4 of inch thick.

- We save bacon grease when we make bacon any time, so either add some more bacon grease right before starting to cook them or add a little olive oil to pan before dropping them on.

- Should take about 7-8 minutes per side but just watch them so they don't burn, only flip them once and dont handle them a lot while cooking or they will fall to pieces! 

These are GREAT reheated with lunch for work the next day... we had them above with sausages... YUMMY!!

Spicy Chicken and Bacon Poppers

These were GREAT for the Patriots game! Hubs whipped them up while I was getting some other things ready to take with us.

We got the recipe HERE... quick, easy and FANTASTIC!! Who dosent like bacon and pepperoncini!!


*Disclaimer: Unless you use nitrate free bacon this recipe is  not considered totally Paleo, so if you are doing a Paleo Challenge or staying completely 100% Paleo this recipe will cost you points.*

What you need:
(note, this makes 6-8 poppers, so increase as needed)
- 1 Large Chicken Breast
- 6-8 Pepperoncini
- 3-4 Strips of Bacon

What you do:
- Cut the chicken breasts into cubes
- Marinate the chicken if desired
- Slice each pepperonccini in half and stuff with cube of chicken
- Wrap with half a piece of bacon
- Secure with a tooth pick
- Cook on grill until chicken and bacon is cooked thoroughly.

http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2010/08/spicy-chicken-bacon-poppers.html

Paleo Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

These have to be my FAVORITE breakfast!!

They were the first Paleo breakfast we tried and we make them a lot!! Got the original recipe HERE.

*Disclaimer: though the chocolate chips are dairy, nut and soy free they are not considered totally Paleo, so if you are doing a Paleo Challenge or staying completely 100% Paleo this recipe will cost you points.*

What you need:
- 1/2 Cup Almond Butter
- 1 Ripe Banana
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
- Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
- Dash of  Cinnamon

What you do:
- Preheat griddle to 350 degrees
- Slice up banana really thin (which makes it easier to mix)
- Mix everything else together except for chips
- Make pancakes in a size you desire and sprinkle chips onto each on right away
- Cook as you would a "normal" pancake, let the edges bubble, than flip.

ENJOY! They are sooooooo yummy!!

Almond Flour Breaded Chicken

We make this quite a bit, it originated in the scallopini recipe, but we like it so much we have made it with speghetti squash and organic pasta sauce with mushrooms. You can substitute this chicken anywhere you would have breaded chicken. Its great alone or with a topping.

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

What you do:
- Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch).
- Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan.
- Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture.
- Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side.

At this point you can continue with the scallopini recipe or you ca do what we did here, serve with spaghetti squash and organic sauce.

Acorn Squash and Ground Lamb

This was something we haven't tried before. We had walked past the acorn squash 100 times and thought, what could we do with that when perusing the veggies at the grocery store. Hubs went shopping and came home with one, and ground lamb was on sale, so he picked that up too. This is the result.

What you need:
- Acorn Squash
- 1lb Ground Lamb
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Green Onion
- Cayenne Pepper (to taste)
- Black Pepper

What you do:
- Cut squash in half and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes
- Saute red onion in pan with olive oil
- Add lamb to pan and brown
- As it gets close to being done, add green onion
- Season with cayenne and pepper to your desired taste
- When squash is done stuff with lamb mixture and serve

Egg Muffins

Seeing as how I get up at the butt crack of dawn every day to head to the gym, when I get back I have no time for breakfast. I pop my protein shake after my workout, try to get in some carbs when I get home but by the time I get to work I am hungry again.

Hubs makes these Egg Muffins for me on Sunday and they last all week!! I toss them in the microwave for about a minute and have a yummy protein and veggie filled breakfast every day!

What you need:
1/2 lb of 85% Lean Ground Beef
1 Can of Mushroom Pieces and Stems
1 Can of Diced Tomatos and Chilis
1/2 White Onion
10 All Natural Free Range Eggs
Olive Oil
Coconut Oil

What you do:
- Preheat oven 375
- Brown the beef until done and set aside
- Chop and saute onions in olive oil until done set aside
- Crack all 10 eggs and whisk in a separate bowl
- Grease muffin tins with coconut oil
- Fill muffin tins with meat, onion, tomato and mushrooms
- Pour eggs into each tin and gently mix each one slightly
- Bake 20-22 minutes
- Pop out of muffin tins to cool on rack.

Notes: We use a "Texas Muffin Pan" bigger than regular size muffins. This recipe makes 8 muffins...

Beef Jerky

Decided to take a shot at home made beef jerky. A friend offered to lend me his food dehydrator for the weekend so after a little research for a good recipe to start with I picked up what we needed to make it on the way home Friday from work.

The base recipe came from here... http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-make-your-own-jerky/

What you need:
2lbs Flank Steak (thats the cut we chose to use)
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. liquid smoke
3 minced or crushed garlic cloves
2 ½ tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. hot chili powder
½-1 tsp. each of salt and black pepper
1 tsp cayenne (we added this)

What you do:
- Cut the flank steak into strips
- Mix all the ingredients together
- Pour marinade into a zip lock bag and add meat
- Let marinate for 1 hour

- Lay each strip of jerky it food dehydrator and turn that baby on!
- Enjoy the glorious smell that fills your house for the next 10-12 hours

 

Rolled Flank Steak with Spinach

I was proud of myself with this meal... Hubs usually does most of the dinner making at our house. I really want to take some more responsibility for it (and some of the burden off him) so I made dinner the other night.

We love steak, there is no question about that. Than add in spinach, garlic, onion, chili pepper... its a match made in heaven!

Got the original recipe here... but made a few modifications. http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2009/12/rolled-flank-steak.html

What you need:

Flank steak, (1-1/2~2 lbs.)

1 Bag of Spinach

5 Tsp Minced Garlic

1/2 diced yellow onion

3 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp. red chili pepper

1 T almond meal

3 T dried parsley

ground pepper

sea salt

cooking string

What you do:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Cook 3 pieces of bacon until crispy and set aside

- Saute 1tsp olive oil, onion and 2 tsp garlic

- Add spinach

- While that is cooking down pound our flank steak as thin as you can make it

- Add 2 tsp olive oil, 3 tsp garlic, chili pepper and almond meal to mini food processor to make paste

- Once spinach is cooked crush up bacon and add to spinach mixture

- Spread paste evenly on pounded out steak

- Spread spinach mixture over that

- Roll up (from the short end) and secure with string, I needed a second pair of hands to help with this one...

- Stuff what squishes out back into the ends

- Put in baking pan and bake for about 40 minutes (use a meat thermometer, you want 145 degrees)

- Let sit for 5 minutes than slice in in 1/4" pieces and serve

Paleo Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

We love pumpkin at this house and fall is the best time for that pumpkin flavor. We found this recipe and wanted to try it right away!! They came out great... and the second time I made them I threw in some Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (which are gluten free, dairy free, peanut free, tree nut free soy free, egg free and casein free) I had in the freezer leftover from when I made brownies. They were so good!

Got the original recipe here... http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/01/pumpkin-paleo-pecan-pancakes.html

What you need:

1/2 C pumpkin puree, organic, unsweetened

1/2 C almond butter

1/4 C chopped pecans, toasted

2 eggs

2 T honey

1 T vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg

(chocolate chips if you have them)

What you do:

Preheat grill to 350 degrees

Mix everything together

Pour on grill and let cook for about 2 minutes

Flip (be careful, the nuts make the pancakes heavy so they arent that easy to flip)

Cook of the other side for 2-3 more minutes

Serve...

 

 

 

Spaghetti Squash

I will post pictures as soon as I make one this week... havent done that yet... There are lots of methods on line how to cook Spaghetti Squash but this is the one that works best for me.

What you need:
1 Spaghetti Squash

What you do:
Preheat Oven to 375degrees
Use a long fork or knife to poke a million holes in spaghetti squash so it dosent explode

Put it in a shallow baking pan

Bake for 1 hour
Let it cool for 20 minutes
Cut both ends off

Slice long way

Scoop out the seeds and "guts" but be careful not to get too deep
Use a fork to shred the Spaghetti off the rind

Scoop onto plates and serve!


Enjoy!

Paleo Chicken Scallopini

This is one of my absolute favorites. I am a HUGE fan of lemon and capers and white wine... so its perfect! We typically make this for dinner a night during the week and take the leftovers for lunch the next day. So delish! In the picture you will see that we didnt have any mushrooms that night, so we used tomatos... I like it better with the mushrooms, but it just goes to show you that you can improvise or make substitutions if you dont like everything or have anything from a recipe.

The original recipe is here... http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/02/paleo-chicken-scallopini-over-spaghetti.html

What you need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 T olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C almond meal

1 T dried parsley

pinch sea salt and 1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 C sliced mushrooms

2 T capers

2 T lemon juice

1/4 C white wine (or chicken broth)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

What you do:

Pound chicken breasts pretty thin (about 1/4 inch). Combine almond meal, parsley, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Dredge chicken breasts in almond flour mixture. Brown chicken breast in olive oil, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken breasts. In same pan, add garlic and mushrooms and saute until tender (you may need to add a tad more olive oil). Add wine and deglaze pan. Stir in capers and lemon juice. Add chicken breasts back to pan. Place thinly sliced lemons over the chicken pieces, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes.

We usually serve it with spaghetti squash... THIS is how I make it.

Paleo Shepards Pie

We make this one a lot for work lunches and started putting it in a 11X9 glass pan. Its easy to scoop into tupperware and take as leftovers. It heats up well and we typically make it on a Sunday and have it for a few meals during the week.

 

Got the recipe at (http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2011/01/paleo-shepherds-pie.html) we added celery.

 

What you need:

1 lb. ground lamb (or ground beef)

1 onion, chopped

2 C carrots, sliced

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. sea salt

3/4 C beef broth

1 T arrowroot powder

1 T dried thyme

1 T olive oil

Celery

1 head cauliflower, broken in chunks

2 T coconut oil

1/2 black pepper

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On the stove top, steam cauliflower chunks until just tender. Put in a food processor and add coconut oil. Blend until creamy, season with ground pepper and set aside. Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute onions until tender. Add ground lamb and cook until crumbly and brown. Add carrots and celery and cook for another 5 minutes. Mix beef broth and arrowroot powder together. Slowly add the mixture to lamb and carrots. Season with the salt and pepper and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Pour into a 9-inch pie pan. Spread cauliflower over the top and bake for about 30-35 minutes (remove when top starts to brown, and sides are bubbly).

It looked like this...

 

Paleo Blueberry Banana Brownies

These are soooo good! I got the recipe at www.civilizedcavemancooking.com/2011/04/blueberry-banana-brownies.html.  I have used both Light and Regular Agave, and the second time I made them I used a whole bag of chips rather than just one cup. I was also told by someone else who made them that you can substitute the agave with honey. You can also leave out the blueberries... or substitute with another fruit... be creative!

What you need:
2 Cups Almond Butter
2 Eggs
1 Cup Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Dried Blueberries
1 Ripe Banana

What you do:
- Preheat oven to 350
- Blend almond butter till smooth
- Blend in eggs
- Blend in agave and vanilla
- Blend in salt and baking soda
- Slowly blend in cocoa powder
- Hand mix blueberries and chips
- Slice up banana into really thin pieces and hand mix
- Use coconut oil to grease 13X9 Pan
- Bake 35-40 min (test with toothpick)