Paleo Eggless Protein Bars

Ok... so I used a whole bunch of recipes as "guidelines" for this one... but I am so so so excited I came up with it on own! I needed a solution to replace my egg muffins in the morning at work that contains enough protein to get me through till lunch. I looked for "egg free" protein bars, but most contained oats and grains, than I looked for "paleo protein bars" and most contained eggs... so whats a girl to do.

Well, come up with a solution on my own!! I know how to bake (these are no bake though) but I am much more comfortable with these types of ingredients than I am with savory ones.

I cant wait to have them this week!! They came out fantastic!!

*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:
- 2 Cups Sliced Almonds
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut
- 1/2 Cup Almond Butter (I used salted Trader Joes)
- 1 Cup Vanilla Protein Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Tbsp Vanilla
- 1 Tbsp Agave
- 1 Cup "Enjoy Life" Soy Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Chocolate Chips

What you do:
- Melt coconut oil in a small sauce pan.
- At the same time combine almonds, coconut, and almond butter in a food processor, blend
- Transfer to bowl (or if you have a large enough food processor I suppose you could keep it in there) and add protein powder and salt than mix with hand mixer
- At this point the coconut oil should be done melting, add vanilla and agave
- Mix into nut mixture
- Press mixture into 8X8 Pan
- Let refrigerate for an hour
- Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips over really low heat (mixing constantly)
- Pour over chilled bars
- Return to fridge for another 20 minutes and they should be ready to serve!

I had Hubs test when he got home from the gym... he said they were fantastic! So proud of myself!!

Apple & Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops

Got this recipe from (http://www.paleoparents.com/2011/stuffed-pork-chops/)... we made WAY to many, but they were good for leftovers.

They were a royal pain in the ass to make (I am not going to lie)... but I would do it again. They were worth it.

What you need:
6 1″ thick pork chops
2 Tbsp lard
2 medium baking apples, peeled, cored and diced
10 strips of bacon, diced
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minces
4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

What you do:
- Pocket your pork chops
- In a medium pan melt lard over medium-high heat
- Cook apples, bacon and onion until onion is softened and bacon is crispy, about 8 minutes
- Add garlic, sage, paprika and lemon juice and toss for 2 minutes
- Remove stuffing from heat, transfer to bowl and set-aside
- Salt and pepper each side of pork chop, stuff it with as much stuffing as you can fit and use a skewer or toothpick to close and prevent spilling
- Insert pork chops into the hot pan to sear on each side, cook each side of the chops for 5 minutes in hot pan over medium-high heat
- Transfer pan/dutch oven to 350 degree oven and bake uncovered for 35 minutes

Bacon and Sweet Potato

After discovering (or so I think) my sensitivity to eggs I had to come up with an alternative for breakfast. Alas... we had some bacon, when dont we have bacon in the fridge, and some onion... and a sweet potato... it resulted in a FANTASTIC breakfast!!

What you need:
- 1 Small Sweet Potato (cut into small pieces)
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Mushrooms
- Bacon

What you do:
- Coat sweet potato in a little olive oil and roast at 300 degrees for about 8 minutes
- While they are roasting on medium heat cook sliced up bacon
- Once it starts to brown add onion
- When bacon is almost crispy add mushrooms
- About 2 minutes later pull potatos from oven and add (oil and all) to pan
- Cook for another minute than remove from heat and serve
- I like mine with a little balsamic vinegar on it... thats optional...

Baked Pork and Apple Casserole

This is another one from "The Paleo Recipe Book" by Sebastien Noel.

I thought it was pretty good. Hubs, not so much a fan. But hey... it was worth a shot!

What you need:
- 1 Cup Diced Carrots
- 2 Tbsp Cooking Fat
- 1 1/2 lb Pork Tenderloin Sliced into 1" Medallions
- 1 Cup Chopped Onion
- 1 1/2 Cups of Coconut Milk
- 1 Tbsp Thyme
- 1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/8 Tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Red Apples (I used Macs)

What you do:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Over medium-high heat cook the pork for about 4 minutes each side in 1 tbsp of fat
- Remove pork and add carrots and onions into pan with remainder of fat for about 5 minutes
- Mix coconut milk, thyme, cinnamon and black pepper in a separate bowl
- Place pork in baking dish, add vegetables on top of pork than pour liquid mix over the top of that
- Quarter the apples and lay on top of mixture
- Bake for 30 minutes

p.s. we doubled the recipe in these pictures...

Fig Pinwheel Cookie (redemption)

So, after my horrible experience with the cupcakes I had to do something yummy to redeem myself! My friend at worked lent me a paleo cookbook and it had a "treats and cheats" section. I wish I could remember the name of the book... I just copied a few recipes out of it.

*Disclaimer: Honey is considered paleo in moderation. If doing a Paleo Challenge check the "rules" of your challenge to be sure that it is allowed in moderation or risk losing points.*

This is one of them... I have now made these 4 times. They are DYNAMITE!! Absolutely redeemed myself from the epic fail!!

These take a little while to make, and they are a little complicated, but once you get the hang of it they get easier!

What you need:
- 3 Cups Almond Flour
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
- 1 Tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Cup Dried Figs
- 1/2 Cup Pomegranate Juice

What you do:
- Chop the figs up (or cut them with kitchen scissors), let them soak in pomegranate juice for an hour
- While they are soaking start the batter by mixing all the dry ingredients (save a little almond flour for flouring the wax paper for rolling)
- In another bowl mix the eggs, maple syrup and vanilla
- Mix the dry and the wet together slowly
- Melt Coconut oil than add to the batter
- Chill dough in freezer for 20 minutes
- Preheat oven to 375
- Heat figs (after the hour is up) over medium-low heat till they are soft than blend in food processor. Set aside until cool, you dont want to make the roll with hot filling.
- Once dough is cold and filling is cool roll out dough between two pieces of wax paper (coating the bottom with a little almond flour to prevent sticking)
- Spread filling over rolled out dough
- Roll up as tightly as possible
- Return roll to freezer for 20 minutes
- Slice into 1/2" Pinwheels
- Coat cookie sheet with thin layer of coconut oil
- Leave enough space on cookie sheet (they will spread)
- Bake for 10-15 minutes (till brown) and remove immediately from cookie sheet for cooling.
- ENJOY!!

CUPCAKE FAIL

Well... I tried to make a new recipe this weekend. When I make the Paleo Brownies they get pretty good reviews, so I attempted a cupcake and frosting recipe. I am going to keep the recipe to myself for the protection of the book I got it out of. This totally could have been a "baker's error" but they didnt come out good at all.

The cupcakes themselves looked ok when they came out of the oven, but as I was making the frosting I was not very happy with the flavor, kept adding and adding coco powder and maple syrup to sweeten it up... after dinner I tasted one. At that point I was going to toss them all, but was convinced by my friends to leave them out for other people to try...

The cake part was really dry, really dense and just totally flavorless.The frosting was "interesting" to say the least. I put off a good front that it was going to be a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting... but no, not even close!

I think by far this was the BEST reaction. Just goes to show you that is ok... not every recipe is going to be a success! This is my god child, she came outside after and said "Auntie, I didnt know you made those cupcakes for me... they werent very good..." Hahahaha!! I assured her that I didnt make them for her that they were an "experiment!!" I didnt think she would even try one!!

Rosemary Balsamic Butternut Squash

The other night I was suppose to come home and get the spaghetti squash started for dinner. Well, to my surprise the squash had gone bad, this doesnt usually happen as they typically last 3 weeks. What was I going to do? Well, fortunately I had just purchased "The Paleo Recipe Book" by Sebastien Noel.  I was pretty excited that I happened to have half of a butternut squash leftover from the roast so I was able to try this recipe!

What you need:
- 1 Medium Butternut Squash (I used half of one for this but kept the quantities of everything else the same)
- 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1 Tbsp and 1 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Tsp Rosemary (Chopped)
- Sea Salt and Black Pepper

What you do:
- Preheat Oven to 400 deg
- Peel and Cube Butternut Squash
- Combine all ingredients (except for tsp of balsamic) and toss with cubed squash
- Put in baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, squash should be soft
- Toss with remaining tsp of balsamic
- Serve

We had it with Almond Flour Breaded Chicken it was delish!!

Crock Pot - Pot Roast

This is great for those nights that Hubs is working than going to CrossFit. He preps it, than I plug in the crock pot before I leave for work. When I get home, I get a nice hot dinner (that isnt bacon and eggs) and he can eat when he gets home. We are always thinking of the next days lunch, so we always make enough for dinner than lunch the next day.

*Disclaimer: Red Wine is considered paleo in moderation. If doing a Paleo Challenge check the "rules" of your challenge to be sure that red wine is allowed in moderation or risk losing points.*

What you need:
- 4 Lb Bottom Round or Chuck Roast
- Red Wine
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Butternut Squash
- Garlic
- Sea Salt
- Pepper
- Natures Place Concentrated Beef Broth

What you do:
- Place the meat in the crock pot fatty side down
- Peel and cube butternut squash and add to crock pot
- Clean and half mushrooms and add to crock pot
- Slice up onion and celery and add to crock pot
- Be sure to get the veggies down the sides of the meat
- Mix 1/2 cup of red wine, 6 cloves of garlic, tsp salt and tsp of pepper with beef concentrate
- Pour liquid over meat
- Turn crock pot on low for 8-10 hours