Eat This

Paleo Meal Planning

As we get ready for the paleo challenge I thought it might helpful to give you guys some tips for successful paleo eating.

My biggest tip for anyone is planning. Committing to eat paleo means popping a Lean Cuisine or Hot Pocket in the microwave is no longer an option when you come home from a long day of work and the gym. You have to plan ahead and make sure you keep your fridge stocked with lots of healthy, paleo friendly foods. Planning ahead also helps with cost. Eating lean meats and veggies is obviously more expensive than the drive-thru, but I have found that I can do it with a reasonable budget if I plan properly instead of stopping by the grocery store every night on my way home.

Planning 2 weeks worth of meals works best for me and is the most cost effective. I suggest that you at least do 1 weeks worth at a time. When you're planning don't forget to plan for all 3 meals plus snacks.

I also like to do most of my cooking at the beginning of the week (Mon - Wed) and then do leftovers and easy light-on-the-cooking meals for the rest of the week. I've never been a big fan of leftovers, but I've learned to like them as I am more tired and have less energy for cooking as it gets later in the week.

Ok so here's what I do:

I make 1 big trip to the store on the first Monday of the 2 weeks. I buy all my meats for weeks 1 and 2, all veggies and fruits for week 1, and all non-perishables for weeks 1 and 2. Throw all meat for week 2 in the freezer when you get home. At the beginning of week 2, I just make one quick, small trip back to the store for my fresh produce needed for week 2. For whatever reason, shopping on this 2 week schedule saves me about $200-300 a month on groceries!

Just for a little inspiration I thought I would include the 2 week meal plan I just made:

Week 1:

Breakfast - paleo quiche and butternut muffins - Not a fan of cooking breakfast every morning. I always make 2 quiches and big batches of muffins or pancakes on Sunday or Monday. They are great re-heated.

Lunch - Roasted Turkey Breast (same thing - roast meat and veggies on Monday. Use for most of the week's lunches along with some dinner leftovers)

Monday Dinner: Paleo Chicken Pot Pie (Paleo Comfort Foods)

Tuesday Dinner: Speghetti Squash with Sausage & Creamy Marinara - the sauce is a take on this recipe, but I do mine a little differently

Wednesday Dinner: BBQ Chicken Thighs (BBQ Sauce Recipe from Paleo Comfort Foods), Paleo Squash Casserole (also Paleo Comfort Foods)

Thursday and Friday are usually leftovers from Mon, Tues & Wed. Saturday we usually throw some steaks on the grill or something like that. Sunday we usually do breakfast for dinner just to keep it easy.

Week 2:

Breakfast: Veggie & Sausage Fritata, paleo pancakes

Lunch - Grilled Burgers / BBQ Pork Tenderloin (BBQ sauce from Paleo Comfort Foods)

Monday Dinner: Cajun Dirty Rice with Chicken & Sausage (Paleo Comfort Foods)

Tuesday Dinner: Butternut Squash Lasagna

Wednesday: Taco Salad.

Same as week 1 for the rest of the week.

Hope that gives you guys a few tips and a little inspiration! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

Beef & Chorizo Paleo Chili

I don't have a picture, but here's the recipe, before I forget what I did.

 

1 lb of beef, cubed (I used grass fed stew meat. This recipe is perfect for stew meat, chuck roast or any cheaper cut because it gets really tender when you simmer it for so long)

1 lb chorizo, ground (usually you will have to buy it in links and remove the ground meat)

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cayenne

2 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP chili powder (or more depending on preference)

salt & pepper to taste

 

Heat a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Add in the cubed beef and let it sear on both sides (add a little salt & pepper to it while it cooks if you like). If your chorizo comes in links, slice the casing with a knife, remove the ground chorizoand add it to the pot. Break up chorizo with a spatula as it cooks. Stir frequently for 3 minutes. It won't be cooked through, but remove meat from pan (leave the grease).

Add your bell pepper and onion to the pot and let it cook until onions are soft and translucent. Add cayenne, garlic, chili powder, salt & pepper. Stir until combined and then add diced and crushed tomatoes.

Depending on how you like your chili you may want to add a little water here. I like mine a little thinner so I added about 4 oz of water. I would have used beef broth if I had it, but I didn't.

Bring pot to a low boil, cover, turn to low and let simmer for 2 hours. Taste before serving (or during cooking if you're me) and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Latte - Paleo Style

 
So it's that time of year. I never go to charbucks any other time, but for some reason the PS Latte calls my name. I love the pumpkin flavor, but it's way to sweet so I always have to ask for half the amount of pumpkin syrup. Plus I'm sure it's filled with so much high fructose corn syrup and other garbage that I don't want to know about.

So I thought it would be a good idea to try to make my own - a much healthier version.

This recipe isn't perfect yet, but I keep getting requests for it. So I'm posting the current version and I will edit later if necessary.

 

First, Make your coffee.

(The milk mixture is enough for 2-3 cups of coffee. You can make that many or you can just make 1 and you can save the additional milk in the fridge for your next coffee).

Then Make Pumpkin Milk:

1 cup coconut milk (I like the full fat for this because it has a nice creamy consistency like half and half or cream, but that's up to you)

1/4 cup pumpkin puree (I don't recommend more. I tried more today and it got too thick and almost muddy. eww)

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice blend, or to taste

1 or 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste

1 tsp vanilla extract

sweetener of choice - you could use several things here. stevia is probably your best option because of its low glycemic qualities. I am a rebel and I went with the deliciousness of pure maple syrup. I know, I know. Super high glycemic, but oh so delicious with pumpkin. I justified my choice with the rationale that it is still 1000 times better than the crap they put in it at charbucks. Honey would work too.

Ok so combine all those ingredients together in a small sauce pan and heat just until it's warm. If you have a milk frother (I don't) than you could make it extra latte-ish by frothing it. Then, fill 2/3 your coffee cup with coffee and 1/3 pumpkin milk and enjoy!

 

*Kyle and I both thought it tasted better after we let it sit for a minute or 2 to cool. I think that gave time for the flavors to mingle and for the spices to settle at the bottom of your mug so you dont get that dirt taste from the cinnamon.

Coconut Cilantro Chicken

This is one of the best chicken dishes I've ever had. It has so much flavor and the sauce is delicious!

 

Ingredients:

14 oz coconut milk

1/4 cup tamari or coconut aminos

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro

2 tsp minced garlic

2 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds if you like less heat)

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

grated zest and juice of 2 limes

1 Tbsp honey or coconut palm sugar

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut in half or pounded out so they are half the normal thickness)

 

Combine tamari, cilantro, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, lime zest and juice, and honey in a food processor, magic bullet or blender until combined

Transfer to a shallow dish, add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24.

Remove chicken from marinade but do not discard marinade. Add coconut milk to marinade and mix until combined. Grill chicken over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes, turning once. Baste chicken with marinade while cooking until the last 5 minutes. Bring remaining marinade to a boil in a small sauce pan over high heat and cook for 4 minutes. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

The quickest chocolate cake you'll ever make (paleo style)

I never thought I would eat a dessert made in a microwave. I've seen them, but they just never appeal to me.

But when I came across this recipe I knew it would be super easy to convert to paleo and I was too intrigued not to try. So I did.

And yum. I'm glad I tried it. I will definitely be making it again. Sorry there are no pictures. It was devoured entirely too quickly.

Here's my version:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp coconut flour

2 Tbsp almond meal

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder

3 tablespoons coconut milk

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a large microwave safe mug with coconut oil. In a separate bowl, combine your flours with your baking powder and salt until combined. Transfer to the mug. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mug and gently mix with a fork until blended. Don't over mix, but make sure to get all the all the dry ingredients from the bottom of the mug incorporated.

Microwave on high for 1.5 minutes to 3 minutes depending on your microwave. (Mine took 1 minute 45 seconds). The cake should be moist, but not wet when it is done.

And that's all. Super easy and delicious. This is enough to share between 2 people.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

 
I liked stuffed peppers. Kyle does not. So I came up with the idea of a stuffed squash in hopes that he would like them better than the peppers. He did and I actually liked them better too. After eating these I don't know if I will ever go back to stuffing peppers. The combination of the slightly sweet acorn squash and the savory sausage stuffing was so good. And these are super easy to make!

You will need:

2 acorn squash

2 chorizo sausages (read your ingredients. we buy ours from the fresh meat case at whole foods).

1 bell pepper (whatever color you like), diced

4 oz mushrooms, diced

1 medium onion, diced

 

Cut your acorn squash in half (length-wise) and scoop out the seeds. Place them cut side down in a 9x13 baking dish and fill the dish with water (water should cover the bottom half of squash).

Bake squash at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. (Confession: I actually can't remember how long I baked mine. So check them at 30 min. Cook them until still firm, but fork tender). Don't overcook or they will fall apart.

While the squash is baking, make the stuffing.  Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and mushrooms. Cook until soft and onion is translucent. Add chorizo. {note: chorizo usually come in a sausage casing. I like to slice the casing open and just cook the ground meat. If you prefer you can leave it in the casing and just chop into small pieces.} Saute until sausage is cooked through. Set aside until squash are finished baking.

Remove your squash from the oven and dump the water out of the pan. Flip the squash over and fill them with the sausage mixture. Return pan to the oven for 5 or 10 minutes just to heat though and meld the flavors.

 

*this may be the first savory recipe I have ever posted that I didn't use salt & pepper. It's unnecessary because the chorizo has a great flavor on its own and the flavor carries over to all the veggies. If you sub the chorizo with a more mild sausage you may want to season to taste*

For all you raw-chicken-phobes

Until I started teaching cooking class, I never realized how many people out there have a phobia of touching raw chicken. So I thought I would share a little trick for making chicken or turkey burgers without ever touching the meat!

You will need:

Wax Paper and a large cookie or ice cream scoop (make sure it's large. the standard size will make a mini burger)

 

Tear a large piece of wax paper (in the picture mine is probably 3 feet long) and scoop out your mixture, spacing each burger about 3 inches apart and lining them up through middle of your wax paper.

 

 

 Once the wax paper is full fold your wax paper over to cover the burgers

 

Gently press your hand over each burger to flaten

 

 

Then tear your wax paper so each burger is individually wrapped (this makes it very easy to get them in the pan without touching them)

 

Next, just stack and refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking. (Chilling them before cooking seems to help them stay together since we don't use any breadcrumbs for a binder).

 

And that's all! Once you have refrigerated them, open your wax paper and flip each burger into the pan. It's an easy method and your hands stay clean!

Now I need to get my Greek Turkey Burger recipe posted so you can give this method a try!

Paleo Berry Shortcake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

 

Back in the good ol' days, before I knew what paleo was and I could devour gluten and dairy without any guilt, I did a lot of baking. I made a homemade dessert at least once a week. In the summer, one of my favorite, quick homemade desserts was berry shortcake. I would bake easy drop biscuits, macerate strawberries (or any berry) in sugar and whip up some heavy cream. Throw it all together and you had a quick, delicious shortcake.

I haven't made that in a long time. But after making the paleo biscuits and gravy I started wondering if I could use those biscuits and make a shortcake. I decided to give it a try for Father's Day. Kyle loved it. I was still disappointed in how dry the biscuits were so I'll be honest, I slathered mine in butter. :) Even with the dry biscuit, it was a tasty dessert. The berries were so good that next time I might just eat them alone with the coconut whipped cream or ice cream and leave out the biscuit.

OK here's all the recipes:

 For the berries:

1 pint fresh blueberries (or other berry)

1 TBSP orange zest

1 - 2 TBSP  fresh orange juice (juiced from the orange you zested)

honey (optional)

Citrus works really well when you need to add flavor without using sugar. I especially love it in combination with summer berries.  Just combine all these ingredients in a bowl. If you chose to use the honey, a little goes a long way. A drizzle is all you need. It can overpower the fruit if you use too much. Cover the bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours. The longer the better.

 

Coconut Whipped Cream:

1 can of full fat coconut milk (refrigerated at least 4 hours. The longer the better)

pure vanilla extract

cinnamon (optional)

Open coconut milk (do NOT shake). Scoop just the thick cream from the top half of the can. Leave the watery part inthe can. (But don't throw away. You can use it in a smoothie or other cooking). Add a few teaspoons of vanilla extract and a pinch of cinnamon (optional) and wisk by hand or with a mixer until thick and creamy.

 

Biscuits:

Use the same biscuit recipe found here

 

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream:

2 14 oz cans coconut milk (regular, not light)

2 whole vanilla beans

6 TBSP honey

(You will also need an automatic ice cream machine)

Pour coconut milk in a medium size bowl. Slice open your vanilla bean pods length wise and scrape out contents into coconut milk. Throw the entire pod in as well and let "marinate" for an hour or 2. Remove empty pods and add honey. Wisk until combined.

Pour into your ice cream maker (following their instructions for time, etc). Ours takes 25-30 minutes.

 

You can combine as many or as few of these different recipes to create an easy, tasty dessert! Enjoy!

Paleo Biscuits & Gravy

 
 
 
 I should tell you before you get all excited....these are not your grandmother's buttermilk biscuits. I know. Believe me, I wish they were. But really, when you are making biscuits out of coconut flour and almond meal can you expect them to be as good as grandma's? They are definitely drier and they don't really rise so they are more dense. However, when you're eating paleo and you haven't had bread in ages there is something tasty about anything that even comes close to bread. As far as this gravy, its so close to the real thing that I don't think anyone would know the difference unless you told them. Amazingly delicious. Which brings me back to the biscuits. If you cover them in enough of this gravy, it adds enough moisture and flavor that you can close your eyes and pretend you're eating a delicious buttermilk biscuit.

OK, enough disclaimer. On to the recipe.

For the Biscuits:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cold grass-fed butter (or coconut oil if you prefer)
6 egg whites
a little coconut oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease up 6 cups of a muffin tin with coconut oil. Put coconut flour, almond flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a minute to mix and then add the butter and pulse until the butter is incorporated. The butter pieces should be about the size of peas.

In a blender or stand mixer, whipthe egg whites until they are frothy. (You don't want meringue, but I think the frothier you get them the lighter/fluffier your biscuits will be). Add them to the food processor and pulse a couple times until they’re incorporated. Don’t go crazy though, just pulse it a few times until just blended.

Distribute the batter evenly into the 6 cups of your muffin tin. It should fill them about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-17 minutes until the tops are browned.

 

For the Gravy:

8 oz. country style pork sausage (make sure the ingredients are paleo friendly)
2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 can coconut milk (shake it up before you open it)
1 TBSP fresh sage or 1 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (this definitely adds a kick. leave it out if you don't want the heat)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Heat up a skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage. Break up the sausage into small pieces as it cooks. Once the sausage is thoroughly cooked, remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Discard most of the fat, but leave about a tablespoon in there, and leave all the stuck-on brown bits of sausage in the bottom of the pan. (If the sausage you buy is very lean you may have to add an additional tbsp of coconut oil at this stage. I usually do).

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the arrowroot and stir it into the fat & brown bits, whisking constantly for about a minute so it doesn’t burn. It will get pretty thick and almost dry. Add the coconut milk about 1/3 of the can at a time, and whisk together with the “roux” you just made, incorporating it thoroughly. Keep adding in the coconut milk until it is all incorporated. Add the sage, cayenne, salt and pepper and mix it in. Add the sausage back in and incorporate throughout the gravy. Cook for a moment so everything is heated evenly. Serve immediately over biscuits.

 
 

Tomatillo Salsa

 
To keep paleo meals interesting, you have to make them flavorful. In conventional cooking, people add flavor through a lot of sugar, cheese, cream, etc. When you eliminate those foods, it's important to find other ways to add flavor. I love creating salsas and sauces that are paleo-friendly.

Tomato salsa is delicious, but it's fun to change it up and play with other vegetables and fruits too. If you're new to tomatillos, they closely resemble a green tomato in appearance, but not in taste. To me, the consistency and texture is more like an apple. The flavor is hard to describe, but give them a try. I've made this salsa for a lot of people and it's always a crowd pleaser!



         5 large tomatillos, husked and washed, 3 quartered and 2 coarsely chopped

1-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion

1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Place the quartered tomatillos and the lime juice in a food processor (a blender would work too) and blend until smooth. Place the coarsely chopped tomatillos, the onionand the jalapeno in a bowl, add the tomatillo mixture and toss to coat. Add the olive oil and honey and season with salt and pepper. Top with cilantro just before serving.

Enjoy!