Salad Night

Chopped Salad, Chef Salad, Cobb Salad…whatever you like! Just make it a salad night.

Tonight we baked bacon in the oven to a beautiful-melt-in-your-mouth-crispness. Honestly, I think life is better with crispy bacon. Chopped lettuce, carrots, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers – piled high in a family-sized bowl. Topped it with bacon, crumbled hard-boiled eggs and sliced hormone-free, organic turkey breast. Finished it off by drizzling fresh made paleo ranch on top!

It was a hit. It always is! Mix it up with toppings your family will love and make it a salad night.

How I made my simple paleo ranch dressing:

1 cup of paleo mayonnaise
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
1 heaping tablespoon dill weed
3 cloves of garlic, freshly crushed
Himalayan Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Shake vigorously in a jar and refrigerate or about 30 mins. It is generally on the thinner side.

P.S. This is DEFINITELY not going to taste like packaged ranch. It’s not supposed to. So get that out of your mind right away. This is going to taste different – and delicious. We really enjoy it!

Taco Tuesday Paleo style

Tacos are a family favorite! It’s important to keep your family’s favorite meals on the menu when you make a dietary change – like switching to a Paleo menu. One easy way to do this is to use Romain lettuce boats instead of taco shells. You can also make crepes that are Paleo compliant. Crepes create a soft tortilla option. Another possibility is to make taco salad minus the chips and cheese.

Paleo tacos…leaving out the grain, gluten, dairy, corn and legumes… Oh I heard some of you sigh… “What no taco shell, no cheese, no sour cream, no tortilla chips and salsa… How is this going to work?”

Well it works well… You start with heavily seasoned, grass-fed ground beef. I season with chili powder, cumin fresh chopped onions, fresh minced garlic, cracked black pepper, sea salt, and some kind of tomato product of your choice. I tend to use tomato paste because it’s thicker and a little bit sweeter.

Brown your meat with the onion, then add the spices. After the meat is fully cooked add the tomato paste. Delicioso!

Wash Romain leaves of lettuce to use as lettuce boats, and fill them just like you would tacos. We layered ours with meat, guacamole, fresh tomatoes, onions, pico de gallo, grilled fajitas. Add whatever you like that is paleo compliant.

Enjoy!

Two Weeks Down!

Well, if you joined us for the 60 day Paleo Challenge today marks two weeks down! And hopefully you also feel other things going down – like bloating, inflammation and allergies.

If you haven’t joined us yet, it’s never too late! We are still moving forward and have several weeks left. Consider joining us now! Let me know if you’re on board by leaving a comment on Facebook, Wholesomehome blog, or the Morning Grind Group.

Okay, so last night we had an amazing meal! I got the idea from Danielle Walker’s cookbook, Against All Grain. We made our own version of her Carne Asada Bowls. They were delicioso!

The marinade recipe she has listed for the flank steak is the bomb! Lots of grilled veggies, salsa and guac over a lettuce bowl. Yum! Check out her
blog at http://www.againstallgrain.com for more of her recipes, tips and amazing baked goods. Thanks for all of your amazing recipes and ideas Danielle!

Weekend Eating

One more time…somehow I deleted this one on connected sites…

Wholesome Home

When the weekend arrives it feels like a time of celebration! I like to cook, feed people, celebrate together… Another a week full of great accomplishments has passed.

However, I know that I still have to keep the food in check. So, it’s time to make things a little more special… Or mix it up a bit!

Last night we decided to make Paleo sushi (inspired by my friends Shinobu and Heather) and chocolate covered strawberries. This satisfied my deep craving for celebratory-weekend-food!

So I made cauliflower rice, chopped a bunch of vegetables, scrambled eggs, made fresh ahi poke with Hawaiian salt and green onions…served it all with Nori wrappers, wasabi and coconut amino’s. Everybody had fun putting together their own sushi rolls, and I enjoyed watching my family load up on veggies and good food on Friday night!

For dessert, I made chocolate covered strawberries…Delicious! And so simple!
Using…

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Weekend Eating

When the weekend arrives it feels like a time of celebration! I like to cook, feed people, celebrate together… Another a week full of great accomplishments has passed.

However, I know that I still have to keep the food in check. So, it’s time to make things a little more special… Or mix it up a bit!

Last night we decided to make Paleo sushi (inspired by my friends Shinobu and Heather) and chocolate covered strawberries. This satisfied my deep craving for celebratory-weekend-food!

So I made cauliflower rice, chopped a bunch of vegetables, scrambled eggs, made fresh ahi poke with Hawaiian salt and green onions…served it all with Nori wrappers, wasabi and coconut amino’s. Everybody had fun putting together their own sushi rolls, and I enjoyed watching my family load up on veggies and good food on Friday night!

For dessert, I made chocolate covered strawberries…Delicious! And so simple!
Using Stevia sweetened chocolate chips, I quickly melted them for about 30 seconds (stovetop or microwave works – be careful not to over melt or the chocolate becomes dry and crumbly rather than saucy). There were still whole pieces of chocolate chips in the mix when I removed it from the heat. I stirred them and stirred them and stirred them until the rest of the solid pieces melted, making a smooth, thick chocolate sauce.

Washing the strawberries and removing the tops I quickly dried them with a paper towel, and set them upside down on a platter. I never have great luck actually “dipping” the berries so I spooned the chocolate on and gave a quick swirl with the back of the spoon. They look great this way, and have a generous chocolate bite. Refrigerating them for a few minutes gives the chocolate a chance to solidify and and they are a perfect and pretty dessert!

Anytime Frittata

Eggs are good anytime. We have 15 little ladies who lay eggs for us daily. I like knowing where my eggs come from, and knowing what the hens have been fed. Needless to say, we have eggs nearly every day.

There are thousands of recipes for frittatas on the Internet, and in cook books, etc. This recipe is just a hodgepodge of several different recipes that I like, and I’ve made it my own.

First I take 8 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces using kitchen scissors, place them in a iron skillet and bake in the oven at 350° stirring occasionally so that all the pieces get evenly crispy.

While the bacon is cooking I dice red peppers, onions, two generous handfuls of fresh spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, or whatever else sounds delicious! I put about a cup of each vegetable using only 3 to 4 vegetable choices for each frittata so that it doesn’t change the consistency of the egg mixture while baking.

Once the bacon is cooked crispy, I take the skillet out of the oven and place it on medium low heat on the stovetop to sautée the vegetables.

While the veggies are sautéing with the bacon, I whisk together eight eggs adding sea salt, garlic, and cracked black pepper… Or any other spices of your choice!

I then pour the whisked eggs and spices over the bacon and veggie mixture and cook on medium low for about 4 to 5 minutes to the bottom is solid but not over-cooked and the top is still a bit runny.

Turning the oven to broil I finish up the frittata in the oven until the top is a light golden color. This takes another 3 or 4 minutes.

This recipe makes 6 nice servings of frittata. We often top it with salsa, avocado, or tomatoes. Easy and delicious!

This frittata recipe is another great way to serve quality protein and keep your menu interesting!

Eggs and Hollandaise Sauce

These little babies were so delicious! Soft fried eggs in sweet bell peppers with fresh Hollandaise sauce and grilled onion! Totally paleo and totally delish!

Started with fresh eggs from our coupe…and the sauce…well this was a first for me! Whisking and whisking over a steamy pot of water created a delicious topping for this great breakfast! We served the veggies and eggs over hormone free sausage parties. YUM!

Are You A Monday Starter?

So maybe it was hard to start on a Thursday for some folks. It’s never too late! So, today is Monday. The beginning of a new week. Maybe today’s your day to start if you didn’t join us last Thursday for the 60 day challenge.

If you joined us on Thursday, then you are five days in! 55 more days to go to a sound like a long time, but believe me it is going to go fast.

Some people have asked me what’s the challenge? There’s no prize… Well… not exactly anyway. The reward is truly that you feel better, look better, and challenge yourself to do more than you were doing before. In my mind, the meaning of a challenge is to push ourselves a little harder then we have been regarding our eating habits and fitness goals. You’re a winner already!

Over the past few years I have lost 80 pounds. I have kept 70 pounds off solid. And I tend to re-gain and re-lose that extra 10 pounds. There always seems to be someone’s birthday, holiday, vacation, etc and BAM! Those pounds jump right back on me! So my personal challenge is to break through those pesky 10 pounds and then take an additional 30 pounds off. That would help me reach my own personal goal. And to continue with my fitness goals, I want to be sure that I’m working out daily. I am generally in the gym five days a week for high intensity group fitness. So over the weekend I challenged myself to walk/jog an additional 6 miles adding squats, sit ups and push ups to my routine. I did it!

Think about what you want to achieve and challenge yourself to press in. You are not alone! We can do this. Let’s keep working to improve our over all health and well being. Work hard and keep on going!

Day One Done!

This marks the end of the first day of this challenge! Eat well, love well, work hard and ENJOY your life!

If you haven’t written down your weight or taken your measurements, you may want to. That way you can track your progress when the challenge comes to a close.

Feel free to share menus, foodie pics, and progress. Let’s encourage each other!

60 Day Challenge!

Or call it whatever you want! An experiment, an opportunity, a challenge, a time to reset, a diet, an eating plan, a health journey, an adventure. Just call it, and get started!

For the next 60 days, starting tomorrow June 12, 2014 through August 10, 2014 choose only to eat Paleo style meals. Exercise every day, pushing yourself a little bit more than you would normally. If you have any health concerns or questions, of course you should seek medical help before making any major changes to your diet or physical activity.

Join us! Set some goals – weigh in, take measurements, take before and after pictures, work hard and expect
to see change!