Category Archives: healthy

Inspired Italian Meatballs

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italilan meatballs

I am a huge fan of Michelle Tam of http://www.nomnompaleo.com and book, Nom Nom Pale, Food for Humans. She was the first paleo blogger I found when I did my first Whole 30 about two years ago. I loved all of the things she made and the fact that she is a mom of two boys and works full time and seems to truly love food! Everything I have ever made from her blog or book has had such depth of flavor, just amazing food!

Well, I had a pound of ground meat on hand and wanted to make one of her meatball recipes, but she used veal, and seasonings that lended themselves to veal like basil. I had beef…so I ran with that using her recipe as a base to stem from.

They turned out light and airy and so flavorful!

Here is what I did:

Place all of the ingredients below in a mixing bowl and mix with hands:
1 pound organic grassfed ground beef (would be good mixed with pork)
1/2 finely chopped onion
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup chopped italian parsely
1 tbsp italian seasoning
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup garlic cauliflower mash (Steam 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets with 5 cloves of garlic for about 10 minutes. Pulse through the food processor until smooth with 2 Tablespoons ghee or butter from a grassfed source)

Shape into golf ball sized meatballs. Brown in a good skillet over medium-hi heat in a mix of ghee or butter and coconut oil for 2-3 minutes per side, keep turning until browned all over.

You can sauce these up so many different ways or just eat on their own! Easy stuff!
We ate with the remainder of the cauliflower mash on the side and a chopped veggie salad.

Let me know what you think!

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Weekend Update….Let’s start with that Garlic Beef Pot/Stew!

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garlic beef pot

Wow! I had a busy weekend in the kitchen and never had so many people from instagram asking for recipes! So watch out, alot of posts coming today.
I want to start with this Beef Stew though.
My daughter and I were strolling around Whole Foods on Friday afternoon, as we do, and she is the sample princess, will try all of it!
In the produce department, the WF Chef had whipped up what he was calling a beef stew with ingredients on the sale table. (Obviously, they were trying to move the meat!)
My daughter tries it and says WE SHOULD MAKE SOME BEEF STEW! (I don’t care for beef stew. She doesn’t know that…)
I always am up for winging it in the kitchen, and she kept going on about it so I let her pick up a couple of pounds of cubed round. We picked up a few other things that sounded like they would work together….and to my complete happiness and surprise, here is what happened!

Garlic Beef Pot/Stew

Start by dumping 2 pounds of grassfed cubed round beef in your slow cooker.
Add to it a LOT of fresh chopped garlic! (I think I put in about 15-20 cloves that I quick chopped in the mini chopper)
Add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Add 1 tsp dried oregano
Add 1+ tsp coarse sea salt
Add 1/4-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
I gave it a sprinkle of garlic powder and onion powder
1 Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder

Then I mixed it all up by hand right in the slow cooker pot, so that the meat and seasonings were well mixed.

I added about 1/3 cup of fresh chopped parsley
2 cans of diced organic fire roasted tomoatoes
2 chopped stalks of celery
2 carrots chopped in coins
1 onion, chopped large
about 1/4 cup of good balsalmic vinegar

I let it go on low for about 5 hours then kicked it up to high for another hour or so.

The flavors were amazing! The Broth was rich and lovely, the meat was tender! We all really enjoyed it, having leftovers tonight! And I will be making this one again for sure!
Let me know what you think!

AND!!!
You can now get to my blog by going to http://www.busygirlforapaleoworld.com
See you around!

So simple

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lunch

If things could always be this simple!

This week I went to a new practitioner. She is a naturalist and a chiropracter, and has multiple autoimmuntes, but not medicating.
She is young, and focussed, and I am going to give her a whirl.

Guess what she tells me? Pretty much all of my complaints are connected to Hashimotos. And how do we get to the root of Hashimoto’s and auto immunes? Well, we fix the gut. (no surprise here!)

She started me on a detox that works best with a paleo way of eating (which she was so stoked I was already doing, sort of) called ClearVite. It is actually tasty and no problem to do. Then we go into maintenance mode. On my own I started drinking more Kombucha, I like that too.

She has me working on a little test to determine if I am T1 or T2 dominant….this means eating alot of mushrooms and echinacea for a few days. I am already over the mushrooms people. I feel fine, but no more this week!

She is not bombarding me with supplements, which makes me very happy!

Now why have I made bad food choices every day this week! Could it be the mushrooms?
I required pizza last night. Gluten and all. Paying for it now.
I know better, I know how to eat right, yet every day it is a battle of choices.
That and I am ravenous this week! Maybe that is the ClearVite at work? I don’t know yet.

So for lunch today I was actually craving these healthy items….so good, so simple…it is what it is:

Leftover chicken, cold.
Sliced Cucumbers, cold.
Half of an avocado, cold.
Lemon squeezed over it all….a little salt.

There are blueberries too, just not in the pic…

This was yummy!
I admit I could still eat….
But busy hands and all….

Have a great afternoon everyone!
Would love to hear from you!

Hot Dog!

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hot dog

So yesterday I was having one of those BONE TIRED days for whatever reason. When I finally got home from work, the usual tasks loomed before me, feed the zoo, walk the dogs, fix dinner.
All I could think about was how to get my body into bed as fast as possible! There was a pile of dishes taunting me from the sink, and all I could do was yawn, yawn, yawn! What the heck! I ate good food all day, drank plenty of water, no idea.

So on the walk back home with the animules, I started rifling through the refrigerator in my brain trying to come up with the easiest thing I could. I did eggs at lunch, so that was out. And then I remembered the hot dogs!

When I got home I opened the fridge doors and angelic music played in my mind!
Here is what happened:

Threw 4 Applegate Farms all organic grassfed beef hot dogs into the skillett to start browning up on medium heat.
Put another pot of water on to boil, I had some asparagus on hand….that is a quick winner! Boil about 3 minutes, dot with a bit of Kerrygold grassfed butter and squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top with a little salt and pepper…easy!
Dogs are nice and brown, so I placed each one on a large romaine lettuce leaf (like a bun or a taco!) and topped with PaleoChef Srracha and slices of avocado! Had a little beet sauerkraut on the side too!

Literally dinner was plated in less than 10 minutes!
Those dogs are great to keep on hand for days like that, lunches, dinner, even breakfast in a pinch!

Best part? This was compliant all over the board…paleo, primal, 21 day sugar detox, you name it! Clean eating and tasty!

And I was in bed by 8….and watching Teen Wolf at 9, whence I fell asleep!

Thank you DVR!

Cinnamon Swirl Success

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I am always on the prowl for something bready in the mornings, but quickly defeated by time and availability. I often make paleo muffins on the weekends but they are gone FAST…mostly by my own doing, but hey, I like my baked goods people!

Also a sucker for anything cinnamon, I came across a recipe a while back from a very good paleo cookbook, and although I liked it, it had too much coconut “tang”to it for me, personally. Sometimes the paleo recipe writers really get heavy on the coconut, using flour, oil and milk all in one recipe, leaving the whole thing tasting like coconut whatever it is supposed to be, and not much else. Coconut is great…very healthy, and I am all for it! But sometimes, just for me, I have to tone it down.

So I tweaked the recipe and made it my own…and wow what a difference! The flavors and texture sing of good old fashoined coffee cakes or muffins your grandmother used to make! Buttery and flavorful, and a much better texture, due to a quick swap of a little tapioca flour in for some of the coconut flour. This looks like the bread you used to know so well, and the texture on your tongue will make you close your eyes for a minute before you go back in the kitchen for the next slice!

Here’s how:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan (with butter or coconut oil) or line it with parchment paper.

Wisk together in a medium sized bowl:

2 Tablespoons of Butter from a grassfed organic source, like Kerrygold (or go with coconut oil if you prefer…) – melted
2 Tablespoons of WHOLE milk from a grassfed source, or coconut milk, or almond milk.
1/2 raw organic local honey, or agave nectar if you prefer. I used honey.
5 eggs
a dash of vanilla

Bowl to sift or “fork” together:

1-2 Tablespoons of Tapioca flour PLUS coconut flour to TOTAL 3/4 cup
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

With a SPOON (not a wisk!) stir the dry ingredients into the wet until combined.
Optional mix ins at this point…a handful of golden raisins, a handfull of chopped nuts, or even chocolate chips would be good!
Pour into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl mix together:
1 Tablespoon Butter from a grassfed source, or coconut oil
1 Tablespoon raw organic local honey or agave nectar
2 tspns cinnamon

Drizzle mixture over the batter then swirl with the end of a knife.

Pop it into the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Let it cool completely before cutting into it.
Really tasty with your hot cup of coffee or tea!

Enjoy it! Let me know how you like it…I love to hear the feedback!

I like my chicken CRISPY!

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chicken

The bane of my paleo existence is often textures of food. I always yearn for the BREADINESS of bread, the CRUNCH of crackers, and yes, the CRISPINESS of all things “fried”! It can be done, you can get there, but I believe there is an art to it, you have to WANT IT! And here is where I step in.
My daughter who eats mostly paleo is not a huge fan of almond flour, due to the texture. In bread items especially.
So she was sitting at the counter doing homework and rapping along with Kendrick Lamar (exhale, she is a teenager!) watching me halfheartedly throw dinner together. Nothing too startling, broccoli, check, sweet pototoes roasting in the oven, check, chicken on the counter, check….but I could see her eyes on me as I pulled the almond flour out of the pantry. RELAX, I said, you have had this before and loved it!
Here is what she saw:

Heat a large skillett (or 2) until very hot and then add in a few TBSP of coconut oil and 1 Tbsp Kerrygold butter.
Thin strips of chicken (cutlets, tenders, even small chunks are fine…) go into a large ziploc bag with one beaten egg. “squoosh” the chicken around in the egg to make sure they are coated. (Squoosh is a technical term in my brain).
In a small bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 2 Tbsp. tapioca flour, 1-2 tsp salt, fresh ground pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne (for kick!), 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder.
Dump the mixture into the ziploc bag with the eggy chicken and squoosh some more, coating completely.
Place the chicken into the skillett and let it go for a few minutes, until brown, maybe 3-4 minutes. Turn each piece over and brown another 2-3 minutes until done.
Take out of the pan and place on paper towels to drain any excess oil. Do batch two the same way if you have more chicken.
Tada! golden brown, cripy goodness.
And my daughter….sitting on the sofa eating the chicken with her hands….says OH MY GOSH MOMMA THESE ARE SO GOOD MAKE THEM AGAIN FOR ME AND MY FRIENDS!

Approved!

Trying it out?
Let me know what you think!

A Little Green

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dressedchopveggiesdressing

My sister-in-law posted her amazing avocado dressing recipe the other day and I tried to do something similar because, let’s face it, I love anything avocado! The cool green creaminess just sings in everything!

So at lunch yesterday I was just standing in front of the refrigerator, doors open of course, pondering what to throw together in a short time frame. My eyes kept going to the spinach, so spinach salad was in the works. I started with this Avocado dressing in the bowl and built the salad on top, gave it a toss and ate it with a baked sweet potato, just perfect!

Here is what happenned in the bowl:

Mashed about 1/4 of an avocado with some salt and some fresh garlic paste. (One bud of garlic, smashed, flatten and smear onto the cutting board with the side of your knife until it is almost invisible! scrape it up and pop it in the bowl! I added the juice of one lemon and a tablespoon of olive oil. I also put in about 1/2 tsp of Sunny Paris Seasoning from Penzeys (this stuff? you have GOT to have it in your pantry!).
Now wisk away…..until creamy and smooth.
I threw a big handful of spinach on top of the dressing along with some of my favorite chopped things like tomatoes, cukes, radishes, grapes and some chopped pecans.
I tossed it all until the dressing touched everything, and inhaled it!!!!!

This was super easy, and so flavorful!
Give it a try…and let me know what you think!

Back to life, back to reality….(you know the tune…)

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back to life

Spoiled rotten by a wonderful couple that I had the pleasure of spending a few days with on a mountain in the snow with a great group of people from my work world – I haven’t laughed so much in ages! We all had a terrific time, playing in the snow, eating too much and drinking, well, enough! And although it was such a great experience, I was so happy to wake up in my own bed this morning on familiar ground, even ready to go back to work this morning! Oddly, the snowy cold of Canada followed me back home to Houston, TX where the temperature has settled into the low 30’s with some sleety icy rainy snowy bits making for a lovely wintry day! I was so happy to fix my own little cup of coffee this morning to sip along my morning routine, blow dryer reading time, hurry off to work with my breakfast packed! I had already downed two bottles of H2O and decided to make a breakfast roll up (really just an omellette) and here is how it panned out! (see pic above…) like this:

Heat a medium size skillett with a pat of Kerrygold butter (from Grassfed Cows y’know!)
when hot, gently pour in 2 beaten and salted eggs and let it sit….don’t mess with it!!!!it will cook slowly while you fix up the rest…
Slices of Red pepper
freshly grated cheddar cheese from grassfed cows

Once the egg looks solid, turn off the burner. Sprinkle with a cheese you like all over…and lay the pepper slices in a single line up the middle.
Gently roll up the egg (much like a tortilla) and you are done!

took it to go with some berries, hit the spot! Hello Healthy, I’m back, and I’m hungry!

In case they ever see this, thank you Laura and John, what a spectacular place, fantastic people, and the most lovely hosts ever!

Lord love me a RADISH!

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radish

Radishes. That is all that is on my mind here, nothing fancy, just these beautiful little roots that make me smile! They are not even my favorite veggie or anything as heroic as that, I just think they are so beautiful! So cheery! And around all year long in all shapes, sizes, colors, just sitting there being crunch for everyones enjoyment, or not!

I think back to when I was a little girl, must have been seven or eight years old. We had a garden in our back yard that my father worked on every weekend, something new all the time. Depending on the time of year, strawberries, cantaloupes (that crossed with our cucumbers, that magically multiplied by the minute!). Broccoli (that was always infested with worms)…I bet they think I don’t remember that! Squash! Buckets of yellow squash! And tomatoes. My dad could grow tomatoes! Green beans…and radishes. I remember my mother pulling a bunch of radishes, rinsing them off in the kitchen, slicing them in half and handing them to me, still warm from the sun, to dunk in a pile of salt and crunch away! That is what I think of when I see radishes.

That house is long gone now, eventually the garden was replaced by a pool, then occupied by a new family as we had all grown up and moved different directions. Now, my parents keep a place in the country, and have another garden, this one is organic, and beautiful. And full of radishes!

I gather a few in the summer when they are at their peak and bring them home…and eat them by the kitchen sink dunked in salt. The rest of the year I pick them up in the markets, and slip them onto my salads and plates as often as I can!

Go ahead, have a bite. That crunch will get you every time!

Simple Thing

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cereal and milk

Sometimes just the simple things can make you happy, noticing the sunlight through a window in the morning, hearing the birds chirp inbetween the traffic noise, a single wildflower growing in the grass. You just have to slow down a little to notice, but wow is that hard some days!

I miss cereal. (Great segway, huh?)
I do! I was a cereal eater…so easy, yummy, fast.
A while back I stumbled on Steve’s Paleo Goods (www.stevespaleogoods.com) while looking for delicious ready made snacks. I am a big believer in their products! Especially the Paleo Krunch Cereal! It is truly delicious….a granola of sorts….grain free! You can watch it disappear straight from the tub or pour a little bowl with some almond milk, sit back and enjoy it on the porch! (Or, in the usual case, pack it in whatever you can and haul it to work so you can eat it in peace at the desk between emails!)

There are some good granola type paleo recipes out there, but I always come back to this. No matter how Little Houst on the Prarie/make every single thing myself from scratch I would like to be, ready made just comes in handy from time to time, and when it is this good, and healthy? well. Not a difficult decision for this girl.

Have a great Friday everyone!