Category Archives: primal

A Fast Scramble in the mornings

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fast scramble

Ok so first, clearly I am obsessed with blueberries right now. I eat them like a sugar junkie on jelly beans. The are so juicy and sweet right now, I almost cannot stand it! Cheap they are not, but mighty tasty and really good for you, so I splurge!
Blueberries are showing up along my breakfast, as a snack and trailing through my salads. I just cannot get enough right now!

This morning was a blur in my house as usual. The daily scramble to get yourself dressed and ready for work along with a few household items (washer, dryer) dogs and cat fed and watered and let out…always leaves me barrelling out the door in a rush no matter what time I get up! I kind of like it, but I don’t like running late, and that does happen.

Thankfully there are alot of quick ways to throw breakfast together….I usually pack mine and eat it at my desk when I can breathe a little!

A red pepper was calling my name from the fridge, and bacon was not.

So here is the super fast and easy scramble I threw together (and ate along with my BLUEBERRIES!!!):

I put a bit of Kerrygold butter in a small skillett to melt over medium heat. Quick chopped about a fourth of a RED PEPPER…tossed it in the pan.
While that is cooking, crack two eggs into a bowl and chop about a teaspoon of fresh PARSLEY – add that to the egg.
Beat the egg with a fork with a dash of salt and pepper.
Pour into the skillet and start moving the eggs and peppers around as it scrambles.
THATS IT!

You can give a quick sprinkle of grated Kerrygold Cheese over the eggs if you like, or dice some tomatoes or avocado over the top….but today it went as is into the container….

You can do this!
So easy, so fast….so good!

And, that’s Lunch

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and thats lunch

All right, one last one for today.
Lunch kind of just happened today, but happened really well!

So, I posted earlier about a little cucumber veggie salad that I like alot made with chopped veggies, mayo, Sunny Paris Seasoning, fresh garlic, S&P and a little vinegar. Well, the nice thing about that mix is it gets better as it sits, and I had a little (very little!) left over last night, and I kept it! I decided to make a salad at lunch and a sweet potato and a little leftover grilled chicken.

I just made a salad with spinach and lettuce leaves. Added a little more veggies (more radishes, carrots, a stalk of hearts of palm) and a tiny bit of organic feta cheese (goats). I hit the whole bowl with a small dollop of mayo, a little more vinegar, and dumped the remainder of last nights salad on top! mix mix mix . wow and WOW! look at that plate! I sort of went into a trance while I was eating away, ended up not even eating much of the chicken and of course devoured that tater!

So this I guess is kind of a recipe? More of a guideline of how quick and easy paleo lunches can be! Keep easy things on hand like leftover proteins, lettuce, fresh organic veggies, and a fresh jar of your home made paleo mayo at all times!

Hope you like my pretty plate, I know I did!

My twist on Gingerbread Donuts – Paleo!

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gingerbread donuts

I drooled over some facebook post a few weeks ago for “Gingerbread Donuts” and I cannot recall who posted it (it was a repost) and all I have on the author of the recipe is that it was by Cook/Baker Maria Emmerich. I stayed pretty close to the original, but changed the source of “sweet” as well as a few other minor tweaks. They cooked up so nice, and smell fantastic! I also liked the idea that they are for dipping rather than glazing them. The coconut flour in it fills you up quick so one donut is very satisfying (or two if you really are huuunnngry!)

Here is how you do it:

Lightly grease your donut pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the following by hand or with hand beater:
1/2 Cup coconut crystals
3/4 cup Kerrygold Butter or coconut oil

Then stir in:
1/2 cup Almond Milk
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice

Next add:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour ***optional – I sub out 2 Tbsp of Tapioca for 2 Tbsp of the coconut flour…gives a “breadier” texture
1 tsp baking soda

Mix all together until well combined.

Fill your doughnut pan just shy of the top. I dump the batter into a ziploc bag, snip the tip and pipe it in….alot less mess getting the donut shapes full of batter! But you can spoon it in too!

Bake for 15 minutes, pop out of the pan and let them cool.

While they bake, make the sauce:

Melt 1/2 cup of Kerrygold butter and add in 1/2 cup coconut crystals, 1/4 cup almond milk and 1 Tbsp vanilla. A dash of cinnamon is nice here too. Whisk until blended, and pop in the fridge to cool off. It will thicken up as it cools…… dip or spread on cooled donuts!

This is some good paleo treating I must say!

Let me know what you think!

Simple Green and a Cucumber Mix up

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good stuff salad

So this salad is too easy not to try, and there are so many variations you can make it your own! I actually had this one published in Paleo Magazines Reader’s Choice Cookbook!
I have a soft spot for broccoli! Broccoli is always the base for this salad for me. And avocado (but I didn’t have any on hand that day…wah!).

So here is what happens:

Bring a pan with about an inch of water in it to a boil.
Throw in a large handful of broccoli florets and let them cook about 2-3 minutes….you do not want them to get mushy!
While that is happening, place the following in a bowl…
Chopped veggies! Tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, carrots, avocadoes, celery…whatever catches your eye that day!
Strain and drain the broccoli…then dump out on a paper towel to catch the last bits of water. Then add those to the bowl.
Into the bowl with a big spoonful of homemade mayo, salt and pepper to taste, and squeeze lemon juice all over it…then toss, toss, toss.

That is it! so easy and so good! (I think this is going to be lunch today too!)

Another variation I did last night was simply:
One cucumber, thinly sliced
sliced radishes and sliced carrots
Mash up one piece of garlic into the bowl
Salt and pepper, and a good handful of Penzey’s Sunny Paris Seasoning
A spoonful of mayo and this time I shook some light raspberry vinegar over the top…maybe 3 tablespoons?

toss and mix and toss….the longer it sits, the better it gets!

So delicious I just cannot say enough about these two easy salads that are so different every time you make it!

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!

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!