Tag Archives: easy

A Lovely Plate

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again 2

Nothing complicated here, just clean, easy yum.

Fresh avocados with a squeeze of lemon juice and a dusting of coarse sea salt.
Thick cut no sugar all natural bacon, perfectly fried.
A small pile of fresh fruit, all organic.
And the raw crunchy salad I am so addicted to!

The fast way today:

In the bottom of the bowl, 2 TBSP of home made paleo mayo, 2 tsp honey, couple of splashes of raspberry balsalmic vinegar to taste….wisk wisk wisk.
Now add to the bowl a handful of bite size raw broccoli and of cauliflower. also a few dried cranberries. (I usually add radishes and pecans, but was in a hurry!).
Now toss everything together! The longer you have, keep tossing and the flavors build!

So dump the salad on your plate, your done!
Ready, set, delicious!

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Oh Simple Thing, where have you been?

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20140505_185956

The other night I was on my own for dinner, for a change, and was really having too much fun in the kitchen trying to time a quick meal that would be healthy and yummy while watching the Voice, (vice!) And I remembered a beautiful bunch of asparagus I had in the fridge. I had to do something with it! And it had to include my home made mayo! (The husband only likes mayo when he doesnt know he is eating it, same with my daughter. They see white and start gagging!!!)

So this little side dish made it on my plate, and besides being oh-so-good, was a pretty little number too!

Quick cook the asparagus…2-3 minutes in a shallow pan of boiling water, drain and squeeze lemon juice over the asparagus with a bit of salt.
Have a few pieces of bacon frying up while that is happening.

Place your asparagus on your plate, give it a very generous dollup of home made paleo mayo, and crumble your bacon over the top!

Could it be more simple? Maybe, but dang this is easy and so so so good!
I used nice fat asparagus this time…I usually prefer the thin, but these were fun to just pick up and eat.

Try it. You will like it, I am sure of it!

Let me know what you think!!!

Nom!

Waffle Sandwich, paleo gone wild!

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waffle sandwich

Less of a recipe, more of an idea.

I have recently subscribed to a bloggers site for a very small fee, and the fee paid for itself in one recipe.
WWW.brittanyangell.com is where you need to go, and by joining her Club Angel, you will find all kinds of delights!

One such delight is her Paleo Waffles…so what is the big deal you ask?
They are CRISPY…the way a waffle should be. Soft on the inside, crispy on the edges! You can make them sweet or savory! You can add cinnamon, chocolate chips, blueberries….treat them as a blank canvas and just go wild!

But think about this….pop leftovers in the toaster the next day…..and eat more of them! Toast them super crispy and use them like chips! Or crumble them into your chili!
Layer them with your favorite sandwich materials! Load them up with grassfed cheese and tomoatoes, grilled cheese! Use them and abuse them…they are delicious…versatile, fast and easy!

This morning I topped one with a little Kerrygold cheddar, a few slices of bacon, a fried egg and had an egg sandwich…I was in heaven!

BLTs….add avocado too!

Need I say more, because I could!

But right now, I need a waffle sandwich!

Refreshing light lunch – Paleo Chicken Salad

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chicken saladckn salad prep

My usual hurried run home for lunch found me with a few extra minutes, I actually got to eat it at home instead of packing it up to go!
A grapefruit was calling my name loudly…and I knew that would be in the mix, but I wanted to change up the chicken a bit, so I took the Poached Chicken I have been eating off of this week and diced it up to make a quick chicken salad today….really nice!

Here’s what I did…

Paleo Chicken Salad:
1 cooked chicken breast, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1-2 radishes, diced
Handful of halved grapes
small handful of chopped pecans
salt and pepper
juice of 1/4 lemon
2-3 TBSP home made mayo (see previous post)

Mix all of the above gently and enjoy!
Of course there are a million variations, I was really wanting a little fresh parsely, but I was out!

Simple, beautiful, mayo

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mayoI was asked by a follower on instagram for this one…

I have been a big fan of mayo for as long as I can remember! My childhood consisted of mayo and bread sandwiches, mayo+white bread+american cheese (!), mayo+lettuce+white bread, and on and on… every day for most of my young life! As I grew up, I would eat it on crackers, veggies, you name it. I would pick mayo over butter any day of the week! And, I was a Hellmanns girl. None of that sweet Miracle Whip or Duke’s (although I learned to appreciate MW on a ham sandwich from time to time…).

I always heard how difficult mayo was to make and that home made was ultra delicious, but very tricky.

When I found paleo living, I saw so many bloggers and chefs making their own healthy mayo which had good healthy fats and amped up so many meals, but the recipes were complicated, often needing all ingredients brought to room temp, some were yolks only, some use the blender, some use the food processor, and often it was a game of chance if it would firm up or break.
I have probably tried a dozen different recipes, multiple times each, and was running a 50/50 chance as to whether the mayo would “make” or not!
I started seeing some people using immersion blenders, and that seemed to speed things up! (especially from the workout of using the old fashioned hand wisking method!….pant pant!)

My mother swears by the immersion blender….and I tried it, several times, cursing it every time, as i just didn’t have knack for it. And then I watched her do it and thought, really Kristen? You can do this…

Here is how you do it….

Use a mild flavored oil….I use a LIGHT olive oil that I find at whole foods (NOT extra virgin!)

Beautiful Paleo Mayo!

so….put all of these items in the immersion blender container or a tall narrow container:
1 cup light olive oil
1 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
dash of salt
up to 1 tsp dijon mustard
1 whole egg

put the blender in the cup all the way to the bottom and start whirring away…bring it up slowly, then slowly back down and up a couple of times until you see the consistency you like…less than a minute.

That’s it! SO simple! and so delicious! This will keep in your fridge about a week or a little longer, if it lasts that long!

Egg Foo Young-ish from NomNomPaleo

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eggfooyung

I am obsessed with “Food 4 Humans” by NomnomPaleo blogger, Michelle Tam.
She was the very first blogger I found when I first delved into Paleo. He recipes were simple and tasty and she is so real! I was so excited when her book came out! And it is one of the BEST cookbooks I have ever relied on! I make things from her book and website weekly…give her a try, you cannot go wrong!

The pic above is her interpretation of Egg Foo Young-ish.
My conclusion is they are really handy little omellettey things that travel well!
This morning I topped a couple with sausage, avacados and salsa…nom!

The link to her site and the recipe is:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5568966009/egg-foo-young-ish-spinach-egg-ham-coconut

(hope I did that write….this is my first link in a post…if i missed it, just go see her blog at http://www.nomnompaleo.com you will find all kinds of great things before you race out to buy her book!)

I also had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Tam when she came into Houston for a book signing a few weeks ago. She is a doll! So real…just a working mom who adores food and health!
By the way my all time favorite recipe of hers?
Mexican Pot de Creme.
Deeee VINE!
seriously. try it!

What Lies Beneath

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eggs and spfritterseggs and sp fritters 2

What lies beneath that glorious fried egg and bacon is a little something I call a spicy sweet potato fritter!
(I know, my second fritter post today..I suppose I had fritters on the brain all weekend!)

I love crispy potato anythings with eggs for breakfast, and was craving a hash brown, or something similar…

here is what happenned:

Spicy Sweet Potato Feta Fritters

In a bowl, mix together:
-1 small sweet potato, peeled and grated
-1/4 red bell pepper, grated, or thinly sliced and chopped
-1 or 2 thin slices of onion, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
3 Tbsps almond flour
1 tsp tapioca flour
1/2 of a beaten egg (break the egg in a little bowl, beat the egg with fork, pour about half into the recipe)
1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese (optional)

drop batter into a hot skillett with melted butter and coconut oil mixed (about 1 T each) – drop and flatten batter…about half dollar size. Smaller gives you more crispy!
about 2-3 minutes, then flip and go another 2-3 minutes.

(I fried up an egg and bacon in the same skillet and plopped them on top of the fritters. So. dang. Good!)

enjoy!

Spicy spin on Chicken tortilla-less soup

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mex soup

Inspired yet again by one of the greats! Ms. Diane Sanfillipo, to me a nutritional guru when it comes to all things Paleo, author of Practical Paleo (my go to for everything knowledgeable and sensible about Paleo living) and also of the 21 Day Sugar Detox, which I find to be an incredible reset for everyone, shares her wealth of knowledge in simple terms, and then eases you into a delicious realm of paleo eating with her tried and true recipes, each one better than the next! I almost never change a note of her recipes, and when I do, traditionally it is just to amp up the flavors to my taste personally, nothing at all wrong in the master recipes.

In the 21DSD, she has a lovely, simple, Chicken Tortilla-Less Soup, which I have seen countless photos and raves about on IG ever since the book came out, but only got around to trying it out this weekend. This was one of those recipes that just got my own wheels spinning! Being a Texas Girl at heart, and having a love of all things Tex-Mex on my dinner table…I like my spicy foods SPICY!

So if you like a truly spicy mexican chicken soup, take a look at this little number which took off from Diane’s base recipe….I think you might like this! Just enough heat without being hot, a lovely meal or side anytime!

Try it like this:

In a large soup pot with a wide bottom, Saute the following:
-1 onion, diced
-2 carrots, diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-2 celery stalks, diced
-2 roasted poblanos, peeled, diced (Blacken pepper directly over gas flame, cool and peel. or you can roast in the oven)
-6 cloves of chopped garlic
saute for 7-10 minutes, letting the veggies soften, but not brown.

To the pot, add:
-1 1/2 Tbsp Ground Cumin
-2 tsp coriander
-1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-Salt and Pepper to taste
-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes for heat
continue to saute and mix together.

Add to the pot:
6-7 oz tomato paste, stir in
32 oz of bone broth
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 handful chopped fresh cilantro
Squeeze in the juice of one lime
drop in 2 chicken breasts, shredded (guilty. I buy an organic rotisserie chicken and use the meat from that…really tasty)

Check the level of saltiness and heat and let the soup simmer 15-20 mins to allow flavors to develop.

When you serve it, top the soup with diced avocado and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

This soup is hearty and so flavorful!
Hope you enjoy it!

Spicy Veggie Fritter Bites

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veggie fritter bits

Well it was a busy weekend and recipes were concocted! I always hesitate to claim any of them as my own, as they always seem to start with someone else’s base idea, but I figure if I tweak it enough and make it so delicious I feel I have to share it, I will claim it! (and always try to give credit to the original)…

So there was a post on facebook for Baked Squash and Carrot frittes by CavegirlCuisine. And it certainly looked good enough for me to print and give it a whirl….but I started brainstorming as I was mixing this up and came up with a delightful spicy fritter that only lasted a few minutes in my house! These are good, and I already have more ideas for them, will show as options here.

Here we go!

Spicy Veggie Fritter-Bites

Mix together the following:
-2 large eggs, beaten
-2 Tbsp melted Kerrygold Butter
-1 cup of grated yellow squash (or zuchini)…squeeze out extra moisture
-1 cup grated carrots
-2 Tbsp diced onions (about 2 slices, diced)
-4 cloves chopped garlic
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp cracked pepper
-1 tsp sriracha (or 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, all for heat)
-small handful of italian parsely, chopped
-1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (OPTIONAL)
other options: crumbled cooked bacon, finely diced red bell pepper

Add in 1/4 cup of coconut flour and mix well.

(I think this would also be very good with a spoonful or two of pecan flour)

Fill greased or parchment lined mini muffin pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until golden on top.

Great way to get your veggies in!
You could certainly leave out the heat if you have picky eaters, these are tasty, great on the go, and dissappear fast!

Let me know how you like them!

Lemon Lime Gummies

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citrus gummies

Treats. Sweets. Good to eats.
Looking for something new for the palate and have been seeing alot of paleo folks playing with gelatin, which on it’s own is very good for you, your gut, your joints, etc. Seeing as I really cannot get into the bone broth thing (although I have really enjoyed the process of making it!) I look to grassfed organic gelatin to add to foods to help me with the things my body really needs.

I read through alot of recipes and tried quite a few. This is my best stab at “gummies” so far! These are very tart/sour/tangy…but kind of addicting!
This weekend we are going to give some other flavors a try….but this is what I have so far:

In a saucepan over a medium to low flame, combine 1/4 c. water with 5 Tbsps of gelatin powder.
Quickly add:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup raw honey (or other like Agave or maple syrup)
Mix it thoroughly with a whisk or spoon and poor into a shallow pyrex dish…I used a 9×9…you can also use candy molds for shapes!
Place in the refrigerator to cool completely and slice or cut out shapes!
They keep in the fridge for weeks, and are so refreshing!

We also did a few batches with Kombucha in the liquids…in place of the water….with other fruit juices, and this was very nice too!