Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Banana Bread

So, Let me be real with you, the first time I made this bread it was seriously bland.  Like, not much depth to it at all.  It was a 5 ingredient recipe that enticed me to make it, but needed some serious re-invention and tweaking to make it tastey!  I'm proud to say, that I found a perfect balance for my taste buds and was able to leave it Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Sugar Free!  

 Now, your probably thinking to yourself, how is this dairy free and sugar free with those Chocolate chips on top? Right?  Well, those are added for my kids benefit, but can totally be made without them!  I just sprinkle them on top of the loaf right before I bake it, so if you didn't want all that chocolatey goodness, you could scrape it right off!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Banana Bread

1 Loaf

About 10 servings

Ingredients:

3 Ripe Medium Bananas

2 eggs + 2 egg whites (or you can just do 3 large eggs)

2 Cups Oats

1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup or Honey

1 Tbsp Flaxseed Meal

2 tsp Baking soda
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2-3/4 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Chocolate Chips (optional)

Preheat Oven to *350.  Put all ingredients in a blender, pulse until mixed thoroughly but not made into a puree.  Pour into a greased 9x5 Loaf pan.  Sprinkle on Chocolate chips only if wanted for kids sake!  Haha!  Bake for about 30 minutes!  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then take out of pan to completely cool off! Or Enjoy warm with butter!!!

Coconut Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Wow, What a a mouthful! Coconut Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice!  I know, everyone knows about the Cauliflower Rice, it's been going on for quite a while now.  And I like cauliflower rice, but I made this the other night, and had to make it again the next night because I loved it soo much.  LOVE is a strong word, and I have weird food relationships, and get slightly obsessed over food sometimes, but you will LOVE this "Rice" too!  Promise!  Seriously it is just bursting with sooo much flavor, you will not even notice that it's not real rice!

I Served it with marinated lime coconut milk, cilantro Chicken and what was supposed to be grilled vegetables ended up getting thrown in the oven last minute because we ran out of propane!!!  

CAULIFLOWER RICE

1/2 Head Cauliflower - Riced in a blender
1 Tblsp - Coconut Oil
1/2 Lime
1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro
2 Tblsp - Coconut milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

First start with cutting your cauliflower down pretty good with no stems.  Stick the florets into your blender and pulse it maybe 3 times.  You don't want it too small that it gets mushy with heat.  Heat your oil onto a skillet pan and add your riced cauliflower.  Season really well with Salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes.  Once cooked through add in your lime and Cilantro, then add in your Coconut milk.  I just used the silk brand coconut milk that comes in a carton that you put in your fridge.  Cook and stir constantly for another 2 minutes or so, then remove from heat so it doesn't sog up.  Serve with anything!  It's Fabulous!

Crepes - Gluten Free

Ok, so I know I've already got 2 other Crepe recipes on here, BUT, my family loves crepes, and we eat them every Sunday!  So I experiment a lot with them.  Right now, I'm doing no sugar, no dairy and no wheat.  Yikes!  I Know!!  The things a girls got to do to try and keep a figure!  Anywho!  These Crepes!  My kids didn't flinch, didn't question, didn't nothing!  They loved them as usual AND I actually got to eat them during this strict meal plan I'm doing, and ENJOY them!  Ok, I didn't get to enjoy them with Peanut Butter and Pure maple syrup as I usually do, but I put drizzled Almond butter and crushed berries on them and didn't feel deprived at all!  YUMM!



This Recipe is very similar to my other recipes, but with a few tweaks to make it work!:

CREPES - GLUTEN FREE

8 eggs
2 Cups - Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or your choice of unsweetened non dairy milk)
2 TBLSP - Olive Oil (Or coconut oil)
2 tsp - Pure Vanilla extract
2 tsp - powdered stevia
1 tsp- salt
1 Cup - Organic Oat Flour
1 Cup - Tapioca Flour** (see note below)

Combine all ingredients except for the gluten free flours and mix until well blended.  Slowly add in the Oat flour and the Tapioca flour.  There will be slight lumps in the batter, just work them out as much as you can without over beating.  I kind of just squish them down with my measuring cup as I pour them into the pan.  I have two crepe pans going at one time to keep this moving along.  Make sure the pans are hot, and if you are using a non-stick pan, you only need to spray oil on it once in the beginning.  I pour between 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto pan and swirl it around, then flip when bubbles are showing and its has slight browning spots on the bottom.
Serve hot & Enjoy!

**The Tapioca Flour gave these crepes a great texture.  Very springy and squishy.  They held up better than any other gluten free flours I've tried in the past (and I think I've tried them all!!)

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

 Ok, so I've been really wanting to try this whole cauliflower crust thing for a LONG time, and just haven't gotten around to it.  I've done the Zucchini crust thing and it was good.  Soft, but good.  So It was make your own pizza night with the kiddos, so I decided, I get to make my own pizza too!  Guiltless, and no grains in my crust!  I could call this Paleo'sh, if I wanted too.  It all depends on if you allow dairy into your paleo lifestyle, which I do.  I try to go light on dairy, so it has to be for a special dish.  And I think Pizza is a special dish that REQUIRES, cheese!  Am I right???

Even after getting the "weirdo" look from my Husband, after it was all said and done, cooked and cut, I got the approval from him saying it was good, and really not that different from a regular crust.  A tad softer, but the taste is not compromised at all!  It tastes awesome!  And I actually had it for lunch the next day with a cut up chicken breast for a tad more protein and it was fulfilling and yummy!

The biggest tip I can give you to get your crust to turn out firm and crusty, is after you "rice" your cauliflower, cook it in the microwave for 4 minutes, dump it onto a Tea Towel, wait for it to cool so you can handle it, then wring the heck out of it until you can't get anymore liquid out of it, and it looks like a ball of dough, like this!

 Grain-Free Cauliflower Crust Pizza

makes one approx. 10-12 inch pizza

1 small to medium sized head of cauliflower - should yield  3 cups once processed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush it even more between your fingers)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crush it even more between you fingers)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
optional a few shakes of crushed red pepper
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 egg

Then use your preference on pizza sauce and toppings!  You all know how you like to dress your pizza up!

Place a pizza stone in the oven, or baking sheet if you don't have a pizza stone. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a cutting board, place a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with nonstick cooking oil. 

Wash and thoroughly dry a small head of cauliflower.  Cut off the florets. Pulse in your food processor for about 30 seconds, until you get powdery snow like cauliflower. You should end up with  3 cups cauliflower "snow". Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and cover. Microwave for 4 minutes. Dump cooked cauliflower onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool for a bit before attempting the next step.

Once cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in the dish towel and wring the heck out of it. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. This will ensure you get a chewy pizza like crust instead of a crumbly mess. 

Dump cauliflower into a bowl. Now add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers before adding), 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt), and a dash of red pepper if you want.  Now add your egg and mix away. Hands  or a a fork tend to work best. 

Once mixed together, use your hands to form the dough into a crust on your oiled parchment paper. Pat it down thoroughly, you want it nice and tightly formed together. Don't make it too thick or thin either.

Using a cutting board slide the parchment paper onto your hot pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10-14 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.

Add however much sauce, cheese, and toppings you want.  Slide parchment with topped pizza back in the hot oven and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly golden.

Test your patience and allow it to cool for a minute or two. Probably closer to two. Then using a pizza cutter and a spatula serve up your delicious grain-free cauliflower crust pizza!

*** Oven time may very!  Just make sure you cook the crust long enough that its not a crumbly soft mess.  Also make sure if you don't have a silicone pat, use parchment paper, not wax paper or tin foil!  

*** If you are  don't get enough "cauliflower snow out of your head of cauliflower, you can always add in a tablespoon or 2 of Almond meal to get the thickness you need.  

I got this recipe off of Pinterest from a wonderful blog called THE LUCKY PENNY BLOG

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So I know that I've mentioned this before, but the way I create my recipes, is by looking at at LEAST 3 recipes of the meal I want to prepare, and basically take what I want from each recipes, and make my own hand crafted version of the ingredients I love!  That's the way I work!  And it works good for me!  I actually have a recipe of lettuce wraps on my blog HERE, but this version hit the spot for me.  Much more flavorable, and much easier!  Can I get a woot woot for crockpot meals?!?!?!?

I made these for dinner earlier in the week and my husband loved them!  So when I informed him I was in charge of the Appetizer for a progressive dinner this past Friday, I asked him what appetizer I should make, and he said "Is that even a question?!"  Ha Ha!  So of course Lettuce wraps is what I made!  And they were a hit!  The first time I made these, I used Romaine Lettuce.  And the second time I used these live Butter Leaves.  They both have their Pros and Cons.  I actually liked eating these with the Romaine Leaves because it gives a better crunch and holds the juices in better.  But they aren't soo pretty and sometimes they crack.  The Butter Leaves are just pretty, now aren't they?  They take good pictures and they are presentable.  But they are soft, no crunch and juice gets everywhere.  So you get to pick and choose for yourself.

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Yield: About 12 wraps, about 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 2 lbs ground chicken 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1  Zucchini, chopped small
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil 
• Romaine Lettuce or Live Butter Leaves
• 1/4 chopped peanuts or Cashews

Directions

• Place oil and ground chicken in a large skillet and cook until browned.  Drain the fat and pour into a 5 - 7 quart slow cooker. Add zucchini, bell pepper, onion, and garlic back to the skillet and saute until softened, about 3-5 minutes.  Add to your crock pot and add in your hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and toss mixture. Cover and cook on low heat about  3 hours until chicken is tender.
• Stir in your green onions and cook until heated through 3 - 5 minutes.  Separate lettuce leaves and serve with chicken filling and add your peanuts.

Skinny Chicken Salad

So I'm not gonna lie.  I've kind of been eating the same thing for lunch almost every day for two weeks now.  That would be the Healthy Thai Chicken Salad I posted Last week, and this Skinny Chicken Salad I'm posting today, both from OUR BEST BITES!

This recipe, I've actually eaten tons in the past year but with a little spin on it I'll share with you at the end if you want to mix it up.

Just looking at this salad you feel healthy, right? And it seriously is delishous!!

 You can eat it out of a bowl, or add it to a big peice of lettuce and make it a lettuce wrap.

Yeild:  1 Serving

4 oz, or 1 Cup diced or shredded Chicken
1/4 Cup diced apple (gala is my favorite)
2 TBSP diced green onion
1/4 Cup or one stalk celery diced
1 TBSP light mayo
1 TBSP greek yogurt or light sour cream
1/4 tsp red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp curry powder
1 TBSP sunflower seeds or sliced Almonds

Combine all the ingredients above and enjoy!  Or combine all ingredients except the seeds or almonds and chill for an hour, then add and enjoy!

The other option I have for this salad is to leave out the curry powder and green onion, but you add 1 cup of shredded cabbage/coleslaw, and no nuts.  It is soo yummy this way as well!!!

Cottage Cheese Delight!

Hello!  Happy New Year!  I'm 2 weeks away from delivering my baby and home with Bronchitis, but hey, I hope you are having a happy new year!!!  A friend of mine posted this on facebook and of course I'm always up for trying new recipes that look yummy and healthy!  And practically contained every ingredient that I love!  The only problem was, there wasn't a name for it so I had to come up with something fancy for it, and nothing came to me, so Cottage Cheese Delight is what I got!  Now for all you Paleo goers out there this could or could not be paleo depending on how strict you allow dairy into your diet!  I'm not that strict when I choose to be paleo so I would definitley allow this on my menu!  (Hopefully Paleo comes back full force after this baby is born, but for now, uh uh, no way)

The VIVA lowfat cottage cheese is my favorite brand.  I think it has the best texture and taste and I've tried quite a few.  I also like these mini cucumbers that are soo easy to chop up.  I added the blackberries to the list because I had them and was very much glad I did!  It brought a great sweat/tartness to it that was awesome!!

1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/2 Avocado - pitted and chopped
1/4 Cup chopped cucumber
1 green onion - green ends only, chopped
red grapes - handful, washed
Blackberries - handful, washed
Salt & Pepper

Just dump everything into a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper to your taste, AND ENJOY!!!!  I had this for lunch for 3 days straight and loved it!  Thank you Jen!!!

Cabbage Soup

I Know!  Cabbage Soup doesn't sound very enticing does it?!?!?  But believe me you wont be sorry if you try this soup, and your bodies wont hate you either!!!  I'm sure you've all heard of the Cabbage Soup diet, right?  Well this is that, but on steroids and tastes way better!  My mom used to make it a lot and so I've never had a problem with it and I actually really liked it!  And just recently I had stinky cabbage in my fridge that had to be cooked asap, so I started searching for recipes, and combined my moms recipe with a few extra ingredients and absolutely LOVE this soup!  And so does Chris if that tells you anything!  Most recipes don't tell you to put ground beef in it, but I think it's a must and it definitely fills your belly a lot quicker!  This recipe is PALEO.  If you are crazy strict paleo and think beef broth from a can is bad for you, then go ahead and make your own beef broth.  But I let this one slide :)

1/2 lb ground beef
2 bottles stewed tomato's - blended
1 Can Beef Broth
1 Cup Chopped Cabbage
1/2 Cup chopped zucchini
1/2 Cup Chopped onion
1/2 Cup sliced carrots
1/2 Cup chopped celery
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Oregano - 1/2 tsp - to taste
Basil - 1/2 tsp - to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

Start with Browning your beef with your onion.  I like to do it in my big stock pot so I only have to use one pan.  Once beef is browned add your olive oil and the rest of your vegetables.  For the carrots, this time I just used baby carrots and stuck them in my salad shooter and sliced them thin so they would soften fast.  For the stewed tomato's, I used my own bottled tomatos and blended them in my ninja, juice and all and add it to the stock pot.  Add your beef broth and your seasonings to taste and let simmer for 20-30 min.  Long enough to let the flavors marinate, and the veggies to soften up.  Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus

So if you haven't noticed I have found this new love of Roasting vegetables rather than sauteing them and find that it gives off the best flavor ever!!!  This is just something simple really, but it definitely has to be added to my list of foods to make OFTEN!

1 Bunch Asparagus
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Preheat your oven to 400-425*.  Wash and snap off the the hard ends of your asparagus.  Get out a cookie sheet and spread the asparagus on it.  This list of ingredients is used to your liking of how seasoned you want it.  Just drizzle your olive oil over your asparagus, then lightly cover with your salt and  pepper.  Stir it around until its completely covered then lay evenly on pan and stick in the oven.  Roast in the oven for about 10 Minutes sprinkle your Parmesan cheese on, and roast for a couple more minutes until melted.  Wonderful!!

PALEO CRUNCH

Here is a another yummy granalo - Paleo Style!  I think I LOVE this one more that the first one I made:  Fall Trail Mix - Paleo. I'm sure the first thing your going to do is scan the ingredients, and if your not a coconut lover you will immediately turn away and choose not to make this.  But that is a HUGE mistake, because I for one, am NOT a coconut lover, never have been.  But this Granola is seriously soooo good and worth trying.  It makes 2 huge cookie sheets worth so if you don't want to have excess saved in the freezer like I do, cut in half.  But I'm always up for having extra around!

My favorite is the Flaked Coconut from Bob's Red Mill.

And this is my Absolute favorite low Carb yogurt to eat it with.  It's Kroger Brand from Smiths called CARBmaster - Vanilla.  It only has 60 calories, 4 carbs & 3 sugars.  So WAAAY lower than your leading brands, but WAAAY more flavorful than GREEK yogurt.

PALEO CRUNCH

4 cups slivered almonds - I use whole raw almonds and blend them up in my ninja until they have a chopped texture

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 1/5 cups almond meal/flour

2 tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

¾ cup raw organic honey

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tsp pure Almond extract (just use vanilla if you don't have Almond)

1/2 - 3/4 cup liquefied coconut oil (easiest to add this last) 

1 tsp cinnamon

Agave (optional)

Preheat oven to 240F

Mix  all ingredients except Agave.  You might have to heat your honey a little to get it to spread.  You will have to heat your coconut oil too if has turned solid.  Spread/press onto 2 rimmed baking sheets lined with Parchment Paper.  Drizzle with your Agave. Bake for 1 hour (or until nicely goldish)

*stir up once about 1/2 through baking time.  Do not stir again until completely cooled!  That way it keeps it chunky.  I actually like to turn off the oven after 1 hour, then leave the Paleo Crunch in their for another 10 min until it browns a little and it comes out in big chunks!  LOVE it that way!

**if you have to put one cookie sheet on lower shelf, pull this out to stir about 30 minutes in and keep an eye on it, it will bake faster and could be over-cooked if you leave it in the full hour. Let it cool.  Eat it dry or with coconut or almond milk as cereal, or on top of Vanilla yogurt.   Store with paper towels/napkins to absorb excess oil.  

Chicken Sausage & Oven Roasted Veggies

I love the Apple Chicken Sausage that you can get in a 4 pack at Sams club!  They are soooo dang good.  And I'm always trying to find some kind of stir fry to put them in and usually fail on texture or consistency or something but still loving the sausage.  But this one worked and I Loved it!  Enjoy!  And you can enjoy it with or without the pasta!  But Obviously NO PASTA FOR PALEO!!!

Cut your sausage  in bite size pieces, and put in a skillet with olive oil and let cook until it starts to brown.  Then add in that yummy chopped spinach to wilt that last couple minutes.

 Roasting the veggies in the oven give them such a better flavor than just sauteing on the stove top!

 Put it all together and top it with Parmesan Cheese.

1 package (4-5) links of Apple Chicken Sausage
1/2 Zucchini - sliced then quartered (not pictured)
1/2 red pepper - chopped
1/2 green pepper - chopped
4 whole mushrooms - sliced
1/4 Cup yellow onion - chopped
1 1/2 Cup - chopped broccoli
1/2 Cup Chopped Spinach leaves
3 tblsp - Olive oil - (seperated)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt & Pepper to taste
Any kind of Pasta - optional

Preheat your oven to 400*.  Place your, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, onion & broccoli in a shallow baking pan.  Drizzle about 1- 2 tblsp of olive oil, your garlic, salt and pepper on your veggies then toss to coat.  Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once at the mid way point.
While you are roasting your veggies, slice your sausage in a diagonal, and place in a skillet pan with 1 tblsp of oil.  Stir and Cook until it browns a bit.  Then chop up your Spinach and add to skillet to wilt.  Putting a lid on it helps the process along.
Cook your pasta according to directions, reserving 1/2 cup of liquid when you drain the pasta.
Once veggies are roasted, sausage and spinach are cooked, and pasta is done, combine in one skillet adding the reserved liquid from pasta a little at a time to how you want it.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and walah!

Egg Salad made with Avacado

So does anyone else have a crap load of boiled Easter eggs that they need to get rid of????  And fretting if you are on a Paleo diet and don't have a great way to get that Egg Salad craving put to rest?  Well my friends, once again Pinterest has not let me down.  I found about 5 different recipes that I tinkered with and quite like the concoction I came up with!!!! It's very light and refreshing!  And you can eat this with bread, or with out bread.  With Mayo, or without Mayo!  Take a look!!

I like to serve mine with Spinach leaves.

 Or in a pepper if you are going paleo...

 Or celery sticks.  Ok this pic kind of looks gross because it's second day Egg Salad, and Avocado's don't look that great the second day!!

4 boiled eggs - peeled and chopped
1 Avocado - mushed
1 tblsp Mayo (omit if you are paleo unless you have paleo mayo)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp black pepper
Chop your boiled eggs then add a ripe avocado and mush together.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and it's kind of up to you on how dill"y" or lemon"y" you want it!  Enjoy!!!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri

 This tenderloin was soooo tender and had sooo much flavor to it.  I actually found this on 2 of my favorite blogs:  Our Best Bites, and The Sisters Cafe!  So that means it HAS to be awesome right?  Plus it is PALEO friendly all the way!  You can use this Chimichurri sauce on any cut of steak, but I found it to be just perfect on this pork tenderloin grilled!  Then the next day, I sliced this tenderloin up and through it over some greens with some fresh rasberries and fell in love with it a second time!

2 small- medium pork tenderloins


Chimichurri Sauce
1 1/2 Cups chopped parsley
1 1/2 Cups chopped cilantro
1 tblsp + 1 tsp dry oregano
2 tblsp fresh lime juice
1 tblsp red wine vinegar
3 tbslp minced garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil

For the Chimichurri Sauce, put everything in the blender except the red pepper and olive oil.  Pulse several times until finely chopped.  Transfer mixture to a bowl then add in red pepper and olive oil and stir by hand.
Remove 1/2 - 3/4 Cup sauce and put in a gallon ziplog bag and add your tenderloins.  Coat the tenderloins then let marinate for at least an hour.  Cover the reserved Chimichurri and set aside.
Preheat your grill.  Place the tenderloins on the grill and cook about 5-8 min before flipping to the other side.  Let cook on the other side for another 5-8 min.  Remove from grill and let it stand 5 min before cutting.  Slice and serve with remaining chimichurri drizzled on top!  Yum!!

Egg In a Hole - Another Breakfast option

Everyone has cut a hole out of their bread and cracked an egg into the hole before right?  We love doing that at our house.  Especially my seven year old.  But I know what it's like when you are looking for a low carb breakfast.  Pinterest is a dangerous thing when you love to cook because I seriously skim over everything until I see a picture of food, then I pin it to my most popular board "Recipes I want to try".  And most of them are probably peanut butter desserts.  Anyways, long story short, I found these yummy eggs in a Pepper ring and thought what a wonderful idea and gave it a try.  They were soooo yummy!  And for those little people out their that really need some substance to get them through school, just put a piece of toast under it for them!

All you do is cut a Green Bell pepper so it keeps it shape.  Heat a saute pan on med and spray with non stick pam spray.  You want to make sure your pan is heated before you crack your egg otherwise it will run all over the place.  Put your pepper on the pan and crack your egg into the pepper.  Sometimes you will need to apply a little pressure on the pepper so it doesn't leak out.  Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper and Parmesian Cheese.  Once it's cooked Really good on the once side, go ahead and flip it and cook to your desired consistency.  Yum!

Zucchini Spaghetti Noodles with Roasted Eggplant

Well wouldn't you know it.  Here I am cooking another Paleo meal and loving it, so I had to share!  I guess doing something for 2 weeks DOES make a habit!  Anyways, if your anything like me, you hear the word Eggplant and immediately move on to a different recipe, not because you don't like it, but because it's somewhat foreign to you and you haven't really tried it before.   Well stop here my friend, because this was DANG good, and DANG easy, and I will for sure cook it again, and again.  And see those yummy zucchini noodles in the picture? Just go to Kitchen Kneads and grab yourself a Julienne Peeler for $8.95.  It's WORTH the money, I promise!!!  And I didn't feel like I was missing or wanting the regular spaghetti noodles, the zucchini was awesome!!!

I used this New Marinara sauce from Walmart that I thought was Awesome!  A lot of people like to do "home-made" marinara sauce, but it's really like throwing a can of this, and a can of that and a packet of this in there, so I figure this is just easier!  This Rao's Homemade All natural was sooo good, and nothing bad for you in the ingredients!  So Enjoy!

2-3 Medium Zucchini - Julienne Peeled
3/4 lb of ground pork Sausage
1 Jar Marinara Sauce
1 Med Eggplant   - Sliced
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to Taste
1 tsp minced Garlic

Preheat Oven to 425*  Cut the tops off your Eggplant and slice into1/2 inch rounds, then in 1/2's.  Put your eggplant in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.  You be the judge of how much olive oil you need.  Place them on a cookie sheet and Roast in the oven for 18-20 min.
In a large saute pan, put your sausage (I do half sausage have beef) in and cook until browned all the way through. Drain Fat.  Add your marinara sauce and simmer for at least 10 min.
Now take your zucchini and just slice away with your julienne peeler, skin and all.  Put it in a microwavable bowl with the lid on and nuke for about 2 min.  You don't want to overcook or they will get soggy, so you be the judge.  When done, drain the excess water and or pat dry.  Add your sauce, and then your Roasted Eggplant, and Wala!!

Coconut Chicken Nuggetts

The Basics, my friends.  Sometimes you just need to cook the basics so your whole family can join in!  These Chicken nuggetts are absolutely great, and paleo through and through.  I was soo sick of making 2 dinners that I thought, what can I eat, that my boys will eat too!  And Chicken Nuggetts were the first thing that came to mind.  So I went on a search and this one sounded the easiest and the yummiest!  I found it off of MULIPLY DELICIOUS BLOG!

1 pound ground chicken

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup + ½ cup almond flour

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut  (chopped small)

½ cup coconut oil

Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine ¼ cup almond flour, ½ cup coconut and salt & pepper. Mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the ground chicken, ½ cup almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, egg yolk and salt & pepper. Mix well until everything is incorporated.

In a sauté pan, melt coconut oil on medium heat. Take about 2 tablespoons worth of the chicken mixture and roll into a ball and smash to the shape you want and then coat with the coconut and almond mixture. Repeat with the remaining chicken. You should make about 20 chicken nugget/balls.

In small batches place nuggets into heated coconut oil and cook on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer balls to a parchment lined bake pan and place in oven for 4 to 5 minutes to allow the chicken to cook through. Repeat with the remaining chicken nuggets.

Crepes - Paleo!

Is anyone else looking for something else to eat for breakfast besides eggs and bacon on this Paleo chanllenge???  Well  I was!!  These crepes are darn good, and darn easy!!!  If you think about it, the main ingredients is eggs, and you only have to do a little ingredient swapping and wala!!!  These tasted just like the real deal to me, maybe a little more eggy than flour(y), but that's what we are going for, right???  I just topped mine with Justin's brand Maple Almond Butter (my favorite) and Pure maple syrup!  They were awesome!  And I didn't feel left out while my kids and husband were eating their crepes!

3 eggs
1/4 Cup Almond Milk (I like Vanilla)
1/4 Cup Almond Meal
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tblsp olive oil (or coconut oil)

Just whip all ingredients up in a blender.  Heat your skillet on medium heat.  Spray with coconut cooking spray and scoop about 1/3 cup of batter onto skillet.  Pick up skillet and swirl it to make a big circle.  Wait until edges start to curl a little and the underside is slightly browned and flip.  Beware, this does take skill, and you will get better with practice!!!

Spicy Honey Chicken

 How about this, a Paleo Dish, NOT found on a Paleo Website.  This is from one of my favorite blogs, OUR BEST BITES!  And it's yum, and can be eaten as a salad dish as well!  This chicken calls for the grill, so I bundled myself up and turned the grill on in my garage!  And my garage still stinks today! Just click the title to each picture and and it will take you to Our Best Bites site for instructions.  I love to take time to find the recipe, make the recipe, and take pictures of the recipe, but to write it down when it's way tooo easy to attach a link is pushing it!!!  Hope you don't mind!!!

 SPICY HONEY CHICKEN

 SPICY HONEY CHICKEN SALAD

Serve with red onions, green onions, avocados, mushrooms (not pictured) Mangos (optional)

 HONEY CITRUS VINAIGRETTE