Pumpkin Muffins

Fall seems like it has officially began in Idaho. I guess its time for some fall flavors and soup!!! These muffins are so light and tasty you wouldn't know they are not made with traditional flour. The raisins do a good job of sweetening them so there is no need for honey or another sweetener.

1 C Almond flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1 C Pumpkin
1/4 C Applesauce
1 Tbsp Oil
2 Eggs
4 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp Almond butter
2 Tbsp Coconut
1 C Raisins

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet and mix only to incorporate the two together. Bake in well greased muffin tins at 375 for 20 minutes.

"Its so easy even a caveman could do it"

There a few new faces at the gym (maybe some reluctant not so new faces.) So I thought I would post some tips for you that may help you make the dive into a Paleo lifestyle. Note that I say life style not diet Diets are always referred to as something temporary; something that will eventually change and a person can resume their way of life presumably with a smaller waistband. Diets fail because they are not permanent. Permanent results require permanent change. Going Paleo you are not going on a diet you are making a life style change prepare yourself your family and your cupboards accordingly. This is not a restrictive, uptight, take time out of your life change its a way to relearn how to take care of your body and the bodies of those dearest to you! Remember I just made this change in March of 2010 It was a challenge at first, but now I cant see going back to grains, dairy and processed foods!

1. Remove anything and everything from your house that does not promote your new way of life. This will include cleaning out your cupboards (think about donating dry packaged goods to your local food bank) Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. If you cant read it don't eat it. This is a rule I live by.90% of ingredients you find in prepared foods are chemicals and additives, what do they do to your body?



2. Give it time. The first day will seem strangely easy,the next several days will be hell, prepare to have craving and even dreams of food, yes ask Jenn it happens! It takes 2 weeks to get rid of all the crap built up in our bodies. After the first few weeks you will start to view food in a whole new way.



3. Slip ups may happen. Tomorrow is always a second chance, if you fail today wake up tomorrow and do better! Feeling defeated wont help you, the goal is to have your moment and get right back up again, with a new sense of purpose.



4. Plan ahead. Having pre-chopped veggies, nuts and fruit easily accessible for snacks will help you when you have a craving or a hunger attack. When I first started I kept a Lara bar or some fruit in my purse for an emergency. I used it on more than one occasion!



5. Think of food as fuel. When reaching for food I think what does my body really need? Usually the answer is either water or protein. I make a rule that between lunch and dinner if I'm hungry I go to a protein source over fruit. In doing this you know its not out of habit or boredom to be eating but a necessity to keep your body going.



6. Replace dessert with fruit. Frozen fruit can be a tasty alternative to dessert while you are still trying to break old habits! Smoothies and coconut milk poured over strawberries or mango's are also simple and healthy choices to replace dessert.



7. Worried about calcium? I don't plan on living my elderly years with cracking bones and a hunch back. Do you ever see pictures of a Caveman living like that? Here is a great article to ease your minds over this subject! http://www.marksdailyapple.com/calcium-for-women/.



8. The 80/20 rule. I tend to jump into things and don't turn back, but for those of you who take a more gradual approach to life the 80/20 rule is something that Mark from MDA promotes. Eat strict Paleo 80% of the time and then other 20% be more relaxed that is 2 out of every 10 meals. I don't necessarily think this is the best way to go about it, but if its where you need to start to be able to convert you and your family great,as long as you eventually make the switch to fully primal.



9. Be creative. Just like all other aspects of like you need a little spice (pun intended). Vary your meals daily if possible,there are so many great recipes and blogs out there to check out, don't get stuck in a rut. Just like with our workouts our bodies do much better with a fluctuating food pattern.



10. If you bite it write it! I started out writing everything that went into my mouth the first 3 months of eating Paleo. This will help you detect patterns in your eating and also foods that your body may not like, or things that you may be lacking. Jenn is a great resource when it comes to changing your diet and going over food journals to make sure you have a good balance.

Good luck on your quest to a healthier happier body, please post question or additional tips and info in the comments.

Primal Pizza

Pizza is one of those comfort foods that as a Paleo eater is hard to give up. Have no fear I have come up with a perfectly clean pizza that is loaded with protein and you can top it however you want! I made mine with sausage, bell peppers, onions, and olives.

Here is another great idea for a topping Taco Pizza, its one of my favorites! Make the crust and sauce the same and top with taco meat bake until warm and top with lettuce, olives, onion, tomatoes, jalapenos and salsa.

To make the crust:

Boil 2 chicken breasts until cooked through, Cut into 1/4's and put in your handy dandy food processor and blend until smooth add 3 eggs while its still blending it will form a thick paste. Add 1 tsp salt and a few pinches pepper. Line a pizza pan with parchment or if you are like me and don't have one a cookie sheet will do. Pour the chicken mixture into the pan and pat out to about 1/4 inch thick. It will look like this:

Pop the crust into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with Pizza Sauce: 1 small can tomato paste, 3/4 C water, 1 tsp garlic minced, 2 tsp. Italian seasoning, 1 tsp Olive oil a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the toppings of your choice, mine looked like this:

Put back into the oven for 15 minutes more and enjoy! Here is the finished product!

Athlete Energy Bars

I am thinking about competing in an Ironman triathlon in a few years and was bet that I couldn't run the race Paleo. In a quest to prove some gentlemen WRONG, I came up with a recipe for some bars that are made with nuts and fruit and provide carbs and fat and they are the healthy kind even (no pasta here). I hope these will also be utilized by Andy with is competing in Ironman CDA 2011. GO ANDY!!! They would also be a good snack, good for school lunches and just a bar on the go think Lara bar just more nutty! They are kid tested and approved thanks Brooklyn and Katie!

1 C Almonds

3/4 C each dried apricots and dates

1/4 C Orange juice

dash of sea salt

1/4 C each pumpkin and sunflower seeds

2 Tbsp Ground flax seed- optional but a very healthy addition

In your trusty food processor (did you get one yet? what are you waiting for?) mix the almonds until they are finely chopped add the dried fruit and mix again until it forms together add the O.J. and salt pulse a few times and lastly add the seeds and flax and pulse a few times more just to incorporate. Pat into a foil lined 8x8 inch pan and bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cut when still warm. I cut them and wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge for easy snacking.

Sun dried Tomato Alfredo with Spaghetti Squash and Shrimpies

I think this is my favorite Paleo meal to date. Scott even had some and said you would never known it was made with coconut milk instead of heavy cream! You could make this over a bed of cauliflower "rice", kelp noodles or spaghetti squash as I did here. I had never had spaghetti squash and it was very very VERY good. I will definitely use it again! I'm looking forward to cooking some fall flavors pretty soon.

There are several ways you can cook a spaghetti squash the method I used seemed to be the easiest and with it being so hot the coolest as well! I cut the squash in half and put if flat side down in a small Pyrex dish with a splash of water and microwaved it covered with saran wrap for 20 minutes. It looked like this:

You can also bake it using the same method minus the saran wrap in a 350 degree oven for an hour. It is done when you can scape the inside and it comes out easily it will look like spaghetti and smell like a fall day!

Alfredo sauce:

1 tsp. Olive oil

4 Cloves garlic

3/4 C Chicken broth

1/2 tsp. Arrowroot (as a thickener)

1 tsp Sea salt

Fresh pepper

1/4 C Sun dried tomatoes chopped

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 Can Coconut milk

1 lb Shrimp (de-veined and shelled)

Cook your shrimp in the olive oil and garlic, set aside. In the same pan add the chicken broth and whisk in the arrowroot. Once thickened add the coconut milk, seasoning and tomatoes. Add the shrimp back in and simmer until the sauce has become thick and yummy about 5-8 minutes.
Drum roll please... here is the final product soooo gooood!

MDA 30 day Challenge

Attention all Paleoites/Paleodians, Oh I don't know... All you who eat clean or want to start eating clean!!! Mark Sisson is bringing back the 30 day clean eating challenge for the month of September. Plenty of time to take baby steps and start eating clean and receiving the benefits before the end of summer! Go here to check it out-http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-2010-primal-challenge-is-coming/. There are contests with prizes and give aways. So go ahead be brave and give it a shot, don't think of what you have to lose (weight, health issues, hormone imbalance, insulin spikes, cravings and a whole mess of other problems), but what you will gain (strength, stamina, endurance, better rest, over all health and well being).

Lets play a game... Add your gains/losses for eating clean to the comments it will amaze you once you sit down and think about it!

Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna With Swiss Chard

1 Bunch chopped swiss chard

2 Cloves garlic minced

1/2 Red onion chopped

1/2 Red bell pepper chopped

1 tsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp Sun dried tomatoes chopped

Sautee the veggies in oil until soft, add swiss chard and simmer with a lid for 5 minutes.

Ahi tuna fillets

1/4 C each sesame and flax seed

Salt and pepper

Oil to coat bottom of pan

Season your tuna fillets and dunk into the seeds sear in hot oil for 3-5 minutes on each side

depending on thickness and how you like it cooked. I ate it with Wasabi that I found from Beaver. The Wasabi paste I found was not clean but the powder usually is just make sure to check your labels!

Super Easy Banana Pancakes

This is a very simple recipe that doesnt take long to prepare and is a very tasty snack or breakfast. It may even be fun to get the kids involved (its that easy).

2 Ripe banana

2 Eggs

Coconut oil

Peel the banana and put it in a blender with the eggs, whirl it up. Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a saucepan or griddle. Pour about 1/4 c of the batter into the pan and cook for about 3 minutes,very very carefully flip the pancake its fragile so treat it like a small infant and give it some love! cook an additional 3 minutes on the other side and eat while its still hot. Optional - sprinkle with some cinnamon and nutmeg and or drizzle with honey for a real treat!

Food Processors

I had a handsome wonderful man (Larry) bring it to my attention that I use my food processor an awful lot in my recipes. I just assumed that most people have food processors not thinking... "Hello Carley! You bake for a living and have all sorts of handy gadgets!" So In saying that I looked up some consumer reports view here: http://www.consumersearch.com/food-processors. I actually have the budget processor that is featured in the report and it has worked like a champ for me! I hope this helps in choosing a VERY useful and in my opinion necessary kitchen tool.

Pork Marinade

Oh pork how I love thee! Bacon, ham, sausage, bacon, chops, loin, ribs, roast, BACON need I say more?!?!?! Well you would think this post is about bacon and its not... I made a very tasty marinade for my pork last night it looked like this:

And I made this out of the pork that I marinaded:

What will you make?

1/4 C Sesame oil

1/4 C Tamari ( wheat-free soy sauce)

1 Tbsp. Rosemary

4 Cloves crushed garlic

1 Tbsp Fresh ginger grated

Mix all together and put your pork in the marinade I like to mix it right in a Ziploc bag that way its easy to turn and cover all sides of the meat. Toss a few times to coat and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until you are ready to use. As you can see I made stir-fry with it and it was scrumptious. Ive also made kabobs and used it as a chop marinade.

Did You Say Meat and Free?!?!?!

Food Renegade is giving away a sampler package ($85 value) of Grass-fed Sausage from U.S. Wellness Meats! The goodies included in the give away are:

• Braunsweiger (1lb.)


• Snack Sticks (.5 lb.)


• Salami (1 lb.)


• Bologna (1lb.)


• Liverwurst (1lb.)


• Headcheese (1lb.) -hmmm I don't know about that!


• Polish Sausage (1lb.)


• Italian Sausage (1lb.)Beef Franks (1lb)


• Summer Sausage (1lb)

All of the meats are all natural, no preservatives, no filler and 100% delicious! To enter go to http://blog.grasslandbeef.com/food-renegade-sausage-sampler-giveaway

Fully Paleo Chocolate

So every now and then I get a craving for CHOCOLATE!!! Sometimes I just want straight chocolate not a delicious brownie cake or Paleo truffles (see older posts for recipes)... So I made this:

Pure dark chocolate! You can make so many things using this as your base such as almond butter cups and chocolate chip cookies (I will post ASAP!)

Chocolate is a great source of antioxidants, it contains polyphenols which are similar to the antioxidants found in wine. Chocolate also contains many vitamins and minerals including magnesium, calcium, zinc, copper, potassium, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, D and E. Chocolate may keep blood pressure down and reduce the ability for blood to clot thus reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

An Italian study showed that to best receive the benefits of dark chocolate one should eat 20 grams every 3 days (I could sure go with that!) The sad thing is eating more often will not give you any additional health benefits. You can choose to believe that study or just eat the whole 8 oz batch!!!

8 Oz Unsweetened chocolate (you can get this in the baking isle

3 Tbsp Coconut oil

1 Tbsp Honey

1 Tbsp Nut butter (I used almond)

Using a double boiler (you can make one by placing a glass bowl on top of a small sauce pan filled with a few inches of water) put the coconut oil in the bowl. Place the chocolate on top of the oil and add the honey and nut butter. Adding in this order will help the chocolate not to separate as it sometimes will when making additions. It will look like this:

Don't worry it doesn't look tasty now, but trust me this will be your new favorite source of healthy fat! Let it simmer on the stove stirring occasionally until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour onto a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper-don't skip this you will never be able to get it out of the pan! Place in your freezer and chill until hardened and hide from the rest of the family because this will go fast if you aren't careful!!!