Out Of This World Banana Bread

I brought some of this banana bread to Crossfit a few months age, Dan, Jenn, Scott and I all indulged after our WOD. I wanted to share the recipe, maybe you can indulge after your WOD too! It is a good source of healthy fats after all...

Banana Bread

1 Large Ripe Banana

1 C. Almond Butter

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/4 C. Honey

1/3 C. Walnuts

1 Egg

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients excluding the walnuts in a bowl until smooth

Make it look like this:

try not to eat too much batter=)...

Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 inch pan, sprinkle with the walnuts, and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes or until they are firm in the center.

Cut and share with your fellow crossfitters, they will love you for it!

Ragu

Ok so this one has taken me awhile to get up but Carley keeps reminding me to get it done and I have finally gotten the pic downloaded.

So this is a recipe that my family has had around for years passed down from my grandma. My dad changed it to a clean recipe, taking out the baking potatoes and adding sweet potatoes during our last clean eating challenge and it worked out great.

This one is perfect for a bulk meal either lots of people or portioned into several different meals for those of us with crazy busy schedules (which is really all of us isn't it!) Great for freezing, and storing for later!

Ingredients:

2 lbs stewing beef or steaks cut into cubes

2 large sweet potates peeled and sliced thin

1 sweet onion sliced

1 lbs bag of baby carrots

1 package of bacon

1-2 tablespoons plus chopped garlic

lots of salt and pepper

cut the bacon into small pieces and fry on med high in a stewing pot with the garlic and onions until the bacon is cooked and the onions are soft and browning. Stir this constantly so it doesn't burn or brown too fast. You want the bacon and onions to make the bottom of the pot brown and sticky with cooked grease (this is the good stuff!)

You can choose to empty some of the fat from the bacon but I like the flavor and leave most if not all of it in. Add all the beef and brown all sides adding salt and pepper throughout. when the beef is totally browned and mostly cooked add the carrots and the potatoes about 3/4 cups water to cover the bottom of the pot and more salt and pepper.

Turn the temp down to medium low cover with a lid and let the water steam the carrots and potatoes. Check on it every once in awhile and stir them around. Waiting for the carrots and potatoes to be softened. Remove the lid when they get soft turn the temp up a little, just enough to boil the water down a little (5 minutes or so) to thicken up the broth.

YUMMY!!

Pork Thyme

I was in a rush and trying to use up some of the random stuff I had in my fridge. I knew I wanted to use the crock pot, but I didn't have all day in fact it was 3:00 I wanted to be eating by 6:30. So here's what I came up with. I have to say it was really good. I had my sister over for dinner and she loved it!

Crock pot Pork with Apples

1 Onion-diced

4 Cloves garlic- minced or pressed

2 Apples-diced

1 lb Pork loin or chops-cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 TBSP Dijon

1 C. Chicken stock

Salt and pepper

1 tsp Thyme

1/2 tsp Fennel seed

1 Head cauliflower- riced in food processor

Seer the outside of the pork in a little olive oil with onions and garlic in a saucepan. Don't worry about it being cooked all the way, just get a nice crust on the pork and bring out the flavor of the garlic. Put in the bottom of a crock pot.


Make a sauce by mixing the broth, spices, and mustard together. Pour over the Pork and onions that are in the crock pot. Cook on low for 2 hours. Add the apples and cook for 1 hour more.

Serve over the cauliflower rice.

No More Excuses

I hear it ALL the time, "I'm too busy to eat clean during the week" or "Its too hard to pack a lunch, I'm so busy"... That is a lazy mentality and personally offensive, as if to imply me, being completely paleo has more time than others to prepare meals. This is not the case, I am a wife, I make 2 dinners almost every night (hubby isn't paleo), I work 40+ hours a week, I run a food blog, I crossfit 4-5 times a week, I'm going to school majoring in business, and I have a bunch of furry children (pets) who demand time, walks, brushing and attention... Now tell me again that YOUR too busy. OK now that I'm don't with my rant, let me tell you how I stay clean and pack not only lunches, but breakfast for work days.

1. I get a huge skillet and fill it with all sorts of frozen veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, asparagus, bell pepper strips. The list can go on and on and you can make different combinations so it doesn't get boring. I also season them well, I like to use homemade taco seasoning.

2. Separate them into dishes and these are ready to eat. I usually will take one of these veggie side dishes for lunch. Sometimes I take a little salsa to pour over the veggies to give them a little spunk.

3. Fresh veggies and fruit bags. Cut up your favorite veggies and put them I'm baggies, it gives you a little crunch and can be a good change from the sauteed veggies. I take one of these everyday to work as well and eat them with my breakfast. This is a good time to maybe peel some oranges or set aside pieces of fruit to grab on the way out the door.

4. Meat. I like burgers they are a very easy way to get your protein I usually take 2 patties to work and eat one for breakfast and one for lunch. I grill them on the BBQ, put them in separate baggies and freeze them. I take what I want out the night before work. I buy turkey burgers, salmon patties and sirloin burgers from Costco in bulk. If you aren't a burger fan you could get a rotisserie chicken and piece it out into containers or cook some steaks, cook ground beef, fish fillets... Anything you like just cook in bulk and plan ahead for the whole week, that way you aren't scrambling before bed to get something put together.

4. Hard boil some eggs. They are another good source of protein and a good snack for the afternoon.

5. Lastly, you need a little fat, as avocado half cut up with a little lemon juice will hold up or pack a bag of nuts and seeds or you could make a dressing with olive oil to dip your veggies in.

See, its not that hard, I can have all this done within 1 hour and I'm set for breakfast and lunch all week. You can do it, just give it a shot, your body will thank you!

Its A Soup Day

If you live in my neck of the woods it is a soup day! I woke up to a blanket of white stuff outside, but spring is about a month away. I'm looking forward to planting my garden and all the creations I can think of involving a grill.

Somethings Fishy Tomato Soup

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Onion sliced into thin strips
2 Carrots
3 Ribs Celery
3 Cloves Garlic minced
2 Bay Leaves
1 28oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
1 QT. Chicken or Veggie Stock
1/2 C Chopped Parsley
1 16oz Can Salmon

Saute the garlic and onion in the oil until they are soft, meanwhile cut the carrots and celery into 1/2 inch pieces. Add the celery, carrots, bay leaves, tomatoes, and stock to the mix. Cook over medium heat until the veggies are soft about 25 minutes. Add the salmon and heat through. Add the parsley right before serving and enjoy!

Swedish Pancakes

Growing up my mom used to make my family a breakfast that she called Swedish pancakes (Ive also seen them be called dutch babies). They were always one of my favorites; Fluffy, sweet and covered in apple syrup was how we liked em'. I wanted to re-invent this childhood memory in a clean form which meant getting rid of the sugar, white flour and milk. I am happy to report that my Paleo version turned out great and I think even mom would be proud!

Dutch Babies with Raspberry Sauce

For the pancakes:

1/4 C. Coconut Flour

6 TBSP Arrowroot

1/2 tsp. Salt

8 Eggs
1 C. Coconut Milk

1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix all your wet ingredients together, Slowly add in the dry ingredients and whisk rapidly for at least 1 minute. Thank goodness we all have big crossfit muscles!

Pour batter into a well greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pancakes become fluffy and start to climb up the side of the pan like this:

Raspberry Sauce:

2 C. Frozen Raspberries
1 Tbsp Honey

1 Orange

Heat the Raspberries in a sauce pan until they are thawed. Zest the orange and add it to the berries along with the honey. Serve warm over the pancakes.

The Best Sweet Potatoes!

Ah sweet potatoes. They are so versatile and nutritious, not to mention beautiful and tasty! This is yet another recipe that I saw on Rachel Ray, I love that girl!

Zesty Sweet Potato Mash

3 Sweet Potatoes peel, diced and boiled until soft.

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 TBSP Honey

Fresh grated nutmeg

Boil and drain the potatoes, add the nutmeg at this point, about 1/2 tsp. if its fresh a little more if you are using nutmeg that is pre-ground.

Zest the lemon and add it to the potato pot, add the juice from 1/2 the lemon and the honey and mash it up with a potato masher.


Look how beautiful and bright they are! This is a very light refreshing dish and kind of reminded me of spring.