April 29th 2011 Lifestyle vs. Diet and Fun Burgers that are actually Fun!

Quick question to anyone out there reading.....What is your definition of "diet"?  I'm tellin ya, if I hear one more person ask me why I have my children on a diet, I'm going to scream!!!!  I don't know how many times I've been asked, "so why are you and your children dieting?"  IT IS NOT A DIET!!! To me a diet is altering your eating habits to help you lose weight. To me a diet is not something you are willing to do the rest of your life, its a short term thing so that you can lose 15lbs to fit into that lil' summery dress thing you picked out for your awkward and slightly uncomfortable class reunion and more times than not they are usually unhealthy for you.  They cause short term quick weight loss but your usually (not always) sacrificing your health.  Sorry people but I don't wish that for my children.  Now I know that not everyone out there looks at the paleolithic lifestyle (notice it does not day diet) the same way I do but for my family that's exactly how we look at it.  A lifestyle.  We are not doing "the paleo thing" to lose weight,  we are not trying to and could actually care less about the lil summer dress for our class reunion and we certainly have no interest in being unhealthy.  My family and I have adopted the paleolithic lifestyle because we want a better quality of life, and not just  for the short term, we want to live long happy lives that do not consist of  itchy eczema(my older daughter used to have this before we ate paleo) heart disease, obesity, cancer or any arthritis due to the food we ate.  Please do not assume that you are invincible just because you eat paleo but you are by far way healthier and most people who have experienced the paleo experience are happier.  So just F.Y.I.....my children are not dieting!!!  

Now, on a lighter note, I have come up with my own fun burgers that are actually fun and do not make you cry at the end of the night. YAY!

Fun Cilantro Burgers that are Actually Fun
   
Ingredients:

• 3lbs of ground meat ( we like to use 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground turkey)
• seasonings of your choice...(whatever you normally use to season your burgers )
• 1 bunch of cilantro finely chopped
• 1/2 a green pepper
• 1/2 a red pepper
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 carrot
• a few slices of bacon  ( a few for each burger your making)
• coconut oil ( just enough to oil your pans)
• a few sliced avocados/ guacamole is good too
• 1 small onion sliced
• 1 or 2 large sweet potatoes 
• pickles ?
• condiments of your choice( again, whatever you normally out on your burger)

Fun instructions for your Fun Burgers

grate your zuccinni and carrot into a fairly large bowl.  Finely chop up your peppers and cilantro and add to your bowl.  Add your meat to the bowl and mix well.  Next add seasonings of your choice ( i usually add a lil garlic and onion power, chili power and salt and pepper). 
Peel sweet potatos and thinly slice into what is going to be something like chips.  A mandolin is perfect for this (as long as you don't get the cheap one from Target, almost lost my whole hand once.  It didn't have an actual blade on it but more of just a jagged edge....cheapos) if, like myself you have a hard time slicing things evenly.  Put some coconut oil  in a frying pan and turn on to med-high.  Once the pan is hot place your sweet potato slices  in the pan and turn down slightly.  You have to watch these closely.  When they start browning on the one side then you need to turn them over.  Do the same on the opposite side.  remove from pan once they reach your desired "chip-like" chippyness and place on a paper towel so some of the oil will drip off. Now cook your bacon.  Next go back to your hamburger mixture and make your pattys as you normally would.  Grill or pan fry just like you used to before you came across the paleo amazingness.  While those are cooking slice up your onion and avocado.  Once burgers are done we place them on a large leaf of lettuce(takes place of the bun) and add all the yummy fixins...you know, the onions avocado, bacon, condiments, pickles and the chips.( I usually put my chips on the side) Make it as tall or small as you like, remember they are fun burgers....so have fun.

April 15th 2011, Some Sweet Treats and a Lil Lesson in Eating Out Paleo

So, last weekend was quite an experience for me.  We were out of town wor the weekend and it was our first time eating paleo while out and about not bieng able to just go home and cook something or pre-prepare something to bring to wherever we may be going.  WOW is all I gotta say! Some of you will proboly have an easier time with this but like I've said before, I'm pretty sure I could get an award for having the pickiest kids on earth.  What one will eat, the other won't and eating out at restaurants for the weekend......Forget it! My kids know whats at restaurants(since we are all still fairly new to the paleo lifestyle we do still crave these items that are soooo not good for you).....french fries, soda, deep fried crap..ya know,.. the stuff we used to eat. Chips, salsa and sometimes they bring that yummy bread and butter right to your table as soon as you sit down.  I'm just sayin....it was quite a weekend.  I picked my battles...I won some, I lost some.  We didn't completely fall off the wagon, although there was a mac and cheese episode with the lil girls and at one point we did all have burritos but I am constantly reminding myself, " we are not Mary Poppins and we are not practically perfect in every way." 
Our weekend:
       Lunch~our first meal away from home.
At Qdobas- burritos
      Grilled chicken(we all asked for extra meat instead of rice and beans) 
      guacamole, salsa, cilantro with a side of applesauce
       Dinner~
At Black Eyed Pea- kiddos- Mac and cheese with a side of applesauce( they can't get enough applesauce)
     I had a bunless bacon cheeseburger wit sweet potato fries  
      Breakfast(day 2)~ 
Daybreak Cafe -scrambled eggs and bacon
      Lunch~
Food Court in the Mall- kiddos- Gluten free pizza
Hooters-adults- naked Parmesan and garlic wings, steamed shrimp and fried pickles(I still have no self control when it comes to fried pickles)  
All in all, not horrible but I'm glad to be home cooking my own food, and not being tempted with fries, breaded crunchiness or sugar coated, frosting covered, very short lived deliciousness (just f.y.i...I used to be a huge sucker for this stuff.  I am happy to announce....I HAVE OVERCOME THIS CRAVING...for the most part anyway:))  Obviously we cannot be home all the time, there will come a time when once again we will have to eat somewhere other than our humble paleo abode and I just keep telling myself to just do the bet I can when this time comes around again.  Because Mary Poppins is a fictional character and no one is perfect.


Since sugar coated frosting covered deliciousness came up....here are some fun yummy sweet recipes that I recently tried....
Paleo Nut Butter Cups
( I found the original recipe for this on www.paleoplan.com and tweaked it to my liking)
  Ingredients:

• 6-8 tbsp. of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of carob powder or cocoa powder
• 2 to 2 1/2 tbsp. of honey
• almond butter
• mini muffin tin

Start by geasing the muffin tin with some coconut or olive oil. Melt the honey and oil in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove.  Next add the carob or cocoa powder, mix well...no lumps.  Fill muffin tins about 1/3 full of the chocolate honey mixture.  Place small amount of almond butter on top of your chocolate( small layer) fill the rest of the muffin tin up with chocolate. Place in freezer until frozen.  Eat and Enjoy!
  The second batch of these that I made I added coconut to the chocolate honey mess to make more of an Almond Joy type thing.

Sweet Apple Yum( A very dear friend of mine gave me this recipe, after she paleoized it. Thanks Hootie!)   (Not sure paleoized is a word, haha)    

•  3 Apples peeled and cored (don't go all the way through the apple, make like a bowl) 
• 3 tbs honey
• 3 tbs cinnamon
•  nutmeg
  mix honey and cinnamon together
  Place apples in a shallow pan
  Fill with 1 tbs each of honey and cinamonn
  top with a dash of nutmeg.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 mins or until apple is soft.
  Enjoy :)

April 4th 2011

Well hello hello, my apologies to anyone who may take interest in this blog and noticed that I failed to finish writing about the cooking marathon and  actually have not written in over a week.  I actually just started crossfitting  (not that that is any excuse) and have been kind of wrapped up with that.  So as I have already said, my deepest apologies goes out to Ashley(Hootie) and my lil sister Amanda because you are my two wonderful readers and followers. (thank you for humoring me, hahaha)  Anyway, like I said, I've been crossfitting my derriere right off and I'm loving every minute of it.  My wonderful boyfriend is a crossfit coach at High Altitude Crossfit here in Gypsum Colorado and I have an uncle that has a crossfit gym of his own in Tucson Arizona(Crossfit Full Throttle) and I thought it was about time I joined the gym and saw for myself what all this crossfit madness was all about.  For those of you that aren't familiar with crossfit it is a core strength and conditioning program built from functional movements, performed at high intensity and constantly varied.(check out www.crossfit.com for more info.)  It is my second week and I am very sore(in a good way;)) and am very excited to continue to crossfit my way to a healthier me.
          Like I said before my boyfriend Cassidy is a coach at High Altitude Crossfit and they recently had thier one year anniversary,  YAY!!! They had a potluck/barbecue for this wonderful anniversary, and I, being the (wonderful, beautiful, ect.) girlfriend of a HACF coach get to attend with him.  So as said earlier it was a potluck so I whipped up some grain free almond crackers and I dug up a wonderful hummus recipe.  I was extremely nervous to attend this event due to the fact that I knew no one, and for those of you that know me, believe it or not I am actually very shy until I get to know you.  I also had never actually made the hummus recipe before(time is never on my side).  The recipe its self sounded great but to take it to a party without having time to try the recipe out or even taste it before having to present it is a little nerve-wracking.  Thankfully it turned out a big fat freakin hit and I must say to all you High Altitude Crossfitters out there, I have never met a more positive bunch of people and am overly delighted to be apart of this.  You all are amazing!  But anyhow......back to the hummus and crackers.....Amazing, and totally worth tie time and effort put into them.

                 Red Pepper Hummus
       Needed Ingredients

• 2 Medium Zucchini, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 cup Tahini (ground up sesame seeds)
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 medium/large cloves of minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• Food Processor or High Speed Blender
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red and green peppers
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• a little salt and pepper to taste

   Process

• Peel and chop zucchini and place in food processor.
• Add in Tahini, Olive Oil, and fresh lemon juice, and blend.
• Add garlic, cumin, and salt, and blend thoroughly.
• Saute chopped peppers and red pepper flakes in olive oil until tender and simply add to the hummus mixture, blend thoroughly.

YUMMY YUMMY HUMMUS!!!( found the original recipe on www.primalpalate,com )

Next....a side of crackers for dipping.

                    Almond Crackers

Ingredients:

•       1c. almond meal   (if almond meal is not readily available simply grind up raw almonds in a blender or food processor, I actually find this method easier and cheaper )
•      1 egg white

Process:

•   preheat oven to 350
• mix almond meal and egg whites together
• place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place almond egg mixture on top of paper.
• Place a second sheet of parchment paper on top of mixture and roll mixture out with a rolling pin.  For those of you that need literal terms, (you know who you are...) the almond mixture should be IN BETWEEN the 2 pieces of parchment paper.
• Roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.
• Remove the top piece of parchment and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

A quick tip:  If you've ever smelt burnt almonds you know its a horrid smell so DO NOT LET THESE BURN, you will want to keep an eye on this cookie sheet of ground up almonds because the edges of this flat almond mixture will cook faster than the middle.  As the edges nicely brown I just brake them off into little squares(or however shape they brake off) and remove them from the oven so the uncooked almond muck can continue to brown at its own pace.;)

Simple but purely amazing! Let me know what you all thought.  Thanks for reading:)