Sunday, February 19, 2012

Not-so-fishy Fish Tacos

This year I vowed to make myself like fish. I really wish I did like it, it's so good for you and seems easy to make.. I've now made salmon and fish (cod) tacos. I got this recipe from the Paleo Comfort Food cookbook Tim has gone absolutely nuts for these tacos. Hope you also enjoy them!

1.5 lbs wild cod
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp EVOO
dash of salt
1 jalapeno diced
juice of 1 lime

Mix spices, lime, and olive oil, toss the fish in with it and let it sit for about 15 minutes
Heat 1-2 Tbsp of coconut oil in a pan and cook the fish until cooked through (or flaky).

The tacos are topped with coleslaw. I used...

1/2 head of both green and purple cabbage
2 shredded carrots
juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp honey (as requested by Marin)
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. EVOO

I made the coleslaw ahead of time and let it sit in the refrigerator so the flavors could marinate together.

Sauce:
1/2 cup Mayo with EVOO (They say to use Paleo maonnaise. Honestly, I'm a little nervous about the raw egg....in due time, I'll give it a try!)
2 chili's in adobo sauce (and a little extra adobo sauce because I know Tim likes SPICY!)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
1 tsp. EVOO

I blended everything in the magic bullet and set aside in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.
We used Butter lettuce leaves for the "taco shell".

They didn't taste fishy and the family enjoyed it....Success!

Paleo Pal Pancakes!

Marin was really exicted to get her Paleo Pals book in the mail! The next morning she hit the ground running, opened the book to the Paleo Pal Pancake recipe and asked to have them for breakfast. Together we whipped together these delicious pancakes!
2 ripe bananas (ripe)
6 eggs
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

I cooked the pancakes in a pan using coconut oil. Cooked about 2-3 minutes per side.

Personally, I enjoyed these more the next day. I topped them with sunflower seed butter, unsweetened applesauce, and coconut and ate them after a hard workout.

And, Marin told me she felt like a superhero after eating them!  :)


I am not a fan of eggs (I know...I know...)...I was a little timid to try these considering there are SIX eggs in the recipe. But, I couldn't even taste the eggs. GREAT recipe!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Banana Bread...Paleo-style!


In my opinion, bananas are best when they are still somewhat green. Not REALLY green, but not all yellow either. When the bananas in our house ripen and turn brown'ish, I put them in the freezer. It doesn't take them long to thaw out for smoothies, muffins....or banana bread!

There's a recipe in my Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook for banana bread. It's pretty amazing!

3 cups almond flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
2 mashed bananas
3 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and coconut oil. Stir together the eggs and coconut oil with the dry ingredients. Mash the bananas and then combine with the bread mixture, add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir all ingredients together and fold in the walnuts. Pour mixture into a greased bread pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

(I baked mine for about 45 minutes, the center took awhile to bake).

The best part about this recipe...how lovely it makes my house smell!!! YUM!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

"Somewhat" Paleo Pizza & Muffins!



It's Super Bowl Sunday! We are spending the day relaxing at home, just the 3 of us. On the menu: Pizza! I told Tim I would call it PATRIOT Pizza...even though we really don't care who wins...
Pizza is one of those foods that I really missed once going gluten free. I discovered a pizza crust recipe from Everyday Paleo and loved it. I alter it a little each time I make this recipe. The not-so-paleo toppings I included in this version were pepperoni & skim mozarella.

Crust:
2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp. garlic powder
4 freshly chopped green onion
3 eggs
1 tbsp fresh rosemary

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and press as flat and as thin as possible on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 12-15 minutes.

After taking the crust out, add your toppings. This time I added:

1 cup marinara sauce (I used Trader Joes Classic Marinara Sauce)
1/2 package pepperoni (not paleo)
1 cup mozarella cheese (not paleo)
2 cups Diced mini peppers
4 handfulls of fresh spinach (this cooks down quite a bit so I like to add alot
1 cup died broccoli florets

Bake at 350* for another 20 minutes. Enjoy!

I altered this recipe too! Started with Morning Glory Muffins from my Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. Marin especially loves the muffins when they are in fun muffin papers. My family lovingly calls my first Paleo Muffin recipe "Dora Muffins" because Marin was really into Dora the Explorer....thus, the muffin papers I used. Well...with Valentine's Day coming up, I thought she would enjoy the heart muffin papers.

2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded carrott
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 large apple shredded
1 cup shredded un-sweetened coconut
1 cup raisins
3 eggs
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Combine dry ingredients. Add carrot, zucchini, apple, coconut, and raisins. In separate bowl whisk together the eggs, honey oil and vanilla. Spoon into muffin pan and bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

I like to double the muffin recipe for our house. They are practically eaten daily! (And Marin always seems to sneak one as it's cooling on the counter). I like to freeze half the batch.

You can add banana, cranberries, blueberries, flax seed, nuts, etc etc...I like to play with this recipe everytime I try it too.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Football, Family...and Paleo Chili!

I grew up watching football, 49er football! I have fond memories of good food, football and family. So, when the 49ers made it to the playoffs, I knew I wanted to make some Paleo deliciousness to share with our family. In the past I have used ground beef in my chili. I used a beef chuck roast this time, and everyone loved it.

I cooked the beef roast the night before in the crock pot with beef broth, some garlic cloves and onion. The next day, I cut the meat into chunks and strained the fluid but set some of it aside to add to the chili later. I don't always follow recipes when I cook, this is an example of one of those meals. I kind of just threw what I had on hand into the crock pot...

Here's what got thrown in:

3 lbs Beef Chuck Roast
1 container beef broth
1 onion diced
4 bell peppers (2 green, 1 yellow, 1 red)
1 cup diecd celery
3-4 cloves minced garlic
2 cans of died tomatoes with green chiles
2-3 cups of beef broth
2-3 Tbsp. Chili powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt


I added some of the reserved fluid from the crock pot - approx 1 cup

Once I combined everything, I set the crock pot on low for about 6 hours. I wasn't too sure about the "shredded beef" in the chili but it turned out great and there were no leftovers! Two thumbs up! You can tailor this recipe to make it less spicy, more spicy...whatever you like.

While the chili was spicy and delicious, the chili was not lucky chili...the 49ers lost. BUT, for the first time ever, my Raider fan husband wore 49er attire. Priceless :)