Mayo Fail

Breakfast this morning started last night.


About 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk with 1/2 cup mixed berries.  Left in the fridge to soak.


This morning I dumped the berry mix in a bowl and topped it with toasted walnuts and coconut flakes. This is so good and refreshing! Plus I had two eggs scrambled in coconut oil.

LB does the same thing every morning.

He eats his own breakfast since I feed him first...


Then he climbs on the table and sits in front of me to see what I have.  He almost always eats a portion of my breakfast.  He could easily be a paleo kid.  I still haven't researched that enough.

Gym:  Rest day!  Whooo hoo!  It was much needed.

We spent the majority of our day messing with paleo mayo.

I followed Melissa's recipe from Well Fed but could not get it to emulsify.  I'm a pretty good cook.  I wouldn't say I'm great but I can always get things figured out.  This mayo was beyond frustrating!


After the fifth try we finally got it.


The directions said to put the blender on medium.  Well we used the vitamix.  Medium in a vitamix actually heats food.  It was melting it every time.


We turned the vitamix down to two and finally got it!  Holy yum.  I will never ever buy store mayo again.

Lunch:  was unpictured again.  What's my deal?!  We snacked through lunch.  Mostly deli turkey dipped in that mayo!  We did have some veggies too.

Dinner:

Grass fed NY strips with herb butter!  1/2 cup grass fed butter, 1T dried chives, 1T fresh rosemary, 1 grated garlic clove, 1t balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. You could easily use any herbs you have.  It was SO good.

Have you ever really failed at a recipe?

RECIPE: Paleo Parfait

Honestly, I don't really miss the things I've cut out of my diet.  I don't miss the actual food.  I do, however, miss the convenience of things.  I really miss the ease of cereal and yogurt bowls.  The other morning the husband ate the last three eggs.  Seriously, dude... you couldn't just leave one for me to make a paleo pancake. Typical man.  We didn't have any leftovers so I created the paleo parfait.

This recipe is nutritious, 100% paleo, and so versatile.

Paleo Parfait

1/4 cup nuts

1/4 cup coconut flakes or (salted cinnamon coconut chips!)

1/2 cup of fruit

1/4 cup coconut milk thickened in the fridge (open a can, stir it, and put it in the fridge overnight)

Combine coconut flakes and nuts in a pan.  If you are using the salted cinnamon coconut chips just add the nuts to the pan.  Toast over medium heat until golden and fragrant.  Layer the fruit, coconut milk, and nut/coconut flake mixture in a glass or bowl.

This doesn't have any grain in it but it made me feel like I was eating cereal!  It has the same crunchy texture and the coconut milk is similar to yogurt.

You could easily do different flavor combinations.
Pineapple, blackberries, coconut milk, walnuts, chia seeds, and salted cinnamon coconut chips.  Those coconut chips are to die for!  Scramble up some eggs for protein (if your husband doesn't eat them all!) and you've got an excellent breakfast!

Christmas 2012

I finally reconnected with technology. I've pretty much unplugged for a few days. It's been nice!

Our Christmas was perfect!



Christmas really was wonderful but honestly I was ready to get back to some normalcy.  I was actually tired of Christmas cookies!

Breakfast:


You know what happens when you get a little bored eating the same thing all the time?


That's what happens.  Are y'all tired of seeing paleo pancakes?  I feel ya.

Gym:  30 minutes with my trainer and 20 minutes on the bike.  We did arms today and it included push ups, tricep dips, rows, shoulder presses, and lateral raises.  It felt so good to be back at the gym!

Post gym snack:

Coffee with just cream

Lunch:  A mish mosh of stuff that I forgot to photograph!

Dinner:

I got a few books for Christmas.  One of them was Well Fed.  I am so in love with this book.  I might like it more than Practical Paleo!  The way the book is laid out is amazing.

For dinner tonight I used Melissa's idea of a "hot plate".  I cooked up some onion and garlic in coconut oil and added ground pork.  Then I added broccoli and green cabbage.  I sautéed everything until it was tender.

It was delicious and filling!  I see a lot more hot plates in my future.

Dessert.... 

Dark chocolate with sea salt- stocking stuffer!

Now I'm sipping on tea (green and chamomile) and trying to catch up on google reader!


What was your favorite Christmas gift?

NO RECIPE: Warm Maple Cinnamon Almond Milk

This is one of my favorite hot drinks in the winter time.  I cannot remember where I first heard of it but I've been making it for a few years.


You heat up unsweetened almond milk in the microwave.


Add pure maple syrup


and cinnamon.


Whisk...  My kids love it just like this.


But if it's just for you and you're feeling really crazy... Add some tea.



Warm Maple Cinnamon Almond Milk

-Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-Pure maple syrup
-Cinnamon
Optional
1 Tazo Vanilla Rooibos tea bag (my favorite tea EVER- you can find it at Starbucks)

Pour almond milk in a mug and warm in the microwave for about a minute and a half.  Whisk in the maple syrup and  cinnamon.  I usually use a fork and beat it like I do scrambled eggs.  Sometimes I get out the milk frother and stir it that way.  Add your tea and steep.

What is your favorite warm beverage?

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

Have you seen the tweet floating around twitter about making snowflakes for the Sandy Hook students?


When the students come back to a new building in January, it will be decked out in a winter wonderland full of snowflakes from US!


Volunteers are going to hang as many snowflakes as they can around the building.

Can you imagine the kids faces when they walk through the building?

The snowflakes will be so comforting.  They will also help distract them from any bad feelings they might be having.  Your snowflake could make their day!

Since the tragedy I know all of us are trying to figure out something to do for someone... anything really... for anyone.  Maybe you can't think of anything to do?

This is something so easy and so special.


We spent a whole afternoon making snow flakes.


Squirrel didn't quite understand the reasoning behind it but she knew someone was sad and this would make them feel better.




You can find all of the information about the snowflakes HERE.

In A Grey Area

Whoa what a day! We are trying to cram everything Christmas into the next four days. Plus do what we normally do during the day. Did you know Christmas is in four days? Yeah I just found out too.

Breakfast:

A paleo pancake divided into three.  All topped with sunflower seed butter, unsweetened coconut, and banana.  Plus coffee.

Gym:  I did the crossfit WOD with the hubs.  It was three rounds for time.  200m run, 7 dumbbell push press, and 14 ring rows.  Done in 7:04.  Plus we did more shoulder stuff.

Lunch:

We ate out at Zoes Kitchen.  I got a salad that had mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, red onion, chicken,  olives, and feta.


Plus a few pita triangles with hummus.  I love that stuff.

Dinner:

One thing I wanted to do with the kids this year was make snowman pizzas.


Those are chicken nugget eyes!


The kids loved it.


We made cauliflower crust pizza for us.


I learned that the vitamix makes awesome cauliflower rice!


Cheese is a grey area with paleo.  I think if you can tolerate it then eat it sparingly.  I don't eat a lot of dairy.  Maybe once a month?  It makes my face break out and my stomach upset.  I thought I'd try again with the pizza.  My tummy hurt afterwards.  

 Are there any foods that make you feel funky?

RECIPE: Sausage and Sauerkraut

Ready for the easiest paleo meal ever? It's two ingredients and involves a crockpot.  Plus it's healthy for you!  Win, win, win!



Sausage and Sauerkraut

-25oz of raw sauerkraut (the ingredients should only be cabbage, water, salt- I used Bubbies)
-2 10oz packages of all natural Lil' Smokies (again whole ingredients- no nitrates- I used Pederson's)

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for four hours or until you reach your desired tenderness of the sauerkraut.

I put mine in storage containers for lunch later this week!

You can totally play around with the ratio too.  Like more kraut?  Omit a bag of smokies.  You could also use sliced sausage.

More Sliders and Braised Short Ribs

Breakfast:

Coffee with almond milk


and a paleo pancake with banana, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and unsweetened coconut.

Gym:  Body combat!

Lunch:

Local breakfast pork sausage (ground pork with seasonings- I get it at Whole Foods already packaged up!), local bacon, and Whole Foods pineapple mango salsa.  All wrapped up in a butter lettuce leaf.  Holy yum.  Pork sliders!  I'm on a slider kick apparently!

Dinner:

Alright this was last night's dinner but I had to share it with you!


Grass fed braised short ribs made by the hubs.  He followed this recipe and it took two days...  (I don't have time for that crap).


Plus his green beans.  It was our first time making short ribs and boy were they delicious!

Have you ever been scared to try a recipe?  If so, which one?