Check out Our thoughts

Baked Pears and Berries

Ingredients:

4 pears cored and cut

1 cup blueberries 1/2 cup blackberries

powdered cinnamon, clove and nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Gently mix pears, berries and spices in a large bowl.

2. Pout mixture into a pie or casserole dish.

3. Bake, covered at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until pears are softened and the kitchen smells heavenly.

4. Spread chopped walnuts on top of the fruit dish and broil for 3 minutes until wlanuts are crisped.

5. Enjoy!

This recipe courtesy of The Larripa family.

Pictures from our Paleo Potluck Christmas Party

 Three of my girls having fun on the rings while waiting for dinner.

 Nick's Fire crew joined us for dinner and even decorated our tree!

The Toys we collected for the Toy Drive, thank you so much to those who participated.  There will be some happy kids this Christmas!

 Larry and Jeanette Johnson share a laugh.

 Scott, his friend and Nick Launius enjoy a conversation.

Our 3 year old daughter.

 Mark and Dan  in mid conversation

 Nick and Meredith's 6 year old daughter and our 6 year old daughter, they had way to much fun with the sparkly pipe cleaners.

 Russell and Nick dig in to the chicken dish.

Our 8 year old daughter holding up one of the Christmas ornaments.

 Harmony and one of our newest Ramp clients.

Mingling at the Party.

 Sean  packing up some dinner to bring back to the other guys at the station.

 Russell and Travis.

 Our littlest guy, he is 17 months old now, a little bundle of energy!

 Harmony and Meredith conversing.

 Dan, Scott Christianson and his friend talking CrossFit.

Our 13 year old daughter (in the blue) and her friend clowning around.

 And...this would be us, Sheilla and Meredith the ones behind this blog.  
Hope you Have a Merry Christmas!

Paleo Christmas Party

Don't forget our Paleo Potluck Christmas Party tomorrow night at the box.  

There will be no 6:00 p.m.  WOD on Friday, December 17.  Instead, CrossFit Eureka will be celebrating Christmas with a Paleo potluck!  Bring the kind of goodies that a caveman would dig and come on down for the festivities!

 Friday, December 17th at 6:30 p.m. 

Please bring your favorite Paleo dish to share and a copy of your recipe. 

 Please keep in mind that we have several folks in the midst of a Whole 30 ( strict Paleo) so lets stick to that as a guideline please. If you need help or suggestions please don't hesitate to ask Meredith and Sheilla, or visit the Paleo Made Easy blog. Mains, sides or appetizers, whatever you like! 

We are also asking that everyone bring a donation for the Eureka Firefighters Toy Drive if you can. Be creative, lets rock it CrossFit style! Hope to see you there!

meatloaf

I was inspired to make meatloaf after a good long thought about my Grammy and the holidays and how wonderful she always made the house smell with her fabulous okie cooking! So here it is folks, paleo and all!
3 pounds 90% grass fed ground beef
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup almonds, evenly obliterated with a meat mallet or just buy them already broken
1 tablespoon Coconut Secret Coconut Amino's
2 whole organic eggs
1/4 cup almond flour
seasoning: garlic powder, onion powder, sage, thyme, paprika, cumin, oregano, black pepper and a pinch of chili powder.
Pre- heat the oven to 350. In a large bowl combine the meat, eggs, carrots, and amino's, blend by hand then add the nuts and seasoning, almond flour and work thoroughly. Shape into whatever loaf like shape you fancy and place in a baking dish with baby carrots or sweet potato chunks etc...use your imagination! Cook, covered for about 60 to 80 min depending on your oven and enjoy!
If this were a true Grammy meatloaf however, there would be strips of bacon interlaced across the top with ketchup swirl to top it all off! We've all come a long way!

I just have to say, if you haven't tried Meredith's Mole Sauce, you are missing out!

Please See Our Thoughts

I (Sheilla) will be taking some time off from the blog for a few weeks, please see: Our Thoughts.

Do you need an Oil Change?

A diet that consists of a 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 is a good balance versus the average American diet, which consists of a ratio of approximately 15:1 or more.  So avoid out-of-balance soy, corn, and canola oils with their trans fats and oxidation.  Cooking with coconut and/or Olive oil can help bring those numbers into a better balance.  Which is why we suggest using coconut oil in nearly everything.  Besides that it taste great!  

Fish oil is another product that helps bring up our Omega-3 ratio.  It's best to avoid Flax and Flax oils, however, because although they do have omega -3 they are high in Omega-6 which we don't want.  Flax is actually a pro-inflammatory, if you don't believe me do a search on the differences of fish oil and flax oil.  You will not get the benefits from flax oil that you will from fish oil, it's been researched and proven.  Fish oil is an anti inflammatory, so it helps your body with inflammation as well as being helpful to a host of other things in our bodies.  Don't overlook fish oil as an important part of your nutrition.

My favorite brand of Coconut Oil so far is:  Nutiva, Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (the yellow and green label), it smells and tastes wonderful.  Happy Cooking!

Breakfast

Berry Pancakes

 Servings: 1

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 tsp non-aluminum baking powder

2 whole eggs

2 egg whites

3 Tablespoons light coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup berries of your choice 

( I used blueberry today, but prefer to use the frozen mixed berries from Coscto and just defrost them, they mix into the batter better)

Coconut oil for greasing your griddle

Preheat your griddle to 325 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a pourable bowl and mix using an electric hand mixer.  If you don't the mixture will be really lumpy.  I use mine with the whisk attachments on med-high and beat it real good.  Grease your griddle with the coconut oil and pour out your pancakes, cooking like you would any other pancakes.  Serve warm, and top with some applesauce.

Note: These will make very thin almost crepe like pancakes.

My kids absolutely love these, and we think you will find they are quite yummy too!

Roasted Chicken

It was a busy day today, I got home late so everyone was starving and devoured dinner before I had a chance to take pictures.  But let me tell you it was delicious!  I made two whole chickens to feed my crew and made them each a different way.  The verdict was they were both off the charts, which is why there was nothing left of them.  Served them with Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and a Zucchini, summer squash, carrot mix.

Lisa's Mediterranean-Style Chicken, see the link below for the recipe. 

Jens Gone Paleo

Spiced Whole Roasted Chicken

2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 allspice

1/8 nutmeg

1/8 cinnamon

1 (4 pound chicken)

5 garlic cloves crushed

In a small bowl combine the salt and spices and mix well.  Then rub all over the chicken, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours ( mine was only a couple hours).  Remove from fridge, unwrap and place in a small roasting pan.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees, stuff the chicken with the garlic cloves and place breast side down.  Roast 15 minutes, then reduce heat to  450 degrees and continue roasting for 15 minutes.  Baste with drippings and reduce heat to 425 degrees and roast for 30 minutes.  Remove and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

Here is the link for the Brussels Sprouts this is another quick and easy side dish:

Roasted Brussel Sprouts 

For the mixed vegetables, I added a couple tablespoons of olive oil to my largest skillet and filled it with 3 zucchini, 2 summer squash,  a small bag of pre-sliced carrot chips, one white onion chopped, 4 chopped garlic cloves and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Then I just sauteed them over high heat until they were nicely done.  Quick and easy!  That's the way to go.

Mole sauce

Homemade mole ( hope you like spicy!)
I baked 6 whole Marys natural chicken breasts at 350 for about 40 min reserving the drippings for my mole. The chicken was baked in one can of El Pato mexican tomato sauce.
To the chicken drippings over low heat I sifted 2 tbspns coconut flour ( use your judgement on this, I had about one and a half cups of liquid, you may need more or less flour depending on your yield) and 1 heaping tbspn of Earth Circle raw unsweetened cacoa powder into the pot whisking until smooth. To this I added one half cup of coconut milk ( light) and a smidge of Chipotle spice. Simmer over low heat for approx. 10 min, remove and let cool.
Plate the chicken, ladel mole and enjoy! Post some comments, Im curious if it tastes as good to anyone else as it does to me!

Link to an article on Almonds, Omega 3/6 fats

Here is an intersting article on the high levels of Omega 6 Almonds have, and a suggestion we echo, only eat nuts you have to shell yourself.  It will help prevent overeating nuts.  There are certain nuts that are a better choice too.


Diane Sanfilippo: Paleo Nutritionist | Food Allergies | Gluten Free | Crossfit Nutrition: For the Love of Almonds (and Some Omega 3/6 Fats T...: "Nutty delights. I used to LOVE roasted almonds and wouldn't touch the raw ones, but when you know better you can do better. Oh, almonds! ..."

Here is the break down on each nut and how much Omega 6 and Omega 3 they have, remember Omega 3 we want, Omega 6 we limit our consumption of.  Highlighted you will find the better choices for nuts according to their Omega values:


Nut                                                          Omega 6                                             Omega 3

Acorns                                                     4.6                                                           0
Almonds                                                  12.21                                                      0
Beechnut                                                  18.39                                                     1.7
Brazilnut                                                   20.54                                                     .04
Butternut                                                  33.73                                                    8.72
Cashew                                                    7.78                                                       .06
Chestnut                                                 *   .44                                                       .05
Coconut                                                   * .37                                                        0
Ginko Nut                                                 *.58                                                        .02
Hazelnut                                                    7.83                                                       .09
Hickory nut                                                20.62                                                   1.05
Macadamia                                              *  1.30                                                      .21*
Pecan                                                          20.63                                                   .99
Pine nut                                                       33.20                                                   .11
Pistachio                                                      13.20                                                   .25
Walnut                                                         38.09                                                  9.08

This was taken from the link below:
http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/nuts_table.html

A Great New Recipe to Try

I tried a recipe from Everyday Paleo for dinner tonight and it was really, really yummy.  I made a double batch for my family, since there are so many of us, for most of you a single batch will be more than enough.  The thing I love about her recipes is that they are usually very simple, with few ingredients and very easy.  This one is worth trying!

Link: Everyday Paleo, Persimmon Love (Chicken)

THE FINISHED DINNER

Moroccan Pork Roast, mashed sweet potatoes, and two versions of zucchini were on the menu tonight.

(Recipes posted below).

Yum, time to dig in and enjoy!

Zucchini Two Ways

This is a very easy recipe, 

Modified  from All Recipes, by  Wanda Penton

ZUCCHINI WITH PECANS

 11/2 cups julienned zucchini

1 tsp olive oil

dash of  garlic powder

Dash of pepper

2 TBSP toasted, chopped pecans

In a skillet, saute zucchini in olive oil for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, pepper and pecans and serve. 

Another really easy zucchini recipe

ZUCCHINI GALORE

From All Recipes, submitted by Flora

Ingredients: 

3 zucchini sliced in half moons ( I did julienned)

1 sweet onion chopped

2 TBSP olive oil

salt to taste

Cut your zucchini in half lengthwise and then slice crosswise to make the half -moons.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, pour in the olive oil and then saute onion until lightly browned.  Stir in zucchini and continue to saute until zucchini is soft and lightly browned.  Season with salt to taste if desired.

Homemade Fig Compote

This is the recipe I used this time for the pork roast, if you have a better one or one you already use feel free to use it.

Taken from Rebecca Woods web site

1 cup dried figs, with woody stems removed

1 cup apple, or orange juice ( I used a bottle of leftover sparking cider)

1 star anise, 2 whole cloves or 1 small cinnamon stick

Place figs, spice and  juice in a small saucepan.  Let them soak for about 10 minutes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 15 minutes or until fruit is plump and tender.  Remove figs and simmer liquid uncovered for 5 minutes or until syrupy.  Remove and discard spice.  Process in food processor.

Garam Masala

Here is the recipe I used for the Garam Masala Spice mix, next time I think I will just buy it for the ease, but in a pinch this works.

1 TBSP ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground corriander
1 1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Combine and measure for your recipe, it makes more than you need for the roast recipe.

Moroccan Pork Roast

This recipe is inspired by Moroccan Fig Pork Roast on All Recipes

I will start out by saying that this is not a quick, easy recipe, but is worth the effort.  It might make a good company dish.

Ingredients list:

1 (5 pound) boneless pork loin Roast                               salt & black pepper to taste

1 TBSP curry powder                                                      4 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP ground turmeric                                                   3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 TBSP garam masala (I didn't have any so made some)    1 onion, chopped

2 tsp ground ginger                                                            2 TBSP fig compote (I made mine)

2 tsp chili powder                                                              1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pinch cayenne pepper                                                     1 cup organic chicken broth

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Rinse and pat your pork roast dry.  Mix your spices and salt and pepper together in a small bowl.  Rub the spice mixutre into the  roast, being sure to cover all sides.

Pork roast with spice rub

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat.  Place the pork roast into the pot and brown for about 2 minutes on each side.  Remove pork and set aside.

Pork Roast browned

Stir in the garlic and onion, cooking until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.

Onions sauteing

Stir in the fig compote and return the pork roast to the pan, coating it with the fig mixture.  Pour in the tomatoes and chicken broth, cover and bring to a boil.  I did mine different, we are packing to move so I didn't have a dutch oven and had to improvise.  

So what I did was add the fig compote, tomatoes and broth to the onions in the pan and bring to a boil, then poured it over the roast.  

Covered with aluminum foil and baked.

Cook for about 2 hours or unit it isn't pink in the middle.  Or until a thermometer inserted in the middle reads 160 degrees.  Remove, and let sit covered for 5 or 10 minutes.  Slice and serve with some of the sauce and veggies from the pan.

 Baked and ready to be served.

Paleo and Christmas Parties, Can they Mix?

See our thoughts for more.

Read Your Labels!

One thing you get real good at while eating Paleo is label reading.  However, there may be somethings we forget or overlook,  like spices.  The following are a few examples of  some seasonings in my pantry from pre-Paleo days.  They seem quite unassuming until....you read the labels.

Taco Seasoning:  Yellow corn meal, sea salt, chili pepper, onion, garlic, spices ( including cumin, oregano and cilantro), Demarara sugar (unrefined sugar), smoked paprika, red and green bell peppers, cocoa powder, chipotle chili powder, salt and Jalapeno Pepper.


Montreal Steak Seasoning: salt spices ( including black pepper and red pepper), garlic, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, natural flavor, and extracts of paprika


Sweet Mesquite Seasoning:  Sea salt, spices (black pepper, chili pepper, red pepper, oregano), dehydrated vegetables (onion, garlic, red bell pepper), demarara sugar, natural mesquite smoke flavor, citric acid, silicon dioxide.


Lemon and Pepper: salt, black pepper, citric acid, onion, sugar, garlic, calcium stearate, silicon dioxide, and calcium silicate, celery seed, lemon oil, and FD&C yellow 5 lake.

One surprise that I threw away already at Thanksgiving was a thing of pumpkin pie spice.  When I opened it, it looked like sugar was in it, so I read the ingredients and low and behold there it was, sugar. 

Don't stop reading your labels!  You may be ingesting things not knowingly.

Post Workout Nutrition

CHECK OUT OUR THOUGHTS FOR A GREAT ARTICLE BY MEREDITH ON POST WORKOUT NUTRITION!

Lunch or Dinner suggestion

Vegetable Chicken Soup

I never follow a recipe for chicken soup, so every time it is different, but every time I hear, Mmmmm, this is good.  It is one of those wonderful recipes that you just can't go wrong with, if you start with a good Stock.  I suggest you make your own, it's really easy especially if you do it ahead on the weekend.  My suggestion would be to make up a large pot of stock, refrigerate it over night so the fat will harden.  Remove the next day, skim off the fat and freeze in serving size portions.  

I used the Stock Recipe from Jen's Gone Paleo , but substituted my meaty turkey carcass from Thanksgiving.  Then today I pulled out the stock, skimmed off the fat and boiled some organic chicken thighs and breasts in it, removed them and cut them up for the soup.  Threw in my veggies, added a few more spices (basil, some more dill, and bay leaves) and 20 minutes later we had yummy soup!  I put  a little of everything in there today, yellow and red onion, 2 garlic cloves, diced parsnips, chopped carrots, snow peas, celery, spinach (chopped up small), jalapeno, broccoli, zucchini, white sweet potato, some leftover cherry tomatos and if I had some green beans those would've gone in too.  Get creative and just use whatever you have in your fridge, it's a great meal on a cold wet night,  

TIP:

 Make a big pot, bigger than you need so you have leftovers for lunches or another dinner. 

NOTE:
I just noticed that CrossFit Santa Cruz Central has a recipe for Chicken Not-So-Noodle Soup posted today, here is another option if you need an actual recipe: CrossFit Santa Cruz Central