Blueberry Crisp...so delicious!

After searching the internet I found this same recipe on several Paleo Blogs and let me tell you it is so good!  It is best warm for sure!  Hot out of the oven it was off the chart!  I enjoyed it best with some coconut milk poured over it, tasted like oatmeal and blueberries!  I loved oatmeal in my pre-paleo days so it was a nice treat to have something that tasted so good and was still "Paleo".  Not only that but it is super easy and I look forward to trying it with other fruits too.  I will try to get some pictures posted soon, it's just so delicious I had to share it. If anyone knows who the original creator of this recipe is please post in comments so I may give them credit.

Blueberry Crisp

• 1 1/2 cups almond meal
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans or  walnuts (I used walnuts)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup organic butter, or coconut oil, warmed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (may want to decrease this amount depending on personal preference and the sweetness of your fruit)

 Blueberry Crisp  with pecan crumble ready to bake.

 Blueberry Crisp baked and ready to serve.

 

Blueberry Crisp with Pecan crumble, served with Vanilla Coconut Ice Cream.

• Mix all the dry ingredients together and add in the wet ingredients. Grease a 8x8" pan with coconut oil and fill the bottom of the pan with a nice thick layer of berries.  I used a lot of berries (about 4 cups worth), and then topped it with the crumble topping and baked at 350 for about 30-35 minutes depending on your oven.  
• Remove and enjoy, top it with some coconut milk for a yummy breakfast, or top with some coconut milk ice cream for dessert, or just enjoy it as is. 
• I made this again tonight to go with my homemade ice cream but with pecans and it's amazing the difference the nut makes.  The Pecans make it more of a dessert dish for sure, I also used blanched almond meal this time.  The first time I  used unblanched almond meal and walnuts and like I said it had a totally different taste, reminded me of oatmeal with some coconut milk poured over it.  My personal preference is with the unblanched almond meal and walnuts.  But either way is very delicious, will probably continue to make it both ways depending on the occasion.
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Yummy Blueberries and more....

This week we took a little drive out to Mckinleyville with the family to pick Organic Blueberries, which are currently in season.  It was a fun experience for everyone, they even provide cute little buckets for the littlest guys to "pick" in, though I think the majority of their berries made it to their bellies.  It's a fun little outing that will also net you some delicious fresh Organic blueberries.  Their location is:  Wolfsen Farms, 2103 Mckinleyville, California and their phone number is 707-839-2017.  They offer Certified Organic Blueberries, July 1st-September 15 each year, they were about $5.00 a pound when we bought ours last week.  
I have been finding it such an educational value for the children to see and learn how the food they eat is grown and where it comes from.  We have been growing our own vegetable garden this summer and I have found it very rewarding and enjoyable.  I actually started it with the nudging of the children, they have been wanting to grow a garden for some time.  I knew however, that at some point the novelty of it would dwindle and they would loose interest.  They did for a while, but now that it is producing yummy snap peas, green beans, zucchini, multiple kinds of lettuce, kale, spinach, chard, etc. they are back to enjoying it and wanting to check it's progress.  I think it has made them enjoy their food more too.  We have tomatoes and sweet bell peppers growing, neither of which they like, but they are so excited about the fact they are ripening.  And we have discovered as many of you know just how much tastier farm fresh, home grown veggies are!  If you can't grow you own I would suggest visiting your local farmers market for a delicious assortment of fresh produce. And if you are a bit adventurous now is a great time for picking wild blackberries.

Some fun new recipes to try....

I've been trying some new recipes this week, and found a couple worth passing along.  We made Everyday Paleo's Puerto Rican Beef, with mashed sweet potatoes the other night and it was a hit.  It has a very homey, comfort food sort of appeal.  

 And last night we had Pulled Pork Barbecue from Primal Palate, and Roasted Root Veggies from Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo Book, which if you have the book it's on page 139.  The roasted veggies was an attempt to venture outside my normal veggies, and it was delish!  I haven't had beets since  was a kid and even thought I didn't like them.  But I'm finding that many of the veggies I thought I didn't like are actually quite good, thus the reason I am trying to venture out a bit.  The Roasted Root Veggies contain, beets, parsnips, carrots, red onion, garlic and some seasonings, which are a delicious combination worth trying.  As for the Pulled Pork Barbecue, it was really quite good, it got a thumbs up from the kids.  Finding a good tasting "Barbecue" sauce since going Paleo has been a challenge, this one is good, in fact probably the best one I have tasted so far, and I will probably make this dish again.  But I'm still holding out for the barbecue recipe that makes me gasp and go Ahh now this is it!!  I shredded my meat, added it back to the crock pot, poured the sauce over and mixed well, then left it on low for a while and finished getting the veggies ready.  Oh and I used honey for the Stevia.  

One thing I will warn you, I don't consider the Pulled Pork recipe to be budget, any recipe that requires me to purchase ingredients I don't already have and are a little spendy aren't considered budget for me.  It calls for shallots, which to me a a "luxury" item, as they are more expensive then onions.  And the smoked paprika cost me over $6 a bottle, while tasty, it's a bit expensive and not something that Winco carries at all, nor did I find it at the Natural foods store, I found it at Murphy's Market in Cutten.  And it uses a large amount of chicken broth that is discarded, I would suggest straining it and saving it for a soup.  I can't stand waste, when I boiled my sweet potatoes, I saved the broth from them too, lot's of good nutrients in there.  Anyway, enjoy and happy eating.

Bargains of the Week

I did my grocery shopping for the week today, and while I can't say there were to many exceptional bargains to be found, I did want to pass this one along.

The GROCERY OUTLET has So Delicious Coconut Milk (fresh in the refrigerator) for just $1.99, which is a great price!  It's the unsweetened plain variety, they also have Almond Milk in the same refrigerator case for those of you who can't drink coconut milk.

Paleo Tabouli

The picture quality does not do this recipe justice!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of broccoli slaw

1 cup shredded carrots*

2 finely diced ripe tomatoes*

1/2 can Lindsay natural olives

2 tbspns EVOO

2 tbspn Living Intentions Salad Booster ( contains chlorella, spirulina, sea veggies. Its raw and gluten free, high in minerals and one of the superfoods.)*

herbs:dill, basil

Himalayan Salt and a little black pepper.

In a food processor pulse broccoli slaw until grainy and put in a large bowl. Shred your carrots and add.

Dice tomatoes and olives...add spices and herbs and olive oil. Combine well and chill for an hour. Traditional Tabbouleh contains cucumber as well but I didn't have any so I skipped, not really missing it.

Now, from here you can add diced grilled chicken breast or ground turkey to make it a complete meal for lunch or dinner. Use lettuce leaves to make a wrap. Get creative with your dressing or try one of Drew's yummy dressings like Smoked Tomato on it, enjoy!

* indicates organic local ingredients

Crustless Salmon Quiche with Swiss Chard

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 Tablespoon bacon grease

1/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 6 oz can salmon, drained

1/3 cup (heaping full) of finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped (very full cups)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/8-1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp dried dill 

4 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Using the coconut oil grease a 10 inch pie plate with a thick layer of coconut oil.  Then sprinkle the pan with the almond meal and shake to coat evenly, discarding any extra.

 Melt the bacon grease in a medium size skillet over medium high heat.  Add your onions, chard and garlic, sauteing until the onions are tender. 

 

Add the salmon and reduce heat to low while you prepare the eggs. 

In a small bowl beat the eggs, coconut milk and seasoning with a wire whisk.  

Then spread the salmon mixture in the bottom of the pan and pour the egg mixture over it.  

 

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the center is set.  Enjoy!

 

 *NOTE*

You can adjust this to your personal preference,  add more eggs if you like it eggier, more chard, less salmon, there are lots of other options, you can even change up the spices if you would like, maybe try some Marjoram instead of dill for example. 

Chocolate Coconut Milk Ice Cream

This recipe is for one of those special occasions or your Friday night treat, it's taken from The Food Lovers Primal Palate.  I did make some adaptations, as I find most of their recipes to be to sweet..  

Here is the link to their original recipe: http://www.primal-palate.com/2010/12/chocolate-almond-butter-ice-cream.html  

 We made little sundaes topped with bananas and melted chocolate chips. 

Here are the substitutions I made, I used 2 cans of full fat coconut milk, 1/2 cup maple syrup (instead of 3/4 cup), 2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup creamy unsalted, Maranatha almond butter (since we don't have a Treader Joes).  The thing I love about this recipe is that the ingredients are all things I have in my pantry, and are fairly inexpensive.  The other Chocolate Ice Cream recipe I was using called for two whole dark chocolate bars, which can get a little spendy.  But best of all is this Ice Cream taste GREAT!!!  Definitely some awesome ice cream!  I was even able to freeze the extra and just let it sit out for a few minutes to soften and then scoop.  Yum!

"Carbs" and Paleo

A few months back I was noticing quite a trend among the Paleo crowd to reduce the intake of carbs to nearly nothing.  Existing mainly on protein and fat, I myself fell into that a few months back and let me tell you it's slippery road.  At first I felt great, lot's of energy, hitting PR's, workouts felt strong, etc.  But then it hit and hit hard, first thing I started noticing was that I would get worn out really easy, then I noticed that my hair was falling out, like a lot.  Just running my fingers through my hair would net me a handful of hair, I have since read on different blogs about other people having the same problem.  However, their remedy was to stick with it and try to remedy it with herbs and vitamins.  I ask you this, if what you are eating (or not eating) is putting that much stress on your body, and your hair starts falling out wouldn't you want to change it?  Several of them even commented that if they upped their carb intake it remedied the hair loss, but they weren't willing to do that, losing weight was more important, or whatever other reasons they had for doing it.  Having experienced this myself, I caution everyone to be careful, do not limit the very thing that provides you with  a variety of nutrients and energy. You need veggies, especially your greens!    I am here testify that in the long run it messed me up, my workouts suffered and it affected my family because I was so tired, oh and not to mention the hair loss thing, being bald isn't exactly attractive on women!   Any temporary gain is not worth the longer term consequences of eating a low Carb  Paleo diet. Most of us need a LITTLE PROTEIN, maybe SOME FAT and the MAJORITY of the plate filled with "CARBS" (vegetables and maybe some fruit).  And I might even be so bold as to say "eat some fruit!", it's summer lot's of varieties are in season, so enjoy (in moderation of course and only if your trainer has okayed it for you:-).  It's easy to get lazy with the veggies but they are a very necessary component to your diet, don't leave them out!  
Happy eating!

Please leave your thoughts under comments...

Check this out...

I've been following this couples blog site (The Food Lovers Primal Palate)for quite a while now, especially enjoying their version of treats.  Their No Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies have been a big hit!  While I find most of their recipes a bit more sophisticated than Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo Cookbook and blog, I think their Cookbook will be a welcome addition to your Library.   

http://www.makeitpaleo.com/

Please be sure to check this out...

Robb Wolf has posted a new video series where he answers common questions about the Paleo diet.  It contains some very helpful information and is worth spending some time watching.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Robb+Wolf+Paleo+Mahalo&aq=f+www.youtube.com

Sheilla's 911 Burgers

Around this house we love Spicy, Southwestern, Mexican style dinners, our love for those flavors inspired this new Burger.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Sheilla's 911 Burgers

2 lbs. 80% grass fed ground beef (mine was about 2 1/4 this time)

4 large Jalapeno Peppers

1 TBSP onion powder

1 TBSP garlic granules

2 TBSP coconut aminos

1 tsp sea salt (or more if you like)

1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce

1/2 tsp. chipotle pepper powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat your grill on high (I used a gas grill).  When it's good and hot place your peppers on the grill over high heat and blacken them on all sides.  Remove from the grill when done, using a fork and sharp knife, cut off the stem.  Then slice in half length wise and remove the middle and about 1/2 seeds from the Jalapeno for a more mild burger, then chop loosely.  Add to a food processor and process for a few seconds to finely chop them.  Set aside.

Then in a large bowl, combine the meat, all the spices and the peppers.  Mix well with your hands being sure everything gets well incorporated into the mixture (you may want to wear gloves due to the peppers).  Divide and roll into 6 good size balls, then flatten and grill your burgers over med-high heat (depending on your grill, mine isn't so hot anymore so I had it on high the whole time).  Serve with your choice of garnish, I tried it with guacamole, but my favorite was plain with lettuce leaves.  I think some fresh tomato slices and maybe some onion might be good, just experiment to find what you prefer.  

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

 Jalapeno Peppers on the grill getting blackened.

 Jalepeno Peppers off the grill and ready to be diced.

 Peppers after being chopped in the  food processor.

 Meat, spices and peppers ready to be mixed.

 A patty all shaped and ready to be grilled.

 And on the grill.

 Looking yummy!

 All the burgers done and ready to eat.

 Sheilla's 911 Burger on lettuce leaves ready to eat or garnish.

Sheilla's 911 Burger garnished and ready to eat!  Yum!

Fried Apples and Crepes

This morning, I was up a little earlier than usual, and thought it would be fun to make something different for breakfast.  This one is more time consuming than usual so I don't make it to often, but it is a fun treat.   And Mmmmm, so yummy.  I use  a version of

Sarah Fragoso's EverdayPaleo"s recipe for Fried Apples to fill them. 

Paleo Crepes

1/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk

1/4 cup coconut flour

8 egg whites

2 whole eggs

Beat the egg whites and eggs with a wire whisk until a little frothy.  Then add in the remaining ingredients and beat really, really well, it will have a few lumps, but do your best to beat them out.  I have a wire whisk attachment on my hand mixer that works great for this.  Once they are made we never notice any of the little lumps, I guess they are so small they don't really matter.  

Heat a small skillet over medium heat with a little bit of Coconut oil in the pan so they don't stick, pour in a small amount of batter  (about 2 TBSP) and swirl it around in the pan to coat the bottom of the pan thinly.  Cook for a few minutes, watching closely, when the edges start to get a done flip it over and cook the other side.  It usually takes less time on the second side.  Fill with your filling of choice either savory or sweet, fold and eat. This will make about 16 nice thin, delicate crepes.  

*If you are lacto-Paleo or Primal then try spreading a crepe with a thin layer of full fat plain Greek yogurt, fold and top with some blueberries

(cook some frozen berries in the microwave for a few minutes to make it more liquid).  Delicious!

Modified Fried Apples Filling For Crepes

4 Organic Fuji apples sliced very thinly (about 7-8 cups)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup of full fat canned coconut milk

1 TBSP saigon cinnamon

Slice your apples thinly and set aside.  When all your apples are sliced, place the coconut oil in a large skillet and melt.  When your oil is all melted add the apple slices and sauté over med-high heat or high heat until softened.  Then lower heat to medium. Add in the coconut milk, raisins and cinnamon and simmer stirring occasionally until it thickens up nicely and makes a sauce, usually just a couple of minutes. And then they are ready to serve.  

*I usually do the apples first and just keep them on low while I make the crepes.