Acorn Squash and Lettuce Hamburgers

Today for lunch --- ACORN Squash, Apples, Walnuts and a little cinnamon.

I also ate some Beef Jerky from Trader Joe's.

They were really good! Micah, the baby ate half and a lot of apples. 

Good Lunch and AMAZING Dinner!!!

Lettuce Hamburger with Brussels Sprouts

 The Ingredients:

8 grass fed hamburger patties

1 tomato, sliced

1 onion, sliced

10 - 16 pieces of lettuce

Almond meal, Garlic Powder and pepper

The Directions:

My patties were already formed.  I seasoned each patty with ground almond, garlic and pepper.

Heat large flat pan. Add Patties. I added a cake pan on top to help cook. 

While burgers are cooking, saute onions. Cook burgers to likeness!

Put burger on 2 pieces of lettuce and top with tomato and grilled onions. 

These were real good!!!! Adam said it really hit the spot and exactly what he needed. 

Ground Beef and Spinach

A few months ago, I made a ground beef with noodles, well noodles are not Paleo friendly so here is my new recipe!

Ground beef and Spincah

The Ingredients:

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 TBSP Garlic Powder

Pepper

1 TBSP Coconut Oil

6 cups fresh Spinach, chopped

splash or two of balsamic vinegar

The Directions:

Saute the onions in the coconut oil until translucent.  Add the ground beef and brown. Add the spices and the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or until the spinach is cooked down and tender.

Beef Stew

The wonderful people at Artisana sent me an amazing care package of goodies to try!

As you know, I love nut butters!!!

I am really excited about this care package because I have never tried some of these flavors before and they sound AMAZING!  I will let you know what I think about each flavor when I open them.


FLAVORS - Walnut Butter, Cashew Butter, Cashini Butter, Tahini Butter, Cocoa Bliss, Pecan Butter, Macadamia Butter, Coconut Butter and Coconut Oil.


So far - I have LOVED the Cocoa Bliss - I have a couple of recipes that I use Cocoa Bliss. I used it on oatmeal and in quinoa and even baking! Remember my 3-Layer Banana Split Cupcakes??? (not anymore -- we are eating Paleo) The Artisana Coconut butter is delicious! I like it more than the coconut butter I made. Only because mine never because totally creamy!


I hear Cashini is suppose to replace PB in PB&J... Joshua I am sure will love it! He is already all about Almond Butter! :)


More reviews and recipes to come with this yummy yummy stuff!


NOW ---- Here is an AMAZING Beef Stew recipe. I mean --- aaaaahhhhh---mazing!
The meat was melt in your mouth good. Tender and amazing. Have I said it was amazing, yet?


I didn't think so... AMAZING

This makes a lot. That was our plan. I wanted to have leftovers for lunch and maybe 2!


The Ingredients:
3 lbs grass fed stew beef
2 cans diced tomatoes (I would prefer to use my own canned tomatoes)
1 whole bunch of celery, diced
10 carrots, sliced
4 - 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 parsnips, sliced
1 TBSP Cumin
1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
4 cups of beef broth (homemade or 3 bouillon cubes with 4 cups of water)
Water
1 - 3 tsp pepper


The Directions:
In a soup pot, steer the beef while cutting the vegetables. Add all the vegetables and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Turn down to medium heat and cook for a couple of hours.


The meat will melt in your mouth!!!!


Part of Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter, and Fight Back Friday.

Morning Eggs

Mornings (Breakfast) are struggles, for me. 

Not because the kids are up. They are usually still sleeping when I get up. 

I am just a slow starter. My alarm goes off. I hit snooze. My alarm goes off. I lay there. 

I have always been like this. I have always been a sleeper. 

I struggle mostly in the winter. I mean, who really wants to get out of a warm bed and go out into the cold aired room? Not me!

I am getting better!!! Really, I am. I am not lacking sleep - I am good at that. We go to sleep at 9 and I wake up at 6:30 - 7:30, sometimes even later. That is 9 sometimes 10+ hours of sleep! :)

Surprisingly, I can tell a difference in the last week, since starting Paleo and eliminating the grains.

Yes, I know, it has only been a couple of days but I can tell! I do not feel as sluggish. 

I am working hard to improve my morning meals.

My go to breakfast is out the door! Oatmeal of some sort. 

I am good with this change, I really am. 

The Ingredients:

Handful of fresh Spinach, suateed.

diced tomatoes.

Eggs

Coconut Oil

Enjoy!!!

Chicken in the Crock, 4+ meals worth

A chicken fryer goes a lot further these days. I used to used plop a chicken in a pot and make soup. I would use the whole chicken and toss the bones. I also would bake a chicken and do the same thing, toss the bones. 


Not anymore!


A chicken fryer is becoming more... For example, I stretched our last two chicken fryers (whole chickens) into 4 meals and 4 jars of broth.

Just last night we had almost 1/2 if not 3/4 of the chicken left. We are consuming more vegetables (2 or 3 different types) each meal. 


Do not worry, if the boys want seconds of chicken, I will not discourage it but I will encourage more vegetables first! 


The left over chicken (1/2 - 3/4 of a chicken) is used towards lunches and other dinners this week. Plus one less dishes to have to clean. While cleaning up, I dished out enough chicken and leftover vegetables for his lunch. I used 1/4 cup of chicken today on my spinach salad with almonds and walnuts.  


Would you believe me if I told you, I still have a cup (maybe more) of chicken left? Well, believe me! :)


I have a new favorite chicken recipe. 


It is easy and you do not have to do much. I put a clean and patted down chicken into the crock pot. Topped with a little garlic powder, Italian Seasoning and Coconut Oil. Cook on low all day and you have perfect tender chicken.  

Crockpot Chicken

The Ingredients:

1 chicken fryer 

1 TBSP Coconut Oil

Garlic Powder

Fresh or Dried Herbs (Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano)

Lemon Pepper

Lemon Slices (optional)

The Directions:

Wash the chicken and pat dry. Put chicken in the crockpot and top with all the seasonings. 

Cook on low all day. Turn off the crockpot and take out chicken. Let cool before taking out the bones. 

Tip - take out all the bones while the chicken is warm. It falls apart and doesn't take much work to clean out all the meat. 

I also was able to make 4 large jars of homemade chicken broth. 

 

Chicken Broth - This time I cooked the bones with the extra juices leftover from when cooking the chicken. Add water and bones to crockpot, that's right, I said crockpot. I changed up the original recipe. 

This is so easy! I added everything in the crockpot and cooked everything over night.  

We sided the chicken with sauteed Brussels sprouts and steamed broccoli. 


Saute Brussels:


Cut Brussels into quarters. Add a little Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Little goes a long way. 


Steam Broccoli:


Steam broccoli until the color comes out. About 8 - 10 minutes. Seasoning lightly with pepper and garlic powder.

Paleo

If you "Like" Enjoying Healthy Foods on Facebook, you may have seen a status update that we are starting a new eating adventure. 


There are several reasons for this sudden change but one is most important. As you know, I have mentioned it several times, but I have an intolerance to Gluten (pretty sure it is to ALL grains). When we go shopping, I end up picking up one package of Brown Rice Pasta and I often cook Quinoa (which is a better choice but still grain). You may not know that I have an autoimmune disease, hashimoto's disease.




So, let's get a little uncomfortable... Let's challenge ourselves.... We are throwing it out!!!! 


We have watched a few friends try out Paleo and seen there results. I have also searched blogs and seen their results. 


What is Paleo??? 
It’s easy to emulate the healthy diet and lifestyle of our Paleolithic ancestors. Lean proteins, fruits, veggies and good fats. With a very simple shift we not only remove the foods that are at odds with our health (grains, legumes, and dairy) but we also increase our intake of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.


How will this help my Autoimmunity???
Many people have found significant improvements in autoimmune disease by eliminating the Neolithic foods (grains, legumes, and dairy) and building a diet around nutritious Paleo options. 


We have found (and liked) that Paleo is not a "One Fits All Plan" more of a here are the guidelines, customize how you want!


Here is the basics.

The Paleo diet is built from the healthiest, most nutritious foods available:

• Lean proteins that support strong muscles, healthy bones and optimal immune function. Protein also makes you feel satisfied between meals.
• Fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that have been shown to decrease the likelihood of developing a number of degenerative diseases including cancer, diabetes and neurological decline.
• Healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, fish oil and grass-fed meat. Scientific research and epidemiological studies show that diets rich in Monounsaturated and Omega-3 fats dramatically reduce the instances of obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cognitive decline.

Simple meaning - 70 % (or 80%) vegetables and 30% (20%) meat/protein 


I am really excited to blog about our journey and I hope that you continue to follow. Meals are still going to be delicious and full of flavor. 

It is going to take me a little bit to get started but I plan on posting our entire day of meals. I want to do that for a couple of reasons but most importantly to keep myself accountable. I am ready to "stop making excuses" and get back to my pre-pregnancy body, actually, I want to improve that... I would like to be comfortable and confident and most importantly healthy (inside and out!)

Who is with me??? Anyone want to take this challenge with me??? 


-----------------------------------
Oh yes, I almost forgot, again!!!! The WINNER of the Mexican Vanilla is ... Shelli! Please email me your address and I will get that out to you ASAP! 


Thank you for everyone who played!

Almond Crusted Salmon

Treat yourself...

Every once in awhile it is nice to treat yourself...

But you do not have to ruin your "eating" lifestyle to do so...

Above is a little treat that I gave Joshua today... 

Greek Yogurt with a little sprinkles. Sometimes I even put a little food coloring on it and he is a happy camper! 

Honey Greek Yogurt is our favorite "treat!"

Another delicious treat!!!! Almond Crusted Salmon!

The Salmon was really good!

The Ingredients:
Salmon
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 tsp cumin

The Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour 1 TBSP Olive Oil on a plate. Rub each Salmon filet in the Olive Oil.

In a food processor, pulse 1/2 cup Almonds until the Almonds are in small pieces. You can pulse until the Almond is real fine, almost Almond Flour. The choice is yours! Mix pieces with 1/2 tsp cumin.

Coat each Filet with Almond pieces.

Bake Salmon for 10 - 12 minutes.

The way you can check the Salmon is see if the salmon flakes down.

We enjoyed our Almond Crusted Salmon with saute Asparagus and Carrots.

Spinach and Almonds

Joshua loves spinach. He reminds me almost daily how much he loves Spinach. 

I am not sure where the obsession has come from. Maybe it is because he enjoys watching old Popeye Movies. Maybe it is because he sees Popeye eat a can of Spinach and magically he is covered in LARGE muscles and is strong.  Maybe it is because he has been eating Spinach since he was 9 months old. Maybe it is just because we switch up the recipe. Maybe he really just enjoys eating Spinach. 

I think it is all of the above. He really doe like Spinach and you will not see this mom complaining. 

We eat Spinach at least once a week. We enjoy fresh and frozen. Both our fridge and freezer are stocked with this delicious leafy green!

I am on an Almond kick... You will see a lot of Almonds in my recipes to come! 

I made spinach with Almonds last week with the Sweet Potato Tater Tots and Steak. I am sorry to just be getting to posting the Spinach Recipe. 

The Ingredients:

Spinach - chopped (fresh or frozen)

Coconut Oil

Chopped Almonds

The Directions:

If using fresh Spinach, wash and dry. Cut off Spinach ends and chop Spinach into desired pieces. I like to saute fresh Spinach in Coconut Oil. You do not need much Coconut Oil because the Spinach will wilt fast and you can have oily spinach. Add Almonds and let the Almonds toast up a little bit. 

If you are using frozen you can either steam or use the microwave. We try not to use our microwave a lot so we steam ours. I then toss the Spinach in a little Coconut Oil and add toasted Almonds.

If you need to add a little Parmesan cheese to spice it up, that is fine! It is good either way!

You could add this into some quinoa, too.

Sweet Potato Shepherd's PIe

We had a wonderful weekend. Saturday morning we woke up to snow, a few inches! :) It snowed all day long! Joshua, my three year old, LOVED the snow. Each time we came inside, because hubby and I were cold, he wanted to stay out. He would have been out there all day and night.

Sunday, we took Joshua sledding! We bundled up the family and I got to experience sledding for the first time. Yes - I know... unbelievable but I spent most of my years in Arizona where winters are snowless! 

How sweet does my Micah look all bundled up!!!! 

Joshua was fearless sledding. He was all about going all the way to the top and going alone!  

Sledding or should I say tubing the big hill solo. 

I decided to make something different... something new! (again!)

and it was good! 

The picture looks greasy but that is the tomato sauce. 

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

The Ingredients:

3 sweet potato

3 TBSP Coconut Oil

5 large carrots, chopped

1 onion (I didn't have this - but would be great!), diced

4 - 6 celery stalks (leaves and all!), chopped

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 can of tomato sauce (I used homemade)

1 TBSP Worcestershire

1/2 tsp Thyme

1 TBSP Almond Milk

The Direction:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place sweet potatoes directly on the rack in the oven. Cook for 50 minutes in the oven or in the microwave for about 6 minutes. * I put a piece of foil on the rack below to catch the drippings. Cook until the potatoes are tender, allow to cool. In large skillet, heat 1 TBSP coconut oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Cook while stirring constantly until tender (about 5 minutes). Add garlic. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add beef, stirring until it begins to brown. Stir in tomato sauce, Worcestershire, half of of the thyme and 1/4 tsp of the salt. Bring to a boil. Transfer to a greased baking dish, spreading evenly.

Cut cooked sweet potatoes into small chunks and blend together with the remaining butter (softened), remaining thyme, salt, and the Almond Milk (you could use heavy cream or Greek yogurt). Blend until well combined.

Spread sweet potato mixture over meat in baking dish and bake until bubbly, about 20 to 25 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!! We did!

Coconut Oil - Tropical Traditions

One product that pretty much does it all for us! Coconut oil!

Coconut oil is a highly saturated tropical oil derived from coconuts of the coconut palm tree. Traditionally it has provided many health benefits to the peoples who live in areas of the tropics and subtropics where coconut palms grow. Many newly discovered health benefits are now being unearthed through careful research and use in clinical practices.

We have been lead to believe that saturated fats are the dietary contributor to heart disease.

Read more from Nourishing Traditions and the Weston A. Price Foundation counter-acting the false beliefs about coconut oil here.

Coconut oil has been called the “healthiest dietary oil on earth.”

Coconut Oil has many great uses!!! 

Cooking

Use 1 cup to 1 cup ratio when replacing other oils/butter in recipes with coconut oil.

Replacement for butter/lard/Crisco in it’s solid form – greasing pans, pie crusts, etc. Nutritional supplement – melt and add to smoothies
Replacement for various oils in liquid form – baking, cooking, sauteing, etc.

I use coconut oil primarily now for all my cooking and baking. I have found olive oil to be superior for greasing pans and for homemade dressings, but other than that, it is all coconut oil!

Baby
We have had a couple of sever cases of diaper rash with Micah. After trying everything and anything, we gave coconut oil a try. Scoop some out in our hand and rubbed onto his bottom. The NEXT day - gone... No sign of ever having a diaper rash. Mix coconut oil with Shea butter for a more everyday diaper rash cream.
Good for everyday lotion, too!


Body
I am just beginning to experiment in this area. So far, I have tried:
Feet - Coconut Oil on dry and cracking feet. 
Moisturizer/Lotion - I have really dry skin. Mix coconut oil with lotion or Shea butter.
Toothpaste - I made my own toothpaste. Still working on the recipe (will share soon!)
Deep Conditioner 
Make-up remover - apply a small amount on a cotton ball.
Lips - this is funny but when I am in the kitchen cooking and have a little coconut oil left, i apply it to the lips!


BM's - I am sorry if that is TMI but seriously, a week off coconut oil I (the whole family) could tell a difference. If you have harder BM's give Coconut Oil a try. Just cook with it and your body will thank you! :) Again, sorry for the TMI.


I hear it is good for aftershave, gel, sunscreen and deodorant.  


I love coconut oil. 


I recently learned about Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil and we were given the opportunity to sample it in our home.


Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil is unrefined and is made with organic coconuts. Fresh coconuts are used and only the best are hand-picked from each harvest. The fresh coconut meat is then shredded and then cold-pressed using the water that is inside of the coconut to make coconut milk. The milk is then allowed to sit for about 12 hours while the oil naturally separates from the milk.


We are big Coconut Oil users!!! Just this week we have used Tropical Traditions Virgin Coconut Oil for cooking eggs, making cupcakes, in spinach, on sweet potatoes tater tots, potato fries, air popped popcorn, my dry elbow, Micah's bottom and dry lips. I have been very pleased with the Coconut Oil. 


Make sure you go over to Tropical Traditions and check out all their products... I know, I will!


Thank you, Tropical Traditions for allowing me to sample your product!



DISCLAIMER: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Sweet Potato Tater tots

Yes, you read correctly... Sweet Potato Tater tots. 

Might I add more delicious-ness... topped with Coconut Butter... 

This is a treat!!!! and I am excited to share with you!

You see, I had this LARGE Sweet Potato. Almost double my hand. 

The width was BIGGER than my palm. 

I like being honest with you... 

My family and I were not always concerned about health. We are BIG food people. Certain foods have certain memories. Memories that we like to re-visit. 

As kids, both my husband and I enjoyed tater tots.. I mean, who doesn't like tater tots. Everyone likes them. 

So this week, with my LARGE Sweet Potato, I took on Tater Tots... Healthy version!!!!

and sided it with steak. 

and topped it with Coconut Butter. 

and sided it with Spinach and Almonds!!! 

THEY WERE WONDERFUL!!!! A real crowd pleaser!!! :) 

 

Sweet Potato Tater tots

The Ingredients:

Sweet Potato, cubed

Coconut Oil

Sea Salt

Cinnamon

Coconut Butter

The Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash and Dry Sweet Potatoes (I left the skins on. WASHED really good!)

Cut the Sweet Potato into chunks about 1/2" thick.

Melt Coconut Oil and brush onto the Sweet Potatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 20 minutes (rotate once)

Turn up to 400 degrees and bake for 20 more minutes. 

ahhhhhmazing!!!!  

Don't forget about the Mexican Vanilla Giveaway!!! My gift to you!