Live Healthy, Happy and Balanced

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Crock Pot Paleo Spicy Pulled Pork

Crockpot Paleo Spicy Pulled Pork

This one turned out amazing. But I'm warning you it is SPICY!! But if you like spicy your gonna love it. I felt like it was moist with great flavor and there's just so much you could do with it.

-2 lb Pork Roast (excess fat trimmed)

- 4 Garlic cloves peeled

- 1/4 cup Gluten Free Hot Sauce (just make sure there no added sugar)

- 2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

- 2 Tbsp Chilli Powder

- 1 Tbsp Cumin

- 2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

- 1 Tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

- Salt lightly

- 2 yellow Onions Diced

- 2 (14oz) cans of Fire Roasted Tomoatoes

- 1 (14oz) can Tomatoe Sauce

Cut 4 slices and insert the whole garlic cloves into the roast. Place roast in Crock pot.

In separate bowl mix together all the ingredients. Then pour over the roast.

Turn on Crockpot to high. Cook 8-10 hours on high. Mine took about 9 & 1/2 hours but my crockpots old. So just check it at around 8. When it's ready it should shred easily. Then just take your tongs and shred it up and mix all together.

I thought the pork was super moist and really spicy but I love spicy. I put it over a cooked sweet Potatoe and I also ate it by itself with advacado slices. It's really good and you could really do a lot with it depending on what your diet allows. On a salad?? My husband wanted to make Nachos with it. Obviously I said no. Sorry Brad :(

Enjoy!

-Jessica

Spinach Stuffed Steak Roulades

This recipe was such a yummy change up to eating steak plus it was fun to make!! I got the olive tapenade from trader joes but you can easily make it yourself. It is just chopped kalamata olives, garlic, capers and olive oil. This recipe would also be fantastic if you added prosciutto to the mix! Hope you try this one! Sorry for the lack of photos my camera deleted them luckily I took a few with my phone!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound flank steak
1/2 cup olive tapenade
2 cups spinach, thick stems removed
salt and black pepper

Butterfly the Flank steak. Cut the steak in half horizontally (don’t cut all the way through) and open like a book.

Season steak with salt and pepper or McCormicks seasoning or any favorite steak seasoning.

Spread the tapenade over the steak; top with the spinach. Roll up; tie with twine at 2-inch intervals.

You can either put these on the grill or if you prefer you can brown them on 5 minutes each side in a cast iron skillet then transfer the skillet to a oven preheated to 350 and cook for 20 minutes (for medium rare). Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

This recipe goes great with a fresh salad. Mix wet ingredients for dressing and add to fresh greens.

Salad ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
6 cups mixed greens

I also made Green Beans with this recipe! Super simple chopped Bacon and Onion sauté for a few minutes then throw in the green beans. Add a few ounces of water to the pan and cover to steam for 7-10 minutes depending how crunchy or soft you like your green beans. Then salt and pepper to taste!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Paleo Breakfast Bars

My sister in law Teresa gave me a recipe for Paleo breakfast bars and of course I never have everything I need at home so I revamped this recipe and added a few different things! These were seriously like eating oatmeal chocolate chip cookies but even better! It was like eating dessert!!! You must try these. Plus they are super easy!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 Cup coconut oil

1/2 Cup agave nectar

2 tsp vanilla

1 Cup shredded coconut

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 chia seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup enjoy chocolate chips

Combine almond flour, salt, baking soda in a large bowl.

In another bowl combine wet ingredients: coconut oil, agave nectar, and vanilla. Mix well. Then add wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Then stir in the rest of ingredients. Oil baking dish. Bake in a 13 by 9 baking dish for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown on top. Mine came out perfect around 22 minutes in the oven.

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

These are freaking yum! Like yum yum!! And super easy to make. If you've never tried to make these here's a quick low down on what to do. First buy yourself some Asparagus and Proscuitto. Now my Asparagus were the big thick ones but if you happen to buy the tiny ones it's ok. Just wrap like 2-3 asparagus with the Proscuitto instead of one. Fist things first. Toss the Asparagus in Olive Oil and place on a baking sheet. Lightly (& I mean LIGHTLY) salt them and then pepper them. Proscuitto is already salty so you don't want to over salt the asparagus. Then take your pieces of Priscuitto and wrap them around the asparagus. The Proscuitto is very thinly sliced and tears easy so just be careful with it. Lay each piece on the baking sheet not touching each other. Now turn your broiler onto High. Your going to put these Asparagus under the broiler for 3 minutes. When the 3 minutes is up pull them out and using tongs just turn them all over. Then place back into the oven for 3 more minutes. Now just a warning people. I think it goes without saying here that everyone's Broiler is different. SO..... Please watch the asparagus those last 3 minutes. I would truly hate for you to burn your beautiful Asparagus because you gave it 3 minutes because I said so and it really only needed 2 minutes at the end. Fair?? Fair!!

Enjoy!

-Jessica

Monday, January 20, 2014

Paleo Chilli Cilantro Shrimp

Paleo Chilli Cilantro Shrimp with Shiritake Noodles or Brown Rice Noodles

I bought these Shiritake Noodles in hopes of having a alternative to pasta as most of you know I cannot eat anything containing gluten. And brown rice pasta is an option for me as it is gluten free but I try to stay away from anything with a whole lot of carbs and stick to Paleo as close to possible. So this is my WARNING!!! Just go with the Brown Rice noodles!! These Shiritake Noodles are healthy but let me tell you they are chewy as HELL!! So when you make this recipe just take my word and go get you some Gluten Free Brown Rice Noodles to put your shrimp over. Or even over brown rice. You can thank me later! So here's what you need..

1/4 cup Olive Oil

3 Tbsp Ghee

3 Tbsp Chilli Paste

Juice of Half a lemon or lime

1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

4 garlic Cloves (forgot to put in pic)

1/4 of a Jalepeno

Sea Salt to taste

About 30 cooked Shrimp

Brown Rice Noodles/ Or Shiritake Noodles if your brave

Now this ones super easy. As your shrimp are already cooked your basically just melting your oil & butter with the other ingredients and letting them simmer to absorb all of the flavors.

Defrost your shrimp, rinse and set to the side. In a skillet add Olive Oil and Ghee, Garlic, Chilli Paste and Jalepeno. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes just letting the garlic and Jalapeño cook down a little. Add your juice of lemon/lime and Cilantro. Stir. Then add your shrimp and turn up heat to medium for about 5 more minutes. Remember your shrimp are already cooked your basically just letting these flavors absorb into the shrimp for a few minutes. Add Salt to taste then serve over your Brown Rice Noodles. Quick & Easy Dinner!

Enjoy-

Jessica

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Paleo Beef and Vegetable Stew

Paleo Beef Stew

This is a staple meal at my house. I like to have one recipe preferably a crockpot meal that I can make at the beginning of the week that will leave me with leftovers. This is important because I need to have something already prepared for lunch for the week and also I have a back up in case one of my new recipes doesn't turn out quite as well as I would have liked. This way I have a definite meal in the fridge that just needs to be warmed up. And this stew is one of the best because it's so easy and really yummy. And it gets better as it sits. I literally add anything I have in my fridge to this stew. Also I buy my meat already cut up so that it makes my life that much easier. It has never let me down. No joke. That good!! So here is your basics you need and feel free to add anything that makes you happy.

Ingredients

- 1lb Cubed Beef Steak

- 1 can stewed Tomatoes

- Carrots

- Celery

- Chopped Garlic

- Yellow onion

- Sweet Potatoe

- Zucchini

- Garlic Sea Salt

- Red Chilli Pepper flakes

-1/2 can water

Now I'm not kidding when I say this. Put your meat and can of stewed tomatoes in the crock pot, and then just add as much or as little of the other ingredients as you like.

If you don't fancy onion.. Leave it out. If you prefer all carrots no celery, well whatever floats your boat. I have to say though the more you add the better it gets. After you've added your veggies to the brim add a half a can of water. Season with the Garlic/ Sea Salt & about a teaspoon of Red Chilli Pepper flakes. Turn on crock pot to low and cook ALL day. Or turn it to high for half a day. Now a warning. Because we are using sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes the sweet Potatoe turns mushy. This is OK!! It's not going to be the prettiest stew you ever ate. But it's going to be super delicious!! I actually let mine go until everything is super soft because I like it to get real mushy. If mushy doesn't sit right with you then turn it off when your carrots are still harder. Pretty much what I'm saying is you can't screw this one up!! It won't dissapoint!!

Enjoy!

-Jessica

Monday, January 13, 2014

Paleo Pizza (Cauliflower Crust)

It was so much fun to finally get togther and make a recipe together as sisters. What better way then to experiment on some Paleo Pizza! We made four pizzas by the time it was all said and done and each and every one of them got eaten. Even my good ole cowboy dad and the kids liked them! They were so dang good and it was such a good feeling to be eating a delicious pizza and not feel guilty about it! We took a lot of pictures so scroll fast if you don't feel like going through all of them. I really hope you will all try this recipe. It is so fresh and so good. The first pizza we made was not completely paleo because we added parmesan cheese to it but we made it with a cauliflower crust and a home made tomato sauce and tons of fresh toppings. The second pizza was made with a cauliflower crust and spinach sauce (which is already posted to our blog). It also had goat cheese which is lactose free for those of you who don't do dairy. Remember you can add any topping you want to make these pizzas fit your taste.

Enjoy- Rachel and Jessica

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Ingredients: I

1 Cup blended cauliflower rice
1 Cup of Goat Cheese
2 egg whites
Garlic Sea Salt

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can of tomato sauce
2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper

Chop the garlic and basil then in mixing bowl mix all ingredients together. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spinach Sauce

(recipe and previous blog post)

Topping Suggestions:
mushrooms
red onion
sausage
bacon
pepperoni
olives
green onions
fresh basil

The first thing we did was cut up our head of cauliflower and pulse them in the blender till it was shredded into pieces about the size of rice. Then shred the cheese. In a mixing bowl add 1 cup of cauliflower and two egg whites. Mix together and then add in your 1 cup of shredded Goat cheese with about 1 1/2 teaspoon of Garlic Salt. Mix well.

Once you get your crust mixed you will want to turn your oven on to bake at 400 degrees. We used a pizza stone covered in parchment paper to bake our pizzas on but you could also just use a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. The dough is slightly delicate and we found the best way to spread it out on the parchment paper was by patting the dough softly with a spatula till you get the dough about a quarter inch thick flattened out.

Then pop that dough in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Depending on how your oven cooks I would check it every two minutes after that till it gets a nice golden brown crust on the outside.