I saw this recipe and put it on my list of things to try. The one ingredient I didn’t have on hand were coconut flakes, which a most typical supermarkets really don’t carry. Or keep it stocked in the most ridiculous places instead of the cooking and baking section, where, at least in my warped mind, I think they would be kept.

So finally, I got to giving these a go! They’re not especially sweet, even with my addition of raisins. I think some chopped dates would really spice these up, or possibly even using some maple flakes! The one thing I do like about these is that they’re providing me with an extremely portable way for me to bring along my fats on trips without have to just rely on those packet grenades of almond butter all the time.  I’ll get to working on a few variations to try, but here’s something to get you started.

Adapted from Girl Gone Primal’s Almond and Coconut Biscuits:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup of raisins
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla (make sure it’s real vanilla extract)
• 1 tablespoon honey

I’ve been looking for a good recipe to introduce you to one of my best friends as of late, and this time, it’s not one that’ll get me put away for indecent exposure.  No, I’m talking about the crockpot.  How did I go so long without having one of these things?  I’ve likely had more days with this thing on and cooking away in the past month than not.  These things aren’t terribly expensive, either;  you can pick up one from any number of places for under $50.

Here’s a recipe that I’ve made a slight change upon from the original.

Adapted from Mark’s Daily Apple’s Garlic Pulled Pork:

Ingredients:

• 1 pork shoulder cut (butt or picnic), approximately 3-4 pounds
  
• 2 tablespoons habanero sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
• 6 fresh garlic cloves, diced
• The juice of two limes
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 dried chipotle peppers

Directions:

1. Combine the sea salt, black pepper, cumin, and diced garlic in a bowl.  Set aside.
2. Add the chopped onions, chipotle peppers, and bay leaf to the crock pot.
3. Place the pork shoulder on top of the onions in the crock pot, and juice one lime as evenly as you can over the pork.  Turn the pork over in the crockpot, and juice the second lime over the other side of the pork.  Season the pork with half of the salt/pepper/cumin/garlic mixture, rubbing it into the meat as best as you can.  Flip the pork shoulder over one more time in the crock pot, and use the remaining mixture to rub into the meat.
   
4. Cover the crock pot, and let cook for 6-8 hours.

I swear to you, it does not get any easier than this.  You’ll have a delicious pulled pork waiting for you when you get home from work if you can set this going in the morning.  Don’t worry about overcooking this, because, well, you can’t, really.  Just trust me.

The most tedious part of this was removing the fat because I don’t particularly care for it, but you can feel free to eat that, too.  Works wonders if you’ve refrigerated this and want to fry the pulled pork with some vegetables later.  There’s enough pork here for a few days, and that should help get you get a solid source of protein for any meal of the day!

I will be completely honest in admitting that this recipe is easily one of my favorite paleo recipes, both in its simplicity as well as its taste. While they don’t necessarily have the heft of a normal pancake, they definitely fill out your sweet tooth cravings, and go well with just about any time of the day.  Thanks to Mark Sisson for posting it, I’m just happy to share it everybody else.

from Mark’s Daily Apple:

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas  (the riper the better)
• 1 heaping tablespoon of almond butter
• 1 large cage free vegetarian fed egg, preferably of aristocrat fowl origins

Directions:

1. Using a fork, mash the bananas to a soft consistency (lumps are okay!) and add your egg.  Mix well.
2. Mix in a heaping tablespoon of almond butter, and you should see less lumps in your mixture.
3. Fire up a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.
4. Once the pan has become heated, coat the pan in a cooking oil of your choice.  My grapeseed oil is fairly flavorless, so I just stuck with that.
5. Turn down the stove to a medium heat, and drop tablespoons of batter into your skillet or frying pan.  These pancakes are extremely delicate and don’t flip over well, so making about dollar sized pancakes works out best.
6. Let the pancake cook until bubbles begin to form, and then flip over.  This should happen after 2-3 minutes of cooking.
7. Let the other side of the pancake cook for 2-3 minutes, and then gently remove the pancakes from the stove and place on a plate.
8. BAM!  You’re ready to get your pancake on.

Too easy, right?  It really is that easy.  These pancakes go great with berries and a tiny bit of honey on top.  I like mine with a side of pork, and you’ve got yourself a great paleo meal, ready to go.

Makes approximately 10-15 dollar sized pancakes for 1-2 people.

I saw this recipe on Saveur originally using chorizo, which I’m sure also works well. The real trick here is using a cured meat that’ll really complement the brussel sprouts. I’ll have to find a local farmer that sells thick cut bacon and give that variation a try. For this recipe, I happened to have a large block of bresaola ham that my Mom gave me, and I figured this would be a perfect time to use it.  I removed the step of blanching the brussel sprouts because it didn’t make a ton of difference in the final dish, and it seemed more time consuming than necessary.

adapted from Saveur:

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt, to taste (I used just a pinch)
• 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, rinsed, trimmed, and halved lengthwise
  
• 2 tbsp. grapeseed oil or other high temperature smoke point oil
• 1 cup Bresaola ham, cut into 1/2″ cubes
  
• 3 shallots, finely chopped
  
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a large cast iron skillet on high.  I made do with a small cast iron skillet, but a larger one will definitely save you some time.  Test the heat by adding a droplet of water to the skillet.  If it dances like a meth addict at an all-night rave in the middle of the Arizona desert, you’re good to go.
2. Add 1tbsp grapeseed oil to the skillet, followed by the garlic and shallots.  Reduce the heat down to a medium high, and stir for 2 minutes.
   
3. Add the bresaola ham, continuing to stir for 5 minutes.  The ham should start to have some charring on the sides, with the shallots turning translucent.
4. Using an oven mitt, remove the cast iron skillet from heat and transfer the contents to a bowl.  Set aside, and return the pan to the range.
5. Add 1 tbsp of grapeseed oil to the skillet, and place the sliced brussel sprouts into the pan, facing down.  Be careful of the oil, which will likely pop up and try to take bites out of you like a vicious chihuahua.  I used wooden chopsticks to add the brussel sprouts to the skillet, but a pair of metal tongs would work, too.  Let the brussel sprouts cook for approximately 5-8 minutes, until the side facing down starts to char.  Flip the brussel sprouts over, allowing to cook for another 5 minutes.
   
6. Now that the brussel sprouts have been cooked a bit, add the shallot and bresoala ham mix back into the skillet.  Mix thoroughly, and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
7. Remove contents from the skillet, and serve.

Pretty easy!  This dish makes approximately four servings.  For a hammier version, add an additional cup of bresaola ham, but I liked using this dish as a side to a portion of meat, so the bresaola was added more for its flavor and texture rather than being my primary source of protein in this meal.  This dish goes great with a portion of sausage, or a pair of fried eggs on top.

Enjoy!

Only 4 Ingredients!

2 cups Organic Crunchy Almond Butter
1 ¾ cups Raw Honey
2 ¼ cups Vanilla Arbonne Protein Shake
3 cups Quinoa Flakes 

1) Dry Roast Quinoa (can be done in oven or on stovetop) 

Stovetop Dry-Roasting

2) Mix Almond butter and honey in microwavable bowl. Heat for 60-90 seconds. Mix well.
3) Add Protein Powder and Quinoa and mix well.
4) Spread in 9×13 pan. 

5) Refrigerate 1 hour. Cut into 24 squares. 

During the winter months, it’s easy to catch a cold and feel absolutely miserable for days. One of the best natural remedies that comes to mind is (thanks to heavy advertising on Campbell’s part) nothing more than a simple bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup.

But most of us are grown-ups, and a mass produced 80 cent can of soup with more sodium and water than anything else isn’t really going to take us very far.  So I’ve come up with this recipe, that emphasizes re-inserting the things that really make you feel better: plenty of fresh vegetables, and chicken broth.  You can always make your own chicken broth from scraps, but if you’re a little pinched on time, getting a tetra-pack (avoid cans) of low sodium chicken broth will do just fine.

I’ve also take enoki mushrooms and used them as a substitute for the pasta noodles normally called for in this dish.  You get a similar texture to regular chicken noodle soup, without the useless carbs, AND the added benefit of what mushrooms normally have to offer: potassium, B vitamins, and amino acids.

So with that, here’s my solution to helping you get over that winter cold.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of enoki mushrooms, with roots trimmed
• 1 cup of carrots, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 1 cup of celery, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 1 cup of red onions, roughly chopped
• 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cage free egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp walnut oil or olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Place a medium sized saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to high for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the walnut oil, garlic, and then immediately followed by the red onions.  Stir the onions and let them cook until they’ve started to turn a slight golden color at the edges.
3. Add the celery and carrots, allowing them to cook for approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper at this point if you’d like.
4. Add the chicken broth to the saucepan.  Once the chicken broth begins to heat up and boil, reduce the heat to a medium-low.  Add the enoki mushrooms and cover.  Let it simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, which should give the mushrooms, celery, and carrots time to cook a bit.  Occasionally stir the contents of the saucepan.
5. Turn off the heat, uncover the sauce pan, and slowly add the egg to the soup, stirring a tiny bit so that the egg gets a bit of distribution.  Serve poste haste.

This recipe works wonders, and even travels well in a thermos.  You can add in any additional meat to meet any Zone requirements, or serve meat on the side.  If you’d like to make this vegetarian, you can always substitute vegetable broth, although you won’t garner the benefits of the chicken broth in fighting off colds.  Just the vegetables, which is still a good start.  Lastly, you can always reduce the about of oil to just 1 teaspoon, but make sure to watch your vegetables so they don’t get burnt.

Zone Blocks:

Protein: 1 block

Carbs: ~4 block

Fat: 9 block

Not being a devout vegetarian myself, I wasn’t quite sure how well this recipe, and even Jen had her reservations as I was making it for dinner the other night.  It primarily consists of onions, beets, brown rice and beans.  So how does that really stand up to being a burger substitute?

Pretty well, actually.  Jen really took a liking to these with every bite she had.  The beans provide a good amount of protein, and well, let’s not talk about carb counts here.  We also subbed the bread out for a large leaf of boston lettuce as a wrap, which helped provide an added crisp texture to the veggie burger.  The real key to making these, though, is a cast-iron skillet.  If you haven’t gotten one yet, I can’t reiterate how you should go buy one. Now.  Put the baby down and go by a Lodge cast iron skillet.  They are ubercheap, and come in handy more than you’d think.  The burgers get a nice bit of crust to them when being seared on one of these, and the creaminess of brie on top of these burgers make it a favorite on Jen’s list of foods that I make for her.

One other note-  the beets give these things a deep red color…very reminiscent of some very bloody meat.  It might turn off some of the more hardcore vegans, but trust me when I say there is not an ounce of meat in this.

So here we go:

Best-Ever Beet and Bean Burgers (recipe from the Kitchn)

Inspired by the veggie burgers at Northstar Cafe in Columbus, Ohio
makes about 6 burgers

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1 onion, diced small
• 3 large red beets (about 1 pound), diced small
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• slices of brie
• 1 medium sized head of boston lettuce

Directions:

1. Bring four cups of water to a boil. Add a handful of salt and the rice, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the rice until it’s a little beyond al dente. You want it a little over-cooked, but still firm. This should take about 35-40 minutes. Drain the rice and set it aside.
2. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the onions are translucent and softened. Stir in the beets. Cover the pot and cook until the beets are completely tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan using the cider vinegar.
3. Empty the black beans into a large bowl and use a fork to mash them up a bit. Add the cooked rice, the beet and onion mixture, the lemon juice, the olive oil, and all the spices. Stir to combine and then taste for seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once it tastes the way you like it, add the flour and stir until you see no more dry flour.
4. Heat a cast-iron skillet over the highest heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil – the oil should completely coat the bottom of the pan. When you see the oil shimmer and it flows easily, the pan is ready.
5. Using your hands, scoop up about a cup of the burger mixture and shape it into a patty between your palms. Your hands will get very, very beeted.  Set it in the pan, where it should begin to sizzle immediately. (If it doesn’t sizzle, wait a minute or two before cooking the rest of the burgers.) Shape and add as many more patties as will fit in your pan. Once all the patties are in the pan, reduce the heat to medium-high.
6. Cook the patties for 2 minutes, then flip them to the other side. You should see a nice crust on the cooked side. If they break apart a little when you flipped them, just reshape them with the spatula – they’ll hold together once the second side is cooked. Add enough brie to cover the burger if your a vegetarian, go naked with the burger if you’re a vegan. Cook the second side for another 2 minutes.
7. Serve the veggie burgers on a lettuce leaf, and serve as a wrap!
8. Cooked burgers should be eaten that same day. You can also save leftover mix in the fridge for up to a week and cook just one or two burgers as you want them.

It took me a good while to prepare the burgers, but if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, they’re without a single doubt in my mind, worth it.  The taste is fantastic, and the burgers are filling, even to a carnivorous bike riding raptor such as myself.  Do it…and don’t skip out on the brie.  Luckily, we had a small wheel of brie on hand:

Enjoy!

I made this dish as one of the sides for our New Year’s Resolution Party over the weekend. There are two ways to prepare the sweet potatoes for this dish- as a mash or a hash, and I’ll go over both in this recipe.  As you can probably guess, the mash has a much creamier texture, and is a perfect setting as a bed for whatever protein you’d like to add to the meal.  The hash is a bit more along the lines of a traditional breakfast side starch, but either way, you’ll still get a great tasting dish.  It gives a little bit more of a variety than just eating your sweet potatoes straight out of the skin with some runny side up eggs, and you can always double or triple the recipe to save some for later in the week.  The reddish purple of the onion combined with the orange of the sweet potato has a nice color to it, and can make almost any ordinary meal look immediately more appealing.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tbsp walnut oil
• 1 large red onion, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions for Sweet Potato Mash:

1. Pour 3 cups of water into a large pot over high heat and wait until the water starts to boil.
2. Carefully dump the sweet potato chunks into the water, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
3. Drain the sweet potatoes in a colander, sprinkle the pumpkin pie spice on top, and set aside.
4. Place a large non-stick skillet over high heat, and add the walnut oil after the pan has started to get hot, about three to five minutes depending on your range.
5. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the onions and sauté them until they have started to become translucent.
6. Add the sweet potatoes, mixing and occasionally stirring for another five minutes.
7. Serve immediately!

Directions for Sweet Potato Hash:

1. Place a large non-stick skillet over high heat, and add the walnut oil after the pan has started to get hot, about three to five minutes depending on your range.
2. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the onions and sauté them until they have started to become translucent.
3. Add the sweet potatoes, mixing and occasionally stirring for another 10-15 minutes.  Your sweet potatoes will get a nice slight crust to some of the pieces, but won’t turn complete into a mash.
4. Serve immediately!

Not too difficult, right?  It’s a little more effort than just nuking a sweet potato for a few minutes, but if you’re like me and you eat them every day, a little bit of variety goes a long way.  You can also add 1 tsp of quickly chopped rosemary to the skillet, which gives the sweet potatoes a slightly more complex flavor.  You could also add 1 tsp of fresh chopped mint instead of the rosemary and get even more out of this recipe.

It’s a little difficult to ascertain the exact Zone amounts of this dish, but I’d say a cup of this is roughly 4 blocks of carbs and four to five blocks of fat.  Completely paleo, vegetarian, and vegan as well, although the hash will give vegans and vegetarians a bit more strengthening with their jaws.  Try some of the variants and let me know how it works out for you!

I consume anywhere between a dozen to two dozen cage free eggs a week, and in that time, I’ve found that I really enjoy my eggs with a cooked white, and a runny yolk (that I usually sop up with a baked sweet potato for breakfast).

So here’s a recipe that I’ve been using for a while now, and if you like your eggs prepared like I do, this one will do wonders to start your morning.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cage Free Eggs
• 2 Cage Free Eggwhites
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper, for seasoning
• Water

Directions:

1. Preheat a nonstick frying pan over high heat for 2-3 minutes.
2. While the pan is heating, crack open your eggs in a measuring cup or bowl, taking care not to break open the yolk.  Set aside.
3. You can test the heat by dropping a tiny bit of water on the pan.  If it sizzles and quickly evaporates, you’re ready to go!
4. Coat the frying pan evenly with about 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil.
5. Gently add the eggs to the pan, which should cook, with the whites immediately losing their transparency.
6. Add 1/2 teaspoon of water to the pan, turn the heat off, and cover immediately.
7. Allow the eggs to continue cooking in the pan for three and a half minutes without heat, using the evaporated water to steam them.
8. Remove lid from the pan.  The eggs should be perfectly set, still soft, but not have a raw look.  If your eggs still look a bit too raw, recover the frying pan, turn on the stove to medium-high, and allow to cook for 45 more seconds or until set to satisfaction.
9. Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste.

The time spent covered and cooking is entirely up to you, depending on how runny you like your yolks.  I’d recommend at least two and a half minutes so that the whites have enough time to cook properly.  I’d say you could cook these eggs up to five minutes, but by then, you should prepare for your yolks to be pretty firmly set.  The other nice thing about preparing your eggs this way is that the whites tend not to have that rubbery texture to them.

Zone Blocks:

Protein: 3

Carbs: 0

Fat: 0 (Technically, there are two 2 grams of fat per egg when you include the yolk, but it isn’t necessary to count this towards your daily fat allocation.)

Kale has become my new palette crush.  It does take some preparation work, but it’s richly rewarding, and is available all year long.  This one’s just a tad bit different from the Wasabi Sesame Kale Recipe, but with a great crunchy texture instead.  Plus, this one takes a little bit less work, so it’s a nice one to use when you’ve got multiple things cooking. So, with that, andiamo!  (Italian for, “Let’s Go!”)

Ingredients:

• A large bunch of kale
• 2 tablespoons of walnut oil
• 2 teaspoons of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1.5 teaspoons of habanero sea salt
• 1 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
2. Separate kale and break the leaves off the stem, discarding the stem and placing the chunks of kale into a colander. When you’ve separated all the kale from the stems, give it a good rinse to wash off any dirt or grit.  Shake off any remaining water on the kale bits to the best you can, but don’t worry too much about getting it completely dry.
3. Transfer the kale to a very large bowl.  Add the walnut oil, crushed red pepper flakes, habanero sea salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Toss very well to get a good coverage on the kale.
4. Spray a large oven safe pan with oil (I used extra virgin olive oil), and evenly distribute the kale on the pan.
5. Place the pan in the oven.  Let the kale cook for about 18-20 minutes.
6. Check the kale to see if it’s started to crisp up a bit.  The top exposed leaves should be turning brown, but not completely so.  If you like a little bit more crisp, you can leave the kale in for a few more minutes, but otherwise, you’re good to go!  Use an oven mitt to take the pan out and place it on a safe surface that can withstand lots of heat.
7. Serve and enjoy.

Now, this recipe IS paleo, and you can always reduce the amount of oil to just 1 tablespoon if you’re watching your fat intake.  You can also use sesame oil or olive oil instead of walnut oil, each lending a unique taste to this dish.  Just make sure that your oil can withstand high cooking temperatures, or you’ll hear the incessant beeping of that obnoxious smoke detector.

Zone Blocks:
Carbs: ~3 or 4 blocks, depending on the size of your bunch of kale
Protein: 0 blocks
Fat: 18

Enjoy!

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