Paleo Veggie Quiche

Here it is! My take on a paleo veggie Quiche! (I am not saying it whole30 for sure since I’m not sure if its ok to make a paleo-fied pie crust on whole30. See SWYPO. (shoving old unhealthy foods into a paleo mold. For me, I think this is just a new way to eat eggs, but what do I know?)) Anyway I am excited about this and it’s so good! As soon as I’m done with whole30 I plan on making a paleo apple pie with this crust for 4th of July, yay ‘Merica! I had pinned a few different version of paleo pie crust on pinterest, but I wanted to make my own version and incorporate almond flour and coconut flour. It turned out way better than I thought it would for a first attempt at paleo pie crust. Heck, pie crust in general! I am usually a pillsbury roll and bake crust kinda girl, but no longer! This was really easy even for a novice crust maker. The fillings were just my whim and what I happened to have in the fridge, but I’m pretty sure as long as you have a similar amount of veg you could make this with just about anything. Keep in mind water content in your veggies, like tomatoes, since they can make a soggy mess if not precooked. I ate this as a side dish today, but you could always add some cooked meat (chicken, sausage, bacon, ground turkey, whatever) and up your protein content and eat it as a meal. The crust held up really well as I was picking up my slices and shoving them into my face, so that’s a plus for if you want this as a quick breakfast on the go. Don’t be intimidated by the steps and ingredients, it wasn’t that hard, go make this!!

Paleo Veggie Quiche

Yield: 16 small or 8 large servings/slices

Nutrition per small (1/16^th) serving

Calories 134

Fat 9.2

Sodium 300 mg

Carbs 6.3 g

Fiber 3 g

Sugars 1.1 g

Protein 7.2 g

Ingredients

For Crust

*I always weigh my flours for consistency, especially since I don’t ever sift them

1 ½ cups (168 g) blanched almond flour/meal

½ cup (56 g) coconut flour

½ tsp arrowroot powder

½ tsp kosher salt

2 TB coconut oil + extra for the pie plate

6-9 TB ice cold water

For Filling

6 extra large whole eggs, preferable farm fresh (they taste better I swear!)

6 extra large egg whites

¼ cup water

½ tsp coconut oil

272 g or 2 large leeks, diced

81 g or 1 large carrot, spiral sliced or shredded

121 g or 5-8 asparagus spears, diced

6 oz or 5 large florets broccoli, diced

1-2 tsp kosher salt, to taste

cracked black pepper to taste

Assembly:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a pie plate with coconut oil, about 1/2-1tsp.

• To make the crust: Weigh/measure out your flours, arrowroot starch and salt into the bowl of a food processor or large bowl. Pulse a few times or mix to get everything incorporated. Add in the 2 TB of room temperature coconut oil and pulse again. Or use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the oil into the flour mix, making pea sized crumbs. Add in ice water a TB at a time, pulsing after every addition to check consistency. At 8 TB mine had gathered into a solid dough and I was able to take it all out of my processor in one ball. Place the dough ball between two sheets of wax paper and use a rolling pin to roll into a 9-10 inch circle, or whatever fits your pie plate. Peel off the top layer of wax paper and flip the crust into your prepared pie plate. Peel off the remaining layer of wax paper and gently press your dough into the pie plate. Pinch the edges or use a fork to create a decorative edge. At this point I put my crust into the fridge to await its filling. Not sure if that necessary, but it worked great for me.
• For the filling: Dice your veggies while heating a saute pan with ½ tsp coconut oil. Saute the veggies until tender crisp, seasoning with 1 or 2 tsp kosher salt and cracked black pepper. I did this to get rid of any excess water in the veggies so I wouldn’t have a soggy quiche. While the veggies are cooking crack your eggs into a large bowl and add a scant ¼ cup water, some kosher salt and pepper (always season every part of your dish, especially eggs, because they can be bland). Whisk eggs vigorously until yolk and white are mixed and a bit frothy.
• Take crust from refrigerator and spread veggies evenly over the bottom. Pour eggs over the top of the veggies and use a spatula to spread into any drier areas.
• Put your quiche into the oven and set your timer for 20 minutes. Your quiche will not be done but you want to keep an eye on the crust so it doesn’t burn. Mine needed a pie shield after 20 minutes but aluminum foil around the edge works fine too. The quiche should be done in 45-60 minutes, or until the middle has lost its jiggle and a knife comes out clean. You may need to cover the whole top with foil if it cooks too quickly and the middle isn’t done.
• Let your quiche rest outside of the oven for about 5-10 minutes so everything has time to cool and set properly. Cut into desired amount of slices and consume!

I already have so many more veggie and meat combos in mind-spinach artichoke bacon anyone?? I also think the addition of herbs would be great, maybe some fresh thyme or rosemary in with the eggs or some fresh basil over the top once its out of the oven. I can’t wait to make this again!

Whole 30 Thai Inspired “Noodle” salad

veggie “noodles”

My date paste is trying to escape its container, sorry date paste

Woo hoo! New kitchen gadgets make me so happy! I got my new veggie slicer and have been going crazy with it! I made an awesome “spaghetti” recipe from my friend Laurie and now this veggie noodle salad! Not sure whats up next, but I’m contemplating making sweet potato noodles for something crazy! Anyway, this’ll be quick since I need to wake my sleeping son before it’s too late in the afternoon. So no going on and on about how good this slicer and salad are. Just trust me, they are.

Whole 30 Thai-ish “Noodle” Salad

Yield: 10 Serving of 84 grams (3oz)/serving

Nutrition per serving

Calories 43

Fat 2 g

Sodium 211.2 mg

Carbs 6.2 g

Fiber 1.5 g

Sugars 3.5 g

Protein 1.5 g

mmmm dressing

 

smooth dressing

Ingredients

 

Salad

183 g or approx 1-2 medium zucchini julienne/shredded/spiral noodle cut

317 g or approx 1-2 medium yellow squash julienne/shredded/spiral noodle cut

200 g or approx1-2 large carrots julienne/shredded/spiral noodle cut

5 basil leaves chiffonade/minced

¼ cup fresh cilantro minced

 

Dressing

2 cloves garlic minced

2 Tb almond butter

1 oz date paste or 1-2 Tb sweetener of choice

¼ fresh squeezed lime juice

1Tb-1tsp grated fresh ginger (to taste, I like mine gingery!)

1 Tb light coconut milk, or full fat, your choice, I happened to have light today.

1 tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

My method when I cook: yellow pad and scribble frantically between measurements and weighing

pretty salad!

I used my new veggie slicer to cut my veggies into noodles and then made a yummy Thai inspired dressing to toss them with! Put your cut veggies into a large bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients. Drizzle your dressing on top of the veggies and toss everything together. Garnish with the basil and cilantro for a pretty presentation, or just toss it all in together. Tastes great either way! I don’t happen to have any fish sauce, but I’m pretty sure this would be a great recipe to use it in if you happen to have some in your pantry. This dressing would also make a great dipping sauce for some Thai/Vietnamese lettuce wraps. Hmmm that sounds good. Maybe I’ll be having lettuce wraps for dinner!

Whole 30 Greek Turkey Tomato Sauce with Spinach

My mom is great at sharing. She always buys in bulk and ends up giving me half of what she bought! And sometimes she gives me things she doesn’t like. She had a big bag of Penzeys Spices Greek seasonings that she (thinks) she didn’t enjoy. So she gave it all to me! To my delight I love it! And I love my momma. I have been using the new spice mix in some yummy recipes, like my new spinach burger and this recipe here, greek turkey tomato sauce. It’s basically a greek spiced ground turkey spaghetti sauce, or Bolognese as the italians call it. The spice mix is nothing crazy, just salt, oregano, marjoram, lemon peel,  and ground pepper. It gives great flavor though, similar to gyro meat. mmmmmm. Check out Penzey’s spices if you never have, they’re awesome! My mom lives right one of their shops and I love stopping in there. This sauce is easy to make and you can get it on the table quickly if you are hungry. Add some spaghetti squash or veggie noodles and you’re set! My husband really likes this recipe and he eats it plain. Generally right out of the fridge in its storage container, cold! Our microwave is broken or he might bother to heat it up. But turning on the stove and putting things into a pot is such a pain, right? Oh well, its his food!

Whole 30 Greek Turkey Tomato Sauce with Spinach

Yield: 10 servings of 5.5 oz

Nutrition per serving

Calories 130.6

Fat 6.1 g

Sodium 527.4 mg

Carbs 4.6 g

Fiber 1.2 g

Sugars 2 g

Protein 16 g

 

Ingredients

about 1 ¾ lbs ground turkey, 93/7 fat content, mine was actually 26.9 oz of meat

3.3oz yellow onion, diced, or one small onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

one 28 oz can organic whole peeled tomatoes in juice (crush by hand before adding if using these), or two 14 oz cans diced tomatoes in juice

½ Tb coconut or extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

Cracked black pepper to taste

2 tsp Penzey’s Greek seasoning spices, or Greek seasonings of choice. The penzeys blend is delicious and includes lemon peel!

 

In a large dutch oven or skillet heat oil and add in onions and garlic. Saute until onion starts to soften and turn opaque and the garlic is toasty and fragrant. Add your turkey, pepper, salt and Greek seasonings. Cook the turkey through until there’s no pink left and the juices are dried up. Add in the tomatoes with their juice in a hot spot in the pan. Tomato juice should bubble and cook a bit. At this point mix everything together and add in the spinach leaves. Let the spinach wilt then taste for spicing and add more if necessary. You can let the sauce simmer for a bit if its too wet for your liking. I leave mine wetter since its not uncommon for me to put mine straight into the refrigerator for future meals. When I do this the meat tends to reabsorb some of the juice and get drier, so I leave more juice in mine. I love this served alone or over spaghetti squash. I have a new veggie slicer that makes noodles out of almost any veggie! I can’t wait to make some zucchini noodles and serve this sauce over it!

 

veggie noodles from my new slicer!

 

Whole 30 Avocado ChickenSalad aka yesterdays lunch

this whole 30 thing really isn’t so bad when you get to eat stuff like this.

I love when lunch just comes together quickly from things you have in the fridge. This is much easier to achieve when you have lots of options in the fridge ready to go! It is much, much harder when you need to go grocery shopping and have been avoiding it due to laziness and the knowledge that once you shop you must then prepare your foods before they go bad. And I am usually an overzealous shopper and purchase half the produce in the store. Then I get home and panic, realizing that I will never be able to eat/use it all in time. I have been a million times better about this since starting whole 30, and I haven’t had to throw out old produce in a few weeks, huzzah! Aaaanyway, I love chicken salad and here’s the version I made myself for lunch yesterday. It was so good that I then had it for dinner. And wished I had some for breakfast today pre-wod. I now must go grill some chicken breasts so that I have chicken for my chicken salad.

Whole 30 Avocado Chicken Salad

Yield: two 7.15 oz servings

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 160

Fat: 5.5 g

Sodium: 548.4 mg

Carbs: 7.3 g

Fiber: 3.4 g

Sugars: 2.2 g

Protein: 19.5 g

 

Ingredients

6 oz grilled (cooked somehow) boneless  skinless chicken breast

46 g (1/8^thcup) diced white onion

50 g (1/8^th cup-ish) diced celery

59 g (see above) diced grape tomatoes

2 oz avocado, diced or mashed

juice of one lime

kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste

fresh cilantro to taste, about 2 Tb chopped for me

 

Take all your ingredients and toss them into a bowl, minus the avocado (unless you are a genius and mashed yours beforehand-which I am not and did not.) Mash up your avocado until smooth, then toss it into the bowl with the rest, stir until all the ingredients are uniformly covered in delicious avocado. Salt and pepper to taste. I ate mine over a bed of spinach leaves with nothing else on it. It was amazing! It would also be great as a wrap or sandwich for anyone not following paleo/gluten free/whole 30.

My chips before they cooked.

PS Kale chips are amazing right out of the oven. I used this recipe from nomnom paleo and its freaking fantastic. I used smoked salt after they came out of the oven and wow! Delightful. No post oven picture because Christian and I then consumed them all as fast as we could!

 

Whole 30 Coconut Shrimp, ohhh yeahhhhh

sorry it’s a crap picture, I was in a hurry, what’s new?

Whoo boy! I was looking around on the great and wonderful time waster call pinterest and came across some amazing looking recipes for paleo/whole 30 coconut shrimp. Well let’s just say I didn’t let any grass grow under my feet before deciding I had to try one of these recipes, stat. I decided on this one. Then I decided to try to modify it slightly for a few fewer calories and less work. Lets be honest, who likes standing over the stove in the summer? Bonus if you look at the above recipe there are two WODS on the same page. Pretty cool. I was excited anyway. Not that I have taken advantage and done either WOD. But they are there waiting for me when I’m ready. I made my version of the coconut shrimp today and it was sooooo good!! I loved it and can’t wait till dinner so I can eat some more. My husband even liked it, and that’s a big deal! Full disclosure:he did say he would want some sauce with it, but the fact that he liked it at all is good enough for me! Ok, go find your frozen bag of shrimp hiding at the back of your freezer and go make coconut shrimp!

Whole 30 Coconut Shrimp

Yield: 14.5 oz (406 g) after cooking for 2 large or 4 smaller servings (approx 8 shrimp)

 

Nutrition per serving if serving 4

Calories: 200

Fat:10 g

Sodium: 397.4 mg

Carbs: 3.8 g

Fiber: 1.6 g

Sugar: 0.3 g

Protein: 22.3 g

 

Ingredients

1 lb raw easy peel shrimp

1 tsp coconut oil

1 whole egg

30 g almond meal (approx ¼ cup)

20 g dried Unsweetened coconut flakes (also approx ¼ cup)

½ tsp Kosher salt

Ground pepper to taste

¼ tsp granulated garlic

¼ tsp smoked paprika

Baking stone if you have one.

 

Grease your baking stone with the coconut oil and place inside oven while it is preheating to 350°. If you don’t have a stone: preheat your oven and grease a regular cookie sheet.

Peel and rinse your shrimp, then pat dry with paper towels. Next whisk egg and spices with a fork till yolk is incorporated. Mix together your almond meal and coconut flakes in a shallow dish, then get ready to “bread” your shrimp. Put the shrimp in the egg mix first then use the same hand to place shrimp into coconut/almond mixture. Use your clean hand to toss around shrimp and get them coated with the breading. Transfer breaded shrimp onto a plate to await cooking while you do the rest of the shrimp. Once all your shrimp are coated put them in a single layer on your cookie sheet, or your hot baking stone. Pop them into the oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on your doneness preference. Mine we’re perfect at 8 minutes, nice crisp coating and plump tender shrimp. No need to turn them unless you really feel like it. I am lazy and didn’t want all my breading to fall off! It actually stayed on really well, much to my dubious surprise. I always have bad luck with breading staying on things, that’s the real reason I wanted to bake these guys and not fry them! Also, less oil used = fewer calories, so there’s that too. Enjoy!

 

 

Whole 30 Pico de Gallo

Sorry for another tomato recipe, but here it is. That’s what I get for shopping at Costco and purchasing Ginormous amounts of produce at once. However, today I went to Soulard Farmers Market and got some great farm raised brown eggs, eggplant, parsnips and a big head of cabbage that I’m planning on making into grilled cabbage with smoky lime cilantro sauce. It is divine. I love anything latin flavored and this Pico is another great example of that. I’ve already had to make two batches because my husband keeps eating it with chips! That makes me slightly jealous, but certainly not bad enough to break my whole 30 for. Speaking of my whole 30, I am on day 10! At least I think I am. Do I start counting the day I began as 1, or is that day 0? I am confused. Either way, I am in over a week and doing great! I had one small hiccup, and that was because I assumed about a sauce and when I double checked later it had agave nectar and evaporated cane juice in it! Both No-no’s on whole 30. Oh well, it couldn’t have been much and I certainly felt no ill effects from eating the Key lime chicken that it was in. After the first few days of headache and fatigue I am feeling pretty normal. When I work out I do fatigue more easily and I have had some pretty difficult runs. Keep in mind those runs were in 90-95 degree heat and I was going around 8:30/mile. Which isn’t my fastest, but isn’t a slow run by any means. Anyway, the point is, I’ve been having an extremely positive experience so far! looking forward to the next 20 days! or 21, whatever.

Whole 30 Pico de Gallo

Yield: 811 g total, 20 servings with 40.5 g per serving, about ¼ cup

Nutrition per serving

Calories 12.2

Fat 0.1 g

Sodium 96 mg

Carbs 2.6 g

Fiber 0.8 g

Sugar 0.9 g

Protein 0.6 g

Ingredients

1 lb red grape/cherub tomatoes, diced or quartered

7 oz diced white or yellow onion

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

¼ minced fresh cilantro

juice of 4 ½ limes

1 tsp kosher salt

3 medium/small seeded and diced chili peppers. I used 2 jalapenos and 1 Serrano

Mix all all ingredients in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Eat it on anything! My husband isn’t doing whole 30 so he devoured about half of it last night with tortilla chips! I eat it on my eggs and on grilled chicken breast. I also have mixed it up with sauteed veggies for added flavor. So yummy!

pretty sure I forgot to include the garlic in my first batch, oops! Still tasty regardless.

Whole 30 Tomato Herb Salad

As of today I am on my 5th day of whole 30. Yay me! I am feeling awesome about it, especially the fact that I have been able to resist eating things from Christians plate that he doesn’t finish! That’s a pretty huge accomplishment for me, really. The reason I have gotten this far with a program that has you cook pretty much 100% of your food is having premade things around. I made Costco run on Tuesday and then cooked my butt off for the next few hours until I had to go to work. I managed to get a lot of food prep done, including this delicious tomato herb salad. I have been using it alone, or as a topping or filling and it’s great however you have it. Even though I am doing Whole 30 and you don’t have to/aren’t supposed to calorie count I am anyway. I really don’t like not knowing how many calories I am eating, and it helps me get an overview of my other nutrition as well. Such as how much fat, carbs and sodium I am getting with my meals. Not eating sweets is a pretty big deal for me since I almost always eat a little something sweet after every meal. EVERY MEAL. And now I can’t even have a smidge of honey or one chocolate chip. This is a pretty intense way to break yourself of a sweet addiction! That being said, I have started to really be able to taste the natural sweetness of other things. Roasted sweet potatoes have been amazing, and even the little tomatoes in this salad have their own sweetness along with the bright acidity. I love that I got to use herbs from my own backyard and can’t wait till my basil is a little bigger and I can use all basil for this salad! If you aren’t doing whole 30 this dish would be so good with the little pearl fresh mozzerella balls in it for a summer cookout. Pair that with a sizzling steak off the grill and don’t forget to lick the plate when you are done.

Tomato Herb Salad

Yield: Makes about 691 g total, and I divided mine into ~49g portions for 14 portions

Nutrition per serving

Calories 26.5

Fat 1 g

Sodium 103.1 mg (I used about ¾ tsp)

Carbs 1.1 g

Fiber 0.4 g

Sugars 0.6 g

Protein 0.4 g

Ingredients

1 bunch Green onions, sliced thinly, white and green parts

1 lb Zima (orangy-yellow grape size) tomatoes, quartered

5 oz red grape (cherub) tomatoes, quartered

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 TB extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

fresh herbs of choice minced, mine were basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano from the herbs my momma got me for my birthday!

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and adjust seasonings to taste. I put mine on salad greens with some kalamata olives for a super fast salad. Delicious in a lettuce wrap with grilled chicken, and on top of just about anything. Also great alone as a side dish.

Pecan Butter changed my world.

I went on a nut butter rampage recently. Ever since I saw a post on Pinterest a few months ago about doing it yourself I’ve had it on my to do list. If that’s how you are, push that sucker right up to the top of your list! I started with Almond butter and put a little salt and honey in it. delightful, but not overwhelmingly better than my store bought Mara Natha brand. Then I tried roasted Pecan butter. Ohhhhhhhh my lord. I can.not.stop eating it! I’ve been putting it on anything I can think of. Like a spoon. I have two versions, one with honey, and one without. I just started Whole 30 yesterday, so am only eating the one without honey currently. If you aren’t restricting your sugar intake though I highly recommend the pecan butter with honey. I seriously think about it all the time. Put it on a baked sweet potato. It’s sweet potato pecan pie. This recipe isn’t really a very strict one. I am not sure of my measurements, and didn’t calculate the nutrition data for myself. I just figure that the one without honey is about the same as a store bought pecan butter (213 cals/2 TB) and that the one with honey is just a bit higher since I only added 2 tsp of honey in about a cup and half of pecan butter. I tried pistachio butter also and its really yummy too! My problem with that one is that its too salty. I made the mistake of using pre roasted and salted pistachios! sadly a bit too much salt, so I don’t eat it quite as often as my other butters. I will be trying that again. And I want cashew butter too, and macadamia nut butter… the list goes on and on! Either way, whatever nut you like, go make yourself some nut butter! Because it tastes good, and its fun to say “Would you like to taste my nut butter?”

Ingredients

about 2 cups raw pecans

kosher salt to taste

food processor, I think you can use a blender but I wouldn’t want to try.

• Roast your pecans on an ungreased cookie sheet at 320 for about 10 minutes, or until your nuts are toasty and fragrant. I even like mine to have a few burnt nuts, (not charred, just a bit burnt) it really adds a great depth of  pecan flavor.
• Put your nuts into the food processor and let it go. The nuts go through several stages in the processor: chunky, chopped, finely ground powder, then a big ball clump, then it smooths out into a nice butter. Mine is usually done in about 10 minutes, but sometimes needs longer to really get the nuts to release their oil and become super smooth like I like it. Some nuts never get that smooth though, so beware of burning out your processors motor! sometimes the machine needs a little break.
• Anyway, after the butter is all smooth and gooey, add in a bit of salt and whatever else you want. Some people use cinnamon or other spices and honey or maple syrup. Spread the nut butter on whatever you have handy and enjoy! My favorite snack right now is some fresh berries with a drizzle of pecan butter. Heaven.
  

  Why is there so little left!! Oh yeah, I ate it all. That thing was full not too long ago…

  

  so smooth and yummy

  

  Favorite snack. the pecan butter container kinda looks like a creeper back there.

  

  74 g blueberries, 83 g raspberries, 1/2 Tb Pecan butter.
  138 cals, 6 g fat, 19 carbs, 9 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Dutch Oven/Crockpot Lime Cilantro Shredded Chicken

Dutch Oven/Crockpot Lime Cilantro Shredded Chicken

Yummmmmm. That’s what I have to say about this recipe. I love finding new ways to make chicken since I eat it a looooooooot. My family is addicted to all things tex mex, we ate homemade mexican about 2-3 times a week growing up and we all loved it. We usually had ground beef however and I never even questioned it! I am branching out in my adulthood =) This recipe was spur of the moment but it happened to turn out Gluten free, (bonus!) and super easy as well. The lime and cilantro skillet sauce is fantastic alone, but I like to up the flavor factor by adding in my own spices, onion and garlic. Since I love spicy food I did use 1/2 tsp cayenne and that might be too spicy for some. Feel free to add or subtract from this recipe according to your taste and how convenient the ingredients are. I’ve only made mine in the dutch oven, but I imagine its just as good in the crockpot. My only warning is- don’t skip the sauteing steps! I hate the way onions taste cooked in the crockpot from raw. blech. Follow the steps and you’ll have yourself one delicious dish that everyone will enjoy!

yield: 10 servings, 4.2 oz each

Nutrition

Calories: 147

Fat: 3.1 g

Sodium: 434.6 mg

Total Carbs: 4.4 g

Fiber: 1.6 g

Sugars: 1.6 g

Protein: 26.1 g

Ingredients

½ Tb coconut oil

2.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breast

8 oz onion, diced. 1 med-lg

4-5 garlic cloves, diced

1 tsp each: cumin, coriander, chili powder, smoked paprika, kosher salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1lime, juiced and zested

1 pouch Frontera skillet sauce Key Lime Cilantro flavor (gluten free!)

• If using a dutch oven preheat oven to 310°. If not, get your crockpot out of storage and plug in!
• Heat coconut oil in a large skillet or your dutch oven.
• Add in diced onion and garlic and saute until onion is almost translucent, 7-10 min.
• Measure in all the spices and salt and pepper and let them cook with the onions and garlic to develop flavor.
• Nestle chicken breast into the bottom of the pot, move them around a bit first to get them coated in the spices.
• Cook a few minutes, them turn them over to cook and coat the other side. They don’t need to cook through.
• Once the chicken has cooked about 7 minutes total add in the juice and zest of the lime, and the skillet sauce. You can substitute salsa if you cant’ find the Frontera sauce, but the sauce is delicious!
• Stir in the sauce, juice and zest.
• If using your dutch oven, put the lid on and place the pot in the oven. Cook in the oven for about 50 min to an hour.
• If using a crockpot, pour everything in your skillet into your crockpot and cook on high for an hour, or on low for 2 hours. You want it cooked through, but not overly done to where the meat loses its juices and gets dry.
• Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with two forks and let it sit and absorb the sauce for about 10 minutes.

This was amazing over quinoa with avocado slices. It is also great wrapped in a corn tortilla with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt! Pretty much anything you can do with shredded meat this would be wonderful with. (Taco bar for a Mexican themed party!) When I’m heating up leftovers I usually am picking at the cold meat and it is also delicious! I hope you enjoy this recipe, its easy and tasty as heck!

(Almost) Paleo Date Paste Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies are never far from my mind. One day while I was checking out (read:stalking) my friends’ diaries on MFP I saw that Cora had been eating oatmeal almond butter cookies. That sounded way too enticing for it to be healthy, so I immediately messaged her to ask what the deal was about these cookies. She sent me the recipe link http://cleaneatsinthezoo.com/index/2013/02/20/peanut-butter-or-almond-butter-oatmeal-cookies/and I checked it out. That is the recipe that inspired mine. They are pretty similar, but I had to try it with date paste since thats been my sweetener project lately. I also changed a few other proportions and added cinnamon, but wanted the flavor to be about the same. The texture was amazing, nice and crumbly crisp with a nice chewy nutty center. mmm. I literally ate 4 cookies as soon as they came out of the oven. I am that cookie crazy. I just had one after my lunch and am trying to resist going for another right now. I might keep messing with the recipe (that is inevitable with me) and try it out with a few different ingredients, but let me tell you, these things are darned addicting and it certainly won’t be my last batch!

 

(Almost) Paleo Date Paste Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

yield:35 cookies

nutrition per cookie

calories: 128

fat: 10.4 g

sodium: 58.9 mg

total carbs: 6.9 g

fiber: 2.1 g

sugar: 1.6 g

protein: 3.8 g

ingredients

2 eggs

3 cups almond meal/flour (if you want these to be paleo skip the oats and add an extra cup or so of almond flour)

2 cups old fashioned oats

½ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup almond butter (or peanut butter if you like that flavor better, any nut butter will work)

2 ½ oz date paste

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder (gluten free, aluminum free)

½ – 1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 350° and grease two large cookie sheets, or use parchment paper.
• In a large mixing bowl mix together dry ingredients: almond meal, oats, baking soda and powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• In a smaller mixing bowl beat together the eggs, almond butter, coconut oil, date paste and vanilla extract. Then add the wet and dry ingredients together in the large bowl.
• Either roll cookie dough into balls with your hands and place on cookie sheet or use two spoons and place mounds of dough on the sheets. I tried it both ways and you need to squash the dough down slightly with both methods.
• Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are cooked through and crisp on the bottom.

My cookies were amazingly delicious, however I had a few notes that I will point out to others. You can taste the salt a lot in these cookies since they are not overwhelmingly sweet. I am thinking about either upping my date paste amount or decreasing my salt on my next batch. I originally used 1 tsp salt but may try a little less next time. Or not, I really loved the way this first batch turned out. Almost like it was salty on purpose. You could almost make this a savory cookie by adding an herb like rosemary or thyme and leaving out the cinnamon. I am thinking of adding raisins next time and leaving the rest of the recipe as is. The raisins will add a pop of sweetness in each bite. Just try it out, see what you think and adjust as needed. Also, if you (like me) enjoy the cookies as they are, do warn people that they are a bit salty and not too sweet before their first bite! My uncle was very surprised when he tasted these without a forewarning! However my mother who is used to my experiments loved these. She’s used to my ‘healthy crap’ as my husband calls it. 😉

ENJOY!