30 DAY PALEO CHALLENGE STARTS TODAY!!!

The 30 Day Paleo Challenge starts today!!!

"Everybody! I know you can believe in yourself!"

Paleo Challenge starts today guys. Good luck!!!

holy smokes, this looks amazing!

i think we all need these in our lives... meatloaf cupcakes with sweet potato frosting:

http://www.janssushibar.com/?p=12965

some recipe resources

hi everyone!

i just wanted to share a few resources with you. i frequent a website called http://www.foodgawker.com/, and i think you should, too!

check out these links:
search term: primal > http://foodgawker.com/?s=primal
search term: paleo > http://foodgawker.com/?s=paleo
search term: grain free > http://foodgawker.com/?s=grain+free

enjoy!

Sushi

Creation Time: 15 minutes 


Serving size: 3-4 sushi logs 


Ingredients: 

• Crab meat
• One head of cauliflower
• Nori Seaweed (WholeFoods $5 for 10 sheets) 
• One cucumber
• One avocado
• Natural wasabi powder 
• Coconut aminos 

You can exchange or add any meat, fish/seafood, or vegetable you want and this will taste great. I recommended eating this fresh so the nori seaweed paper does not get soggy. 

Directions:

1. Rinse cauliflower, and grate with a cheese grater. Discard stems.
2. Saute cauliflower in 1/2 a tablespoon coconut or olive oil for 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Let cool
3. Thinly slice cucumber and avocado.
4. Place a sheet of seaweed onto a cutting board, and cover 2/3 (starting with end closest to you) with a thin layer of cauliflower.
5. 1/2 inch from the edge of seaweed closest to you, place a row of cucumber, avocado, and crab meat.
6. Carefully roll sushi until you have an inch of seaweed left. Wet the remaining seaweed with water to seal the roll.
7. Slice sushi roll into 1 inch slices.
8. Mix equal parts natural wasabi powder with water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
9. Serve sushi with wasabi and coconut aminos for dipping.

Red Pepper Humus with Flax Seed Crackers

For the Hummus:


Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 medium/large cloves of minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• Food processor or high speed blender
  

Directions:

1. Peel and chop zucchini and place in food processor.
2. Add in Tahini, Olive Oil, and fresh lemon juice, and blend.
3. Add garlic, cumin, and salt, and blend thoroughly.

For the peppers and pine nuts:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red and green peppers
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• a little salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts

Directions:

1. Saute chopped peppers and red pepper flakes in olive oil until tender.
2. Lightly toast pine nuts in the toaster oven or on the stove. (be sure to watch carefully so they do not burn.)
3. Garnish the hummus with the spicy peppers and pine nuts. 

For the Flax Crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup flax seed meal
• 1/2 cup whole flax seeds
• 2 omega 3 eggs, whisked
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, flax seed meal, eggs, oil, salt, and flax seeds.
2. Separate dough into two halves.
3. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/8 inch thick.
5. Score with a knife, or cut with a pizza cutter into 2 x 2 inch squares.
6. Sprinkle a little extra salt over the top of the crackers.
7. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. 
8. Once cooled, break crackers into squares and eat. 

Cucumber Sesame Noodles

Creation Time: 10 minutes 

Serving Size: 2 

Ingredients: 

• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 2 cucumbers 
• 1 tablespoon tahini 
• 1 tablespoon organic sunbutter 
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos 
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon water 
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed 
• 1/4 teaspoon powered ginger 
• 1 scallion, dark green parts only, sliced thinly 

Directions 

1. Heat a small saute pan over medium heat, then toast the sesame seeds until light brown, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Peel the cucumbers, then turn them into noodles with a julienne peeler. Place in a large bowl.

3. In a small bowl, mix the tahini, sunbutter, oil, coconut aminos, vinegar, water, red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger with a fork until smooth.

4. Pour the dressing over the cucumber noodles and toss gently with a rubber scraper until evenly coated. Mound on a plate and sprinkle with the sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds. 

Just Grill It!

Don't over complicate it...just grab some meat and veggies and throw it on a grill!! Yum...so good.

Paleo Jambalaya

Ingredients:

1/2 chicken sausage cut into slices

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 green bell peppers, finely chopped or cut into strips

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don't want it too spicy)

1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

1/2-1 head cauliflower

1 pound shrimp, shells and tails off

4 scallions, finely chopped

Cook sausage in a large, deep pot. As it browns, add a little more oil to the pan and the sauté yellow onion and bell peppers until onion becomes soft. Add garlic and spices then tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes.

While it simmers, cut the cauliflower into small florets and grate in a food processor so the texture resembles rice. Add the cauliflower to the pot and simmer another 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer until cooked through and and pink, about five minutes. Garnish with scallions.

Shredded BBQ Chicken w/ Mango Pepper Relish

Cook Time: 5-7 hours depending on your slow cooker

Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts
2 mangos, diced into small pieces
2 cubanelle peppers, diced into small pieces
(Cubanelle peppers are very mild, for more spice, you can sub jalapenos/serannos)
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped
BBQ sauce to taste

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in slow cooker on low heat. Add enough water or chicken stock to cover the bottom of the slow cooker so chicken does not dry out. Let sit in slow cooker until chicken is easily pulled apart. Shred all chicken and then stir in BBQ sauce to desired taste. Drop slow cooker temperature down to the lowest setting and let the BBQ chicken sit for another 30 minutes or so.

Mango Pepper Relish:
Combine peppers, mangos and mint in a bowl. Stir well and then let sit in the fridge to chill, minimum of 45 minutes.

Crispy Nut and Herb Fried Chicken with Creamy Avocado

2 chicken cutlets

▪ 4 eggs

▪ 4 cups raw, unsalted nuts of your choice

▪ 1/2 cup finely chopped herbs of your choice

▪ 1/4 – 1/2 cup cooking oil of your choice

▪ 1 avocado, sliced

▪ Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Finely grind nuts in food processor, but don’t grind them so long that they turn into paste. Combine the ground nuts with the chopped herbs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly beat raw eggs in large bowl. Dip chicken cutlets in the egg wash and coat both sides with the nut mixture.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in skillet and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through, about five minutes a side.

Top with avocado slices before serving.

If you’re increasing this recipe and cooking several batches of cutlets, change the oil halfway through so it doesn’t become dark and have a burnt flavor.

Pesto Tomato Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Portobello mushrooms

olive oil

Trader Joe’s Sundried Tomato-Basil chicken sausages

spinach

sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup onions

pesto spread (at Traders)

1. Remove sausage from casings and sauté with onions.

2. Add a cup of spinach and remove heat to allow spinach cook down.

3. Brush olive oil on both sides of Portobello mushrooms, salt and pepper.

4. Grill about 4 minutes on each side.

5. Spread some pesto on bottom of the mushroom.

6. Pile on sausage.

7. Top with sun dried tomatoes (as much as you want).

Enjoy!

Basil Bacon Wrapped Chicken

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders or chicken breasts cut into 1″ wide slices
1 – 8.5 oz jar of julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
8-12 fresh basil leaves
8-12 bacon strips
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Grease a baking sheet with coconut oil. Take a chicken piece, top with a large scoop on sun dried tomatoes, top that with a basil leaf, and wrap the whole thing tightly with a piece of bacon. Place all the wrapped chicken pieces on the greased baking sheet, sprinkle them all with pepper, and bake for 15 minutes. Finish under the broiler for 3-4 minutes to crisp the bacon. I served the chicken with kale steamed in chicken stock and carrots cooked in the pressure cooker.