Primal Mama Cooks... and dishes on life

Zucchini Arrabiata

2012-01-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

This is a truly simple dish suitable to make for a quick lunch or yummy dinner. The sauce is spicy and flavorful and the zucchini noodles hit the spot without being loaded down with empty carbs. It's easy to adjust the spice level according to how you like it by controlling the red pepper flakes and sausage. I am usually totally anti kitchen gadget, but in this case a mandolin slicer or julienne cutter works best to make the noodles.

What you'll need:

4 fresh zucchini

5 cloves of garlic, 3 diced;2 sliced

3 large hot Italian chicken sausage (make sure it's gluten free)

2 tsp olive or avocado oil, divided

1 large can crushed tomatoes (I use San Marzano)

1T dried Italian seasoning

red pepper flakes

black pepper

What you do:

Slice the zucchini on the julienne blade of your mandolin. No mandolin? You can still slice the zucchini into "french fry" size pieces with a knife.

In a large skillet use 1 tsp of oil and saute your sausage breaking it up into bits. You will have to remove the casing to do this. Add 3 cloves of the diced garlic and the Italian seasoning. Saute a minute more. Pour the can of tomatoes over the sausage and stir well. Taste for heat. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want more heat. Turn the flame to low and allow the sauce to simmer down until it becomes thick.

In the meantime, heat another large skillet with 1 tsp oil. Throw in the sliced garlic, a small pinch of red pepper and a shake or two of black pepper. Stir the garlic and pepper around until the oil becomes fragrant. Now remove the garlic and discard it. Saute the zucchini noodles until soft but not mushy. You want them to have some body so they will stand up to the sauce.

Taste the sauce and adjust spices if necessary. Serve sauce over a bed of zucchini noodles.

Adjusting the spice:

There are a couple of options. For slightly less spice, omit the red pepper. For significantly less, use 2 sweet Italian sausages and 1 spicy. For more spice add more red pepper.

Enjoy!

2011-12-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

I love a great success story. I love it even more when it has to do with the successful entrapreneurship of an 11-year old girl. I met Eva for the first time at our gym's B4B event in October. She is outgoing, beautiful and the future face of CrossFit. At 11 years old she knows what it means to be strong and healthy. I can tell she is a trailblazer. What makes Eva so unique at her age is that she already has a mind for business. You see...she's a bee keeper. Just the thought of getting that close to bees gives me chills. But with the help of her dad, Eva harvests honey up to four times per year. She and her sister label and bottle the raw honey. This honey is pure, unprocessed and never touched by human hands! I wanted to create a special recipe in Eva's honor. One that would showcase her hard work and at the same time be subtle enough to taste a variety of flavors. And so Eva's Honey banana pancakes were born!

What you'll need:

3 eggs

1tsp vanilla

1 tsp honey (of course I use Eva's!)

1 super ripe banana

1/4 cup coconut milk

3T coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

A couple of spoons of coconut milk refrigerated until solid (must be full fat!)

Fresh berries

What you do:

In a large bowl mix all the wet ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Don't skip this step. You don't want all the baking powder in one pancake! Now mix the dry into the wet. Do you have something that resembles yellow cement? Perfect! Start thinning the batter with water 1/4 cup at a time until you have it about the consistency of cake batter. I end up using 3/4 cup of water. Heat your pan with coconut oil. Now here's where it can get tricky so pay attention. Turn your flame down to low. Get out a large soup spoon and use that to spoon the batter into the pan. Use the back of the spoon to "swirl" the batter into a silver dollar sized pancake. If they get too big you will never be able to turn them and you will hate me forever. Be patient and let them cook almost all the way through on one side. Now ever so gently slide your spatula under the pancake. It takes a little practice and goes something like this: Slide, shimmy, slide, slide, quarter flip, cuss like a sailor, and giant flip! Inevitably your first couple will break, fold or land somewhere outside the pan. Stick with it! It gets easier and they are worth it. Plate them, top with a little solid coconut milk and fresh berries. These are pure heaven!

Enjoy!

Chicken Fried "Rice"

2011-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

This dish is GOOOOD. When I say good, I mean the thank god it's cauliflower or I'd weigh 900 pounds, nobody better talk to me while my entire face is in this pan, I know I'm getting a third degree steam burn but I can't stop eating, just try and get in on this and you're gonna lose an arm kind of good... not to mention easy to make!

So I will get right to the point since my little ankle biters are a bit impatient these days.

What you'll need:

A head of cauliflower

5 green onions, chopped

1 zucchini, cubed small

1 large carrot, cubed small (or shredded carrot)

1 bell pepper, diced

This is what I happened to have left over in the frige. You can add any vegetable you like.

2 chicken breasts, cubed small

2 eggs

What you do:

Cut a head of cauliflower up and blanch it for 8 to 10 minutes. (blanch is a fancy word for boil it). Drain it and chop it fine... like rice.

I use a wok, but it's not necessary. Get a large fry pan out and melt a little coconut oil in it. Get the pan nice and hot and stir fry the chicken. Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm. Quickly stir fry the raw veggies. Add the ginger powder, garlic powder and Tamari.When the veggies are cooked down, add the cauliflower and chicken. Crack the 2 eggs in and stir quickly to break the egg up and scramble it.

Taste and adjust the Tamari to your liking.

Enjoy!

If you can open a package...you can make a salad

2011-02-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a follow up for all of the members of ACF that could not attend my impromptu cooking lesson between the 4:30 and 5:30 class. I wanted to prove that you could possess absolutely NO cooking talent and still make a delicious meal in under 5 minutes. The salad seemed to be a hit and fall nicely into our paleo challenge(d) family! :)

So, if Trader Joe's is on your radar, you're in luck. All items for this salad are purchase there.

What you'll need:

1 bag shredded cabbage

1 package "Healthy 8" Chopped Veggies

1/2 a bag of sliced almonds (no salt)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

3 green onion, chopped

cooked chicken breast called "just chicken" (not pictured cuz I roasted my own chicken)

for the dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

just under 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons wheat free Tamari (fermented soy sauce)*

2 Tablespoons sesame oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp ground ginger

What you do:

Get out a giant bowl. Open the cabbage, veggies, almonds, cranberries and put them in the bowl. Chop the green onion, put it in the bowl. Open the chicken and chop it into bite size pieces and... you guessed it... put it in the bowl.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad. Toss and serve.

This salad will last in the fridge for 3 to 4 days without wilting.

* Yes, fermented soy sauce is okay.

Crispy Kale Chips

2011-01-03T22:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I need a snack. A crispy, slightly salty, chip-like wafer of crunchy goodness if you know what I mean. It has to be light and airy and full of flavor. Not just any chip will do. First of all, aside from sweet potato chips and perhaps a few cassava chips every now and then, chips of any kind are pretty much out of the question.

Until, of course, I came face to face with: The kale chip. Stay with me now! I forbid you to exit from this post until you at least commit to trying these. It just takes a couple of minutes... I promise.

So here's what you do (if you're me...)

Gather 25 diapers, a dozen pairs of underwear, 4 sippy cups, 3 dvds for the car, a portable potty, double stroller, 2 complete changes of clothes (and one for me), snacks for two, but not the same snack! Toddlers can't like the same snack, even if they are twins. Shove all of this into one diaper bag and pray that you don't need what's on the bottom of the bag. Throw that over your neck. Now grab your purse. WAIT! Double check that your wallet is actually in there this time. Car keys? Check! Now, it's herding time. Like a blue ribbon Australian Sheppard, herd your toddlers into the car trying ever so desperately not to lose one.

Diaper bag in, purse in, overly large and way too heavy double stroller in (thank you CrossFit), toddlers in. Buckle, buckle buckle!

"Me peepee!"............................... you've got to be kidding me......................

Unbuckle, unbuckle, unbuckle.............too late............. grab one pair of underwear and change of clothes...............use them before you leave the driveway.

Ok.... you can do this. Buckle, buckle, buckle and off we go.

Sing songs, listen to the DVD in the car for the 100th time knowing every word of every cartoon. Resist the urge to gouge your eyes out and beat your head against the steering wheel because the DVD is actually giving your ten minutes of peace while little eyes are glued to it with nary a blink.

Get to the store. Unbuckle, unbuckle, unbuckle. Toddlers in way to heavy stroller. Diaper bag over shoulder, purse in hand. Proceed into store and buy exactly $4.00 worth of kale. Leave. Repeat all steps above in the reverse order while asking yourself if this was really worth it. Answer: Yes.

Back at home and here's what you'll need:

One bunch of kale washed and dried

one clove of garlic, make it a big one

olive oil

sea salt

What you do:

Preheat your oven to broil or 500. Cut the tough center stem out of the kale and discard. Cut the leaves to about a standard "chip size". Finely chop the garlic or you can use garlic powder to taste if you'd rather. Get out a baking sheet and drizzle it with olive oil. Put the kale on top of the oil and lightly toss it in the oil with your hands. You will want to coat all the kale nicely without making it all drippy so start with less oil and add more if needed. Sprinkle with the garlic and sea salt.

Pop the tray into the oven and watch it carefully for 5 minutes. Since oven heats and times vary so greatly, be sure to stay close. You don't want burnt kale after all the work of going to the store. Half way through the cook time take a pair of tongs and toss the kale around to promote even cooking.

When the kale is done it will be light and crisp and still green. Remove it from the oven and let it cool... well, attempt to let it cool. I usually just stand in front of the molten hot tray while using my best elbow and hip check to keep my husband back and eat it right on the spot.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chili -- PALEO

2010-12-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

I love the fall. From the colors outside to the heart warming stews and soups. Even though I am from sunny So Cal, we do have the occasional tree that changes color on my block. And now that the temperature has dipped into the mid 60's it's time to break out a great fall recipe. Yes, the mid 60's is downright cold, just in case you were wondering. I realize that we are rapidly approaching winter and fall is almost over. But I've been a little busy lately, so I'm a bit behind.

This recipe is originally from Trader Joe's. It's just tweaked a little to take out the sugar and beans, etc. I never knew one could put sugar in chili. That just seems weird. All ingredients are available at Trader Joe's. If you don't have a TJ's in your area these ingredients are all available at your local natural grocery store.

So let's enjoy a big bowl of fall (ok... almost winter) Pumpkin Chili.

What you'll need:

3lbs. Ground turkey (or grassfed ground beef)

1 onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced (I like red, yellow or orange)

1 14oz can of canned pumpkin (make sure it's just pumpkin)

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 jar chipotle salsa

1 box of Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1 tsp cumin

What you do:

Cook the ground turkey, diced onion and pepper in a large pot until the meat is crumbly and no longer pink. Drain. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for one hour.

That's it! Enjoy!

Stirfry Pork Wrap - Paleo

2010-10-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

I didn't really even know what to call this, but I do know it's amazing! I guess it was meant to be. You see, I had a pork roast sitting in the fridge for the last couple of days. As I went to throw it in the crock pot I could not find the lid anywhere... and I do mean anywhere. After about an hour of searching, I decided it was a lost cause and I would have to find another way to cook my pork roast. As I was reaching for one of my cookbooks this tiny sheet of paper floated down before my eyes. On it was a recipe for pork burritos. It must have been a really old recipe. We haven't used a tortilla in this house for a very long time. None the less, it started by creative juices flowing... The following is the actual conversation I had in my head:

hmmm... burrito? that's no good. What about a lettuce wrap? hmmm.... no lettuce in the fridge. Oh, but I love the flavor of lettuce wraps. Oooo... PF Chang's. OMG, is that a spider on the bananas? I could make the "guts" to a lettuce wrap, but that's no fun to eat with a fork. 6:15... shoot, I'm running out of time... What can I wrap it in? Tortilla... no. Mu Shu pancake? Temping, but no... crepe? ya... in my dreams. And then it came to me. AAAAAAAAA (angels singing) I will make a very thin pancake out of egg!

Ya... I'm nuts

What you'll need:

A pork roast or if you want to make it easy on yourself get ground pork

1 onion sliced thinly

1 package of coleslaw mix (cabbage, carrot)

1T ground ginger

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3T Tamari (wheat free)

2 tsp sesame oil

2 T lime juice

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (mind the heat for the little ones)

1 egg per "wrap"

fresh chopped cilantro for garnish if you are trying to impress

What you do:

Since this is all about fast, get yourself the ground pork, brown and crumble it so it looks like taco meat. Add the ginger and garlic, onion and coleslaw mix and stirfry until veggies wilt.

Stir in the Tamari, sesame oil, lime juice and red pepper flakes. Blend all ingredients well. Turn off the heat and let the mixture rest while you make the eggs.

To make the egg "wraps":

Use a small skillet. Coat the skillet liberally with oil. Crack and beat an egg in a bowl and when the oil is hot add the egg to the pan. Swirl the pan so the egg spreads into a very thin pancake. Don't flip it. Just keep swirling until the egg cooks through. Slide the egg out of the pan onto a plate and keep warm.

Assemble just like a burrito and garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy!

Tuna Salad with Capers and Sundried Tomato

2010-10-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

How insanely yummy does this look? I actually want to jump through the screen and have a bite right now! The inspiration for this little salad comes from my friend Carol at Anaheim CrossFit. She is a serious sea food lover. She is also on day one of her Paleo program along with a few other poor soles who I'm sure are in carb depletion hell right about now. Hang in there guys... it gets better.

It's also an ode to Carol because rumor is she doesn't know how to cook and you don't even really need to have a kitchen to make this salad. So let's get to it!

What you'll need:

Romaine, butter or any lettuce you happen to have laying around except iceberg. If you even have a shred of iceberg in your house you should go outside immediately and flog yourself repeatedly with the garden hose. I don't want to hear how iceberg lettuce make a great "bun" either. It basically has no nutritional value what-so-ever.
tomato

1 Persian cucumber (or 1/2 an English)

1/2 a red onion

a can of dolphin safe, free range, cage free, net free, line caught, humanely treated, grass fed albacore tuna packed in water (I'm being silly)

3 or 4 pieces of sundried tomato packed in oil

a couple tablespoons of capers

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp garlic powder

What you do:

Rinse the tuna and squeeze the water out of it. Put it in a small bowl and flake it up with a fork. Add the capers. Chop up the sundried tomatoes into bits and mix in with the tuna and capers. This is where your taste comes in. I like strong flavors so I like lots of capers and lots of sundried tomato. You may not, so play around with the amounts to your liking.

Chop up your lettuce, tomato and cucumber and mix together. Put that on your plate and top it with a big 'ol scoop of the tuna mixture. Whisk together the olive oil, lemon and garlic powder. Pour some over the salad.

Enjoy!

Chicken Vegetable Soup - PALEO

2010-09-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer: I was home today... sick. I made this soup so everyone in my family would have something nourishing to eat since they are sick too. Translation: This recipe takes an hour but it's worth it :)

Do you ever have a half-eaten rotisserie chicken sitting in the fridge or am I all alone in this one? For me it usually starts when I bring one home from the store in the morning planning on using it for dinner (I'm usually making the big bowl of awesome yumminess. Check it out under salads)

When 5:00 rolls around and I go to the fridge to get my ingredients, I find my rotisserie chicken... The lid is mangled, the carton is ripped, the chicken looks like it's been attacked by a wild animal. It's clinging to life... hoping to be resuscitated. It's breasts are nowhere to be found and I'm left with two options. Starve or make dinner out of the underside of the chicken. The culprit who did this to my chicken shall remain nameless but let's just say he blew in at about noon, completely famished and went for it like it was the last supper. Ladies, if this happens to you on a regular basis you can solve the problem with a simple love note. Since we are an Italian household I prefer, "U toucha my chicken, I breaka u face". Just make sure it's displayed prominently to halt the meat hooks before it's too late.

So... as I was saying. I need to turn my half-masticated chicken into dinner. We happen to all be sick in this household right now so I think chicken, vegetable soup is in order.

What you'll need:

A rotisserie chicken, preferably with some meat still attached to it

veggies of your choice such as:

cabbage, carrot, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, etc.

1T Italian Seasoning

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

a little salt if you want

What you do:

Pick the chicken clean of meat and set the meat aside. Get a big ol pot of water going on the stove and drop the chicken carcass in the water with the garlic and bay leaves. Boil the heck out of it for about 45 minutes adding water as necessary to keep the level up. While waiting for the stock to cook saute your veggies until they are crisp tender. Strain the stock with a fine sieve to get rid of the bones and other particles. Return the stock to the pot. TASTE. Does it need a little salt? Is the flavor of the stock too strong for you? If so add some water. If you are not used to homemade stock the flavor will be more intense than the flavor of boxed broth.

Add in the veggies, the chicken and the Italian seasoning and simmer about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Steak with Tomatoes and Feta - PRIMAL

2010-09-08T08:24:00.001-07:00

My life has certainly changed since the beginning of this blog nine months ago. Back then I was a harried mother of two-year old twin boys with a heck of a lot on her plate and not enough time in the day to do it all. Wait... that sounds familiar...

The change has come around in the way of being a gym owner (my husband surprised me on my 40th birthday) and taking care of my mom who is very ill. Those two things have put me right over the top and headlong into crazy-land. Now is not the time to be disorganized... Alas, I am.

I'm not organized by nature. I struggle with it every day. I am a typical mother screaming down the freeway to the next appointment or play date. I am the mother who makes the grocery list and conveniently leaves it in my car or on the kitchen counter, not figuring this out until I'm elbow deep in the zucchini and I can't remember if I am out of tomato paste. I am the mother who has three inches of grey roots that desperately need to be covered but no time to do it, so I'm sure by now people are confusing me with a skunk.

For those reasons and many more, I decided to bring Primal Mama to semi-homemade status. I will still be including scratch recipes but they are going to be lightning fast. Some of my recipes won't be recipes at all. They will be about what you can pick up and throw together, because I know most of you out there feel me. We may have totally different backgrounds and lifestyles, but I know most of you are trying to fit 40 hours into 24.

This brings me to my next announcement:

Primal Mama is also going to include recipes that are, well... Primal.

Yes, that is right... I'm branching out big time. This may upset all of you Paleo diehards but if you look back on my recipes, many of them are not "pure". I will never give up my use of vinegar and truth be told I love and a desperately miss cheese. Now let me explain the fine print.

When I say cheese, I don't mean those nasty plastic filmed slices of yellow dye #17 mixed with corn syrup and gluten. This is what they lovingly refer to as "processed cheese food". What in the name of all things sane does that mean? First of all the word "processed" is displayed right on the front of the package. That's scary enough. They don't even attempt to hide it or call it something else like the case of Yogurt Bites marketed to children with "yogurty goodness" printed on the front and "contains no yogurt" printed so small you have to have the Hubble telescope to read it. Oh man, I've gone off on a tangent again. By this time you should be used to it.

I mean cheese... real cheese. 100% grass fed New Zealand cheddar (Trader Joe's) or raw cheese from US Wellness. I also love sheep's milk feta. The real stuff not the rubbery "Athenos" brand or the like. Real feta can be found at a Mediterranean market. If you live in the middle of "lilly white world" you may have to order it on line. And the bonus of good feta is... It's grass fed!

So you will see some recipes in the future that contain some cheese. I will label them with PRIMAL if the recipe contains cheese or vinegar or other dairy products. I will label the recipe PALEO if it fits in that category. For example:

PRIMAL RECIPE:

Steak with Roasted Tomato and Feta

What you need:

Grass Fed steak (I used Rib Eye)

A container of cherry tomatoes

1/4 to 1/2 cup awesome quality feta

olive oil

cracked black pepper

dried parsley

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400. Place the cherry tomatoes on a cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil over them. Roll them around the pan so they get coated in the oil. Sprinkle with black pepper. Put them in the oven and forget them for about 20 minutes. The tomatoes are done when most of them have popped and have a semi-deflated look. In the meantime grill up the steaks to your liking. If you are not a grill master, it is worth the money to buy a grill pan and cook them stove-top.

Plate the steak and put a scoop of cherry tomatoes on top. sprinkle with the feta and a little dried parsley for color.

Enjoy!

Primal Mama Goes Semi-Homemade

2010-09-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's a big announcement. But I have to do it or this family is never going to eat again. Since becoming the proud new owner of Anaheim CrossFit my time for cooking has been whittled down to opening a bag of salad greens at about 9pm.

My poor husband. I lured him into marriage with my cooking. Every night I would cook no less than four courses of delicious and beautiful food complete with table setting. He would come home from work and the entire house smelled like the dish I was making. I even wore an apron... and make-up.

Exactly 20 months after we married all hell broke loose in our house. Yes, I am talking about the birth of our twins. Ever since that beautiful day in January of '08 our house has been utter madness. I remember thinking that things could not get anymore chaotic. Now I just laugh at those memories. The truth is that things have gotten more chaotic exponentially. Only now on most days I roll with the punches. Oh, who am I kidding...

I digress.

The point of this post is to announce that I will be offering many recipes from now on that are faster than fast. They will consist of things you can grab from the market and literally put together in a snap. Can you open a bag? Can you hold the handle of the knife while using the sharp end to cut? Then you can make these recipes!

So let's kick off with a little kabob and side salad that is beautiful and tasty. You can have dinner on the table in 10 minutes or less.

What you'll need:

premade kabobs from your local store (I like Sprouts)

a package of salad greens

a small packet of walnuts

a container of blackberries

a small container of strawberries

a small handful of dried cranberries (these contain sugar)

for the dressing:

equal parts of olive oil and lemon juice

What you do:

Preheat your broiler/grill pan and throw on the kabobs turning them every few minutes until cooked through. When you buy them from the butcher they can give you exact cooking times... just ask them!

While the kabobs are cooking, toss all of the ingredients for the salad together. All you have to do is open the containers, slice the strawberries in half and dump everything into a bowl. Whisk together the dressing.

Serve. Done.

This picture is from a restaurant where I had lunch with friends. It was my inspiration to recreate this meal in no time flat. Good luck!

Enjoy!

Italian Burgers with Marinara and Eggplant

2010-08-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I absolutely love it when I screw up. Don't get me wrong, there's more times than not when I'm kicking myself for it. Like the one time that I waited six months to get my son in to see this "premiere" neurologist only to find that I left the house, got completely lost, didn't have the phone number and had an old address. That was no bueno. Or the time when I decided to go to my favorite ethnic grocery store deep in the heart of Anaheim on a Tuesday afternoon. Tuesdays are their "sale" days where you can actually save 1/2 a cent on their already rock bottom prices and it seems to bring out the entire populous of Southern California. Every cart was taken and I felt like Steven Segal in Under Siege trying to get to the cucumbers.

But let's get to the good screw ups. Like the time last year when my husband loaded my bar at CrossFit much heavier than I thought he did. I told him the weight I wanted and he upped it by 10 pounds. I finished the WOD without ever knowing and ended up doing "heavy Fran". I screwed up for not checking my weight, but came away with a sense of accomplishment I would have never allowed myself.

And now let's talk about the screw up that created this post. I've been making dinner in the morning the past week or so. It's the only time that I have to do it since my husband and I are now the proud owners of Anaheim CrossFit. Our partner coaches in the morning and we coach in the evening. Yes, the evening... right across dinner time. This leaves me with exactly zero time in my day to be disorganized or forget anything. Alas... last night, dinner was forgotten. I was scheduled to make my meatballs (the first recipe post on this blog). They are super yummy and cook in the crock pot so they are really easy. But the trick is that you have to remember to actually make them. Fail.

So I had the grass fed ground beef and Hot Italian Sausage defrosted. What in the world was I going to do with that? Pasta?... Not on your life. Then by divine Italian intervention, it came to me. I would make a version of nothing I had ever heard of.

What you'll need:

a pound of grass fed ground beef

a package of Hot Italian Sausage (I used pork)

a jar of Trader Joe's marinara (look for lowest sugar possible)

an eggplant (optional)

What you do:

Mix the ground beef and 4 links of sausage (casing removed) with your hands. Give it a good squish to really get it mixed well. Shape the meat into hamburger patties and set aside. Cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch slices that can be put on top of the burger. Brush the eggplant with oil and sprinkle with pepper. Grill the eggplant on a grill pan or saute it until it's soft and set aside.

While the eggplant is grilling, cook the burgers in a deep skillet until no longer pink in the center. Top each burger with a slice of grilled eggplant and then pour the Marinara sauce over each burger. Turn the flame down low until the dish heats through.

I knew that this was a keeper when I had to leave the kitchen to tend to my boys. When I returned the pan of six burgers had been reduced to four... sans eggplant. The lonely mutilated eggplant lay in the bottom of the skillet clinging to life. Mental note... husband despises eggplant. So except for the eggplant faux pas I got two thumbs up and no leftovers. I hope you enjoy this easy dish as much as we did... eggplant or not!

Mark Sisson is coming, Mark Sisson is coming!

2010-07-21T10:20:00.000-07:00

Aloha and greetings from Hawaii! I am here enjoying a week with my sister's family, my family and my mom. It's been a very long time since all of us have been together under one roof (well, three condos really). We are having some great laughs by the pool, eating lots of yummy primal dishes and CrossFitting our hearts out at our friend Kimo's Place, CrossFit Hawaii. It's the greatest thing in the world to have my family by my side when we are doing a WOD. Even my little guys get into it. One of my twins can do overhead squats and burpees. Have you ever watched a toddler squat? It's a beautiful, flexible and fluid motion. And how they can hold it at the bottom endlessly with a perfectly straight back?... wow.

Anyway, shifting gears, my purpose for this quick note to you is to announce that Justin Flynn, owner of Orange Coast CrossFit, located in Costa Mesa, CA, is having Mark Sisson, of Mark's Daily Apple come on down and impart all of his wisdom in a talk held on Wednesday, August 18, at 6:00 pm. There are only 75 spots and it's about a third full within 24 hours of the announcement. One of the best things is it's affordable at $20.00 a head.

I am an avid follower of Mark Sisson. His advice is sound, he is steeped in the primal ways and at 50 plus years old, it is obvious that he practices what he preaches. His book, "The Primal Blueprint" is a wealth of information, easy to read and very entertaining while getting the point across. He also has a new cookbook out that I'm anxious to check out.

If you are anywhere in the area and you can get to this seminar, I highly recommend it. So come on down to Orange Coast CrossFit, say hi to me and soak up all the info that Mark Sisson has to offer. You will leave enlightened!

Chicken with sun dried tomato and onion relish

2010-07-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Many of my recipes are accidentally on purpose. Now you're thinking... "What exactly does that mean?" Well, what it means is that I haven't grocery shopped in more than a week and the ratio of food to laundry in my house is way out of proportion. If only the fridge were as full as the laundry basket we'd be in recipe makin' heaven! But alas, that is not the case... not even close.

I've managed to actually defrost some chicken so that's a start. I open my refrigerator to find the usual... A tumble weed rolling by, an old cow skull, the theme song from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly plays in my head as I stare down the last onion. (Gosh I love Clint Eastwood). Fortunately this time around it's a blessing to be limited on time and ingredients in the kitchen.

I pull out my trusty jar of sun dried tomatoes, a lonely purple onion, some olive oil and a smattering of pine nuts that I've found in the depths of my freezer. Good enough for me! Let's make some chicken.

What you'll need:

All of the above ingredients, plus boneless chicken breasts, garlic powder and pepper

What you do:

Start of by marveling at the lack of ingredients in this dish. Remember that feeling as you take you first bite and are shocked by the wonderful flavor. It can't be this good and this easy... can it?

Slice your raw chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound the thicker side down a bit so the chicken breast is an even thickness. Give it a sprinkle of garlic powder and ground black pepper on both sides. Get a pan nice and hot with a swirl of oil and lay the chicken breasts (two at a time... don't crowd the pan or the temperature will drop and you will have "steamed chicken"...ewww). Cook for about 3 - 4 minutes per side and remove to a plate. While the chicken cooks dice up the onion and cut about 7 large pieces of sun dried tomato into strips. You'll also need about 1/4 cup of pine nuts. Tent the chicken with foil to keep warm.

In the same pan, add a little more oil and drop in your onion. Saute it until its nice and soft. Add in the tomato and give it a stir for a minute. Lastly, stir in the pine nuts, lower the heat and keep stirring until the pine nuts brown. You can go from brown to burnt really fast here so pay attention!

Place the chicken on a plate and top with the sun dried tomato and onion relish. It looks very gourmet when you are done so don't let our little secret out!

Enjoy!

Emergency Dinner - Broccoli Chicken

2010-07-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Most of you know already that I am an extremely busy, overtaxed, slightly neurotic mother of four. Two grown daughters, and twin boys that are now 2 1/2. My oldest daughter is turning 21 in a couple of weeks, my youngest daughter just graduated from high school and my boys... Well, my boys continue to try to snuff the life out of me on a daily basis. I think they may be succeeding. Sometimes I take a step back, look at myself in the mirror and laugh hysterically. What in the world was I thinking having more children at 40? I am really starting to think that women have a built in "forget" mechanism that blocks out our children's ages at 18 months - 4 years and ages 13 -17. We have to. Otherwise there would be no children on this earth. So I'm smack dab in the middle of the 18 months - 4 years category. But this time around I have been blessed with two "full steam ahead" maniacs at once. Those of you that have boys are nodding in agreement right about now.

Between the screaming and the throwing of objects, the constant protests, the refusals to nap even when their eyes are practically rolling back in their heads; the demands for "more juice!" (it's 90% water... don't get all freaky on me), the eating of rocks, prying my son's mouth open only to find "wings and legs" and the obligatory wail for having a toy snatched out of tiny hands followed by the retaliation bite and conquer, I guess I'm right where I should be... staring down the double barrel of toddlerhood at point blank range... and I think I'm out matched. Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. (when they're sleeping). :) So with my flack jacket, my toddler mace, my helmet and an occasional glass of wine, I spurn on.

I think you can actually hear the theme song from Barnum and Bailey's Circus when you walk through the front door of my house. It is a literal circus combined with a zoo and a war zone most days. Not only are the kids at a tough age but the dishes in the sink are having little dish babies right before my eyes and the laundry looks like the blob oozing out the top and spilling over the side of the basket. Seriously! We only have four people living in this house and two of them are under three feet tall. How can there be so much laundry?

So in between my usual duties: nurse maid, referee, diaper changer, taxi, nurturer, boo boo fixer, good cop/bad cop, facilitator, house keeper and physical education coordinator (not to mention jungle gym and pillow) I also have to find time to cook. Well, lately I haven't had any. So today I am happy to bring you my latest emergency dinner.

What you'll need:

A rotisserie chicken

broccoli florets

olive oil or oil of your choice

for the sauce:

5T wheat free soy sauce (I apologize to the paleo gods, but I'm not giving it up)

2tsp sesame oil

2T rice wine vinegar, no sugar, no salt version

1tsp garlic powder

1tsp ginger

1tsp honey, optional

black sesame seeds for garnish

nuts: almonds or cashews... or which ever you like

What you do:

Start by whisking up the sauce. If you are using more than half of the chicken or if you like a stronger flavor (like me), double the sauce recipe. Debone and cube up the rotisserie chicken and put it in a bowl. Poor the sauce over the chicken and let it take a little swim. Take out a large pan and get it nice and hot with your oil. Next place the raw broccoli in the pan and stir-fry it for about 3 minutes. It won't be cooked through so here's what you do next. Take a 1/3 cup of water (or chicken broth if you want to get all fancy) and poor it in. BEFORE YOU START: Have the lid to the pan in the other hand. Quickly poor in the water and cover the broccoli with the lid. Now you are steaming the broccoli but it will still have a "pan fried" taste. Take the lid off when all the water is absorbed. Stir in the chicken and heat it through.

Plate this beauty and sprinkle with black sesame seeds and a palm full of chopped nuts.

Enjoy!

Cajun Scallops

2010-06-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

I've lived a whole lifetime since we last talked... and it seems that I have emerged stronger. Sometimes certain circumstances seem so daunting there comes a crossroads; a choice. The choice for me was to crumble or to look within and pull from a strength that I reserve for the hardest times in life.

Most of you know by now that my mom is terminally ill. This was a complete shock since my mother has never had a medical problem in her life. She is 71 but looks and acts 50. She is completely self sufficient, could throw her own suitcase into the overhead bin of an airplane while traveling the world solo and out squat many of us. So when the words "stage 4 brain cancer" came out of the doctor's mouth, all we could really do was stare at each other in disbelief. Of course this spurred the all encompassing question in my mind: "Why?"

Well, I don't know the why and I probably never will. But what I do know is that I watch my mother's continuous grace under fire. She is the epitome of strength, of mercy, of love. She still smiles just as big. She still has a sparkle in her eye. She is humble and honest and courageous. In the wake of radiation, her hair falling out, the right side of her body failing her and her beautiful face swelling from massive doses of medication, she doesn't complain. She only hugs her family with all of the love that a mother could give and suggests that we go get hamburgers and shakes and fries and mud pie with a huge smile and her car keys in her hand. She insists that we live it up and party like rock stars with the time we have left together. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I know that many of you have lost parents, or children, or other loved ones and some of you have lost them without warning. For that, I am deeply sorry and wish you peace. I am grateful and humbled that I have time with my mother. Whether it is days or months, it is time and I am taking full advantage of every minute.

I know that one day sooner than we all hope for, the inevitable will happen. I am deeply saddened when I think of what lies ahead. But I am equally grounded in the fact that I embody my mother's spirit and she will truly never leave me. I have her strength and her decision making ability. I have her warmth and her genuine compassion for others. I have her giving spirit. I have my mother's adventurous side and the little part that likes to flirt with danger. I am forward and honest because of her. I am my family's rock, all because of my mother. Some of these qualities took me years to achieve... other's were just innate. But they are all qualities that I am proud of and come squarely from her example.

I chose Cajun Scallops to honor my mother. Cajun because she's spicy and scallops because they've always been a family favorite.

So here's to you mom! You are and forever will be my hero.

What you'll need:

Olive oil

1 large red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

1tsp Cajun seasoning

1/2tsp black pepper

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1 pound of fresh sea scallops

Tabasco

What you do:

Get out a heavy frying pan and coat it with some olive oil. You can use coconut oil or other oils if you want. Get the pan nice and hot and toss in your scallops. There's a little trick here: Don't stir the heck out of the scallops. Just let them sit, first on one side and then the other. I would say about a minute per side depending on the size of the scallops. You want to cook them until they are just opaque inside and not like rubber superballs. I always do a "practice scallop" and then cut it open to check the "doneness". Remove the scallops to a plate and keep warm by tenting with foil. Throw in the onion and saute it until it's soft about 5 minutes. Add in the Cajun seasoning and pepper and stir until well combined. Now stir in the chicken broth, the garlic and a dash or two of Tabasco and start scraping the pan to get up all the browned bits of flavor goodness. Really give it a stir and a scrape. You are making a quick sauce here. Once the sauce has reduced slightly, turn off the flame and add the scallops back in to coat them with the sauce. Serve immediately so the scallops don't continue to cook.

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken with Mushrooms and Olives

2010-05-25T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think I need to rename this blog "The chicken blog". We eat A LOT of chicken in this family. My true favorite is grass fed beef, but there are only certain things you can do with a piece of grass fed beef besides grill it. I love the true flavor of how meat should taste and don't like to muck it up with a lot of sauces and spices.

Chicken on the other hand is a different story. I can think of nothing more gross than a plain old piece of chicken with nothing on it. Ewww. No thank you. It reminds me of "Cybergenics" if any of you are old enough to remember along with me. I think it must have been the late 80's when Cybergenics hit the market. It was all the rage. Take 413 different kinds of supplements with god knows what in them and eat nothing but boiled chicken and green beans and watch the weight fall off! The package came complete with full color photos of before and afters that were mind blowingly awesome (and equally photo shopped, I'm sure). I must admit, I fell for this diet. And so the journey began...

The journey ended as promptly as it started. By the third day of eating nothing but boiled chicken and green beans I had succumb to the desire for a supersized #3 combo. I remember the exact feeling as my eyes glazed over, I grabbed the car keys and drove like a maniac straight to the golden arches of doom. That started a chain reaction and by the end of the week my Cybergenics story ended with a three pound weight gain.

Years later when I actually learned to cook, I vowed to myself and all eating my food that I would never make a plain old piece of chicken. This chicken recipe has some of my favorite flavors and a good healthy dose of fat from the olives. I hope you love it!

What you'll need:

4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

3T olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1tsp dried rosemary

1tsp dried oregano

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup black olives, sliced

What you do:

Start in the morning by mixing up the lemon juice with the spices, olive oil and green onion in a zip lock. Add in the chicken and give it a good squish. Let it sit in the fridge all day until you are ready to cook in the evening.

Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken pieces in a lightly oiled pan. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Add the mushrooms and olives to the pan and continue baking covered until chicken is cooked through (about 15 more minutes give or take).

Alternative method: Have that hunk of a man (woman) in your life fire up the bbq and grill the chicken. Sautee the mushrooms and olives on the stove top. Pour the mushrooms over the chicken and serve. This is my preferred method as long as my husband is grilling shirtless :)

Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala

2010-05-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday and the images in my head of my team mate and me carrying a 140 pound log up and down the field at the CrossFit Southwest Regionals are finally starting to fade. I only wish the two giant black bruises on each of my shoulders would fade just as fast. I had the most amazing time over the last weekend. I got to meet new friends, cheer my team on, root for the individual athletes and see some of the most awesome displays of fitness in the world. I was all to sad to see it end. But everyday that passes by is a day closer to getting to go the CrossFit Games and cheer some more. I am inspired!

Seeing this incredible display of fitness reminded me of how important fueling our bodies properly really is. So let's get some good protein going in a delicious dish that's easy to make and really quick.

What you'll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (free range is best)

2 tsp ground fennel seeds

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

3 1/2 cups Marsala wine or chicken broth (low sodium/gluten free)

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (Mother's or other health food store)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 shallots, thinly sliced

olive oil

4T plain coconut yogurt (So Delicious brand, Sprouts/Whole Foods/Mother's)

What you do:

Coat the chicken pieces with the fennel, pepper and red pepper flakes and set aside. In a deep saute pan, add the Marsala wine (or chicken broth), the garlic, shallots and dried mushrooms. Bring this mixture to a boil and then simmer it until it reduces by half. While the sauce is simmering use a grill pan (or your barbeque) to cook up the chicken. I like to slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally and pound out the thick end to make more of a cutlet before cooking. When the sauce has reduced, remove it form the heat and whisk in the yogurt. This gives the sauce a creamy texture. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over the chicken.

Enjoy!

PS. When choosing your Marsala wine there are three choices. Secco, semi-secco and dolce. The Secco has under 40 grams of sugar per liter. In this recipe we are not using a whole bottle and there are about 4 to 6 servings in this meal. So the sugar content is respectable. If you are freaked out by this go ahead and use the chicken broth. The taste is still devine!

Waldorf Salad

2010-05-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Primal Slacker!

I know that all of you can relate when I say I have a busy life. If there were only like 900 more hours in the day, I think I could get everything done that needs doing. It seems the last couple of weeks have been extra challenging, though. I am proud to say that I am representing Orange Coast CrossFit as part of the affiliate team during Regionals. This great honor has taken over what microscopic moments I have left and filled them with WODs, stretching, chiropractors, ice packs, jacuzzi baths, etc. Ten years ago I'm sure the last sentence would not have read like that. It would have been a lot less about stretching and chiros and ice... But I have to counter that with 10 years ago I would not have been on the affiliate team. I was sitting on the couch, with a pizza and 26% body fat. Although I am getting older and it takes a little longer to recover, I have never been stronger both mentally and physically. So this is a long winded excuse to say I'm sorry I haven't posted a recipe in a while. I hope all of you did not turn to bread sticks in rebellion.

Summer weather is here today and I always feel like something light when it's hot. And so it is time to make a Waldorf Salad. YUM.

What you'll need:

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup diced apples

1/2 cup sliced grapes

1 cup diced chicken (Trader Joe's Just Chicken or rotisserie)

1/2 cup walnut pieces

1/2 cup plain coconut yogurt (So Delicious brand)

1 T lemon juice plus a little more

What you do:

Look at this easy recipe and notice that you do not have to have a kitchen to make this. So all of you that do not cook... no more excuses. All you need is a knife and a bowl. (They're the sharp silver thing with the handle that will send you to the hospital if you grab the silver end and the thingy that looks like half a sphere). So get out your sharp thing with the handle and chop up said ingredients and place them in the half-sphere. Before you put the apple in, squeeze a little lemon over it so the apple doesn't brown and make your salad look ugly.

For the dressing mix up the yogurt and lemon and taste. If you like a little more tartness then add more lemon.

Mix the salad and dressing together and serve. That's about it! Go for it you non-cooks. I have every confidence that this one is bullet proof :)

Enjoy!

Fajitas

2010-04-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm a moron! For the last zillion years I have made fajitas at least a couple of times per month. It's such a regular go to item in the house that I was sure I had posted the recipe long, long ago. Alas, I had not! What evilness lurks in my brain to be withholding such an easy and delicious recipe from you? It's my favorite kind of dish to make too. Marinate in the bag all day... 10 minutes to the table at night. And hardly a dish to clean up (especially if you use paper plates). How "ungreen" of me... I know. Next time you see me, you can let me know what you think of my "ungreenness". But I am warning you, I deadlift over 250 pounds now... you may be playing with fire.

So let's get started.

What you'll need:

Grass fed skirt steak (4oz per serving)

1 purple onion

1 white onion

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

juice of 2 limes

zest of 1 lime

2 tsp chili powder

1tsp garlic powder

2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne (or more for more kick)

additional lime wedges to serve with

guacamole

What you do:

Start this one off at about 11pm the night before. Prep for this great meal by praying to the gods that your son will sleep this fine night so you can be refreshed in the morning and actually feel human. At midnight realize that you have fallen asleep on the couch with a bite of apple hanging out of your mouth and the almond butter that should have gone in with the apple is now pasted to the side of your face and in your hair. At 12:05 thank your husband for taking over the child care duties while you passed out. Sit down on the couch with said husband and watch in amazement as the same son that did not nap, the same son that got up at 7am after only 4 hours of sleep the night before, the same son that has been going nonstop all day, continues to run and laugh and scream with delight and jump on his trampoline. Face it there is no end in sight. Now do what any other irrational and exhausted mother would do. Pack up your son and head on out for what we lovingly call the 55 loop. Drive the 55 fwy from Orange to Costa Mesa for the next hour until he falls asleep. Consider staying in the car all night. After all, it's quiet in there. Get back in the house and colapse into bed. Sweet dreams, you now have 4 hours until it starts again.

Now in the morning start off with a big-ass cup of coffee. Get out a 2 ziplock bags. Slice up the onions and peppers and place them in the first bag. Slice up the meat in strips making sure you slice across the grain. This ensures the meat is tender when cooked and not stringy. Put the meat in bag #2. Whisk up the olive oil, limes, lime zest and spices. Poor it over the meat, seal that baby up and squish it all around to coat the meat. Stick the meat and veggies in the fridge. When it's time to cook in the evening, get out your pan and cook up the veggies in a little oil until they are crisp-tender. In the same pan cook the meat in two separate batches so you don't crowd the pan. If you put all the meat in at once you will steam the meat instead of saute it.

Serve the fajitas up with some additional lime wedges and store bought guacamole. This literally takes 10 minutes to throw together. The perfect meal for when you are just shy of comatose.

Enjoy!

BBQ Rub Pork Butt

2010-04-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Before I get started, let me just say that I am not from Texas. I am not from Louisiana or Alabama or any of the Barbeque states. I don't pull a smoker around hitched to the back of my car. I don't own overalls, make bathtub gin or say Yee Haw! Barbeque in my world is a verb, not a noun. So with that disclaimer you can rest assure that I am no barbeque genius.

Truth is I love real barbeque. I love the sloppy sauce, the smoke ring, the bark... It's pure heaven. As a matter of fact when my friend Jill's dad visits from Austin, TX (my surrogate home town) I am praying that he pulls his trailer sized barbeque grill all the way out here so he can feed me. I am also secretly hoping that his grill is manufactured in the shape of a pig...

So, what I am trying to do here is to create a barbeque like flavor and feeling in a paleo world. There are a few things that have to be eliminated to make barbeque paleo friendly. The big one of course, is sugar in all of its forms. So I made up this little dry rub and slapped it on a pork butt. Let me just say it came out so delicious it never made it to the plate. My husband and I, once again, scarfed dinner while standing over the stove like mad jackals devouring a zebra. When we were done we actually laughed out of embarrassment. It was quite a feeding frenzy.

And so with the barbeque god's pardon... here is my recipe for a nice little paleo friendly pork butt.

What you'll need:

3 pound pork butt (shoulder)

extra virgin coconut oil

a heavy cast iron skillet or dutch oven

for the rub:

1 3/4 T chili powder

1T paprika

3/4 T black pepper

3/4 T garlic powder

2 tsp Herbs de Provence

1tsp onion powder

1tsp mustard powder

1tsp cumin

1/4tsp cayenne pepper

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Mix the rub spices together in a bowl. Take out your pork butt and coat it with the rub. You can use the entire amount of the rub or you can go a little lighter. The flavor is strong. We used the whole thing and loved it. Now give that pork butt a massage and work those spices in there!

Get your heavy pan going with a couple of tsp of coconut oil. When the pan is hot sear the pork butt on all sides. You're not cooking it here, you're just making a crust on the outside so just a couple of minutes per side at the most. When you are done searing, cover the pan with the lid or heavy aluminum foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are up, turn the pork over and turn the oven down to 250. Cook the pork at one hour increments (turning it after each hour). It took me a total of 3 hours to cook ours. You will know that the pork is done when you can easily shred it. It will literally fall apart. The smell this puts off while it's cooking is out of this world. No wonder we scarfed the whole thing down in five minutes flat!

This is not a typical Primal Mama 15 minutes and you're done recipe, but it is worth the time if you have it to spare on the weekend. Sometimes I really need barbeque and this recipe satisfies that need. Let me know what you think!

Enjoy

Thai Beef Salad

2010-04-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the CrossFit NLP Invitational and volunteered as the nurse for the event. It was great to be out there and watch the competitors in action. I have to say that it still blows me away to see the athletes work their magic during the WODs but what has me amazed is the team spirit and closeness of all of the affiliates. I don't think I've ever seen any other sporting event where opposing teams openly cheer for each other. There is a great spirit of competition and a great spirit of family. Yesterday for me, confirmed the fact that I am right where I should be. I am in the heart of a community that supports one another to go farther, lift heavier, run faster and be better than you were the day before. I love being a CrossFit Girl!

So now let's talk about dinner. This dish is by no means original. In fact, very few dishes in the world are. But it's the way they can be changed to fit the paleo lifestyle that makes them unique. You've heard me profess my love of Thai food. It's got to be my favorite. But there's almost nothing that's going to be paleo friendly coming from that region of the world. (They do give us coconuts, bless their hearts). So we shall do a small tweak here and there and make a great paleo friendly Thai Beef Salad (que salivation).

What you'll need:

4 oz of steak per serving (Sirloin works well)

1 bag of salad greens

1 cucumber, scored and chopped

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1 large tomato, seeded and thinly sliced

1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped

1 bunch green onion, chopped

1/2 purple onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

several limes, juiced

zest of 1 lime

1/3 cup olive oil

1tsp soy sauce (or fish sauce)

sweet chili paste (trader joe's or supermarket)

What you do:

In the morning, in a big baggie, marinate the steak in the olive oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Oh, what the heck, squeeze a lime in there, grate a tsp of lime zest, add a tsp of sweet chili paste and throw it in too. Let it sit in the fridge all day. When you are ready to start dinner, throw the bag of meat in the freezer for about 10 minutes. This firms up the meat and makes it easier to slice really thin. While you are waiting on the meat, slice up your onions, chop the cilantro, slice the tomato. If you have one of those really cool but utterly useless cucumber peely things (to make stripes on the cucumber skin) you can use that. Otherwise just scrape the skin with a fork or just leave it alone and chop the cucumber.

Take the meat out of the freezer and with an extremely sharp knife, slice it very thin. Heat a pan with a little oil and stir-fry the beef. Remove the beef from the heat when cooked and let it cool. Place all salad ingredients and meat in a large bowl.

Mix 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1T. soy sauce (or fish sauce), 1 crushed garlic clove and 1tsp sweet chili paste for the dressing. Poor over the salad and toss to coat. If you want more heat you can use some red pepper flakes.

Enjoy!

ps. I have no idea why the first paragraph of this post is blue and underlined. I'm going to have my two-year old look at it for me when he wakes up.

Primal Mama Greek Pizza...(faint)

2010-04-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

PLACE TOPPINGS HERE

There are lots of paleo pizza recipes out there and they're all pretty good. Reading through them got me inspired to make a pizza of my own. If you've been following my blog you know that I like a lot of flavor in my dishes. This pizza is no exception. Instead of a plain almond meal crust, we are going to jazz it up with some spices and veggies. You can add or omit anything that sounds good (or doesn't sound good) and the basic crust will still be there. So get you primal chef hat on and let's make a pizza!

What you'll need:

(2 servings)

crust:

1 cup almond meal (trader joes)

1 egg

1 tsp olive oil

1T minced sun dried tomato

1T minced kalamata olives

2tsp Italian seasoning

sauce:

1 can tomato sauce 8oz (low sodium)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1tsp onion powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

toppings:

Quartered artichoke hearts

thin sliced red onion strips

bits of cooked chicken or cooked Italian turkey sausage

additional:

foil

What you do:

If you have a pizza stone use it. If not, use a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 400. Mix your crust ingredients in a bowl with your hand until well combined. Mix your sauce ingredients together and let the flavors combine. Take your stone/sheet and cover the baking surface with foil. Spread a tsp of oil on the foil. Take the dough and press it into your shape of choice right on the oiled foil. This is not meant to be a deep dish pizza so spread that dough until it's about 1/4 inch thickness. Now bake the crust off for about 15 minutes. Open the oven door. Let the smell transport you to the Greek Islands. Imagine you're beach front with a glass of Grappa. Rename your husband Nickolos Stranokravokopolus. You're wild and free and enjoying the sunshine with no children in sight... aaahhhh.

Yes, I know pizza is from Italy but it's my fantasy so back off! If you want to go to Naples or Venice you can, I'll be on Santorini.

Back to the pizza. Spread the sauce out all the way to the edges of the crust and put the toppings on. Bake it for an additional 10 minutes. Let it cool slightly before cutting.

This in no way is New York pizza. The crust is more like a cracker than pizza dough. But it is a great pizza without the carb coma and fat ass that goes along with NY pizza. Feel free to play around with your own crust ingredients and toppings. Make sure you let me know what you come up with!

Enjoy!

ps. This makes a really good cracker bread for dipping or an open-face sandwich. Be careful though!!! The calories are pretty high!

Marinated, Grilled Chicken

2010-04-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I feel really limited by eating so much chicken. I'm actually having a huge craving for something beef but I can't do a thing until my order from US Wellness comes in. I'm trying a few new cuts this go round so I'll have to see what I can create. Seafood is almost completely out for this family. The smell of it makes my husband sick. What I do like about eating so much chicken is that it makes me more creative in my recipes.

This chicken has a distinct Middle Eastern flavor. It's quite delicious and of course easy to make. I have to admit, I don't ever use the grill. It's not because I'm a girl, or because I think of grilling as the "man's job". It's because some years ago I had a freak grilling accident where I singed off a good percentage of my eyebrows and let's just say my bangs didn't need a trim for about six months. My daughter still laughs about it to this day. Of course she wasn't the one faced with a two-foot flame shooting out of the grill scaring me so badly that I dropped my cell phone into the BBQ. Well, okay... it is kind of funny now, but I can assure you I wasn't laughing back then. Can you imagine the look on the guys face at my local T-Mobile store when I brought in the half melted phone?? Priceless.

What you'll need:

4 Boneless chicken breasts (free range)

for the marinade:

1T. Dried mint

1T. Olive oil

1T. Lemon Juice

1T. Soy sauce (I know it's not paleo. Stop wagging your finger at me)

1tsp. Chili powder

1/4tsp Pepper

4 Garlic cloves, minced

What you do:

Wake up to another glorious morning. Stretch and smile... It's going to be a good one. Meander over to the kitchen and open the drawer that contains the staff of life... no, not bread silly... COFFEE. Root around in the drawer and realize that you have none. Drop to your knees and scream like Stanley Kawalski in Street Car Named Desire. Pull yourself off the ground using as much drama and histrionics as possible. Check out of the corner of your eye... Is your husband watching? This is the perfect time to smile meekly and give him the "will you go get me coffee" look. It usually works.

While you are waiting for your coffee throw all the marinade ingredients together in a bag and toss in the chicken. Give the bag a good squish to coat the chicken well. Let it sit in the fridge all day. Come dinner time it's ready to grill! You can bake it at 350 for about 20-30 minutes or until juices run clear if you don't have a grill.

Enjoy!

Lettuce Wrap Carnitas

2010-03-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

I owe my husband for this one. We were rushing all around one morning and both trying to get out the door for a very long day away from home. We were on our usual broken sleep pattern the previous night thanks to one of our little men that thinks sleeping is overrated. I was on my second cup of coffee and praying for mental clarity as I walked into the door jam for the second time that morning. Then I saw it... the pork tenderloin I had defrosting from last night. I just stared at it. I wasn't going to be home in time to prepare a pork tenderloin unless we planned on eating dinner at 10pm. That's when hubby noticed me... catatonic... staring... at a pork loin. I was already overwhelmed and the day hadn't even started. He came over to me, threw his arm around my shoulder and said, "Why don't you just stick it in the crock pot."

This is why I married him.

I had a few minutes before I had to bolt out the door. I've never cooked a tenderloin in the crockpot. It seems a little sacrilegious to cook such a quality piece of meat that way. But I was desperate and it was a great suggestion.

Dinner that night was a surprising hit. The pork came out moist and tasty. I dressed it up nicely into tacos. It could not have been any easier!

What you'll need:

1 pork tenderloin (this would work with chicken or meat too)

juice of 2 limes

1 T chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1/2 a purple onion

1 green bell pepper

1 head of butter lettuce (or lettuce you can make into taco shells)

store bought pico de gallo (or make your own)

store bought guacamole (or make your own)

What you do:

Kiss your husband for being brilliant and saving dinner. Get out your 'ol faithful crockpot. Put the chicken broth in, the lime juice and the two bay leaves. In a small bowl mix up all the spices. Coat the pork with the spices and give it a little massage. Lay the pork in the crockpot and turn it on low. Cover and forget it. It should be done in five to six hours so hopefully you have a crockpot with an automatic timer. If you don't Amazon.com has them with free shipping. They are worth every penny. If you have time in the morning you can dice up the purple onion and green pepper. If not it's easy to do in the evening. Saute the onion and pepper together until crisp/tender.

When you return home you will be greeted with a wonderful aroma. It's a great feeling to know that dinner is almost ready and you don't have to put much effort into the finishing touches. Shred the pork. Get out the lettuce and put a few leaves on everyone's plate. Top with some meat, sauteed veggies, pico de gallo, and guacamole. If the kids don't like the idea of a lettuce wrap you can easily serve this in a bowl and add anything else they may like to it.

Enjoy!

p.s. For my non-southwest natvies; Pico de Gallo is a fresh salsa made with tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime. If you can't find it sub it with some high quality jarred salsa.

Pork Chop with Apple, Walnut, Sausage Stuffing

2010-03-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

This little beauty is quick and to the point which is just what I needed tonight. I spent the day with the ladies at a clinic called Rx Stars. Every one of the ladies is a positive and friendly force to be reckoned with. The energy in these clinics is amazing. If you live in the So Cal area, I highly recommend you come and join us. A high fitness level is not a requirement. All you have to do is bring your can do, kick ass attitude. You will leave a better person.

So after about 80 snatches, 5 rope climbs and a WOD called "Survivor" (I almost didn't), life still goes on in my home and I have to make dinner. Feeling like an elated version of a Gumby/new baby deer combo, I waddle and waiver over to the kitchen. I still can't feel my legs... damn squat clean thrusters, but I also can't wipe the smile off my face. I'm glad dinner is an easy one tonight!

What you'll need:

4 pork chops (about 1 inch thickness)

2 sweet Italian sausages

1 granny smith apple (don't substitute), chopped

a handful of walnuts, finely chopped

2 tsp dried, rubbed sage

pepper

1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock

What you do:

Remove you sausage from the casing and pan fry. If you have a mini chopper, throw the sausage in there to make it into a fine consistency (or chop by hand). Chop up your apple and the walnuts. Put these three ingredients in a bowl and mix together.

Cut a pocket through the center of the pork chop leaving 3 sides intact. Rub each pork chop with some sage and sprinkle some pepper on both sides of the meat. Now take the stuffing mix and scoop it into the chop. It helps if you secure the open end with some toothpicks to keep the stuffing inside.

Get a pan hot and brown the chops quickly on both sides. Not too long now... you just want to brown them, not cook them. Transfer them into a pan and add 1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock. Cover with foil and bake the chops for about 15 to 20 minutes. Be careful! Pork dries out easily so don't over cook them. Remove them from the oven and keep the pan covered for 10 minutes to allow the chops to rest. Serve with a fresh veggie for a quick and tasty meal.

Enjoy!

Pad Thai -- Well, sort of...

2010-03-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Let me kick this off by saying Pad Thai is one of my all time favorite meals. Traditionally it's made with rice noodles, bean sprouts, some type of meat or seafood (or heaven help us... tofu) and a to die for sauce that usually has brown sugar and a mountain of salt. Oh, and let's not forget the crushed peanuts. This meal is a paleo disaster and then some. There is absolutely nothing good that can come out of this dish.

For a while I was using it as my cheat meal. Every time we would go out for Thai food, I would order a giant portion of Pad Thai and leave nothing behind but the plate. And then it would hit me... that bloated, miserable feeling from the carb insurgency and pure sugar assault. After the initial bloat, I would get miserably tired and come down with a huge headache. Pad Thai never did this to me before starting paleo. I have since learned that this meal is the equivalent of a gastro-intestinal Hannibal Lechter. It entices you with it's charm and alure and when you least expect it, it eats your guts and leaves you reeling and clinging to life wishing you had never known the name Pad Thai (or Hannibal Lechter for that matter).

So I was at a cross roads. I knew Pad Thai was no longer a welcome dish in my meal plan, but I love the flavor and the texture so very much. There was only one option to consider. Remake Pad Thai into a paleo friendly version.

What you'll need:

1 pound of cooked large shrimp or you can use any meat you wish

1/2 a head of cabbage finely shredded (use a mandolin if you have one)

1 onion finely sliced (mandolin)

3 ribs of celery sliced on the diagonal

2 bell peppers, sliced into thin strips (use 2 different colors)

1 bunch of green onions, sliced into 2 inch pieces (separate whites from greens)

2 eggs

lime wedges

a small handful of cashews

coconut oil

for the sauce:

2 T. sesame oil

3 T. olive oil

1 T. chili garlic sauce (made by Huy Fong Foods available at grocery store)

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 T. lime or more to taste

you may want to double this sauce if you want more intense flavor

What you do:

Start off by making a simple omelet from the eggs and shred it into thin strips. Next, heat a large saute pan with coconut oil. Add in all the veggies except for the onion greens. Saute quickly at high heat until veggies are crisp/tender. Once the veggies are done add the onion greens, shrimp and sauce and stir until shrimp are heated through. Not too long now... you want shrimp not rubber.

Place into shallow serving bowls and top with a few cashews and additional lime wedges. If you want to get all crazy you can chop some cilantro and add it over the top. It's a great flavor... I just didn't have any. This is a great dish that is Pad Thai-esque. The cabbage turns out to be quite noodlie and I can breath easy knowing that my craving is satisfied without the empty carbs, sodium explosion and sugar rush. I hope you like this as much as I do.

Enjoy!

Paleo can make you fat -- Muffin in disguise

2010-03-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. Paleo eating can make you fat. That's a pretty bold statement, you say? Yes, I would agree. But alas my friends, it is true.

It's not what we eat. It's not the lean meats, veggies, nuts and seeds and fruit. It's not the prescribed exercise that goes along with it. If we examine the way the caveman ate, there is virtually no way he could have gotten fat. It's how we eat today. What has happened is that we have taken modern eating into consideration and thrown portion size out the window. There is a misnomer that goes along with "unweighed and unmeasured" paleo eating. And that is the idea that we can eat all day long like gluttons and we will come out on the other side unscathed.

I will concede to the fact that it is very hard to overeat protein. It's even hard to overeat vegetables. It's a little easier to overeat fruit and incredibly easy to overeat nuts and dried fruit. Now try this one on for size...

I just made the most delicious muffins on the planet. They come from a website called www.paleoplan.com. This website is actually genius. They figure all of it out for you for a fee. There are preplanned menus, shopping lists, recipes, you name it, it's in there. What a great idea! I can think of nothing easier in the world than logging on and pressing a button and having my meals for an entire week or more planned complete with shopping list. I don't know how any of the other meals taste, but these muffins are pure heaven.

So let's examine the ingredients of said muffins. There's almond flour, bananas, dates, coconut oil, walnuts, spices, eggs, carrot, etc. All the ingredients qualify as paleo. All of the ingredients are healthy and nutritious. There's another common denominator here: All of the ingredients (except the carrot) are highly caloric. I don't know how many actual calories these muffins have in them but I can imagine it's off the charts. And then it gets even better. I dare you to make these and then just eat one. It's impossible. They are so good they take your breath away at first bite. I have to admit, I knew this going in because I had a bite of my friend Marc's at sectionals and they have been on my mind ever since. I broke down and made them this morning. I inhaled two of them in less than 90 seconds. When I get the courage to re-enter the kitchen I'm going to bag them up and bury them in the backyard. Talk about dangerous!

So what's my point in all this? Just because something is made with paleo ingredients and it beats it's conventional counterpart (the mega-muffin or bagel) in nutrition and quality does not give us the right to eat it with abandon. We have to use common sense and know our calorie contents.

A long while back I posted about Taco Bell and how they are duping us into believing you can have a lean body by eating their "diet" menu. The girl on the commercial had cut her calories down to 1200 per day. My argument was that anyone could loose weight on that little amount of calories (but, ooohhhh the rebound. Get ready to gain it all back plus some). The inverse is true of paleo eating. If we don't stay conscious while we are shoveling food in, even if it is paleo, we will gain weight.

So here is my plea. To be successful on paleo, you don't have to weigh and measure. But you DO have to be conscious. Just because the ingredients are paleo does not give us the right to eat unlimited quantities of food. If you want to make these muffins, go for it. Like I said, they are divine. But have one as an occasional treat. Try to pair it with some protein. I guarantee if you eat these day after day, they will blunt your results.

That's my rant for the day! Now, off to CrossFit

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

2010-03-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today was crazy. Wait... I think I say that every day. For now, I will blame the time change because it seems that the extra hour we were robbed of is growing exponentially, but only in my home. Perhaps the hour of loss is directly related to the pile of laundry that magically appeared right in front of the washing machine. It must have been some type of time warp where my family changed their clothing 400 times. Could I have been in a coma? I just did laundry!!! How does this keep happening? It doesn't help that my washing machine is in my kitchen. It's not even behind a door. It's right there... staring at me... taunting me. It's laughing at my neurotic nuance called task completion, knowing that I will never be done with laundry until I take my last breath. It knows it has won. I bow my head in defeat and feed the hungry beast for the fourth time today.

I owe this blog to my washing machine. I owe this blog to my dirty dishes, my piles of paper, my dust bunnies, dog hair and bath tub ring. I owe this blog to my two beautiful twin boys who keep me running from sun up to sun down and quite often from sun down to sun up. If it weren't for all of the aforementioned I would have a leisurely life. I could spend hours in the kitchen creating divine four course meals set on beautiful china. And you wouldn't be the least bit interested, would you.

You see, I understand that you have no time just like I have no time and that is why I do what I do. So let's get in the kitchen and make some super yummy chicken cutlets. It was originally going to be fried chicken but it just didn't turn out that way. When things go south in my kitchen, I don't get to upset about it. I just turn the dish into something else. This time it turned out to be a delicious bonus. I hope you enjoy it!

What you'll need:

free range chicken breasts

1 small coconut yogurt plain flavor

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups almond meal

2 T Italian seasoning

2 T parsley

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes (omit for the kiddies)

ice and water

coconut oil

What you do:

Get out one deep bowl and two shallow bowls. Put ice and water in the deep bowl. In the second bowl mix your yogurt and three crushed garlic cloves together. In the third bowl mix the almond meal with the next five ingredients. Now take your chicken and soak it in the ice water for ten minutes. Really cold chicken holds the breading better. Next take the chicken out and pat dry. Butterfly the breasts and pound the thick part of the breast down so they are even and thin. Coat the breast with yogurt and then the almond mixture.

Get your pan hot with the coconut oil and fry up these little guys. They only take a couple of minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel if necessary.

There you have it! No, it's not fried chicken... I have to re-engineer that one. But it is all kinds of yummy. The yogurt keeps the chicken moist and gives a hint of tang while the spices wake up the senses. Just in time too... I think I heard the washer buzz.

Enjoy!

Braciole at lightening speed

2010-03-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

Braciole... what the heck is that! Well, let me tell you. Braciole (pronounced braw chawl) is an Italian dish of thin beef or veal wrapped around a filling and baked in wine and tomato sauce. Did I get your attention? Sounds great, doesn't it?

The major problem with making this dish is that it takes a small army and all day to prepare it. First of all, that counts me out immediately. Secondly, it sends me back in time... back to where the level of chaos in my house was at an all time low. Back to where I had the time to spend reading different recipes and not having a matchbox car driven by two year old fingers all over the pages. No one was screaming. There were no battles for attention. No snacks, no runny noses, no songs about going potty... just me and my cookbook...

But there were also no wide eyed smiles, no tugging on my pant leg, no chubby bodies with little dents in the wrists and knees. There were no tiny cuddles and squeals of delight. I must admit, sometimes I long for the days of me and my cookbook, but I'll take the latter any day. Being a new mother (again) is the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done.

So in the best interest of my children, I have taken the traditional braciole recipe and cut the prep and cooking time considerably. The essence of the recipe is still there. The intense manual labor is not. With a few short cuts, you'll have an incredible, Italian delight on your table in about 30 minutes.

What you'll need:

1 piece of grass fed sirloin tip steak per serving

2 cloves garlic, minced

pine nuts

ground black pepper

1 red bell pepper (or you can buy roasted red peppers in the jar)

1 bag of spinach

strips of sun dried tomato in olive oil

1 cup of red wine

1 large can crushed tomato

1 T. Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

What you do:

Start by roasting your red pepper on the open flame of your stove. Lay the pepper directly on the flame and wait for the skin to blister and turn black. Turn it until all sides are blackened and the pepper is soft. Put the blackened pepper in a paper sack and close it tightly. Remember to make sure your pepper is not on fire before placing it in the bag... it's kind of hard to explain yourself out of that one. Let the pepper sit in the bag for 10 minutes. Rip open the bag and slide your hand over the surface of the pepper to peel the blackened skin off. Cut off the top and bottom ends of the pepper, slice it open and cut out the seed pod. Go ahead... take a little bite. This glorious flavor is what a freshly roasted red pepper tastes like. Admit it, it's heaven.

Next you'll want to pound the steaks to about 1/4" thickness. Lay out a piece of flattened steak. Put some pepper on it. Divide the minced garlic up evenly among the steaks and press the garlic into the steak. Sprinkle a few pine nuts over the steak and press them into the meat. Now lay a slice of that glorious roasted pepper over the steak. Things are getting interesting, aren't they. Next goes a small handful of spinach followed by a few strips of sun dried tomato. Roll that baby up the best you can and secure it with toothpicks.

Get a heavy skillet hot with olive oil and brown the rolled meat on all sides quickly. Remove the meat to a plate. Next put in your cup of wine. Notice the wine bottle has about three more cups in it. What ever will you do with all that luscious wine? Resist the urge to conceal it in a brown paper bag while slumping down in your kitchen like a derelict. It will go really well with the dinner when it's done. Just another 30 minutes... you can do it. Reduce the wine on high heat until about 1/2 a cup remains. Add the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic and onion powders. Give it a stir. You may want to hold on to the side of the stove before smelling this broth. It's quite possible you will loose consciousness from the awe-inspiring aroma.

Once you have your broth mixed together place the meat back in the pan and spoon some broth over the meat. Cover it and turn the flame down low. Leave it for ten minutes and then turn the meat over. Baste it, cover it, and let it go another ten minutes.

Serve this beautiful dish with a nice green veggie and don't forget the wine. You wouldn't want it to go to waste now, would you?

Enjoy!

Burgers the Yummy Way... and a recipe contest!

2010-03-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

Warning: This picture was meant to make you laugh. Do not attempt. Results ARE typical.

Specialty hamburgers are sooooo much better than throwing a plain old hunk of meet on the grill. You can put almost anything in a burger to make it better. I make up a bunch of burgers for my lunches and eat them several days a week. That way I am always prepared... okay, that's a bold faced lie. The truth is I am never prepared. I struggle everyday with a schedule that is way to full for one woman. I am a hamster on the wheel of life. It seems like every day I am faced with a snake in my hamster cage, trying to devour my hamster self. Some days it's a little Garter snake, while others may as well be an Anaconda. But since Anaconda's usually eat Water Buffalo, I figure I am too scrawny to be too much of a meal. So I may hide my head for a moment but ultimately I come out of my hamster hiding, eyes bulging and ready to face what the Universe has to offer.

So the latest Primal Mama news is that both of our twins have to have their tonsils out and tubes put in their ears. They haven't been well for more than a week since November. We've been put on house arrest by the Pediatrician. Gone are our days of going to Knott's Berry Farm, the bounce house, petting zoo... preschool, you know... all those things that break up the day and keep mom sane. So if anyone out their has an idea for me to help pass the day indoors or in our yard while cut off from society, I would welcome it with open arms. The boys are two-years old but keep in mind they are behind a bit... so nothing too complicated please!

Alright! Back to burgers. Not much in life makes me happier than seeing a huge burger on my plate. Just because you remove the bun does not mean all the burgery goodness is gone. So let's take a walk down the lane of burger possibilities. The following are a couple of choices you can make. Now her comes the big news:

Primal Mama is having a burger recipe contest!

rules:

Starting right now through 10pm pacific time on March 13, post your best burger recipe to the comments section of this post. It can be anything you come up with but must follow the primal rules. So no dairy, no gluten, no grains. I'm not a purist so if you want to use vinegar or soy sauce like I do, that's perfectly fine. Just make sure they are gluten free. The winner will be chosen at random by a secret panel of judges. (Oooohhhh sounds so intriguing) The winning burger recipe will be posted on my FaceBook fan page. The winner will also get a little Primal Mama kitchen gift pack. Items to be determined by.... ME!

Sooo, Here are my best burgers:

Meat loaf burger:

one pound grass fed ground beef

one egg

1/2 small can tomato paste

1 T. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 green onions, sliced into little rounds

1 tsp soy sauce (gluten free)

Guacamole

Mix all ingredients together with your hands and shape into patties. Grill or pan fry and serve with guacamole on top.

Greek Burger:

1/2 pound ground lamb

1/2 pound grass fed beef

2 T. dried mint

1/4 cup pine nuts

4 chopped pepperoncinis (Greek peppers)

1 minced roasted red bell pepper (in the jar or do your own)

1 or 2 fresh cloves of garlic, crushed

one egg

sliced tomato and cucumber to top burger

Dressing:

1 T. tahini (sesame paste, looks like peanut butter available at TJ's or health food stores)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all burger ingredients together and grill or pan fry. Make dressing by whisking all dressing ingredients together. Top the burger with slices of tomato and cucumber. Top with dressing.

These are just two of many variations on the burger. Let's see what you come up with!

Enjoy!

Szechuan Chicken and Veggies

2010-03-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

I don't really know if this is actually "Szechuan" but it sounded like a good title. I couldn't think of anything else mostly due to the fact that I am fairly certain that I have incurred slight brain damage. You see... I have been fighting inflexibility of my joints due too lots of CrossFit and little stretching. I don't recommend it. I've gone from slightly less than Gumby to what feels like an old, arthritic woman. Oh... wait...I am an old, arthritic woman...

So what's an old, arthritic woman to do but try to increase her flexibility with a nice dose of Bikram Yoga. Just in case you are not familiar with Bikram Yoga, it's the type of yoga that is done in 200 degree heat (I exaggerate, but that is what it feels like). The instructor is borderline militant while taking you through 26 different poses that require ultimate control both mentally and physically. You're not allowed to leave the room even if you feel like you are going to black out, have a stroke and crap your pants all at the same time.

I couldn't imagine doing this on my own so I convinced my honey to go with me. I had a small idea of what to expect... he was blind sided. If I had been angry with him Bikram Yoga would have been the perfect revenge. But I wasn't. All I could do was occasionally glance over at him doing his best to wrap his arms around his chest three times while simultaneously standing on one leg in a full squat with the other leg wrapped around his body in the opposite direction. Oh and breathe deeply through his nose only. Are you kidding me? Breathe??? He was a trooper. He not only lasted the entire class, he could actually do most of the poses . I was duly impressed.

In the end we had a good laugh. We talked about mental toughness and breaking barriers in CrossFit. Bikram Yoga is definitely a way to surmount the aforementioned barriers. Remember the saying in CF about the "unknown and unknowable"? Bikram Yoga would be a great way to experience this. After my rave review above, I fully expect everyone to try it. No, I'm not kidding. The feeling of accomplishment is amazing. (Or maybe I'm confusing that with the shear joy that it's over and we survived). You will gain more flexibility, balance and a mental strength that takes you to a new level. Besides, it's just plain good for you. So get out there and give it a whirl... even if you loose a few brain cells the first couple of times.

And now... Szechuan Chicken!

What you'll need:

Free Range Chicken Breasts

5 T. low sodium soy sauce (gluten free)

2 T. rice vinegar (no sugar, no salt)

1 T. sesame oil

1 T. powdered ginger

1 T. Chili Oil (trader joe's)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp garlic powder

one or two red bell peppers

a bunch of green onions

a few slivered almonds

What you do:

Cut the chicken into bite sized chunks. Slice the bell pepper into thick strips and cut the green onions into two inch lengths. Mix the rest of the ingredients into a marinade. Pour the marinade over the chicken and mix it up. Let the chicken soak while you saute the vegetables. Once the veggies are crisp tender add the chicken to the pan. Make sure the pan is hot. You want to cook the chicken quickly.

Taste. If you want extra heat go ahead and add some more red pepper flakes. Plate it and sprinkle a few slivered almonds over the top. This is an easy and oh so spicy dish. Perfect for when you are sure that most of your brain cells have gone missing.

Enjoy!

Italian Beef

2010-03-03T13:13:00.000-08:00

Italian beef is something of an art. It is usually cooked low and slow with lots of spices and peppers and is oh so yummy. It's served on a giant toasted roll with melted mozzarella... ahhh...

You were thinking it, weren't you? I can see the thought bubble above your head right now. "She's actually going to make a recipe where we can have a roll?... and... cheese? Um... that would be... NO! Any one who had that thought should immediately do 25 burpees . You probably just gained 5 pounds for merely thinking about bread!

Truth be told you are trading in a huge toasted roll for the opportunity to add years of quality health to your life. When you look at it like that, the importance of the bread is reduced to a non-issue. The roast is still tangy and delicious. It still falls apart effortlessly. It still melts in your mouth. So stop being a baby. You don't need the roll (or the cheese for that matter).

You can use just about any roast you want but keep in mind that chuck is the fattiest. Sirloin or round work great. If you have 33 additional seconds in your morning you can make this roast. So I say go for it!

What you'll need:

a 3 to 4 pound roast

2 T Italian seasoning

3 cloves crushed garlic

1 jar sliced pepperoncinis - 16oz

1 can low sodium beef broth (gluten free)

What you do:

Get out your old faithful crock pot. Spray the bowl with olive oil so you don't have to scrub it into the next century. Now pay close attention... here comes the tricky part...

Put the roast in. Put the can of broth in. Put the jar of peppers in with the liquid. Sprinkle the roast with Italian seasoning and crushed garlic. Set the crockpot on low and walk away. Whew! That was tough. You'd better go take a nap! Let that sucker cook on low all day. It's very forgiving. You can let it go for up to 15 hours and it will be fine. I cook mine for about 10 hours. If it's easy to shred, it's done.

You can slice it or shred it and serve it right on a plate with your veggie of choice.

And there you have another quick, easy meal for your way too busy life.

Enjoy!

Chili Lime Pork Tenderloin

2010-03-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

Today's idea for chili lime pork is rooted in a recipe that my friend Dan emailed me. I didn't have some of the ingredients it called for so I took what I had in the cupboard and made it my own. The spirit of the recipe is still there but I have drastically reduced the honey and added a few of my own spices. You can do this too. Don't have exactly what the recipe calls for? Improvise!

This recipe stays true to the theme of "get in, get it going, and get out fast!" Who has time for anything more than that especially on a Monday.

What you'll need:

Pork Tenderloin (I used 2 1/2 pounds)

Marinade:

3 T. honey

2T. Chili powder

Juice of one lime

Zest of one lime

1/2 tsp garlic powder

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 425. In a small bowl mix the marinade ingredients. Remove the pork from its package and trim off the visible fat and silver skin. Get out your roasting pan and line it with foil. That is, unless you like to spend your highly coveted free time scrubbing off baked on honey. Plop your tenderloin in the pan and pour the marinade over it. Rub it all over. No... you should not take a bite already even though it looks fantastic and smells even better. Raw pork is no bueno.

Bake the tenderloin for about 20 minutes per pound. I like brush it with the marinade a couple of times during the cooking process. I have no idea if brushing it does anything but it helps with the guilt from this recipe being so easy. So brush away!

Get out a plate and a length of aluminum foil. When the pork comes out, transfer it to the foil and wrap it up tightly in the foil while simultaneously using your ninja-like reflexes to block your family from trying to taste it. Let the pork rest in the foil for about 10 minutes to reabsorb all its juices. Guard it well. It's not safe. Nobody touches it until it's done resting... capiche?

After the pork nap is done, slice it in one inch thicknesses and serve with some veggies.

** Just a side note: If you want to throw this together in the morning and let it marinade in a bag in the fridge, it's even better. I was on emergency dinner mode when I put this one together.

Enjoy!

Amazing Short Ribs

2010-02-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

I still love comfort food so I'm going to go out on a limb here. Short ribs can be very fatty, but if you are patient, and you order them from a grass fed cattle farmer they are simply heavenly. You see, the fat in short ribs from a grass fed cow is the fat that you need in your diet. The fat from a grain fed cow is... well... deadly. So since my goal is to help all of you have long and healthy lives, I don't want to hear that you've made this recipe with some nasty, grain fed, sickly, obese cow. That's just no bueno.

This dish is another one that you can smell from across the street. It has bold and rich flavor. So don't be surprised if the neighbors come out of the woodwork, moving toward your house in zombie like fashion trying to steal your dinner and eat your brains. (Really, sometimes I think I've actually lost it). But really, you should make a few more than you think you will need. If you cook this... they will come.

What you'll need:

4 pounds of short ribs

almond flour for dusting

1 can beef broth 8 oz (low sodium, gluten free)

2 cans tomato sauce 8 oz (low sodium)

1 tsp horseradish (optional but worth it)

1/2 onion, minced

2 cloves of crushed garlic

olive oil/avocado oil/coconut oil

What you do:

Get out your heavy and deep skillet. Get it hot with the oil of your choice. Cut the short ribs into individual pieces and dust with a little almond flour. Brown them in the oil on all sides. Drain the pan of any excess fat. They look yummy already, don't they.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil lower the heat and cover the pan. Simmer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours until meat is tender and falling off the bone. In the mean time, if you haven't fainted from the fantastic aroma coming from the pan, you can bake a sweet potato and mash it (or steam some veggies if you are in weight loss mode).

So there it is. Comfort food made paleo friendly. To plate this little beauty make a little mountain of sweet potato or steamed veggies and put your short rib on top. It makes a pretty presentation and I am all about presentation. When I go out to eat I study the way the chef plates my food and I try to copy it at home. I promise pretty food tastes better!

Enjoy!

Salsa Chicken

2010-02-22T11:37:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's Monday. The weekend flew by. Saturday and tonight were our kickoff meetings at CrossFit 714 about starting the paleo challenge. We had a great turnout! I am so excited to get this thing underway.

I am committed to putting up as many easy recipes that are paleo friendly as I possibly can. I want everyone to have the same success that my family has had. We have experienced all that paleo has to offer. We have more strength, more energy, clearer skin, less body fat, and we are more healthy than we have ever been. How on Earth would we be able to handle twin toddler tornadoes at nearly forty years old if it wasn't for our paleo diet! My husband's stomach issues left right around the same time his little spare tire was replaced by six-pack abs thanks to paleo. Many of you know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am happy to report that I take no medications what so ever. Paleo eating is not "snake oil". I still have a few bad days mixed in with all the good. However, I firmly believe eliminating grain from my diet plays a pinnacle role in keeping my joints flexible and has halted my disease progression.

With that said, I wanted to take one more moment of your time to say thank you so much for supporting me and loving my recipes. My goal continues to be to provide you with quick and easy meals that get you in and out of the kitchen so you can get back to your busy lives. My family has found that if we eat meals packed with flavor, we don't feel deprived. For us, big flavor is the most important part of making it easy to stick to the paleo way of life.

And so, it is now time to bring you... wait for it... SALSA CHICKEN!

What you'll need:

Salsa

Chicken

(really... that's it???)

What you do:

Get out your crock pot. Spray it with a little olive oil so you don't have to spend the evening scrubbing. Put in your chicken breasts. Put the salsa over the top. Cover and cook on low about 6 hours.

I know you are thinking, "Am I missing something here?" The answer is a resounding no... no you're not. Sometimes the simplest things taste the best and sometimes the simplest things are so simple, we don't think to make them.

What you do with the chicken when you are done is up to you. Taco salad? Lettuce wraps? Eat it plain? What about stuffing it into a pepper? The sky is the limit!

A key point to remember is that not all salsas are created equal. I personally like Santa Barbara Salsa in the Roasted Garlic flavor. It's all natural and gluten free (yes, they put gluten in salsa as a thickener and filler... can you believe that sh*%.) You can pronounce everything on the Santa Barbara Salsa ingredient list which is always a plus.

Let me know what you make with your salsa chicken!

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

2010-02-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

Traditional cabbage rolls are supposed to take forever to make. Some recipes call for hours of slave like preparation and two days of cooking. Those were the cabbage rolls of my Russian grandmother's era. I'm not so sure why they need massive amounts of preparation. They taste just as good to me the "quick" way. I think it's in Russian women's blood to do everything the hard way. I constantly fight against this in my genes. But when it comes to cooking, I refuse to spend hours on something that should take minutes to accomplish. Oh, and by the way, these are not the traditional version anyway. I have made them paleo friendly and changed up the ingredients.

You do need a bit of time for the preparation so keep in mind that this is not a 15 minute recipe. It is best reserved for the weekend or a time when you aren't rushed and out of breath which for me is precisely two times per year.

When you are done your efforts will be rewarded in that you will have a wonderful, flavorful and joyous dinner where everyone at the table will be singing your praises. Who wouldn't want that!

What you'll need:

A green cabbage

1lb grass fed ground beef

1T Italian seasoning

1tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup of onion, grated

1 egg

for the sauce:

1 8oz can low salt tomato sauce

1/2 can of tomato paste

1T Dijon mustard

1/2 a lemon, squeezed

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Put the cabbage in a large pot and cover it with water. Boil the cabbage until the leaves are soft and easily removed. This takes about 15 minutes from the boiling point. I promise the nasty boiling cabbage smell is temporary. While the cabbage boils take your meat, spices, onion and egg and mix them up in a bowl. You know the rule: mix with your hands not a spoon. When the cabbage is soft, peel the leaves off one by one and put them on a plate to drain and cool. While they cool mix up the sauce in a separate bowl. Ok, so you're about 25 minutes in. Not bad considering you could have been toiling for about eight hours by now. On what, I'm not quite sure but I promise that tradition says you must spend at least this amount of time before you get the cabbage rolls in the oven. Maybe my grandmother was secretly making vodka while making the rolls and that is what was taking so long.

So now you're ready for the assembly. If you're really into it you can put on a house coat, apron and scarf. Now you look like my Russian grandmother. It's good karma... your rolls will taste better if you do. Make sure you send me a picture. Line the bottom of a baking dish with some of the smaller cabbage leaves. Take a cabbage leaf and hold it in your hand. Trim the thickness of the stem down so it's easier to roll. Plop some of the meat mixture on the leaf and roll the leaf up tucking the sides of it in so the meat is completely covered. If the leaf is too big you can cut the excess off. Put it in the baking dish. Repeat until all the meat is used. Pour the tomato sauce on top of the rolls and cover the dish with foil. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on how big you made your rolls. This recipe makes between seven and ten rolls. Double up if you have a larger family.

That's all there is to it. No days of labor needed!

Enjoy!

Chicken Puntanesca

2010-02-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the recipe that proves we can live without pasta! It is totally and completely possible and quite yummy to boot. Just make a quick sauce and put it over chicken (or steak) instead of noodles. This is another one of those blink and it's done dishes. I'm in love with those, especially on nights like this. I knew that I was going to make chicken "something". I had made about four runs at the kitchen to try to make dinner but the more I tried, the more my efforts were thwarted.

One of my sons is nonverbal. His way of communicating is to look at me, take me by the hand, and lead me to what he wants. Trust me, we are celebrating that he is doing this... it's a huge accomplishment. So tonight was one of those nights where every time I tried to make dinner he would come in and take me by the hand and off we'd go. We played on the trampoline, I pushed him on the swing, we had a wrestling match. All the while dinner was falling further and further behind, but you know, who really cares when you've got the most important part of your life right in front of you trying like heck to communicate. He is awesome and I love him dearly. So my point is the later it got, the less time I had to come up with something. The idea of a beautiful bounty soon turned into whatever I could make that was fast and simple.

I love strong flavors so consider yourself warned. This one is not for sissies. The flavor is as intense as it is delicious. This is true paleo cooking at it's finest. So good, you will never know that it's healthy. And it's true Primal Mama cooking. So fast, dinner is on the table in 15 minutes.

Feel free to adjust the amounts of ingredients to your liking. I hope you love it!

What you'll need:

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

10 kalamata olives, rough chopped

1 large (or 2 small) cans diced tomato, low salt!

1 T. capers, rinse them off to get some of the salt off

chicken breasts

What you do:

Start by cutting through the chicken breast to make two thin pieces out of one breast. Pound the thicker end slightly to form a chicken cutlet. Throw a little cracked pepper on both sides. Saute the chicken on the stove top in a little olive oil until cooked through and remove to a plate. Using the same pan, add a little more olive oil if necessary and throw in your garlic and olives. Give that a good stir for about a minute and be careful not to burn the garlic. Add in the can(s) of tomatoes and mix. Get the flame going on high and stir until the tomato liquid is absorbed and you are left with a thick tomato sauce. Toss in the capers. The smell of this dish alone will cause you to fall in love immediately. Plate the chicken and pour the sauce on top. You have just made a wonderful meal in 15 minutes flat. No drive thru, no chicken nuggets, no "cream of god knows what" soup needed! And most of all... no pasta!

Enjoy!

Ginger Chicken -- emergency dinner

2010-02-16T12:41:00.000-08:00

As you probably know by now an emergency dinner, according to my definition, requires no skill, almost no effort, and no time at all to get on the table. What this recipe lacks for in preparation certainly is made up in flavor. If you have a plate and can stack things on top of each other, you can make this.

This recipe was realized when I was out for lunch with my hubby and we went to Fitness Cafe in Brea. We had to laugh at the "fitness" part of it. The menu was full of pasta dishes, whole wheat bun sandwiches, spinach tortilla this and that, and the every popular... low fat cheese. Now if you operate in mainstream America these choices are certainly better than McDonalds... but "Fitness"? I'm not so sure about that.

Hubby ended up having a $15.00 steak salad which was just that. Some romaine lettuce with a big ol' slab of steak on the top a la boring! Not so much as a tomato wedge or a slice of cucumber to be found. The waitress raved about the "Tuscan dressing". I'm sure it had sugar in it.

After scouring the menu for what felt like an eternity I decided to have this wrap... unwrapped. I didn't need to eat the white flour and lard laden tortilla even if it was colored green with a little spinach juice to try to throw me off. Don't fool yourselves. Just because the tortilla is the color of a vegetable does not mean it's equal to a vegetable.

The down side was when I was done with this little number I was still starving. I added a side salad with olive oil and lemon wedges for the dressing and a side of fruit. Now that was perfect.

It really was quite tasty and would make the perfect meal in a super hurry. So here it is, complements of Fitness Cafe.

What you'll need:

Cooked chicken breast (I like Trader Joe's sliced chicken breast)

1 purple onion

pickled ginger (Asian aisle at the market or available at most health food markets)

1 avocado

What you do:

Take a little olive oil and heat it in a pan. Slice your onion super thin and saute it until it's soft. Take a plate out and put some chicken on it. Put the onion over the top of the chicken. Put the pickled ginger on top of the onion. Put the avocado on top of the ginger. EAT.

That is it for this tasty little number.

Enjoy!

Chile Relleno the Primal Way

2010-02-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

I am a Southern California native and Mexican food is in my blood. Since I've been eating the paleo way, I've missed many of the dishes that I used to enjoy. One of my favorites was Enchiladas. They are so gooey and cheesy and yummy. The down side is that they are really carby and unhealthy. So needless to say, I've given them up. Another Mexican dish that I've given up is Chili Relleno. I've really only had it a couple of times but I really enjoyed it when I did. Who wouldn't love a giant chili stuffed with a huge hunk of cheese, battered and deep fried in lard? It goes down so good until you wake up one day with blocked coronary arteries and buns the size of Texas and wonder how it happened. I'm here to tell you, it was the Chili Relleno.

A couple of days ago I started to think, "What if I could take the healthy parts of both of those dishes and combine them to make something totally new?" I love Anaheim Chilies and I love chicken with sauteed onions and I love red sauce... Alright! I think I'm on to something. And so the Primal Chili Relleno was born.

As a side note, I have to say that this recipe turned out so good that my hubby and I stood over it at the stove and inhaled the entire pan. We didn't sit down, we didn't get a napkin, we even shared utensils because neither one of us wanted to break away from the heavenly flavor. I may make this again tomorrow.

What you'll need for 4 Chili Rellenos:

4 fresh Anaheim Chilies

2 eggs

1 rotisserie chicken from the market

1 big can enchilada sauce **Watch out** read the labels! Enchilada sauce can have really nasty ingredients. I like El Pato brand. Nothin' in there except tomatoes and seasoning.

1 onion

4 slices of jalapeno pepper from the jar

a brown paper bag

Guacamole (premade is easier!)

What you do:

First you want to fire roast your Chilies. Hopefully, you have a gas flame stove. If you have electric you are going to need to buy the chilies ready to go in a can. Look for whole Anaheim Chilies. You may be able to roast your chilies under the broiler, although I have never tried that. Ok, so, get the burner going and put your chili right on top of the flame and let it sit there. You want the skin to blister and turn black. Get it good on all sides using tongs. When all the skin is blackened put the chili inside the brown bag and close the bag up tight. Listen up! Make sure that the chili is not on fire when you put it in the bag! The bag will catch fire and you will have to play fireman with that little spray thingie you have attached to your sink. Do not ask me how I know this! Follow with the remainder of the chilies. Let them sit in the bag for 10 minutes. Rip open the bag and peel off the skin on all your chilies. You should have a very soft, skinless chili now. Cut down the chili vertically and take out the seeds and veins. You may have to use a knife to cut the seed pod out. Leave the chili intact with just a slit going down the center of it like a little pocket.

Now here's the part where you should either get out your electric mixer or pray that CrossFit has been good to you and your arm strength. It's called whipping egg whites for time. Separate your egg whites and yolks. In a large bowl start whisking your egg whites until they are stiff. Whisk like your life depended on it. Those egg whites aren't going to get all fluffy by themselves! Get to it! Once they look like merangue you can gently fold in one of the egg yolks. Your mixture should still look quite fluffy and airy.

Put a few tablespoons of olive oil in a small pan and get it hot. Dip the chili in the egg "batter" and fry the chili in the olive oil on each side just until the egg is cooked and browned. It only takes a few seconds per side. Drain the chilies on paper towels.

Chop and saute your onion using the same pan that you cooked the chilies in until soft. While the onion is cooking take about 2 cups of chicken meat off the bone and chop it up. Mix the onion with the chicken in a bowl. Mince up about 4 slices of jalapeno (I use the ones in the jar already sliced) and add it to the chicken. Mix in enough enchilada sauce to coat the chicken mixture nicely. Now spoon the chicken mixture into the chilies and put them in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until everything is heated through.

To serve, pour some enchilada sauce on an empty plate and place the stuffed chili on top of the sauce. Spoon some guacamole on the side of the plate. Sprinkle with oregano. Take a bite. Cry tears of joy because nothing on this Earth should taste this good.

Enjoy!

Sausage and Peppers - Emergency Dinner

2010-02-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

I'm almost embarrassed to give you this next recipe. Actually, the term "recipe" doesn't even apply here. I had one of those days yesterday. You know, the ones where you start running a few minutes late and before you know it, it's snowballed into a disaster complete with exploding laundry baskets and piles of crap everywhere. There's no food in the fridge, the dog is laying in the middle of the unmade bed with muddy paws and there is an unknown substance stuck in your sons hair? Yeah... I have those a couple of times per week. It's inevitable. With twins in multiple therapies, my own health to consider, construction going on at our house and a multitude of other obstacles, I just threw this one together... literally. I knew it would be okay though. The more my recipe blog grows, the more I hear from women (and the occasional man) that suffer the same plight. I know that we are all in this together. So file this one under emergency dinners. A Primal Mama emergency dinner consists of 5 ingredients or less and the most minimal effort possible. Getting in the car and driving thru would be a monumental task compared to this. So don't even think about it.

What you'll need:

2 onions: one white, one purple

3 bell peppers, color of your choice

2 jars of Gluten Free Marinara Sauce, 3 grams of sugar or less

(I use Trader Joe's Organic Marinara)

enough Italian Turkey Sausage links to feed your family

hot, mild or a combo of both

Italian seasoning

Your trusty crockpot

What you do:

Chop the onion and bell peppers in large chunks. You want them large because you don't want them to disintegrate from the long cooking process. Put those in the crockpot. Put your sausage on top of the veggies. Open your jars of sauce. Poor them over the top. Set the crockpot for low if you do this in the morning or high for a max of 3 hours. Serve it in a shallow bowl with a little Italian seasoning over the top for color. And that is the whole recipe. Congratulations! We've survived another day!

Enjoy

Lemon Chicken on Cauliflower Mash

2010-02-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this look fancy? It has the look of a gourmet meal. It takes a little more work than most of my recipes but it's worth the time. The key is in the presentation. Do you have someone to wow? This would be your dish. I love to make dinners like this. People eat with their eyes first and this dish says, "Marvel at my creator because I taste great!", even before they take the first bite. I've actually seen a dish like this at a local restaurant for about $26.00.

You can make this dish with bone-in chicken or with boneless breast or thigh. It's really up to your preference. The cauliflower mash is super simple and not bland at all with the addition of caramelized onion and garlic powder. You may even consider making this for Valentine's Day dinner in lieu of an overpriced and super-rushed, crowded and noisy meal where they usher you in and out in an hour so they can seat their next group of victims... I mean, patrons. Don't gasp at me! It's just a suggestion.

So let's get to makin' some chicken!

What you'll need:

For the chicken:

Chicken pieces of your choice

1/3 cup olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of parlsey

2 lemons

a ziplock bag

For the Cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower

chicken broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1 white onion

1 tsp garlic powder

A bag of spinach

A garlic clove

an additional lemon for the sauce

pepper

What you do:

Wake up way too early in the morning. Stumble to the kitchen and step down full force on the GI Joe that was left strategically in the middle of the kitchen floor. Wish you could scream in pain but hold it inside. The twins are still sleeping and you just...need... five... more... minutes...of...peace. Hop to the coffee pot holding the injured foot in your hand while trying not to trip over your robe tie and fire that sucker up. Catch your reflection in the window, recoil, and ask yourself when you turned into the Bride of Frankenstein.

Meander in a half fog over to the fridge and take out your ingredients to get the chicken marinating. Suck down half a pot of coffee. Grab your ziplock and put in the olive oil. Chop up the garlic and throw that in there too. Tear the stems off the parsley and rough chop it. Get that in the bag. Half the two lemons and squeeze the juice in the bag. Throw the whole lemon rind in the bag too. Put in your chicken and seal the bag. The key word here is SEAL. Although you may be in a twin induced coma, you are going to want to seal the bag so when you shake it marinade doesn't slosh all over you causing the opposite sex to become suddenly intrigued (and quite hungry) with your new scent. Get the chicken in the fridge. That's it for the morning. You can go about your day now.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Put a little olive oil in a pan, get it hot, and add the sliced onion. Stir it around a bit. Cook it a couple of minutes and then turn the heat down low. Let the onion cook slowly. This pulls the sugar out of the onion creating the caramelization. The onion is done when it's soft and shiny and a deep caramel color. Smell the sweetness... mmm... sooo good. Remove the onion from the pan and chop it up. While the onion is cooking, cut the cauliflower into chunks and steam it for about 7 minutes until it's slightly soft. Put it in the food processor with a tsp of olive oil and a little pepper. Pulse to desired consistency adding chicken broth as necessary for smoothness. Transfer the cauliflower mash to a bowl and gently stir in onion and garlic powder.

There are two ways to cook the chicken. If you are using boneless breasts, I like to butterfly them and saute them in the pan with olive oil. When the chicken is cooked through remove it to a plate add about 1cup of chicken broth and another lemon squeezed to the pan. Boil the broth with lemon and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the sauce by half.

If you are using bone-in chicken like in the picture, you can bake it at 350 for about 45 minutes or until chicken in no longer pink inside. If you want to get fancy you can trim the wing so just the drumette remains. Use the pan drippings as sauce with an additional squeeze of lemon.

If you want to get all crazy you can saute some spinach in olive oil with a little chopped garlic for a side. It adds a great pop of color.

And now for the piece de la resistance! Get a shallow bowl and put your cauliflower mash on the bottom like a little mountain. Oh yeah, that's lookin' good! Add the chicken on top, at an angle you're amazing, and a little dab of spinach on the side... such talent! Top with a little pan sauce. Bobby Flay could not have done this one any better.

Not So Sweet Potato

2010-02-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

There are very few foods in this world that I dislike. Some of them just happen to be foods that I should be eating like eggs. Their taste, their smell, their texture... it's like a trifecta of grossness. But I've challenged myself and created recipes made of eggs that I can actually enjoy. Hey, put enough sausage and veggies in and you can hardly tell there's any egg in there, right?

Right now you're thinking, "Hey, isn't this a sweet potato recipe?" Well, yes it is. But I used the egg example to get you on board with what's really unappetizing to me. The second most blech thing on the planet to me is sweet potato made all whipped up with cinnamon and maple, a la Thanksgiving... it's gives me shivers just thinking about it. But sweet potatoes are incredibly nutritious and provide the right amount of carbs for a post workout meal (as long as you don't eat a truck load of them). If Robb Wolf says eat a sweet potato then, hey, I'm going to find a way to make them taste good. Just in case you're wondering, if Robb Wolf said jump off a building... yes, I would do it. If you don't know who Robb Wolf is, take a moment and go under my favorite links and get to know him. He is my Mick Jagger.

Where were we? Ah, yes, sweet potato. So I was saying that I don't like my sweet potato sweet. What I do love is sweet potato fries. Don't get all bleary eyed and smiley... were not going there! Sweet potato fries are... well... fried; and that's no good. So let's make a version of sweet potato fries and promise ourselves that we will use PORTION CONTROL. Here we go:

What you'll need:

enough sweet potatoes to serve 1/2 to each person

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

a big ziplock bag

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 400. Start by peeling all the sweet potatoes. I've said it before and I will say it again: Children are a wonderful source of kitchen labor. If they can play World of Warcraft, they can peel a sweet potato. Any child 48 inches or under should be participating. Unless, of course, you're my friend, Rose. In that case go to the garage and get your ladder out so you can reach your seven foot 19 inch son's ear to bend it over and drag him to the kitchen. Now cut the sweet potatoes up into fri-like chunks. Not too big, and try to keep them even in size as much as possible.

Open the ziplock and pour in your olive oil, onion flakes, and garlic. Put the cut sweet potato in and close the bag. Give the bag a squish and a twist to coat all the sweet potato. Pour out the contents of the bag onto a cookie sheet. Since you won't be using it for cookies, this is a great alternative. Put them in the oven for about 30 minutes. Check on them often and stir when needed. Cooking time may vary due to the size of your sweet potato chunks. I keep mine in until they get a little crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Don't worry if you get a few black edges on them. That's just the sugar in the potato cooking.

The hardest thing about these is to refrain from eating the whole pan. You think I'm kidding...

Remember that the ideal post workout portion would be HALF a sweet potato... good luck with that!

Enjoy!

Sunday Frittata

2010-02-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

Frittatas are fun to make. They are so simple but they look like you really slaved away. You can also put just about anything in a frittata that sounds good which is why it is a perfect Sunday breakfast meal for me. I can get something on the table that looks amazing while cleaning out the dregs of the fridge and preparing to shop for the week once again.

So today I've got some spinach, an onion, a link of sweet Italian sausage, some basil, a red bell pepper and half a tomato. Easy enough! That's really all there is to it. Open the fridge. What do you have in there? Bacon? That works... Salami? For sure... Turkey? That'll do! You get my drift. Add in a few veggies and you have something hearty and yummy that's all your own.

What you'll need:

One or two links of Italian sausage (or meat of your choice)

1/4 cup of chopped basil

1/2 a chopped red pepper

1/2 a large tomato, guts removed and chopped (otherwise the tomato makes the frittata to wet)

a handful or two of spinach

one small onion, chopped

a 12 inch non-stick skillet

What you do:

Preheat your oven's broiler. Beat 8 eggs in a bowl with 1 tsp of water and set aside. Start by cooking your meat if it's raw. In my case, I will start by removing the casing from my sausage and browning it so it looks like ground beef. When that is done remove it to a plate. Put a little olive oil in the pan and saute the onion, red bell pepper and tomato until soft. Add in the basil and spinach and saute until it cooks down. Turn the heat down to medium low.

Pour your eggs over the meat and veggies and start moving them around the pan like you are making scrambled eggs. When the eggs start to set slightly spread them evenly about the pan and let them cook through on the bottom. No more stirring. Watch you flame. You may need to turn it down. You want the frittata to cook almost all the way through. When you are at the point that you have it almost cooked through but it's still liquid at the top take the pan off the flame and put it under the broiler for about 2 - 4 minutes. Watch it carefully! You want a frittata, not a hockey puck.

When it's done you can remove it whole from the pan and place it on a cutting board. Put some cut fruit along side it and serve it at the table right on the cutting board. Make sure everyone is sitting down when you bring out your masterpiece. You can cut it and serve it at the table for effect, wowing everyone around you. If your family is not paying attention or doesn't give you the response you deserve, I give you permission to channel my husband's grandmother and give each member an Italian backhand. That should shape them up!

Enjoy!

Sesame Seared Ahi Salad

2010-02-05T08:46:00.000-08:00

Before I start, you must know that I nearly risked my life to offer a seafood recipe. My marriage contract clearly states a few no, no's and one of them is "no seafood". None. As a matter of fact, I can't even make it for myself because the smell sends hubby over the edge and into fits of terror and flashbacks from traditional Italian Christmas Eve's past. In case you're not familiar, traditional Italian Christmas Eve is a feast of about 900 kinds of fish and other sea food. Absolutely no meat of any kind. That is, until they bring out tables of it at 12:01am Christmas day. If you're not to keen on fish to begin with, I'm sure this can be quite traumatizing. I've tried all along to respect this wish, but I think it's time to bring out this recipe. It's worth the risk.

This is the easiest fish recipe out there. I've had it at several restaurants with a side of massive price tag. It's really too bad that they charge so much. It's a couple of ingredients and about three minutes of work. The number one thing you have to do is buy your Ahi carefully. Personally, I will buy my Ahi at Bristol Farms or Whole Foods. If you are a fish eater, you will know where to buy it. If you are new to buying fish I would take the time to call the store and ask what day they get their fresh catch in. The last word of advice is to buy "sushi grade" That way you know you are getting the best. You only need a small portion for each person you are feeding so it shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg.

What you'll need:

Sushi grade Ahi steaks (think smallish)

sesame seeds

black sesame seeds

red pepper flakes

bag o' salad greens (the one that looks like weeds)

olive oil

For the dressing:

2/3 cup rice wine vinegar (no sugar, no salt)

4T sesame oil

2tsp soy sauce

a few drops of Syrachi hot sauce (Tabasco works too)

What you do:

Put a generous handful of sesame seeds on a small plate. Sprinkle in some black sesame seeds to give contrast. Add in a few shakes of red pepper flakes and swirl around on the plate to mix. Coat the Ahi with the sesame seeds on all sides. They should adhere without any trouble. Set aside.

Make the dressing by combining all dressing ingredients in a Tupperware or jar and shake like crazy. Divide the salad mix amongst your plates and set aside.

Now you are ready to sear your Ahi. Get a pan hot with olive oil. You want it so hot that the olive oil is just to the smoke point. For those of you that are used to cooking with coconut oil you could use that instead because you can get the pan hot without the smoke. Turn your vent on full blast so your smoke detectors don't start screaming. With tongs in hand, bow respectfully to the Ahi and transfer it to the hot pan. Watch it carefully. You want a nice sear but don't want to burn the sesame seeds. Look at the side of the fish. You will see where it is cooking from the bottom because the color will turn from red to grey. When you see this turn the fish over and do the same with the other side. It should remain red in the middle. Remember, you bought "sushi grade" for a reason. And that reason is to serve it rare.

Repeat until you have all pieces cooked. Let the pieces of fish rest for about five minutes. Use a SHARP knife to cut slices of Ahi and put it on top of the lettuce. Drizzle with the dressing. This is such a pretty dish, you may even want to take a picture of this one and hang it on the wall. A designer meal without the designer price tag. How fun is that!

Kale Salad

2010-02-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: Add chopped cooked chicken (I get mine at Trader Joe's) for a great protein rich salad!

I never knew kale was a vegetable. For 39 1/2 years I've walked this earth thinking it was something that you planted in the front yard next to the petunias. That is, until my hubby brought a kale salad home from Whole Foods Market.

I have to admit that when I first saw it in salad form I was a little hesitant to try it. This was going out on a limb for me even though I love most vegetables. It was so dark and heavy looking. I thought for sure it was going to taste like lawn clippings.

Well, as you've probably guessed by now, I was wrong. Dead wrong. Kale is delicious! And when you pair it with the sweetness of dried cranberries and the tartness of lemon, it's a total winner. I was hooked instantly. I wanted to send hubby out for more immediately. That is... until I saw the price tag on the top of the container.

Almost six bucks for a micro-dab of kale, four cranberries and an almond sliver? Are you kidding me? You can get a truck load of kale for 47 cents! Ok, maybe not that cheap, but you get where I'm going with this.

All I had to do was figure out how they were making it and create my own. Hmmm... how was I going to do that? I know! How about reading the ingredients located right next to the ridiculous price tag! I'm a genius.

And so Primal Mama's version of Whole Foods kale salad is born!

What you'll need:

1 bunch of kale

1/2 red bell pepper (optional)

1/4 a purple onion

1/2 a cup of dried cranberries

1/2 a cup of sliver almonds (pine nuts are great too... or walnuts)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon, squeezed

dash of garlic powder

What you do:

Wash and dry the kale well. Chop it into bite size pieces omitting the tough stems. I find that if you make the pieces on the small side it's easier to eat. If you want some red bell pepper in there chop that as well. I really just put it in there for the color. Slice up some very thin strips of purple onion. Thin is the key. You don't want the onion flavor to take over the salad. Well, that took about three minutes. So Whole Foods can't blame their high price on a labor intensive salad now, can they. Put all your veggies in a bowl. Add in the cranberries and nuts of your choice. Take a look at all the colors. This really is a beautiful salad.

To make up the dressing just poor 1/3 a cup of olive oil into a Tupperware or jar. Squeeze in the lemon and add a little garlic powder. Close it up and give it a good shake. Taste. Adjust to your liking as necessary.

Now poor the dressing over the kale and toss it up. Smile! You've just made a mountain of kale salad for about three bucks. The beauty of this salad lies not only in its taste, but in the fact that it will last in the fridge for several days and taste even better as it sits.

Enjoy!

Winter Stew

2010-02-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

It seems like forever since I last posted a recipe. Truth be told one or another of us (or all of us together at one point) have been sick. We've caught nearly every kind of cold, virus and flu out there but all at the same time. In a nutshell, we feel like crap. But hey, life goes on and we must keep moving forward, right?

So let's get down to dinner. When I feel crummy I always want something warm and comforting. It helps if it's packed with vitamins and protein to help put me back on my feet. Who am I kidding? All you mothers out there can attest to the fact that we may get knocked on our butts, but do we get to rest? Um... that would be NO! So here's hoping this hearty meal will nourish my broken body. Lord knows, it's my only hope.

What you'll need:

about 3 pounds of stew meat

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots sliced on the diagonal

about 10 mushrooms (not allowed in my house)

6 green onions

3T fresh ginger, minced

3 T tomato paste (low sodium)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups beef broth (low sodium, gluten free)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 cup coconut milk, unsweetened

lime wedges

What you do:

You're going to start with a little exercise in kitchen prep. Chop the onions (both varieties), slice the carrots, slice the mushrooms (unless you are me, then your marriage contract states no mushrooms... ever). Mince the garlic. Peel the ginger. Did you know that if you use a spoon and scrape it on the ginger peel, it comes right off? Magic! Mince the ginger. Now, another handy kitchen trick: Take your cilantro and break the stems off with one giant twist. Put the cilantro in a coffee mug and start snipping away at it with your kitchen shears. This is much easier than trying to chop herbs that just end up getting stuck to your knife and flying all around the kitchen. Do the same with the mint. Open your cans and get them ready. Whew! Time for a coffee break! That was some serious prep! By all means feel free to enlist the household to help. I tried that once with my hubby. He tore his rotator cuff chopping the garlic. No, I'm not kidding. I think he did it on purpose to get out of his part.

Alright, so you've chopped everything within arms distance (you may want to inventory your pets) and opened your cans. You are now ready to get out a heavy and deep pan and add some olive oil. Get the pan hot. Dry your stew meat off with paper towels. I know it sounds weird but you want it to brown, not steam. Add the meat a little at a time and brown it for a couple of minutes. If you add your meat all at once the temperature of the pan will come down and your meat will turn all grey and look like mushed up brains. Don't do that, it's not cool. Remove it to a plate when browned. After all the meat is browned you can add your onion and green onion, carrot and ginger to the pan. Poor in a bit of beef broth to loosen the browned bits off the bottom and scrape the bottom of the pan. Get all those bits up! This is where flavor is born. Continue to saute the veggies about five minutes.

Things are starting to smell good, but this is only the beginning. Stir in the tomato paste and garlic. Add the coconut milk, beef broth, mint and cilantro. Now things are getting interesting. I don't even know what region this dish would fit with. It's kind of Moroccan- Thai meets Mediterranean-American. But I do know that your house smells pretty darn good right about now.

Ok, now add your meat back in to the pan and bring it up to a boil. Turn the heat way down low. Cover and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally to keep all the pieces of meat covered with the sauce. After the hour is up take the lid off and raise the heat to medium. Let the sauce reduce and thicken up about 30 more minutes. You will add your mushrooms in the last 30 minutes if you choose to use them. Gosh, I miss mushrooms...

Serve it in a big shallow bowl with a generous squeeze of lime and don't be surprised if you get a knock on the door from the neighbors asking you what you are cooking. This dish can be smelled from across the street!

Enjoy!

Cobb Salad and an Ode to Rx-Star Chic

2010-01-31T12:34:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday again. Time to do a little refrigerator search and rescue. If you've read any of the other Sunday posts you know that Sunday is my bare bones day. I'm out of just about everything and I challenge myself to come up with a meal using what is left before I shop again.

Before I begin, I must take a moment to tip my hat to the ladies of Rx-Star Chic. I attended their clinic yesterday and had an amazing time. They are a newly formed group of ladies that focuses solely on women, teaching them all the "man things" at CrossFit. I got my first muscle up yesterday with their expert coaching. If you don't know what a muscle up is you need to look it up on youtube. Let me be the first to say it is not easy. It takes strength, balance, coordination and a huge dose of chutzpah (which is Hebrew for balls). If you live in the So Cal area, please check them out. I have included a link under my favorites.

Ok, back to the fridge. As usual, there are just a couple of things floating around in there so let's make a meal. I've got left over lettuce from last nights dinner, a couple of eggs, defrosted chicken breast, nitrate free turkey bacon (as usual), an over ripe - gettin ready to croak avocado, tomatoes, green onion... looks like the ingredients for a cobb salad to me!

What you'll need:

refer to list of items above plus:

garlic powder

herbs de provence

1/3 cup olive oil

1 lemon, squeezed

1tsp Dijon mustard

What you do:

Start by hard boiling a couple of eggs. While the eggs are cooking, cut up the raw chicken into bite size pieces and coat liberally with olive oil, garlic powder and herbs de provence. Saute the chicken in olive oil until it's nice and brown and cooked through. This is the same recipe as Herbed Chicken available under the "chicken button". Set it aside to cool. When the eggs are done run them under cold water to cool them off or plunge them in ice water.

Fry up the bacon in the same pan when the chicken is done. Too many pans going = too many dishes to clean. Chop the bacon, egg, tomatoes, green onion and avocado.

Put a couple of handfuls of lettuce on a plate and top it with some of each of the chopped ingredients and chicken.

Whisk up your olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of Dijon mustard. Poor some over the salad.

Enjoy!

Italian Wedding Soup

2010-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

I've been on kind of a soup roll lately. And I'm always on an Italian roll so this recipe fit the bill seamlessly. Italian Wedding soup is hearty and healthy and really easy to make. I've made a slight adjustment and taken the orzo out of the equation and added some carrot. You won't miss it at all.

Italian Wedding Soup is actually the missed English translation of Minestra Maritata. The true translation is "married soup" as in the marriage of the meat and vegetable in the soup making a great flavor. And you thought I was just another pretty face...

So if you've got 30 minutes you can make this great soup, which by the way, is even tastier the next day. You can make it your own as well by deciding which meat and veggie you want to put in it. You could easily substitute bits of sausage for the meatballs if you are in an extreme hurry. You can also substitute kale or escarole for the spinach.

Here's what you'll need:

2 boxes low sodium chicken broth

1lb grass fed ground beef

1 package Italian turkey sausage

1 egg

1T Italian seasoning

1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes

1tsp garlic powder

1 package of fresh spinach

some chopped carrot

lemon wedges

Here's what you do:

Get the chicken broth boiling in a pot while you make up the meatballs. Take your beef, sausage, egg, onion and seasonings and mix them up in a separate bowl. Remember the golden rule: Use thine hands to mix. Yes, there are two golden rules. Don't make me have to get Lenny the Foot to persuade you. Mix away getting all ingredients well combined. Now start rolling up little meatballs (think bite size). Again I say, if you have children now is the time to turn your kitchen into a labor camp. If they can work an Xbox they can roll a meatball.

As your broth comes to a rolling boil, drop the raw meatballs in. Cook them for about 10 minutes. They will stay fairly light in color. If this freaks you out you can brown them in a little olive oil first. Add in your chopped carrot. After the meatballs have cooked, turn the soup down to simmer and add in the full bag of spinach. The spinach will cook down in just a few minutes. Serve the soup in bowls and add a squeeze of lemon over the top. This really brightens up the flavor.

If you are a fat phobic you may want to refrigerate the soup so the fat from the meat will rise to the top and you can skim it off. Then you can reheat it. If you are like me and take in no simple carbohydrates (grain, sugar, dairy) you need this fat for energy. So get over yourself and eat the fat. Just don't have a chocolate donut to go along with it.

Can you believe you are done already? What will you do with the rest of your day? I'm off to CrossFit!

Super Bowl Party-- Let's Eat!

2010-01-28T14:23:00.000-08:00

First, I want to say Hey! to my friend Jen and her motley church group all the way across the country in Alabama (sorry about the Arkansas thing!). They are in the process of a "Biggest Looser Challenge" and have been including my recipe blog in their repertoire. I am excited to see their progress and results! Jen recently asked me how to navigate a giant eating fest like the Super Bowl. With a little preparation, it can be done. Let's investigate.

Most people will spend it drinking and eating WAY too much. It feels great going down but the voice of guilt is sure to rear its ugly head the moment you swallow the last hot wing. I say, "Don't do it!" It's not worth the five pound overnight weight gain followed by the internal flogging and shame. You can make an abundance of paleo snacks using the recipes already posted. They are full of flavor and won't leave you feeling bloated and remorseful.

Chili is an all time Super Bowl favorite. You can serve it in the pepper like the original recipe or to make it easier serve it in paper bowls. Just remember to double, triple, quadruple the recipe.

Make the crockpot meatballs for snacks. Follow the recipe but roll them smaller. You can put them out right in the crockpot with toothpicks for stabbing.

The big bowl of awesome yumminess is a great salad that goes with everything. You can omit the chicken since you will be serving lots of other protein. If you want a little splurge on this day you can add some feta to this salad and watch your guests faint one at a time.

Set out bowls of nuts in different varieties with dried fruit. Remember no peanuts (they are a legume, not a nut).

The herbed chicken is another good one to set out with toothpicks.

And finally, either make a nice fruit salad (or buy it from the deli) or if you want to get all Martha Stewart you can get some skewers and make fruit kabobs. They are really pretty. Just take some melon, apple, and grapes and thread them on to the skewers. Make sure you swish the apple in a little orange juice so it doesn't get brown.

If you want to put Martha to shame then make this watermelon basket. It's really simple if you have those child friendly pumpkin carving knives. If you don't you can still use the watermelon as a bowl but the wavy pattern will be a little more tricky to achieve.

These yummy snacks are all paleo (except for the optional feta). Your guests won't even know how healthy they are being! Chances are they will still overeat on this day but better to overeat paleo than down a pizza and feel sick for days.

Have a great party and a great weekend. Go Saints!

Pesto Stuffed Chicken

2010-01-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

By now if you've been following this blog you know that I don't do anything bland. This dish is no exception. I am on a mission to prove that paleo style eating does not have to be all about eating the same boring thing day after day. There are infinite possibilities and I'm just starting to scratch the surface.

As usual, this recipe was not planned out. I was at Sprout's Market getting a few things. I was reaching for the kale and these giant trays of basil started flying off the shelf all over the floor. I think it was divine intervention. Either that or it was just me being extraordinarily clumsy with my reach causing a landslide of basil along with a few loathful stares from nearby patrons. I don't even like basil but after that showing I resigned to put a few in my cart while trying to make it look like I had planned the basil explosion all along. I don't think I pulled it off.

So I get home and I have all this basil along with a bruised ego. What does one make with basil that does not have a giant slab of fresh mozzarella along side it? My answer was pesto... Yuck... pesto. But by this time I was committed. I despise pesto. How can I change it up? And then it came to me. Spinach, pine nuts, garlic, sun dried tomato. You've heard those ingredients before. Well, that's cuz they're my favorites. I cut the "basily" strength way down by using spinach. My experiment worked. Not only did it work, this is my new favorite dish. I hope you will feel that way too.

What you'll need:

1 packed cup basil

1packed cup spinach

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1 jar sundried tomatoes in olive oil (8oz)

olive oil

4 free range chicken breasts

pepper

3/4 cup low sodium, gluten free chicken broth

1 lemon

toothpicks

What you do:

Place your pine nuts in a dry and hot skillet. Stir them around until they become toasty brown and then remove them from the heat. Pay attention! They burn easily. Prepare the pesto. It doesn't matter if you have a blender or a food processor, either work. Put the first five ingredients into the bowl of the processor and pulse/blend until you have a paste like consistency. You may need to stream in a little more olive oil than what is in the tomato jar to achieve a smooth pesto. Take a long, deep smell. Feel the stress of the day leave your body. Resist the urge to give yourself a pesto facial. You'll need every drop for the chicken.

Now for the chicken. Take one chicken breast and slice all the way through the center of it horizontally. You should have two very thin chicken breasts now. Repeat with the rest of the chicken. Take your meat mallet and with the flat side pound out the chicken to about 1/4 inch thickness. The trick here is to make SMALL chicken rolls (like the size of a roll of quarters). You want three or four on a plate so you may need to cut the chicken in half vertically to make small enough pieces. Ok, so you have your chicken all pounded flat and each piece is cut about the size of a deck of cards. Throw a little cracked pepper over the chicken. Take a heaping tablespoon of pesto and slather it all over one side of the chicken like you're buttering bread. Sorry, bad analogy. Now, ever so gently roll the chicken up like a jelly roll... oooh, did it again. Secure the seam with a couple of toothpicks.

Get your pan hot with olive oil and place the chicken with the seam side down into the pan. Yes, you can cook the toothpicks too. Brown it for a couple of minutes and then turn it over. After both sides are browned turn the chicken over one more time (seam side down) and pour 3/4 cup of chicken broth into the pan. Watch out for the sizzle. Cover the pan and turn down the heat to medium-low. Let those little babies simmer for about 6 minutes. When you lift the lid you will notice that some of the pesto that has fallen out of the chicken and the stock have made a heavenly sauce purely by accident. Do not... I repeat... do not go face first into the pan when you are overcome with desire for the exquisite meal you just made. First of all it's not polite to lick every one's meal and secondly plastic surgery is expensive.

Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

Enjoy!

Field Greens with Caramelized Onion, Avocado and Bacon Crumbles

2010-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Doesn't the title of this post sound snooty? You might find something like this salad on the menu of a five star restaurant with a five star price tag to go along with it. But I say, "Down with the five star price tag!" You don't have to spend a fortune to have a delicious, quality meal.

I actually made this one up on the fly. It's Sunday and Sundays for me are typically scrape the bottom of the fridge time. I'm usually out of just about everything so I rely on what's hanging out in the shadows. Let's see... bag o' organic greens ready to expire... check, lonely purple onion way in the back... check, preservative free and nitrate free turkey bacon...check, ripe avocado (oh crap... they're ALL ripe at the same time)... check. Sounds like a salad! The dressing is a simple vinaigrette that I get rave reviews for every time I make it. Yes... I'm using vinegar again. You'll have to turn me in and take away my caveman stripes.

What you'll need:

1bag salad mix of your choice

1package turkey bacon (we use Trader Joe's nitrate free, preservative free)

1avocado

1purple onion

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 - 3 T. balsamic vinegar

1T Dijon mustard

1tsp honey

What you do:

Start with the dressing. Mix all the ingredients together in a jar or Tupperware container and shake, shake, shake. If you have a child present, give the container to them to shake. Children are a wonderful source of manual labor.

Slice up your onion into thin rings. Get some olive oil hot in a pan and place your onion in the pan. Now here's the big secret. Turn the flame down low and let the onion cook down slowly. It's going to take a while(like 15 - 20 minutes) so don't rush it. Stir the onion around the pan occasionally and watch it start to turn soft, then golden, then a beautiful caramel color. They are glossy and a little sticky when they are done. The flavor of caramelized onions is just this side of bliss. I may be going out on a limb here but I think they're nearly equal to chocolate.

Set the onion aside and cook up your bacon in the same pan. Cube up the avocado.

And now for the finally: Put a couple of handfuls of lettuce on each plate. Divide the onion in half and put it in the center of the lettuce like you're building a little onion mountain. Put the avocado on top of the onion. Now sprinkle the bacon liberally all around the salad. Drizzle with the dressing. Pat yourself on the back and say this affirmation: Not only am I incredibly hot, I make a mean salad!"

Enjoy!

Osso Buco

2010-01-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

I'm going to let you in one one of my secrets. I always promised myself that this one would go to the grave with me, but I can't do it. I need to shout it from the rooftops so everyone will hear:

OSSO BUCO IS EASY TO MAKE!

I don't know if it's the name of the dish that sounds intimidating or the fact that people aren't generally familiar with veal shank that puts them off. It could be the English translation which is literally "bone hole" (gross) but if you have skipped over this one time and time again you are missing out.

So, it's time to suck it up and make this dish. You'll need a little prep time because I promised my husband that I would stop butchering his heritage by taking short cuts like using jarred sauce. No jars in this baby! I do use canned tomatoes though. I refuse to boil, then peel, then crush my own tomatoes. Well, at least until the twins are old enough and I can run a little kitchen sweat shop.

Ok, so get in your kitchen and repeat after me, "I am not afraid of Osso Buco. I am going to make this and wow someone really special." When you are done you must tell the story of how you slaved in the kitchen all day long. Putting your hand over your forehead and faining exhaustion works well too. Wear an apron while you're at it... it helps with the drama.

What you'll need:

4 veal shanks

you may have to preorder these from the butcher

1 chopped onion

1chopped carrot

2 chopped ribs of celery

1 cup of red wine (sub beef broth if you are a paleo purist)

1 32oz package of low sodium chicken broth

1 big bay leaf

small can tomato paste

one can of stewed tomatoes 15oz

1 sprig of rosemary or 1 tsp dried

1 sprig of thyme or 1/2 tsp dried

1/4 tsp crushed, dried cloves

almond meal or flour

olive oil

What you do:

Get the oven preheated to 375. Use a heavy and large pan making sure you have enough room for all of the veal shanks to fit. Start with tying your veal shanks with kitchen string. If you don't tie them up your meat will flop all over the place. Trust me, it's not pretty. Just use a couple of lengths and wrap around the perimeter of the veal so it's nice and tight to the bone. Next, dredge the shank in a little almond meal. Dust off the excess. You aren't trying to bread it. Get out that heavy pan and put some olive oil in it. Get the pan hot. Sere the shanks in the olive oil until they are nice and brown about 7 minutes per side. Don't flip them back and forth a hundred times; just let them sit. That's what gives them the nice color and retains the moisture. Set them aside on a plate to keep them warm.

Now saute your veggies in the same pan until they are soft. Add in the tomato paste and stir quickly to coat the veggies. Add the stewed tomatoes WITHOUT their liquid. It's time for the wine... my favorite part. Poor in a cup of wine and get it bubbling really well. Boil it until its reduced by half. While you are waiting for the wine to reduce poor yourself a glass. You deserve it. It's been a long day. No one has to know that it's only 10 am. Heck, forget the glass, just drink it straight out of the bottle. I won't tell. When the wine is done reducing put the veal shanks back in the pan and add your chicken broth. You want to add enough broth to cover a little more than half way up the veal shank. Now add in the herbs. Bring it up to a boil and then cover it with foil or the pan lid and place it in the oven. Close the oven door and have another sip... the hard part's over.

You'll want to braise the veal for about 1 1/2 hours. Baste it about every 30 minutes. The delicious aroma should be filling your house by now causing family members to come out of the woodwork. When you see them coming toward the kitchen put a little tomato paste on your cheek and look as tired as you can. This will get you out of doing the dishes for sure.

There are a couple of ways you can finish the dish. When it is done you can simply plate the veal and poor the sauce over it with the veggies and all. If you want to get really fancy your can put the liquid through the strainer and discard the veggies which is the more classic preparation. I've never really been one for following the rules, but either is delicious.

And there you have it. A meal that is usually only ordered in a restaurant at an insane price. Only yours is better because you've left out the flour, lard (yes, they use lard), salt and whatever else they put in it. I hope you enjoy this one!

ps. If you're paleo to the extreme you can suck the marrow out of the bone. I can't do it but it's a really good source of fat.

Minestrone Soup

2010-01-20T11:29:00.000-08:00

Nothing says "The Old Country" quite like Minestrone. It takes a few tweaks to make it Paleo friendly, but it can be done. Soup warms the soul, especially on days like these. My goodness, it must be 65 degrees outside! We are all going to freeze!

Like most of my recipes, this one is meant to be fast and flavorful. With just about 10 minutes of prep you can let this one go all day on low flame or in the crockpot. That means more time for the glamorous things in life like doing the dishes and folding clothes. Yep... livin' the dream, baby!

What you'll need:

1/2 pound of pancetta (Italian bacon) - or protein of your choice

Italian turkey sausage is a really good alternative

1 onion,diced

1 large zucchini, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

1/2 head green cabbage, diced

1 bag fresh spinach

2 -3 cloves minced garlic

6 cups chicken stock (low sodium, gluten free)

3 cups chopped tomatoes (low sodium)

1 cup water

1T Italian seasoning

1T basil

1/4 cup fresh flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

For my non-Paleo crowd: you can add a cup of macaroni, some diced potato(you may need up to 2 cups more stock to counter the starch), chopped green beans, or anything else you can think of. Let your imagination run wild! No that does not include Hugh Jackman stirring the soup in nothing but a loin cloth. Get your mind out of the gutter!

What you do:

Chop the pancetta into small chunks. Get a large pot nice and hot with some olive oil. Put the pancetta in and fry it until crisp. Now add all your veggies except the zucchini and spinach on top of the pancetta. Saute them slightly, keeping their crunch. Add the garlic and saute a minute more being careful not to burn the garlic. Get a cup of chicken stock and poor it over the veggies. As it is sizzling away, take a wooden spoon and scrape the bottom of the pot. Get all those browned bits of yumminess off the bottom of the pot. That is pure flavor joy right there. Scrape away, don't be shy. Can you smell heaven unfolding before you? Ahhh, food is love*.

*Disclaimer: This statement has not been evaluated by the sane and in control. It should have read, "Some food is love". Example: Paleo Minestrone = love. Pizza = that bad stalker boyfriend that won't leave you alone and keeps showing up in your flower bed.

Ok, back to reality. You can do a couple of things here. If you are home for a while you can add the rest of the stock, water, tomatoes and spices to the pot and turn the flame down super low. Cover the pot and simmer forever. If you aren't going to be home transfer everything into the crockpot, put it on low and walk away.

10 minutes before you serve the soup bring it back to a boil (or high on crockpot) and add your spinach and zucchini. It will cook down quickly. Spoon the soup into a bowl while belting out the hallelujah chorus. If you sing like I do, make sure no one is listening and your windows are closed. Top with fresh, chopped parley. Inhale the glorious scent and know that you are nourishing yourself and your family from the heart.

Enjoy!

Chili in a Pepper Bowl

2010-01-18T20:35:00.000-08:00

I think everyone alive must have their own chili recipe. Chili tastes great and is easy to make. Back in the day I used to love to make chili and put it in a sourdough bread bowl. I would scarf down a mountain of chili and eat an entire loaf of bread with it because it had soaked up the sauce and well, who can resist that? I may as well have taken the bread bowl and pasted it to my thighs. What in the world was I thinking? You're exactly right... I wasn't thinking at all.

Now life has changed and I workout way too hard to eat a bread bowl... or any bread for that matter. I am healthier for it. My blood glucose levels have come down from an all time high of 220 to 74. In case I forgot to mention it before, I was considered prediabetic. I say "was" because for a long time now I have had no signs of the disease. It is completely controlled by my diet and exercise program alone. I don't suffer angry mood swings any more when my bloodsugar drops. Hubby must be delighted since he was the one on the receiving end of those "feed me now, or die" tirades.

So I have replaced my bread bowl with a beautiful and colorful bell pepper. Tonight I chose yellow. It's a fun and new way to serve chili. I hope you enjoy it.

What you'll need:

1 pound grass fed beef or turkey if you prefer

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 big (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

2tsp ground cumin

1T chili powder (or more to your liking)

2 bell peppers (pick the color you like)

What you do:

Get a pot of water on to boil. Take your pepper and slice it in half the long way. Remove the guts. When the water is boiling put the pepper in and boil it for about 6 minutes. Take it out and set it aside. Saute the onion and ground beef together until it's browned and the onion is soft. Add in the garlic and saute a minute more. Poor in the crushed tomatoes and the spices and simmer. Now, walk away. Let the stove do the work while you sneak off to the bathroom and apply a clay masque to your face. You know you need it. You've been putting it off way too long. While the masque is on lock the bathroom door and dim the light. Take deep breaths and let a few moments slip away. Ignore the unintelligible banter coming from outside the bathroom door: "Mom... mom?... DAD WHERE'S MOM!!!!" Instruct your husband to say, "Mom who?" while you chant "I will get my fran time down... I will get my fran time down" in the final few minutes of pure solace that you have.

Back in the kitchen, scoop the chili into the pepper and put it in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. That is it! Can't get much simpler that that.

Enjoy!

Chicken No-tortilla Soup

2010-01-17T15:16:00.001-08:00

I've been waiting for a day like today. It's finally cooled off and is a little dreary outside. This is perfect soup weather. One of my all time favorites is chicken tortilla soup. What I've come to realize is that the "tortilla" part of the soup is overrated. It does add a certain crunch which is nice but none of the flavor goes missing if you leave the tortilla out of the equation.

There is a side effect to dreary days. It's called "can'tgetmybuttoffthecouch itis". Even for a simple and wholesome recipe like this one. The couch is winning. Must... get... up... Oh, alright already... let's make soup.

What you'll need:

A cooked chicken from the market (take the meat off the bone and shred it)

1 container of low sodium chicken broth 32oz (gluten free is healthier)

1 can of diced tomatoes with green chili (regualr tomato if you don't want it SPICY)

1 can mild enchilada sauce

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 bunch cilantro

1 avocado

1 onion

2 cloves minced garlic

2 carrots

2 ribs celery

1 bay leaf

olive oil

What you do:

Debone the chicken and chop it into chunks. Set it aside. Get a pot going with a little olive oil and saute your onion, carrot and celery until softened. Add in the minced garlic and saute a minute more being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes with chilies and enchilada sauce to the pot and give it a good stir. Next throw in your spices. As the broth heats up it will fill the air with a wonderful aroma causing hallucinations of being on the Mayan Riviera. Go ahead, get lost in the fantasy a while. Now open your eyes and notice the full laundry basket to your left is the one calling your name, not Raul asking you if you want another margarita.

Bring the broth to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer it for about 30 minutes giving the flavors time to blend. Add in the chopped chicken and a handful of chopped cilantro. Keep simmering until the chicken is heated through. Spoon the soup into a bowl and top it with a few chunks of avocado. Pure heaven.

Enjoy!

ps. I wasn't kidding about the spicy. It's downright hot if you use the tomato with chili.

Breakfast, Snacks, and an Ode to my Husband

2010-01-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

Breakfast and snacks are a really important during the day. Often times I hear people tell me that they love eating paleo but breakfast and snacks seem to stump them. Well, I am here to save the day! Let's tackle breakfast first.

When eating paleo you can no longer think of breakfast as pancakes, oatmeal, cereal or any other super carby, super starchy mess. You must twist your thought process a little. Most of us grew up on a pop-tart (is that even food?) or sweet roll for breakfast... or cereal (which is the same thing as a sweet roll just in a different presentation). To accomplish the paleo breakfast shift, you should start thinking "protein" in the morning. It won't look like breakfast food most of the time and it might seem a little strange but your body will thank you. You will have more mental clarity and energy and you won't be starving two hours later from the insulin spike and subsequent drop after your nasty, hydrogenated pop tart.

Trade in your breakfast cereal for scrambled eggs, nitrate free bacon, nitrate free sausage, omelets with veggies, omelets with meat, left over dinner from the night before, fruit, a protein shake (egg protein), etc. Make a big pot of meatballs and have those! It doesn't have to resemble bread to be breakfast. Come on people! Think outside the box!

Did you know that most people eat the same 10 items over and over again. With that said, take five minutes and make a list of 10 things you can eat for breakfast. Now, rotate them into your week. It only takes a moment and if you are a little bit organized you can have a tasty breakfast before you leave the house. Do not leave the house with only a cup of coffee! You are contributing to a weak and sick body. Our goal in paleo eating is not only to be smokin' hot in our bikini... there's more? Yes, it's to be HEALTHY. And how healthy is it to just drink coffee.

Now let's talk about snacks. Snacks are important in the day. I usually eat two or three snacks. Take snacks with you. The last thing in the world you want is to be shopping at Costco and all of a sudden be overcome with hunger. If that happens you and your overwhelmingly huge shopping cart will make a B line to the pizza counter like it's being pulled into the "I want a huge ass with a side of heart disease" tractor beam. If you have a snack with you, you can whip it out and save your ass... literally.

So what's for snack? How about an apple with a tablespoon of almond butter and a little beef jerky. How about some nuts and a little dried fruit. We eat natural meat sticks from http://www.grasslandbeef.com/ and LOVE them. We also like celery with olive tampendade. You just need a little something to take the edge off. It's also good to make your snack easy and portable. Just think a couple of bites of protein and a little fat with a piece of fruit. There you have it. The picture above is my home made paleo kit. It has almonds, cashews (I know... some say you can't have those. I say ppphhhhtttt!), macadamia nuts, dried blueberries, and dried cranberries. My protein is in the form of the meat stick mentioned above and I eat this every day. No, I don't get tired of it, but thanks for asking.

And finally, hubby left for his sales meeting tonight. I will have six long and lonely days ahead of me. It's times like these that I realize how truly blessed I am. We operate like a well oiled machine always anticipating each other's needs. I shudder to think what would happen if we didn't. Well, for one the little lunatics would be running the asylum. Speaking of which, they turned two today. Our little babies... They gave me the present today, though. I walked in the house to find one twin pasted to the bay window like Spider Man trying to get a glimpse of a dump truck and the other standing in the middle of the kitchen table. I miss you already honey. Come home soon.

Steak Pizzaiola

2010-01-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

I love Italian food. To me it represents the warmth of home. The deep flavors mingle with rich traditions of generations past. Having said that, come along with me as I mutilate another great Italian recipe and replace the hours of toiling in the kitchen with a quick and easy meal fit for the busy families of 2010.

I wish that I had the time to prepare traditional food using family recipes and old world cooking but that's not going to happen at least for another couple of years. So I have taken family recipes and shortened them significantly so you can have dinner on the table in under an hour.

I wooed my husband with my cooking. I had a big plate of sausage and peppers at the alter just in case he got cold feet. And now look what I've done. I've taken his heritage and desecrated it all in the name of saving time. It's a shame but he really should have thought about it before he decided to give me twins. Yes... I blame him.

This recipe is wonderfully aromatic. Yes, it is quick... yes, it is simple, and yes, I used jarred sauce (father forgive me for I have sinned). I hope you love it as much as I do.

What you'll need:

top sirloin steaks

1 jar of Trader Giotti's Puntanesca Sauce

1 Spanish onion

2 bell peppers (I used yellow, green gives me a stomach ache)

olive oil

What you do:

Take a meat mallet and pound the steak thin to about 1/2 an inch. Use the bumpy side to tenderize it a bit. Slice up your onion and pepper. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a heavy skillet (the kind that can go in the oven). If you don't have one of those then use a baking pan. Spread the oil around in the pan. Put your steaks in next and cover them with the onion and peppers. Take your jar of sauce and pour it all over the steaks and veggies. Now go immediately to confession and tell the priest that you have sinned. Also, pray that your husband never finds out that you are using jarred sauce... you know, the jars of sauce that you keep above the fridge, way in the back, behind the vases? Ya, those...

Ok, so you have your steak, your veggies, your sauce. Put the lid on the pan or cover it in foil and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Don't peak. Serve it over a giant plate of spaghetti with a side of bread the size of a football. JUST KIDDING. You thought I lost my mind didn't you! Serve it with a nice side salad and revel in the fact that you can eat Italian food on the Paleo diet!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini

2010-01-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight was another last minute dinner decision. Are you sensing a pattern? Actually, most of my dinners are not well thought out. I defrosted some grass fed beef but nothing seemed to come to mind. I had to stop by my boyfriend's (Trader Joe) for some end of week supplies and out of nowhere this yummy looking Italian sausage started calling my name as I tried to wheel my cart one handed, while talking on my cell phone, reading my shopping list and swerving around the riot going on at the sample corner. I think it was pizza. So I decided to pick up the sausage and make it part of dinner.

Earlier, hubby and I went to CrossFit (like most nights) and did this crazy workout where they had us walking on our hands, holding two minute handstands and doing handstand push ups. We were upside down for most of the workout. It was fun for me since I have a gymnastics background... even if it was 30 years ago. By the look on hubby's face, I don't think he felt the same way. This time my old bones weren't so forgiving and I ended up loosing feeling in my right arm. Yup, it's pretty much dead at the moment, but I'm glad I can still type. My error rate has gone through the roof, though. I quickly learned that I need to proof read the url I'm after before pressing enter. I was trying for "hotmail" and ended up with a full page of men's torsos in tiny underwear with their parts magnified and wagging in my face. I would like to say that I didn't mind, but truth be told that was a little too close up for me. I may be permanently scarred... I'll let you know.

What were we talking about? Oh... dinner... right. So my point in all this chatter is that I have one good arm and I still managed to make this wonderful stuffed zucchini. What's your excuse?

What you'll need:

4 zucchini

1lb grass fed ground beef

1 package Italian turkey/chicken sausage (I used sweet, but hot would be good too)

olive oil

1 can tomato sauce (6oz)

1tsp Italian seasoning

1tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

What you do:

Remove the sausage from it's casing. Brown the ground beef and sausage together in a pan breaking it up into small pieces. While the meat is browning cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scrape out the "guts" with a spoon making a little trench. When the meat is cooked poor in the can of tomato sauce and the spices and give it a stir. Try not to drool into the pan. That's just bad form.

Now poor about a tablespoon of olive oil into a baking dish. Rub it all around the bottom of the dish. Rub some of the olive oil all over the zucchini. Fill up the zucchini trenches with the meat mixture. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. When the zucchini is done it should be tender but still slightly crisp. Now, take a giant whiff of your gorgeous creation. That, my friends, is pure love coming out of your oven.

Enjoy!

Turkey Rolls - Emergency Dinner

2010-01-13T21:19:00.000-08:00

Ok, so tonight is not one of my more shining moments. I let the day get away from me and forgot to take something out for dinner. On top of that one of my sons has a cold and my husband is sick because he thought he could do five rounds of max reps, body weight bench press and max rep pull-ups on a lettuce leaf and an ice cube. (Not really, but he didn't fuel properly for the workout today). On top of that my other son is whiny. So what's a woman to do when all hell has broken loose at home and there's nothing to eat for dinner? I say go to DEFCON 1 immediately. No that does not mean head out of the house like a missile and grab the nearest burger and fries. It means go to the fridge, whip out a few ingredients and make a nutritious meal in under 3 minutes.

Here's what you'll need:

turkey lunch meat

avocado

preservative free turkey bacon

Here's what to do:

Put out the turkey. Place some sliced avocado on top of the turkey. Take a piece of bacon and cut it lengthwise and put half a slice on the avocado. Roll up the turkey slices individually with the avocado and bacon inside. Done. Add a piece of fruit. It's not glamorous, but hey, sometimes you just need to get some calories in, right?

Coconut Yogurt Marinated Chicken

2010-01-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

I have always loved this recipe. It was a staple in our house until we eliminated all things dairy. With great hesitation, I tried it with plain coconut yogurt in place of full fat plain yogurt. To my surprise, I could not tell the difference between the two which inspired a spontaneous dance of victory all around the kitchen.

If you have five minutes in the morning make up this quick marinade and throw some chicken breasts into it. When you get home, all you have to do it cook them up and you have a quick and tasty dinner. If you don't have five minutes, wake up five minutes earlier. This chicken is worth it!

what you'll need:

chicken breasts

1container of plain coconut yogurt (6oz) We use "So Delicious" brand

3 cloves of minced garlic

2T lemon juice (or half a lemon)

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

3/4tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp ground cumin

1T olive oil

what you do:

Combine the yogurt with all of the ingredients except the chicken breasts in a big ziplock. Close it tight and squish the ingredients all around to mix them.

There are a couple of options when adding the chicken. You can add it in whole breasts or butterfly it and pound it flat then add it. I personally like to butterfly it. It gives it more surface area to soak up the marinade.

Add your chicken to the bag and squish it all around again to cover the chicken up with marinade. If you have teenagers put the chicken in an additional ziplock before putting it in the fridge. They will undoubtedly forcefully move the chicken aside while foraging for a meal just before they tell you there is "nothing to eat in this house" causing the bag to explode and spew yogurt all over the contents of your fridge. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience...

Give the chicken at least eight hours to marinade. More time if you've got it. When you are ready to cook it you can do a couple of things. Number 1: If you've kept the chicken breasts whole, give them to your husband/boyfriend/father, or some hot looking guy and command him to BBQ the chicken for you. Guys, if you're reading this... you're on your own. Number 2: If you've butterflied it you can cook it on the stove in a grill pan with a little olive oil. Watch the flame though, the yogurt can burn easily. Number 3: Bake it in the oven. Since I've never done that make sure you let me know how it goes.

Enjoy!

Herbed Chicken - Blink and it's done

2010-01-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have had numerous requests for fast recipes. I think this one tops the charts. It comes in at about 8 minutes flat. It requires little to no attention span and if you have the advantage of having twins, you can even make this as each twin clings to one of each of your legs. Just think of them as ankle weights as you trudge through the kitchen building muscle all the way. You can easily steam some broccoli and have it ready in the same amount of time.

Here's what you'll need:

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

granulated garlic

herbs de' provence

olive oil

Here's what you do:

After you've cut the chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, place them in a bowl and coat them with a little olive oil. Liberally sprinkle the granulated garlic and herbs de' provence on the chicken and mix it all around with your hand. Remember, LIBERAL is the key word here. Don't be shy with the spices. Coat every piece with spice. When you think you have enough, add a dash more.

I use a flat top to cook mine, but if you don't have one you can use a regular pan. Get it hot with some olive oil. Throw your chicken in. Don't mix it around; let it sit and get nice and brown. Turn the pieces with tongs and brown the other side. When both sides are brown you can start mixing it all around to cook it evenly. Doesn't your house smell yummy? Serve it up with your veggie and a side of fruit. It's so easy! Enjoy

Asian Chicken Salad

2010-01-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

Ah, Monday morning. Three cups of coffee and a couple of Excedrin later, I'm ready to roll. So far today I've made breakfast, taken the boys to their morning round of therapy, grocery shopped, cooked lunch, cleaned the house up, cleaned and folded the laundry, done two rounds of dishes, played "chef" with my sons (yes, I'm teaching them early... lucky future wives), made dinner and finally, put the boys for their nap. Not bad for it only being noon.

Tonight's dinner is Asian Chicken Salad. I chose it because I knew I could make it up early and shove it in the fridge for later. I like to be able to check dinner off my list early sometimes and this is the perfect recipe for that. The more it sits, the better the flavor becomes. It should be perfect by tonight.

I've always thought that the key to a perfect salad is color. This salad is a testament to just that. It is a real show stopper with great taste to boot. As usual, it is easy and quick to make thanks to my boyfriend, Trader Joe.

Now, here's the warning: I use vinegar. I know what you're thinking. SHE DOES WHAT???? Yes, it's true. I am guilty as charged. So you Paleo purists out there can go ahead and shun me; I will survive.

What you'll need:

1/2 a bag of shredded cabbage

1/2 a bag of shredded broccoli slaw

2 Persian cucumbers (or one big, peeled & seeded), chopped

1 large tomato, seeded to remove liquid, chopped

1 bell pepper (I like orange for the color), chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 the pack of TJ's Just Chicken (it's cut chicken breasts), chopped

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup dried cranberries

black sesame seeds (only if you're trying to wow someone)

dressing:

2/3 cup rice vinegar (no sugar, no salt)

4T sesame oil

2tsp soy sauce

2T almond butter

What you do:

Make the dressing first by putting all of the ingredients in a tupperware bowl and closing the lid. Now shake it hard. Keep shaking it until it's mixed well. Make sure the lid is on, you don't want to be cleaning soy sauce off the ceiling (trust me... it sucks). Set it aside.

Now take all your other ingredients except the sesame seeds and put them in a big bowl. Poor the dressing over and give it a good toss. If you have time you can let the dressing sit on the salad a while before serving.

Plate the salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Ooooo... so pretty! Serve it at the table and when everyone looks at you in wonder reply, "That's right, I'm the sh*%". If you have children at the table reply, "Oh, how nice of you to think my salad is pretty. Mommy/Daddy made it especially for you my little muffin."

Enjoy!

p.s. If you can't eat cabbage you can use lettuce. Just know that once the dressing goes on it will not keep for long before wilting.

Caveman Scramble meets the bare bones of the fridge

2010-01-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday. Sunday is considered the beginning of the week, but not in my book. I think of it as the end because I have cooked all week long and now when I open my fridge there is nothing in there except an old steer skull and a tumble weed. Oh lord! What to make for breakfast.

Let's see, I have a couple of eggs in the carton, a half rotting/half good bell pepper, a couple of sad green onions, some left over turkey bacon and as always, sun dried tomatoes. That will do!

Even if you don't have these ingredients sitting around waiting to receive their last rights, this little scramble is so tasty that it is worth buying them. Fresh, of course.

What you'll need:

refer to list above

keeping in mind

you don't want food poisoning

Get creative with your own mixin's

What you do:

If you have to cook the bacon, start with that. I use no nitrate, no preservative turkey bacon from Trader Joe's (I should have stock in that store). Get it crispy and set it to the side. While the bacon is cooking chop your veggies. In the same pan you used for the bacon, add a touch of olive oil and sautee your veggies until soft. While the veggies cook take a couple of strips of cooked bacon and chop it up. Do your best imitation of Bruce Lee while making sure there are no children or pets within the blade's reach. If you are clumsy, skip this step. Put the chopped bacon in the pan with the veggies.

Whisk up two eggs in a bowl and pour the egg mixture into the pan with the veggies and bacon. Scramble to your liking. Be proud of your creation and smile! You've just made a yummy breakfast without spending $12.00 a person and waiting all morning for a table.

Paleo Pancakes

2010-01-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

What could possibly be better on a Saturday morning than pancakes? Not much in my opinion, except perhaps to have them served to me while I lay in bed all day watching The Godfather trilogy. Those movies give me such a laugh. I know that sounds odd, but really, being married into a very Sicilian family gives those movies a whole new meaning. So you'd better love my recipes or you may find a horse head in your bed.

This recipe for Paleo Pancakes is not my creation. Not by a long shot. I would have never put this combination together since I really despise eggs and I'm not a fan of bananas. Their creator is a genius. I begrudgingly made them one morning for my husband after he repeatedly badgered me. I figured I owed him. He's been a champion spending hours up in the middle of the night with our son who doesn't seem to need the sleep that the rest of us do.

Let me just say that these pancakes taste like banana bread with all the warmth of home and a giant hug mixed right in. They are comfort food at its finest. Paleo purists may say that they are a little on the "carby" side but I say go for it! Throw caution to the wind and make up a batch. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks to Mark's Daily Apple for this recipe. It comes from Jack Etherington, one of his readers. If you want the full scoop go check it out at: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/?s=banana+pancakes

What you'll need:

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

1 heaping tablespoon almond butter

What you do:

Mash the banana really well and beat in the egg. Add in the almond butter and stir, stir, stir. Get a pan going with a little butter. (We use Earth's Balance gluten/casein free) Spoon in the batter. Now, here's the trick. Use a MEDIUM flame and be patient. Wait until the batter is set (similar to cooking an omelet). They are not easy to turn over so don't make them big and don't crowd the pan. Ever so gently turn them over and cook through. Serve them with some butter or plain.

Truth be told I didn't even use a fork. There was no time for butter, or a few berries on top. I ate them straight out of the pan like an animal and loved every bite. I know you will too.

Adios Taco Bell

2010-01-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else but me feel totally flabbergasted by Taco Bell's new "Diet" menu? Have you seen the commercial? I am almost speechless. I did say... almost.

Let us examine just one of the new "diet" menu items. Hmmm... How about the Fresco Chicken Burrito Supreme. First of all, anything with the word "supreme" in it that comes from a fast food restaurant should have a warning label attached to it. Something liken to, "This product has been known to cause heart disease, cancer, stroke, IBS, gout, diarrhea, constipation, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure... oops, we ran out of room on the label". They should add, "Not for human consumption".

Wanna take a stab at how much sodium the Fresco Chicken Burrito Supreme contains? Give up? That would be 1410mg. 1410mg in one sitting! That's enough for an internal pickling.

The girl in the commercial is attractive and happy (of course she is, she just landed a paycheck) and slender to boot. I would challenge any one of us to look less than amazing if we had an entire crew of people to give us just the right lighting, make up, swimsuit, hair style, etc. Let's not forget about digital enhancement, spray tan, dehydration and airbrushed abs. It's Hollywood movie magic at work to entice you to "run for the border".

Not to mention the girl in the commercial cut her calories to 1200 per day and I'm sure did some kind of endless cardio or jazzercize at the gym.

Anyone can loose weight on 1200 calories per day, Fresco Chicken Burrito Supreme or not. If I put 1200 calories of ice cream and Snickers in my body per day, I would loose weight(and be hungry). If I put 1200 calories of Big Macs into my body per day, I would loose weight (and be hungry). I know that I personally need about 2500 calories per day to maintain my muscle mass and weight. So by eating 1200 calories I am creating a deficit. That is the calories in, calories out theory and it works. Temporarily, anyway until your insulin level is so out of control and you are so overcome with hunger that you eat the side of a building with ketchup and gain all the weight back in two days flat plus more.

What we are missing here when we are "all about low calories" and not about quality nutrition is that we are creating a weak and sick body. We are setting ourselves up for disease and a retirement filled with bypass surgery. Why are we allowing places like Taco Bell to dupe us into thinking we can eat this crummy food and be okay? In the end it's the surgeons who will open the length of our legs to harvest a vein, then crack open our chests and sew this vein to our hearts in several places so our hearts do not die. And Taco Bell will just keep going...

"Let your food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food" - Hippocrates

I think 'ol Hip would be turning over in his grave if he knew about the new Taco Bell, which by the way, is the same as the old Taco Bell, minus the cheese and sour cream.

Don't let them fool you into thinking that their sodium laden, lard infested, white flour, low quality chicken burrito is healthy by simply repackaging an old product and attaching the word "diet" to it. Diet does not equal healthy.

Next time you are starving and you need to drive thru, don't do it! Instead, drive UP to the grocery store and park. Get out and WALK into the market. Go to the deli counter and get some lunch meat, a little side salad and some fruit. Grab a water. There, wasn't that easy.

Taco Salad

2010-01-07T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I simply don't know what to cook. I may even start with one idea and switch it half way through the cooking process. My husband will tell you that when he asks me what's for dinner I will often say, "I don't know yet, but I'll tell you when I figure it out." All the while there is food on the stove bubbling and sizzling away.

This taco salad was born of that thinking. I had grass fed ground beef out, but what to make. Burgers... not tonight, meatloaf...blech, meat sauce... oh lord I don't have 10 hours. So I decided on taco salad. Simple, quick, delicious and my home made seasoning is just a couple of posts down from this one. Perfect!

What you'll need:

1 pound grass fed ground beef

1 onion, sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 bag of lettuce (romaine preferred)

1/2 cup pico de gallo

1 avocado

1 serving of my "no heart attack" taco seasoning, available a couple of posts down

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

Here's what you do:

Brown and drain the ground beef. Set it aside in a bowl. In the same pan saute the onion and red pepper until it's soft. Put the meat back in with the onion and pepper. Add in the tomato sauce and give it a stir. Stir in the seasoning and 1/2 cup water. Let it cook down a little bit and thicken up. Now, shout your favorite Spanish phrase of joy. I would, but my mom made me take eight years of French because she thought it was a "pretty" language. It's served me well over the years - HA!

Now for the assembly. Grab a couple of handfuls of lettuce and throw it on the plate. Top with the meat mixture. Spoon on a bit of pico de gallo and top with avocado slices. If you want to get crazy you could even squeeze a little lime over the top.

And there you have it. A quick (and I mean like Usain Bolt quick) taco salad that is flavorful and super yummy. No cheese, beans or tortilla needed... I promise!

p.s. sorry about the over exposed picture with the wrong date stamp on it. The salad is really much prettier than that. It was the last shot before my battery died in the camera. And since all of the 500 double a's we have in this house are being used in toys that are so child proof you have to have one of those microscopic screwdrivers and the patience of Job to get them out, you get the crummy picture.

Enjoy!