Mashed Sweet Potatoes

So I know that sweet potatoes are one of those "questionable" foods while living Paleo, but I have already decided they are okay for us.  They say that if you are trying to lose weight, then stay away, but if you are just trying to eat Paleo they are fine.  Plus, I had one in my kitchen that was probably about to go bad, so I had to use it.  Since I was making ribs for dinner and typically I would make corn on the cob as the main side (but corn is NOT Paleo), I had to find something else.  I've already made sweet potato fries, so this time I wanted to try them mashed.

These were SO easy to make.  I am sure I could have done something more exciting, but this was flavorful enough for us and still delicious.  And Paleo friendly!  Here is what I did:

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
(serves 2-3)

• 1 large sweet potato (or 2 medium/small ones)
• salt & pepper
• 1 t coconut oil

Preparation
Peel the potato(es) and cut into chunks.  Place them in a pot and cover with water.  Add some salt to the water.  Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the temperature to medium and allow the potatoes to simmer for about 10-15 minutes.  Once you can easily break a chunk apart with a spoon/fork, they are ready.  Drain the water but keep the potato chunks in the pot. Add the coconut oil and salt & pepper to taste, and mash them up with a spoon or a masher.  That's it!

You can add any other flavors you want, but this is a great basic recipe.  They are really moist and have great natural flavor.  This is a super simple recipe and is a great easy side.  Hope you try it out!

Paleo Barbecue Sauce

Tonight for dinner I made ribs, which has been one of our favorite meals since I started making them last summer.  For my ribs, I always make my own barbecue sauce for basting them.  Well, unfortunately the recipe I usually use is not 100% Paleo friendly (mainly that it is ketchup-based).  Now, I know I could just use ketchup since it's not SO bad, but I figured why not make my own Paleo version?  I couldn't really find a recipe online that looked amazing, so I did my best to Paleo-ize the recipe I usually make.  It was a bit of trial and error (especially since I don't often use tomato paste so I don't know the consistency very well), but I eventually came up with something delicious!  This is a pretty basic barbecue sauce- nothing too fancy- but is definitely great and tasted awesome with the ribs!  Here is what I did:


Paleo Barbecue Sauce
(makes about 1 cup)

• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 c water
• 2 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 T raw honey
• 2 t salt
• 1 t onion powder
• 1 t ground black pepper
• 1 t dry mustard
• 1 t lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients over medium heat.  Once everything is well combined, turn the heat down to low.  Let it simmer for as long as you want, but at least 20-30 minutes.  Use on ribs or whatever else you want to eat!  Enjoy!

Paleo "Spaghetti" and Italian Meatballs

I guess I have been on an Italian kick lately, since this was my 3rd Italian-inspired meal in the past few days.  And I won't apologize for it!  I decided to go with a classic, spaghetti and meatballs, but make it Paleo.  I also had bought a 5 lb spaghetti squash the other day at the grocery store (no joke, this thing is huge, but it was the smallest one they had!) so I needed to use some of that up for sure.  I cooked the entire spaghetti squash as usual, but only used about half of it for this meal.  If you are cooking for 2-3 people, you should definitely freeze half for future use! It makes it really quick and easy to defrost and use the next time.  For the meatballs, the only real change I had to make was again, essentially making my own Italian "bread crumbs" out of almond flour, like I did the other day with the Almond "Breaded" Chicken.  Other than that, they were the same Italian meatballs that I usually make.  Finally, I also made my own sauce as usual, which ensured that everything was non-processed and Paleo!  If you are looking for a good old Italian comfort food meal, this is definitely the way to go!  Here is what I did:

Paleo "Spaghetti" and Italian Meatballs
(makes about 3 servings)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 c onion, finely diced
• 1/4 c almond flour
• 1 egg
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 T fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 T olive oil
• homemade pasta sauce (I also added some diced tomatoes for texture)
• 1/2 spaghetti squash (cook the whole thing but you should only need half so freeze the rest!)

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the spaghetti squash in half (lengthwise) and place the boat-looking halves on a baking/roasting pan, cut-side up.  Season them with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes.  In the meantime, start on your homemade pasta sauce.  Make your own or use my pasta/pizza sauce recipe- I also added some diced tomatoes for extra chunkiness, but you can use just sauce if you like it thinner. 

To make the meatballs, combine beef, onion, flour, egg, and spices and mush them all together until well blended.  Form your meatballs (I make mine medium-sized).  Heat a skillet over medium-high and add some olive oil.  Once it is hot, place your meatballs in there to brown them.  You will likely need multiple batches- don't crowd them!  After a few minutes, turn them to brown as much of the meatball as you can, then remove them to a baking dish.  When they are all browned, pop the dish into the 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, and remove your spaghetti squash. 

Allow your squash to cool for a few minutes so you can touch it without burning yourself, and then use a fork (or 2) to shred the flesh into "spaghetti" strands.  Plate it by scooping a pile of squash onto a plate, followed by a scoop of sauce and a couple meatballs.  Time to dig in!

This meal was super delicious and was a great transformation of a favorite Italian meal!  I highly recommend you try it out!

Almond "Breaded" Chicken

When I successfully made steak fingers a few weeks back using almond flour as the breading, I realized I could do that with other meals too.  One of my husband's favorite meals ever (I know I say that a lot- he just loves everything I make!) is an old family recipe from when I was growing up.  We call it "skippy chicken" but don't even ask why- it's a family thing.  But really, it is just chicken coated in Italian bread crumbs and pan fried in olive oil.  That's it.  Super easy but for some reason, it is just so delicious.  So for the Paleo version, I made my own Italian "bread crumbs" using almond flour.  Just like with the steak fingers, it gives the coating a bit more of a crunch which I really enjoyed, and since I made my own, I got to control the seasonings just to my liking.  So really, this was a great version of the original- I think it might be better, but the hubby still loves the old standard version the best.  Hard to change a classic!  Regardless, this was delicious.  I will definitely make this again!  Here is what I did:

Almond "Breaded" Chicken
(makes 4 servings)

• 2 T olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 c almond flour
• 1 t dried basil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 2 t fresh chopped parsley (or 1 t dried)
• 1 egg

Preparation
Slice each chicken breast in half (like you are butterflying them) to end up with 4 thin breasts (you want them thin so they will cook through when frying).  In a shallow dish, combine almond flour with herbs and spices until all mixed together.  Beat the egg in a bowl.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  While it is heating up, prep the chicken.  It works well to make a little assembly line of chicken->egg->flour->skillet.  Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, then coat both sides really well with the flour mixture.  Place chicken in the hot skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on each side (until golden brown).  You may need to do multiple batches- don't crowd the pan!  Add more oil between batches if necessary.  Once the chicken is browned on both sides, it is ready!

I served this with butternut squash (leftover from another meal) and cauliflower.  We ate it right up and luckily the hubby will have some leftovers to take with him to work tomorrow.  It was so delicious and easy, I would highly recommend you try it!

Paleo Brownie Bites

If you have been reading my recent posts, you'll know that I have been trying to figure out how best to use coconut flour.  If you recall, it is super dense and a lot thicker than say, almond flour, and I have been having only moderate success using it in recipes. Well, I think I finally found a good one!  This recipe is technically for chocolate cookies, but I made some adjustments and found they are a lot more like little brownie bites, so I'm going with that.  They were easy to make and are really chocolate-y and delicious.  I think this is one of my favorite Paleo desserts yet!  They are also pretty rich, so there is not much chance that you would try to binge eat them- one or two is plenty filling.  Anyway, these are soft and taste great and I will make them again for sure.  Here is what I did:

Paleo Brownie Bites
(makes about 20 little bites)

• 1/4 c coconut flour
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 3-4 T raw honey
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 T coconut oil, softened
• 1 t vanilla

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a bowl (I used my KitchenAid), mix together the coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and mix for another minute or so.  It will start to get a bit drier as you go (coconut flour is like a sponge!), but the batter should look like brownie batter- just a bit moist.  Line your cookie sheet with parchment and use a cookie scoop to drop dough in little balls onto the sheet.  Press them down a bit if you want them flatter.  Bake for about 10 minutes, but be sure not to overcook as they are best when soft.  Allow them to cool on a rack for a few minutes, and then, enjoy!

Like I said, these taste great- they are fairly chocolatey and fudgey, which I like, and they are such a cute little bite too!  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Paleo Zucchini & Sausage "Lasagna"

Okay, so this recipe is not exactly "lasagna," but it's the closest name I could come up with since "baked zucchini mushroom tomato sausage casserole" just doesn't have the best ring to it.  For this meal I kind of just invented what I was doing along the way.  I've made baked ziti/lasagna plenty of times so I figured I could just substitute vegetables for the pasta and omit all the gooey cheesey goodness and it would be almost the same thing.  Well, it turned out pretty delicious!  (But how can you go wrong with Italian flavors??)  For the meat in this dish, I used bulk Italian mild sausage and it was definitely a good choice (lucky for me it was the only meat that wasn't frozen at the time).  Now I know there is debate in the Paleo world about sausage (debate about Paleo, really??), but I decided to go for it.  Technically, it is "processed" because there are spices added and such, but guess what, bacon is technically "processed" too!  And people aren't going to eliminate bacon from their lives, right?!  Regardless, it is meat and it was delicious.  You can use plain ground beef/pork instead if you are worried, but make sure to season it up to get more flavor!

The final issue I had with this was of course cheese, since ideally you have cheese in your lasagna/casseroles.  Instead of going totally cheese-less, I decided to top it with some dollops of my almond cream "cheese."  Now, it won't melt and get all gooey, but it has a similar consistency to ricotta and is a decent cheese substitute here.  If you don't want to make that, you can go cheese-less here- with all the other flavors it would still taste great!   As always, if you are eating dairy, you should use cheese for sure!  Some mozzarella/ricotta/parmesan would be fantastic here.  Do whatever works best for you.  Here is what I did:

Paleo Zucchini & Sausage "Lasagna"
(makes 4 servings)

• 1 lb bulk Italian mild sausage (use ground beef if you want)
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 t dried basil
• 1/2 t oregano
• salt & pepper
• 1 zucchini, sliced into long thin strips
• 1 c sliced mushrooms
• a few dollops of almond cream "cheese" (optional, or use real ricotta/mozzarella/parmesan if you aren't Paleo)

Preparation
Heat 1 T oil in a skillet over medium-high.  Once it is hot, add the onions, garlic, and sausage.  Use a wooden spoon to break up the meat and cook until the sausage has no more pink showing.  Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, as well as the spices.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Give it a good stir and allow the meat/sauce mixture to bubble up, then turn the heat down to low and simmer for a few minutes.  In the meantime, get your oven preheated to 350 degrees.  Once the meat/sauce has simmered and is perfectly seasoned with all the flavors melded together, you can start your lasagna layering.  Take a 9 x 9 pan and place a layer of the thin zucchini strips across the bottom.  Next, scoop half of the meat/sauce mixture over top.  Next, spread out half of the mushrooms across the top (and sprinkle on some cheese if you are using it). Repeat the layers.  Add a couple dollops of almond cream "cheese" on top if you wish.  Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes until it is really bubbling.  Here is is right out of the oven (notice the cheese blobs since it doesn't melt- oh well!).

Once you scoop this up to serve, it won't keep the shape that normal lasagna would, since there is no cheese to glue it all together, so it may get a little messy.  But, it will taste delicious since all the flavors will be blended together and hot and full of Italian seasonings.  This meal was really great and it was fun to experiment with a new idea.  Maybe when we start eating dairy again I will try it with cheese and see how it goes.  Stay tuned!

Pork Chops & Pineapple Fried Cauliflower Rice

Tonight we had another meal from my idol, Pioneer Woman, that I Paleo-ized.  I've made this recipe before a few times, and I've made adjustments to our liking in the past (mainly taking out the heat/spice).  But this time, I made it all Paleo by making a few slight adjustments in the sauce and by using cauliflower for the rice, as I've been doing lately.  This is a really delicious recipe that we always enjoy, and I will admit- I actually preferred the cauliflower to using actual rice in this recipe.  Crazy, I know.  I found that it fried up a little better than rice typically does for me.  So that was a definite plus!  Here is what I did:

Pork Chops & Pineapple Fried Cauliflower Rice
(makes 3 servings)

• 1/2 c pineapple spears or chunks (fresh is best!)
• 3 pork chops (I used bone-in)
• salt & pepper
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, sliced 
• 3 T tamari sauce
• 1/2 T rice wine vinegar
• 1 T honey
• 1/2 T sriracha (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c frozen peas (some argue that peas aren't Paleo- don't get me started- so if you are anti-peas, leave them out)
• 1 T (additional) tamari sauce
• 1/2 head cauliflower, grated

Preparation
Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and add them to the pan.  Cook on both sides until they have a golden brown color.  In the meantime, grill or sear pineapple spears/chunks on the grill, a grill pan, or in a skillet until they have color.  Set aside.  Once the chops are done, toss in the sliced onions and work them into the crevices in the pan.  Move the onions around and let them cook for a few minutes, until they soften.  Add the tamari, vinegar, honey, and hot sauce (if using), and stir it around.  Allow the sauce to bubble up until it thickens and the chops are cooked through.  Transfer the pork chops to a bowl/plate, and let the sauce bubble up and cook for another minute.  Pour it over the pork chops and set aside.

To make the fried "rice" add a splash of oil to the same pan and bring it back to medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir, then crack in the egg and stir to scramble it a bit. Add peas, and one more tablespoon of tamari.  Add grated cauliflower and fry it up for a couple of minutes.  Finally, add the pineapple chunks and stir.  To serve, scoop some "rice" on a plate, then top with a pork chop and onions. Drizzle some sauce over the top.

Like I said, this is super delicious and is very Paleo-friendly meal.  I encourage you to use cauliflower to make fried "rice," and I will definitely be doing it again.  I have had a great time making my favorite meals into Paleo versions, and I will continue doing it for sure!  Stay tuned to see what else I come up with!