Living Paleo 80/20 (Or More Like 75/25...)

It's been about 3 weeks since we have been living Paleo the way a lot of people do it: 80/20.  If you read my posts a few weeks back, you read about our plans to continue living Paleo- not 100% of the time, but to allow some "cheat" days.  Well, we have worked out a lifestyle plan that has been working really well for us(in my opinion).  It is more like 75/25 (where we are Paleo 75% of the time and non-Paleo 25% of the time), but still has the same idea as 80/20.

For us, it looks like this:  We stay Paleo 5 days of the week, and have 2 "cheat," or non-Paleo days a week.  We decided that we would pick 2 days of the week that we would be free to eat whatever we wanted, and for us that has ended up being the weekend- Friday and Saturday.  This way, we get to go out to dinner/drinks or order-in on the weekend nights that we want to relax and hang out together.  Plus, it is nice to have 2 days a week where I can indulge in lots of cheese, pasta, bread, etc.  You know I can't live without that stuff forever!

So, how is it going for our health?  I still feel really good and healthy.  I will say that we have been binge-eating a bit on our off-days, so I feel a little gross and bloated when that happens, of course.  We've both pretty much maintained our weight and are still feeling energized and happy.  It is nice to eat all-natural and clean most of the time, and I like that I have a reason to continue to create new and different Paleo meals!

If you want to try out Paleo but aren't sure about diving right in 100%, I would definitely recommend you at least start with 75/20 (or even go with just 1 cheat day a week if you want).  It is surely better than nothing, and you will be changing a lot of your habits about eating.  We hope to stick with this way of life for a long time, and it really hasn't been hard.  Now that we have our off-days, we aren't really missing any foods but are still staying healthy.  I'll keep you posted on our successes and of course, stay tuned for the latest meal creations!

Paleo Coconut Chicken Crispers

This meal tonight happened because of 2 factors: 1) I realized I have almost no food/fresh produce in the house somehow, and 2) After weeks of looking for unsweetened coconut flakes in every grocery store (unsuccessfully), I FINALLY found them at Natural Grocers the other day and bought a bag, so of course I wanted to use that.  So, what else was there to make but coconut-breaded chicken?? This is a lot like other "breaded" items I have made, but had a bit of a different texture/taste and was really delicious.  It was also super easy!  Here is what I did:

Paleo Coconut Chicken Crispers
(serves 2-4)

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/4 c coconut flour
• 1/2 t onion powder
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1 egg
• 1 c (or more) unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice chicken breasts into thin slices.  You can pound the chicken to make it thinner, or I sliced the breasts in half to make them thinner.  Then I cut them into chicken finger-like pieces.  In a bowl/dish, combine coconut flour with onion powder and garlic powder.  In a different bowl, whisk the egg.  In a dish/plate, combine the coconut with salt and pepper.  I set up a bit of an assembly line to bread them.  First, dip the chicken in the flour mixture, then into the egg, and finally into the coconut flakes until they are nice and coated.  Place the strips on a baking sheet (lined with parchment for easy cleanup), making sure they are not touching.  Put the sheet in the oven and bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on thickness of the strips.  I also turned mine over about halfway through to brown both sides. They should be done when they look like this:

I served these with Sweet Potato Fries and Paleo Ketchup for dipping, but you could use Paleo Barbecue Sauce as well.  If you like the texture of coconut, these are perfect, and it was a nice creative meal- something I never tried before!  For not having much in the house, this was a great dinner!

Paleo Asian Dumplings & Sesame Noodles

So I have been craving dumplings like crazy lately.  Okay, not just lately, I love dumplings all the time.  When I was in college, there was a local dumpling shop called Marco & Lucas and they have literally the greatest dumplings EVER.  Seriously, ask anyone who has lived in Charlottesville, VA and they will rave about this place.  Honestly, this dumpling shop is probably one of the top things my husband and I miss about Virginia.  Can you tell by now how much I love these things?  You can get them with these sesame noodles and the combination is just amazing.  PHEW.  Amazing!  So, I have never tried to replicate them (and I have never made any kind of dumplings before), so this was quite an experiment to make PALEO dumplings that needed to be amazing.  I found the dumpling recipe here and tried to do it my way, and then I kind of came up with the noodle side dish on my own.  I won't lie- this meal is time consuming.  It involves a lot of time and effort and dirty dishes.  BUT, if you are prepared to put some love into it, the results are well worth it! Here is what I did (warning: this is going to be long):

Paleo Asian Dumplings
(serves 3-4)

FILLING:

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1-2 c bok choy, finely diced
• 3 T tamari sauce
• 2 t sesame oil
• dash crushed red pepper
• salt & pepper
• 1 egg, whisked (used to combine the mixture once it has cooled)

WRAPPER:
(NOTE- this is likely a lot more batter than you need, but the first time you may need extra in case of mistakes.  If you are skilled at wrapper-making, you can probably halve this)

• 6  eggs
• 2 c arrowroot powder
• 1 c water

FOR COOKING:

• coconut oil
• about 1/2 c chicken broth or water

DIPPING SAUCE:

• 2 T tamari sauce
• 1 t apple cider vinegar
• dash of red chili flakes

Preparation
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic, onion and carrots and saute for about 3 minutes until soft. Add the pork and cook for another 5 minutes or until cooked through, breaking up the pork into small pieces as it cooks.  Once all the pink is gone, add the green onions, bok choy, tamari sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper to the pan and stir to combine all ingredients.  Add salt & pepper to taste, and adjust the seasoning to your liking.  Transfer the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour, but I kept it in there overnight.  Once the mixture has fully cooled (the next day, for me), mix in the whisked egg with your hands, making sure it is fully combined with the pork mixture. Set the mixture aside until your wrappers are ready.

Next, I prepped the wrapper batter.  Divide the eggs and place the whites into a bowl, and set the yolks aside.  Whisk the whites until they are very frothy.  Add the yolks in and carefully combine them all together.  In a separate bowl, combine the water and arrowroot powder.  Slowly combine the water mixture with the eggs while stirring.  Once nice and combined, set the bowl aside for at least 20 minutes to thicken up a bit. It will be very runny! 

While waiting for the batter to set, I made the dipping sauce.  Just combine the tamari sauce, vinegar, and chili flakes and set aside until you are ready to eat!

To make the dumpling wrappers, heat a skillet over medium heat on the stove.  HINT: the skillet will get hotter as you go along, so you may need to turn back the heat periodically if it gets too hot.  If your skillet is nonstick, you are fine, otherwise grease it with some coconut oil.  Pour about 1-2 tablespoons of batter onto the center of the skillet and use your spoon/pourer to spread it into a circle, about 4-5 inches in diameter is best.  Cook it VERY fast- about 15 seconds, then flip it with a spatula and cook for just about 5 seconds on the other side. You want them to be a bit moist and uncooked so the will be sticky and seal together.  While cooking, it should look like this:

Remove to a baking mat or plate and make sure the less-cooked side is up (the last side that was on the bottom).  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into the middle like so:

Fold the dumplings up (I just did mine in half), and use a fork to seal the edges together.  Mine ended up looking like this (NOT the prettiest, but not bad for my first try!)

Repeat until you run out of filling.  P.S., I had about 18 total dumplings and did NOT use all the batter.  Once you have all your dumplings formed, you are ready to cook them!  Heat a skillet over medium on the stove and lightly coat the bottom with coconut oil.  Place about 5-10 dumplings on the pan, being sure not to let them touch each other.  Do not touch them for about 3 minutes so they can brown up on the bottom.  Then, flip them over and pour a splash of broth or water into the pan.  Cover the pan and steam them for about 1 minute.  Remove from the pan and repeat with the rest of the dumplings.  I did 3 or 4 batches total and just covered them with foil as I did the rest. 

NOTE:  These turned out a little soggy compared to what I am used to, since, they aren't really traditionally fried.  Instead of doing the steaming, I might consider putting them into the oven after frying them to get them more crispy.  So, try that if you want!  But, I read that because these are gluten-free, they won't ever be as crispy as dumplings with gluten... oh well!


Once they are all cooked, serve these babies with your delicious dipping sauce and you will be so happy with the taste!  And if you want a more authentic Marco & Lucas experience, serve them with the sesame noodles...

Paleo Sesame Noodles
(serves 3-4)

• 1 T almond butter
• 2 T tamari sauce
• 1 T sesame oil
• dash red chili flakes
• 1/2 cucumber, thinly julienned
• 1 T sesame seeds
• 1/2 spaghetti squash, cooked, shredded, and cooled

Preparation
In a small bowl, combine almond butter, tamari sauce, sesame oil, and red chili flakes.  Mix well.  Toss the spaghetti squash "noodles" and cucumber together, and toss it all with the sauce. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top and mix it up.  Serve topped with more sesame seeds.

NOTE: You could also use zucchini noodles or kelp noodles to get the same type of dish

Well, after a LONG arduous process, we finally got our dumplings- Paleo-style!  This meal was really delicious.  Of course it is not as amazing as the original or any traditional dumplings, but I think it came close!  Definitely satisfied my dumpling craving, and it was fun to learn how to make these bad boys!  If you have the time and energy, I urge you to try this one out.  Enjoy!

Paleo Brat Kebabs

A miracle happened today- the temperature outside actually got into the 50's!  Being that it is almost May, this shouldn't be THAT big of a deal, but considering it is going to snow AGAIN tomorrow, this was pretty amazing.  The point is, I decided to grill out tonight since the weather was nice.  I guess this isn't the most inventive recipe in the world, but I did find it via Pinterest and the recipe seemed pretty basic and easy to make Paleo.  This meal was very similar to the Chicken Kebabs that I made a while back, and like most kebabs, you can really use whatever veggies you want- I used what I had on hand, but if I had things like mushrooms and other bell peppers, I would have used those too. But here is what I did:

Paleo Brat Kebabs
(serves about 4)

• 6 brats/sausages
• 1 celery stalk, chopped into large chunks
• 1 carrot, chopped into large chunks
• 1/4 onion, chopped into large chunks
• about 4 cups water
• 1 large (or 2 small) zucchini, chopped into chunks
• 1 bell pepper (I used yellow), chopped into chunks
• 1/4 red onion, chopped into chunks
• 1/2 - 1 c Paleo barbecue sauce 

Preparation
First, prep the brats.  Grab a large stock pot and place the brats, celery, carrot, and onion in it.  Fill it with water high enough to cover it all.  Heat the pot over medium-high or high until it starts to boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.  Try not to let it boil too much.  (P.S. If you are non-Paleo and want to make these even better, we usually use beer instead of water and the brats turn out amazing!).  Once they are cooked, pull them out of the pot and allow them to cool to the touch.  Cut up the brats into chunks- I got 5 chunks from each brat. 

At this point, turn on the grill to medium-high heat.  Grab some skewers to make the kebabs. Alternate the brats, zucchini, pepper, and red onion onto the skewers.  Right before they go on the grill, baste them with the barbecue sauce all over.  As you grill, you may want to baste them each time you turn them as well.  Grill for about 7-10 minutes.  The meat will already be cooked, so just make sure the veggies char up a bit.  Take them off the grill and serve them up!

I served these alongside the Cauliflower Rice Pilaf I have made before, and it was a delicious meal!  I think kebabs are super easy to make, and are so versatile as you can really use whatever meat/veggies/sauce you have on hand.  I hope you try this out and enjoy!

Balsamic Steak & Veggie Rolls

Recently I found a recipe on Pinterest (of course) that looked so good that I knew I wanted to try it.  However, like most recipes, I would have to make a few Paleo substitutes, particularly because the recipe included things like butter and Worcestershire sauce, which are a no-go for Paleo-ites.  So, I made a few adjustments and came up with this delicious meal!  It was really yummy, and even though it was a bit time-consuming, it was worth it.  The only problem I had was that mine did not coming out looking as perfect as the original picture... Do things ever look as good as they do on Pinterest though?  Oh well, regardless, I would recommend you try this out!  Here is what I did:

Balsamic Steak & Veggie Rolls
(serves 2-3)

• 1 carrot
• 1/2 zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/4 onion
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• olive oil
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 3/4 - 1 lb flank steak
• salt & pepper
• 1-2 T shallots (or sweet onion), finely diced
• 1/4 c balsamic vinegar
• 2 T raw honey
• 1/4 c chicken or beef broth

Preparation
I started by prepping the veggies. You want to slice them into matchstick pieces, so you can use a knife, a mandolin, or a peeler/julienner like I did.  Slice the carrot and zucchini this way, and slice the bell pepper and onion into thin slices as well.  FYI I did this a few hours in advance and just let them sit in a bowl in the fridge.  Here is what my veggies looked like:

To prep the steak, slice it into 2-3 inch strips. I also cut mine in half to make the meat slab thinner, which you might want to do if yours is a bit thick.  My strips were only about 1/4-1/2 inch thick, which I think is best.  Then, season them with salt and pepper and set them aside.  Here are my strips (I got 6 out of my steak):

Next, make the sauce.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add about 2 T olive oil.  When it is hot, add the shallots/onion to the pan and saute until translucent.  Then, add the balsamic vinegar, honey, and broth and stir until smooth.  Allow it to bubble up and thicken for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then pour off all the sauce into a bowl.  Set aside.

Reheat the pan to high heat and add another 1 T olive oil and the clove of garlic.  Stir the garlic around for a minute or so to flavor the oil, then you can fish it out.  Dump in your veggies and stir fry them around for just about 2-3 minutes until just cooked.  Add the Italian seasoning and salt and stir a bit more.  Once it was all cooked, I removed the veggies back to the bowl they had been in so I could start to prep the rolls.

To assemble the rolls, pile a stack of the veggies onto the middle of one of the steak strips, roll it up, and fasten with a toothpick.  Repeat with the other rolls.  Mine were not beautiful but they looked like this:

Reheat the skillet over medium-high heat and add a little bit of oil to the pan.  Once it is hot, place the rolls seam side down into the pan.  Do not touch them for a few minutes so they can brown up, then turn the rolls to cook them on all sides.  Mine were medium/medium-rare in just about 5-7 minutes total.

FINALLY, take the steak rolls out of the skillet, remove the toothpicks, and serve with the balsamic sauce spooned over the top of each roll.  Check them out!

So, the instructions look pretty complicated, but I would say the most time was spent just prepping the veggies.  I think I could have done a better job on making the rolls look pretty, but they still tasted great!  I served these with some sauteed tomatoes for extra veggies, and it was definitely a VERY Paleo meal- all meat and veggies!  Try it for yourself and see how great this meal is!

Paleo Chocolate Cake (in Under 5 Minutes!)

So last night I was home alone (with the dog of course) and the snow was STILL coming down.  Getting tired of reading about the snow?  Yeah, I'm getting tired of living it.  Well I wanted some kind of dessert but didn't want to bake a whole batch of cookies or anything like that (not without my husband home to enjoy them!), so I decided to try out this recipe for a single serving of Paleo cake!  Sounded just right for what I needed at that moment.  This literally took less than 3 minutes, tasted delicious, and the best part (in my opinion) was that the only cleanup was a mug, a spoon, and a tablespoon.  That's it!  I would definitely recommend you try this out if you want a quick delicious dessert just for you.  Here is what I did:

Paleo Chocolate Cake (in Under 5 Minutes!)
(serves 1 OR 2)

• 3 T almond flour
• 3 T cocoa powder
• 2 T raw honey
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 egg
• a dash of salt
• a dash of cinnamon

Preparation
Mix all ingredients together in a mug.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Eat it up!!!

This should take no time at all and will be worth it for sure!  You could probably split this between 2 people (share the mug with your hubby or just scoop some out), but I ate it all myself :)  It's Paleo, so it's healthy... right???  Hope you try this out and enjoy it too!

Paleo Zucchini Bread

Okay, so yesterday I made the most amazing zucchini bread ever.  Seriously good.  I have been thinking about making this for a while now, and I found a recipe that looked really good.  Well, we have had snow days for the past 2 days (which if you know anything about where I live, you'll know that is HUGE) but my husband has been out at work, so I have been home alone (with the dog) for a while now.  What else to do but bake???  Perfect time to try it out. This recipe is SO delicious and moist and flavorful and did I mention PALEO?  It's really healthy, so that means it's okay that I ate the entire loaf by myself in the last 2 days, right...?  Right.  Well, here is what I did:

Paleo Zucchini Bread
(makes 1 loaf)

• 1 1/2 c almond flour
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 3 T raw honey
• 1 banana, peeled and mashed
• 1 T coconut oil, melted
• 1 cup grated zucchini (moisture squeezed out) 

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan with coconut oil.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl (or your KitchenAid!), combine eggs, honey, banana, and coconut oil and mix until well combined.  Add the zucchini (make sure you got most of the moisture out!) and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until well incorporated.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes.  Transfer the bread to cool on a wire rack.

This will taste fine when warm, but I think it is best when it is cool. Slice it up and enjoy!  And try not to eat the entire loaf by yourself in one day...