Our Valentines/ Birthday weekend

I know it's a few days after Valentines Day but I still want to share our holiday with you.  It was my husband's birthday on the 12th, so we got a hotel in Dallas at the Rosewood so we could celebrate his birthday and Valentines.   Very fancy!  This has become our usual thing to do every year, get a fancy hotel and go out to a fancy dinner.  We decided not to go fancy with dinner this year.  We ate at HG Supply Co. in Lower Greenville.  If you are not familiar with Dallas, Lower Greenville is a hip area with lots of Twenty-somethings.  My best friend and I used to cruise down lower Greenville in high school, we thought we were cool!  Anyway, if you are looking for a cool restaurant with real food, I highly recommend it!  I had the DelMonico which was a ribeye with an egg on top, and some awesome brussel sprouts!  My husband had the beef short ribs with charred cabbage and it was great!  To drink, I had the Moscow mule made with Kombucha and my husband had the old fashion, one of his favorite drinks.  We shared a dish of sweet potato hash as well.  It was a great meal! After dinner we walked across the street to Dude Sweet Chocolate and picked up some amazing chocolate to have in the hotel room.  It was a great night!

               

Valentines morning, the boys had Almond flour waffles with strawberry sauce and coconut whipped cream.  They had a cute heart shaped egg on the side.  

  

Since it was on a Tuesday we decided to cook at home and make it a Taco Tuesday!  No one can argue with tacos, especially in our house!  I made tortillas out of almond flour.  My boys love them and think they are better than wheat tortillas!  That's always a good complement to hear.   We had regular ground beef tacos with guacamole and a salad to go with.  

Here is the tortilla recipe I use.

 1 1/4 cups almond flour

1 1/2 cups  Tapioca flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

3-4 ounces of Water

2 tablespoons nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening, melted and cooled

2 Egg whites

Combine the dry ingredients, then make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and add the wet ingredients. Start with 3 ounces of water and add more if needed.  Mix until it is in a dough form.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 30 minutes.  Then, take a ball of dough and roll out on to a surface lightly covered in tapioca flour.  To make them perfectly round, I take my sauce pan lid and use it as a cutter.  Place tortilla on a heated pan and cook on both sides until they are slightly browned.  

It's all very similar to a "regular" tortilla recipe, just different flour!  Don't get too frustrated if they break the first few times you try to make them.  It takes practice and then you will be a pro!  

     

For dessert I made Fed and Fit Flourless Chocolate cake.  Yea, that was awesome!  And I had made some Elanas Pantry Mexican Chocolate Ice cream to go with it.  

 

Kids and Valentines Candy

Every year, our kids come home with a ton of Valentines candy.  This year, I didn't say anything about it. I wanted them to make their own decision as to what to do with it.   One of our boys gave his candy away before he left school, the other asked if I would pay him to throw the candy away.. Uh yea!  And the third ate a few pieces and decided he wanted to be paid for the rest.  Not bad!  So how did I get to this point??  It has taken some time, sometimes bribing, but also educating.  They know the candy makes them feel bad.  They know that the ingredients are not even recognizable.  Plus, I made them a super cute chocolate box for Valentines with really good chocolate!  Some of the chocolate I made and some I ordered online.  They were happy and so was I!  I have learned if there is something I prefer that my kids don't eat, I need to have an alternative ready.  They have learned that really good dark chocolate with strawberry filling, or homemade mounds bars is way better tasting than a package of gummy worms.  

 

Easy Coconut Ice Cream

Tonight we had Coconut Milk Ice Cream.  It was good!!  You need an ice cream maker in order to make it.  I just bought a new one and its pink!  If you have ever made ice cream, it is very similar to any basic recipe.    I doubled this recipe because I double, triple, quadruple all our recipes!  I love making homemade ice cream because I know exactly what is in it, it's dairy free, and sugar free.   My kids won't get a "sugar rush" right before bed, yea it's worth the extra effort to have a calm evening.

Coconut Milk Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

I can coconut milk, full fat 

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs yolks

1.  In a small sauté pan whisk the coconut milk on medium until it simmers.

2.  In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks, honey, and vanilla

3.  Slowly pour the the coconut milk into the egg mixture and whisk while pouring.  Make sure you pour slowly and whisk or you will have scrambled eggs!

4.  Pour the ice cream back into the sauté pan and whisk on medium.  Keep stirring until the ice cream is thick enough to coat your spoon.

5.  Pour into the bowl and refrigerate until cool, about 45 minutes.  I left for only 30 min and it just took longer in the ice cream maker.

6.  Next just follow the directions of your ice cream maker.  I let mine churn for about 15 minutes and then poured it into a airtight container and put it in the freezer to freeze completely.

We added dark chocolate bark and coconut whipped cream to ours for extra fun!  I made the chocolate bark and bought the whipped cream from Whole Foods.  

 

Sweet potatoes!

Sweet potatoes contain a large amount of vitamin A, are low on the glyicemic index, and provide some fiber to your diet.  If you need a boost of energy, sweet potatoes are a good option for a higher carb food.

Roasted sweet potatoes are a easy side dish that can go with just about anything.  It's also great for any meal, including breakfast.  If you are trying to stay away from bread but want something with carbs, it is a good alternative and they are slightly sweet so they can curb your sweet craving!  It's a win win!

Our family LOVES chorizo so this recipe was a great one for us!  We have some leftover so I thought I would give some to the boys with their dinner tonight too.  If you have never had chorizo, definitely give it a try!  It is really just ground meat (pork, chicken, beef) with a bunch of Mexican spices.  

Sweet Potato Chorizo Hash

2 sweet potatoes diced, with skin on

2 tablespoons coconut oil melted

1 pound chorizo

1 red bell pepper (or any color)

1 garlic clove minced

1/2 teaspoon (or more) jalapeño

1 teaspoon cumin

1 avocado

1/2 cup cilantro

You can make this the night before or make the sweet potatoes only and have them ready to prepare the rest the next day.

1.  Toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  You may need to adjust the oil so that the potatoes are coated.  Spread on a baking sheet, making sure the potatoes are not overcrowded otherwise they will come out mushy.

2.  Cook in oven on the roast setting at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes give or take.

3.  Cook the chorizo in a skillet on medium high just like if you were to cook any ground meat.  When the meat is about half way cooked, add the bell pepper and jalapeño.

4. Once it is cooked through, add cumin and sweet potatoes and stir to combine.

5.  Serve with a side of avocado!

Another great recipe to make if you are wanting sweet potatoes is Sweet Potatoes and Bavon

Sweet Potatoes and Bacon

 3-4 sweet potatoes diced with skin on

8-10 strips of bacon

1.  Preheat oven at 375 degrees on roast

2.  Place bacon on a foil lined baking sheet and roast in oven for about 10 minutes.

3.  Remove bacon and dice saving the bacon grease.

4.  Put diced potatoes in a bowl and toss bacon grease and chopped bacon together with the potatoes.

5.  Place potato mixture back one baking sheet, making sure they are not over lapping or too crowded.  Add a generous amount of salt.

6.  Roast for about 25 minutes.

7.  That's it!

  

Variety is the Key

I have been reading The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne, PHd.  This is a great book, especially for beginners that are unsure on how to get started on a Paleo diet.  One section of her book talks about eating a variety of foods.   I know we have all heard that before but it didn't really click with me until recently.  Our bodies need so many different types of vitamins and minerals in order to function at its best.  If you are eating (I have been completely guilty of this) the same things every day you are not getting the nutrition you need.  So this last month I have focused on varying up our meals.  Children need variety for the same reasons but I think it is important for them to get used to eating a variety of foods in order for them to be open to trying new things.  

A good example That Dr. Ballantyne pointed out was comparing kale to collard greens.  You would think they provide the same kind of nutrition, not much difference but we are all so wrong!  Kale has more vitamin C and K, while collards have more vitamin B3 and B9.  Meat should follow the same rule.  Don't limit yourself to ground beef or chicken.  Try a different part of the cow you usually do not buy.  Don't think you should only be eating the breast of a chicken.  Americans have become obsessed with only eating the breast, which has caused unethical chicken farmers to raise chickens with unusually large breasts, filled with hormones and antibiotics.    I won't go off on this targent, at least not today!  Try to incorporate fish into at least 3 times a week, and don't limit it to dinner.  I am so proud of us for having an English Breakfast this week!  Smoked Salmon, eggs, and bell peppers all sautéed together.  It was really good!  My husband said it tasted like bologna!  Be open to a variety of seafood.  One of our boys loves to fish so we like to find out what kind of fish we are having and look it up online to see what it looks like.   You can do this with any animal.  If you are having pork loin, for example, look it up to see where it is on the pig!  It can be fun for kids!  It's the circle of life people!  

One last thought before I go.  I hear from people everyday how picky their kids are.  I understand it can be really hard.  Here is a tip I used to do with the kids.  If there is a food I want them to eat, we would have a taste testing party.  Let's say I want to be able to pack them some raw vegetables in their lunch box.  Gather a variety of veggies, cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, cucumber, bell pepper (lots of colors), raw zucchini, raw yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms. I could go on and on!  Pick about 5-10 and let them taste test.  Don't pick the veggies you know they will eat.  Have them tell you 2-3 they would be willing to eat.  That's a good start!  I usually give them a little disposable container of Primal Kitchen's Ranch dressing to dip or I buy those Holy Guacamole to go packs.  Kids love to dip stuff!  Next week I plan to take pics of my boys lunches and post them at the end of the week.  Left overs are key!

Salmon and Eggs

 

Hamburger buns and sandwich bread!

Sometimes you just need bread!  I have to admit my husband and I don't eat it often, but the kids do.  Being kids, I think they need more carbs than adults.  When I make hamburger buns, I know they are getting some good nutrition out of it.  I found this recipe from Make Ahead Paleo by Tammy Credicott.  I make a double batch, sometimes triple, and freeze them. They are also great as an English muffin.  

English muffins/Hamburger buns by Tammy Credicott

 YEAST MIXTURE

1/3 cup warm water

2 tsp honey

2 tsp active dry yeast

DRY INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup almond flour

3 TBSP coconut flour

1/3 cup arrowroot flour

1/3 cup tapioca starch

Pinch of sea salt

WET INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

1 TBSP olive oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1.  Preheat oven to lowest setting

2. On a large baking sheet place 8  English muffin rings on parchment paper

3. In a small bowl mix yeast, honey, and warm water. Set for 5 minutes until frothy

4.  In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients

5. Add the yeast mixture to dry ingredients along with wet ingredients.  Mix well.  Let dough set for about 4 minutes.

6. Lightly spray rings with cooking spray and fill each muffin with about half a cup of dough. Smooth top

7.  Place the pan in the oven and turn off the oven.  Let the muffins sit for 10 minutes.  

8.  Leave the tray in the oven and turn temp up to 350 and bake for 20 minutes.

9.  Let them cool and then remove them from the rings.

 

I also wanted to share with you where we get our sandwich bread.  Again, my husband and I never eat it but the kids do.  I tried making my own with a few different recipes.  They are ok but then a new company called Legit Bread Company came out a few months ago and we were hooked!  I order 4 at a time and freeze them.  It's not something we eat everyday, but once or twice a week the boys have toast with breakfast.  They also have mixes if you want to make it your self or they will give recipes to make other things.  I made cinnamon rolls with it on Christmas Day!  

 

Thrive Market

You may start to notice that I love to shop at many different stores.  I am a store hopper.  I have no commitment to just one store.  I love going into a store I haven't seen in a while to see what new things they have.  My Thrive market order came in and I got lot's of good stuff, especially for our boys.  One thing I like about Thrive Market is you can minimize your search for Paleo.  If you just want gluten free you can do that too.  They have so many great snack options that I can use for lunch boxes.  They also have one of my favorite Paleo salad dressing brands, Primal Kitchen.  They have a great mayonnaise as well.  Simple Mills is a great brand and you can find it in more and more places, which is great!  I love their mixes for when I need something quick and don't want to think about it.  Plus, the boys can make it without my help!  If you get on their Instagram, they will post recipes to make with their mixes. That's pretty cool! They have some great crackers that are good for lunchboxes too.    Cocoroons  are also a great treat.  I put a couple in the boys lunch box, or it is also great for a dessert. Ona treats  are good too a,  I picked some other items we use a lot of like applesauce, tuna, pistachios, honey, cinnamon, coconut cream, good dark chocolate, and pumpkin seeds.  When I buy chocolate, I make sure it is dark and at least 56% cocoa.  It also should not have any ingredients you don't recognize.  It will probably contain some sugar, but for us, good chocolate is one of our exceptions.

Happy shopping!

 

It tastes like candy!

Those are words out of the mouth of one of my 10 year olds when he ate his butternut squash last night.  "It tastes like candy!"  It was a proud moment, I have to admit.  One of my favorite recipes is maple bacon pecan and butternut squash by one of my favorite bloggers, PaleOMG   If you have never had butternut squash, I think you will be pleasantly surprised how good it is.  There are so many great winter squash's out there that can do more good than just for decoration on Thanksgiving.  One of the things I have loved about eating Paleo is discovering new foods!  We had this last night with out pecans, with a side of oven roasted broccoli, and Meat loaf.  Who could ever say Paleo eaters are depriving themselves?!?  If you are used to steaming your broccoli, try roasting it.  To me, it brings out a nutty flavor thats my kids will gobble up!  Just lightly coat your broccoli in some coconut oil or olive oil with some sea salt.  Put your oven on roast at 400 degrees.  Let them cook for roughly 10 minutes give or take.  Let me know what you think!

Paleo OMG Maple Bacon Pecan Butternut Squash