Oh dear, it's deer!

Dinner last night was a triumph by the husband. A meal centered around the deer he shot in September...that I actually liked!

Spicy almond crusted deer blackstrap medallions, half a sweet potato, half an avocado and some sautéed broccoli I and Brussels sprouts.

To make the deer:

Ingredients
• 1 deer blackstrap (for 2 people)
• almond meal
• Johnny's seasoning salt (this is not fully paleo and you could easily sub your own favorite spice mix + salt to taste)
• cayenne pepper (to taste)
• bacon grease (or your preferred cooking oil)

Directions
Slice blackstrap into medallions about 1 inch thick. Place in a plastic bag with enough almond flour to coat, plus desired seasonings. Shake to coat well. Heat oil in a skillet, place medallions in skillet. Then leave them alone until you see the blood start to rise to the top of the meat - about 3 minutes (gross I know, that's why the Mr. cooks this meal). Flip and cook an additional couple of minutes. Really just a couple, like 2 or 3, you do not want to overlook!

Enjoy! (and remember to thank the husband for being a good hunter)

A holiday treat that is Paleo (and not meat)!

I know the holidays are here when Trader Joe's brings back their seasonal Vanilla & Cinnamon Black tea! Warm, slightly spicy with the essence of holiday sweetness, it's my Christmas in a mug!

Luckily, it's just tea and spices, no sweeteners in sight. So I'm declaring it Paleo approved and drinking it to my heart's content!

Tuna Yamma Jamma

This dish came about through that oft-occurring state of "I need to go to the grocery store"-ness. So once again I scrambled trough the cupboards and found a fast, warm and filling lunch to whip up on a snap!

Ingredients:
Sweet potato (or in this case, yam)
Tuna packed in oil
Capers (to taste)
Butter

Process:
Microwave yam until a fork slides in easily. Cut it in half and spread cut side up on your plate. Mash it a little with some butter. Drain the can of Tina and spoon into mashed yam. Top with capers to taste, for that salty kick to jam with the sweetness of the yam.

Dig in!

A big ol plate of food!

Nomnomnom, now this is what I call a good post-wod dinner! Chicken thighs with artichokes, asparagus, half an avocado and the last bit of Thanksgiving leftovers aka. mashed rutabaga.

What's on your plate tonight?

Thanksgiving Plan - Paleo and Not

Image c/o: Craftily Ever After

This year for thanksgiving we are hosting both sides of our family at our house...9 people total. I love hosting at our place so we don't have to split our time between two families (and I have a bit more control over what we eat).

Here's my plan:
Appetizer: Smoked Salmon
Appetizer: Deviled Eggs
Appetizer: Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Turkey
Paleo dressing 
Rutabaga
Brussels Sprouts
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
Paleo Pumpkin Pie

Now, I will admit there will be non-paleo food on our table to appease everyone's Thanksgiving traditions, but my plan is to stick to the paleo options as much as possible (though wine will be a necessary indulgence!)

We'll also be tempted by:
Ham - a decent option but will be glazed with sugar I'm sure
Homemade bread
Mashed potatoes
Gravy (corn starch thickener)
Traditional pumpkin pie with cool whip
And the hardest part for me, my moms traditional stuffing.

Wish us luck!

Pseudo-Nicoise Salad

I whipped this salad together today based on what I had in the fridge and cupboard, and it turned out even better than I had imagined it could!

Lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Can of tuna packed in oil, drained
Capers
Half an avocado

Chop everything up, throw in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and dig in! It reminds me of a pseudo nicoise salad, one of my faves!

What's your favorite salad to whip together?

Breakfast Sauté

This morning I woke up starving and decided I needed to fill my belly with something warm and satisfying. Enter the breakfast sauté.

I grabbed some spinach, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms from the fridge, sautéed them in a pan with some coconut oil, salt and pepper and topped it all with 2 fried eggs.

The eggs weren't pretty (my husband usually does the egg flipping, I can't seem to do it without tearing everything apart)...but it all tasted delicious!

Back at it!

Wow, it's been a while since my last post...

We've not been eating that great as of late and I've been feeling the ill-effects. Sore joints, bloat, upset tummy, etc.

So we're back at it again! Starting the week off right by prepping grab and go breakfast foods for hubs and myself. Hard boiled eggs and fritatta should get us through a few busy mornings.

Hello paleo my good friend! 

Paleo Pizza

Pizza is one of the hardest things for Bill and I to resist when we're trying to be healthy & Paleo, and one of the things we crave the most...oooh Costco pizza.

So, I attempted a paleo pizza we wouldn't have to feel too guilty eating.

Paleo Pizza Crust:

Adapted from: Paleo Hacks

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 can real coconut milk
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon organic baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat eggs in a mixing bowl. Add coconut milk

In a separate bowl whisk together coconut flour and all remaining ingredients. Make sure to whisk very well and break up any lumps in the coconut flour. Mix in wet mixture. 

Let stand for 5 minutes. The dough should be spreadable but not too thin - if it's think like pancake batter it's too thin. Add additional coconut flour 1 Tbsp at a time if needed to thicken it a bit. 

Spread thinly and evenly on a pizza pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You'll need some patience here, I suggest using a spatula - maybe greased a little with coconut oil or butter if needed.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in preheated oven. Watch for edges turning brown.

Remove crust from oven. Carefully flip the crust over onto a new sheet of parchment paper. Remove the parchment that the crust was baking on and discard. Place the crust back on the baking pan and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until desired crispness. Remove from oven and top at will and broil until toppings are warmed/melted to your liking. 

For this pizza we used Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce, sliced deli ham, Applegate farms pepperoni, thawed frozen spinach, crumbled feta cheese & crushed red pepper flakes. Yummy in my tummy!

What will you top yours with?

This is what the crust looked like after baking completely:

And here's our finished product:

This is why I love Saturday morning workouts!

Good workout followed by GIANT brunch!

Today's was leftover sauteed asparagus & green beans (from the garden, woot!), ham & 3 sauteed eggs with a sprinkle of good feta on top. Accompanied by a decaf coffee with organic half & half and I'm one very happy gal!

This almost makes it ok that I'll be spending the rest of the day in front of my computer doing work stuff...trying to catch-up/get ahead for next week. There are not enough hours in the day for all this start-up stuff!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Make it Paleo - my paleo idols!

One of my favorite Paleo blogs is The Food Lovers Primal Palate - and I'm so excited that they're publishing a cookbook! If you haven't visited their blog, I suggest you run your little clicking fingers right over there right now and check out their book preview. Their photography is stunning, their recipes are delicious and they are a super cute couple to boot! Check em out here: www.makeitpaleo.com

Warm Spicy Nuts

Yes, these are delicious. Make them, asap!

Spicy Almond Recipe

*Recipe adapted from Mark's Daily Apple

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of whole almonds, shelled

Salt to taste - the original recipe calls for 1 TBSP, I think I used about 1 Tsp...

In a non-stick skillet heat the olive oil and spices over low heat for 3 or so minutes. Place the nuts in a bowl and pour oil mixture over the top, toss and stir. Then, spread nuts into a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet and pop in a oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes, shaking the tray about every 5 minutes to cook evenly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool two hours. Store in an airtight container.

My Name in Lights (aka. On the Big Board)

I'm on the board! I got my name on the big board at our crossfit twice in one day! Some may not consider 3rd out of 3 to be something to brag about, but I take my victories where I can find 'em thankyouverymuch!

Urban Foraging: Cherries

Found, foraged, hand-picked and local cherries from our neighbor's tree - deliciouso!

What I ate: 7/8/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 13

Today I came across this carbohydrate chart and am going to experiment with staying under 100 grams of carbs per day to see if that helps boost the fat-loss. I've been reaching for lots of fruit since being sick this week, and I think that has stagnated my progress. Meat and veggies here I come! (P.S. I would highly recommend checking out the post "When Eating Healthy is Making You Fat", the story on that post really resonated with me.)

image c/o: Mark's Daily Apple: "When Eating Healthy is Making You Fat"

I love tracking my food this way (when I can stick with it) because it really gives me a visual on even more than just what I'm eating, but also carb/fat/protein breakdowns, time of day eating, and makes me think about tracking & posting my food here for anyone to see before I cheat!

Loseit.com (the program I'm using to track my food and grab these pictures of my day) also gives me this handy little chart to show my nutrient breakdowns. I'll be using this more to help me hit that <100g Carbohydrate goal as well. As you can see, I barely squeaked by on that goal today.

What I ate: 7/7/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 12

Another day battling this sore throat/cold that's bugging me. I'm finding it's hard to stay at this calorie level when I'm not working out. Apparently I really need those exercise calories to keep me full through the day.

What I ate: 7/6/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 11

One of the things many people talk about when jumping in to the Paleo Challenge is a feeling of getting sick or coming down with a cold (aka. low-carb flu). Unfortunately, I'm in the throes of that symptom currently. Sore throat, mucus build up in throat (TMI, sorry), sore muscles & lethargy. This time around I'm not sure if these are symptoms of sugar/carb withdrawal, or if I'm actually sick, but either way I'm not feeling too hot. You'll see that my eating today was a bit wonky - honey/plantain chips were 2 indulgences today which were my "comfort foods" while trying to keep it as paleo as I could. Those darn plantain chips threw me over my self-imposed calorie threshold today, but the good news is they're now gone ;-)

What I ate: 7/5/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 10

You'll notice there was a gap in logging my food for the 3rd and 4th. Oh man, I fell off the rails a bit. Far too much wine on the 3rd lead to eating several crackers & a peanut butter sandwich on white bread about midnight. Big oops - and was feeling the effects on the 4th. Lesson learned, if you eat paleo/calorie restricted for breakfast & lunch, and then start drinking wine in the afternoon before eating any dinner...disaster ensues.

The 4th was a wine/alcohol free day (still feeling the effects of the 3rd) but I did succumb to the temptations of some cheese, a sugar cookie, popcorn and several marshmallows. Ugh! Paleo in a social setting is my weakness.

But, 7/5 I forced myself back on track and the paleo train is going strong ever since. Here's what I ate on day 10 of the challenge:

What I ate: 7/2/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 7

1 full week of the challenge down and I am feeling good! Cravings not too bad, no cheats except for a glass of wine last night & the bloat of the previous few weeks of carb overload was starting to go down. Here's what I ate:

What I ate: 7/1/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 6

A bit delayed in getting these updates up - Hope everyone had a great long weekend & a very happy 4th of July!

What I ate 7/1/2011

What I Ate: 06/30/2011

Can you believe it's July already? Where is this year going? January feels like yesterday!

No workout this day - and dinner at a friends house, so went over on calories a bit...but did manage to keep it Paleo & also resist the wine. (the same will not be said for this weekend re. wine).

What I Ate: 06/29/2011: Paleo Challenge Day 3

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary, so we braved the world of restaurant dining paleo style. I'm sure the waitress thought we were a little crazy/high-maintenance, and for the first time EVER I turned away the bread basket. Overall I'm going to say it was a success, though I know that there was some hidden sugar in at least one of the sauces, and a few mashed potatoes may have ended up on my fork when the waitress forgot to sub sweet potatos for the yukon gold potatoes.

Good thing it was such a long and intense workout yesterday, or I would have been WAY over on calories for the day.

Rest day today - thank goodness!

What I Ate: 06/28/2011

Glad the plantain chips are now gone! Too much applesauce yesterday too - I love tracking my food - really shows me what's going on and what I need to work on!

What I Ate: 06/27/2011

45 Day Paleo Challenge!

Tomorrow's the first day of our second Paleo Challenge with Northwest Crossfit. This time we're going to go for 45 days of strict compliance. Again we'll be following the guidelines of the Whole9 Whole 30 Challenge. 

So tonight we stocked up on meat, fish, veg, some fruit & macadamia nuts at Costco (and indulged in a last night cheat meal of pizza & ice cream).

Here's our meal plan for the week:

Monday: Tom Kha Soup
Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs
Wednesday: Chicken with Artichokes (no cheese) & Aaparagus
Thursday: Taco Salad
Friday: Lettuce wrapped hamburgers with broccolini
Saturday: Red Thai Curry (Recipe from Everyday Paleo)
Sunday: Grilled Chicken with baked sweet potato & brussels sprouts

Breakfasts will be eggs, black coffee, grapefruit, bacon on the weekend, Lara bars
Lunches will be leftovers from the night before and/or salads, hard boiled eggs, tuna

I'll be taking measurements tonight as well as weighing myself first thing tomorrow morning so I can keep an accurate record of my progress over the next 45 days. I won't be weighing myself every day - I havent quite decided yet, either once a week or just tomorrow and then taking measurements & weighing again after the 45 days. Do you think weighing more frequently keeps your motivation up?

Since our last strict challenge back in February & March, we kept pretty paleo up until a couple of weeks ago. With traveling & many weekends away with friends, I for one have struggled to say no to the bread & sweets & popcorn & pizza and all the rest of it. But I've been feeling the ill effects in my tighter fitting clothes, lethargy, aches & pains, and lack of progress in my workouts. So we're back on it full force starting tomorrow morning and excited to get healthy!

I'm planning to post more consistently over the next several weeks & share our favorite recipes - so stay tuned & if you're participating in the challenge, keep us posted on how you're doing as well!

This is what it's all about!

Learn more about the Paleo Diet.

After a weekend of unspeakable gluttony...

After a glorious long weekend at a cabin in Lake Chelan  with friends, eating untold paleo-faileo foods & several (many) beverages which were not just water - Mr. Buck and I are both feeling the after effects. Bloating, water retention, sluggishness, fatigue & feeling a bit pukey during today's WOD. 

So, for dinner: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 carrot, 1 apple and 1 grapefruit + black decaf tea. 

Detoxification time has come

Chicken with Artichokes

I made this for the dinner group we participate in several weeks ago (and again this past Memorial Day weekend) - and it's one of my favorite recipes because it is SO easy & great for a big group!

Chicken Thighs with Artichoke Hearts and Feta Cheese 

Adapted from:  Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

• 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs, excess fat removed
• 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 cup feta cheese (optional & can easily be omitted if you don't do dairy)
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• salt and fresh pepper

Combine artichoke hearts along with liquid and chicken and let it marinate about 20 minutes or longer. After it's marinated, drain all liquid, add garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.

Grill chicken & artichokes until cooked. Artichokes just need a minute or two to get a little crispy & do best in a grill basket so they don't fall through the grate of your grill to be lost to the fiery abyss - so sad because they are delicious!.

Place chicken & artichokes in an oven-safe dish. Then top chicken with feta and broil in the oven for a minute to melt the cheese. Remove from oven and top with fresh parsley.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy long weekend friends!

Cheers to lots of grilled meat & veggies (and lots of wine - wine's from grapes, so it's Paleo, right?)

We're in charge of dinner for 7 people tonight and Sunday night - so you can bet lots of protein & veg on the grill are in our future!

Tonight: hamburgers, brats & grilled corn on the cobb

Sunday: chicken with artichokes (recipe coming soon) & a greek salad

My mouth is watering already!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Source: fitnessmagazine.com via Julie on Pinterest

I like vegetables!

found c/o: The Clothes Make the Girl

Pesto Green Beans & Spice Rubbed Pork Chops

Last week Mr. Buck and I took advantage of a sunny Seattle day to fire up the grill. I also was super excited that Trader Joe's has brought back their $2.99 basil plants - and ours had tons of leaves ready to be used up - so pesto it is! Now, green beans are debatable as far as their compliance with the stricter tennets of the Paleo diet - but I'm not going to debate that here. I'm just going to say this...we eat them occasionally.  If you prefer not to eat green beans, this pest would be great on just about anything so  use it as you see fit.

Pesto with Green Bean Ingredients:
(this recipe makes enough for one meal, I'd recommend doubling to have some on hand for dipping veggies or sauce for spaghetti squash later in the week)

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 4 medium sized garlic cloves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 lbs green beans

Place it all (except the green beans) in your food processor or blender (both will work) & blend to combine.



Then get your greenbeans ready. Yes, we used frozen, but fresh would be great as well.



I microwaved them to steam as the bag suggested & then threw them in a pan with the pesto sauce to finish them off.




Spice Rubbed Pork Chops Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 pork chops

Mix all spices together & rub on all sides of your pork chops. Rub all that spicy goodness in real good!



Then get your husband to grill them up - he prescribes 5 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on the other, then 5 minutes on the first side again but turn the chop 45degrees and repeat for 5 more minutes on the second side. That should do it, but of course check them to make sure the juices run clear and they're cooked all the way through.



Plate & enjoy!

Biggest Loser Contestants Adopt Paleo Diet!

In order to kick it up a notch for the big finale, 2 of the Biggest Loser final 4 have adopted the Paleo Diet to take their fat loss to the next level.

I haven't really been watching this season - but I guess now I'll have to check it out to see how they do!

You can check out the article HERE


image c/o: Bitten & Bound

Grilled Coconut Kale & Roast Beef

Tonight's dinner came together based on what we had available in our fridge - and was a repeat (with some minor changes) of a meal we enjoyed with some friends last week. The kale has a wonderful almost meaty texture & is really complimented by the coconutty sauce.

These two pair very well together and the cooking of both is quite complimentary.

Grilled Coconut Kale:

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of Kale
• 1 can of Coconut Milk 
• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 3/4 tsp. Cayenne
• 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice

Directions:
Wash & dry the kale, remove the rough lower stems, but leave the leaves intact. Put in a large bowl. In a saucepan over low heat combine the can of coconut milk, paprika and cayenne. Warm just until everything combines. Add the lemon juice & then pour over the kale. Mix well & let marinate for 4 hours. Just when you're ready to eat, grill the kale for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Roast Beef

• Beef Bottom Round Roast (2.5 - 3 lbs)
• 1 1/4 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix all ingredients (except the roast) in a small bowl. Set aside to let the flavors come together for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare your pan. We don't have a roasting pan w/rack, so I make-do by creating tin foil spirals & placing them on the bottom of a Pyrex dish. Coat the meat with the spice mixture, rub all over. Place on your roasting pan w/rack, or on top of the tinfoil spirals in your Pyrex dish. Roast in pre-heated oven for about 1 hour or until thermometer inserted into the middle reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from oven, cover loosely with tin foil & let rest for 15 minutes. Slice & Serve.

Roast Beef recipe adapted from here
Kale recipe adapted from here

The Paleo Gods Were Angered

It's been a little quite around these parts for a few days - don't worry, I'll get my steam back.... Unfortunately we angered the Paleo Gods on Friday night, and I haven't been able to even think about food since.

In the spirit of full disclosure, here's what went down. Mr. Buck and I decided to go out for a bit of a cheat meal on Friday night. We dropped in to one of our favorite mexican restaurants and endulged in tortilla chips & salsa followed by a burrito for Mr. Buck & Tortilla Chicken Soup for me. It was delicious, but as soon as we got back to the house I knew I was feeling "off". I thought it was just my stomach giving me a gentle reminder that I'd been bad, and that I could sleep it off and be better the next day.

I'll spare you the details, but both Mr. Buck and I came down with a pretty wicked case of food poisoning. Saturday & Sunday were spent on the couch (when not in the bathroom) and the only foods either of us were able to stomach has been salines, plain white toast, ginger ale, gatorade & finally on Sunday night some Mac & Cheese (yep, the stuff from the box). The thought of anything resembling meat, or consisting of a taste or texture other than carby & absorbant made me clutch my stomach & shed a silent tear. So, we resorted to the most forbidden of Paleo foods to get us through this hell.

But, I'm happy to report that we're finally getting back on track. We had our first WOD this evening & felt the pain of poor eating (not enough, and not the right stuff). Mr. Buck is currently grilling up a pork tenderloin & some veggies, so we'll see if I'll be able to choke that down. If so, we'll be back up and running and I promise to come back with some fun Paleo recipes soon.

P.S. While I was out - has anyone seen the amazing Carrot Cake that the Food Lovers posted?

It's on my must make ASAP list - and probably should be on yours too! (Note: this is not fully paleo/primal as Mr. Buck & I try to follow the plan, but it's fairly close and a good recipe to have on hand for a special occasion - and no, Tuesday night does not generally qualify as a special occasion).

Dangerously Delicious

I found this delicacy at the grocery store yesterday and bought it on an impulse (again a reminder - never go to the grocery store hungry)! Luckily it is loosely paleo compliant - and super delicious!

Ingredient List:

• Organic Coconut Milk (Organic Coconut, Water, Guar Gum)
• Organic Agave Syrup
• Organic Fair Trade Vanilla Extract
• Organic Fair Trade Cocoa

We won't be adding it to our weekly grocery list - but it's something I'll keep in the back of my mind when ice cream becomes a necessity (as it sometimes does)!

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This dish is on regular rotation in our household these days. It satisfies our craving for something warm and comforting, and is something I wouldn't be ashamed to serve to guests. It's a great recipe to have in the back of your mind as well as it's pretty adaptable to whatever you may have around the house (i.e. use a can of diced tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes & pizza sauce, or spinach or other vegetables instead of the broccoli). Mix, match & enjoy!

 Ingredients:

• 1 Medium Spaghetti squash
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1lb ground beef
• 1 bag of frozen broccoli (or 1 head of fresh broccoli, chopped)
• 1 cup diced tomato (I used cherry tomatoes because that's what we had on hand)
• 1 cup Muir Glenn Organic Pizza Sauce (keep the remainder of the can for paleo pizza later in the week :-) )
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1-2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or as much/little as you like depending on how spicy you like your food)
• Enough Coconut Oil to grease a 7x11 Pyrex baking dish

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
• Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds & innards
• Place one half of squash cut side down in pyrex dish and add about 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of the dish, Microwave for 10-12 minutes. When one half is cooked, pull the squash out and set aside, repeat with second half.
• While the squash is cooking, add garlic, onions & ground beef to a pan on the stove over medium/high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meet is browned. 
• Add tomatoes & broccoli, stir
• Add pizza sauce, 1/2 cup water and spices (basil, oregano & crushed red pepper flakes)
• While the meat mixture simmers, use a fork to scrape the spaghetti squash into strands. I find that doing this over a big bowl is easiest & helps to contain the mess. Then I just dump all of the scraped squash into the pan with the meat mixture. Stir to combine
• Now that the squash is done cooking in your pyrex dish, you can use that same dish to bake the casserole. Dump out the water & grease the dish with coconut oil
• Transfer meat/squash mixture to baking dish, bake in oven for 20-30 minutes until bubbly.
• Enjoy!

 

Recipe adapted from Mark's Daily Apple

Coco-Berry Smoothie

One of my favorite post workout snacks has become a green smoothie. Now, I know the final product doesn't look green - but I swear there are greens in there. It may sound strange, but after the first time I added some greens to my smoothie I was a believer. This is a great way to add nutrients and bulk to a fruit smoothie, it's so filling. I usually use spinach for this, but today we only had kale in the house and it worked just as well. This also makes a great breakfast, but I'm really trying to incorporate more protein into my mornings,

So, while it might sound strange, I highly recommend giving it a try - you can't taste the greens at all!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped Italian Kale
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 heaping cup frozen berries 

Yep, that's it! Though I can say that adding a half banana here really seals the deal, but unfortunately we were out of those too.

Directions:

• Blend the kale and coconut milk in the blender until smooth. It is important to do this part first, it helps the greens get chopped up really finely to avoid big bits of leaves getting stuck in your straw.
• Add the berries (and banana if you have it) and blend until combined. 

• Enjoy with a spoon and a bendy straw!