Pie. Sweet, Glorious Pie.

Pie. Sweet, Glorious Pie.
Printable Recipe

 

What's the one thing you miss since you've been on the paleo ride? Me? I miss desserts. I tell you what, I used to be a candy/cake/cookies/brownies/pie crazed woman. I used to pick out the red and purple skittles and eat those in bed. Once those flavors were gone, I would eat the green - then yellow - then orange. Sometimes my husband would look at me like "What the heck are you doing? How do you eat that garbage." But as sweet as he is, he smiled and continued watching tv with me. I love that man :)
 

 

 

I've made several pies that have been very tasty. Check out my paleo strawberry pie here! My sister recently made a paleo pumpkin pie and it was out of this world amazing! I hope you post your recipe soon so I can link up with you .. ahem, ahem. I'll be making a pumpkin pie soon and we'll see who's is better. Pumpkin pie and October/November just go hand in hand.

 

Well, I recently made a non-paleo sweet potato pie that is my mother's recipe. I don't know where she got it from or if it is a secret family recipe but I'll share with you my paleo version of it here. I have a non-paleo blog that I'll share the sugar-laden recipe to.. I'm not giving you that blog website unless you ask. Nicely. I don't want to be the bad influence, okay?

 

Let's move on to this pie. It's light and airy and is simply sweet. It has a little maple syrup for the sweetener along with the natural sugars from the sweet potatoes. This pie is so quick to throw together and it tastes great. I live for simplicity.

 

Ingredients:

Makes 1 pie crust and 1 pie filling

 

Pie Crust Recipe:

2cups almond flour

3Tbsp liquid egg whites or 1 egg yolk

pinch of salt

1/4cup ghee or unsalted butter

 

 



 

Sweet Potato Pie Filling:

2oz. butter, softened

1cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

3/4cup pure maple syrup

1/4cup almond milk or coconut milk

1tsp vanilla

2eggs, beaten (poor eggs.. why are they always so abused?)

1tsp cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add all of the pie crust ingredients together and pour into a lightly greased pie pan. Gently press down on the bottom and along the sides of the pie plate. Set aside.
In another large bowl, add the butter, sweet potatoes, maple syrup and milk and beat until well blended. Add the vanilla, eggs and cinnamon and mix well. Pour into the pie pan and bake approximately 60 minutes or until the middle has set.

  

I always ask my kids to try my recipes because if they like it, I know you will, too. They both scarfed it down quickly and gave me a thumbs up. If you try this recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about it!

Oh, and don't feel guilty if you splurge on this treat. You're special and you deserve to bake a pie and eat it too!

 

~Angela

Lightly Fried Potatoes

Lightly Fried Potatoes
Printable Recipe

 

Shall I touch on the topic of white potatoes; how, to some, they are a nightshade (an irritant)? My family is not affected by any type of potatoes, thankfully. We rarely eat potatoes anymore in this house, but when we do, I have to make sure they taste good.

Okay, so back to white potatoes and how they're not really paleo-friendly. In my world, I cut out everything that could have been a problem for my gut. Zero grains, sugars, processed foods and white/red/whatever potatoes. I slowly added them back into my normal diet to see if I had any gut or elevated glucose problems, and I didn't. I didn't notice anything out of the norm and was happy with my diagnosis. I do know that white potatoes are very starchy and aren't too healthy but they do have electrolytes and vitamins so I can't count them out altogether.

If I had to choose between a white and sweet potato, the sweet potato would win. Hands down. Any vegetable with a vibrant color would win out over something so drab and plain.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe if you consume white potatoes. If not, use a sweet potato or yam or zucchini! This recipe is pretty alternative to your needs so go with what you have and enjoy your foods. Sometimes foods are meant to be fried.

Amen.

Ingredients:
Serves 4
1/4cup olive oil or coconut oil (oil of your choice)
3 medium sized potatoes; white, red, purple, orange.. whatever floats your boat
S&P (Salt and Pepper to taste)

Directions:
In a medium skillet, add the cooking oil and heat on medium-high. If you don't like the skin on the potatoes, peel them first and then rinse any remaining grime off.

Slice the potatoes into thin pieces, keeping them as uniform as possible for even cooking. Add a handful at a time to the heated skillet and turn every minute until lightly golden brown. About 6-8 minutes total depending on how you've cut them. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yes, even sweet potatoes taste great with salt and pepper!

 

Tip: Sprinkle cinnamon and salt on the sweet potatoes for a different taste.

If your stomach cannot handle a white/red potato, please give this a shot with a sweet potato or zucchini or squash of choice. The possibilities really are endless.

Enjoy!
~Angela


Paleo Breakfast Scramble

Paleo Breakfast Scramble

Printable Recipe

 

 

Who gets tired of eating the same thing every single breakfast? I know I do and I just had to mix it up this week. I started by cleaning out my fridge. Anything that needed to be consumed that day was going into my breakfast. It's a fun way to reinvent breakfast and use leftovers from previous meals.

 

Here's what I did for this super fast and tasty breakfast.

 

Ingredients:Serves 1

1 small handful diced red potatoes

5-6 broccoli heads, diced

1 small bell pepper or any pepper of choice

7-8 slices of turkey meat

2 eggs

S&P (salt and pepper) to taste

1tsp cooking oil of choice, I prefer olive oil here

 

Directions:

In a skillet, heat up the oil on medium heat and add the diced vegetables. Saute until warmed through and add the turkey meat and cook until slightly browned. Next, add the eggs and scramble in the pan with the vegetables and turkey and cook thoroughly. Add salt and pepper and eat!



Pumpkins, Eggs and Soapboxes

Pumpkins, Eggs and Soapboxes

Printable Recipe

 

It has recently become a huge pet-peeve of mine if someone says "Paleo 'Diet'." I cannot for the life of me understand why people think that eating WHOLE FOODS is a diet? It's so absurd that people's mind really think this way.

"Oh, you're on the paleo diet?"
"Uhm, no. I eat real, whole foods while you eat garbage from a box. What do you call your way of eating? The garbage diet?"

Seriously.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox for now.

Paleo eating is only a style of eating. Vegetarians or vegans aren't associated with dieting because of their food choices, are they? I didn't think so either. It's a personal choice that some people have the hardest time grasping.

I think people in the 1800's would look at us now and wonder what the heck happened to us. Why do we have companies making all of the junk on our groceries shelves and why do people consume it? I don't know about you, but I like eating the way I do and if you think this "diet" is boring or you won't be able to eat what you want, well.. maybe you're just weak.

I remember starting this food journey and wondering if I would like it and if it would actually be beneficial. I have the before/after blood tests to prove that is works and is beneficial to my health and I wouldn't change it for anything. My food has awesome spices added to it so that it's not bland and I've actually stepped outside my comfort zone (no more fried chicken and french fries every other night) and have made some wonderful meals. I've surprised myself many times at how tasty my meals have become.

Mad props to God for creating all the delicious foods and spices we have!

 

Well, I guess I'll give you a great post-workout recipe and since it's fall, I've included another pumpkin recipe and it literally takes 5 minutes to make this meal. It's great cold or warm so you can pack it with ice or take it as is and eat it right after your workout.

 

Ingredients:
Serves 1; 14G Protein, 11 Carbs

1/2tsp cooking oil such as olive oil or coconut oil
1/2cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
2 egg whites
dash of salt
dash of cinnamon

 

 

Directions:

In a non-stick pan, heat up about 1/2tsp oil on medium heat. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and put the whites in the heated pan. Scramble the eggs until cooked through. Turn the heat down to low and add the pumpkin and cinnamon and cook until heated through. Sprinkle salt on top if desired and devour!

 

I hope you enjoy this PWO (post-workout) recipe. It has a very mild flavor and isn't nearly as sweet as a sweet potato but gives you enough carbs and protein to replenish your body after a hard workout.

 

And next time someone asks you about your "diet", tell them it's a lifestyle or a food choice or whatever but for crying out loud, it's not a diet!

 

~Angela


Eating Well and Exercising

Eating Well and Exercising

 

My crossfit box is having a push-up challenge for the ladies. Right now, everyone involved is supposed to do 35 push-ups daily for 14 days. I took this challenge on because I've been a complete slacker when it comes to working out. I could rattle off the excuses but do you really care? Nah, neither do I. I decided to do this challenge because it's easy, it only take a few minutes of my time during the day, and it just may help to get me back on the WOD track I belong on.

We have been doing this challenge for 5 days now and it's truly amazing. It was really hard at first and now it's getting easier. I think at the end of it I'll be back to doing the male version push-ups instead of the girlie ones on my knees.

I started off with 7 at a time. Five rounds of seven isn't too hard, is it? Well, the first day it was. The second day I did 7, 14, 14 and was impressed.. the days have continued on progressing quicker and more push-ups at a time before I had to rest.

 

Yesterday I did a 100 count program to get my body ready to look its best again. I did the following:
100 legs - 20 air squats, 20 weighted squats with 25#, 20 deadlifts with 25#, 20 lunges on my right leg and 20 lunges on my left leg.
100 abs - I did the majority of sit-ups straight ahead, some were to the left side and some were to the right side and some I did the scissor crunch.. uhh, you may have to google it :)
100 push-ups - those just sucked. I felt at times that I was kipping .. who kips doing pull-ups? haha ME!

 

Before bed, I did a lot of stretching for my entire body and I felt wonderful when I hopped in bed.

This morning I woke up and drank 1/2 lemon of a lemon, juiced (fresh squeezed) in 20oz. ice water before breakfast. My stomach cannot handle fruit juice hardly ever so I was suprised that I had zero discomfort drinking this. Lemon juice really helps to flush the liver and is just a great cleanse.

 

 

I feel great, I look better than the day before and am proud I got off my butt and worked it out. If you only have a few minutes a day to do a workout, at least it's better than nothing. If you're microwaving something and waiting on it, see how many squats you can do in a minute. See how many push-ups you can do in a minute.. give yourself fun quick bursts of exercise and keep it simple.

 

Ever heard the saying, "If it's important, you'll make it a priority"? Well, I've written that down on my to-do list that hangs on my refrigerator so I see it constantly as a reminder to get up and move!

 

I hope you're encouraged to move more and eat healthier.

One more thing.. there's a free book right now on Amazon. Just click here and it'll take you to the book. It may enlighten the ones that are new to the paleo lifestyle! Hopefully by the time you read this post, it'll still be free for you.

 

Have a super day!

~Angela



 



Schedules. Schedules. Schedules.

Schedules. Schedules. Schedules.

  

Photo Courtesy: Women's Health

 

I find that if I do not have something written down in plain view, I will be a slacker. I won't finish my goal or that looming project. I was listening to a radio station the other day and the host said "I love my planner. I take it with me wherever I go. I love to touch it; write in it; and check off my lists or goals I've taken care of." She went on to say how she hates the digital age and refuses to use her calender on her telephone to sync her and her husband's schedule.

I kind of snickered at this because I teeter on having a physical schedule and a schedule on my telephone because it's so handy. I list all of my medical or work appointments on my phone because it does give me a chance to set up reminders.

In order for me to accomplish daily tasks though, I need a physical schedule or calendar. I have a cleaning schedule listed on my fridge of morning and nightly chores along with a chore of the day (I will be happy to post that if anyone wants an example).

I also will be making a workout/healthy/motivation schedule. Sometimes I go throughout the day only drinking 16oz-20oz of water. My mind is slow and I'm stiff from not fueling my body properly so I set a goal to drink 60oz-80oz of water a day (if not working out .. more if I'm working out). By 8:00am, I need to have finished 20oz of water. By noon, another 20oz and by 4pm, another 20oz-30oz.

I don't really cheat throughout the day because I know if I eat something with wheat in it, my belly will rumble, bloat and cause some pretty stinky stuff!! I have sweets in the house but they're all in my freezer so it's not too readily available to consume. The healthy stuff is in the fridge or on my counter and is quick to grab so if I really need something sweet, I'll go for some grapes or an apple instead. It's all about mind control with me and if I can control what I eat by placing my items in the freezer, so be it.

 

Some people like to schedule cheat meals or cheat snacks. That's awesome if you can schedule something like that. If you can, go for it and write it down. Put it on paper and work hard towards that goal.

 

One other physical reminder I am doing is placing money (or IOU's if I don't have cash/change) into a mason jar (I'm slightly obsessed with mason jars right now). Once I've worked out that day, I will put a certain amount of money into it and when I've reached the end of the month, I can go spend that workout money on whatever I want. I can save it for something big or use it when I want to. Each workout I will put $1.00-$5.00 in the jar depending on how intense the workout was. If it is just a stroll around the block with the toddler, I'll put in $1.00. If it is a heavy lifting day, I'll put $3.00-$4.00 in it. If it's a PR (personal record), I'll put $5.00 and so on.

You make the rules to your money jar collection.

 

You control what you do with your time, money, and health. If you work M-F 8a-5p, try to get up 20 minutes earlier and do a quick 10-15 minute home workout. See how many push-ups you can do in a minute then see how many sit-ups you can do in a minute then move to squats. After your initial 3 minutes or testing, try to match those minutes again until your 15 minutes is up. Then start on the rest of your day. Hey, you'll be more energized today than you thought you would be!

 

Be happy. Be healthy. And most of all, do something good for yourself today. You deserve it!

 

~Angela

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy

Paleo and Holistic Cold Remedy

 

"Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food." - Hippocrates

 

My kids have been sick a lot this year with colds and ear infections. I'm not a fan of sickness (but who is?) and hate it when my kids get sick. I hate it even more when two of them are sick.. and I hate it even more if they get sick and then heal and then I get sick. HATE IT!

I was on a quest for finding a holistic and paleo cold remedy and luckily, I had the mixture right inside my pantry. Fresh, local honey and ground cinnamon. I usually find anything I want to make on pinterest. Everyone said it worked so I tried it early this year when the kids got sick. My throat started feeling scratchy and my lower back started to ache - which for me is the ultimate sign of sickness coming on.

I took the specified concoction and I was surprised that it worked. It warded off the cold and I only had a few aches the first day and I was more tired than usual on the second day and by the third day, I felt normal again. No cold! 

 

So, how does honey and cinnamon work to heal you? Well, let's take a look at the two elements.

First, honey is the only food in the world that will not spoil. Did you know that? I didn't until recently and thought, "wow.. those bees sure do know what they're doing!"
Second, honey is an antimicrobial, which means that it kills microorganisms that carry disease. In other words, it will feast on the germs and kill them before they spread into your body.

And how about the cinnamon? What does that do internally?

Cinnamon treats antiviral infections. Research has shown that it is an antiviral remedy which will kill the cold and flu virus internally.

We put the antiviral (cold fighter) and the antimicrobial (germ fighter) together and the most precious sickness fighter you can imagine has been created.

 

I've tried this twice this year and the benefits are amazing. I am proof that this does work and will continue reaching into my pantry instead of a medicine cabinet from now on. If you look for naturally safe solutions, you will find it. Just keep looking and digging and experimenting.

Cold Remedy Ingredients:

Makes 3 servings (take 3 times a day)
1Tbsp local, raw honey
3/4tsp ground cinnamon

 

Directions:

Stir the honey and cinnamon together in a small container and take 1tsp 3x's daily until all cold/flu symptoms are gone.

 

I mixed up several days worth of this mixture and gladly ate all of it.

I am not a medical professional. This is my own assessment and I will not be held for any misuse of this remedy.
 

Please let me know if you try this and how you like the results!

~Angela