It’s the end of the semester and a beautiful time for… procrastination.  I spent Friday cleaning house, Saturday gardening, and Sunday afternoon whipping up these little guys.  It was a treat for the boys that I could feed to them without feeling guilty.  And they loved it!  (It was also a great excuse to continue putting off grading papers, projects, and tests… oops.  Eventually, it all got graded.)  My version is not dairy-free, but I think it could easily be adjusted to make it so… hmmm… and now I’m reading that last sentence in the voice of Patrick Stewart.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, peeled
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 stick butter (or equivalent amount of coconut oil), softened
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs

Cream Cheese filling ingredients (see below for dairy free option):

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Remove cream cheese and butter from the refrigerator to allow them to soften.  Preheat oven to 365.  In a large food processor, finely chop carrots.  Add remaining cookie ingredients to the bowl and process together until a dough-like consistency, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary.  Measure out a tablespoon of dough for each cookie half, and form into flattened disc shapes.  Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet,  Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool completely.

For the icing filling, simply mix ingredients in a bowl and you’re ready to assemble your cookie sandwiches!  For a dairy-free option, I recommend trying my cashew cream recipe.  I haven’t personally tried it with these cookies, but I think it would work very well, particularly if you allow the assembled cookie sandwiches to chill in a refrigerator for an hour or overnight.  Yields 15-16 sandwich cookies (30-32 cookie halves).

I hope you enjoy these as much as my boys did!

Luigi Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 9 small portobello mushroom caps
• 1 small red onion (or 1/2 larger red onion)
• 3 carrots, peeled
• 2 large celery stalks
• 2 pounds ground meat (I have used ground turkey or half turkey/beef)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic (or more/less to taste)
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried (not ground) thyme
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 medium-sized handful fresh parsley

Instructions:

In a large dutch oven, brown the meat until it is cooked through.  While the meat is cooking, place onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in a food processor and process until finely chopped.  When meat is finished browning, drain the liquid carefully, then add the vegetables and cook on low for 2-3 minutes, or until vegetables are softened slightly.  Mix in salt, pepper, and thyme.  Finely chop (with a knife or with your food processor) parsley, mix in, then set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Clean mushrooms, remove stems (you can save them for another use, if desired) and place mushrooms, top side down, onto a baking sheet.  (I like to cover my sheet with parchment paper.)

Once the meat/veggie mixture has cooled enough to not cook the eggs when you mix them in, stir in eggs and almond flour.  With your hands (yes, you’ll need to get them a little dirty) form mixture into slightly flattened rounds, and top the mushrooms with them.  If you have any extra, you can form “meat patties” and place them on your baking sheet for any non-mushroom-lovers.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, or until very slightly browned.  Remove from oven and enjoy!

This is a very simple recipe, but it takes a little time to prepare, so plan ahead.  If you’re not already familiar with chia seeds, get to know them a little.  They are fabulous!  Very high in fiber and antioxidants, and they help to leave you “feeling full” if you have trouble with hunger cravings.  When you let them soak in liquid, they get a little jelly-like “bubble” around them, which is why I like using them in tea.  It’s reminiscent of the bubble tea I used to drink, but without all the starchiness.

Iced Rooibos Tea with Chia Seeds

Ingredients:

• Enough teabags or loose tea leaves to brew 12 oz tea (I used Blueberry Bliss from Teavana)
• 2-3 tablespoons chia seeds (depending on how thick you like it)
• Hot water

Directions:

Brew tea for desired number of minutes.  (I waited 8-10 minutes, but every tea is different.)  Place chia seeds in a tall glass and pour hot tea over the seeds.  Wait 30 minutes, stir, then place glass in the freezer.  (DO NOT forget about it!  Set a timer if you’re worried.  You can use ice too, but I didn’t want to water down my tea.)  Wait 30 more minutes, or until tea is chilled.  Remove glass from freezer, stir, and enjoy!

I prefer my tea unsweetened, but you are welcome to add a little honey if you’d like.  This was a fabulous “treat” at the end of a very long day, after the kids were in bed.  I curled up with my beverage and a Netflix episode of Doctor Who and I enjoyed an evening to myself.

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Some of you know that I completed P90X in December.  As far as “bucket list” items are concerned, I’m glad I did it.  It was a goal, and I finished, and I’m happy.  I learned a lot in the process, but one of the things I learned is that (at this time) I have NO desire to do another 60+ minutes a day, 6 days a week, 90 day long program again in the near future.  While it was a fantastic physical challenge, I think it actually took its physical toll on me as well.  As a person living with ulcerative colitis, I’m not sure I’m meant to “punish” my body for so long and with such a great intensity.  That, coupled with the fact that we were going through winter (a time when, metabolically speaking, we should be giving our bodies more rest anyway), caused me to reevaluate my fitness choices for the near future.  I took a couple of weeks off, spent some time aimlessly “trying” a few new ideas, and eventually settled on a plan that works for this time in my life.

Here is my fitness/exercise schedule, and I really love it.  I do yoga once or twice a week – sometimes it’s a quick 25-35 minute power yoga boost, and sometimes it’s an hour or more, but either way, I feel refreshed and empowered.  I take the kids swimming once or twice per week at the university’s pool.  It’s not the same as doing laps by myself, but I can tell you that doing laps with a 2 year old behind me clinging to my shoulders while I push a 4 year old on a flotation disc is, in itself, a fabulous workout!  And they have a blast.  When I’m not doing laps with them, I’m treading water and getting them to follow me up and down the lanes.  They are both still in life vests, so it takes some of the pressure off worrying for their safety, and allows me a bit more freedom.  I’m hoping to add a solo swim time one morning per week… as soon as I can afford a bathing suit that is more appropriate for athletic swimming.  (Mine has a cute skirt and a halter top – NOT ideal for swimming laps.)  Most recently, I’ve started doing some Crossfit WOD from home. I plan on doing this, or my own strength/weight training exercises, in shorter sessions at home, once or twice per week.

Most of all, I do something active with the kids every day that I can.  We walk to the park and I climb a tree or swing from the jungle gym.  We run around the field behind our house, and I sprint up the hill while they try to catch me or shoot me with little foam air rockets, giggling hysterically the entire time.  It’s not P90X, but it’s exactly what I need right now.

This recipe could not be easier.  All you need is coconut oil, chocolate chips, and the nuts of your choice.  Heat 1-2 cups dark chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals, stirring between, until melted.  Mix in 3-4 cups of nuts of your choice.  (I used blanched, sliced almonds and chopped walnuts.)  Spoon small mounds of the mixture onto parchment paper or wax paper, allow to cool/set, and enjoy!

Variations: add shredded coconut, a sprinkle of sea salt, a dash of vanilla extract or cinnamon… get creative!

ETA: One of my students mentioned adding raisins or coffee beans.  I’ll have to try this next time!

This is certainly not a recipe I would call “guilt free” (and it does contain dairy, so you will need to avoid this recipe if you are sensitive), but it is definitely delicious comfort-food!  I suspect that coconut cream would make a nice substitute for the cream cheese.  I am, unfortunately, a person who reacts much more severely to coconut than I do to dairy, so the cream cheese version is right for me.

Apple Maple Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

• 6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened and room temperature
• 2 crisp, sweet apples
• maple syrup
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• salt
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Dice apples into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl.  Add cream cheese, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg and a dash of salt.  Mix together and let sit for a few minutes to allow flavors to mingle.

Pound chicken breasts flat between two sheets of waxed paper.  Melt coconut oil in the bottom of a baking dish.  Place a heaping spoonful of apple mixture inside the chicken breast, wrap the meat around the filling, and place chicken breast (seam side down) in baking dish.  Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.  If there is leftover filling, use it to fill in the cracks between the chicken breasts in the baking dish.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and drizzle 1/4 cup maple syrup over the top, followed by a light sprinkle of cinnamon.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.  After it finishes baking, before serving, spoon some of the juices over the top.

Variation (optional): Add some chopped walnuts to the apple mixture.

SO delicious!!!  Enjoy!

I finally did it.  I found a local grass-fed beef supplier.  It felt a little like I was joining ”the mob” as I asked my friend about it: (Hushed tones) “Hey!”  ”Yeah?”  ”I hear you’ve got… you know… connections.”  ”Uh… whatever could you be talking about?  What kind of person do you think I…” “You know… BEEF connections.”  ”Well, who wants to know?”  ”I dunno… I heard you know a guy.”  ”Okay, yeah.  I know a guy.  What’s it worth to ya?”

Okay, so the actual conversation was a lot less interesting, but the end result is a delicious quarter of a cow in my freezer.  Yay!

Italian Meat and Veggie Loaf

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 2 zucchini
• 1 red onion
• about 4-6 small mushrooms
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• Salt to taste
• (Optional) 2/3 cup fresh grated asiago cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.  Grate zucchini, and add to a large bowl.  In a food processor, finely chop onion, mushrooms, and garlic.  Add them to the bowl.  Add remaining ingredients, and mix with your hands.

Form the mixture into a log shape on a baking sheet (like a jelly roll pan, so the pan has edges and the “juices” don’t overflow off the sides and into your oven).  Flatten it slightly – this will help it to cook better/faster.  Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the center is done.

Once again, this is paleo, grain free, gluten free, egg free, nightshade free, nut free and has a dairy free option (which would make it Whole30).  Bringin’ it to the PEOPLE!  … or something.

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Side note:  You see the fresh parsley I included to make the picture pretty?  Yeah, my 2 year old ate it.  All of it.  As in, he grabbed it by the handfuls and chomped on it like a little bunny.  I really don’t have to worry about him getting enough veggies.

I tried to find a creative title for this recipe.  I even asked my husband (the “king of puns”) for help. The best thing he could come up with was “A C4 Salad – Exploding with Flavor!”  The title refers to (A)vocado, (C)hicken, (C)abbage, (C)ilantro, and (C)ucumber.  Yeah, I wasn’t loving it.  

This is a versatile recipe, as it can be eaten like a regular salad, or scooped into cucumber cups, party style, which is an idea I got from Pinterest.  I thought the cucumber cups were really FUN!  (My husband, however, looked at my plate and said I built an amphitheater.  :-P)   If you’re in a hurry, you can always slice or chop the cucumbers to incorporate them into the salad.

I’ve spent a little time in Guadalajara when I’ve visited to perform with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, and one of the things I LOVE is the food.  It’s bears absolutely no resemblance to the so-called Tex-Mex of the USA.  It’s full of flavor, fresh herbs and spices, and the “tortilla maker” is an 87 year old woman back in the kitchen.  I’ve never been able to find a good Molcajete de Pollo in the United States.  If you know of a restaurant that serves it, please share!  But I digress…  I used some of my favorite flavors from Jalisco when I put together this salad, and it brought me (momentarily) back to the Santo Coyote, on a starlit night where we were serenaded by live mariachi music.  These were my pre-paleo days (and before kids, too!).

Chicken Avocado Salad with Cilantro and Lime

Ingredients:

• One rotisserie chicken, chopped
• Two avocados, diced
• 2/3 green cabbage, chopped
• 5 green onions (scallions), white and pale green parts, minced
• Juice of 2 limes
• Two handfuls of fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt to taste
• One large English Cucumber

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except cucumber in a large bowl.  For “salad style” you can either chop the cucumber and add it, or slice it thinly and use it as a base for the salad.  For “party style”, slice 1-2 inch sections, scoop out the center with a grapefruit spoon, and fill the cucumber “cups” with the salad.

This recipe works for SO many diets.  It is paleo, Whole30, gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free, nut free, egg free, and nightshade free!  WOW!

Happy New Year, everybody!  Thanks for reading!

Turkey.  Cranberries.  Apples.  Does anything shout, “Welcome to November!” louder than these ingredients?  And this is a crockpot recipe that is oh-so-easy to assemble for those busy days when you need to throw something together that will be ready when you come home from work (or the not-so-busy days when you’d just rather be curled up on the couch with a good book and not running around in the kitchen!) 

Although the recipe calls for maple syrup, it’s definitely not a “sweet” flavor by the time the turkey juices contribute to the mix.  And the finished product (in my opinion) works much better when you treat the cranapple mixture like a garnish/sauce, and not like a side dish.  It makes a wonderful accompaniment to the moist, fall-off-the-bone turkey breast that has been simmering in the crock pot all day. 

Ingredients:

• One 5-6 pound bone-in, skin-on turkey breast
• 3 apples, sliced (I choose not to peel them, but you could if you wanted to)
• 4 cups raw cranberries, rinsed and “mushy ones” removed
• salt
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

Place turkey breast in a large crockpot/slow cooker.  (I had to place mine on its side to get it to fit.)  Sprinkle with salt.  Surround with apples and cranberries.  Pour vinegar and maple syrup over the top.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meat is cooked through and fruits are softened.  (About an hour before dinner, I turned the turkey over on its other side, but I don’t think this step is essential.)

After removing the turkey breast from the crockot, “mush” the berries and apple slices a bit, and then serve them over the top of the turkey.  Easy and delicious!

My 4-yr-old “L” wanted me to take his picture with the turkey. He said it was “so beautiful!” Yes, he got himself dressed today. Yes, his shirt is inside-out. Yes, he is still completely gorgeous.

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Side note:  I love my crockpot.  It’s one of the ginormous ones that’s “Crockpot” brand.  I bought it at Costco last year for my birthday.  But I was really bummed when the stoneware insert got a crack in it a few weeks ago.  I contacted the company, and they sent me a new one!  Hooray for customer service!  Good job, Crockpot company!

I was having a particularly lovely afternoon with L, my just-turned-4 year old, after I came home from work yesterday.  We snuggled together on the recliner, read books, and had some great one-on-one conversation.  The topic turned to recipes, and he started coming up with ideas of things for us to make together.  First, he wanted berry popsicles, so off we flew to the kitchen, throwing frozen mixed berries, ripe bananas, vanilla extract, almond milk, and a scoop of almond butter into the blender, whizzing it all together, then pouring it into popsicle molds.  It took some convincing before he finally understood that there would be some waiting involved in the preparation of our treat, but eventually he succumbed to the idea that popsicles would be an excellent post-dinner dessert.  Meanwhile, we talked about the difference between the paleo foods we buy at the farmer’s market, and the boxed/processed foods that are made in factories.  He held up the box of almond milk and declared, “SOME paleo foods DO come in boxes!!!”  You got me there, buddy.

While we waited for our ice pops to completely freeze, L announced that he wanted chicken nuggets for dinner.  I had never made chicken nuggets before, and the last time he ate them from a fast food place, it was probably 3 years ago.  But the kid has a ridiculous memory.  Seriously.

The name “Chicken Uggas” comes from J, my 2-year-old.  L still INSISTS that they are nuggets, NOT uggas, but I think “ugga” has a nice caveman-like ring to it.  Don’t you agree?

So I set to work.  And honestly, these were insanely delicious.  The flavor just about knocked me over.  Here’s the recipe:

Chicken “Uggas” (Paleo Chicken Nuggets)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups almond flour
• 3 heaping tablespoons arrowroot
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut chicken into bite-sized “nuggets”.  Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk them together.  In a separate, larger bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients.  Set up an assembly line, left-to-right, of chicken pieces, egg bowl, dry ingredient bowl, and a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. (You’ll need a fairly large baking sheet for this – my chicken pieces filled every nook and cranny!)

Dip the chicken pieces into the egg mixture, then roll in dry ingredient mixture, and then place on lined baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven, and enjoy plain or with your favorite dipping sauce!

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I made an impromptu spicy honey mustard sauce that worked great for dipping, but a homemade BBQ would also be fantastic.  I also served these with a side of pureed carrots, which are SO sweet and delicious.  I peeled about 12 carrots, chopped them, and sauteed them in a 1/2 stick of butter until they were soft.  Then I added some salt and nutmeg, and just enough almond milk to give it the consistency I was looking for when I mixed it with a hand/wand blender.  It almost tastes like pudding it’s so good!

Enjoy!

Do you ever come home from work and think, “How in the world am I going to make an entire dinner?  I’m hungry NOW!”  With a little planning and a few easy ingredients, you can have something ready in just a few minutes. I’ve been buying meat in bulk lately and freezing the extra, because the stores around here like to “bundle” for cheaper prices.   I knew yesterday that I would want tonight to be a steak night, so I threw a huge sirloin in the meat drawer of the fridge before going to bed last night.

This is one of my go-to combinations for seasoning steak when I’m in a hurry.  Keep these things in your fridge and they will work as a great marinade.

Ingredients:

• One 2 1/2 pound sirloin steak (or whatever cut of steak you prefer), pounded slightly to tenderize
• 3 tablesoons dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• many generous dashes of Frank’s Ret Hot sauce

Directions:

Preheat your grill to high heat.  Meanwhile, mix marinade ingredients in a large, flat dish.  (It should be an almost paste-like consistency).  Coat the steak with the marinade, and allow it to soak in the flavors while the grill finishes preheating.  Grill until it’s done the way you like it!

Feel free to adjust the amounts in the marinade to suit your tastes.  Enjoy!