Stir Fry Beef

As one of my friends would say … oh dear …

This Stir Fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onions was simply delicious. We did “cheat” on this though and used soy sauce which we normally don’t use on the paleo diet but every now and then (so I’ve been told) it’s okay to cheat as long as it doesn’t make you digress back into the “old days” of sugar and gluten laden foods.

Stir Fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onions
Stir Fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onions

The soy sauce did make a huge difference (for me) in this recipe. I’m not sure if replacing it with something else would have given it the same “umph.” Any folks out there have any ideas on this?

It’s hard for us to find a good Asian restaurant to eat at that doesn’t have food laden with msg.

The stir fry was served with Gluten Free Carrot Muffins and broccoli.

I so look forward to my dinners, especially, on the paleo diet.

 

 

Butternut Squash and Chicken Mash

The title tells it all — Butternut Squash and Chicken Mash. My photo for this dish didn’t come out so great — a little blurry (see below). What was I thinking? It must be the dry eyes I’ve been struggling with for the past 6 months … but I digress.

Irregardless of the picture, this is a paleo recipe you should try. It’s definitely filling and uses one of my favorite food ingredients — butternut squash. The chicken is shredded which is good since there are crushed hazelnuts that the recipe calls for also which gives it a good texture.

(Did you know … Some people – like me – are allergic to hazelnuts. I can eat them when they are in a bag and out of their shell and usually not have any problems. But if I buy them in their shell, crack them then eat them, I get tingly sensations on my tongue. Weird, eh? Anyone else have that problem?)

Back to the recipe. The dish was a little bland (spinach doesn’t have too much flavor) but it suited me just fine. I don’t think I would have changed anything about it.

Chicken Butternut Squash Hazelnut Mash
Chicken Butternut Squash Hazelnut Mash

We paired this Butternut Mash dish with a Blood Orange and Avocado Salad. Simply delicious!

Blood Orange and Avocado Salad
Blood Orange and Avocado Salad

I’m a huge fan of avocados though so that will always make me lean to the right in a reviewing a recipe.

This recipe also calls for spinach (we had a big Popeye eating dinner with lots of Vitamin A and K and, well, a lot of good stuff!)

This pairing of recipes worked really well together.

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Gluten Free Paleo Carrot Muffins

Now, truly, this is a paleo muffin that I could sink my teeth into!

It’s not easy for my son to find recipes for us to try that will satisfy our hunger for bread but this one did just that.

This Gluten Free Paleo Carrot Muffin recipe uses almond flour which I normally wrinkle my nose up at. “Normally” the recipe just doesn’t taste like bread at all.

But with bananas, carrots and pecans thrown in there with everything else, the recipe was moist enough and definitely satisfied my longing for the “good old days” of bread eating.

Gluten Free Carrot Muffins
Gluten Free Carrot Muffins

Shall we take a peek inside this wonderful muffin?

Gluten Free Paleo Carrot Muffins
Gluten Free Paleo Carrot Muffins

And can we all say — YUM!!!!?

Healthy and delicious!

Lamb Stew

In some of the recipes we have been trialling, some of the ingredients have been left out and others have been put in. One thing that it has taken me a long time to learn is to tailor the recipe to what I like.

This paleo lamb stew that my son made was modified just a wee bit.

Lamb Stew
Lamb Stew

For one thing, we did not add the chickpeas that the recipe called for since we’re trying to eat more “paleo” and chickpeas are not part of that diet.

We also used bone-in lamb stew since it was on sale for very cheap at a local store called Kowalski’s.

The stew itself was very very good and the cumin and coriander did give it its “Mediterranean” flavor.

I still miss my occasional bread though so for those of you who make the stew and aren’t trying to avoid gluten, a nice hunk of french bread would have gone well with this stew.

 

Salmon with Sweet Potato Salad

There are only so many ways to make salmon taste “different,” right?

For me, besides the cooking of the salmon, the topping or marinade makes a huge difference in whether the salmon can be called okay, good or great. I happened to like the dill sauce that was used on this Baked Salmon recipe.

Salmon with Dill Sauce
Salmon with Dill Sauce

Paired with (a matching) Sweet Potato Salad, this healthy paleo meal can be had any day of the week as far as I’m concerned.

 

Paleo Pancakes

The original recipe for these paleo pancakes was meant for waffles but it worked fine for pancakes.

The ingredients are pretty simple. You’ll need coconut oil for greasing the grill also (not shown below). I used Trader Joe’s Almond Butter as I find it works well and is cheaper than at other stores.

Paleo Pancake Ingredients
Paleo Pancake Ingredients

Peel the apple and banana then puree it in a food processor.

Pureed Apple and Banana
Pureed Apple and Banana

Using an electric mixer whisk, whip the almond butter on high for 2-3 minutes until its smooth and “fluffy.”

Whip the Almond Butter
Whip the Almond Butter

Add the puree to the almond butter along with the remaining ingredients and continue to mix it all together with the whisk until all the ingredients are combined. (Doesn’t look too much different, eh?)

Whip all ingredients together
Whip all ingredients together

Grease your grill and when it’s hot, spread a little bit of coconut oil (you can also use olive oil) around it. Drop 1/4 cup of batter onto the grill for each pancake and cook until browned. Roughly 3-5 minutes per side.

Use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake
Use 1/4 cup batter for each pancake

Don’t turn the burner up too high or the pancakes will burn easily. This is what they should look like.

Paleo pancakes on grill
Paleo pancakes on grill

Since I am a banana lover, and not everyone in the family is, I added some sliced bananas to some of the pancakes so they could taste more banana-y for me. At this point, you could add blueberries or small chunks of apple if you’re so inclined.

Add additional sliced banana
Add additional sliced banana

I’m really glad I added the sliced bananas because they gave it more flavor. Next time I probably will add cinnamon also.

And there you have it — paleo banana pancakes.

Paleo Banana Pancakes
Paleo Banana Pancakes

Simple recipe, simple meal.

Paleo Pancakes with Fruit
Paleo Pancakes with Fruit

Ingredients

  • 1 medium banana, ripe
  • 1 medium apple, peeled and cored
  • 1 cup smooth almond butter
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • oil for greasing your grill

Directions

  1. Puree apple and banana in a food processor.
  2.  Using the whisk on an electric mixer, whip the almond butter on high for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
  3. Add all remaining ingredients (including apple & banana puree) and whip all the ingredients to combine them together.
  4.  Grease the grill with coconut or olive oil (I used coconut).
  5.  Use about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Don’t put the heat too high or the pancakes will burn (or be more chewy than you’d like).
  6. Allow about 3-5 minutes of cooking per side but after your first few pancakes you’ll know what works best for your stovetop.

Then, enjoy!

This recipe is from Paleo Parents. Click here to see the original recipe.

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Chicken Tacos – Paleo Style

With paleo chicken tacos, there is no tortilla, flour or otherwise. But that doesn’t mean that the taco can’t taste just as good.

The recipe for this Crock Pot Chicken Tacos does include the tortillas so you’ll have to ignore that if you want to eat paleo.

The chicken must be marinated for a while first so make sure you allow ample time for that before you throw it in the crockpot for the 8 hours.

As you can see, we use lettuce under the chicken — one might call it more of a tostada, well, uh, without the tostada.

Chicken Tacos
Chicken Tacos

Layer the lettuce, chicken, pico de gallo and guacamole sauce and eat away.

So very simple. So very delicious. Just make sure you read the whole recipe before starting to make it.

 

 

 

Paleo Apple Crisp

Paleo dessert, anyone? This is a very nice “healthier” alternative to apple pie or regular apple crisp that uses gobs of sugar (not healthy, not healthy).

The Paleo Apple Crisp uses almond flour  (it can usually be found in the baking section of your grocery store/market) with almonds or pecans (we used pecans) to make it crunchy like a regular crisp.

Paleo Apple Crisp
Paleo Apple Crisp

This recipe is not heavy in the belly — very light and not overly sweet.

Here — try a slice. (smile)

Paleo Apple Crisp Slice
Paleo Apple Crisp Slice

Delicious! Healthy! And Paleo!

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Sole, Anyone?

We usually have salmon as our “fish of the week” but my son decided to try this Sole Meuniere recipe that he found.

Ahhh … sole. It tasted a lot better than what I expected as I measure all fish against the  highly touted salmon. The sole has a completely different texture than the salmon — it’s less dense and more flaky. Note: Arrowroot flour was used in place of white flour for this recipe.

Sole Meuniere
Sole Meuniere

Served with a Warm Asparagus and Citrus Salad, the meal was light yet filling.

Warm Asparagus and Citrus Salad
Warm Asparagus and Citrus Salad
Sole with Asparagus
Sole with Asparagus

What a wonderful light paleo dinner this was!

 

 

Cashew Chicken

I absolutely loved this Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken! It reminded me of when I’ve had Chinese food but we didn’t have rice with it.

Cashew Chicken
Cashew Chicken

We did “cheat” a little on the recipe by using soy sauce and a little bit of ketchup, so it wasn’t completely paleo but close enough.

Also, we replaced the flour with arrowroot flour and used honey instead of brown sugar to sweeten it.

Not much more I can say about this recipe except that you should try it!