Going basic again

I’ve decided to eat strictly Paleo this month. I’ve noticed a few small differences in my skin and in general don’t think I drink enough water especially with the amount of coffee I’ve had lately- yesterday was day one and I feel awesome. Since I’ve done it before am ready for the process and can plan food in advance. Yesterday I browned some brussel sprouts in EVOO and added chopped garlic just before serving, then I mashed sweet potatoes with butter and unsweetened almond milk and prepared chicken by browning each side in coconut oil then removing chicken and making a broth from the oil, garlic, salt, pepper and water. I then put the chicken right back in the pan to simmer for a bit and transferred to the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

And I enjoyed it for lunch today! 

Pumpkin desert

¾ cup creamy nut butter (I used cashew)

½ cup pumpkin puree

1 overripe medium banana

¼ cup pure maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

⅓ cup chocolate chips and/or walnuts, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8in square baking dish with cooking spray.

Place almond butter, pumpkin, banana, maple syrup, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Stir until well-combined.

Add the rest of the ingredients, stirring until smooth.

Pour into prepared baking dish, smoothing with a spatula. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Simple eggs

This is one of the easiest ways to add flavor. I put a small scoop of coconut oil into a pan with a sliced yellow onion. Simmering until just brown will give it a caramelized flavor- turn the burner down and add some cage free whisked eggs. Be patient! Protein needs to cook slow, eggs should never be rushed.

I made my Cuban coffee by mixing unsweetened almond milk, maple syrup and instant coffee, then adding hot water 

Basic colorful dinner

Chop peppers and onions and add EVOO salt and pepper and make a tinfoil basket for them, then grill for a few minutes on each side. Bake asparagus with olive oil in  oven at 400 for 12 min (if you have meat to cook, this conserves grill space). Peel sweet corn and brush with melted butter salt and pepper, then grill on low for a few min- rotating often. I just learned this way of cooking corn, it caramelize sand is delicious.
Who can complain about fresh picked tomatoes, motz, basil salt and pepper? Also, put some cuke slices out with salt!

Summer squash and fruit bowl

This fruit bowl uses goat milk yogurt, peaches, banana, chia seeds and ground flax 
I picked this squash at the Lawrence Family farm in Newbergh, NY. Slice into thick pieces, heat the oven to 450, cover squash with EVOO S&P and bake until they just start to look brown

Get your greens

Start with sliced yellow squash, baby kale, and EVOO in a pan and sizzle to your desire, then turn the pan to low so eggs don’t cook too quickly. Add whisked eggs and S&P. Some avocado and juicy cherries were the perfect accompaniment to complete this breakfast!

A yummy mess

Sprouted toast with almond butter, honey, dried cherries and white plum. Sweet and tasty

Summer salad and broccoli cakes!

I wasn’t in the mood for a big dinner and this was easy: salad is baby kale, local feta, dried cherries, chopped carrots and EVOO. The Broccoli are dr.Praegers GF broccoli cakes. I heated a pan with some coconut oil and warmed them up. All so easy and lots of good fats and veggies!

Orange beet salad

To make a smaller dish, I boiled 7 beets for 20 min. In bowl whisk 2 tbsp EVOO, one tbsp honey, salt, a squeeze of oj and grated ginger. Let the beets cool and peel off the skin. Dice beets, peel and slice an orange and add to bowl. Add a cut shallot, S&P, cilantro and toasted cashew pieces.

Can serve as is or over a bowl of greens (I used spinach and the leaves from the beets)

acorn squash

One of my challenges is to make meals my boyfriend will enjoy, he’s got a sweet tooth and was brought up with southern cooking. He liked this one:

Oven to 375, half an acorn squash (remove seeds) and bake until tender (my small squash took 40 min)

While baking brown 1/2 lb of ground beef and onion. Transfer this to bowl and add two strips of cooked chopped bacon, dried cherries, and eventually squash insides. Remove squash from oven and scoop insides, leaving 1/4 inch of shell. Put insides back in shell, add some butter and bake another 15.