Italian Salad with Pepperoni

This disappears at every party or pitch in. 

Also, add grilled chicken to make it a complete meal.

Romaine lettuce chopped
1-2 chopped tomatoes, chop the tomatoes and place in a colander to drain for a few minutes
1/2 red onion sliced into rings or diced
1 can whole black olives rinsed
1/2 to 1 package turkey or regular pepperoni  or use less and add chopped grilled chicken
Slivered almonds, as many or as few as you want
Optional- 1/2 to 1 package feta cheese, I prefer the basil sundried tomato in this recipe

Arrange the salad in a large bowl in the order above

Dressing-
A dressing shaker or a food processor (If using a dressing shaker with the markings already on the bottle for the liquids, just follow those lines)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or grape seed oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp water ( I actually use a little more water and a little less oil)
1 Tbsp oregano and basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp thyme


You can also use the Good Seasons Zesty Italian dry mix and follow the instructions on the package instead of the above dressing ingredients.

Add liquid and then seasonings to a shaker or food processor, mix well and let sit for about 15 minutes.  Mix again and pour half of it over the salad, stir well, taste and adjust if you need more dressing.  Do not pour dressing over the salad until you are ready to serve.
When serving the salad use additional pepper, basil or oregano as needed.

If you are serving a large crowd, double the romaine, tomatoes, onions and olives and use the whole package of pepperoni and feta cheese.  There is no need to double the dressing.

Paleo Chicken and Bacon Baked Spaghetti

 

1 medium to large spaghetti squash baked and stands removed

3 boneless skinless chicken breast or 6-8 chicken tenderloins baked or grilled until just short of being done and then dice the chicken

6 slices cooked and diced turkey or pork bacon

1 onion diced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbsp coconut oil or organic unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 small package of frozen spinach thawed and drained very well, squeeze all moisture out of the spinach

2 cups vegan cheddar cheese (if you allow it, if not omit)

1/2  tsp pepper (adjust to taste)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper or more to taste

1/4 cup organic low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

2-3 green onions diced

 

Pre-heat oven to 375

In a small skillet, melt the oil and on medium heat sauté the onions and garlic until onions start to become translucent but do not caramelize (about 4 minutes) 

Set the onions and garlic aside

Spray or grease a 13 x 9 dish

Pour the cooked spaghetti into the dish, add the sautéed onions and garlic, eggs and seasonings, mix well so that all of the spaghetti is coated in egg

Add the cooked and diced bacon and chicken to the dish

Slowly pour the broth over the spaghetti so you pour it from end to end

Add the cheese and spinach (make sure the spinach is not clumped up)

Optional- you can just cover the top of the casserole in cheese instead of mixing it in, closer to a baked spaghetti

Mix well and spread the spaghetti out evenly

Top with diced green onion

Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling, remove from the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes

 

Great served with hot sauce, my son loved it with Ranch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paleo Cauliflower Fritter (this was adapted from agoodappetite.blogspt.com)

 

The mixture will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 3 days, so you can cook 1 or more at a time

 

1 head of cauliflower chopped and steamed until tender

2 large eggs

Optional as not true Paleo, but I choose to use it- 1 cup vegan cheddar cheese ( I like Daiya)

1/4 tsp black pepper

Several dashes of cayenne pepper

a few dashes onion powder

Optional- a dash or two of crushed red pepper

Optional- 1 clove garlic minced

Organic unsalted butter works best, but spray olive oil or coconut oil will work too

 

In a medium size bowl mash the cauliflower well with a fork ( I made the mistake the first time by mashing the cauliflower in the food processor, it will not hold together, mash it well but do not make it smooth like mashed potatoes)

Add all ingredients and mix well

Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add about 1 Tbsp of butter or spray well, allow to melt

Form thin patties as seen in the picture above, place in skillet turn heat to medium

After 5 minutes, test to see if it will hold together with a large spatula, if it is not staying together, reform with the spatula and press down, cook longer and try again after about 2-3 more  minutes, you will learn the correct time, it only took me two tries

Have additional butter or oil of choice ready to go

Turn carefully with a very large spatula and if needed use a second spatula to push it onto the large spatula all the way

Re-spray skillet or add a little more butter,carefully turn, press down and reform if needed, and cook about 4 more minutes, or until it stays together well

Paleo Crock Pot Meatloaf Packed with Colorful Veggies, Seasonings and Nutrition

If you have a picky eater adult or child, shred the vegetables-

A trick I learned to remove excess liquid from zucchini and yellow squash is to dice it, put it in a colander, cover in salt and let sit for about 15 minutes, rinse well to remove all of the salt and pat dry


2 - 2 1/2 pounds lean ground meat or lean ground turkey
1 zucchini diced very small
1-2 carrots shredded, diced, chopped in a chopper
1 can organic no salt added diced tomatoes, drained
1-2 cans organic no salt tomato sauce
1 onion diced very small
2 cloves garlic diced
1 green bell pepper diced very small
1 red, yellow or orange pepper diced very small
Optional- diced mushrooms
1 tsp turmeric (great for memory)
1 tsp savory
1/2 tsp black pepper or more to taste
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 eggs
Spray or oil for the crock pot

Mix all ingredients well using only half the can of tomato sauce for now
Spray crock pot and set to low
Pour meat into the crock pot and press evenly all around edge to edge
Cook for about 6-8 hours, when it is set well and done through, carefully drain using a very large spatula, careful not to lose the meatloaf (cooking time will depend on the crock pot, mine cooks faster than most, I like to cook on low so it does not dry out, some could take 8-9 hours on low)
When the loaf is completely cooked, pour additional sauce over the top

Paleo Sesame Beef and Red Chilies Lettuce Wraps with Tahini Sauce

Sesame Red Chili Beef
2- 2 1/2 pounds ground beef or turkey
3-4 cloves garlic minced
3 green onions diced
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil, add more to taste as you stir it in a dash at a time until you taste a hint of the sesame flavor throughout the meat
2 Tbsp Reduced Sodium Tamari or coconut aminos
2 Tbsp Red Chili Garlic Paste (depending on your diet, you can buy this prepared but many of these paste contain wheat, a homemade recipe is below)

Brown the meat in a large sprayed skillet with the garlic
After about 3 minutes add the mushrooms and green onion, continue to stir and chop up the meat and mushrooms as it cooks
When the meat is fully cooked, drain the meat in a colander
Turn the stove to Medium Low and return the meat to the skillet
Add the oil and paste, stir well and simmer for about 5 minutes, taste and add a little extra oil or paste if needed to taste ( you will likely want more paste for a stronger flavor that pops)



Red Chili Garlic Paste- From the website below
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/recipe-of-the-day-chili-garlic-paste/?_r=0

Ingredients

• 10 to 15 dried whole chilies, preferably a mixture of mild and hot, about 2 to 3 ounces
• 2 tablespoons grape seed
• Sea Salt
• 2 cloves peeled garlic

Method

• 1. Put the chilies in a bowl and cover with boiling water and a small plate to keep them submerged. Soak for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Reserve a bit of the soaking water. Clean each chili: remove the stem, then pull or slit open; do this over the sink, as they will contain a lot of water. Scrape out seeds, retaining some if you want a hotter paste.
• 2. Put the chilies along with any seeds you might be using, the oil, a large pinch of salt and the garlic, if you are using it, in a blender or food processor. Purée until smooth, adding a spoonful of soaking water at a time, until consistency is a thick paste.

Tahini Sauce
½ cup tahini, stir well to distribute oil evenly throughout the jar 
½ cup grape seed oil (depending on how much oil is in the tahini paste, you may be able to use a little less oil)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of lemon juice ( I used a little more)
2 teaspoons of grated ginger  
2 cloves garlic, more to taste
1/4 tsp pepper, more to taste

Combine all ingredients in order in a blender.  Blend until smooth. 
If you have never used Tahini or have only used it in hummus, this sauce alone has a very different taste (don't worry), but a little spread on the wrap with the beef is a wonderful blend of flavors).


Wrap and Veggies
Boston Lettuce, Green Leafy Lettuce or Iceberg (I prefer Boston)
Optional- 1 bag broccoli slaw

Ready to Serve
Carefully tear the lettuce leaves careful to keep them whole, rinse and pat dry
Arrange Lettuce Leaves on plates, fill with the meat, slaw mix and drizzle sauce over the top, wrap it up and enjoy. 
Tip- It is usually easier to eat and the wraps stay together better if you use 2 lettuce leaves for each wrap.

Paleo Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken Soup

All optional or non Paleo Friendly ingredients are in bold print.  The picture is shown with corn, because I was taking it to a pitch in and this helped to make a lot more soup.

• 6-7 chicken boneless skinless tenderloins or 3-4 full chicken breast
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 yellow, red or orange bell pepper diced
• 1 white or yellow onion diced
• Optional, this will make it really spicy- 1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper seeded and diced
• Optional- (If following a clean or lean eating plan but not Paleo, a small to medium size bag of frozen corn is great in this recipe and/or 1 can reduced sodium black beans rinsed to remove excess sodium)
• Optional- spinach, diced zucchini or mushrooms
• 1/2 to 1 carton organic reduced sodium vegetable or chicken broth (start with half of the carton and add more if needed as it cooks to reach your desired consistency, the veggies and chicken will also create liquid)
• 1, 14.5-15 oz can organic no salt added diced tomatoes (2 cans work well too)

Most veggies or broths will work in this recipe so adjust to use whatever you have on hand.

Starting here you will want to adjust all spices depending on your level of spice preference:

• 2 Tbsp Chili Powder (adjust to preference)
• 1 Tbsp cumin (you can start with less and adjust to preference)
• A few dashes crushed red pepper
• Optional -  A few dashes chipotle pepper, Again this recipe is spicy
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (adjust to taste)
• A few shakes of crushed red pepper

Spray or line a crock pot and set to low
Add all ingredients starting with the veggies, then the broth, then the spices, stir, add the chicken and stir again
Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours
Remove chicken and cube
Return chicken back to the crock pot and cook until veggies are tender crisp and the chicken is cooked through
Tip- If using full chicken breast, you may want to cut in half before adding to the crock pot to reduce cooking time.

If your family members have different preferences for the spice level and you made the soup mild, add a few dashes of hot sauce to individual bowls to crank up the heat

This is great served with Paleo Almond Biscuits for dipping.  These can be found in my Paleo Sloppy Joes Recipe.  http://flavorfulandfit.blogspot.com/2013/02/paleo-sloppy-joes-over-paleo-biscuits.html

Paleo No Bake Protein Cookie

 

1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Almond Butter Creamy or Chunky

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup unsalted pecans 

1/4 cup  unsalted almonds

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 scoop Paleo Chocolate or Vanilla Almond protein powder

Optional- unsweetened dried fruit, cherries, cranberries, chopped apricots, etc

 

In a sauce pan on medium low heat or in the microwave melt the chips and almond butter, slowly do not burn it, stir often

When it is melted, remove from the heat

Add all of the ingredients except the powder and mix well

Add protein powder and mix well

 

On a large cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, use a spoon to dip out each cookie

Once all the mixture is used, pat each one down with the spoon or with fingers

Place in the refrigerator for about 4 hours or overnight

Place in a container with a lid and store in the refrigerator

Paleo Easy Baked Cinamon Apples, Apple Crisp or an All Natural Scent for your Home

 

Cinnamon Apples

Dice any Red Apple of choice and Granny Smith Apple

Microwave in a covered container for about 2 mintues or bake in a sprayed dish on 400 for about 20 minutes or until tender

Mix in several dashes of cinnamon and a couple dashes of Nutmeg

If you allow it, mix in 1 heaping tbs of Splenda brown sugar, Brown Sugar in the Raw, Raw Honey or Sucanat (use brown sugar if using for a scent for your home as shown in the picture.  It will smell great)

(Sucanat is natural replacement for brown sugar, if using Sucanat add to the raw apples before baking but you will need to use honey too so that it will create more of a syrup)

Stir well to coat all of the apple pieces, return to the oven for a couple of minutes

 

The apples are ready to eat

 

Apple Crisp

Topping will need to be made the night before to refrigerate overnight.  Follow the link below for this easy topping.  I did not use full fat coconut milk because I did not want it to turn out like a spread, I wanted it more like streusel topping.  Don't worry, it really does thicken up overnight. When crushing the nuts, leave some larger pieces, do not crush it to a powder.  If you use unsweetened coconut milk (not the full fat canned kind), it will turn out like a "streusel" topping.

 http://www.pinterest.com/pin/555350197771830683/ 

If you want to make an apple crisp, use 2-3 of each type of apple.  You want enough to cover the bottom of an 8x8 dish.

You may need to increase cooking time slightly, but no need to return the apples to the oven a second time just yet.

Increase the amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and sweetener slightly.  You want a syrup consistency, so add the sweetener as needed.  Sometimes it is necessary to add a little warm water, 1 Tbsp at a time to create enough syrup but not always if you have juicy apples.

After the apples are cooked and spices added, stir and spread out evenly in a sprayed 8x8 dish

Reduce oven temp to 350

Spread topping over the apples as well as you can or just use your fingers

Bake for about 15 minutes

 

All Natural Scent for Your Home

If  using the apples for a scent, pour about a cup of apple cider into warmer, add the apples as shown in the picture.  There is no need to return the apples to the oven the second time.  Also, use more cinnamon to increase the scent.

Paleo Veggie Packed Chili (Don't worry, there is plenty of meat in this recipe too)

 

 

This recipe looks very long with tons of ingredients, it is really easy to prepare.  It looks like a lot of ingredients because I gave many options on what to throw into your pot of chili.  All optional or low fat but non Paleo ingredients are in bold print.

• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs lean ground turkey or beef
• 1 green bell pepper diced
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper diced
• 1 white or yellow onion diced
• 1 medium size bag or container of fresh or frozen spinach
• Optional- (If following a clean or lean eating plan but not Paleo, a small to medium size bag of frozen corn is great in this recipe)
• Optional- Diced zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, diced eggplant, prepared spaghetti squash or frozen green beans chopped
• 2, 14.5-15 oz cans organic no salt added tomato sauce (depending on how much meat or Optional salsa you use, you may need to add a little more sauce or a second can of tomatoes)
• 1, 14.5-15 oz can organic no salt added diced tomatoes
• Optional- 1 cup medium salsa homemade or we like On the Boarder (lower sodium, very few ingredients)
• Depending on how many veggies you add and what consistency you want your chili to be, you may need to add a little Organic Beef, Chicken or Vegtable broth.  I use low sodium Vegtable broth.)
• 2 Tbsp Chili Powder (adjust to preference, I use closer to 3 Tbsp)
• 1 Tsp cumin (you can use more and adjust to preference, I use closer to 1 Tbsp)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper (adjust to taste)
• A few shakes of crushed red pepper

This recipe is very easy to adjust to spice preference either by adding more or less medium salsa,  crushed red pepper or chili powder.  A few dashes of hot sauce or cayenne pepper will kick the taste up.  If you do not follow Paleo just a low fat diet, a can of Rotel in place of the organic diced tomatoes or in addition too is very good in this chili.

In a large sprayed skillet, brown the meat, peppers and onion, after about 5 minutes add the spinach, mushrooms and corn, stir and cover, stir occasionally and break up the spinach if frozen

When the meat is done, drain

If using zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant  or green beans, steam to tender crisp (do not over steam) and add to the chili before simmering.

In a large sauce pan add the sauce, salsa, diced tomatoes and all of the spices.

Add the meat and stir well

Add any Optional steamed veggies

Cover and simmer on medium low for about 25-30 minutes, Stir occasionally

If you like noodles in your chili, Add spaghetti squash after the chili is finished and stir well

You could also combine all the ingredients into a crock pot to simmer after the meat mixtures is browned and drained

This is great served with Paleo Almond Biscuits for dipping.  These can be found in my Paleo Sloppy Joes Recipe.  http://flavorfulandfit.blogspot.com/2013/02/paleo-sloppy-joes-over-paleo-biscuits.html