Hawaiian Trail Mix

I've recently realized that I have an addiction. I buy so many different nuts and dried fruits it's insane. So, I decided to make a trail mix so that my cabinet would be less crammed with 8 million different bags of nuts.

Here's what I used:
Dried Pineapple
Dried Coconut Flakes (found at Henry's)
Roasted sunflower seeds
Raw pecan pieces
Roasted almond slivers

I just used about 1/2-1 cup of each ingredient and mixed them all together. They make a great snack!

Just Peachy Porkchops

I really hate maing pork chops, mainly because they never really taste good to me. They're always just so-so. This recipe was pretty good though...

Here's what you'll need:
2 pork chops (mine were about 1.5" thick)
1 peach
1 sweet white onion
1/4 c coconut oil
2 tbsp coconut butter (optional)
Salt and pepper
Cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350. Spread the coconut butter on both sides of your chops and sprinkle salt and pepper on them, place them in an 8x8 baking dish. (If you do not have coconut butter for the previous step, use coconut oil). Next, slice up your onion thinly, and your peach into about 1" slices. Place the onion and peach pieces sporadically around the chops. Drop gobs of your coconut oil around the chops on the peaches and onions. If you prefer to melt the coconut oil and drizzle it all over, so be it, I'm just lazy and it tasted just fine without melting it first. Sprinkle the dish once more with salt and pepper, and some cinnamon (about 1/2 teasp) and place it in the oven to bake. I baked mine for 50 minutes and the peaches came out a little overcooked in my opinion. You'll have to cook the dish according to the thickness of your chops, but I'd say at least 40 minutes, just keep am eye on em. Enjoy!

Popeye's Special

This is a quick and easy way to up your greens intake, which is what I have been trying to do post baby!

Here's what you'll need:
5-6 pieces Uncured Bacon
2 huge handfuls of greens of your choice ( I used one hand of spinach and one hand of arugula)

Toss the bacon in your saute pan and cook until desired consistency, some like it flemsy, some like it crunchy. Add the greens and cook down until wilted. There you go! A tasty side dish that takes less than 10 minutes!

Spicy Chipotle Chili

Alright, alright. Just so you know, this picture does not do this Chili any justice at all. I've recently decided that it's a whole lot easier to just upload pictures of what I'm making from my phone, so you're not gonna be seeing high quality photos, but believe me, I'm only posting recipes that actually taste good. There have been a few that I've tried that haven't made it to the blog, so just trust me, if there is a recipe on here, it has been tried and true, and also Paul-approved!

Here is what you'll need:

1lb ground meat (I used bison this time, yum)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bell pepper (color of your choice)
1 c chopped carrots
1 box of Tomato/Roasted Bell Pepper Soup (Or any tomato based soup will do)
1 16oz jar of salsa ( I used Chipotle salsa from TJ's)
1 tea Chipotle Pepper
1/2 tea Smoked Paprika
1/2 tea Cumin
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, start by sauteing the meat and garlic together. When the meat is about 3/4ths of the way cooked, add in all the veggies. Saute this mixture for about 7-10 minutes. Next, add in all the other ingredients and stir the pot well. Let this marvelous concoction simmer for 1 hour and then enjoy.

PS. This Chili is HOT! You can reduce the spices if you don't want it to be too hot, or you can do what I did and reduce the hotness by adding a little coconut milk to cool it down, yum yum!

Zucchini Lasagna

An Italian Delight!

Here's what you'll need:

1lb ground beef
2 Hot/Spicy Italian Sausages, removed from casing
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
4 medium zucchinis
1 c mushrooms
1.5 c marinara sauce of your choice
1 tea Oregano
1 tea Herbs de Province
1 tea pepper

Optional: Cheese, additional veggies

Start by slicing your zucchinis very thinly, some may use a mandolin slicer, but I do not have one, so I just used a knife. Lay the zucchini slices out on a paper towel to "dry", as they have some moisture you'll want to release before baking the dish. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 375 then add about 2 Tbsp Olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat, add the garlic and onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Next, add the ground beef and the sausage, breaking it up as you go. When the meat seems to be thoroughly cooked, drain off any fat and then add the spices and the sauce and saute for about 3 more minutes. You don't want your meat/sauce mixture to be runny or watery, so drain off any watery/wetness, then turn off the burner and cover. In a greased/pam sprayed 13x9 pan, lay out your zucchinis like noodles, then cover with the meat/sauce mixture, then mushrooms, then another layer of zucchinis, then the remains of the meat/sauce mixture. I sprinkled my lasagna with a little parmesan, but that is optional. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Once the timer goes off, pull the pan out and let the lasagna "rest" for about 10 minutes before serving.

Hope you like it!

Not your average dog...

So, we love a good old Chili Dog, but as you know, a chili dog is not very Paleo. Well, I found some great all-beef organic hot dogs (Nathan's brand) at Trader Joe's. I used Primal Mama's pumpkin chili for my chili and what do I use for a bun? This is the fun part... I use a baked sweet potato, halved and hallowed out! Yes, eat the skin. It tastes delicious, the sweetness of the potato and the savory hot dog and chili, just amazing!

Of course, add what you like to the top, onions, cheese (if you eat dairy), jalapenos! Yum Yum!