Valentine's Treat

Happy Valentine's Day!

I found a great Paleo web site with tons of recipes called PaleOMG! 

I was looking for a yummy treat that we could all enjoy and found Chocolate Coffee Banana Donuts.  The only difference what that I made them in a mini-muffin pan, instead of the donut pan (since I don't have one those in my baking arsenal).  I served these nice and warm to my hubby before he took off to work this morning!  He <3 them!

Super easy to prepare and really yummy! 

Buen provecho!

Tuna Salad on Cucumber Chips

If you decide to go Paleo or even just reducing your wheat/grain consumption, you become creative. I use to just go for a sandwich or a wrap but not anymore.

It's only been a month and half since I started following a Paleo diet; and there are days I want to eat a traditional sandwich.

 

Well, sandwiches with bread are out of the question.  So that got me thinking what normally goes in a sandwich? Lunch meat, tuna fish salad...oh, yea! Tuna fish!

 

So I came up with tuna fish salad on cucumber chips!

 

Clean Tuna Fish Salad on Cucumber Chips

 

Ingredients:
Half cucumber, peeled and sliced
Tuna fish (I used a pouch)
2 tbsp of red onion, chopped
2 tbsp of celery, chopped
2 tbsp of artichoke hearts, chopped
Juice of a small lime
3-4 basil leaves, chopped
1 tbsp of raw sunflower seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

 

Mix all ingredients together, except the cucumber. Top all cucumber chips with tuna mixture. 

 

Buen provecho!

  

Kings Cake, Caveman Style

Happy Mardi Gras!

 

Being that today is Mardi Gras, I tried "googling" and looking on Pinterest for a Kings Cake that was Paleo friendly.  Well, much to my dismay, I didn't find one.  So, I thought I would experiment a little in the kitchen with some Paleo baking and hopefully come up with a recipe.

 

I found a recipe for coconut bread but I made some modifications from there.  I was planning on baking the bread in a bundt pan but with the move (okay---yes, that was over 6 months...hehehe), I couldn't find it, so I opted for the muffin pan. 

Now the tricky part was the icing and the colors on top of the cake.  Well, in Paleo cooking, you don't use sugar or artificial food coloring.  I decided that the easiest thing was to make just a make a fruit glaze to achieve the color and get some of that sweetness.

Paleo Kings Cake (sort of) Recipe

Bread Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 4 tbsp of raw honey
• 1/2 c of coconut flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder, gluten-free
• 1 tsp of coconut oil

Directions:
Preheat oven at 285 degrees F. Oil pan with coconut oil.
Beat the eggs, vanilla and honey together with a electric mixer or by hand until well incorporated.  Sift flour and baking powder and slowly incorporate into wet ingredients until there are no lumps. 
Pour into pan.  Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Fruit Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 c of strawberries
• 1 c of blackberries
• 1 c of water (divided into two half-cups)
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• handful of unsweetened coconut flakes

Directions:
Slowly heat up strawberries with 1/2 c of water and 1 tbsp of honey.  Once heated, mash the berries with a potato masher.  Set aside and let cool.  Repeat the process with the blackberries.

Assembly
Once the bread and glaze are cooled, pour the glaze, alternating the colors all around the bread.  Sprinkle some unsweetened coconut flakes around the cake for decoration.

Dinner for about $2!

So after doing all my shopping, I totaled it all up.  Came to just over $114 for everything---$4.10 per dinner for 2 or $2.05 per person per dinner!!!

 

And, yes, that was my little Ladybug helping me shop.

February Meal Planner

Below is the shopping list along with the prices for everything. 
Some of the items don't have a price because I already had them in my pantry.
 

 

 

12 Meals in 30 Minutes!

During Ladybug's nap today, I was able to prepare 12 meals in about 30 minutes.  I simply prepared the marinades for the three chicken meals from my February Meal Planner.

 

I mixed all the ingredients for the marinade in a quart-sized bag and added the necessary amount of chicken for one meal.  Then, put the 4 quart bags in a large gallon bag and labeled them.  I let them marinate for about a hour or two in the fridge, then transferred to the freezer.  Easy!!!

 

So, I now have 12 of the 28 meals for February complete! 

That's practically half of next month's dinner's complete!

 

February's Paleo Meal Planner

It's done!
Yes, it's Paleo but it's very easy to make non-Paleo if you are not leading a Paleo lifestyle...just a grain or legume to your meal.

Okay...so after trying to get google docs to work and upload my original file and even upload a PDF...I finally had to copy and paste into google docs.  So I think it's working.  ***Please let me know if it's not working for you.***

February Meal Planner

Also, please feel free to leave me comments or suggestions for the next month.  I want to make this as easy as possible and would love to hear feedback from y'all!

Buen provecho and healthy eating!

How This is All Came About

Well, as many of us, with a New Year comes new resolutions and goals.  About a year and half ago, I decided to stay home with Ladybug (that is what I'll call my daughter...she's now almost 19 months...time really does fly!).  And, as part of my job as a SAHM, I feel I'm responsible for making sure that we stay within a grocery budget every month.  Last year, I discovered a few meal planning sites and I loved the idea of planning your meals for an entire month, prepping/cooking the meals in one or two days and then NOT having to worry about what was for dinner each night.  And, also with a one-year old running around and getting fussy right around the time you want to get dinner ready was a not fun! 

Reasons I love to Cook Once and Eat For a Month:

1. Reduce the amount of trips to the grocery---this is really important to me because I live about 40 minutes away from a decent grocery store...so I save time and gas! And I've only made two trips to the store this month (and the second time was to get more fruit) and I don't plan on going until next week to get all the groceries for February.  I used to go every week, so that's 4 round trips at 60 miles total and lots of gas! 
2. I can prep a lot of the meals in a day or two (meaning during Ladybug's naps and in the evening after she's been put to bed)
3. It saves money---yes, you have to rotate the 7 or 8 meals over the course of the month but I don't mind and neither does my husband BUT you then only prep/cook 7 or 8 LARGE meals for the entire month.  And don't you always end up throwing wilted lettuce, rotten tomatoes or slimy green beans that were shoved way back in the veggie drawer??? I know I hate throwing away food and being wasteful.  This has truly helped me and I hardly ever throw out food now.
4. I get to spend more time with my husband and Ladybug in the late afternoon.
5. I don't worry about having to come up with a dinner idea every night or stressing about defrosting the chicken daily.

I'm putting the finishing touches on February's menu and I should have it up this coming weekend.  And, hopefully, you'll join me on this new adventure!

Have a blessed week! :)