8/2016

Aug 2016

Weight around 180 again...ugh! I'm going to start eating paleo again in Sept. and I am also going to EXERCISE!
8/17 walked 3 miles
8/18 walked 3 miles

8/19 swam a few short laps

8/20 walked 3 miles
Plan to do some arm work when not walking

I have a goal of losing 20 lbs by spring break and I will reward myself by renting a kayak from Lake Pflugerville. I will need to lose 3.50 lbs per month. We'll see....

8/23 3 miles
8/29
8/31
9/3
9/7
9/14
9/21

Paleo Asian Chicken-Instant Pot & Freezer Cooking

Paleo Asian Chicken

6-8 drumsticks

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup coconut amino's

2 TB honey

2 TB coconut sugar

2 TB rice wine vinegar

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 ts minced fresh ginger (or smash a couple of pieces of ginger and remove after cooking)

1 ts sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds-optional

Place everything in IP and stir so sauce is coating chicken. Cook at high pressure 10 minutes. Natural release 10 minutes. Remove drumsticks one at a time and remove chicken from the bones. Place meat back in IP and saute until liquid is reduced about half and serve.

Freezer Instructions:
Place all ingredients in freezer proof container and freeze. (no need to cook first)
When ready to use place frozen food in instant pot and saute for five minutes. Then cook for 10 minutes and slow release 10 minutes. There was not much liquid in pot after saute so I was concerned,  but after cooking there was plenty. I then used saute again to reduce liquid to my liking. Remove chicken from bones and serve.

*save those bones and make stock. Use it for egg drop soup.

Modified from Living Sweet Moments

Paleo Texas Chili

Texas Chili

1 lb stew meat or cubed chuck roast

diced onion

teaspoon minced garlic

14 oz can beef broth

8oz can tomato sauce

1-2 tb chili powder

1/2 tb cumin

1/2 tb paprika

1 ts garlic powder

1 ts onion powder

dash cayenne

s+p to taste

paleo approved oil

On stove top partially cook onions in a little oil. Move onions to the side of the pan and add beef that you have seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown the beef. Add fresh garlic to mixture and cook about a minute. Add beef broth, tomato sauce and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least two hours or until meat in tender. This is a mild version of the chili, you can always kick it up a notch if you like things hot & spicy. 

Paleo Egg Drop Soup

4 cups homemade chicken stock/bone broth
2 eggs, beaten
green onions, sliced white and light green parts only
1 ts ground ginger or one slice fresh ginger
1/4 ts garlic powder
1/4 ts salt
1/2 ts sesame oil
*freshly ground pepper
**dash of coconut amino's

Place stock, green onion, ginger, garlic and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Take off heat and drop eggs into pan using your fork. They should drop in long streams and the hot stock will cook them instantly. Stir occasionally. Add sesame oil and stir.remove fresh ginger if used)

You may have noticed I didn't list the amount of green onions. I like a lot f onions in my soup, you may only like a little.

*I like to add freshly ground pepper to my bowl.
** If you want a to add a bit more flavor to your soup add a dash of coconut amino's (like paleo soy sauce)

Paleo Homemade Lawry's Seasoning Copycat

I love using Lawry's Seasoned salt.

I noticed that our bottle was almost gone and I decided to try my hand at making a homemade version and to make it paleo to boot!

It was very simple.... gather all your spices (running some through a grinder).

Mix it together and you're done!

I did a taste test sprinkling some of my bottled Lawry's on one side of some fried potatoes and my homemade version on the other side. I liked the homemade version better! Maybe the spices were fresher? Our grocery store carries bulk spices so this was super economical too.

Paleo Homemade Lawry's Seasoning Salt Copycat
1/3 cup salt*
3 1/2 ts coconut sugar*
1 1/2 ts arrowroot powder**
1 TB celery salt*
1 TB smoked paprika
1 ts granulated onion
1 ts granulated garlic
1 ts turmeric
1/8 ts cayenne pepper

Adapted recipe from Food.com

*run through a spice or coffee grinder

**I wasn't sure if I should replace the cornstarch in the original recipe with arrowroot powder or tapioca starch. Here is an excellent article that explains the science behind making paleo flour replacements.

Baked Zucchini Mini Muffin Meatballs

I HATE to roll meatballs! So I decided to try and make meat "balls" in a silicone mini muffin pan instead.

 It was not as easy as I hoped it would be, but it did save me from the dreaded" rolling of the balls"!

My 7 year old usually won't touch zucchini, but he gobbled these up!

Baked Zucchini Mini Muffin Meatballs

1-1 1/2 lb ground meat *

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup zucchini, shredded, drained and packed

1/4 onion or 2 shallots finely chopped

1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cook onions in fat on stove top until translucent. Lightly salt them to draw out the moisture.

In a bowl combine the rest of the ingredients. Add onions when they are ready.

*if you are using ground turkey you may want to add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mix.

Combine and place in a mini muffin pan.

I have a round tablespoon that ended up being the perfect scoop.

Cook for 20-25 minutes.

I used ground beef and the grease was starting to go over the edge of the pan so I ended up placing a large cookie sheet on the lower rack to catch the grease.

Makes 48 mini meatballs

Adapted from a recipe on Prevention RD

Applesauce Muffins (Paleo)

Paleo baked goods have been very difficult for me to get used to. Almond flour and coconut flour are just not the same as wheat flour. Some of the things I've baked have been horribly dry and some recipes have you use a ridiculous amount of eggs and then they taste like...eggs!

These applesauce muffins were pretty decent (how's that for a rousing endorsement :). Nice and moist with a mild, pleasant flavor. They give me hope that I will start finding some good paleo baked good recipes. I also think I just need to train my palette to get used to these new tastes.

Since we are new to paleo I bumped up the sweetness from the original recipe and mixed my walnuts in rather than have them on top. From Gluten Free Homemaker

Applesauce Muffins

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup applesauce
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoon coconut sugar
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350

In one bowl whisk together almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In another bowl mix eggs, applesauce, vanilla, honey and sugar.
Add the wet and dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add walnuts and mix in.

I used a silicone muffin pan. Fill 10 of the muffin cups and cook for 25 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure they are cooked through and then cool on a wire rack.