Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 15

The weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees today until the sky clouded over and a storm moved in. That was all the excuse I needed to make a nice big batch of this Chicken Tomatillo Soup.

You basically saute 6-8 peppers of your choice (I used red & green bell, jalapenos and poblanos), with some garlic & onions. Season with chipotle powder, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika and salt (use about 2 tsp of each). Then you add a large can of tomatillos, drained & chopped, about 2 lbs of shredded, cooked chicken breasts or pulled pork and 4 cups of chicken broth. Simmer for about 2 hours and then gobble up.

I'm not exact in the measurements because I don't measure for this recipe. I've made it so frequently that I just add a little of this and that. My non-Paleo husband likes it with mozzarella cheese, crunched up tortilla chips and sour cream. To each his own!

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 14

This is what happens at home when you are in charge of Teacher Appreciation Week at school. Your house, your children, your spouse gets ignored (and this is nothing. You should see what we've done to my partner in crime, Evelyn's, kitchen!).

I would take the craziness of this week times 10 because my daughters' teacher are so worth it. We have been incredibly blessed with stellar teachers through the years. Teachers that were born to teach. Teachers so deserving of much more than a simple week of gratitude.

But needless to say, because I've been living at the school and in Evelyn's kitchen (and occasionally in mine), I'm certainly not going to be taking the time to cook up a hearty Paleo feast. So I've turned to Qdoba.

And they never disappoint!

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 13

Dishonesty is one of my biggest pet peeves (that and dirty microwaves), and I try my best to be a pretty honest person. My mother says I'm brutally honest, so technically what can often be considered a desired trait can also be a flaw.

But I blatantly lied once when I wrote my resume. I said "multitasking" was one of my greatest strengths. I'm not sure how a wooden nose didn't shoot out of my face the instant I typed that word. It was the furthest thing from the truth.

Mark is always telling me about how he'll be in his patrol car running someone's plates on the computer while simultaneously talking on the phone and his radio and maneuvering through traffic. I would have long since mowed down a pedestrian and taken out a stop sign or two if that was my job. Luckily for the fine citizens of Boise, it is not.

Because I can't even saute onions and garlic while unloading a dishwasher 3 feet away. See those little black charred bits in the photos above. Those are onions. Well, were onions before they met my greatest strength.

I just pretended I was going for a smokey flavor and ate them anyway. I'm flexible like that.

Scrambled Eggs with Avocados and Tomatoes
Sauteed Broccoli, Peppers and Zucchini with charcoaled onions & garlic
Orange slices

I'm flying to Seattle tomorrow for the Tacoma Marathon. If you never see another Paleo post from me it's because I didn't make it. I'd say wish me luck, but at this point luck can't even help me.

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 12

I had to keep stuffing my face with snacks like this all day because all I want to do is eat some caramel corn. Or cookies. Or a bread stick. Or some sea salt caramels.

When I get really busy, I find myself not paying attention to my nutritional needs. It's eat this on the run. Grab that quickly. Rush here. Rush there. Repeat. All the hurrying causes me to forget breakfast. Forget my water bottle. And forget my will power.

Here's hoping life slows down here before too long or I'll find myself elbow deep in a pan of gooey brownies.

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 11

I can't stop eating this. It's possible it's one of my very favorite new recipes. It is so simple too. And we just so happen to be growing spaghetti squash in our garden, so I suspect this will become a summer staple. Next time I'm going to add grilled chicken and make it a full meal as opposed to a side dish. Did I mention it's delish?

Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash

1 Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil
Garlic Salt
Pepper
2 small Roma Tomatoes, chopped
2-4 Tbs Fresh Basil Leaves, finely chopped
Grated Asiago and Romano Cheese (can also use parmesan or mozza)

Preheat your oven to 400. Hack the squash in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out all the guts. Drizzle olive oil all over each half, then sprinkle garlic salt and pepper (totally your call on how much here. You can always add more after it's baked). Place squash cut-side down on a baking sheet (I put mine on a Silpat) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully flip over. Use fork to pull squash strings away from the side. Mix in the tomatoes and basil and top with cheese (again, your discretion. I just used a pinch, but my kiddos like a bit more). Place back in the oven and broil on high for 3 minutes.

Yumm-o!

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 10

That salad is not what I planned on having for dinner. In fact, as I type this, my house is filled with the delicious smell of a warm Crockpot meal. But the key component to eating Paleo/healthy/better is planning. And that "Fail to plan and plan to fail," saying was ringing pretty true today.

I found myself at the mall at dinner time. Because I started it so late, said Crockpot meal would not be done for another 2 hours. I was starving. The kids were starving. So dinner was served at the mall.

Now I love the mall for a  number of reasons. I love to people watch there. I love to snag free panties from Victoria's Secret every now and then. I love the shoe sales at Dillards, and earning Gymbucks at Gymboree, and letting Claire window shop at Claire's, the store she truly believes was named after her.

But I do not love the mall food court. At all. The lure of the WetzelspretzelCinnabonOrangeJulius is strong. And so not Paleo. So very not Paleo.

So I ran in the opposite direction and bought this salad. It was decent enough after I extracted the American cheese from it. American cheese in a Chef's salad? Who does that? American cheese could cease to exist and I wouldn't shed a tear. I'm not a fan. Which coming from this cheese lover is saying something.

Today was an epic food fail, but I'm pretty stoked about a new spaghetti squash recipe I'm trying tomorrow. So stay tuned...

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 9

Sometimes when you're experimenting with new foods and new recipes, you stumble upon one that looks and sounds delicious, but is very much not. So is the case with these stuffed peppers. The guts were good. I combined browned hamburger meat with sauteed onions & garlic, then added basil, salt, pepper, zucchini, tomatoes and corn. My kids ate it on a bed of potato chips (kinda defeats the purpose, I know. But they ate it nonetheless), but we stuffed ours in peppers, sprinkled with a bit of Parmesan cheese and roasted them.

Now I love me a good stuffed pepper, but the combination here just didn't work. I'm going to make the hamburger hash portion of this again, but avoid using the pepper as the base. I'll have to think of something else to serve it with/on. Maybe cauliflower rice or mashed sweet potatoes? Experimenting here I come...

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 8

It's gluten-free. It's dairy-free. It's Paleo. AND it's loved by every member of my family. SCORE!


I've had a few of you ask me for the crepe recipe I use. I've combined a few recipes I've found and tweaked them a bit until I found a recipe that worked for me. Here it is:

Coconut Flour Crepes 

2 eggs
2 Tbs of melted coconut oil (plus extra for cooking)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbs coconut flour
Sprinkles of cinnamon and nutmeg
1/3 cup coconut milk
Strawberries (or whatever berries you have on hand)

Beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and salt. Stir in coconut flour, nutmeg and cinnamon and then add coconut milk. Heat a small pad of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Pour about an 1/8 cup of batter in the skillet and spread it around with a spatula until you have a very thin layer. Cook 1-2 minutes or until the crepe is cooked around the edges. Carefully flip the crepe and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes. Fill with berries and roll up.

Vanilla Coconut Frosting

1 cup of chilled coconut milk (must be full fat)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
1 Tbs honey

Using a hand mixer, whip ingredients together. Drizzle over crepes. You can also skim the top off a can of coconut milk (just down to the liquid), chill overnight and then whip for about 5 minutes on high to get more of a whipped cream. Then add the remaining ingredient and whip just until blended. I don't do this because I'm impatient and I've found it tastes exactly the same. So we just drizzle the more liquidy frosting over the crepes and gobble them up.

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 7

So one thing that has become very apparent as I have been documenting my meals is how much chicken and eggs I consume. I guess I could notice worse trends, like Twinkies and Milk Duds. But I actually have a lot of other meats on the menu for this next week, including spaghetti squash with meat sauce, zucchini hash, pot roast, etc. So the next few pictures should not contain chicken or eggs. But I can't make guarantees for the week after that. Old habits die hard!

Grilled Chicken Breast with Italian Spices
Roasted Broccoli & Cauliflower (tossed in olive oil, sprinkled with pesto and baked for 30 min)
Cantaloupe

I'm actually surprised cantaloupe has not been present in more pictures, as it's one of my most favorite fruits! I can easily eat an entire cantaloupe on my own in one sitting. I'm awesome like that.

Paleo Plate Pictures: Day 6

And sometimes you snag a hot date, head downtown and let someone else prepare your dinner for you. I heart Bonefish Grill. And handsome dates. And not having to wash dishes after.