Turkey Stuffed Peppers

These turkey stuffed peppers are super cute. It turns out eating them is not. I made these one evening and packed one for work the next day thinking it would be a great on the go lunch packed with proteins and veggies. I tried eating it like a cupcake and was quite unsuccessful. I actually had to pour all the stuff out of the pepper, cut the pepper, and mix it all together. So, this is actually another recipe for turkey hash masquerading as a stuffed pepper. The good news? It tasted really good and was very filling! I'm bringing the second one to eat over spinach.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 onion
• 2 zucchinis
• 4 red peppers
• garlic
• salt and pepper

Brown turkey and saute onion in separate skillets. Chop zucchini and add to skillet with onion. Add garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix in the turkey and cook an additional 1-2 minutes stirring all ingredients together. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut tops off of peppers and stuff other ingredients inside.  Bake in shallow baking dish for about 25 minutes.

*Leftover turkey, onion, and zucchini? Make a scramble or throw it in with some squash and have a post-workout paleo hash!

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs

I may or may not be a bacon hoarder. I also may or may not make an entire package of bacon when my partner is out of the house then hide it in the fridge. Furthermore, when the hidden bacon is found, I may or may not clarify that the bacon is in fact mine and I have important plans for it for the week. Important plans= me consuming the bacon. There was great excitement when I made these YUMMY bacon wrapped chicken thighs for dinner. Don't worry, I shared...but the leftovers are now safely hidden in the fridge ;-)


Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken thighs
• 1 package bacon
• sea salt
• pepper
• smoked paprika

Create a dry rub with the sea salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Rub on both sides of each chicken thigh then wrap each with a piece of bacon. Cook at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Sweet Potato Dessert

Sweet potatoes with cinnamon MIGHT be the new almond butter.  Except this is definitely a dessert...and you can't smear this on bananas.. and you really shouldn't be eating this haphazardly by the spoonful... but you'll want to :-) The first time I made this I used two sweet potatoes and seriously had to pace myself. I ate about 1/4 of the dish then realized I had gone too far so I hid the rest in a container in the back of my fridge. But every time I opened the fridge it called my name from the deep depths of the wee corner on the bottom shelf. Given this experience, next time I will use only one sweet potato. I will also blog the recipe using only one sweet potato to save you from all the trouble.

Sweet Potato Dessert:

Ingredients:

• One sweet potato
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• Raw honey or agave for drizzling 

Melt coconut oil in pan on high heat. Chop sweet potato and put in skillet, covering completely with oil. Cook about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then cover, turn heat down to medium, and cook an additional 4 minutes. Remove from pan, drizzle with raw honey or agave and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Roasted Chicken

Have you ever had the pleasure of eating veggies cooked in pure animal fat? If not, go out and purchase the following items: raw vegetables, organic whole chicken, and a roasting pan with metal rack. These three items will cost you about thirty bucks and it's totally worth it. I purchased a roasting pan and metal rack this weekend to roast my first whole chicken and now I'm conjuring up all sorts of ideas for roasting meat so I have an excuse to consume fat soaked veggies.

Roasted Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken (Trader Joes is a safe place to purchase one)
• Organic butter or olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Veggies

Prepare chicken by taking out all the stuff in the cavity. Rub butter or olive oil and salt and pepper on chicken. Chop veggies, toss in olive oil and salt and pepper then place in roasting pan with metal rack. Cook on 450 degrees for two hours or 350 degrees for 3.5 hours. Chicken is done when meat thermometer inserted in thigh registers 165 degrees. Wait 10-15 minutes before carving, liquids should run clear.

*Cooking times will depend on the size of the chicken, google it if you aren't sure.

Give Yourself Some Paleo Love

I'm always looking for an excuse to make a Paleo baked good. Good excuses include: the weekend, half birthdays, the State of the Union Address, 10 hour work days, out of town visitors, mid-life crisis, pending due dates of things such as exams, papers, or work deadlines, Tuesdays, lifting heavy things, doctors appointments, and Valentines Day.  Here are the cookies I made this week, give yourself a little Paleo love too. If you missed Valentines Day, don't worry, love is always in season (and so are cookies)!

Paleo Cookies:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup raw honey or agave 
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut milk

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a smaller bowl combine coconut oil, agave, and egg. Mix wet ingredients with dry. Add in coconut milk until ingredients are smooth and firm.

Separate dough into two balls then freeze for 30 minutes. Shape into hearts (or just place by rounded tablespoon), about 1/4 inch thick, then bake on foil lined cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown.

Paleo Cookie Icing:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup raw honey or agave
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 5 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1/8 cup coconut milk

On low heat, heat 1 cup coconut milk, coconut oil, agave/honey, and salt. In a bowl mix arrowroot powder and 1/8 cup coconut milk. On low heat add the arrowroot paste to the pan. Let thicken, then remove from heat and cool.

After the icing has cooled blend for 30-60 seconds. Then refrigerate for 45-60 minutes. Ice cookies!

Fish and Chips

I don't really like pubs. Every time I go into a pub I feel guilty that I don't like sports and even more guilty that I don't like beer. It seems like pubs are the nesting place for this secret club of really cool people who sit around and shoot the shit over something on tap while watching some inning or quarter. Then they all stand up and high five each other yelling "we won!"  YOU didn't win. Those professional athletes won. You've been sitting here drinking all night. Anyway, my partner really likes fish and chips so every once in awhile I'll go into a pub and be the beer and sports hating loser eating a chicken sandwich without the bread.

Here is my rather delicious Paleo version of fish and chips. If you are like me, you may want to enjoy it in your lounge pants while watching Law and Order and drinking almond milk. Make sure you high five your partner and yell "we solved that case!" when the episode is over.

Fish and Chips, Paleo Style:

Ingredients:

• 4 white fish fillets
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup hazelnut flour
• 3 tablespoons Rosemary Salt blend (see my last post for recipe)
• 1 egg
• 2-4 tablespoons of coconut oil

Crack and beat the egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix almond flour, hazelnut flour, and rosemary salt blend. Dip fish fillets in egg then in dry mixture. Make sure fish is completely covered in dry mixture before frying in coconut oil over medium-high heat. Oil should be nice and hot before you throw the fish in the skillet.

*This works best with thin fillets. If your fillets are thick, fry both sides until crispy then throw them in the oven at 350 degrees to finish.

For the chips: slice sweet potatoes very thinly. Mix in olive oil and salt and pepper then bake at 410 degrees on a foil lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. 

Rosemary Salt Blend

I used to be a little scared of fresh herbs. They look like plants (because they are plants) and I never knew whether to use only the leaves, or the stems, or which herbs to pair with which meat, or how much to use, or which ones to mix... It was all just very confusing. Generally, when something is confusing I approach it, I seek understanding... I'm curious about life and I need answers. Not with fresh herbs. Those little green leaves and stems peeping out from the produce bar at the grocery store just held too much mystery and I couldn't handle it. Clearly I got over it. Be a brave Paleo. Spice up your life and make some salt blends to keep in your kitchen.

Rosemary Salt Blend:

Here's what you do: Lay fresh herb on baking sheet. Bake on 'warm' oven temperature or 250 degrees for 4 hours. When finished, the herb should break when you touch it. When the herb is done baking, use a mortar and pestle or a food processor to grind into pieces. Add sea salt and grind again.

*Always use twice as much herb as salt. I used 1/2 cup rosemary and 1/4 cup sea salt. Store in a cool dry place in a glass jar.

P.S. You can use the leaves and stems or only the leaves :-)