Monthly Archives: November 2014

Inspiration (maple cinnamon pecan butter)

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I’ve gotta say, after 4 months of eating paleo, it has gotten quite easy. In fact, sometimes I feel like I’m cheating because it’s so easy.
I don’t crave all the junk that I used to. I do still like a treat now and then, but a paleo cookie or muffin helps with that.
Honestly it’s becoming second nature for me to shop, cook, and eat paleo.
I really do feel great. Today I got my hair done and discovered that in 4 little weeks I had an entire inch of outgrowth. The norm is about one inch in 6-8 weeks! So my hair is growing extremely fast. You may wonder what this has to do with paleo….Not sure if this is because of my diet, but it does make sense that if you eat healthy, your skin and hair will be healthier. My skin has definitely improved over the past 100+ days, so I’m guessing my hair growth is due to paleo as well.
One more awesome thing I’ve experienced because of paleo is my healthy immune system. By removing inflamitory foods from my diet my body is healthier and stronger. It’s able to fight away germs because it’s not fighting the foods that I’m eating.
This past weekend I had two sick boys in my house. One with a bad cold and one with the stomach flu. I took care of both all week, both are back to normal now, and I have not experienced either one of their symptoms (knock on wood!) pretty darn amazing if you ask me!
Hard work pays off.
I just want to say, when I started this journey, I had no intentions of changing my life. I had no plans to completely change the way I ate. I had no idea what I would experience by doing this. I want you to know, It is great, and I’ll never go back. Sometimes it might be challenging and I might get knocked down, but I’ll get back up, and keep moving forward.
A true test for me will be getting through the holidays.
So far it’s been totally fine. The bag of Halloween candy on the counter isn’t haunting me like usual. I actually haven’t even touched it, except to move it off the counter.
(Confession: Halloween night I did eat a few!)
I have a few paleo thanksgiving treats planned so that will help me get through the feast.
And Christmas won’t be all that difficult for me. I’m sure I’ll sneak a couple of my moms homemade cookies, but no one is perfect, and I’ll get back on track. That’s just it, do your best, try your hardest, and just get back up when you fall. 🙂
If you think you want to try paleo and don’t know where to start or how to get the willpower, message me and I’ll do what I can to help you out. After a few weeks you’ll see just how awesome it is and why I am so inspired. If you have questions or comments/concerns, contact me and I’ll try to find you the answers.
Paleo is awesome! And I encourage you to try!
Here’s a little recipe (from The Paleo Kitchen) for you to try:
Maple cinnamon pecan butter
2 cups raw pecans
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
(Optional) 1/4 cup walnut or almond oil for creamier texture
Combine in food processor
Blend on high until smooth
Store in fridge in airtight container for up to one week
Great on pancakes, chocolate, bananas etc.

Difficult Job (sweet potato quiche)

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They say Knowledge is Power. Sometimes I feel like knowledge is scary.
Once we made the decision to eat paleo my family has been trying to learn more about food. Where it comes from, how it’s grown, how it’s raised, the difference between organic, non gmo, grass fed, corn fed, and so on. There really is so much information out there about our food, yet many people have absolutely no idea where their food comes from or if it is genetically engineered.
I recently watch a film called GMO OMG. I personally didn’t know much about GMOs at all. Prior to the movie I couldn’t even tell you what they were. I was shocked at what I learned from this film. I’m sure it was a bit extreme, but extreme or not it raised many concerns for me, and how my family eats.
As a mom I want what is best for my family. I want to provide knowledge to my son, and teach him the difference between right and wrong, healthy and unhealthy.
I’m starting to think that the food I choose for my family may be one of the most difficult tasks that I face.
Unless you shop at a specialty or health foods store you will not see foods labeled GMO or nonGMO. There is no way of knowing if your food truly is “natural” in a regular grocery store.
I recently learned that almost all processed foods contain corn or a corn product. I also learned that 88% of our nations corn is genetically modified. 88%! That means if you are not looking and making a conscience effort to eat natural non modified foods, the majority of your diet is actually genetically modified, and you don’t even know it!
Now you may be asking yourself, why does genetically modified matter? How do we know if it’s healthy or not?
Well, from what I’ve been learning lately, there are NO studies proving that GMOs are safe. Not many people question it, so it continues to happen. We just continue to eat them because we are uneducated about them. You don’t really even have the choice to buy them or not buy them because they are just there, undisclosed. Everywhere. Seems crazy to me.
So the more I shop and look for foods that are not genetically modified, the less I find. Even your meats (chicken,beef,pork etc.) were most likely raised eating GMOs.
Argh! What a job! Almost impossible to stay away from them!
So what I’ve decided to do is, when I have the choice, I will chose to spend a little more money and buy the products that are brave enough to label themselves NonGMO.
What I took away most from GMO OMG was at the very end of the film, it basically said supply and demand. The consumer tells the big companies what they want by what they purchase.
If you can shop at farmers markets and stores like Sprouts that allow foods that are labeled NonGMO please do.
Future generations should have the choice to eat NATURAL organic foods! Educate yourself about your food and where it comes from. Watch documentaries. Read articles. And read labels! If you can’t pronounce it, try not to eat it!
On another note, here’s a delicious, and beautiful recipe that has all natural ingredients 🙂 courtesy of The Paleo Kitchen
Sweet Potato Quiche:
3 sweet potatoes
About 1/2 cup coconut oil
12oz brussel sprouts cut in half
2 pinches plus 1tsp salt
4 cups spinach roughly chopped
1 cup fresh basil roughly chopped
10 large eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cut sweet potatoes wafer thin (a mandoline or food processed helps)
Heat 2 tblsp coconut oil in a pan over med heat
Place some potato slices in the oil cooking about 1 minute on each side
Remove to a paper towel lined plate and repeat until all potatoes are slightly soft
Once all potatoes are cooked, grease springform pan thoroughly with coconut oil. Line the bottom and sides of pan
In the same sauté pan that the potatoes were cooked in, heat 2 more tblsp oil and sauté brussel sprouts with a pinch of salt until slightly browned.
Add spinach and basil and another pinch of salt and cook until wilted ( about a minut or two)
Remove and let cool to room temp
Whisk eggs, garlic powder, cayenne, 1 tsp salt and pepper.
Add vegetable mixture to eggs and mix well
Set springform pan on rimmed baking dish to catch any spills
Pour egg mixture over potatoes
Bake 35-40 minutes
Let cool 10-15 mins
Enjoy!

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Halloween (paleo pumpkin pancakes)

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Well, I survived Halloween with minimal damage. I cheated Paleo with a cupcake a 4 fun sized candies. Not too bad compared to usual.
Today was back to reality and it felt great! We had eggs and bacon for breakfast, pork and mashed sweet potatoes for lunch, and a twice baked butternut squash with ground pork for dinner. It was a busy soccer mom day. Luckily we had left overs to eat for lunch. But if we didn’t I would have grabbed a salad or a burger with no bun. (My fast food go-to’s)
Tomorrow is cooking day. I’ll head to the store, grab my ingredients and bake the day away! It’s fun to include my little one in the cooking too. He comes and goes from the kitchen, stirring and pouring as he pleases.
This past week we had pumpkin pancakes for dinner and I had a bunch of requests for the recipe, so here it is! Hope you all enjoy!!
4 eggs beaten
1/2 cup pumpkin purée (I used canned)
1 ripe banana mashed
1 tblsp coconut flour
2 tblsp coconut oil melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, mashed banana and vanilla
Melt coconut oil in a pan then add to mixture
Mix in remaining ingredients
Spray or grease a pan with coconut oil cook pancakes until bubbles appear then flip and cook an additional few minutes.
Yum yum happy fall!