Pesto Grilled Zucchini

A good friend of mine has a zucchini plant that has really gone wild in her garden. Luckily, I am getting some of the fruits of her labor, in the form of HUGE zucchini. What do I mean when I say HUGE??? This is what I mean!!

Yeah, so needless to say we had zucchini for dinner tonight... as we will for the next several nights. This is a recipe that was nice and quick on the grill that was a great compliment to a nice steak.

Pesto Grilled Zucchini
1 large Zucchini (or 1/2 of a monster, as in my case)
5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove garlic- crushed
2 tsp dry sweet basil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, basil and salt.

Cut zucchini on the larger slice setting of a mandolin.

Using a cooking brush, brush zucchini slices on both sides with the oil mixture. Place on a medium high grill for about 5 minutes on each side or until desired tenderness.

 Enjoy!

Paleo No-Bake Cookies

I am not a chocolate fan, but there are certain times when I want a (very mild) chocolate flavor. In my pre-paleo days, this was generally in the form of no-bake cookies.  I recently came upon an awesome blog by a fellow Seattle-area Paleo Mama, and I saw THIS recipe.

Unfortunately, I did not have all the ingredients she used on hand, so I had to change around her recipe a bit, but they still turned out great. And I can guarantee you this, I will be picking up the remaining ingredients on my next shopping trip to try her recipe verbatim.

Another point with this recipe that I want to make: Though you use toasted coconut, it is not an overwhelming coconut flavor like you might imagine, it is just a textural piece that gives you the oatmeal feel, like a traditional no-bake. Try this recipe, and her recipe, and check out her blog, it is great!!!

Paleo No-Bake Cookies

1 C Coconut flakes

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

¼ c coconut oil

¼ c Sunflower Seed butter

¼ C Raw Honey

1tsp vanilla

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 C chopped Cashews (or other mild flavored nut)

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Be sure it will fit in the refrigerator.

Toast coconut in a pan over medium heat, just enough to give a light color.

 Chop cashews with hand chopper or pulse in food processor to a fine chop.

 It should be courser than flour, about the same texture as the coconut flakes.

 Combine nut and toasted coconut in a bowl.

In a double boiler, combine chopped pure chocolate, nut butter, coconut oil and honey. 

Stir constantly to ensure it does not scorch.

Once smooth, remove from heat and pour over nut/coconut mix and stir to combine.

Spoon onto parchment paper and refrigerate till they set up, about 15 min.

Enjoy!

Deluxe Sweet Basil Burger

This is, without a doubt, our favorite burger. I am pretty sure, if it was up to Steven, we would be eating this several days a week. The flavor combination in this one is so perfect, you have got to try it!

Deluxe Sweet Basil Burger

Burger:

1lb ground chicken

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp sweet basil

1 tsp garlic powder

Mix all burger ingredients together in a large bowl.

Allow to meld together in the refrigerator for at least an hour. This will really give you a depth of flavor.

Form into 4 oz patties and grill or cook on stove top (which we had to do because of our rainy Seattle weather).

Burger Toppings:

4 slices of nitrate free/uncured bacon

Spinach:

      6 oz fresh spinach

      2 tbsp oil (to cook spinach- can use bacon grease or evoo)

      ½ tsp salt

      1 tsp onion powder

4 eggs

2 Ripe Avocados

 Bake bacon in the oven.

Use rendered grease for the next step cooking the spinach.

  

In large saute/fry pan, place grease and heat. Add in spinach and spices and continually flip with tongs until wilted.

Fry eggs to desired yoke consistency.

Place burger on bed of fresh greens.

Once all ingredients are cooked, place spinach, bacon and egg on top of burger to warm through in the pan. Once warmed, place burger on a bed of fresh greens and top with ripe avocado. Enjoy!

Taste the Rainbow Muffins

Every week or so I set small goals for myself concerning my children and their eating. Some of them are big and calculable, like completely cut out gluten, and some are more vague like this weeks. I am striving to get more veggies into my kids. They will generally not eat many veggies in their plain form, so I've gotten creative with how to get them in, like with THIS SMOOTHIE and I will say today's episode really worked!

As I had mentioned HERE, we often have different names for the things we eat, and this is no exception. These are a muffin Loralei and I threw together this afternoon and they are a big hit. They do have a little Pure Maple Syrup in them (about .66tsp per muffin), but as I mentioned before, it is a trade off and at least it isn't candy or other nonsense.

Taste the Rainbow Muffins
1 Large Carrot (or two smaller ones)
1 Medium Zucchini
1/2 C Golden Raisins
1/2 C Dried Cranberries
2 1/2 C Almond Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 C Coconut Oil, melted
1/2 C Coconut Milk
4 Eggs
1/4 C Pure Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, grate carrots and zucchini on smallest shred.

Add in raisins, cranberries, almond flour and baking soda and mix well.

In a separate bowl, wisk coconut oil, coconut milk, eggs and maple syrup.

Stir into veggie mix.

Scoop into 18 prepared muffin tins and place in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Apple Pie Balls

So, I've heard review after review after review about LaraBar, but it took me until yesterday to actually try one. Generally, grocery shopping for me involves a 3 year old and a 1 year old, so I get in and out in as little time as possible. I buy the majority of my baking goods from Amazon, so I don't have reasons to venture down the aisles very often.
Yesterday I had a doctors appointment, so I was able to go into the commissary to shop all by myself afterwords. In my wandering, I came upon the bar aisle and thought about the LaraBar I have heard so much about. I purchased the two kinds they had, Apple Pie and Cherry Pie. While I enjoyed them both, the price excludes them from becoming part of my weekly grocery list. That being said, after sampling I quickly threw together these balls, and they have been a hit around our house.  If you like the Apple Pie LaraBar for an on the go snack you have got to try this recipe!

Apple Pie Ball
1 C Dried Figs
1 C Unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
1/4 C Almond Flour
1 C Walnuts
1/2 C Almonds
1/4 C coconut flour

Coating
1/2 C Almonds
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon

In food processor, puree till smooth the figs, applesauce and Cinnamon.

Pour into a large bowl and stir in almond flour and coconut flour.

In the food processor, pulse walnuts and almonds to break them up. They should still have some coarseness to them. Stir them into the prepared batter.

Again in the food processor, pulse additional Almonds and Cinnamon till fairly fine to form a coating for the balls. Form batter into tbsp size balls and roll formed balls in prepared coating.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

DUQ

*~*Update, I did the WOD Mel had in the article listed below, and was able to go from 5 DUs in a row to 9, in just 1 day!!*~*

*This has nothing to do with Paleo or recipes, but is rather a personal accomplishment I just wanted to share... hope you don't mind.**

It is a bit (ok, a BIG) joke around our house how clumsy I am. I was just not blessed with much grace, plain and simple. Double Unders have been my nemesis for quite a while... I can jump rope fast and for long periods of time, but actually coordinating multiple DUs, not happening. Want proof???

Yes, those are my welt covered shins.

I refuse to quit though. I have spent quite a bit of time working on them, and I made the decision I would do 5 DUs in a row. Furthermore, I aspire to be named the Double Unders Queen, or DUQ as we call it around our house (yes, you can laugh, we always do) one day.

I was recently even more inspired to get my DUQ nomination when I read The Clothes Make The Girl blog post about her struggle with double unders. I was able to put some of her 7 lessons into practice, and today, I can officially say, I did 5 DUs in a row without a slip. I am proud, and see myself getting closer and closer to my Crossfit throne, haha!

Here is Colton and I hanging out in the garage practicing. I was using the mirror to help me work on timing where my rope was when I jump.

Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Dipping Sauce

This is one of the tastiest side dishes to do, and is a great accompaniment to a beefy burger. We usually end up having these on the weekend after we do a long run or some other type of intense workout.

 This weekend was even better because we got a mandolin to cut the fries, where prior we have just used a knife. I do not know why I have not bought one sooner... it is a cheapy $10 one, and it works great. I have used it everyday since the purchase, and I don't see that changing anytime soon!!

Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado Dipping Sauce
1 Sweet Potato
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 375. Using a mandolin, julienne the sweet potato.

*Steven is using a knife to finish chopping the end of the potato so as not to loose a finger on the mandolin. Again, his hairy arm, not mine!*

In a large bowl, coat fries with olive oil.

Once coated well, sprinkle spices on fries and mix well again. Spread into single layer on a baking sheet and place in oven. Depending on the thickness of your fries, you may need to adjust the cooking time.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375. Increase oven to 425 for 5 additional minutes to crisp the outsides.

Avocado Dipping Sauce
1 mashed Avocado
1/2 C Homemade Greek Style Yogurt
2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp fresh garlic mashed
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and serve along side sweet potato fries, and as a topping for burgers.