Rosemary Citrus Chicken

1 Whole Chicken. Rinsed And Spatchcocked
A few Sprigs Of Fresh Rosemary
1 Large Lemon, Sliced Into Rings
1/2 Red Onion, Sliced Into Rings
Oil Of Choice
Lots Of Sea Salt And Fresh Ground Pepper

1) Heat Oven to 350. Place the chicken, breast side up, on a rack, on top of a cooking pan. I use a stoneware bar pan and place it directly on the stone. I’m also kind of lazy, and really don’t care for washing dishes, so I try to dirty as few as possible.
2)Slice open the skin on the chicken in a few different places and shove the rosemary sprigs (I put the whole sprig in there), onion and lemon under the skin.
3)Oil up the bird and season with a LOT of sea salt and ground pepper. I’m not kidding, the more salt the better….at least in my world.
4)Cook for a good hour, maybe longer, maybe less. It will depend on the size of your chicken. Just check it often and when the leg seems like it can be pulled off the body without any resistance, I call that done. Technical, I know. You could also use a meat thermometer….whatever floats your boat.
5)Pull out the rosemary sprigs and lemons, leave the onion, it tastes really good now too.

Serve with a side of whatever roasted veggie you wish. You will eat lots of this, I promise, its THAT good!

Remember to save all the drippings and bones. I made bone broth with these chickens, and it was the most flavorful bone broth, and chicken soup I have made to date.

Paleo Stuffed Red Peppers

2 Large Red Peppers
3 Organic Italian Bison Sausages
1/2 White Onion
3 Crimini Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Broccoli Florette’s
1/2 Small Cauliflower Riced
Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 398ml. Can Organic Tomato/Pasta Sauce
1 TBSP. Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Pre heat oven to 350.

Remove casings from sausages and scramble fry.

Rice the cauliflower in a food processor and add to the pan.

Chop up and add the rest of the ingredients (except cheese) and heat through for a few minutes.
Stuff your peppers, this recipe should fill two large peppers (standing up). If you you want to cut them in half and stuff, it would probably fill 6-8 halves. Cook them on a baking sheet, in the oven for 45 minutes. If you decide to add the cheese do that at the end and turn on the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp it up. YUM!

It took me a couple of hours to think through how I could make our favorite cookie, in a healthier way. I considered almond flour and coconut flour. Whether I wanted to use butter or try to keep them dairy free.

I consulted the amazingly talented Jamie Schultz of “this lunch rox” about natural sugar replacements, as up until this point I have not tried any of them. She recommended “swerve” which I promptly went out and found. Its not easy to find and there are only 3 location in Calgary that sell it. This guy here  is closest to me, so to him I went. He is really nice, and very knowledgeable about healthy lifestyles too. I spent some time talking to him and it turns out he made similar changes to his diet 30 years ago…which is why he probably seems so much younger than his 81 years.

Here is what I came up with. I decided on coconut flour because I find it has less flavor than almond flour, and really, I want as much of the pea-nutty goodness to shine through as possible. Not only that but the calorie and fat content of coconut flour is crazy less than that of almond flour! Which in my mind means I can eat 6 cookies instead of 2….no brainer right?

The best part about these? In my opinion, you cannot tell them from “regular’ peanut butter cookies. They are soft but not gooey, and they don’t fall to pieces when you bite them. The texture is even the same.

and my youngest gremlin after she polished off two of the cookies from the batch with vegan chocolate chips….

Peanut Butter Cookies -(grain free, dairy free, gluten free & sugar free)

1 Cup Your Favorite (gluten free) Smooth Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Swerve Sweetener
2 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/2 TSP. Baking Soda
1 TSP. Vanilla Extract

** if so desired you could add 3/4 cup of vegan dark chocolate chips. In my opinion they taste MUCH better without the chocolate.

Heat Oven to 350°

In a bowl whip together peanut butter, eggs, vanilla and swerve sugar substitute. Add in coconut flour and baking soda. Once mixed evenly your batter should be easy to scoop or roll into balls with your hands. I like using a melon ball scoop to measure the cookies with, it makes it easier to make them all the same size.

Drop balls onto parchment lined cookies sheets. Press down lightly with a fork and bake for 12 minutes, or until they start to brown around the edges.

Makes 3 dozen small cookies.

For our Sunday breakfast yesterday I whipped up a frittata and it tasted really yummy so I thought I would share.

Frittata: is an egg-based dish similar to an omelette or quiche, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables or pasta. It may be flavored with herbs.

I’ve started adding cream cheese to my frittata, it really seems to give it a little extra zing. I’ve made it without cream cheese as well and its unanimous in this family, cream cheese makes it better!

Cream Cheese & Italian Sausage Frittata

1 Dozen Eggs
5 Italian Bison Sausages <– link to the ones I use.
1 Cup Mushrooms
1 Cup Chopped Peppers (I used red and orange)
1/4 Cup Cream Cheese
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

To Top With After Cooked:

1 Cup Chopped Green Onions
1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes Cut In Half
1 Cup Grated Cheese (optional)

Remove sausages from their casings and scramble fry over medium heat until cooked through.

Beat eggs in a bowl. Add really soft or slightly melted cream cheese. Pour mixture into a greased silicone cake pan. (Trust me, you will want to use the silicone. Nothing sticks, the whole frittata will slide right out of the pan perfectly intact leaving no stuck on eggs to scrub off.) Then add in your sausage, and veggies and sprinkle in some salt and pepper.

Bake at 400 approximately 30 minutes.

I like to top mine with the tomatoes, green onions and my kids like the grated cheese. The great thing about frittata is you can mix in just about anything you want. I also like adding red onion, broccoli, and asparagus. Get creative.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie 

3 Frozen Bananas
3 Cups Frozen or Fresh Strawberries (we used a mix of both)
1/2 Cup Pineapple
1.5 Cups Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup Ice

I blend it all up in my Vitamix – I use this one and I LOVE it!

This recipe made enough for the 5 of us to drink so if you want only a single serving adjust the ingredients accordingly.

They keep for a couple of days, the dozen usually lasts us about 3 days.

These can be modified in dozens of different ways. They are gluten free, but can also be dairy free, and vegetarian with slight adjustments and they still taste just as good.

Because I have super picky eaters I make a variety of muffins with each batch. Some with just bacon and egg, some with bacon, egg and cheese, and some with the “works”. SO delicious, bet you won’t eat just one!

BREAKFAST MUFFINS

What you need:

10 Eggs
Chopped Veggies (Onion, Broccoli, Peppers, or whatever you like)
Cooked Bacon, or Ham (optional)
Shredded Cheese (Optional)
Cherry Tomatoes
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Heat oven to 400.
Grease Muffin Tin – you want to grease it really well as these do stick. I have used coconut oil and butter.
Beat eggs well add salt and pepper to eggs.
Put the bacon and veggies in the muffin pan first. Then scoop the egg mixture into the muffin pan. Putting roughly 50mm of eggs in each cup.
Sprinkle with a little bit of cheese and top with a halved cherry tomato.

Makes 12.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until egg is fully done. You will need a spatula or butter knife to help remove them from the pan. Sadly, they will stick a little. {If anyone has any suggestions for pans or techniques to keep the eggs from sticking I’d love to hear about it }

Enjoy!!

Then I realized I did not have to say goodbye completely, I just needed to find a new way to make them.

I scoured the internet for grain free waffle recipes, I tried almond flour and coconut flour variations. Didn’t really care for any of them, my kids refused them outright.

One day after shooting a session I was talking with my clients about food choices and the changes we have been making. They were also on a similar path and we ended up chatting for almost an hour about various resources we have found and some of the struggles we have had. I mentioned that I was trying desperately to find a new waffle recipe that would be grain free but still taste good. She told me she would email me a recipe she had.

She did send it to me and I’ve been playing with it. Even my kids approved, my youngest Etain ate two helpings and completely ignored the breakfast sausage on her plate, which is usually her favorite.

CINNAMON PECAN WAFFLES

2 Cups Whole Raw Pecans
4 Eggs
1/4 Cup Honey
6 Tbsp Melted Butter
2 Tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tbsp. Cinnamon

Grind up the pecans in a blender or food processor, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Grease your waffle iron well (butter or coconut oil) and pour the batter in. You have to be careful as these burn quite easily so you want to cook them only about half as long as usual waffles take. They are quite light and fluffy, they won’t get crispy in the waffle iron the way regular ones do, this is ok, they still taste good, but you could probably toast them in the oven if it was that important to you.

Drizzle with maple syrup, add some fresh fruit and enjoy. They taste like cake! YUM!!

GRANOLA BARS

4 cups Wheat Free Organic Oats
2 cups Raw Long Shredded Coconut
1 TBSP Ground Cinnamon

Preheat Oven To 325.
Mix oat, coconut and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread over 2 large bar pans or cookie sheets and bake for 15 min, or until lightly browned.

Turn oven down to 300.

Melt in a small pot:

1 1/4 Cup Organic Raw Honey
2 TSP Pure Vanilla Extract
3 TBSP Butter

1 Cup Sunflower Seeds
2 Cups Organic Dark Chocolate Chips

Remove oats and coconut from the oven and dump into a bowl. Pour the honey mixture over and stir together with sunflower seeds and chocolate chips.

Cover a large bar pan with parchment paper and grease with butter. Pour the mixture onto the large bar pan (10×15 inches) and pat down. Return to the oven and bake for 25 minutes. When done, let cool for about 3 hours before cutting into squares.

Adding nuts and dried fruit like maybe some cranberries would be delicious as well. Since my kids are not allowed to take anything with nuts to school I skipped that step this time.

When I decided to sign up I made the decision to just MAKE it work. I sat down with a calendar and put in all the “other” commitments (hockey, dance, play-dates, the dates Scott would be away, my work schedule, days my sitter was available and not available….then figured out where each day I could manage to take that 90 minutes to myself for this class.

There were days where I had to take an evening class, come home and go to bed then get up at 5 am the next morning because those were the only classes on those particular days I could manage to get to. It was not easy but it was worth it.

There were days I wanted to quit and days that I would have done extra classes had there been time. I am amazed at how my body has responded. I am more flexible now after only a month – by A LOT!! I have not lost weight in lbs. but I am toning up and slimming down. My clothes fit better and I FEEL better, which is all that really matters…although, a lower number on the scale would be really awesome!! LOL

DAY 30

Today I feel strong. I feel proud. I feel so good. So good in fact that I have signed up for the 60 day challenge….why not? I’m already halfway there