Paleo Pizza

I actually followed this recipe for pizza crust and it turned out a little flat-bread-y, but it still worked for a pizza. It could probably be really good for sandwich bread too...

Paleo Pizza Crust from Caveman Strong

3 eggs
1 garlic clove- crushed
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with coconut oil.
Beat eggs and milk together with both garlics. Add the coconut flour and baking soda and mix/whisk until smooth. Let it sit for a minute to thicken. Pour onto greased parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes.

From here, I flipped the crust over, added some cheese (shhh, I know it's not Paleo), cooked ground chicken sausage, leftover sliced Brussels sprouts, roasted bell peppers, and some more cheese (shredded cheese would have been easier than slices). I was just pulling things out of the fridge and throwing them on there, so this could be any kind of pizza, depending on what you have. I stuck it under my broiler for 5 minutes, then drizzled Trader Joe's Balsamic Glaze (buy this, just do it) with some olive oil over the top.

Since the crust was soft, it wasn't easy to pick up and eat, so I ate most of it with a fork and knife. I had enough for dinner with leftovers for lunch and a piece or two to spare.

Lazy Chili

I think I made this on New Year's Day, since I wouldn't be eating the traditional black-eyed peas, and I wanted to feel like I was eating beans...without actually eating beans. And this is probably the laziest meal way to make chili, so go ahead and add more things!

Warning: I didn't measure anything, but none of it needs to be exact. I probably used two smallish sweet potatoes, and maybe the equivalent of 1.5 chicken breasts. I had enough leftovers for a couple more servings, but this could all be easily increased for more chili.

Sweet potatoes--peeled and chopped into smallish chunks (depending on how you're feeling..1 inch?)
Shredded chicken
1 can diced green chiles
Onion (I used half)
Canned tomato sauce (I only used half a can)
Chicken broth
Coconut oil
Salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, etc.

In a pot over medium high heat, add approximately 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Chop the onion, add to the pot, and let it simmer. When the onion is translucent, add the green chiles and sweet potatoes. I let that sit for a minute or two and then added the tomato sauce and chicken broth until I was happy with the amount of liquid. I wanted enough to make it saucy, but not quite like soup. Add seasonings to taste and stir together. Let this all simmer until the potatoes are almost fork tender. Then add the (cooked and shredded) chicken. I added a little more broth since I didn't want to open another can of tomato sauce and wanted more liquid. Continue to simmer until everything is incorporated, hot, and cooked.

Sweet Potato Enchilada/Lasagna

I made the original enchiladas from PaleOMG a few months ago. Since I didn't feel like buying ground beef this time, I decided to try shredded chicken.

Forgive the awkward picture but we ate it too fast to get anything better.

For the shredded chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Dehydrated garlic (fresh garlic would work too)
Chicken broth
Salt + pepper

Arrange the breasts in the crock pot and add garlic, S + P, and any other seasonings you want, depending on what you'll be using the chicken for. I knew I'd have leftover chicken to use for other dishes, so I didn't make the whole batch spicy, but you could add some green chiles/peppers/cumin here. Add chicken broth to cover chicken about halfway. Turn crock pot on high for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked and shreds easily with a fork. Remove chicken (carefully, it may start to fall apart), and shred in a large bowl.

From here, I continued with the original recipe, except instead of thinly slicing the sweet potatoes, I just shredded them and cooked them like hash browns, in a large skillet with coconut oil. Then I pressed about half of the pile of potatoes into a 8x8 pan and started baking that while I prepped everything else.

For the chicken, I added about half my shredded chicken to a skillet with the green chiles and spices, poured a little chicken broth over the whole thing and let that simmer and heat for a while.

I followed the original recipe for the sauce.

Now, layer half the chicken over the sweet potatoes, and keep layering until everything is in the pan. Pour the sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes at 350.

Let it cool a little...then eat it all.

Pork Tenderloin with Butternut Squash

Thank you Em, for recommending this to me. I've gotten so tired of my usual meat (chicken, ground beef), so this is a welcome change.

I had maybe (I don't remember, shocker) a 1.5-2 pound pork tenderloin, unseasoned...just hanging out in its own juices. I put the whole thing in a bowl and ground a bunch of Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper, Everyday Seasoning, and salt over all sides and rubbed it in. I put it on a foil-covered cookie sheet with a roughly chopped onion, sprinkled the whole thing with 21 Seasoning Salute, and put it in the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes.

I don't have a meat thermometer, so I just cut it open after about half an hour and checked for pink...at this point it was still just a teeny bit pinker than I wanted, so I put it under the broiler for a few minutes. I've never cooked pork tenderloin before, so I wasn't sure how much pink was okay, and how much would poison me, so I went for well-done.

I roasted some butternut squash at the same time (for probably only 20 minutes or less) and drizzled that with TJ's balsamic glaze. I don't have a picture because I ate it too fast, but you can imagine what it looked like. Bonus: I ate maybe 1/4 of it, so I have lots of leftovers.

Voila. New favorite thing.

Pumpkin Spaghetti Squash

Looks appetizing, doesn't it?

So Kendall told me that her mom bought pumpkin spaghetti sauce, so naturally I wanted to try to recreate it for my spaghetti squash. I've been buying lots of canned pumpkin lately and putting it in my mug cakes, so I thought I'd try it with my dinner this time.

As usual, I didn't measure a single thing, so I'll do my best to estimate, but its not an exact science anyway, right? The amount I made was for half a spaghetti squash.


1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 can pureed pumpkin (give or take a spoonful)
2 cups broth (I used veggie)
2 tbsp olive oil
Seasonings (steak seasoning, italian herb blend, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc)
Tomato paste


In a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the oil and onion. Once the onion softens, add some garlic...I added maybe a teaspoon. Then add your pumpkin and broth and mix well. Add your seasonings (whatever kind you like/have on hand) and olive oil and keep stirring. I just sprinkled the herbs and stuff in the sauce and mixed it and tasted it, added more, etc. Turn the heat down and let it simmer for a bit until it all looks blended. I added a little more broth to get the consistency I wanted, so you can experiment here. Taste it and add more seasonings if necessary. I added about a tablespoon of tomato paste at the end...I don't know why, I just felt like it should have some tomato essence in there. I think that's all I put in it. I had done the squash in the microwave while I made the sauce, then I cut up some sausage and sauteed that in a pan to put on top.

The kale/chard was just in a big skillet with some onion/garlic/steak seasoning/broth...the usual.

Yummy Chili

I've been so hungry for chili or soup, or even the weather to eat chili or soup. And yesterday was it!

I threw this together in the pressure cooker, since I didn't start until about 4:00 pm. It would work great in the crockpot if you browned the meat and vegetables first and started it in the morning. A pot on the stove would work too. As usual, this is a guideline, not a scientific report. This is what I had on hand and used - you can sub almost anywhere!

Greene Chili (ha ha)

1 pound ground turkey
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
1-2 bell peppers
5 ounces mushrooms
2-3 carrots
2-3 stalks celery
1-2 cups chopped sweet potato
1 can crushed tomatoes (medium can)
1 can chopped tomatoes (I used a large can)
chili spices to taste: cumin, chili powder, paprika, green chile seasoning
salt/pepper to taste

Brown meat, crumbling, and remove to a bowl. Saute vegetables in same pan until they start to soften. Return meat to pan and add tomatoes and seasonings.

Using the pressure cooker, I added about 1/2 cup of water to make sure it wouldn't burn or go dry. I covered it, put the weight thingy on top and brought it up to full pressure. I lowered the heat until it just "sang" a bit and let it cook under pressure for about 15 minutes. I then lowered the heat to low, and let it simmer for another hour or so. The pressure dropped naturally during that time, so I was able to check on it. It was ready after about 20 minutes, but I let it simmer until we were ready to eat.

On the stove, I would also add water and bring the chili up to a simmer (gentle barely bubbling boil), then turn down very low and let it cook as long as you can. An hour would be fine (you want the veggies soft), but longer is good. Add water as necessary to replace the steam that burns off.

In the crockpot, you probably don't need any additional water. Just put the chili into the pot, turn it on low, and go about your day for 8 hours or so. If you're in a hurry, turn it to high for part of the time. If you're really in a hurry, I highly recommend a good pressure cooker.

This was really delicious. I went a little heavy on the spicy side (think it was the green chile seasoning I added), but Stuart thought it was perfect.

Next time, I would add more vegetables. There was plenty of meat. The sweet potato adds the perfect touch of sweetness and mellows out the flavor. And Hil, the mushrooms are optional, but they pretty much disappeared into the chili and even you couldn't have found them!

Make a lot and freeze some for that day that you know is coming, when you are tired and hungry and want something that Mom would have made. ;-)

P.S. The almond muffins were great with this!

Almond Muffins

I rarely look at Pinterest, unless one of the girls tells me to, or sometimes I get an email from Pinterest with something that looks interesting. Then I get all excited and "pin" something and decide to use this fun tool more often. And then I forget. Lather, rinse, repeat.

But today I saw a pin about cooking pancake batter in muffin tins, and zipped into the kitchen to experiment. Here's my grain-free version.

Almond Muffins

3 large eggs
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp oil (coconut or mild olive oil)
1 cup almond flour (the finely ground kind)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
dash of stevia or honey if you want them sweet

Beat eggs, water and oil with a fork, and add dry ingredients. Grease 6 muffin tins very well, and fill each about half-way. (Mine made exactly six). Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 10-12 minutes, or until very lightly browned and firm to the touch.

Makes a good quick breakfast -- you decide what to put on them. I tried a little butter and I think they would be a great accompaniment to soup for dinner. A good substitute for cornbread, which I confess that I miss. 

(And yes, this batter makes really good pancakes.)

(Steph, this is for you!)