Baked Coconut Plantains - Paleo

Ingredients:

1 C full fat coconut milk (canned)
2 tsp raw honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp vanilla
1 large, ripe plantain

1/2 C shredded coconut

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small sauce pan, and cook until it begins to bubble.

Slice the plantain into 20 pieces (about 1/4 in thick). Add the plantains to the coconut mixture. Cook altogether over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Spread out a thin layer of coconut on a plate, and remove one piece of plantain at a time, making sure it is covered in the 'sauce' from the pan on both sides. Place the plantain on the coconut and cover both sides.

Line the plantains on a foil covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Coconut Curry Chicken - Paleo

This recipe was by far, one of the best I've made so far on Paleo! I found the recipe via my cousin, Bea, on her blog: https://lemoninmywater.jux.com/#1045498

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

3 Arrowroot Flour
Salt & Pepper

dash ginger, garlic powder, curry, any other spices you'd like

1/4 c coconut oil

 2-3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fresh chopped Ginger
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 red pepper (julianned)
3/4 c chopped jicama

1 tbsp curry
Sriricha Sauce (or chili flakes)
Chili Powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
1/2 can Full Fat coconut milk
8oz water
12 grape tomatoes, quartered
cilantro

1 head cauliflower

In a large sauce pan, melt the coconut oil on medium-high heat. While melting, mix the flour, salt, pepper and any other spices of your choice in a small bowl. Dust chicken with this mixture. Fry the chicken in the coconut oil until golden brown, and remove from heat.

In another frying pan, saute the garlic, ginger and olive oil and toss in the peppers and jicama - cook for 2 minutes. Add curry, chili powder, sriricha, cinnamon & nutmeg and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and allow the juice from the tomatoes to 'clean' the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken to the pan, along with the coconut milk and water. Bring to a low boil, then cover and reduce heat and cook on low-medium for 15 minutes. Chop up about 1 tbsp worth of cilantro (more or less depending on your taste) and add during the last couple of minutes of cooking.

For the cauliflower rice, grate the cauliflower with a cheese grater, using the larger size to give you 'rice-sized' pieces of cauliflower.  Heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stir, and cook another 3 minutes more (do not at water).  The cauliflower will serve 2, so if prepping a meal for 4 people, add an additional head of cauliflower.  

Simple Cucumber Lime Salad - Paleo

While building a home for a family in El Salvador this past week, the woman, Flor, came out and offered us a mid-day snack of sliced cucumber & radish. I'm not a huge radish fan, but upon giving it a try, I found it was dressed in a simple lime and salt dressing. It was an incredibly refreshing mid-day snack, and I couldn't wait to come back and try it for myself!

Coming in at 25 calories per serving (makes 3) - it's not a bad addition to lunch or dinner!

Ingredients: 
3 C sliced cucumbers
1 1/2 C sliced radishes
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp salt

 Mix well to coat, and serve.

Girl Scout Cookies - Samoas - Paleo

Who knew?! Paleo friendly Girl Scout cookies?! I was beyond stoked when a co-worker shared this recipe with me today, so I had to come home and try it out for myself. This version isn't quite as sweet or crunchy as the real deal, but they are still delicious and reap many more nutrients than it's original counterpart! I have to admit that I found this recipe on http://risingmoonnutrition.blogspot.com/2012/12/paleo-samoa-cookies.html and just made two minor tweaks for mine below:

Each cookie comes in around 180 calories - the recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Ingredients: 
2 C shredded sweet potato
1 C shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 C finely diced walnuts
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 C arrowroot flour

1 C hot water
12 medjool dates, pitted and soaked in the hot water for 15 minutes
1/2 C almond butter
1/4 C coconut oil

2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp honey (optional)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Upon soaking the dates in hot water for 15 minutes, remove the pits and place dates in a food processor, with 1 cup of the hot water used to soak them. Blend well, and add the almond butter and oil.  This should create a sweet, nutty paste.

Add the paste to the first 5 ingredients, and blend together with the eggs, salt and vanilla.

On a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, scoop out a rounded tablespoon of cookie dough, flatten and use your finger to create a whole in the center of the cookie. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes.

When the cookies are done baking, melt the chocolate, oil and honey in a double boiler (or if you're fancy like me, two different pots because you don't own one). Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies, and refrigerate to harden!

Chocolate Banana 'Ice-Cream' - Paleo

 This went viral on Pinterest a while ago. I've been dying to try it out - finally remembered to freeze my banana when I got home from work, so it was ready to go 3 hours later! 

Ingredients:

1 ripe banana (medium-large)
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond butter
1 1/2 Tbsp coconut milk

Slice your banana into thin pieces and place on a metal cookie pan (I had about 22 slices - the thinner they are sliced, the less time they take to freeze). Place the banana slices in the freezer for 3 hours or more - until frozen solid.

In a food processor, process all of the remaining ingredients with the frozen bananas. *Note - I used my mini-food processor, and it fought me for a while on this one. Be patient. Slowly add your coconut milk & extract - it will need all the liquid help it can get!

Process for a couple of minutes, or until smooth!

Butternut Squash Lasagna - Paleo

Only 400 calories if consumed as 4 servings!  And it's worth every bite!

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash

Sauce:

1 small onion
1 lbs 94% fat free ground beef
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt (more to taste)
1 Tbsp olive oil


In a sauce pan, begin to brown the beef. When cooked about halfway through, add the onions to sweat with the beef. Cook until the meat has browned, then add the remaining ingredients for the sauce.


While the sauce is simmering on medium heat, begin preparing the squash. Cut the squash in half - removing the bulb end and setting aside to use IF needed. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin of the butternut squash.  Slice the squash lengthwise, about 1/6 inch thick.

In a 9x9 baking dish, begin by putting 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan, and start layering your squash and sauce until you run out of both.  Finish with a layer of sauce to prevent the squash from burning.

Bake in the oven for 50 minutes (more or less time, depending on how many layers you made). Turn the oven off and let set for 20 minutes. Mine had 3 layers of squash and 4 layers of sauce, so I cooked for a bit longer.