Carrot Muffins

My boys wanted to help cook something over the weekend and weren't too excited about helping me prepare veggies.  So I looked up a muffin recipe and made some modifications.  The result...delicious!!!  The whole family really enjoyed them and sadly they didn't last very long.  The batter was dry, almost like cookie dough, so I rolled it into big balls and put the balls in my muffin tin liners.  I'm not a huge fan of 'paleo-fying' recipes but I think everyone wants a sweet treat every now and again, and these are better than the average 'real' muffin.

1 C almond meal
1 C coconut flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 C dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 eggs
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 C coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 C carrots, shredded

3/4 C walnuts, finely chopped
1 C coconut flakes

• Preheat oven to 350
• Combine almond meal, coconut flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl
• In a food processor combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and coconut oil.  After well blended, add walnuts and coconut flakes and pulse until finely chopped.
• Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients.  Fold in carrots (I used my hands to combine it all really well)
• Form into balls and place in 12 muffin liners in your muffin pan
• Bake for 25 minutes

Enjoy!  (It's your decision whether to use Diego or Scooby muffin liners, we had to use 6 of each so each boy knew which muffins were his to eat)

Scooby or Diego . . . decisions, decisions!

Meatza! Meatza!

I have tried several 'paleo pizza' recipes with the modified crusts and have never been in love with any of them.  The solution: meatza!  I have made this several ways and this is my favorite (and Whole 30 approved).  Veggies are the main ingredient here so use as many as you possibly can.  I'm listing the ones that I use most often, but use whatever you prefer and as many as you can.  Use any seasoning combo you like, this is the one we have found gives the most flavor but experiment and find what works best for you.

You can make this with all ground meat to keep it Whole 30 or you can use 1 lb sausage in place of 1 lb of the meat (it's almost impossible to find 'clean' sausage).  If you use sausage, eliminate the taco seasoning and make sure that you combine the sausage and meat really well. 

2 lbs ground beef (pork, turkey, or any combination)
2 Tbsp taco seasoning (be sure to read the label to check for added sugar.  Add more or less to your taste)
Tomato Sauce (this is your preference, I use about 3/4 C and that's not much but I don't like saucy pizza)
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp oil
1 zucchini, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
several handfuls of spinach or kale, roughly chopped
pepper, garlic powder to taste

Meat shrinks down a bit

• Preheat oven to 400
• Put meat on cookie sheet and sprinkle with seasoning.  Mash, knead and mix meat until seasoning is well incorporated.  
• Pat meat out until it fills entire baking sheet and is same thickness everywhere.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until meat is cooked through.
• While meat is cooking, cook your veggies.
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and saute until carmelized about 7-10 minutes
• Add the other veggies (except the spinach) and saute until they're as tender as you like
• Sprinkle veggies with pepper and garlic powder to taste
• Add spinach on top of other veggies and allow to wilt
• Remove meat from oven and drain off excess grease (the meat shrinks quite a bit)
• Cover with tomato sauce, leaving about a 1 inch 'crust' around the edge
• Spread veggie mixture evenly over top of sauce
• Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until veggies are heated through and at your desired level of 'done'
• Cut into slices 

Enjoy! 

Yum! Great leftovers.  I eat it cold out of the fridge although we rarely have any left.

Snacks

When you change your eating habits you also have to change your meal expectations.  For example, eggs can be eaten any time of day and you can have meatloaf for breakfast.  It doesn't matter when you eat a certain food, just that it's a nutritionally good choice.  That being said, I have found it more of a challenge to find good snack options.  If you're not prepared for your mid-day snack attack, you might find yourself reaching for the crackers or chips and we're trying to avoid that.  I have found these two recipes are great snack choices and very versatile so you can change them according to your tastes that day.  They're good enough that even my kids enjoy them and request the kale chips on a regular basis.  So, think outside of the box and have a spinach muffin for your next snack!


Spinach Muffins (this is a recipe I got from the Whole 9 website that I have tweaked a bit)

These muffins are really yummy!  Even if you're not a fan of spinach, give them a try because it really doesn't taste like spinach.  It's going to taste like whatever you season it with so make it good.  They should be stored in the fridge and are delicious straight out of the fridge.  Perfect for any snack attack!

3 - 16 oz bags frozen, organic spinach (I use TJ's)
4 whole eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp spice blend*(you can use any spices you would like: Italian spice blend, basil, oregano, curry, garlic powder, onion powder . . . whatever you're in the mood for)
A few shakes of red pepper flakes

*Spice blend (this is the rub for the Dry Rub Burgers from the Everyday Paleo website.  I love it and always have some prepared in the cabinet for seasoning meat and veggies)

1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

• Preheat oven to 350
• Defrost spinach.  This can be done in the microwave or by setting the spinach out on the counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight.  
• Drain the spinach REALLY well.  I like to dump the spinach into a colander over the sink and squeeze the life out of it, one handful at a time.
• Dump spinach in a bowl with garlic and spices you are using.
• Beat eggs in a separate bowl really well
• Add beaten eggs to spinach and mix well
• Spoon evenly into 12 well-greased muffin pan holes and pack down a bit
• Bake for 30-35 minutes
• Place on cooling rack to cool a bit before removing from pan

This is the version of the muffins my kids like.  I have tried them many different ways and this is the one the kids enjoy the most.

Kale Chips
Did you know kale is the most nutrient dense vegetable you can eat?  Why not try to eat lots of it!?  I assure you, eating kale chips does not feel like eating veggies.

1-2 bunches of kale, rinsed, dried and roughly chopped (I use the pre-washed, torn kale from TJ's.  It's by the lettuce bags and so easy)
1-2 Tbsp oil
Salt to taste
*you can add different seasoning to change it up

• Preheat oven to 400
• Toss kale and oil in a bowl
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
• Put kale on baking sheet
• Bake for 15-25 minutes, tossing once halfway through (I like my kale chips really crispy so I cook them longer, which means they brown up a bit.  You might prefer yours just wilted or lightly crispy on the edges.  Play around with it until you find what works for you.)
• When done to your liking, remove from oven and sprinkle with salt to taste.  

I leave them on the cookie sheet and the whole family snacks on them all day.  It's nothing to eat an entire batch in one day.  These are the perfect snack solution when you're looking for something salty and crunchy.  Enjoy!!