Make it stop.

http://vimeo.com/57126054

Preparing for the end of the school year...

As the school year comes to a close for my boys I am finding less and less time to post all the fun things I want. So I'm going to give into it for the rest of this week and resume posting next week. Until then, here are some fun yums I'm excited to try out this summer.

Check them out here!

Kitchen Jams

The only thing equally important to good, real food, is good music. Not really, but it is pretty important. This post may throw me into the total nerd category, but I'm sure my coolness already peaked at age 4 and it's been downhill from there. With kids in the house it is a struggle to find good music that I love and that they love... ya right, who am I kidding, I totally make them rock out with me to the Biebs and Macklemore. But when I'm not corrupting their small impressionable minds with explicit lyrics and sub-par dance moves, we listen to The Okee Dokee Brothers. They rock. Just give this little ditty a listen while you make dinner next time and you'll be air banjoing in no time. And did I mention they are Grammy winners? And did I also mention that they are adorable? Ooookee dokee.

Mustang Mosey

I just had my first "Mustang Bar" and I have to say it was like eating a hunk of cookie dough. Delicious and nutritious! You can check them out and order them at Paleotreats.com. They are divine!

Oh. My. Cod.

I ordered this new cookbook this week and was excited to try some new recipes. I had a few meyer lemons on hand so I thought this simple cod dish sounded pretty good. Well I was wrong. It wasn't pretty good, it was one of the best fish dishes I've ever made. I'm noticing a trend with my obsession with lemons, so maybe it's just me, but this was to-die-for-good. I altered the recipe a bit, so here is my version:

Roasted Wild Cod with Meyer Lemon and Caper Relish

 Ingredients:

2 small to medium Meyer lemons

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar

2 tablespoons of honey

3 or 4 (5 oz) Wild Alaskan Cod Fillets (got mine at Trader Joes)

2 shallots, minced (about 3 Tbsp)

1/3 cup capers, rinsed, drained and coarsely chopped

5 tablespoons of freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

 3 tablespoons of EVOO

1 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp butter

Do it:

Start the lemons preferable the day before and no fewer than four hours before you plan to devour, I mean eat this dish. Cut both ends off the lemons, cut in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Use a sharp knife to cut into thin wedges and then finely dice. Add the lemon pieces to a bowl with any juices that have puddled on the cutting board. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, the vinegar and honey and stir. Cover and leave at room temp for at least 4 hours, up to overnight. 

Remove the fish from the fridge and allow to come to room temp. and pat dry. Arrange the rack on your oven to the top third and preheat to 400. Add the shallots, capers, parsley and EVOO to the bowl with the lemon mixture and stir to combine. The mixture should be pretty wet. Season both sides of the fish with salt and pepper. Warm the coconut oil and 1 Tbsp of the butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and add the fish fillets to the pan without touching each other. Sear each side for about 2 minutes until just golden. Spoon the lemon relish on top of each fillet, allowing the liquid from the relish to drip into the pan as well. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp of butter to the pan and pop it in the oven until the fish is done (about 6 minutes). After removing the fish from the oven carefully transfer to a plate and and drizzle some pan sauce on top and then prepare for mouth orgasm.

 

My marinading lemons.

Relish done.

Right before going in the oven.

Viola!

This morning I had an affair...

...with my eggs, veggies and bacon. Sauteed the veggies in butter, broiled the bacon and scrambled the eggs (they were camera shy). But they are in love with each other and I am in love with them. And I hope it's a love that lasts forever.

My balls are special.

Growing up, we always had steel cut oatmeal as a breakfast option. I remember other kids getting to annihilate their cereals with sugar on top. I was kinda jealous at the time... kinda. The reason it wasn't a sad start to the day for us is because we got my mom's "special topping". Super uncreative name, but it was a super delicious, sweet alternative for topping our oatmeal. I don't eat much oatmeal anymore, but I still crave Special Topping. So I thought, what's better than topping? Well the answer is balls. Actual balls, not like, "Ah Balls!" Everything is better in ball format. Hence the Special Balls were born. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of raw almonds
1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 cup of raisins (golden or regular)
1 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup pecans or any other nut you so desire
Roughly 1 cups of almond butter
1 Tbsp of vanilla
1 tsp of sea salt
1 Tbsp of honey (optional)

Do it:

I made my balls mix in the blender, but I actually prefer the food processor. Pulse the almonds in the food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the raisins and the sunflower seeds. Pulse until they are all medium to finely chopped. (Now you have Special Topper, done!) Or, make balls: Add the pecans. Combine the nut/raisin mixture and the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. I prefer to combine everything with my hands. The mixture can get crazy sticky, but if you have a little coconut flour, you can add it in small spoonfuls so it's workable. Roll the mixture into bite size balls as big or small as you like and refrigerate them so they harden. Eat those balls! Yum.

Farmer Friday: Fennel and Celery Salad

So this Farmer Friday is actually not from my bag, but from my friends. :) She was wondering what to do with her fennel bulbs and I remembered this great recipe that I use every spring. I love the liquorice taste of fennel with the balance of lemon. Super tasty and fresh. I actually like to put this on top of a bed of arugula and top it with my favorite dressing. 

Fennel and Celery Salad

Ingredients:

2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, some fronds reserved

3 celery ribs, trimmed

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste

Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.

Cut fennel bulbs in quarters lengthwise, discarding outer layer if it is exceedingly tough. Use a mandoline to slice quarters thinly; slice celery equally thin. Put sliced fennel and celery into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Top with lots of freshly shaved Parmesan and chopped fennel fronds if you like.

Most entertaining blog... ever.

Thug kitchen. Hilarious. Informative. My kinda blog. Check it.

Farmer Friday: Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I've gotten the most delicious strawberries in my produce box the last few weeks and was lucky enough to score some stalks of rhubarb as well last week! My Dad's favorite is a strawberry rhubarb pie so I thought I'd make us a paleo crumble instead. (Apologies to my Dad for telling him I made him a crumble and then eating the whole thing before he got to have any. Whoops!) Either way, it was pretty dang good.

 Ingredients: (topping)

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp raw honey
1 cup almond meal
1 cup shredded coconut
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp of coconut sugar
1 cup of slivered almonds

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients using your fingers squish together into clumps and set aside.

(filling)
3-4 cups of rhubarb, rough ends trimmed, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups ripe strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated zest of 1 lemon

 

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Pour into a 9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the crumble over the fruit and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the fruit is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown. Remove from the over and allow to rest for a least 10 minutes before serving.

The original recipe calls for cornstarch, which would make the fruit a bit thicker and hold together well, but in an effort to keep the recipe simple and pure, I omitted it. All in all, this turned out to be different in texture then most crumbles but a delicious paleo alternative to the spring dessert. Enjoy!

Got raw milk?

“Milk does the body good”... but only if it has the same beneficial bacteria as breast milk. Not willing to hook up to the teat for the best nutrition? You don't have to. Milk does the body good--if it’s raw (unpasteurized).

Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures raw milk dairy in California, lectured at the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation recently. Mark is one of the largest organic, raw dairy producers, is pre-med trained, an educator for various health departments, and has lectured at Stanford Medical School, Rutgers and several other institutions. He educates farmers, consumers, legislators and government officials about the safety and nutritional benefits of raw dairy products.

I just watched this video and, although long (1:32), it was incredibly informative and inspiring. If you don't know much about raw milk, I would recommend watching any of the videos on this topic from the Price Pottenger Nutritional Foundation.

Click here to watch the video.

A myth explained...

Why eat a traditional or paleo diet if people only lived until about 40 back in those days?

It may surprise you, but people who lived past the dangers of childhood (accidents, infectious disease) lived longer than we do now...

Check it:
http://grannysvitalvittles.com/how-long-did-people-live-100-years-ago/

Guest Post - Butter Me Up

My dear friend (who is also my husband's cousin) has a great blog featuring indulgent desserts and wonderful recipes and lucky for me she is today's guest spot! Dessert is a super treat for me, so when I go for it, it needs to be good. I can always trust that Katie gives the good. Besides being dang funny, she is a wonderful baker and I got crazy excited when she mentioned this Primal Fudge. I'm on my way to the store now to get the ingredients... can't wait to get Buttered Up! 

Katie and her boys...

PRIMAL FUDGE

A few weeks ago I saw a post on Pinterest for Primal fudge - which basically means that if you are following a Paleo diet, you can eat this chocolate crack. It has no dairy, no refined sweeteners, and the fat source is coconut oil and nut butter, which are overall healthier for you than the usual butter/whipping cream combo found in traditional fudge. It is super simple to put together. The hardest part is waiting the 10 minutes for them to harden in the freezer. As a side note, these are best eaten right out of the freezer or refrigerator, as they tend to melt fairly quickly. Not great for traveling but who needs to travel with fudge??

PRIMAL FUDGE

1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup smooth nut butter of choice (I used a peanut/almond butter combo-salted)
1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder (I love Trader Joe's brand)
1/4-1/3 cup honey (agave also works)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Over low heat, melt the coconut oil. Add the nut butter, vanilla, and honey. Whisk vigorously until combined. Finish by adding the cocoa powder and beating well. Pour into paper cupcake liners and freeze for at least 10 minutes before devouring. Store in airtight container in freezer or fridge.

Alternatively, you can melt coconut oil and blend all ingredients in your VitaMix or Cuisinart.

You can see more of Katie's decadent recipes at www.buttermeupbaker.blogspot.com

Mini-Frittata Muffins

Life get busier and busier doesn't it? I'm always looking for simple, on the go, real food. Lately, I've been doing all kindas of versions of this muffin style, egg frittata, but my favorite is from Nom Nom Paleo. I'll take these to go on a busy morning and eat (scarf) them in the car. They are delish.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons fat (coconut oil, ghee, etc.)
½ medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
½ pound of cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
½ pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
8 large eggs
¼ cup coconut milk (the fatty stuff at the top of the can works best)
2 tablespoons of coconut flour
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
5 ounces of Prosciutto di Parma
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
A regular 12 cup muffin tin

Preheat oven to 375°F and prep veggies. Heat half the coconut oil over medium heat in a large cast iron skillet and sautéed the onions until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cooked them until the mushroom moisture had evaporated. Seasoned the filling with salt and pepper and spoon it on a plate to cool to room temperature. For the batter, beat the eggs in a large bowl with coconut milk, coconut flour, salt, and pepper until well-mixed. Then, add the sautéed the mushrooms and spinach and stir to combine. Brush the remainder of the melted coconut oil onto the muffin tin and line each cup with prosciutto, taking care to cover the bottom and sides completely. Spoon in the frittata batter and topped each muffin with some halved cherry tomatoes. Put the muffins in the oven for about 20 minutes and rotate the pan in the oven halfway through. I let the muffins cool in the pan for a couple minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

 Ermahgerd, they are so good!

Beautiful Food

Just thought these were the prettiest carrots I've ever seen. Almost too pretty to eat... almost.

Almond Flax Seed Bread

Since I just finished eating my 2nd loaf of this in the last week (all by myself), I figured I should write about it. It's REALLY good. Throw in a little homemade butter and that's it folks, don't bother with anything else, cause I'm taking that loaf down.

This almond bread benefits from the addition of flax seed which help to not only improve its texture, but also improve its color and consistency.

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 tbsp whole flax seeds
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 eggs beaten
2 tsp honey, optional
1/2 tsp raw cider vinegar
butter, to grease a loaf pan

1. Preheat the oven to 300°.
2. Grease a loaf pan.
3. Mix all ingredients together until thoroughly combined, then pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 300° for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread’s center comes out clean.
4. Cool completely before serving.

Makes 1 loaf

Farmer Friday: Kale Salad

This week's farmer's bag is one of my favorite ones yet! I received red leaf kale, arugula, spinach, broccoli, some amazingly sweet oranges and tangerines, leeks, and pee wee potatoes. The oranges didn't make it home. They were too good, and we couldn't stop eating them, so that cancels out any good recipes for those. But, I've always loved kale and lately I'm on the kale salad band wagon. So here is my favorite recipe to date. This photo has bell peppers and pepitas, but not my favorite.

For the salad:

1 bunch kale, stalks removed and discarded, leaves thinly sliced
Small handful of pine nuts, about 2 rounded tablespoons

Small handful of Goji berries

2 tablespoons of Raw milk Parmesan, shaved 

1 teaspoon of finely chopped green onions (optional)

For the dressing:

1 tablespoon of Balslamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

Pink Himalayan sea salt
2 teaspoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper

Small squeeze of lemon juice (optional) I like mine tart!

 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. 

For the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, dijon, honey and lemon juice until combined. Add the olive oil until you get a nice smooth consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle over the salad and enjoy!

I actually like to make this first before anything else I'm serving because the longer it sits, the better it is. I even put the dressing on the kale up to a couple hours before I eat it. It tends to soften the kale which is denser then some other lettuces. Then I would add the parmesan last for freshness.

 

Trader Joe's Favorties

The last year I've eaten strictly Paleo. I've been doing some healing from migranes which stemmed from some viruses I was running and leaky gut etc. In doing the Paleo diet, I get so many questions about what I eat and where I get it. I've compiled a little list of some of my Trader Joe's favorites. I buy tons of other basic groceries there, but these are some of the prepackaged things that make getting variety, in veggies, meat, nuts and seeds, easier. I've also included some of my favorite gluten-free products which I still feed my kids because they have yet to be convinced that a lettuce wrapped burrito is the same as a regular one...

Uh... where to start?...

Broccoli Slaw
Pre-packaged pomogranate seeds (for salads)
Bag of Micro-greens (for smoothies, salads and sauteing)
Nitrate-free hot dogs and bacon
Free-range, Organic chicken (everything from the whole to the pieces)
Raw-milk cheddar cheese
Handful of nut combos (anti-oxidant is my favorite)
Organic Beef Jerky
Marcona almonds with rosemary and sea salt
Seaweed Snack (made with Canola oil, blech, but still pretty when craving chips)
Red Quinoa blend
Brown rice tortillas
Brown rice bread
Frozen garlic, basil and cilantro cubes (great mixed with the Quinoa, recipe to come...)
Grass-fed ground beef & steaks (they just started carrying this in the frozen food section)
Coconut chips (made with cane sugar but to die for!!)
Almond meal for baking and breading

These are just a few of my staples. More to come...

Cleanse week!

Monday I started a 4 day cleanse through the Beaming in Del Mar. It is an amazing low-glycemic raw food cleanse and I love it. The Reset. Renew. Rejuvenate cleansing program is a unique cleanse using only organic, whole plant-based foods & juices. They take care of all the details for you. Not a juice fast or a powder-based cleanse or deprivation diet, this is real food that allow you to heal and nourish your body. Everything is prepared fresh daily and you pick up your goodies the night before for each day. Here is basically what you get:

16 oz Beaming Green Juice or Beaming Zing Juice or one of our many other delicious juices!
16 oz Superfood Smoothie or Mojo Maca Smoothie or Radiant Nut Milk
16 oz Raw’kin Soup (raw) or Power Soup (warm)
16 oz Beaming Green w/e3live or Beaming Zing w/e3live
16 oz Superfood Elixers
16 oz Beaming Salad with delicious dressing & spicey seeds
Beaming cleansing herbal teaAloe & Chlorophyll shot (2 of 4 days)
Daily email support & inspiration
Discounts to local spas and wellness practitioners
30 page Post Cleanse ebook

I'm also incorporating a serving of cultured veggies each day as well as my own probiotics, digestive enzymes, and a few other immunity boosting supplements. I'm on day 3 and so far it's going great, feeling pretty good.  I'm a big eater and very active so I've gotten pretty hungry in the morning. Yesterday and today I needed to add a hand full of sprouted pumpkin seeds to get by.

On a side note, I tried to do this cleanse myself about 2 months ago and spent 2 days getting all the array of veggies and powders together and I think I was pretty successful at the DIY... but never again. It was such a pain and sooooo much work for as much food as you need to sustain yourself, I was honestly making something every half hour. It was too much stress and defeated the purpose of the cleanse for me, which is to slow down, take some time for myself and get on track. Beaming does it first class, I am very impressed by their knowledge and products.

Farmer Friday: Radish and Green Tomato Salsa

So every Thursday I pick up my farmers market bag from our local pick-up location. It is always filled with the best, local, seasonal produce and I love not knowing exactly what I'm going to get each time. It's like Christmas every week! I've decided to post about my favorite bag item and coordinating recipe every Friday and hopefully overtime I'll have a nice collection of seasonal recipes that I can look back on and reference.

This week, I received radishes, beets, red leaf lettuce, collard greens, oranges, a pomelo, some snap peas and green onions. I normally do a ton with collard greens and sometimes the lettuce doesn't even make it into a salad if I'm feeling munchy while cooking so this week I'm going to use the big bunch of radishes in this great salsa recipe I found. 

This is great on fish tacos or grilled Mahi Mahi. We are a huge salsa family so it goes fast.

Radish and Green Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

1 cup of chopped green tomatoes
1 cup of diced radishes
1-2 jalepenos
1/2 a medium white onion
1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon of finely chopped cilantro
juice from 1 lime
spalsh of EVOO

Toss all the ingredients together and season with a little salt and pepper. Place in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours to let the flavors marry before serving.

Recipe from Fig and Fauna

ngredients 1 cup chopped green tomatoes 1 cup diced radishes 1 - 2 jalapenos (seeded and minced) 1/2 medium white onion (finely chopped) 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon finely chopped cilantro 1 lime (juiced) splash unrefined extra virgin olive oil

Copyright 2013, Nourished Kitchen, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be republished without express, written consent.Ingredients:

Wildly fresh with the verdant nuances of spring, this salsa can be plucked from the garden early, tossed together in an instant and served or refrigerated for up to twelve hours to allow the flavors to marry.

Copyright 2013, Nourished Kitchen, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be republished without express, written consent.

Wildly fresh with the verdant nuances of spring, this salsa can be plucked from the garden early, tossed together in an instant and served or refrigerated for up to twelve hours to allow the flavors to marry.

Copyright 2013, Nourished Kitchen, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be republished without express, written consent.

Wildly fresh with the verdant nuances of spring, this salsa can be plucked from the garden early, tossed together in an instant and served or refrigerated for up to twelve hours to allow the flavors to marry.

Copyright 2013, Nourished Kitchen, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be republished without express, written consent.

Sweet Potato Hash

Let's hash it out... with sweet potatoes!! Yum. Here is my favorite recipe. I tend to septuple it because I feed more than 2. But it is such a great alternative to hash browns or toast with fried eggs.


Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 large garnet yam (yam and sweet potato are interchangeable)
• 1 big pinch of kosher salt
• Several turns of freshly ground black pepper
• A few shakes of garlic powder
• A couple of dashes of onion powder
• A sprinkle of dried herbs (I used Penzeys Parisien Bonnes Herbes)
• 2 tablespoons fat of choice (I used lard)

This recipe and photos are from Nom Nom Paleo, because they were just better than my own. Nom Nom paleo is amazing. More on that to come:

Peel and cut the yam lengthwise so the slices fit in the feeding tube of your food processor.

Attach the julienne slicer blade to the machine and shred the yams.

Transfer the shredded yams to a large bowl and toss with salt, pepper, garlic and  onion powders, and dried herbs.

Heat the fat in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the seasoned sweet potatoes/yams.

Toss everything in the fat and stir-fry for a minute. Then, pop on a lid for a few more minutes while the yams cook. The hash is ready when there’s some crunchy brown bits and texture is soft and tender.