Greek-Inspired Baked Chicken

This recipe is one of my favorites! I made a few containers of it while I was pregnant and actually froze them for later, so we could pop it in the oven during those hectic postpartum weeks. I also love that this recipe requires minimal ingredients for when I don't have time to run to the store. Pair with some sautéed spinach, or a salad, and you've got a great family dinner! 

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs chicken thighs (or you could use boneless skinless chicken breast)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2-3/4 Tbsp dried oregano (or substitute 3 Tbsp fresh oregano)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or substitute grass fed butter)

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400F.  
2. Pat chicken dry with paper towel and place in a casserole dish.
3. Combine lemon juice, garlic, oregano, and salt.  Melt coconut oil and mix with spices.  Pour over the chicken.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until fully cooked.

Mommy & Me Workout!

I hear a lot of moms say that they can't work out because they have young children to keep an eye on. Well why can't we do both?? Think about it, you've got 20-30lbs of cuddly weight just waiting to be picked up and moved around! Kids love getting in on the action, and you can get your workout in at the same time that you're bonding with your little one! Give this quick one a try:

3 Rounds of

20 Flying Baby Sit-Ups

20 Baby Twists

20 Baby Thrusters 

Paleo Breakfast Casserole

I found this recipe a long time ago on clarkscondensed.com. It's great for meal prep days because it can be easily assembled ahead of time and put in the freezer. In a pinch, I've also made it using ground turkey instead of sausage and it was just as good! 

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 pound Italian sausage or breakfast sausage
• ½ green pepper, diced
• ½ red pepper, diced
• 8 eggs
• ½ cup almond milk
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook and crumble sausage. Drain excess grease and set aside.
3. Cube sweet potatoes into bite sized pieces and cook in some cooking oil in a skillet until soft, about 15 minutes.
4. Combine together sausage, sweet potatoes, and peppers, and pour evenly into a 9x13 baking dish.
5. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper (a few shakes of each), garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour evenly over sausage mixture.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until eggs are cooked.

Perfect Paleo Banana Bread

I found this recipe on civilizedcavemancooking.com a long time ago, and it's still my go-to banana bread recipe. I'm not big on "paleo treats", because they're usually loaded with sweeteners (just because it's made with honey, doesn't mean it's not sugar). But this banana bread is sweetened only with bananas! And they don't even have to be overly ripe! The best part is that even those with a sweet tooth love this recipe! This batter can also be adapted for muffins, paleo pancakes, waffles, all kinds of goodness! Try it out, and for even more variations check out civilized caveman's cooking site. 

Ingredients

• 4 bananas, (2 1/2 cups mashed or 575 grams)(they can be yellow bananas)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup almond butter (140 grams)(or coconut, sunflower seed, macadamia nut, etc butter)
• 4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted (or substitute coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour (or almond flour, macadamia nut meal, etc)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
2. Combine your bananas, eggs, and nut butter, and grass-fed butter in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl and mix well (if using a mixing bowl you need a good hand-mixer)
3. Once all of your ingredients are blended, add in your coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and mix well
4. Pour your batter in a silicon pan and spread it evenly (you can use a loaf pan as well, just grease it well)
5. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
6. Remove from oven and flip your bread out onto a cooling rack
7. Slice and serve

I like to slather mine with almond butter, but you could top with grass-fed butter and then drizzle on some honey, maybe add some cinnamon, get creative!! 

Variations

1. Cranberry Orange - Only use 3 tablespoons of butter. Add zest of one whole orange diced, juice of one whole orange, and1 cup dried cranberries or fresh if you want
2. Chocolate Blueberry - Add 1 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
3. Pumpkin Pecan - Reduce the almond butter to 1/4 cup and add 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and 1 cup of roughly chopped pecan pieces

Notes

If you want to make these into muffins, use the same recipe and for mini muffins bake approximately 25 mins and normal size muffins 30-35 minutes.

Easy Meal Prep 101!

Let's face it, cooking is time consuming. And when you're eating healthy, most of those pre-packaged "convenient" meals just don't cut it. Between busy work schedules, kids activities, and trying to find time to workout, we don't really want to spend our small amount of down time in the evenings making a mess in the kitchen. In order to keep things simple when life gets crazy, I like to take one day (usually my rest day) and prep meals for the entire week. This can take anywhere from 2-3 hours, but it is SO worth it when you're in a hurry later on.
A few things to keep in mind when you are trying to get in the habit of food prepping:

1. This is not the time to try out fancy new recipes. This can end up slowing down the entire process, stressing you out, and making it that much more likely that you will give up on preparing food ahead of time. Stick to recipes that are fast and easy, as well as healthy.

2. Don't try to do it all at once. If you are trying to pre-cook every meal for the entire week you are going to get overwhelmed. Instead, try simply cutting up the ingredients, mixing up the marinades, or seasoning the meat ahead of time and then sticking it in the freezer or the refrigerator for later on. Every little bit of meal prep helps. You don't have to tackle everything in its entirety in one day.

3. Make it manageable. Just like incorporating a new workout regimen, if it's not sustainable then there's no point in doing it. There is no right or wrong way to meal prep. It's all about making it convenient for you and your lifestyle in order for this process to become a normal part of your routine.

The first thing that I like to do before meal prep day is plan. I try to adhere to the old adage of "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" I will make a list of everything that I have decided to make, ensuring that I have all of the necessary ingredients and supplies. This list includes meals as well as snacks, so that we have healthy options when were crunched for time. If there's anything that I'm missing I like to pick it up a day or two before I actually do my meal prep. Trying to grocery shop and cook a bunch of food in one day can be a major time suck.

Once I have everything for my list of meals, I like to go through and prioritize how I will be tackling each menu item. For example, if I have several things that need to go in the oven I will try to first cook the one that is easiest to prepare, so that while that one is baking I can prep the ingredients for the next dish. At the same time, I can have things going on the stove and in the crockpot so that my kitchen becomes an efficient multitasking machine!

Here is a typical meal prep menu for one week at our house:

Breakfasts- Honestly, we're not big breakfast eaters around here. I usually just have a protein shake, and Mark will typically just grab a banana off the counter as he's leaving for work. But on the rare occasion that we do plan to have breakfasts prepared, this is what it would look like:

(btw, I will be sharing all of these breakfast recipes in the coming weeks on the blog)
Mini Egg Muffins
Paleo Breakfast Casserole
Paleo Banana Cinnamon Waffles

For a list like this I would start by making the egg muffins since they require little prep work and can be quickly thrown into the oven. Basically, all I need to do is mix up the eggs and pour them into the muffin tins.

While those are baking I would prepare all of the ingredients for my breakfast casserole. This includes browning the meat on the stove and chopping up sweet potatoes. Once the casserole is assembled I can either pop it in the oven once the egg muffins are done, or cover it and stick it in the freezer for later.

With the Paleo waffles, I will at the very least mix up the batter. Sometimes I will put it in the fridge, ready to go for the next morning, or I will actually pull out the waffle iron and make them ahead of time so that they can be warmed up in the toaster on busy days.

Lunches- This is the biggest list, because it's typically our main meal of the day around here. These are the recipes that Mark takes to work, and they're also my pre/post-workout meals.

Paleo Mini Meatloaves
Paleo Scotch Eggs
Chicken Nachos
Paleo Chicken Fingers

The first thing I would tackle on this list is the chicken nachos, simply because all it is, is shredded crockpot chicken that you can use to top whatever you want! That, and it only requires four ingredients. It only takes two minutes to throw everything in the crockpot and forget about it for the next few hours!

With the mini meatloaves, I will sometimes just mix up the meat along with all of my ingredients ahead of time, and stick the whole thing in the fridge for later. Then when I have more time I can just spoon it into the muffin tins and throw it in the oven.

Things like the Paleo scotch eggs are super quick and easy since they only require five ingredients! I always keep boiled eggs in the fridge, so all I have to do is add my spices to the meat, wrap up the eggs, and bake!

While the other menu items are cooking, I would start prepping the Paleo chicken fingers. These are super simple, but still require the most time to prepare. Once the scotch eggs are in the oven, I would start mixing up my dry ingredients for this recipe, and cutting up the chicken. That way once the scotch eggs are done, the Paleo chicken fingers are ready to go in!

Dinners- Often, our lunch items will become leftovers for dinner. But when I'm on top of my game and actually plan out our dinners, this is usually what it looks like:

Maple Dijon Chicken
Paleo Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie
Southern Style Buttermilk Chicken

I would normally start with the buttermilk chicken, simply because it's a marinade. All I have to do for this one is mix up the ingredients and pour it in a Ziploc bag with the chicken. Then, in a few hours when I'm ready to cook it I can either throw it on the grill or pop it in the oven. Or, if my crockpot isn't already occupied, I can throw all of it in there for a few hours and let the delicious smell fill the house!

Next I would work on the maple Dijon chicken. This one is also fairly simple, just put some chicken on a baking sheet, cover with your maple Dijon mixture, and baste with the sauce halfway through.

While the maple Dijon chicken is in the oven, I would work on the shepherd's pie. This one will be the most time consuming simply because all of the ingredients are basically cooked before assembly. I brown the meat and sauté the veggies while my sweet potatoes are boiling and the oven is being occupied by other things. This recipe is also one that's really great for freezing.

Snacks & Sides- These items are the easiest to prepare (the majority require no explanation), and also the most crucial to any meal prep list. These are the fillers that stretch your dining dollar. These are the foods that you would top with your crockpot chicken, they're the foods you grab without thinking as you're running out of the house, and the ones that help you get in all your macros (if you're counting). I always include three or four of these in my meal prep:

Hardboiled Eggs
Oven Roasted Broccoli
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Sautéed Spinach
Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes (this one will be on the blog soon)
White Rice
Cauliflower Rice
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Chopped Celery Sticks
Apple Slices
Green Salad

And then of course you have the snacks that don't require any prep at all! Things like bananas and Lara bars are great for when you're short on time.

This is just a snapshot of what my food prep would look like for a typical week, but it can vary based on the individual and their health goals. There are also SO many ways to do food prep, that I could go on and on. But this is what works for me and my little family. It also provides a general idea of where to start, along with some beginner recipes. I will be posting additional recipes on the blog, so check back periodically if you're looking for more meal prep inspiration! This is a hot subject, so I will be sure to share added tips and tricks in the near future.

Paleo Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

This recipe is perfect on a cold day when all you want is some warm, stick-to-your-ribs comfort food. It's also easy to make ahead of time, and then throw in the oven for a quick heat-and-eat meal on busy school nights. I prefer to make mine with ground turkey, but it's probably more authentic using ground beef. Either way, it's always a hit! 

Ingredients

For the sweet potato mash:

• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and chopped into large chunks
• 2 tbsp grass-fed butter
• 1 tsp rosemary
• Sea salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

For the filling:

• 1½ lb ground beef
• 1 tbsp coconut oil 
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped/sliced
• 8 baby carrots, sliced (about 2 medium carrots)
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ¼ cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp liquid aminos
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 2 shakes of ground cinnamon
• Sea salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

Instructions

Prepare the sweet potatoes:

1. Put the sweet potato chunks into a medium pot, and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as it starts boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chunks can be easily pierced with a fork.
2. Drain the water, and put potatoes back into the dry pot (no heat). Add the butter, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Mash the potatoes with a masher, and stir everything together thoroughly. Cover pot with a lid and set aside.

Prepare the filling:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef. Drain the fat, and transfer beef to a large bowl and set aside 
3. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat in the large skillet you just used for the beef. Add the onions, and saute for 3 minutes until they begin to soften.
4. Add the celery, carrots, and cauliflower to the skillet. Stir, then cover with a lid and allow to saute/steam for 6 minutes. Remove lid, add the garlic, and saute for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add everything else to the skillet: cooked ground beef, beef broth, tomato paste, aminos, rosemary, cinnamon, sea salt, and pepper. Stir everything thoroughly and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until most (but not all) of the liquid has been cooked off.

Put it all together:

1. Scoop the beef mixture into an 8x8 (or similarly sized) casserole dish so that it covers the whole bottom. Layer the sweet potatoes on top of the beef mixture, spreading it out evenly. 
2. Bake for 20 minutes, remove from oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

One Marinade, Three Ways!

I found this recipe for southern style buttermilk grilled chicken on paleoleap.com. When I first made it I had every intention of throwing it on the grill. But as it happens, life got in the way. I ended up putting in the oven instead, and loved it! Later on in the week, I knew we would have no time to grill, so I adapted the same recipe for the crockpot. Again, it was a hit!! Finally got around to grilling with this marinade (as the recipe was originally intended) and of course it was great. But it turned out that we actually liked it better in the oven and the crockpot!!

Anyway, here's the recipe, along with the time & temps for cooking it all three ways. You can decide for yourself which one is your favorite! 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. chicken parts (thighs, drumsticks, legs, etc);
• 3 cloves garlic, minced;
• 2 tbsp. chili powder;
• 2 tsp. ground coriander;
• 2 tsp. ground cumin;
• 1 tsp. turmeric;
• Zest and juice of 1 lime;
• Fresh cilantro; (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper;

Ingredients for the coconut buttermilk

• 2 cups of coconut milk;
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice

Preparation

1. In a bowl, combine the coconut milk and lemon juice. Mix well and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the chilli powder, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garlic, lime zest, and lime juice to the coconut buttermilk mixture. Season to taste and mix well.

For The Grill:

Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours. Preheat a grill to a medium-heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill until cooked through and golden on both sides (about 15 to 20 minutes total). Sprinkle with fresh cilantro to serve.

For The Oven: 

I found that this method works best with chicken thighs. Pour the marinade over the chicken and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cook for approximately 40-50 minutes. 

For The Crockpot: 

I used chicken breasts for the crockpot, rather than thighs because I prefer it for shredding. Simply put your chicken breasts (I used four) in the bottom of the crockpot, and pour the marinade on top. Cook on low for four hours. Remove the chicken and shred the meat before returning to the marinade. This method has a completely different flavor. It almost ends up tasting like a chicken curry! We usually eat it over rice (or cauliflower rice if you're strict paleo).