Grilled Squash & Pineapple

My next recipes are all paleo recipes adapted from 

Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo cookbook.

Here is the first in a three-part series.

Grilled squash & pineapple. 

If this doesn't get you ready for summer, I don't know what will.

Ingredients:

1 whole butternut squash

1/2 of a pineapple, skinned and sliced into 1 inch pieces

1/4 cup melted butter, ghee, or coconut oil

1-2 T Smoky Spice Blend 

Sea salt to taste

1/4 cup shredded coconut for garnish

Smoky Spice Blend (yields 5 T):

1 T chipotle powder (I didn't have this)

1 T smoked paprika

1 T onion powder

1/2 T cinnamon (I used 1T)

1 T sea salt

1/2 T black pepper

(i also added ginger...no idea why, but it tasted good)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

I bought a cored pineapple, so just sliced it into thick pieces. I then cut my squash in half and placed both on a baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes.

This softened the squash enough for me to remove its skin, gut it,
and cut it into one-inch pieces. 

I then placed both the pineapple (I flipped it) and the squash bake in the oven for 30 minutes to continue roasting (or until tender). 

Once the roasting was complete,  I melted coconut oil and drizzled it on my carbs. 

I then lightly sprinkled the seasoning mix over it. 

We have a griddle in the house which worked perfectly for this occasion
 (thank you wedding shower gift from my mother-in-law). 

I grilled each side for about five minutes, or until the grill marks appeared. 

It looked and smelled delicious!

I did happen to have shredded coconut in the house so I tossed
a little on the top for garnish purposes. 

This meal was hubby approved. 

Can't beat grilled pineapple in the winter.

Paleo vs. Clean Eating

This is a great visual I found from eMeals. I love it because I eat "both" ways. I am in the category of living a healthy lifestyle and I don't prefer clean eating over paleo, or vice versa. I tend to make many paleo meals because they are easy and tasty. But I also would never given up grains entirely. I rarely eat dairy, so that falls more to the paleo side of things. 

Paleo is pretty basic: meat, veggies, fruits, and good fats.

Clean eating is anything whole and natural and includes whole grains, beans, and dairy.

Neither allows processed foods or unrefined foods. Think periphery of the grocery store. Both eliminate added sugar or alcohol. Both include limited healthy fats, veggies, fruits, and lean meats.  

If you are looking to start eating and living a healthier lifestyle, it is "easier" to transition by eating clean first and then seeing if Paleo is a lifestyle choice that interests you.

For a more in-depth look at "clean eating" - check out this awesome blog post.

Stuffed Peppers

This was one of the easiest and tastiest meals I've made. The recipe was adapted from Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo cookbook. 

You can use any color bell pepper. My favorites are red and orange.

We had extra lean ground beef, so I decided to use that for the stuffing, but really any type of ground meat would work (chicken, turkey, venison).

First step is to preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Ingredients:

Bell peppers

Oil/grease - eg. coconut oil

Veggies: tomatoes, onions, spinach

Seasonings - Italian, pepper, sea salt, etc.

Garlic

Ground meat of your choice, 1 lb.

Basil

First step is to preheat the oven.

Then you'll want to clean and halve your peppers. 

If you are adding grape tomatoes, you can clean and halve these as well.

Place facedown in a pan and cook for 10 minutes if you wish your peppers to be a little softer ... otherwise you can just skip this step (I should have...mine where too soft).  When they are softened, turn over in pan so peppers face up.

 If you like onions or other veggies, you can saute those on the stove top and mix in any of your favorite seasonings. I like to heat the pan first, then add a little coconut oil, and then add the veggies.

Next you can add your meat of choice. I used ground beef. Here you can add your chopped basil or wait until later to add it. 

When this was done, I just scooped the meat mix and filled the pepper boats. I then added a little basil to the top of each one and dropped in some tomatoes. 

Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes.
This will blend the pepper and meat flavor together. 

Remove from oven and there you go! Stuffed peppers!

You may eat right away, store in the refrigerator, or freeze for later!

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

PUMPKIN CRANBERRY MUFFINS

Since I made blueberry lemon muffins and they were so easy, I decided to try another variety.

This week's inspiration also came from Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo book.

I again already had all the ingredients. I also added come finely shredded coconut.

6 eggs

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup of coconut oil or butter (I used coconut oil)

 1 tsp. of vanilla extract

1/4 cup of grade B maple syrup

1/2 cup of coconut flour

1/2 tsp. of sea salt

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1 T of pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup of fresh cranberries (I bet chocolate chips would be good too!)

Just like last time, you mix all the wet ingredients first, so the first five ingredients (whisk well).

Then you mix the dry ingredients into it. 

Finally you fold the cranberries in. I also added the coconut here.

I am obsessed. Everything I can add it to, I do.

These bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

They smelled amazing while cooking.

It was hard not to eat them all.

Let me know what you think!

There will be more recipes coming weekly, so stop by to check them out. 

Also feel free to visit my Facebook page. I post daily fitness, nutrition and motivational tips.

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Turkey & Cranberry Meatballs

Sorry for the blurry, dark photo!

Everyone is asking for my meatball recipe, so here is the link to view it! The recipe is from the Well Fed 2 paleo cookbook written by Melissa Joulwan. There are a dozen meatball variations in the cookbook. This is the only one we've tried.

I told my husband that I dislike the new lingo "amazeballs." However, in this instance, the term qualifies. These are ahhhh-mazing!

I will have to admit, I have adapted the recipe on several occasions.

The most recent time, I used lean ground beef instead of ground turkey. It's cheaper and we had some frozen at the house. I always double the recipe. We didn't (until yesterday) have cream of tartar or baking soda, so I un-Paleo'd the recipe and used some leftover Panko crumbles. I also didn't have an orange, but have orange peel as a seasoning, so added lots of that. Finally, it is impossible to find unsweetened cranberries in our area or even at Trader Joes, so I used the ones with the least sugar or added ingredients (I also didn't chop them, but lef three whole).

These are soon delicious! I hope you enjoy them!!

I am also copying the recipe (and article) below from Melissa Joulwan's blog, The Clothes Make the Girl.

Turkey & Cranberry Meatballs

Serves 2-4 | Prep 10 minutes | Chill 20 minutes | Bake 20-25 minutes
As you’d expect, these taste taste amazingly good with some kind of sweet potatoes and a pile of greens on the side. Try these little guys with a side of mashed sweet potatoes, a hash made with roasted sweet spuds and scallions, or a pile of Crispy, Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries. For the greens, try simple garlicky greens, Creamy Spice Market Kale from Well Fed, or Crisp, Sweet Collards from Well Fed 2.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 tablespoon rubbed sage
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Cover a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix baking soda and cream of tartar in water. In a large bowl, mix turkey, orange juice, garlic, cranberries, sage, orange zest, salt, and pepper. Mix well to combine, then add the baking soda mixture to the bowl, and mix again. NOTE: For a smoother, more tender texture, use a food processor or a standing mixer – fitted with the paddle attachment – to blend the ingredients. For more a traditional texture, mix the meat by hand.
3. Place meat in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes. Roll about 1 tablespoon of meat into a 1-inch ball. I like to use a 1-tablespoon scoop to speed up the process.
4. Slide the baking sheet into the oven and bake meatballs for 20-25 minutes, until browned and sizzling. Serve with your favorite sides — or recreate a Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich by wrapping a meatball in a butter lettuce leaf with homemade mayo, salt, pepper, and a few fresh parsley leaves.

You Know How You Could Do That?

1. Replace the ground turkey with ground chicken or pork.
2. Shape the meat into burger patties instead of balls (BALLS!), bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes, and then serve on the Sweet Potato Waffles in Well Fed 2.
3, About the cranberries: If they’re sweetened with apple juice, they’re still Whole30 approved. Any other ingredients makes them quesitonable. If you can’t find unsweetened dried cranberries near you, these unsweetened cranberries from Amazon look like a good option — or you can replace cranberries with dried cherries, other tart dried fruit, or even raisins or dried apples.