Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day especially on weekends with the family.  I can’t say it’s a calm and relaxing breakfast by any means because 4 year olds are just not calm and relaxed no matter what anyone tells you.  But this past weekend was an exception.  The girls had already had their breakfast and quickly decided that they wanted to color.  So off they went to their table to color.  And I jumped on the opportunity to fix my husband and I a nice breakfast/brunch.  It also helped that on Saturday I hit up our local Green Market and stocked up on fresh veggies and some local pastured eggs.  Eager to use them, I threw what I am calling Southwest Scramble together.  Don’t you love it when things happen on accident and they turn out amazing?  Of course having a rare moment to sit down with a cup of coffee and the paper and eat breakfast in somewhat peace and quiet was pretty darn amazing too.  Can you tell that doesn’t happen very often?  Ahhhh, but when it does….you remember it and you hope that you can have another moment like that again soon!  Anywho, the scramble was awesome but if you top it with homemade guacamole and salsa it takes it to a whole new level of awesome-ness!  And no, I didn’t make the homemade salsa and guacamole, I picked those up at the market too!  Another bonus about living in South Florida during the winter, the Green Market is open and is filled with all sorts of great stuff!  Ok, once again I’m rambling.  But seriously, the scramble made my weekend…along with a quiet breakfast with my husband while two little girls drew to their little hearts desire.  Thank you crayons and coloring books.  I will buy more of you very soon to insure that just maybe I might get lucky again this weekend and have a quiet breakfast…..to be continued.

Enjoy everyone and have a great weekend.  I’ll be back next week with more recipes.  

Southwest Scramble

8 eggs

2 mild chicken sausages (or pork or sausage of choice)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

1/2 orange bell pepper, finely diced

1 plum tomato, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, oregano, and paprika.  Set aside.

In a large skillet or seasoned cast iron skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil (or coconut).  Add sausage, zucchini, bell peppers, and tomato and saute, stirring constantly, until sausage is cooked through and vegetables are tender.  Drizzle egg mixture over top and stir constantly until eggs are cooked, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve warm with a side of fresh berries and your morning cup of coffee or tea.  For even a added touch have some salsa and guacamole on the side.  Enjoy!

Makes 4 to 5 servings.

Happy Monday everyone!  This recipe has moved to the front of my posting line-up for the week because it’s a new favorite.  Yesterday morning I got in the kitchen and threw this together for my Sunday morning breakfast and after taking one bite I was so excited to not only keep on eating it but to also share with all you out there.  It’s my new food crush.  The recipe started after my first assessment and discussions with my trainer for my MVT Challenge at Crossfit Delray Beach.  We talked a lot but most of the focus was about what I currently ate and some things I needed to change.  I’m a routine type of girl.  I have been since I was kid.  I’m ok with having the same thing day after day.  However, AJ (my trainer) told me I need to start learning to switch it up more often.  Try different proteins and get more into my daily diet than I was currently taking in!  So thanks to him I did and this recipe was created.  Thanks AJ!  Some other things AJ told me to do was to eliminate nuts….gasp!  Nuts?  Really?  Yes, folks I’ve removed nuts.  So no more baking with almond flour for awhile!  I have to say in the three short days I have removed them from my diet I have already started to see a difference.  However, not having a scoop of almond butter every now and then will be heartbreaking!  Another weakness of mine is fruit, so AJ said only one serving a day and only in the morning.  Another gasp!  I guess a challenge wouldn’t be a challenge with some MAJOR personal challenges, right?  I have a few more things on my list that AJ gave me; like eat more protein, carb intake should come from veggies, and more sleep.   And many of these you will see in my post for my 2012 goals over on the random page.

Before jumping to the recipe I wanted to let you know tomorrow I will be sharing something for my Paleo readers and for my fellow MVT CrossFit challengers.  I’m working on a suggested Paleo Weekly Menu!!  Yay!  When I started down the Paleo road I was desperate for a direction in terms of how to plan my meals and what to eat!  So stay tune for tomorrow post.  I’m busy compiling recipes from my recipe index and from some of my favorite Paleo foodies.  And I’m super excited to share with you.  Remember, I’m not a Paleo expert by any means and every person may need more or less in their diet.  What I’m working on is only a suggestion and my goal is to hopefully help someone out there as they start down the road of a Paleo Lifestyle….which I happen to think ROCKS!

Now for the recipe….

Skillet Sweet Potato, Sausage, and Spinach Hash

2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (or one large)

1 apple, peeled cored and diced

2 tablespoon coconut oil, divided

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, optional

2 Mild Italian chicken sausages, removed from casing

2 to 3 large cups of baby spinach

1/3 cup sweet yellow onion, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large nonstick skillet heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Once heated, add diced sweet potatoes and apples.  Add a pinch or two of sea salt and cinnamon to the pan.  Cook sweet potatoes and apples until cooked and softened.  I prefer my sweet potatoes to be slightly browned.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet with 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat.  Add to skillet the chicken (or pork) sausage and onion making sure to break the sausage up in small pieces while it cooks.  Once the chicken is no longer pink in color and completely cooked add spinach to the skillet.  Don’t worry the spinach will wilt down when cooked.  The spinach should wilt down within 1 to 2 minutes.  Once spinach is cooked add the sweet potato apple mixture to pan and stir to combine all. 

Serve warm and with a side of choice.  I served with a side of fresh raspberries.

Makes about 3 to 4 servings depending on if you are serving as a side or main course.

Enjoy!

Looking for another great Paleo Breakfast Hash recipe? Check out Urban Posers new recipe for Apple, Butternut Squash, Bacon Hash.  It’s on my list to try very soon! 

I have another paleo pumpkin muffin for you but I have to say I think this one is way better than my first attempt so I had to share.  I’m still learning the do’s and don’ts of baking with coconut flour but the more I bake with it the more I love it.  Coconut flour is packed with protein and fiber too which makes these little muffins perfect to grab on those mornings where life gets the best of you (meaning no time to eat breakfast).  I know, I know these should be considered a “treat” in the Paleo world of things but as a busy mom trying to get two girls ready and out the door (and myself) this “treat” is going to have to do as my breakfast from time to time.  Now let’s talk pumpkin, I know it’s the end of pumpkin season but you can’t go wrong with pumpkin and it’s one of my favorite ingredients to use.  I can never have enough pumpkin packed in my pantry.  I love it!  I even use it in smoothies for the girls!  Anyho these muffins are a favorite and topped with a paleo streusel….you can’t go wrong.  So here it is folks and do yourself a favor and gives these muffins a try.  And if I haven’t won you over yet, your kitchen and house will smell delicious while these bake.

I’ll be back later this week sharing a Christmas Paleo Cookie that you can hand out to friends and family and they won’t even know (or care) that they are Paleo. I’m really excited to share these cookies with you.   

Paleo Pumpkin Streusel Muffins 

½ cup pumpkin puree

½ cup coconut oil, melted

3 tablespoons coconut milk

6 eggs

6 medjool dates, pitted and mashed with 1 tablespoon water and 1 tablespoon maple syrup)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

½ cup coconut flour

Streusel

½ cup pecans, chopped

¼ cup almond meal/flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with paper liners or grease with coconut oil.

In a small bowl, add pitted medjool dates and 1 tablespoon water.  Heat in microwave for 30 seconds on high.  Mash the dates with fork and add 1 tablespoon maple syrup and mash again. 

In a bowl of a food processor combine date mixture, pumpkin puree, coconut oil (melted), coconut milk, eggs, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, and pumpkin spice.  Process until well combine and the date mixture is pureed.  Add coconut flour and process again until combine. 

 To make streusel, combine all ingredients and stir to combine.

 Fill each paper cup ¾ full of batter and top with streusel.  Bake muffins for 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve with apple butter and enjoy!  Makes 12 muffins

Recipe adapted from Primal Palate

Back as promised with one of my new favorite Paleo muffin recipes.  But a warning….these are addicting!  I have found myself eagerly waiting the banana’s to ripen just so I can make another batch of these muffins.  Like I said they are addicting!  And they even get better the next day….if that’s even possible.  If you want to hold off on eating the whole batch right out of the oven, they freeze nicely.  That way you can enjoy them another day.

I’m going to keep this short as I am a tired and busy girl trying to get ready for two little girls big 4th birthday party that is quickly approaching.  I feel like my list of “to do’s” is growing while my days to do it all is shortening.  That seems to always happen, right?  I’ll be sure to share the big event over on the kids side of the blog so stay tuned.  I’ll be back next week so have a wonderful rest of your week and a fabulous weekend! 

Coconut Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

6 eggs

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

3/4 cup coconut flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, plus additional for sprinkling on tops of muffin

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, coconut milk, maple syrup, sea salt, and vanilla extract.  Whisk to combine and set aside.

Sift coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into the wet ingredients.  Whisk vigorously until no lumps remain.  Stir in melted coconut oil until well combined.  Fold in banana and chocolate chips until incorporated. 

Using a large ice cream scoop, add one level scoop to each muffin cup.  Sprinkle each muffin with a few additional chocolate chips.  Bake muffins for 15 to 18 minutes or until muffins are golden and spring back when pressed gently.  Once baked, cool for 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Note: I recommend you keep these in a air-tight container and store in the refrigerator to keep fresh longer.  When ready to heat just heat up and enjoy.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family.  What delicious bites did you have on your Thanksgiving table?  Our table was filled with treats for everyone, even Parker our dog got a few turkey scraps for his Thanksgiving dinner.  For breakfast over the long holiday weekend I decided to give the biscuits from Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook a try.  I have to say they aren’t the biscuits my grandmother made while growing up in the south, but for a girl that has gone Paleo I can’t complain.  I added some coconut chicken nuggets to the biscuits and here we have it….Chicken and Biscuits.  If you want you can use some Paleo BBQ sauce on this little biscuit sandwich and it is delicious.

I’m going to have to make this short as I am busy planning and organizing a birthday party for my little ones that is coming up this weekend.  Hard to believe, but they will be 4!  Crazy!  I’m amazed how times flies.  Now off to make treats for them to take to school tomorrow on their “real” birthday.  I’ll be back later this week with one my new favorite Paleo muffin recipe.  I’m telling you these muffins are addicting so say tune.  Now to the biscuits….

Paleo Biscuits

6 large egg whites

1/4 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup blanched almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

In a bowl, mix two flours, baking powder and salt.  With a pastry blender or fork, cut in coconut oil.  You want to make a crumbly mixture.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are very frothy.

Remove flour mixture from refrigerator, and gently fold in the egg whites, stirring to combine.  The dough should be wet.  If too dry, the biscuits will turn out dry after baking. 

Spoon the biscuit batter onto a greased sheet pan or into muffin tins.  I actually shaped them into biscuit shapes with my hands.

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown.

For the chicken, I used my Coconut Chicken Nuggetrecipe and just made the “nuggets” slightly bigger.  Now put the two together to make a little chicken biscuit.  And if you want, top the chicken with a Paleo friendly sauce before placing the biscuit top on.

Enjoy!!

It’s one of my favorite times of the year….Fall!  And that means it’s time to use one of my very favorite fall ingredients…. pumpkin!  I love cooking and baking with pumpkin.  If you check out my recipe archives I’m sure you will find a lot of recipes containing pumpkin.  Again, it’s a favorite.  However this year since I’m Paleo I’ve been trying to figure out how I can bake with pumpkin and still have it fit into the Paleo ways.  Of course, these are my treats but for the little ones they are great!  These muffins I actually packed in their lunch box as a snack, they’ve had them for breakfast, or even a after school snack.  And honestly the only bite I got is the one I took to take the pictures for the blog.  They ate these up pretty fast.   

Now back to the whole fall thing, I love fall and I’m wishing and hoping the weather here in South Florida starts to change soon so I can get a slight feel that it’s actually fall.  I doubt that will happen but a girl can dream, right?  We are headed to the pumpkin patch this weekend and there is something strange about going to the pumpkin patch in a sleeveless shirt and shorts.  I guess that’s what happens when a girl moves from the Atlanta where seasons are to Florida where the seasons aren’t.  I’ll just turn the air conditioning up in the house and pretend it’s fall and bake some more of these pumpkin muffins.  Sound good to everyone?   

Have a great weekend everyone!  Enjoy the muffins!  See you back here next week for some more Paleo goodies.

Pumpkin Paleo Muffins

 Print Recipe

1 ½ cups almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, plus more for sprinkling on tops of muffins

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

3 tablespoons maple syrup

¾ cup canned pumpkin

1 small ripe banana, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup chopped pecans (plus more to sprinkle on top)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin pan with paper liners or use coconut oil to grease pan. 

In a large bowl whish together almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Set aside

 In a small bowl whisk together eggs, pumpkin, banana, and vanilla extract.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to combine.  Stir in pecans until well incorporated.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan cups filling ¾ full.  Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with pecans and pumpkin pie spice. 

 Bake muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.

 Makes 12 muffins 

Note: These are best kept in a airtight container in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to eat them just heat them up slightly and enjoy!

I have another Paleo treat for you and this is another quick and easy recipe.  It only takes minutes to put together but you do have to wait while these little muffins cook up in the oven.  The little ones can help in making these in the kitchen too.  My girls got in the kitchen and helped me with these.  They have become mommy’s little helper in the kitchen lately.  For this recipe they helped peel the bananas and had a great time mashing them up.  They added all the dry ingredients to the bowl and soon afterwards we were filling the muffin tin.  And the sprinkling of the additional chocolate chips on top of the muffins made these even more fun to make.  Once these little treats were done it wasn’t too far afterwards the little ones had chocolate faces and chocolate hands and with big smiles on their faces.  Which meant they were a success.  Especially when they ask if they could have them “all” week in their lunch boxes.  I don’t feel too bad putting these Paleo muffins in their lunch box either.  And just between you and I, I also snuck one in my lunch box one day too.  They are definitely a treat, but a very much needed treat every now and then.  Especially after a hard workout….ha!  Kidding….well sort of!  But best of all in my book, the kids love them!

 Enjoy!

Almond Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Print Recipe

3/4 cup almond butter

1 cup almond flour

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional – I love cinnamon)

1/3 cup plus more for topping muffins Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (Dairy-Free, Soy Free, Gluten-Free) – I find mine at Whole Foods

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin pan with coconut spray (found at Whole Foods – love).

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and mix everything is incorporated.  Now stir chocolate chips into batter.  Pour batter into prepared muffin tin filling all 12 cups evenly.  Top muffins with a few additional chocolate chips.

 Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool and remove from pan.  And enjoy!!

Makes 12 muffins, you could also make this into a loaf of bread too.  I’m sure it would be just as yummy.  Mini muffins would work too.  Of course, you would have to adjust the bake time accordingly.

Confession….I’ve never made my own homemade breakfast sausage.  That is until now.  And I have to say my Sunday breakfasts have been missing out.  These sausages are filled with spices and are the perfect addition to your morning breakfast.  I served these with eggs and sweet potato hash browns.  Yum!  My new favorite Sunday morning breakfast.  I first spotted this recipe in my new Paleo Magazine, but changed it up slightly by adding a couple different spices and using pork and chicken instead of beef.  So for those beef eaters out there you can use 1 pound of grass-fed beef if you prefer.  And one more thing, I made half the sausages with a little honey for the little ones and the hubby but for my sausages I left the honey out.  I gave mine a thumbs up without the honey and the the rest of the house gave them thumbs up too so either way they will be delicious.  Promise me you’ll give these a try one morning with the family.  They will knock your socks off.  At least I hope they do.  And another confession….I even ate these for some extra protein during the day. 

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  I don’t know about you but going from the long weekend with Labor Day to a short really effected this household.  I really think they should make all work weeks 4 days and weekends 3!  What do you say?  Good idea?  I say yes, my vote is in.  I could use that extra day to get everything done and actually feel a little relaxed.  If that could ever happen.

Ok, enjoy the sausages…you have to try them!  And I’ll be back again this week sharing another “treat”.  See you soon!

Breakfast Sausage

Print Recipe

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 pound ground chicken (I used ground thigh meat)

1/2 tablespoon honey (optional)

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon majoram

1 teaspoon granulated onion

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1/2 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

fresh ground black pepper

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Instructions:

Heat oil in pan over medium heat.

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients; form into approximately 3-inch patties.

Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes; flip and cook for another 3 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Paleo Magazine

This post is for waffles but I’m not going to spend much time talking about waffles. There is something more important I would like to share with you.  Earlier this month, food writer and blogger Jennifer Perillo of In Jennie’s Kitchen lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack. Though I don’t know her, I have been so moved by her story.  Last week I sat in front of my computer and cried so hard for Jennie and her two little girls (ages 3 and 8).  I can’t even imagine the loss they all must be feeling at this time.  And many have felt the same way.  Many people wanted to do something but didn’t know what to do.  It was then that Jennie said the best way they could show support was to make her husband Mikey’s favorite thing, Peanut Butter Pie.  The food blogging community is an amazing community!  Last week, thousands of bloggers shared Peanut Butter Pies for Jennifer and her daughters through a series of blog posts.  This event made the front page of CNN.com and Food Network. Submissions were flooding in so quickly that Tastespotting and Foodgawker dedicated entire pages to Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie. And Todd and Diane made a beautiful video that made this a movement.  Now I hope we can all come together again and support Jennifer and her daughters in this very difficult time, both emotionally and financially.  A fund has been started so that we may all easily donate directly to Jennifer. Called #afundforjennie, it’s being organized, maintained and facilitated by Shauna James Ahern of Gluten Free Girl and Maggy Keet of Three Many Cooks. Maggy launched Bloggers Without Borders, a non-profit organization of bloggers for bloggers. Bloggers Without Borders is now collecting money for Jennie’s family and have made it super easy to donate. Also various auctions are being held by bloggers to raise money for Jennie and her family.  If you can give just a little it will help her and her family in more ways than one.

Thanks for listening and please give the ones you love a hug and kiss and tell them how much you value them because you never know what life may bring.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the waffles….trust me…they are yummy!

Apple Coconut Waffles

Print Recipe

2 eggs

1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ cup water

1 ½ cups almond flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon arrowroot powder

½ apple, peeled and grated

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and water until smooth.

Add the almond flour, salt, baking soda, arrowroot powder, and cinnamon and mix thoroughly.  Add apples and coconut and mix to combine.

In a preheated and greased waffle iron, scoop batter onto iron and cook until golden brown or as your waffle irons instructions.

 Top waffle with additional coconut, toasted pecans, and apple and serve along with maple syrup.  A real treat!

Busy mornings are quickly approaching my house since the girls are heading back to school (preschool!).  Mornings are already a little busy around here, and thats just with me trying to get myself out the door for work.  Then you add the factor of getting two little girls dressed, teeth brushed, breakfast ready, and lunches packed ….it basically equals to a CRAZY house!  And lets face it, the first week of a new school year always has an adjustment period. 

The past few weeks with my new change to a Paleo “diet” (lifestyle) I have been working to plan meals ahead.  And this change is actually great because it helps me to plan the whole families meals ahead of time, including the most important meal of the day…breakfast.  These muffins are my new go-to recipe and the perfect recipe for the upcoming busy mornings.  These muffins are delicious, family-friendly, and fast and easy!  All things that make my mornings a little easier.  The best part is you can make a big batch of egg muffins and have breakfast already prepared for the entire week.  Once they are baked all you have to do is store them in refrigerator and in the morning reheat and go.  Like I said, fast and easy!  And they are packed with protein, which will get everyone in the house off to a good start.  They definitely beat having a cereal bar, bagel, or other other gluten filled product.  Those just leave you with no energy and hungry only an hour later.    Eggs are a great way to jump start the whole families day and it also helps that they leave you energized and off to a productive day.  Enjoy!   

Egg Muffins

Print Recipe

2 mild chicken sausages, removed from casing

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup carrots, grated

1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh basil, diced

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

10 – 12 omega 3 eggs (cage-free)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with coconut cooking spray and grease with coconut oil.

In a skillet, cook sausage until cooked through and no longer pink.  Make sure to break the sausage up into “crumb” size pieces. 

In a medium bowl, combine cooked sausage, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, spinach, and basil.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt and pepper.  Add egg mixture to the sausage and veggie mixture and stir to combine. 

Using a measuring cup or a ice cream scoop fill muffin cups with egg mixture being sure not to fill cups to the rim.  I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup in each cup.

Bake the egg muffins for 20 to 25 minutes or until eggs are set in the middle. 

Makes about 12 to 16 muffins.  Muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days. 

In a