My Shake-N-Bake Mission!

One of the main things my husband misses since going paleo has been breadcrumbs.  Now don't get me wrong, him missing breadcrumbs makes it sound like I've been some fancy cook previously using breadcrumbs in every meal.  Yeah.  That was not happening in this house.  What I think he means is that he misses breading, Shake-n-Bake, crispy chicken crusts...you get the picture.  So I have been doing a lot of experimenting to come up with some ideas.

Almond Meal Shaked-N-Baked Pork Chops

{Attempt One} was delicious but sort of a flop on the aesthetics side.  It just did not brown no matter how hard I tried.  Course, maybe what it looks like doesn't always matter, right?  I just used a half cup of almond meal (blanched almonds) and flavored it up with some garlic powder and salt/pepper.  Dipped the pork chops in an egg then tossed in my mixture.

This Happened the Other Night!

Amazing and refreshing paleo ice cream

One of the hardest things for us since going "Paleo" are the sweets or later night snacks.  There are a few treats that I crave and one of them being ice cream.  Of course, I have pinned a zillion things pertaining to paleo ice cream but I just never took the plunge, until the other night.  I decided that I needed try a recipe and my mom brought me over an ice cream maker.

Pork: The Cincinnati City Chicken

Keeping dinner fresh (and making the hubby want to come home for dinner) can be a challenge when I can't just purchased a frozen entree or stop by a fast food restaurant.  Don't get me wrong, I am happy that we made the change.  But for someone that lacks in the cooking and kitchen area (though I am getting better), I really have to do my daily research for some dinner idea.  

Totally delicious marinated city chicken.

This dinner just came to me as I was about to drive past the meat market.  I am sure I sounded so stupid as I went to the counter and said, "do you have something they call city chicken?"  You see, I've never made or bought it before; my MIL makes it pretty often during the summer but she lives on the other side of town.  I wasn't sure this was a local meat cut or what.  I'll be honest that just last summer I found out the city chicken is not chicken.  It's pork.  I just just stop talking now because I'm making myself look even more incompetent.  

Celebratory Brownies: My Go To!

Shout out to my hubby for getting an award at work.  Not a "major award" for all you Christmas Story fans.  He wishes!  So it got me thinking that I needed to make him some sort of special treat to celebrate the occasion.  He did not give me enough warning because I was not prepared.  Huge fail for me because I gave him a pack of Gold Star oyster crackers.  In my defense, that was a major treat since that is not on our Paleo approved snacks.  But it was delicious no the less.  The following day I had big plans for something I hoped would pan out, literally.

I cannot tell you how amazing these brownies were and SO delicious.  In the last week, I have made them twice.  They passed the Sunday dinner test over at my in-laws who are not quite on board with all of our dietary changes.  They've been forgoing dessert since we went Paleo but I figured I could show them that it's possible to be Paleo and eat some deliciousness!  I will state now that the icing on top is not paleo.  I splurged and used about 1/3 cup of Betty Crocker icing.  I couldn't resist but feel good that the majority is right on board.  Do you need the icing?  NO WAY.  These brownies are like a nice, rich chocolate cake like brownie.  

Pizza Crust 101

About a year ago, I was doing this low carb "lifestyle" thing and was desperate for a taste of pizza.  I'm at that desperate point today.  Last year we tried the cauliflower pizza crust floating around the internet.  It was ok.  Today I decided that I was going to attempt to find a better and less stinky alternative.  I had a few requirements:  paleo, no cauliflower (remember, stinky), and not too much coconut flour (hubbys isn't a huge fan).  So I set off to peruse Pinterest.  I found THIS recipe and decided to give it a go.  Winner Winner Pizza Dinner!

Paleo Pizza Crust

When I compare it to my previous pizza crust attempts, it just looks and handles a million times better.  The cauliflower crust just didn't always get as dry and was more of a fork pizza.  You could pick this one up.  Flavor?  It was pretty good.  One child liked and the other child turned up her nose.  The hubby is still at work so the jury is out on what he will think; he's a pizza fan so he might be critical.  I think next time I will add a little Parmesan cheese to the dough and brush a little garlic butter on the crust. 

Baking Trumps Exhaustion

Today I was blessed with "Wild Child" developing croup.  This is seriously her third bout of it in the last year.  It's getting pretty old.  Since she was feeling pretty under the weather and I am EXHAUSTED because she got up 5+ times last night, we opted not to go out today.  Obvious choice as we don't want anyone else sick.  Guess I can't eat my Bon Bon's today so I figured I better get to using the really ripe bananas on my counter.  These muffins and breads are a really great additional options for "Free Spirit's" lunches.

Paleo Blueberry Banana Muffins

First time I followed this recipe, I obviously didn't follow it well.  It clearly stated that I needed really ripe bananas.  I think it might have been on like day 2 of our Paleo Chyrsalis.  I was dying to try some paleo treats so I used my fresh bananas on the counter top.  Bread tasted ok but just not as banana filled flavor as I would have expected.  Newbie mistake!  I now love them bruised and beaten up and mushy when you open them.

The Hubby Needs His Cookies!

When we started our transition to Paleo, which seems like ages ago (only 19 days), the hubby was having a hard time.  When you just eat what you want forever, it's understandable.  I cut him off cold turkey from his beloved Oreos.  I'm starting to sounds like an awful wife, huh.  So feeling pitty on him, I knew I needed to make some sort of sweet dessert because he has not come over to my dark chocolate covered almond loving side.  Then, as a miracle, a friend posted a quick recipe for some chocolate chip cookies.  Bazinga!  It was meant to be!

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies (used vegan butter)

Who Knew Zucchini was Tasty?

Okay, again it is time for me to plead stupidity when it comes to cooking and trying knew things.  I've always liked zucchini bread but it's probably because it has always been hidden in bread.  Off the top of my head, I am not really sure when the last time I even tried it that way.  We "used" to be the side dish family who only ate corn and green beans...until now.

The Breakfast Challenge

Going into our diet change, I knew that breakfast would be a challenge for us.  My hubby is a huge fan of Poptarts.  They are fast and can be eaten in the car.  Did I mention so delicious?  My kiddos love their cereal and milk.  I must confess that I love cereal too,  especially Lucky Charms!  All of those goodies have lots of processes sugars and flours.  I needed to come up with something that made my hubby still want the breakfast he needed and something for the "Free Spirit" to eat quickly before school.  I came up with some protein packed paleo mini muffins.

These are some super delicious and don't last long in my house.  I actually make them in batches of 48 and put them inside a plastic shoe box  in the refrigerator.  I due to make another batch today because I sometimes catch "Free Spirit" using them as an after school snack.

Am I Nuts?

I will throw it out there that I had to Google "nut butter" to really know what other types were out there beside peanut butter.  We had been using Nutella trying to put some weight on "Free Spirit" but I knew that there was no way that was a "nut butter" and more of a "nut spread."  It was too smooth and tasty to be exactly what Paleo would want us to eat.  Sadly.  I've been pinning a gillion things and many of them talk about using a nut butter or making your own.  

Raw Almond Butter made by yours truly.  I know.  I'm in shock.

Chicken. It's what's for dinner.

You know, frozen pizzas are so tasty because they are quick and easy.  Or that's one of the reasons I liked them.  So I have been a pinning machine coming up with some quick dinner options.  My most favorite meal right now is this quick Balsamic Marinated Chicken.  It takes me like 5 minutes to whip up the marinate in the early afternoon and then I just let is sit and soak up the juices.

Funny story.  I have NEVER used, let alone bought, basil before.  As I opened up the jar I was like, "Wow!  This stuff smells awesome."  I'm so on the bottom of this cooking totem pole!  But I am having a ball learning all about spices and more.  Like I just figured out that it's "balsamic" not "balsalmic" vinegar.  I've been saying it wrong for...well.  Probably not in my regular convo since I didn't ever cook.  But you get the idea.

You Mean I Have to Cook?

First of all, HELLO.  I'm Kay.  Wife of a scientist, mother of two ballerinas.  Hate lumping my gals into one category because they are polar opposites.  My youngest, "wild child" we shall dub her,  is in preschool.  She loves the color blue, everything Barbie, and following to pester his sister whenever possible.  My oldest, "free spirit" we shall dub her, is in middle school.  She loves pink, ballet, a messy room apparently, and anything related to art.  I consider myself a creative lady.  Love to sew, embroider, and Modge Podge-ing things.  Used to love high heels but I live more in flip flops now.  I'm anal retentive and love the motto, "Every place has it's thing; everything has it's place."  The family on the other hand doesn't really follow my mantra.  We are working on that this year.

So let's just cut to the chase.  I'm sure you might want to learn how in the world I could be a wife and mom for 10 years and not know how to cook.  I'm starting to think I was some sort of pseudo mom.  I am also hoping that there are others out there like me.  I am VERY good at frozen pizzas and corn dogs, whipping up a mean sandwich, putting fresh fruit in a bowel, and making boxes of brownies.  Boy, that's embarrassing putting that down on paper.