{cilantro lime chicken and a pork roast}

I told you a few days ago that there is a reason I fail to make a dinner plan. So my hubby will put on his cooking gloves and come up with something amazing. Well, this my friends, is one of those times. This dish was delicious! I might have to put him to work in the kitchen again tomorrow with this little gem. For so few ingredients you would think that I could come up with something amazing like this, but no. I would end up staring blankly at 2 chicken breasts, an onion of a random color, a jar of jalapenos, a bunch of cilantro, a bottle of olive oil, a lime and pepper and come up with nothing! So I pass the apron to Tony and I give you, Tony's Breasts. ;) Okay, how about Cilantro Lime Chicken Roll Ups.

Cilantro Lime Chicken Roll Ups
2 Costco sized chicken breasts
1/2 red onion
6-8 slices jalapeno (this is what I used, but I would add more next time)
Cilantro
Olive oil
lime juice
Pepper

Mince cilantro (I'm not really sure if that's what you do with cilantro). Add cilantro, lime juice, pepper and olive oil to a bowl or zip lock.

Butterfly each chicken breast. Pound out chicken breast and place in marinade. Turn chicken breast in marinade every 5 minutes or so.

Dice onion and saute. Remove from heat and add finely diced jalapeno.

After the chicken has marinaded lay out the chicken flat. Spread 1/2 of the onions and jalapeno over the chicken breast and roll tightly. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Repeat with the other breast. I made sure some of the cilantro was left on the chicken when I pulled it from the marinade and also spooned some over the top before I put it in the oven.

Bake on 375 for 20 minutes. Spoon over some of the left over marinade and bake for another 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven an let stand for 5-10 minutes. You can also spoon some of the juices in the pan back over the meat to add extra flavor.

Slice and serve. Its supposed to be a mexican-ish chicken so feel free to top with salsa, or enchilada sauce (paleo friendly, of course), or just eat as is.

Enjoy!

I don't think this next "recipe" could really be called a recipe, but we will be making it often. It was so good, made quite a bit for leftovers AND the kids LOVED it! That makes it a keeper in my book! The other day I had two thawed pork loin roasts in the fridge, about 2# each. This is usually how much I make for our family. It feeds us dinner and provides us with some protein for the next day. I had planned to do something amazing with them in the crockpot, but as usual it came to crunch time for getting them in the crockpot and I hadn't made a plan and was getting ready to rush out the door. Because of this I ended up with Trina's Amazing Pulled Pork. This is the extent of my creativity in the kitchen so hold onto your seats. :)

Trina's Amazing Pulled Pork

At the speed of light throw open cupboard door, toss aside various bowls and drag the crockpot out. Hurry and plug in and turn on high before you even get the food in. Hardly a head start in the cooking process with a crockpot, but it makes you feel you are being efficient with your time.

Grab each 2# pork roast, rinse them off and toss them in the crockpot. Open a can of natural chicken broth with no MSG or preservatives and pour half the can in the crockpot, toss in a handful of dried onion flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Toss lid on crockpot as you holler at the kids to jump in the car and leave the house at lightening speed to show up late to wherever you are going.

Return home about four-ish hours later, walk in the door to the wonderful aroma of dinner fully cooked and welcoming you home. Remove lid, lower your nose to the edge of the crock and inhale deeply. Ahhhhhh! Grab two forks and attempt to lift a roast and gasp with delight as it just falls apart because it is so tender. Using both forks shred the pork, stir it up with all the juices and replace lid while you pull together the rest of your dinner while the shredded pork soaks up all the wonderful juices. Serve up pork and bask in the praises of your family!

With the non-creativeness of my cooking, the recipe HAS to read something like that. :) This recipe was really so embarrassingly easy and so incredibly yummy!

That's all I've got tonight. Go forth, cook and eat well!

{fish and radishes}

I am way behind on posting new recipes as we try them. Well, new recipes that are worth posting. So far we haven't made anything new that we wouldn't want to post. All so yummy so far. My gung-ho attitude toward cooking and trying new recipes lasted approximately two weeks. I really don't like cooking and as you will see in a future post there is a reason I leave most of it to Tony. He came up with a new recipe that was so amazing and does many nights. I can't wait to totally flake on making a dinner plan so he is forced to make it again. ;) So last week-ish I (yes, "I" did cook this time!) made both (yes, TWO recipes!) of these recipes for dinner. The tilapia was wonderful, but the radish salad was amazing! I think I will try it sometime with cucumbers. It would be so refreshing in the summer. A perfect addition to a meal enjoyed out on our deck. Oh, that makes me yearn for summer.

Almondy Coconuty Tilapia

(aka Macaroon Crusted Tilapia by Jessica at How Sweet)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup raw almonds

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

4 Tilapia fillets

2 egg whites salt & pepper, to taste

1. Food process your almonds until coarsely ground. I had no luck chopping these in the food processor. I ended up chopping them up in our Magic Bullet.

2. Combine almonds and coconut.

3. Season fish with salt and pepper.

4. Separate your egg whites from the yolks and beat lightly.

5. Dip a tilapia fillet in egg whites and roll in the almond coconut mixture until thoroughly coated. 6. Arrange your fillets on a wire rack over a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 F.

Simple Radish Salad

Makes 1 or 2 servings

4 radishes, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp olive oil

Juice of ½ a lime

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped

a sprinkle of salt

In a small bowl combine oil, lime juice, cilantro and garlic. Toss with sliced radish and sprinkle with a little salt.

Note: I actually used about twelve radishes, but left the dressing amounts the same.

While I was making the fish A was excited we were having fish until she saw it and she asked, "Is it Paleo?" :( I said, "No, it's just a fish recipe." She ate it. T was also excited until he saw it. He did end up eating all of his fish, but picked some of the crust off. A loved the radish salad, I can't remember if K did. I don't think so.

So, if you follow my blog you probably read yesterday's post and know that I was not having a "happy go lucky" day. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It did get better, but didn't end totally cheerful. Last night I read that today's workout was a 5K row, said to my hubby a little bit panicky, "I'm going to be there all day!" and started crying. I haven't felt like I have any endurance at all and a 5K row would be a true test of that. Seriously, I feel like I have been falling apart the past couple days. The blogging did help. I figured coming home and punching my frustration out on my keyboard was better than yelling and screaming my frustration and terrifying my family. A blur of fingers at the computer isn't near as scary. So, I blogged and started to feel a little better, but I still wasn't sure even up until I left the house planning to go to the gym if I actually would go. I did decide to go and prayed that my coach wouldn't have me row the whole thing. He left it up to me. He asked if I wanted to do a 2K or a 5K, both benchmarks. I said I would do the 2K or I would be there all day. So I sat down at the rower, put my headphones in, turned my iPod on my running and rowing playlist (Riot, Sandman, Slow Drain, Hey You, etc. Hard and loud music), took a deep breath and started rowing. Having been out of my game for awhile I was shocked that I was able to row my 2K in 9:11. So trying to pull my CrossFit boots back on I dug deep and set it for another 2K and rowed it in about 9:35. Beings that I had already rowed a 4K I might as well pull a 1000m and make it a solid 5K. So in pieces I rowed a 5K today. It felt good and I was seriously shocked I was able to pull it out and feel as good as I did. I really think I could have pulled another 5K. It would have been long and sucked, but I felt like I had it in me. One of the best things about going to the gym today was chatting with my friends, R, C and K. Thank you K for taking the time to give me a hug that I desperately needed. Like I said yesterday, if it weren't for our gym community I may not be going to the gym at all.

My sister made the following comment on Facebook when I posted yesterday's blog on my profile. Thank you so much, sis! I needed that and will read it repeatedly.

"Quite some time ago, a wonderful woman gave me a book when I needed some encouragement....a reminder to celebrate wylde women...here is a phrase I found for you: 'Continuing On: almost crumbling to the ground, she stopped. looking at how far she had traveled and all it had taken to get there, she recognized her strength. the strengths she had inside of her, the strength she had gained along the way ~ her inner power. and so, she stood up. standing tall, she faced forward and continued on.' thank you for the book....♥"

{day 1 in the books}

Day 1 of my 30 days of better eating is coming to an end and I didn't slip up once. It wasn't too brutal and I might make it a second day. The only thing I really, really wanted was a latte. A hot, creamy latte is my happy place on a bummer day and today started out as a true Monday. A bummer day and a hot latte would have been so incredibly wonderful. But, I resisted and stayed on track when my track was barely starting. It would have been sad to fail three hours into my 30 days.

I've already posted once today so I'm just going to share my recipe for tonight. Nothing fancy, nothing special, but all Paleo. About 15 years ago I consolidated recipes from family members and we had a great cookbook printed. This recipe was submitted by my aunt and also by my great-great-aunt. As printed it is strictly Paleo. I just added more veggies and better for you beef. No picture today, but never fear you will get your fill of non-creative pictures of food in a pot or food in a skillet. Every now and then I will treat you to a beautifully plated meal, but don't sit on the edge of your seat waiting for it. Even then my photographer skills are right up there with my cooking skills and your butt will just fall asleep sitting on the edge of your seat like that! So here you have a recipe shared by aunts of all sorts in my family. By-the-way, my family rocks. Just so you know. :-)

I am typing this up as I made it. I kicked out the potatoes in the original recipe and replaced them with cauliflower. Why did I give potatoes the boot? Because I'm trying to stick to the Whole 30 program and it says, "Do not eat white potatoes. It’s arbitrary, but they are carbohydrate-dense and nutrient poor, and also a nightshade." I remember reading about nightshade foods quite awhile ago, but couldn't remember what this meant so I used the ole Google machine to refresh my memory. This is what I found on nightshade foods. So, if you were feeling like you hadn't learned anything new today, well, your welcome. :-)

Soup For You!!!!

Hamburger Soup

1 lb. grass-fed local hamburger

1 c. chopped onion (I used 1/2 of an onion)
1 c. chopped cauliflower, into bite-size pieces

1 c. sliced carrots

1 c. diced celery

1 c. diced cabbage

1 c. chopped broccoli, into bite-size pieces

1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 small bay leaf, crushed

1 t. thyme

2 t. basil

1/4 t. pepper

salt, to taste

1 1/2 qt. water

Saute burger with the onion until slightly brown. Add to all other ingredients in a large soup pot; simmer for at least an hour or until veggies are tender. Bam! Soup!

Note: I had a 1 1/2 lb. package of burger so I made a 1 1/2 batch. Duh. I added 2 full cans of tomatoes instead of 1 1/2. I didn't want to find a little container to save that half a can of tomatoes in my fridge that would just get shoved to the back and I would find it in about a month with a layer of green, fuzzy mold. So in the soup it went while it was green, fuzz free. I also tossed in extra veggies to my liking until I had a veggie heavy soup.

What else did I eat today?

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with mushrooms and peppers, salsa and 1/4 of an avocado

Lunch: Enormous salad with romaine, 1 oz. leftover turkey breast, two hard boiled eggs, 1/4 avocado, diced celery, diced carrots, alfalfa sprouts, 1/4 diced apple, balsamic/olive oil dressing

Dinner: Lots of Hamburger Soup

Snacks: I was busy. I mostly had some random almonds and grazed on veggies while making dinner.

Water: Not near enough :(

{paleo shmaleo}

Damn. I'm eating Paleo with some Zone thrown in for good measure. I didn't want to be one of those people, but here I am. It really isn't a far cry from how we ate before, but it does require a little more diligence, prep, and cutting out of a few more food items. I'm okay with that. After a few weeks of tightening up my diet (still not perfect) I can tell a difference in the gym and THAT, my friends, I like! I am not going to preach the wonders of the food I eat or push it on you. This is just how I choose to fuel my body. . . for the most part. I still enjoy my favorite things. I just have to plan for them now, though, sometimes I have to admit I don't even do that. Okay, enough of that. Now onto the real reason I sat down to write this post . . . an amazing Paleo meal!

So, a few weeks ago I started following an amazing blog by a likeminded CrossFitter, Primal Mama Cooks. Her blog has great recipes with pictures, is written by a very down-to-earth busy mom (busy I understand) and is very entertaining to boot. Many times I read her posts and do, in fact, laugh out loud and then read it to my hubby so I can giggle somemore. For Valentine's Day we chose one of her recipes and cooked it together in the kitchen (duh, huh. Of course, the kitchen). It was a-maaaaaa-zing! Wow! Lemon Chicken on Cauliflower Mash. M-m-m-m-m! Not only was it delicious when done cooking it was gorgeous marinading. When does that happen?! Standing in your kitchen drooling over raw chicken in a gallon zip-lock? You know you are in for a treat when that happens! Witness the drool-fest below. How gorgeous is that?

Marinating Beauty

Onto the cauliflower mash. I have seen this suggested as a replacement for mashed potatoes many times, but never took the time to try it. Not because I don't like cauliflower, probably because I was just too lazy to try something new. But, tonight I set lazy aside and we tried it. What a treat and the best part, the kids ate it! Okay, the girls loved it, Tyler not so much. (80% of our household gave a new recipe a thumbs up? I call that a success!) Mashed cauliflower, carmelized onions (I think we will cut way back on the onions next time), garlic. Oh, what isn't to love? And the chicken, I can't say enough about how easy it was and oh so good. You can get this chicken ready in the marinade in minutes in the morning and be ready to cook come dinner time. Open your ziplock, dump in olive oil, cut two lemons in half, squeeze the juice in (Don't bother throwing the lemons away, toss them in, too!), chop up parsley, mince up garlic, throw in the chicken, seal 'er up and your dinner is on it's way to yummy!

Paleoliciousness!

We will definitely be making this again. We decided the marinade would probably be good with fish, also. That may be next on our experiment list. I'm not much of a cook in the kitchen, but I've found that I need to become one if I am going to make eating Paleo a part of our lives. It has to taste good to stick with it. I don't think I will get too competent in the kitchen though because Tony is pretty good at it and I would hate to take away the breakfast he makes me every morning or the dinners that he prepares because I didn't quite get to it. :) That is just smart thinkin' ladies!