I happen to receive about 10 million emails a day and I really do try to get through all of them but honestly it would be impossible for me to reply personally to each one, otherwise emailing people would be all that I do.  However, from time to time, people are persistent or the timing is right and I read an email that grabs me, yanks me in, and doesn’t let me go.  That was the case with a recent email sent to me by Travis Martinez, owner of TX Bar Organics.

When I first saw the email from Travis with the subject line, “TX Bar Organics,” I thought it was someone trying to sell me a protein bar, so that first email went ignored, but something about the second email made me open it.  I was so wrong with my first impression; this was not a protein bar salesperson but a local gentleman who raises 100% grass fed beef and not only that, but he is giving back to our local families in need.

Travis also runs a program called, “Food for a Cause.”

With Food for a Cause, for every 20 lbs of product sold, TX Bar Organics will give one pound of ground beef to a needy family that has recently lost their jobs due to hardships in our economy. Through this cause TX Bar Organics hopes to feed families starting in the local surrounding areas and at some point, and with your support, they are hoping to go nationwide and even hope to help feed starving families around the world.

So, let’s get this thing started!  Place an order today with TX Bar Organics and use the promo code “everydaypaleo” to receive a 15% discount on your first order!! Spread the word, and trust me, you will love the quality and taste of the meat from TX Bar Organics.  Also, one lucky winner will receive a sampler package of grass fed beef!  To enter to win, please send an email to contests@everydaypaleo.com with your order number or proof of purchase for pre-ordering Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  You can also enter to win by emailing me a link to where you have tweeted, Facebooked, or blogged about Paleo Pals.  Thank you so much for your support!  Winners will be picked by random drawing and announced on my Facebook page and on the blog, so hurry and enter for your chance to win! Winner to be announced on Wednesday, February 1st!

Now for a teaser! Here is one thing that I made with the meat that I have tried from TX Bar Organics, a simple top sirloin steak on top of grilled veggies – easy and delicious.  This meat is so good that not a lot needs to be done to make the flavors come through.  Another recipe I made with the beef kabob meat actually made it into my next cookbook, so you’ll have to wait anxiously for that one…  In the meantime, enjoy!

Grilled Top Sirloin

Season both sides of your steak with a little salt and pepper.  Grill the steak on a lightly  oiled hot grill for 4-5 minutes on each side.  Let the steak rest at least 5 minutes before you slice it!  Serve on grilled veggies.  No need for ANYTHING else!!

Introducing TX Bar Organics Grass Fed Beef and a Giveaway!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

“Creamy” Chicken Tomato Soup
4 frozen skinless boneless chicken breast
Garlic salt to taste
2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 clove garlic
1 14 oz. can of coconut milk (full fat)
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes and juice
1 cup of chicken broth (I used homemade chicken broth but you can use store bought)
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Put all the above ingredients into the crock-pot, cook for 9 hours on low. After 9 hours take two forks and shred the chicken, set the crock-pot on warm till ready to serve (making sure to taste it before serving to make sure there is enough salt and pepper)

Served: 6 (with left over’s for lunch the next day)

Total cost: 17.48 (this is the price if you had to go buy all the ingredients; chicken, chicken broth, spices, coconut milk and diced tomatoes.. if you are buying spices at Safeway they always have a buy two get one free deal going on if you buy their brand)

Total cost per person: 2.91

hope you all enjoy my pocket friendly college budget paleo meal

Another Budget Friendly Paleo Meal by Erika: “Creamy” Chicken Tomato Crockpot Soup is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Readers often send me recipes that they have created, and this one looked so good I had to give it a try! Thank you Staci for sharing such a delicious dish with us, our whole family loved it!  Now, I’ll pass it on to all of you.

Yummy Greek Meatballs

1 pound ground lamb

1/2 pound ground beef

2 tablespoons minced chives

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 egg, room temp

1 tablespoon dried mint (I used fresh)

1 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 1/2 tespoons cumin

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

8-10 dried apricots, chopped

8 (or a many as you want) kalamata olives, chopped

Mix all the above ingredients and form into meatballs (I made about 1-2in meatballs).  Place on a cooling rack which is on a baking sheet so that they brown all the way around.  Bake at 450 about 15 mins, depending on size.

Makes approximately 15 meatballs.  Serves 3-4.

Enjoy!

Yummy Greek Meatballs is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Someone asked me on my Facebook page to post more slow cooker recipes which was quite coincidental because yesterday, as I was reading that particular post, I was unpacking a giant pork roast that I intended to make into pulled pork.  This is about the easiest meal a person could make and so versatile.  This morning we ate the pulled pork with eggs and tonight I’ll make some Purple Cabbage Slaw to eat along with the pork and I’ll maybe even make a salad out of it for lunch tomorrow; if there is any left (which I doubt there will be….)

Beyond Easy Pulled Pork

4-5 lb pork butt roast

2 yellow onions, sliced

Dry Rub

3 tbsps chili powder

1 tsp coriander

2 tsps cumin

2 tsps onion powder

1 tablespoon dried parsley

¼ teaspoon chipotle powder

2 tsps sea salt

Mix all dry rub ingredients together.  Rub the entire roast with the dry rub (you should use it all.)  Place a layer of onions on the bottom of your slow cooker.  Place the roast on top.  Put the rest of the sliced onions on top of the slow cooker.  NO LIQUID NECESSARY!  Cook the roast on high for 5-6 hours and then turn down to low for another 3-4 hours or until the roast is literally falling apart and easy to shred.

Enjoy!

Beyond Easy Pulled Pork is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

My boys love Sweet Potato Hash for breakfast but frankly, I’m kind of tired of it, so last weekend I decided to make my pile of freshly grated potatoes into sweet potato pancakes, or latkes if you will. We topped the savory sweet cakes with bacon and fried eggs.  Yum.

If you are looking for a way to fill up your kids in the morning, or if your trying to get them excited about eating paleo, there’s nothing like a sweet potato based breakfast fried in coconut oil to delight their taste buds.

Sweet Potato Latkes

5 cups grated sweet potato

2 eggs

2 tablespoons onions, minced

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat and melt a spoonful of coconut oil.  Take small handfulls of the potato mixture and drop onto the hot griddle or skillet and press down gently into little “cakes”.  Cook for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy and the potatoes are done all the wat through. Top with fried eggs and bacon if you so desire. Makes 12 latkes.

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Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Latkes is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Wow, I can’t believe it’s almost here.  Christmas again.  I really do love the holidays but  I always find myself feeling nostalgic and a bit emotional as we head towards the 25th of December.  I miss the simplicity of how it used to be when I was little; when my mom was still with us and the innocence of not knowing that someday we would have to face Christmas without her. I miss when my grandma’s house in Huntington Beach, CA would be our warm winter escape from our old and drafty farmhouse in cold Northern California.  I miss the wonderful feeling of when the two week break from school would seem to last forever. And finally, I miss being really super extremely excited about everything in the entire world and how great it feels to wake up on Christmas morning knowing that it was a SPECIAL DAY!

Although these memories make my heart ache for the familiar, I am also grateful for the new memories that we are creating.  I can’t wait to cook a giant paleo feast to share with my family who will soon be spilling into our house, making the kids laugh and scream and the dogs bark and spin in circles. I am beyond excited to spoil my precious little niece who is such a bright light in my life. I love it that we will hold true to our goofy family tradition of singing our favorite Christmas carols at the top of our lungs.  I can’t wait to hug close my dear brother and sweet sister.  I know I can count on my dad and uncle to tell us hilarious stories in extremely loud voices, and that my boys will stay up way too late and run around and drive me crazy while I try to cook for 15 people. More than anything else, I know that at the end of the day on Christmas, I’ll snuggle up with John and soak up the warmth and love that comes along with the holiday season, and once again I will realize that what I have right now is amazing and beautiful. Although things will never be like they used to, I don’t want to live in the past because it’s up to me to make the most of right now, this moment, this second…

With that being said, my hope to all of you is to have the Happiest, Healthiest, and most peaceful of Holidays and I send you my deepest appreciation for your continued support of this little blog along with our warmest wishes from my family to yours.  Hold your loved ones close, honor those who are no longer with us, give gratitude to the brave men and women who are protecting us from harm, and revel in the beauty of what we have in each other.

Here is what I plan to make for Christmas dinner.

Prime Rib,  Everyday Paleo Stuffing, Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Pear Salad, and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, with Pumpkin Pie for dessert.

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus is super easy.  Wrap your raw asparagus tightly with a piece of bacon, sprinkle with some black pepper and grill over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the bacon is crispy, turning once half way through the cooking time.

On Christmas Eve I’m making a giant pot of Albondigas Soup.

My Holiday Ramblings and Our Christmas Menu is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I am not a blogger who typically blogs about products because otherwise, products would end up being the only thing I ever blogged about, BUT holy cow, Steve’s Original is not just another paleo product, it’s a phenomenal company making incredibly tasty food and giving back to children who need help, guidance, and hope for a solid future.

I was lucky enough to receive a sample pack of Steve’s Original goodies and we were not disappointed with any of their yummy offerings.  People are always asking me where to find jerky and paleo snacks that are not filled with gluten, sugar, or other unhealthy fillers and Steve’s Original Paleo Kits, dried fruits, Just Jerky, and Krunch Bars (to name just a few of their offerings) all fit the bill.

My kids LOVED everything we tried and Coby, my high school student, has made me promise to keep on ordering so that he can easily bring the Paleo Kits to school with him for lunch. He loved how convenient it was to drop a Paleo Kit into his already stuffed back pack and have a portable lunch ready to go that required no thought to prepare.

If you would like to give some of Steve’s Original food a try, Steve has been kind enough to offer a 10% discount on your first order by using discount code, “everydaypaleo” and Steve will have this discount available to you up until Tuesday, December 20th.

Here’s Rowan and Jaden enjoying the Paleo Krunch Cereal with coconut milk!

Steve was kind enough to send me samples of his products, however, I did not promise anything in return and I was not bribed, begged, or coerced into promoting Steve’s Original. I am happy to tell you all to check out this amazing companies products because we really love their food and what they are doing to help kiddos.  I hope you enjoy!

Steve’s Original is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Another post to enjoy from Katie of Wellness Mama!

Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that has been around for centuries. The high concentration of b-vitamins, digestive enzymes and glucaric acid in kombucha are credited with a variety of health effects, including detoxification, improved digestion, increased liver function and more.

Many Kombucha drinkers also report increased energy from regular consumption. Some studies have even shown that compounds like glucaric acid can help prevent cancer, though the evidence on this is limited. Interestingly, President Reagan reportedly drank kombucha daily as part of his regimen to battle stomach cancer when he was diagnosed in 1987 (He died in 2004 of old age).

Countries around the world, from China to Russia, value Kombucha for its health benefits, though few scientific studies have been done in the US. Despite this, Kombucha has gained popularity, especially in some parts of the country.

Kombucha is now available commercially, though prices range from $3-5 per bottle or more.

Making Kombucha at home is another option, as a gallon of Kombucha can be made at home for a dollar or less and the process is really rather simple.

The culture that creates Kombucha is referred to as a “Mother” or a “SCOBY,” which stands for “Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.” If you are interested in brewing your own Kombucha, there are several ways to obtain a SCOBY.

How To Find a SCOBY to Brew Kombucha

• If you know someone who already brews Kombucha, ask them if they have an extra you could have. A SCOBY reproduces itself and has a “baby” every batch or two, so often someone who brews Kombucha will have one to pass on.
• You can order a SCOBY from a reputable online source. It will come in a dehydrated state with instructions for how to brew. I’ve gotten one from Cultures for Health, and they also have great tutorial videos on brewing Kombucha.
• Grow your own. I haven’t personally had great success with trying to grow my own, but this tutorial explains the process. You will just need a bottle of organic, unflavored Kombucha.

Finding a SCOBY is often the most difficult part, as the actual making of Kombucha is pretty easy…

How To Brew Kombucha:

You will need:

• A gallon size glass jar
• 1 gallon (or a little less) of brewed sweetened tea, with a ratio of 1 cup organic sugar to 1 gallon of tea – must be cooled t room temperature!
• 1 Kombucha SCOBY or dehydrated SCOBY
• a kitchen towel or coffee filter and a rubber band

Instructions:

[Note: It is very important that all materials and surfaces are very clean and that your hands have been washed before starting this process!]

1. Prepare the tea (1 cup organic sugar in 1 gallon of brewed regular tea- decaf is ok too!) Use 3-4 family size tea bags or 8-10 regular size ones.
2. Let the tea cool and remove tea bags. Make sure that tea is completely cool before going on to next step.
3. Pour the tea into a gallon size glass jar, leaving at least an inch of room at the top.
4. Add 1 cup  of liquid from a previous batch of Kombucha or from a store bought bottle of plain organic Kombucha.
5. Gently place the Kombucha SCOBY at the top of the liquid. It should float, but don’t worry if it doesn’t. Once you have put it in, don’t stick your hands into the tea to get it to float!
6. Cover the jar with a coffee filter or towel and secure with a rubber band.
7. Place in a warm location (around 70-75 degrees) and let sit from 5-30 days depending on your preference (it will be less sweet and more potent the longer you leave it).
8. When it is finished brewing you can store in smaller jars or in another big jar with a lid and repeat the brewing process with the SCOBY to make more batches. Every 1-2 batches, the SCOBY will have a baby that can be used to make other batches or given away.

Once you’ve gotten the hang of making Kombucha, you can do a secondary ferment with grape or apple juice to make a carbonated Kombucha soda that has very little trace sugar left but is carbonated. 

This video from Cultures for Health is helpful when first starting off brewing Kombucha.

Ever brewed Kombucha? Grossed out by the SCOBY? What do you think?

How to Make Kombucha by Katie of Wellness Mama is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I have several holiday recipes on the blog that you can find here, here, and here; but what’s wrong with a couple more!  My family and I will be traveling to visit my wonderful in-laws for Thanksgiving, so I thought I would come up with two fun side dishes that I can make and share while we are there.  Both are scrumptious and I’m looking forward to making both again in just a few days!

Holiday Brussels Sprouts

3 tablespoons grass fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil

1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced

1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved and then cut into strips

½ cup walnuts, chopped

½ cup dried unsweetened cherries, chopped

2 teaspoons raw organic honey

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet saute the onions in the the butter, ghee or coconut oil until they start to brown and carmelize.  Add the sliced Brussels sprouts and cook until the just become tender.  Add the diced walnuts and cherries and cook for another minute or two and remove from heat.  In a small saucepan melt the honey, add the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and whisk together. Pour the dressing over the Brussels Sprouts and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 5-6.

Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes

5 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

12 -15 whole cloves of garlic, peeled (cut the bigger ones in half lengthwise)

3 tablespoons coconut oil or bacon grease

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl, toss the sweet potatoes and garlic with the oil, cinnamon, thyme, salt and pepper.  Spread the potatoes evenly in a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring half way through the cooking time. Serves 5-6.

Holiday Brussels Sprouts and Garlic Roasted Sweet Potatoes is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

*Another budget friendly post by Erika Schuler!!

Thanksgiving it a time to celebrate all that we are thankful for: family, friends, good health and good old fashion paleo food! Last weekend I celebrated my first Thanksgiving of the year with my amazing college family…. potluck style. I roasted my first turkey ever and managed to stay away from burning it… it’s a MIRACLE!!! I am the only one of my friends who lives, eats, and breathes paleo, so when I sent out the invite for a Thanksgiving potluck party I wasn’t expecting it to be all paleo. With the amazing group of friends I have made at school they all respected my way of life and all cooked paleo dishes. With the exception of mashed potatoes, gravy and rolls

I was in charge of the turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. All my recipes came from Sarah’s Thanksgiving blog last year, with a few of my own twists thrown in here and there.

My posts are all about getting the best deal for your paleo meal, so even though these recipe’s are not my own, I can tell you how much it costs to cook a Thanksgiving meal for 15 hungry college students while not breaking the bank!

Turkey

12 lb turkey

Day before brine your turkey in:

2 cup water

2 cups kosher salt,

2 cups good whisky (optional)

¾ cup organic raw honey

Mix all the ingredients together. Make sure your turkey it defrosted and that you remove the giblets and rinse your bird. Put the turkey in a large pot and pour your brine over your turkey. Put a lid on it and keep refrigerated for at least 24 hours. Making sure to take your bird out of the refrigerator at least an hour before the cooking process so it is at room temperature when you cook it the next day.

Prep your turkey:

4 tbls grass fed butter at room temp

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary and Thyme (I personally used dried thyme because I couldn’t find fresh thyme)

Juice from 1 orange

Mix all the ingredients together.

Preheat oven to 400.  Wash and dry the turkey with paper towels.  Place the turkey in your roaster breast side up.  Pull back the skin from the breast and in between the skin and the meat, place the butter, rosemary, thyme and orange juice mixture. Save some of the butter mixture to rub on the top of the bird too. Sprinkle the entire bird with sea salt and pepper.  Cover and roast for 20 minutes.  Lower the heat to 350 and cook for an additional 20 minutes per pound, uncovering the bird for the last 30 minutes to brown the turkey.  Remove and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.  Make sure you use a meat thermometer to ensure that your turkey is done!

Total cost: $16

Cost per-person: $1.07

Appetizer

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Persimmons- made by Matthew Schupp

4 fuyu persimmons

8 pieces on bacon

5 skewers sticks

Cut persimmons into 8ths; cut pieces of bacon in half, wrap around persimmon slices and skewer (fit as many as you can on one stick). Put foil down on the BBQ so the bacon grease doesn’t catch on fire (learned that the hard way). Once the bacon is fully cooked take off the BBQ let them cool a little and remove from the sticks and put on your serving platter.

Total cost: $7

Cost per person: $ 0.48

Side Dishes

Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

1 bag of small yams from Trader Joe’s (about 4 large yams from the grocery store if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s where you live)

2 tbls grassfed butter

1 tbls raw organic honey

1 tbls cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350 line a cookie sheet with foil. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into cubes. Toss in melted grassfed butter honey and cinnamon. Spread them out evenly on the lined cookie sheet and roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown and tender.

Total cost: $5

Cost per person: $0.33

Green Beans – made by Alessandra Cappello

1 bag of French green beans (from Trader Joes, if buying then in bulk, about 1-2 pounds)

3 cloves of chopped garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

Salt and pepper to taste

Break the ends of the green beans off and rinse them. Once cleaned put them in a large pot fill with water until the green beans are covered, add a pinch of salt for flavor. Bring to a boil and cook for 4 minutes, until al dente (firm, yet tender). Drain the water and toss the green beans in garlic, evoo, salt and pepper.

Total cost: $2

Cost per person: $0.13

Mix Green Salad- made by Nicole Fillinger

1 bag of mixed greens

1 apple

½ cup sliced almonds

1 cup of cherry tomatoes

Oil and balsamic dressing (as much as you see fit, salt and pepper to taste)

Rinse green, tomatoes and apple. Core and cut up apple. In a large bowl put the greens, tomatoes almonds, apples and toss in dressing.

Total cost: $7.39

Cost per person: $0.49

Cranberry Sauce-Sarah’s Everyday Paleo Recipe with a few twists, made by Evan Garfeild

1 lb Cranberries (about 4 cups)

1 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice

½ tbls cinnamon

1 tsp fresh ginger

2 tbls organic raw honey (if you like your sauce tangy and a little sour leave out, it is just as delicious!)

In a large soup pot add the cranberries, orange juice, cinnamon, and ginger and bring to a slow boil.  Once all the cranberries have popped add in honey and simmer, stirring often until the sauce becomes thick, about 10-15 minutes. Pour your sauce into serving bowl, cover and refrigerate. (you can either serve warm or cold)

Total cost: $ 6.50

Cost per person: $ 0.43

Dessert

Everyday Paleo Pumpkin Pie

1 sugar pumpkin

1tbls pumpkin pie spice

Crust

½ cup hazelnuts

1 cup pecans

4 tablespoons melted organic grass fed butter

Pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Place the nuts in a food processor and process until the nuts are flour like or almond meal like consistency. Pour into a small mixing bowl, add the butter and salt and mix into a thick dough. Using your hands, spread evenly into a pie pan and back for 10 minutes.

Note: buy your nuts in bulk it is cheaper this way!!!

Filling

1 – 14oz can of organic pumpkin puree (nothing added, just pumpkin) à [I made my own pumpkin puree by roasting 1 sugar pumpkin and adding in 1 tbls of pumpkin pie spice.. I will include the instruction below if you want to do it this way]

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon fresh grated ginger

2 eggs

½ cup raw organic honey

½ cup coconut milk

While the crust is in the oven, whisk all of the pie filling ingredients together.  Pour into the curst that has been baked for 10 minutes, return to the oven and bake for and additional 45 minutes

Roasted Sugar Pumpkin: preheat oven to 350. Cut your sugar pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Place the pumpkins in a glass baking dish cut side down and add about a cup of water bake for 45-60 minutes. Scoop out the inside of the pumpkin into a food processor and blend until smooth (add a tablespoon of warm water if it doesn’t smooth out) once pureed add in pumpkin pie spice mix well.

Total cost: $11

Cost per person: $0.73

The grand total for the whole thanksgiving meal is: $54.89

That’s a whopping $3.66 per person!!! Now that is a price we can all be thankful for this thanksgiving year  This price includes only the major item’s bought for the dinner, this doesn’t include items that I keep on hand at all times, such as grass fed butter, oil, spices and eggs.

I want to end my post with a BIG thank you to all my friends for sharing all their wonderful recipes. The paleo potluck thanksgiving party was a blast and wouldn’t have been possible without all of you I am thankful for having such amazing friends that I am proud to call family

Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Paleo Thanksgiving Potluck Party For College Students! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Before you read any further, you must say Herbed Halved Chicken five times as fast as you can. It’s not a just a meal but a tongue twister too!

Last weekend we picked up a halved chicken from the farmers market and John and Jaden made a delicious herb butter rub for the bird.  They rubbed both halves with the delicious mixture and cooked the chicken low and slow on the grill until it became tender, savory perfection.  If you do not want to use butter you can sub clarified butter, ghee, lard, or another fat of your choice.  We served the chicken with roasted winter squash and I made a quick coleslaw with shredded green cabbage, diced apples, sliced almonds, with olive oil and a touch of balsamic vinegar for the dressing

Here’s what John and Jaden created:

Herb Halved Chicken

2 chicken halves (or take one whole chicken and cut it in half)

6 tablespoons grass fed butter (we used Kerrygold) or other fat of your choice

3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt

Soften butter in the microwave.  Mix the herbs and spices into the softened butter or other fat choice.  Pat dry the chicken halves with paper towels.  Using a rubber spatula, generously rub the herb and spice mixture all over the chicken halves.  Cook on a covered grill skin side up on low to medium low heat for 45-60 minutes.

Herbed Halved Chicken is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Stuffed Pork and Salty Sweet Cravings

Time for another college budget friendly meal! On tonight’s menu; sun dried tomato stuffed pork, zucchini and for dessert salty sweet cravings.

I was feeling creative tonight and wanted to try something new and fun for dinner. I opened my freezer and refrigerator to find a pork tenderloin, sun dried tomatoes, minced garlic, and fresh basil.  The basil was home grown by yours truly (bonus point: free ingredient!). Put it all together and you get Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Pork.

Sundried Tomato Stuffed Pork

2 pound Pork Tenderloin

1 8.5 oz jar sundried tomato haves

1 T minced garlic

7 Fresh basil leaves

Butterfly pork tenderloin. On one side spread the sun dried tomato and garlic. Lay the basil leaves on top of the tomatoes fold over the other half of the pork over and tie the pork with 3-4 pieces of string so that the stuffing stays in while cooking. Sear the pork on a hot BBQ for 5 minutes on each side and finish in the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Feeds: 8

Total Coast:  $10

Coast per person: $1.25

Here is another cheap and easy recipe for those who are battling mid-day, late night, or anytime cravings for something salty, sweet and still paleo. This snack won’t break the bank and chances are you already having the ingredients on hand.

Salty Sweet Cravings

1 ½ cups unsweetened Coconut Flakes

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

Melt coconut oil in a medium size microwave safe bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups coconut flakes and sea salt mix until all the flakes are evenly coated. Line a cookie sheet with foil and evenly spread out the coconut flakes. Bake at 350 for 4 1/2 minutes or until golden brown (make sure to watch them because they will go from golden brown to yucky burnt fast!)

Feeds: 12

Total cast:  $18

Coast per person: $1.50

Dinner and dessert together $2.75 a person!

Stuffed Pork and Salty Sweet Cravings is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

On October 27th, Rowan turned 4 and on October 30th, Jaden turned 8.  Time  really does fly and when I look at my little boys who keep getting so darn big, intense emotions run through me. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I am talking about and trying to express the above mentioned emotions into words really is impossible.

Anyway; we had a party for Rowan on Saturday and a party for Jaden on Sunday and let me tell you, it was a CRAZY yet fabulous weekend with lots of wonderful family and amazing friends.  In my opinion, birthdays are worth celebrating and what would a birthday be without the cake!  Over our last few paleo years I have attempted to make gluten free cakes from mixes of various store bought brands with some success but this year for the Jaden and Rowan I ordered gluten and grain free baking mixes from White Lion Baking Company and holy cow, they did not disappoint.

Rowan wanted a chocolate cake and Jaden wanted cinnamon bun muffins and both turned out phenomenally well.  You know the cake is good when non-paleo eating folks say things like, “This is the best cake I have ever had!” Or, “These muffins are out of this world!” Rowan’s chocolate cake mix came with a chocolate ganache topping that we made and used to drizzle over the cake and my amazing sister Laura decorated the cake with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and homemade whipped cream. For Jaden’s birthday muffins I followed the directions that came with the muffin mix for homemade cream cheese frosting which was just cream cheese, heavy cream and a touch of honey and I also added in some cinnamon as well.

If the thought of coming up with a grain free birthday cake seems daunting or you want to avoid the store bought gluten free cake mixes that are filled with rice flour and potato starch, I highly recommend looking into White Lion Baking Company.  The high quality grain free ingredients that they use in their products shine through in the amazing end result and I will most certainly be using this company again for my future baking needs.

At Rowan’s party he wanted a “party at home with a bouncy house” and that’s exactly what we did but  I’m pretty sure that the adults had more fun than the kids in the bounce house.

  For party food we grilled up some hamburgers and Applegate Farm sausages and served them with lettuce wraps, sliced tomato, and onions.  I also made my No Potato Salad which is always a huge hit.  For snacks before dinner we had guacamole, fruit, veggies, salami and cheese and corn chips. Corn chips and cheese are a safe party staple for us.  No one feels horrible if we eat a few chips and slices of cheese and it’s nice to have these alternatives for a “cheat meal” (although I hate that terminology) when we want to kick up our heels.

For Jaden’s party we went to our local gymnastics academy and several of his friends from school attended the party.  I was wondering how the cinnamon bun muffins made with almond meal and coconut flour would be accepted by a bunch of 3rd graders, especially topped with homemade cream cheese frosting that really wasn’t that sweet at all. Surprisingly, all but two of the muffins were devoured and this is from a group of kids who are most likely used to the conventional cupcake.  Hurray for real food!  The snacks at the party were a duplicate of what we had for Rowan’s party the previous day.

It was such a blast watching the kids run around and play and the highlight at the end was the awesome zip line!  Check out Kayden of Growing Up Paleo and Rowan taking on the zip line like the big kids. Even after Kayden’s spectacular landing, the first thing he said was, “Let’s do it again!!”

Overall, the parties were successful, the kids had a blast, and my little boys are another year older but somehow I’m still only 25.  Amazing how that works, isn’t it??

Happy birthdays to my sweet little Row Row and my big guy Jaden!

A Birthday Weekend!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Last night I made a whole roasted chicken, tossed some cubed butternut squash in coconut oil and roasted that as well, and cooked some greens fresh from our CSA to make an amazingly easy and tasty side dish.  Here’s how I prepared the greens:

Good Greens

1 pound of bacon, diced

1 small red onion, sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup green beans, diced

2 bunches greens of your choice, finely diced (I used a huge bag of braising greens from my CSA which was a combo of kale, collards, and I think some turnip greens)

1 teaspoon rubbed sage

Black pepper to taste

In a large pan cook the bacon pieces and onion until the bacon starts to crisp.  Add the mushrooms and green beans and saute until the mushrooms are tender. Add the diced greens, sage and pepper and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the greens are tender.

Enjoy!

Good Greens is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

This recipe was inspired by a reader who emailed me a recipe that he created for a seafood curry that was served over roasted pumpkin.  Of course I can never leave anything alone so I revised his recipe to make this Creamy Pumpkin Curry. The whole family loved this savory fall soup and I hope your family does as well!

Creamy Pumpkin Curry

1 small sugar pumpkin

2 pounds of shrimp or other seafood/protein of your choice

2 carrots, sliced

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 small zucchinis, diced

1 14oz can coconut milk – (make sure you have your coconut milk in the fridge a day ahead of time so that the coconut cream is solid on the top)

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

1 teaspoon coriander

½ tablespoon turmeric powder

sea salt to taste

1) Preheat oven to 350. Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds (save them for roasting).  Place the pumpkin cut side up in a glass baking dish with about a cup of water in the bottom of the dish and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour.

2) In a large soup pot, saute the onion and carrots in the coconut oil over medium heat until the onions become translucent.

3) Turn up the heat on the onions and carrots to medium high, scoop out just the cream from the canned coconut milk and add to the hot soup pot.  Let it sizzle and stir until the cream is melted and mixed well with the onions and carrots.  Turn down to medium low and let it simmer.

4) While the coconut cream, onion and carrots are simmering, scoop the roasted pumpkin into a food processor or blender along with the remaining coconut water from the can, the chicken broth, and all of the spices.  Process or blend until completely smooth.

5) Add the zucchini to the soup pot and pour the pumpkin mixture into the pot as well.  Mix well and bring to a simmer.

6) Add the peeled and de-veined shrimp to the soup and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm (about 3-4 more minutes).  

7) Serve in bowls topped with  fresh diced cilantro.

If using a different protein, such as chicken, add the chicken in immediately after you add the coconut cream into the pot to give it enough time to cook prior to adding the zucchini and remaining ingredients.  Do not add at the same time as the zucchini or your zucchini will turn into mush. 

As always, enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin Curry is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Everyday Paleo and College Life

6 am wake up, go to school, study, do homework, group meetings, research papers, workout and cook paleo?! And I have a college student budget?! AHHH someone wake me up from this nightmare!!!!

College living is hard enough as it is, throw in paleo and you have a lot to juggle. I can’t tell you how many times I wished I could push the magic button and Rosie the Robot would show up and make me dinner. Considering we haven’t caught up with the Jetson’s, I guess I will have to make due with what is in my refrigerator and cabinets. Tonight it happened to be bratwursts, a white onion and a red bell pepper. Throw it all together and what do you get:

College Budget Bratwursts!

4 Bratwursts

1 white onion

1 red bell pepper

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard (or to taste)

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 whole bay leaves

2 cloves minced garlic

½ tablespoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Slice up the onion and bell pepper and sauté over medium heat in the coconut oil along with the bay leaves, minced garlic, dried basil, ground ginger, and salt& pepper until the onion is translucent. Add bratwursts and cook for another 5 minutes. In a bowl mix balsamic and spicy brown mustard and whisk together. Pour over the brats and veggies mix and cook for another 10 minute.

Serving size: 1 brat and lots of veggies on top.

Fed: three college roommates with leftover’s (one brat and veggies)

Total cost of meal: $11/ 2.75 a person

Everyday Paleo and College Life – by Erika Schuler is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

As parents living a paleo lifestyle, Halloween can be much more frightening than the expected glowing skeletons, howling ghosts, and silly monsters.  Halloween is scary because of the mountains of high fructose corn syrup and unidentifiable ingredient laden CANDY!!!  Around this time every year my inbox fills up with questions regarding what to do about Trick or Treating, kids, and the typical sugar battles that go along with Halloween.

First, I’ll share with you how we have celebrated Halloween during our paleo years and I’ll also include some new tips and resources that I’m sure will prove useful as you plan for what should be a day filled with fun and fantasy, not tantrums and tummy aches.

The Fragoso Plan:  We do the typical pumpkin carving, dressing up, and trick or treating, but with a twist!  In the days leading up to Halloween, we make a traditional trip to our local pumpkin patch with the emphasis on having fun together as a family.  We pull each other in the wagons, jump in the bounce house, feed the animals, race through the hay bales, and of course wander through the pumpkins and pick out our favorites.

Instead of baking halloween cookies and filling up on candy, we make popcorn balls and roasted pumpkin seeds with the boys, prior to heading out to tour our neighborhood.  My mom started the pumpkin seed and popcorn ball tradition when we were kids; you see, she was not a candy fanatic either and we lived so far out in the country, trick or treating was not even an option, so every year we would look forward to making the gooey treats.

I know that popcorn, and most definitely popcorn balls do not necessarilly fall into the list of what folks consider to be “paleo” but on Halloween and as an alternative to the hoards of garbage that is typically consumed, a popcorn ball made with love, honey, and molasess is a lesser evil in my opinion and a fun way to continue my childhood tradition with my own kids.  Here is the recipe that we use:

Popcorn Balls

1/3 cup light molasses

 1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon grass fed butter (we use Kerrygold)

1) In a saucepan combine the honey, molasses and water and cook slowly over medium low heat, stirring constantly until the temp on your candy thermometer reaches 250.

2) Add the butter and stir in until melted.

3) Have the popped popcorn ready in a large bowl and evenly pour the syrup over the popcorn and mix well with a spoon.

4) Once the syrup has cooled, grease your hands (and the kids hands) with more butter and form the sticky popcorn into balls!!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Remove the seeds from your carved pumpkin, wash off all the goo and dry with paper towels

Sea salt to taste

1) Preheat your oven to 350.

2) Spread the seeds evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.

3) Bake for about 5 minutes, or just until the seeds start to turn toasty.  Watch them carefully, they will burn quickly!!

For trick or treating, my kids almost, just almost like to hand stuff out just as much as they like to go trick or treating.  We will hand out pencils, erasers, bracelets, or other fun little toys all found at the Dollar store.  Yup, we are that family who does not had out candy but we haven’t yet had our house egged or kids run off crying.  In fact the response is typically, “Cool!!” or “Thank You!!”

When we go trick or treating we simply have a 2 piece of candy rule.  Maybe that sounds cruel but after popcorn balls, dressing up, carving pumpkins, and handing out treats, the kids simply know the routine at this point and are not all that excited about the candy that is so foreign to them anyway.  The rest either goes in the garbage or is donated the next day at Jaden’s school in exchange for a book.

This year I am considering changing up our typical routine just slightly by using an idea from Peggy of Primal Parent.   Peggy contributed an outstanding article to the latest issue of Paleo Magazine which was dedicated to ideas for paleo parents to make Halloween fun and survivable.  For her little one, Peggy purchases candy that is more acceptable such as organic dark chocolates, crsytallized ginger, small packages of nuts and dried fruits, honey sticks, and other more natural treats.  After an evening of trick or treating she will either simply dump the bad stuff in the trash and make a switch to the better stuff (which would probably go totally unnoticed by tiny tots) or for older kids, her idea is to set up shop and have your child trade the bad stuff for the good stuff.  For example, it will cost your child 5 pieces of junk candy for 2 pieces of dark chocolate.  Turn it into a fun game of “store” and say goodbye to the tummy aches!  I think I’ll try this plan with my Rowan and Jaden this year, they both love to play fantasy games and a Halloween game of store and trading and bartering might be extremely fun and a new twist to our old routine.

Coby, my oldest son, simply tossed his candy last year except for a piece or two and this year at the ripe old age of 16 he plans to hang out with his buddy and they will help us take the little guys out around the neighborhood.   Coby is also working on a blog post to share with a teenagers perspective on living paleo so stay tuned for that special article coming soon!

I hope this post helps to make what should be a fun filled holiday a little bit more stress free and enjoyable.

As always, enjoy!

Surviving Halloween! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

If you are searching for an easy and tasty dessert; look no further!  While Sarah was away last week I wanted to fix a special treat for the boys and so I came up with Grilled Bananas!  The grill is my domain, it’s where I feel the most comfortable cooking and I realized I could easily incorporate my favorite cooking tool into a “dad’s dessert station.”

In the Paleo world many folks are stumped as to what they can make for dessert without the introduction of sugars or artificial sweeteners. The reality is; fruit provides enough natural sweetness and there is no need to look any further.  This particular recipe is about as easy as it comes and is definitely kid approved.  You need about 15 minutes of your time and a whole 2 ingredients (banana’s and cinammon), well one other important tool is needed, the grill!

I hope you all enjoy this easy yet satisfying recipe.

note:  You could take this a step further and whip up some heavy cream and finely chop some walnuts or almonds to create a Banana split of sorts.

Grilled Bananas

2 bananas, quartered LEAVE PEELS ON

Cinnamon

Coconut oil (if desired)

Brush the open side of the banana with coconut oil if desired then sprinkle on cinnamon to taste.  Grill open side down (peel up) for 2-4 minutes, flip and grill peel down for another 2-4 minutes or until the peel starts to separate from the fruit.  Remove from the grill and serve.  It’s fun to eat it right out of the peel.

Enjoy!

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Grilled Bananas – Posted by John! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

First, I must say that it’s wonderful to be home and I am so proud of my little family for doing such an amazing job of keeping the blog and my Facebook page up and running in my absence!  Now on to some food – Summer Squash Soup!!

Jaden’s response to this dish, “It’s way better than it looks; it’s actually delicious!” Almost 4 year old Rowan’s comment was, “This soup is yummy!”  The teenager Coby’s thoughts, “Really good mom!” I have to agree with Jaden, this soup is deceivingly tasty despite it’s crazy green hue.  It’s now officially my new favorite soup at the moment and next time I’ll add some shredded chicken on top to make it a meal all on it’s own!

My inspiration for this summer squash soup was brought on by the abundance of summer squash we have been receiving from our CSA and I needed a new way to eat up our end of summer bounty.

Here is the recipe!

Summer Squash Soup

3 large zucchinis or other summer squash, cut into large chunks

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 medium sized leeks, diced

3 tablespoons grass fed butter or clarified butter (or another cooking oil of your choice)

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1. In a pressure cooker add the zucchini and chicken broth and bring up to pressure.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and immediately run the pressure cooker and cold water until the pressure is realeased.  If you do not have a pressure cooker, simply boil the zucchini in the chicken broth in a covered pot until the zucchini is soft.

2. While the zucchini is cooking, melt the butter in a soup pot and start sauteing the diced leeks.  Once the leeks are soft, add the garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the cooked zucchini and the cooking liquid into a food processor.  Add about half the garlic and leek mixture to the food processor as well and blend until totally smooth.

4. Add the blended soup back to the remaining leek and garlic mixture in the soup pot and bring to a simmer.

5. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste and serve (I even added another couple tablespoons of grass fed butter at the end as well for some extra flavor and fat)!

As always, enjoy!

Summer Squash Soup is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I was laughing when I posted Jason’s last article The Whole Enchilada because I KNEW that there were going to be some folks who thought – AWESOME – a paleo enchilada recipe; only to find out that alas, no food in this post but some very powerful words of wisdom from Jason instead.  Just as important, but not quite as tasty.  I thought I would make it up to all of you by posting an actual enchilada recipe straight from my book, Everyday Paleo.

This is a seafood enchilada recipe that has no tortilla substitute, but the sauce is homemade and out of this world.  You can try this recipe as is or get even more creative and purchase these new coconut wraps recently featured in an issue of Paleo Magazine. You can also make your own coconut tortillas, or just do as we did and smother some seafood, chicken, beef, or whatever other protein source you might enjoy with the homemade sauce and devour!!

Seafood “Enchiladas”

1 medium onion, minced

2 tablespoons coconut oil or grass fed butter or ghee

2 cups tomato puree (make your own using 4 large tomatoes pureed in a food processor)

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 pound seafood of choice such as wild caught cod, shrimp, or crab (or other protein like shredded chicken or ground beef)

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Saute the onions in the coconut oil or butter until limp.

3. Add the tomato puree, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt.  Mix well and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

4. Pour the sauce into a food processor and process until smooth.

5. Cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with the seafood.  Pour the enchilada sauce over the seafood, cover tightly with aluminum foil and back for 10-12 minutes or until the seafood is cooked.

6. Serve with sliced avocados, lime wedges, and cilantro.

*If using the coconut wraps, cook your meat prior to filling the wraps, stuff the wraps, roll, place in a baking dish, cover with the sauce and heat in  the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until warmed through and the sauce is bubbling.  

Enjoy!!

Ok, Fine – A REAL Enchilada Recipe!! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Bacon wrapped figs you ask?  Yes.  Bacon wrapped figs.  I know it sounds weird, looks crazy, and yet; I promise they taste like something wrapped in bacon should taste – which is delicious.  I picked up some beautiful organic black figs (which happen to be in season right now) from Trader Joes the other day and with the help of little Row Row we went to work!  

You’ll need:

Figs and Bacon

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350.

  Step 2: Cut each bacon strip in half.

  Step 3: Wrap a piece of the cut bacon around each fig and place seam down on a baking sheet.

   Step 4: Bake in your pre-heated oven for approximately 40  minutes or until the bacon is crisp.  Make sure you baste the figs half way through the cooking time with the bacon grease.

Let them cool for a few minutes before you chow down because the inside of each little fig treasure will be like searing hot molten lava. Not fun.

Next time I make these I’ll drizzle them with a little bit of balsamic reduction.  Directions for how to make a balsamic reduction can be found here under the Prosciutto Wrapped Pear recipe.…

Enjoy!!

Bacon Wrapped Figs is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

First of all, I must extend enormous amounts of gratitude towards Jason, Katie, and Dean who have been submitting excellent articles for Everyday Paleo in order to keep this boat afloat! Also a HUGE thank you to Dain who is back in action and helping to run things. It’s important to note that without Dain, there simply would not even be a boat – so thank you Dain, thank you, thank you, thank you….

With that being said, I obviously have not been blogging as much as I normally do because I have been hard at work on my next project.  I am dying to tell you all about that next project, but I can’t yet; but I will soon, so stay tuned.

I did however put the project aside and took a few minutes yesterday afternoon to put together a new recipe to share with you all here on the blog and let me tell you, this meal was good; I mean REALLY good.  So good in fact that it made Rowan dance.

Mango Chicken Salad with Chipotle Mayo

4-5 bacon strips, diced

½ cup red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeno, seeds removed and finely diced

3 cups already cooked chicken, diced (I used leftover grilled chicken breasts)

1 cup mango, diced

1/2 cup homemade paleo mayo - mix in chipotle powder to taste (this stuff is spicy so start with a small amount and work your way up from there)

Shredded romaine lettuce leaves

Sliced almonds as a garnish

1) In a medium sized skillet cook the bacon until almost crisp.

2) Add the diced red pepper and diced jalapeno and cook until the peppers are soft and the bacon is completely crisped.

 3) Add the chicken and cook until warmed through (if you are using raw chicken, cook until the chicken is not longer pink in the middle)

4) Add the diced mango and cook until warmed through, about another 2 minutes.

5) Serve each plate with a pile of romaine, a scoop of the chicken mixture, and a drizzle of the chipotle mayo. Top with sliced almonds if desired. This served 2 adults and 1 hungry almost 4 year old so if I were making this for our entire family of 5 for dinner I would double it and so should you!!

Enjoy!!

Mango Chicken Salad with Chipotle Mayo and a teaser… is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

There’s nothing quite like fresh wild caught Alaska salmon; but how the heck is a California girl supposed to get her hands on such a find? Fortunately, we are lucky enough to know an amazing family who lives right here in Chico who happen to run a small Alaskan based fishing company.  This father and sons team seasonally travel to Alaska to catch salmon and have it sent back to Chico, CA.  The process in which they catch, process, and freeze the fish is amazing and produces the freshest tasting salmon I have EVER eaten.

If you live here in Chico, you can find Lance Alldrin and his family at the Saturday morning market selling their amazing fish.  You can also visit the Alldrin’s website for more information about the possibility of having salmon shipped right to your home. 

Below is a bio written by Lance Alldrin about his business.  Following the bio is a recipe I came up with showcasing some of their amazing salmon!  You can also look forward to a few more salmon recipes showing up on the blog later this week thanks to the Alldrin family!

Alldrin & Sons Alaska Salmon

Products: Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon in frozen, vacuum bagged fillets and portions, smoked salmon, cedar BBQing planks.

History/Philosophy: Our family bought into the commercial salmon fishery in Alaska in 2005. We choose to participate in this fishery because of our belief that our natural resources need to be maintained at healthy levels before “mankind” gets a chance to influence them adversely. All commercially caught seafood in Alaska is certified as “sustainable” by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This certification is based on the state of Alaska’s constitutional mandate that stipulates that all fish “be utilized, developed and maintained on the sustained yield principle.” In all areas of Alaska that allow commercial fishing, the commercial catch is allowed only when the biological escapement goal for each specific river system is reached.

During the school year I act as a school counselor at an alternative education high school in Corning CA. During the summer months, my three teenage boys and myself run a small fishing operation out of Kenai Alaska. All of our fish are handled responsibly with the catch immediately going into slush ice totes where they are kept at near freezing temperatures until being processed by a certified processing plant later that day. They are cut into either fillets or portions, vacuum bagged, flash frozen and shipped to our storage in Chico CA. For a fresher fish, you’d have to catch it yourself! We currently sell at the Chico Certified Farmers Market and beginning this fall, at the Ferry Plaza.

Employees: Alldrin and Sons! Lance, Caleb (age 18 with 7 seasons in Alaska), Tim (age 14 who just completed his second season fishing) and Luke (age 13, who just competed his second season fishing). Wife Mary helps at the market, keeps the finances in order and prefers her fish interaction to be limited to a fillet on the BBQ!

Organic Certification: None as there is no certification for Alaska fisheries.

Now – a recipe!

Butter Poached Salmon with Warm Tomato Relish

Tomato Relish

1 small red onion, sliced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced

3 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons grass fed butter

Fresh ground pepper to taste

In a small saute pan melt the butter over medium heat, add the onions and cook until the onions begin to caramelize.  Add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside.  The relish is enough for at least 5 filets.

Salmon

(This is how to cook one filet, obviously if you are cooking more than 1, you will use 2 tablespoons of butter per filet)

1 salmon filet, skin on

2 tablespoons of butter per filet

Sea salt and black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Generously season both sides of the filets with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a small oven proof saute pan until the butter is hot enough to sizzle when you place the fish in the pan.  Place the fish in the hot butter, skin side down.  Let it cook for about 3 minutes.  Start basting the salmon with the melted butter (I just used a spoon to pour the melted butter repeatedly over the salmon.)  Continue to bast the salmon for approximately 4 minutes.  Finish the salmon in the preheated oven for another 6-8 minutes, dependent on the thickness of desired doneness of your fish.

Top the salmon with a big scoop of the tomato relish and enjoy!

salmon:

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

Alldrin & Sons Alaska Salmon is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Peaches are at the peak of their season right now in Chico, CA and a week ago we came home with a big bag of very ripe peaches and nectarines from our farmer’s market.  John was grilling up some chicken and decided to throw on the peaches and nectarines for a simple, and by all means; out of this world delicious dessert.

Here is what he did:

1) Slice peaches or nectarines in half and remove the pit.

2) Sprinkle each cut side with either cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

3) Grill over medium heat with cut side down for approximately 3-5 minutes.

4) Serve with a scoop of whipped coconut cream on top.  (Scoop the cream out of the top of a can of chilled coconut milk – add about a teaspoon of vanilla extract and whip together with a hand held mixer)

5) Add a sprinkle of sliced almonds if desired.

Enjoy!

Grill Those Peaches While You Can! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

I recently posted on my Facebook page a quick recap of the recipe we created at home which was similar to what most folks recognize as a Lara Bar.  The Lara Bar is a bar made primarily of dried fruit, dates and nuts.  My kids love these bars and I will continue to purchase them now and then but making my own has proven to be extremely cost effective, fun, and incredibly easy. Even better – we can make unique creations and experiment with different flavor options!

Here are three different types of bars we made this week.  These bars have been super handy to toss into lunch boxes or to grab for a quick snack in the car or after school.  I hope you enjoy and post to comments some of the creations or ideas you and your family come up with!

Apricot Bars

½ cup raw almonds

1 cup raw pecans

¼ teaspoon sea salt

12 Medjool dates

1 cup dried apricots (unsweetened)

Spice Bars

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup roasted cashews

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

20 Medjool dates

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Coconut-Cherry Bars

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup raw pecans

12 Medjool dates

1 cup dried cherries (unsweetened)

2 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 cup finely shredded coconut flakes (unsweetened)

¼ teaspoon salt

The directions are the same for the first two recipes with only a couple minor differences for the coconut cherry bars.  For whichever bar you decided to make, follow these steps:

1) In a food processor, pulse only the nuts and the sea salt until finely chopped but still chunky. Some will be ground up almost like almond meal but they will not all be consistent, and that’s totally ok.

2)Pour your nuts into a mixing bowl.

3)Add the dried dates and other dried fruit to the food processor and process until it makes a paste (it will probably turn into a giant sticky ball when it’s done).

4) For the last recipe, add the coconut oil to the dates and cherries and process the three items together.

5) Add the date mixture to the nuts and use your hands to kneed the nuts and the dates together until well mixed (this is messy but fun).  For the last recipe, pour the coconut flakes into the bowl with the nuts and then add the date mixture and kneed away.

6) Grease a baking sheet with either grass fed butter or coconut oil.

7) Make a big ball out of your bar mixture and push it down onto your greased baking sheet.  Cover the ball with some plastic wrap and using a rolling pin (or a bottle of wine if you don’t own a rolling pin), roll out the mixture to your desired thickness. I like mine about 1/2 an inch thick or a little less.

Cut the rolled out mixture into the desired shape and amount that you would like.  I did not make mine as big as the store bought Lara Bars because they are often too big for my kids and making them into small approximately 2 inch squares seems to be perfect for us!

Each recipe makes about 15 bars and I figured it cost approximately .50 cents per bar, so that’s about 45 bars for $22!  I purchased the dates and nuts from Trader Joes and the dried cherries and apricots from my local health food store.

Enjoy!

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Everyday Paleo Fruit N’ Nut Bars is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License