First, when you have a chance, check out my guest blog post that I wrote for the amazing Melissa who runs The Clothes Make the Girl.

This meal felt like spring and reminded me that despite the rain here in Northern CA, warm weather and Easter bunnies are right around the corner.  I will definitely make these for brunch on Easter Sunday and probably a few more times in between now and then.  All three of my boys loved these yummy little baked eggs and Jaden was super excited about the possibilities of making them “a million different ways mom!!”

Baked Eggs

5 ramekins

5 eggs

5 bacon strips

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 sweet potato, grated

4 green onions, diced

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350.  Start cooking your bacon!  While the bacon is cooking, heat the coconut oil in another pan and add the grated sweet potato. Saute the potato for about 2 minutes.  Add the green onion and cook for another minute or two.  Add the spinach and cook until the spinach is just wilted.  Add the paprika, sea salt and pepper to the vegetables, mix well, and divide the mixture evenly into the bottom of your 5 ramekins.  Carefully crack one egg on top of the veggie mixture into each ramekin.  Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.  While the eggs are cooking, crumble up your cooked bacon.  After the 15 minutes in the oven, sprinkle each egg evenly with the crumbled bacon and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the eggs whites are set but the egg is still a little bit “jiggly” so that the yolks are not quite cooked all the way through.  Scoop the eggs carefully out of the ramekins and serve in bowls.  Be creative with your ingredients, like Jaden said – these can be “made a million ways!” Serves 5 but most people will want 2 so double the recipe if you want to!

Enjoy!

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

The boys and I made this fast meal on  Monday night and it was delicious and easy enough that the evening did not feel as much like hectic Monday’s often can….

Oh, and check out Rowan chowing on spaghetti squash – it was like some sort of spaghetti squash nirvana!!

Now for the recipe!

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in half (I used the organic free range chicken breast tenders from Trader Joe’s)

8.5oz jar of julliane cut sun dried tomatoes

8 garlic cloves, sliced thin

2 tablespoons dried basil

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Place the chicken breasts in a large glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with the dry spices and mix well.  Sprinkle the sliced garlic on top and spread the sun dried tomatoes and the olive oil that it’s in the jar over the entire dish.  Seal tightly with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

I also made Brussels sprouts cooked with diced bacon and a spaghetti squash cooked in the pressure cooker and tossed with some grass fed butter.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

12oz of bacon, diced

1/2 lb Brussels Sprouts

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

Back pepper to taste

Dice the raw bacon and cook in large skillet until crispy.  While the bacon cooks, wash the sprouts, cut off the ends, and quarter.  Once the bacon is crispy, add the sprouts to the bacon and cook for 7-10 minutes or until the sprouts are tender.  Season with the dill and pepper and serve.

Enjoy!!

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Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Fun-Burger!!

Last night’s dinner, if anything, was pure fun.  The boys did most of the work as I supervised and the mess was nothing short of epic!  I should have taken a picture of the “aftermath” but as I stated on my Facebook page last night, life’s too short to do anything but embrace the craziness!  I wouldn’t call this post a recipe but more of an idea of how to get the kids involved and an example that the typical Monday night paleo burger can be just about anything but boring!  What can your family come up with?

Fun-Burgers!

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

Sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste

5 eggs, fried

10 bacon strips

4 sweet potatoes, grated

1 pound of broccoli florets

Coconut flour drop biscuits

Lettuce mix, sliced dill pickles and tomato slices

Mix the ground beef and spices together and form into hamburger patties and set aside. Fry the bacon, remove from the pan and set aside.  Shred the sweet potatoes in a food processor or with a cheese grater.  Fry the grated sweet potatoes in some of the bacon grease.  While the sweet potatoes are cooking, pan fry your burgers, about 4 minutes per side.  Remove the burgers from the pan, set aside and fry the eggs in some grass fed butter or coconut oil.  Of course you should have several children helping with all stages of the process and somehow in the middle of the above madness, mix up and bake some of the coconut flour drop biscuits and throw the broccoli on a cookie sheet, drizzle with coconut oil and bake at 400 with the biscuits for about the same amount of time.

My kids stacked up their Fun-burgers like towers and dove in! Little Rowan wanted his burger deconstructed and ate all of his burger parts separately.  The point is, good food never has to be boring and getting the kiddos involved, although sometimes hectic and messy is well worth the extra few minutes spent cleaning up and the memories of being together and having fun will last a lifetime.

Enjoy!!

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

Dinner time at my house tends to be the most chaotic time of the day.  My husband is often home well after dinner time and I’m usually alone with the boys trying to juggle hungry kids, homework, and dinner.  Sometimes I lose my mind but usually I remember my little trick that gives me some perspective and helps me keep my sanity. I always have my laptop on the kitchen counter so that I can type down notes as I create recipes. Jaden is usually in charge of music selection on the computer and he’ll help me type the ingredients I’m using.  Rowan is typically on the counter making a mess and helping best he can.

My Helpers!

Sometimes all is well but sometimes the kids start fighting, stuff starts flying, and I simply want to scream.  This is when we turn to “The Kitchen Get Down!” To change the mood I’ll crank up the music and start dancing and singing like a crazy lady!  Soon the kids are joining in and laughing, break dancing, and having fun and before I know it – dinner’s done and life goes on without any major injuries, drama, or damage done…  So, next time you want to rip your hair out as your little ones are wrecking havoc during dinner prep – try the “Kitchen Get Down” and turn total madness into fun!!

Dancing in the Kitchen!

Now let’s eat!! I found these cool little frozen pearl onions at Trader Joe’s and the first thing I thought was “Oh yes, Coq Au Vin!”  For those of you not familiar with the dish, Coq Au Vin is a classic French comfort food and has appeared in almost all of Julia Child’s cookbooks. I set out last night to make an Everyday Paleo version and I’m sure that my rendition is nothing compared to dear Julia’s being that the sauce I made turned out to be more like a stew; but it was absolutely delicious enough to blog about!

A Coq Au Vin of Sorts

12 oz bacon, diced

1 lb pearl onions

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced

2 lbs chicken breast, cut in half lengthwise

2 tablespoons grass fed butter, (sub olive oil if you don’t want to use butter)

½ cup red wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp poultry seasoning

In your pressure cooker brown the diced bacon.  Add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic and saute for 4-5 minutes.  Remove the bacon mixture from the pressure cooker, leaving some of the grease.  Over medium high heat, sear the chicken breasts for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown but not cooked through!  Remove the chicken and set aside. To make your sauce,  add the butter or olive oil to the pressure cooker along with the wine.  Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk together.  Add the chicken broth, bay leaf, poultry seasoning and black pepper and simmer together for another 3-5 minutes.  Pour back into the sauce the bacon mixture and mix well.  Add the chicken back to the pressure cooker, covering as best you can with the sauce.  Lock the lid on the pressure cooker, bring to pressure over medium high heat, turn down to medium low and cook for 6 minutes.  Release the pressure and serve in bowls like a stew! We served ours with some roasted brussel sprouts and it was incredibly yummy.  If you do not have a pressure cooker, follow the above directions exactly but using a soup pot or large saute pan instead.  Cover and cook for 12-15 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breasts.

Enjoy!

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A Coq Au Vin of sorts and “The Kitchen Get Down” is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Here’s a fast, easy and delicious side dish to try with your dinner tonight!

Skillet Butternut Squash and Greens

1 lb bacon, diced

1 medium sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 bunch chard, diced

1 zucchini, diced

Drizzle of olive oil

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Using a potato peeler, peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place in a large pan and cover with water.  Boil for 5-7 minutes or until the squash is tender but not mushy.  While the squash is boiling, cook the diced bacon in a large skillet until browned.  Drain the butternut squash and add to the cooked diced bacon along with the chard and zucchini.  Saute for another couple of minutes until the chard is wilted.  Drizzle with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and serve.

Enjoy!!

Skillet Butternut Squash and Greens is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

On to snacks.  Kids like to dip things so always keep on hand almond butter and mayonnaise.  As you can see, Rowan really enjoys his almond butter.  You can find pretty good mayo at natural foods stores that have no sugar and are made with pretty much just oil and eggs.  If you add curry powder, dill, garlic powder, or whatever spice combo you prefer to some mayo, it will make a tasty dip for veggies.  I like to stock up on bags of already sliced apples and already sliced carrots and celery for easy and fast snacks for my boys. Sliced deli meat is a must to have on hand for hungry little ones and now almost all grocery stores carry decent deli meats without a ton of preservatives and fillers. 

One last tip, never leave home without food.  I always have snacks in my car because kids are always hungry and with good options available, fast food is NOT an option. 

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Easy bacon and kid friendly snackin’ is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Don’t be afraid – it’s only a fish taco! is a post from Everyday Paleo - licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

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