Day 28 - Perfect Paleo Breakfast

Like all good things, practice makes perfect.  We discovered a recipe similar to this one, early on in our paleo challenge. Over the last 28 days, we've evolved the recipe into what we think is far better than the original.  It's sweet, easy to make, and just the right amount of 'heavy' to keep you full until lunch.

What you need - 2 servings:

• 12 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 4 tbsp almond hazlenut fruit & nut butter
• 2-3 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tsp zen matcha premium chocolate
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• sliced fresh fruit to top

Directions: 

• mix all ingredients in small pot 
• turn stove-top on to medium heat
• stir continuously for 5-10 minutes, until it starts to bubble
• serve in your favourite cup/bowl with fresh fruit

For the longest time, we didn't know what to call this dish.  It has the consistency of oatmeal, looks like porridge, but tastes like a rich dessert.  You can call it what you want, but to us, it's simply the perfect paleo breakfast. 

Day 17 - Super Size Breakfast

Everyone already knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For those new to Paleo, it can also be one of the hardest, as nobody loves to eat meat + veggies first thing the morning. Our simple solution, you don't have to! 

On the menu:

• Fresh fruit smoothie w/ 1 banana, 1 avocado, 1/2 pear, blueberries, coconut meat, splash of blackcurrant juice & cinnamon
• Paleo Crepes w/ fresh fruit + agave (1/2 cup almond flour, 5 eggs, salt - blended + cooked in coconut oil) 
• Paleo blueberry banana muffin
• Paleo oatmeal (4 tbps almond butter, 12 tbps unsweetened apple sauce, 2tbps coconut milk, cinnamon)
• Green tea
• 4g Omega-3 + 2,000 IU of Vitamin D-3

We tried our best to eat all this in one serving, and to be honest, it's nearly impossible. So if you're like us, space this out and you'll have enough energy to get you through any morning. 

Day 16 - Blueberry-Banana Paleo Muffins

As the saying goes, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' So when we decided to switch up our muffins from the original, delicious pumpkin muffins we made, we braced ourselves for something that most are afraid of: change. Ok, I might be exaggerating. In fact, the adrenaline was pumping when we knew we'd be enjoying some banana-blueberry goodness every morning this week. I've dubbed these 'bluenana' muffins. It just rolls off the tongue, ok?

If you'd like to follow our lead and be wildly adventurous, try this out!

Ingredients
3 cups almond meal or almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
4  eggs
2 cups (roughly five or six) mashed ripe bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

UPDATE: Recommendations for a slight variation

• sub blueberries with cranberries
• add 1 tbsp of coconut flour for slightly larger muffins
• sprinkle cinnamon in the batter for more aromatic muffins
• add 2 tbsp of sliced almonds or walnuts for crunchier muffins

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tray with coconut oil
2. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, and baking soda
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted, cooled coconut oil
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined
5. Stir the bananas into the batter - mix well
6. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe was slightly easier than the pumpkin muffins, and tasted much sweeter because of the bananas and blueberries. I can honestly say that I dream about these at night, and am delighted when I wake up and get to eat one. Let's face it - who doesn't like a dream come true?

Day 11 - Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

As we near the end of week two on this wondrous and beneficial challenge, we've learned that a full stomach is a happy stomach. We've also learned that there's a limit to the amount of almonds one can snack on. Enter the paleo pumpkin muffin, our morning saviour and belly-pleaser. This hearty, almond-flour-based muffin is the perfect thing to kick start your day, or tide you over when you hit that 3 o'clock wall.

1/4 cup coconut oil
6 eggs
1 inch ginger root, peeled and grated finely
3 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups almond flour
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 to 1/3 cup honey
Coconut oil for oiling muffin pan

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a food processor or stand mixer, combine coconut oil, eggs, ginger, coconut flour and salt. Blend well, making sure the coconut flour is well mixed in.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Grease muffin pan with coconut oil. Fill nearly full with batter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Et voila! Savour all that this delicious, crumbly muffin has to offer with your morning coffee or as an afternoon appeaser. And, if you add a pinch of nutmeg to the mix, and throw a decorative pecan atop the muffin before it goes in the oven, you basically have a handheld Thanksgiving fest. Just the best.

Day 6 - Power Breakfast

Nobody loves Monday's but I had a feeling that today would be different.  With our alarm turned off, I walked into the kitchen and was greeted by an incredible west coast sunrise and knew instantly, today was going to be a good day. 

On today's menu:

• Fresh fruit smoothie w/ 1 banana, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 pear, blueberries, coconut meat, splash of blackcurrant juice & cinnamon
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• Paleo pumpkin muffin 
• Paleo oatmeal (almond butter, unsweetened apple sauce, coconut milk, cinnamon)
• Green tea
• More fresh fruit

Both satisfied and stuffed, it was time to go to work. It's only Day 6 and I'm already feeling more energized and ready to take on anything, even Monday's. 

Day 1 - Breakfast

It all started with an alarm, 8 hours of sleep now behind us, it was time for our first Paleo meal of the challenge.

Fresh smoothie w/ 1 banana, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 pear, blueberries, splash of blackcurrant juice, & cinnamon

Almonds

1/2 avocado 

Strawberries

2 scrambled eggs w/ jalapenos 

Lemongrass green tea

Omega3 & Vitamin D-3 supplements

After some hurried bites and a little CBC news, it only took 20 minutes to realize my plate was empty and my stomach full.  Breakfast 1/30, easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.