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?

Week 3 - Meal Plan

Somehow we're already entering our third week on this challenge.  We learned week one, that going hungry sucks - a lot.  The following week, we learned how to properly feed ourselves - thankfully. And this week, we're hoping to have the best tasting meals yet.

Here's the meal plan:

Breakfast

Banana Blueberry muffins (everyday)
Pretend Porridge (everyday)
Fresh fruit smoothies (everyday)
Eggs (1 egg x 2 days)
Crepes (3 days)

Lunch 

Chicken Salad
Pear + Butternut Squash Soup

Snacks

Almonds
Cashews
Apple
Grapefruit
Clementine

Dinner

Green Zeus Bowl
Asian Pork Tenderloin w/ broccolini & sweet potato
Salmon w/ cauliflower & green beans
Veal Marsala

Our groceries didn't break the bank and although Sunday night was filled with a lot of food prep,  we're finally entering an 'auto-pilot' state on this diet.  With food in the fridge and money in our pockets, we're feeling confident that this week will be our best yet.

Day 11 - Salad on a Stick

It was Friday night and as always, we were strapped for time. Our friend's dinner party started in an hour and we needed something quick, fresh, bite-sized and full of Paleo nutrition to bring over.  As were getting ready to go, Pat comes up with this genius idea for a dish, 'Salad on a Stick'.

1 cucumber

Fresh cherry tomatoes

Fresh basil

3 chicken breasts, baked in 5-spice + tamari

Tahini Sauce, blended (garlic, parsley, lemon juice, tahini)

Once everything was chopped and ready, Pat skewered the salad and I went to work on the homemade tahini sauce. We packaged everything up and were on our way in record time.

Salad on a Stick was a hit and our friends prepared amazing courses that included Cornish hen, mashed cauliflower, salad and a paleo-friendly apple crumble. We couldn't leave without party favours, and this super cute gift came courtesy of fellow food blogger Kate and Nathan. Full to the brim on guilt free foods and good wine, I can't think of a better way to start the weekend with amazing friends.

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 7 - Green Zeus Bowl

I love nothing more than when a random weeknight turns into something special.  The surprise of flowers, candles and a freshly prepared Green Zeus bowl can transform a typical Monday night into something extraordinary.

3 chicken breasts
2 Broccoli heads
1 Swiss Chard
1 large Bok Choy
1 Spaghetti Squash
Tahini Sauce (garlic, parsley, lemon juice, tahini)
Simple Sauce (tamari, sesame oil, ginger, lemon juice)

Warning: preparation for this dish isn't lengthy but it involves a lot of cleaning, steaming and multi-tasking.  I promise you the result is worth it and this vegetable packed dinner will be the perfect start to a new week and even possibly, a new you.

Guest Blogger: Meet Elizabeth (and her soon to be abs)

Dear abs,

I f&*%ed up. We had something pretty great and I acted like a selfish jerk. Life got busy and difficult and I took you for granted. I was weak and let my vulnerability get the best of me. I threw away everything we had for some wild fun with poutine, beaver tails and those other trashy pub food that were just so charming and exciting at the time. I miss what we had and was foolishly tempted by those bastards and now all of my memories of you are buried under layers of… well… fat. 

I’m sorry. I know I’ve said that before, but this time I mean it. I am going to change. We’ll see each other again soon. I promise.

Elizabeth

Hello friends of Dave and Pat. Who am I? My name is Elizabeth and Dave and I are friends from work. There was a time when every time Dave and I would talk, I would have some scandalous tale to share. A time when life was super exciting and I had the time and energy to get into buzz-worthy trouble.

Unfortunately, in the past few months, the story-well has run dry. I moved across the country, got a dog, continued to tackle an MBA in my spare time, and started a new and fairly demanding job. All of these things are fantastic. However, they’ve left me feeling tired, stressed, and just kind of grodie (that’s totally a word). It also doesn’t help that I’m an awful cook and extremely lazy in the kitchen. Cue take-out food.

Recently I was starting to feel like something needed to be done to stop this madness. I know what good feels like and this ain’t it. Not even close. Sure I could use to shed some of these pub-pounds and it wouldn’t hurt me to find more time in the day to exercise. But this need for change was more about doing a better job of fuelling my body so that I can take on all the hectic things on my plate and still have energy left for tomfoolery.

What happened next was totally serendipitous; I saw Dave’s first blog post about his paleo challenge. I had actually just been researching the paleo way but seeing a friend commit to it really motivated me to want to get my ass in gear. So, in true tag-along form, I decided to also embark on a 30 day paleo challenge as well. I mean, with Dave and Pat making it look so damn easy and delicious, how could I not?

So here I am on day 5 and so far so good. While my ‘cooking’ is limited to chopping, boiling, and stirring in a combination that cannot contain more than three steps, I’m actually having fun. My goals for the next 25 (and probably more) days are as follows:

• Continue the paleo lifestyle
• Play outside of my culinary comfort zone and see what I can actually create in the kitchen (with the help of Dave and Pat’s recipes!)
• Be patient while remember that this is a wellness journey and not a fad diet

And, if at the end of this, I am reunited with my beloved abs… well that will be the cherry on the top of my sugar-free, dairy-free sundae. 

Thanks for the inspiration, boys!

Day 5 - Paleo 'n' Pigskins

Every year, without fail, we gather with good friends to witness the final chapter in yet another NFL season. And every year, without fail, I seem to be much more interested in the food at the Super Bowl party than the actual game. This year was no different, save for the fact that we had to be paleo-conscious while we gorged. And we quickly learned that this would be no problem at all.

First 'down'

An assortment of veggies - red peppers, cucumbers, carrots - to dip into homemade guacamole and pico de gallo. So fresh, so filling.

Pico de Gallo:
3 large tomatoes, diced
2 red or white onion, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup packed cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Simply place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix. It's best to hold off on the lime juice and salt till the very end, and add these to taste.

Guacamole:
1 cup of previously made pico de gallo
4 large avocados
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
Salt to taste

Start by scooping the avocado, in chunks, into a large bowl. With a spoon, gently mash the avocados, while keeping them somewhat chunky. Add the pico de gallo, garlic, and jalapeno, and mix together. Finally, add lime juice and salt to taste.

This guacamole has never let me down, and I hope you enjoy!

Second 'down'

Our good friend Jennie came over, bearing the gift of chili. But not just any old recipe. This chili was tailor-made to suit our paleo diet. Like I said, she's a good friend.

As you can see, this chili made everyone VERY happy. Nothing like hot a bowl chili on a crisp February day, is there? And to everyone's delight, the lack of legumes in this dish means no unfortunate after-effects. Deeeelightful.

Third 'down'

In keeping with the (very loose) Mexican theme, the final dish during our Super Bowl party was tacos. And I know you're all thinking: "Hah! We caught you, Dave and Pat! You can't eat corn tortillas on paleo!" Well, joke's on you! Renelle, culinary genius and neighbour, cleverly replaced tortillas with large lettuce leaves. Such a great concept, and so delicious.

With a little leftover guac and salsa, these tacos were fresh, healthy, and oh-so-paleo. Yum!

There you have it! Though we were bombarded with pizza and beer commercials all afternoon, we survived the Super Bowl like paleo superstars.

Stay tuned as we take on a dinner party this week, paleo style!