Clean Eats by Nicki Peet(s)

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

2012-06-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Remember me? I haven't posted a blog in months, I know. But I wanted to drop by and post a recipe I made today. I got this recipe and a very cute quote from paleopot.com. " If we are what we eat, i'm fast, cheap, and easy". ( Although, I don't always fall under the cheap category) But anyway this recipe was super easy and very yummy(even the cabbage was good!) I used the exact recipe from the website except I added a can of pineapples. I'm in L-O-V-E with Thai food, and I especially love that they add pineapple to many of their dishes, so I thought i'd toss some in there.

Here's the link:
http://paleopot.com/2011/12/easy-paleo-crock-pot-chicken-curry-with-peppers-and-cabbage/

Hopefully I will catch you all sooner rather than later!

Enjoy!

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

I decided to keep with my holiday treats theme and come up with a new chocolate chip cookie recipe. There are so many different variations of "paleo" chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to use what I had in my cabinets and come up with my own. Since I love coconut, I tossed some of that good stuff in this recipe too. Only problem is these came out a little bit dry, but thats what happens when you use coconut flour. Anyone else have a good cookie recipe?? I posted a recipe similar to this way back in march, that had mashed bananas and almonds in it. Check it out if you like bananas,almonds, and coconut.

Have a good holiday friends!

You will need:
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
- 1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate chips ( or chop up your favorite chocolate bar)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil ( is what I used, I would do 1/2 cup next time to make them more moist)
- 1/4 cup almond butter
-1/4 cup honey
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- dash of cinnamon
-1/2 tsp sea salt

1. mix all dry ingredients ( except chocolate chips)
2. melt coconut oil, add almond butter and honey to melted coconut oil to get a smooth mixture.
3. add eggs to dry ingredients
4, add almondbutter/coconutoil/honey mixture
5. then add chocolate chips--mix together well
6. make small cookies with hands
7. place on greased cookie sheet

8. bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. In my oven 15 wasn't enough, so I left it in for 20 and they were over done. I'd go for a good 18 minutes.

Enjoy!

"Clean" Brownie's

2011-12-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for sweets & appetizers galoreeee. I was making a very unpaleo appetizer for a christmas party I was going to, and asked on my facebook page if anyone had any holiday treats they would like a "clean" recipe for. My friend April from nursing school, asked about Brownies. I've made a few versions of paleo brownies before, and decided to come up with my own recipe with all the ingredients I wanted to incorporate. April was a friend who probably had to listen to me complain too often about how sore I was after various crossfit workouts. Now she has just joined a new crossfit in wallingford and can understand where I was coming from! If anyone else has any recipes they would like to see for the holiday season let me know, i'll do my best to experiment! It's so hard to stay on track during the holidays, I won't pretend my diet has been perfect because it hasn't! But hopefully with some options like "Clean" brownies, it might be a little easier for some of us :)

These brownies are not super sweet or chocolatey, but they still hit the sweet tooth spot. If you want to make them a little more rich, add some dark chocolate chips. ( I'm going to try this in the next batch)

You will need:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup almond butter
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey-- ( you can add more for a sweeter brownie)
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
**optional: dark chocolate chips (preferably 70-80%), walnuts

1.preheat oven to 350. mix all dry ingredients together

2. put almond butter, honey, and coconut oil in sauce pan--heat over medium heat until mixture is smooth.

3. add mixture to dry ingredients mix well.
4. then mix in eggs and almond milk.

5. add to greased baking dish ( I use coconut oil spray)
6. bake in oven for 15-18 minutes or until baked all the way through.

Bring these to your next paleo holiday party!
Enjoy!

CleaneatsbyNickiSweet Potato Pancakes

2011-10-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

You dig my blog title today? I'm not really that sweet, but i'll just pretend I am for today. Anywho, clearly I have a slight obessesion with food in the form of pancakes. I bought sweet potatoes with the idea of making some sort of casserole or to add into a main dish somehow. Life got in the way of my big hopes for an extravagant dish containing sweet potatoes, and they ended up sitting on my counter for a few days. I decided to use them up one morning instead of letting them go bad. So naturally I made some pancakes! These yummy little guys only took about 15 minutes to make.

You will need:
-one large( or 2 small) sweet potato shredded ( this guy was huge--I put it in the microwave for about a minute and a half to soften it a bit before I shredded it on the cheese grater)
-1/4c onion-chopped
- 2 eggs
-dash garlic powder
-dash cinnamon
-sea salt & pepper
- coconut oil for frying

1. shred your sweet potato
2. add onions
3. add eggs + spices
4. Form small pancakes with your hands
5. place in frying pan in preheated coconut oil
6. cook until brown on both sides.
* this makes about 12 small pancakes
Thats it!

Enjoy your NickiSweet Potato Pancakes!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

2011-10-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for pumpkin flavored everything! Pumpkin spice coffee from dunks? Yumm, but, loaded with sugar. Pumpkin pie?? Delish, but all those carbs in the crust... Pumpkin Muffins sprinkled with brown sugar and topped with butter?? I just added 5 lbs to my muffin top just thinking about that... I found the recipe for these muffins here , and per usual, changed it up slightly. This recipe called for maple syrup instead of honey. These paleo friendly mini muffins are the perfect treat to satisfy your sweet tooth, and you won't feel left out of all the fall festivities. You can have your muffins and eat them too. ( I don't know if that makes sense, but you know what I mean.) You can make normal size muffins, but I prefer mini. Probably because in my mind 4 mini muffins is better than one big muffin. Also, just because they are "paleo friendly" doesn't mean you can eat the whole batch, they do have honey in them.On that note, here's the recipe..
You will need:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup pumpkin
6 eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 tbs coconut oil (melted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Pumpkin & pumpkin pie spice

1. preheat oven to 350, mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl
2. mix wet ingredients together
3. then add wet ingredients to the dry and mix together well.

4. Grease your muffin tin with coconut oil. I usually use coconut oil spray but I ran out, so I melted some coconut oil and used a paper towel to grease the muffin tin.
5. If making mini muffins- exactly one spoonful will fill each muffin, if using regular sized muffin tin fill about 3/4 of the way.
6. Put in the oven for about 18 mins. I left mine in for about 20 and they were slightly over done. This made about 30 mini muffins. Note: you might want to keep these in the refrigerator if you have them more than a couple days because of the high egg content.

Leaning tower of muffins

Happy Fall, Enjoy!

Lasagna

2011-09-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Lasagna?! Thats totallly the least Clean ( I guess the dirtiest?) thing you could eat. Layers of Pasta and various types of cheese. Yummy? Yes. Belly Ache? Yes. So I found this recipe for Paleo Primal Lasagna and changed it up slightly. The noodles are made out of egg which is a really good idea, i've heard of other lasagna's using eggplant, zucchini, and other veggies as the noodles, but I like how the egg noodles really give it the lasagna-y feel. In my lasagna I used egg "noodles", spinach, Rao's marinara sauce, mushrooms, ground turkey, and sausage. This was a really yummy and filling meal that I will probably be eating for the next few days for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was a little time consuming to make the noodles, so this is probably a good sunday night recipe, then you have some meals prepped for the week. Also, I always like to mention, find your favorite pandora station before you start..My Lasagna Pandora station was James Morrison and then switched it up to Duffy ( who is new to me but I kinda dig her) Anywayyyyy that has nothing to do with lasagna, so here it is..

You will need:

- 1 lb ground turkey or ground beef-- if you don't want sausage in your lasagna use 1.5 lbs of ground meat.
- 1 package sweet italian sausage--casing removed.
- 1 package mushrooms
- 1 bag of spinach ( or more if you want more veggies-- even one bag reduced to less than a cup)
- 1 large jar of your favorite marinara ( I like Rao's, or you could make your own if you're feeling ambitious)
- 6 eggs
- 6 tbs water
- coconut oil for sauteeing veggies and frying egg.
- sea salt and pepper for taste

1. preheat oven to 350
2. first brown ground turkey and sausage in one pan. Add mushrooms when meat is almost done. Set aside when all meat is browned.

3. Sautee spinach in coconut oil and set aside
4. Here is the time consuming part: wisk eggs and water in a bowl, and heat coconut oil( only use enough to lightly grease the pan) over medium high heat in a small frying pan.
5. Use a measuring cup to slowly add egg to frying pan, only putting enough egg in to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.

6. Flip it and cut it into sections, these noodles do not have to be perfect, they will probably fall apart a bit, but its okay!

7. Do this with the remainder of the egg, setting the noodles on a plate to the side.

8. The fun part, start by putting a little bit of sauce into the bottom of a baking dish

9. layer the bottom of the dish with your noodles, remember doesn't have to be perfect just cover the bottom.

10. add some spinach

11. I dumped half the jar of sauce into the meat mixture, and then layered the meat on.

12. continue until you've used up all your ingredients. I only got two layers of each, I think the recipe I followed must have used a smaller dish because the picture showed alot more lasagna layers.

13. Dump the rest of the sauce on ( if you like it saucccyyyy)
14. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 minutes. I sprinkled a little parm cheese ontop just for looks. The website I got this from actually used mozz.cheese in the layers of lasagna. Which would be delish, but i'm trying to be extra good this week after I may have had regular pizza this weekend. Ooops.

Enjoy your Clean Eats Lasagna !

Zucchini Pancakes

2011-09-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the recipe I left you guys hanging for the other day ( i've got to keep the spice alive in our blog relationship somehow!). My friend from the gym came up to me yesterday wondering about the zucchini pancake recipe! She said it reminded her of when her mom used to make these for her growing up. I've come to realize that pancakes in any, shape, or form, are always a comfort food. Maybe it's the memories they bring up, saturday morning breakfast with the fam, or teaching little cousins how to make them, or maybe it's just the sound of the word pancake ( or maybe just the word cake) that is an instant comfort no matter what word is in front of it. I mean, even Poopy Pancake almost sounds good. Poopy?? Yikes i've been spending too much time with people under the age of ten .

Anyway now that i've ruined everyones appetite, I served these with my stuffed burgers, but then ate the left over for breakfast. They actually have more of a breakfast-y feel because they are very egg-y ( does adding a "y" onto any word make it a legit word?) I was thinking these would be pretty awesome with some ham, bacon, or sausage on top and turn it into a B.E.Z (bacon, egg, zucchini. I know, who cares what time of the day you prefer to eat Zucchini pancakes, Nicki. Here are two more pancake recipe's you should try spaghetti squash pancakes and Protein Pancakes

Here is the recipe:

You will need:
( this will make 8-10 medium sized pancakes)

- 2 large Zucchini
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbs coconut flour
-1/2 tsp garlic powder or clove fresh garlic
- sea salt & pepper for taste
- coconut oil for frying ( or olive oil if you prefer)
** onion would be good too, but I used all my onion in the burgers that night)

1. shred zucchini ( approx 2 cups shredded) I went out and bought myself a fancy shredder a few months ago, honestly, I prefer the cheese grater! Only took about 5 minutes ( the time it takes me to figure out how to assemble the fancy shredder), Plus you get a nice little forearm/bicep workout in.
** important note if using cheese grater : If you have a lovely fresh manicure, stop grating a few inches away from the end of zucchini-- a few inches of zucchini isn't worth an annoying eye sore of a chipped fingernail. ok thats all for now**

2. Whisk eggs and sift in coconut flour, this flour gets pretty clumpy.
3. add eggs and coconut flour to zucchini, add salt, pepper, garlic. mix well. The mixture will seem watery, not like real pancake batter, but this is how its supposed to be.

4. Heat a few tbs of coconut oil in frying pan
5. I used a 1/4 measuring cup so scoop the mixture into the frying pan.

6. cook until brown on both sides.

There you have it!
Enjoy your favorite kind of "clean eats" pancakes this weekend, even if it's a poopy pancake( i'll grow up one day)

Simply Stuffed Burgers

2011-09-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

The only thing better than a bunch of awesome toppings on a burger, is a bunch of awesome toppings stuffed inside a burger! I spent labor day with my brother, sister in law, and oh so cute niece, and we made some delish stuffed burgers. The burgers we made weren't exactly paleo, so I re-made them for the blog in a more "clean" fashion. I stuffed these burgers with bacon, onion, and mushroom. These make some big ol' burgers, my brother said they looked like Ninja Turtle Shells.

Just showing you how cute Kayla is :)

You will need:

- ground beef -- I used 1 lb, it made three large burgers
- toppings of your choice: I used about 7 slices of bacon, but the more the merrier, one package of mushrooms, and one onion.
- couple tbs of olive oil to sautee veggies
- 1 clove garlic

1. prepare bacon-- the crispier the better ( to me anyway)
2. sautee onions, mushrooms, and garlic in olive oil ( there was a ton left over, so I just served the burgers with more on top)

3. form ground beef into thin patties. Make them as big as you want, but big enough to fit the goods in the middle.
4. spoon toppings ontop of the patties.

5. use the remaining ground beef to form thin patties to cover your burgers. Seal burgers around the edges using your fingers.

6. Either grill them for about 6 minutes on either side, or bake them @375 for 12 minutes, flipping burgers at halfway point.

I served these with Zucchini pancakes ( stay tuned for this recipe). But they would also be delish with another recipe I made last week but still haven't posted, Sweet Potato Fries (stay tuned for this also)

zucchini pancakes

sweet potato fries

Coconut Flour Flatbread Pizza

2011-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

My family gets together for every single birthday on my mom's side of the family. For every single birthday my grandmother makes homemade pizza, i'm talking the perfect thin crispy crust with just the right amount of homemade sauce &cheese. While this is a memorable family tradition, which will probably continue for years to come, for a carb/cheese lover trying to maintain a clean diet, this is absolute torture!! Sometimes I sit at the table eating my salad while the rest of my family eats pizza with thoughts running through my head like " Why is this worth it??" " I'm eating f&$*ing veggies and everyone else gets pizza!" Sometimes the thoughts get to me and I will give in and have some. When I do give in, within an hour I realize why eating a clean diet is allllll worth it. When the bloating, stomach cramping, carb hang over,( not to mention guilt) kicks in, that's when I realize why I avoid the best food in the world, Pizza. If foods like pizza, don't have a negative affect on your body like they do mine, then enjoy it once in a while. For those like me, here is a better option, I'm not going to say its as good as pizza, because its not. But it is still yummy and its also a fun to build your own pizza.

I used this recipe and split into two pizzas. I used two baking dishes because I don't have a pizza dish. I made one with tomato paste, chicken sausage, and mushrooms. The other with sundried tomatoes, spinach, and grilled chicken. They were both delish!!

You will need:

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup coconut milk (whole fat) I've only been able to find this @ stop & shop in the baking section of the organic aisle.

- 1/2 cup coconut flour

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- 2-3 tbs olive oil

-** parchment paper- this is necessary, the mixture is more of a batter than a dough so it gets pretty sticky.

-Any toppings of your choice

1. Preheat oven at 375

2. mix all dry ingredients together, coconut flour tends to clump together when you add wet ingredients to try and get it as smooth as possible.

3. mix wet ingredients-- sometimes coconut milk is a little chunky when you open the can, so make sure you stir until its smooth.

4. mix wet and dry ingredients together

5. line whatever dish you are using with parchment paper and then brush olive oil onto parchment paper.

6. evenly spread mixture into the bottom of pan, put as much as you want for your desired crust thickness, but this crust is more fragile so it might fall apart if its too thin.

7. bake crust for about 20 minutes

8. Take crust out and transfer to a cookie sheet, carefully peeling off the parchment paper

9. Set your oven to Broil

10. add your sauce ( I used tomato paste because its lesss watery than sauce, this helped keep the crust more crunchy)

11. add your pre-cooked veggies/meats/other toppings

12. stick back in the oven on broil for about 2 minutes to crisp up the crust

lost the corner of one crust from pulling the parchment paper off too fast

Enjoy!

~Nicki PizzaLover Peet

Roast Beef

2011-08-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys, remember me? Nicki Peet? I know, i've been slacking on recipes lately, but it's been a pretty busy past couple of weeks. But I am now officially a Registered Nurse! No more homework, no more studying = much more time for cooking( and once I get a job, much more money for cooking) But I am living proof that you can find ways to maintain a healthy diet/lifestyle even when the budget is tight. Anywho, it was finally cool enough today to cook in my A/C-less kitchen. I found a recipe for a slow-cooker beef roast on the Every Day Paleo Site, but Nicki didn't get to the grocery store until about 430 today, so slow cooker was out of the question. So I used her recipe for a dry rub, and roasted it in the oven.

Speaking of Every Day Paleo, I really enjoyed this blog post Sarah posted the other day. You Can't Fix a Body You Hate I have had this conversation many a times with friends/fellow gym members, usually women of course, but sometimes no matter how hard we work and no matter how good of shape we are in, we are never satisfied with our bodies. Are you guilty of this? I know I am. Check out her post, it may give you a different perspective.

Ok here's what you need:

- 2 1/2 lbs beef roast
- one yellow onion
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/4 tsp chipolte powder
- 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbs oregano
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp celtic sea salt-- it turned out pretty salty so use less if you don't enjoy salt. I have an unhealthy love for salt.

Beef from Trader Joe's

all the spices for the dry rub

1.) preheat oven to 420
2.) mix all spices together
3.) massage spices into the beef-- give this thing a good rub down. If you had a run in with the pull-up bar this week, I don't recommend bare handing the raw meat and spices with ripped hands. Throw a zip lock bag on your hands like I did!

4. Chop up an onion, toss it in about a tbs of olive oil
5. Put your spiced up beef roast in a pan, and toss the chopped onion ontop of the meat and around it in the baking dish.
6. I cooked my meat medium- so I cooked it at 420 degreees for about 45 mins total/ until the temp of the meat read 140 degrees.
7. Take the meat out and lightly cover with a piece of tin foil for another 10-15 mins. The meat will continue to cook in the center and you want the internal temp to rise to about 150 degrees. Again this is for cooking it medium. Cook for less time if you want it more rare.

8. slice & serve!

*** I took the Juices from the Roast Beef and mixed them with a couple of teaspoons of Coconut flour to make a yummy gravy!

Enjoy!
~ Your Long Lost Friend,
Nicki Peet, RN ( sorry that's the first time I got to write my name that way, I had to throw the RN in there)

Nicki Peet's Favorite Paella

2011-07-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

Coconut Curry Paella

Nothing says summer time like a gorgeous medley of seafood! What is your favorite part of a good Paella dish? My favorite Paella is at Ola on the post road in Orange. I usually end up wasting half of it though after picking out the rice and my least favorite seafood...scallops ( i'll eat them wrapped in bacon though).. In nicer restaraunts its almost as if the staff gets offended if you try and ask for a dish with-out something like the main part of the dish (rice). I was at bistro basque with a group of friends last year and one friend asked if he could get the Paella without the rice (obviously a Paleo friend, who may or may not own crossfit milford) and the waiter looked at him like he was a crazy person. He quickly changed his mind and ordered something else. Why not make this delicious dish at home and put whatever the heck you want in it?? My Paella consists of shrimp, clams, chicken, spicy chorizo sausage, and spinach ( not my favorite thing but had to throw a bit of color in there). I got the idea for this from a recipe on paleodietlifestyle.com. It was a recipe for a coconut curried shrimp and spinach, and I thought it would be pretty amazing with a bunch of different proteins mixed in.
here is the recipe from paleo diet lifestyle for curried shrimp & spinach, I made basically the same exact sauce.
If you don't like seafood, this coconut curry sauce would be pretty delicious on just about anything, you can do just chicken and spinach, or maybe throw some sirloin strips in there. As T.I would say " You could have whatever you likeee" ( I don't know much about rap but I do know that song...don't judge)

You will need: ( this is going to be a long one)
- one dozen little neck clams
-1/2 pound of shrimp (deveined/tails removed)
- 2 small chicken breast cutlets
-1/2 package of spicy chorizo sausage ( I got mine at whole foods already cooked--I usually buy the uncooked chorizo there, but they only had a mango chorizo today) Find it right in front of the butcher counter at whole foods.

- about 1/2 bag of spinach ( or 2-3 tightly packed cups)
- 4 tbs coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 of a 6 oz. can of tomato paste

You can get these both @ stop & shop

- 2 tsp curry powder
-1/2 cup diced onions
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 small basil leaves
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- 3 tbs olive oil
- sea salt & pepper for taste

Phew, I think thats all the ingredients

** this should feed about 4 people

1. First I steamed the clams, in a medium sized sauce pan add olive oil, clove of garlic, basil leaves, and white wine. Let simmer for about 2 minutes on med/high heat. Then add your well washed little neck clams. Cover and let steam for about 8 minutes or until all clams are opened. If after about ten minutes there are some that haven't opened throw them away that means they are no good. If you are tired of cooking after this step then you can just eat the clams this way because they are yummmy in a white wine sauce. Take off heat and leave covered and set aside for later.

2. heat 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large skillet. Add onion and sautee for about 3 minutes.

3. Add curry powder to this mixture. sautee for another minute or two. -- while that is cooking, add tomato paste and coconut milk to blender or food processor. After onions begin to soften add the onion/curry/coconut oil mixture to the blender. Blend until mixture is smooth.

I know, doesn't look so appetizing here

4. Leave mixture in food processor for now, and add two more table spoons coconut oil to the same skillet you used for the onions. Heat for a minute then add your chicken cut into small chunks. Let that cook by itself for about 2 minutes stirring frequently, then add the shrimp.

5. Sautee chicken and shrimp for another 2 minutes then add your Coconut curry sauce to the meat.
6. After that you can then add your sliced chorizo & clams to the mixture. I added about 1/2 of the broth from steaming the clams as well.
7. Finally add the spinach, simmer mixture over medium high heat stirring freqently for about 5 more minutes or until the chicken & shrimp is cooked all the way through.

And there you have it, Nicki Peet's Favorite Paella. Of course change this to add all of your favorite things.

Enjoy!

Bacon Smothered Meatloaf

2011-07-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

I always hated meatloaf. I don't think I really ever tried it due to the fact it has the word "loaf" in it. I decided I might try and start calling it a Meat Brick, as cool as that sounds, I didn't think it would exactly lure in my blog readers. Anyway, as I got older I decided to give meatloaf a shot, I mean what could be better than a bunch of ground beef with some BBQ sauce or Kethcup mixed in. Oh, That's right, the only thing better is a bunch of ground beef with homemade "clean" BBQ sauce, smothered in BACON. I made my own BBQ sauce for the meatloaf, I used almost the same recipe as I had posted a few months ago, I'll post the exact recipe I used in this case.

You will need:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 clove garlic
-1/2 cup onions--or more if your an onion lover
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil-- for a nice moist loaf...(thats what she said)
-1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup homemade BBQ sauce
- enough bacon to SMOTHER the meatloaf

For the BBQ sauce:
- 1 6 oz can of tomato paste(no sodium added)
- 1 1/4 cup no sodium added beef stock
- 2-3 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/4 tsp chipolte powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbs dijon mustard
- 1 small shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 1-2 tbs olive oil
- salt & pepper for taste

To make the sauce, I first sauteed the garlic and diced shallot in the olive oil, after 5 minutes I added the rest of the ingredients and stirred over a medium heat until you have a nice smooth sauce. Use one cup in the meat loaf, and use save the rest to serve ontop of the meatloaf.

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 350, mix all of the ingredients except the bacon in a bowl, mix it thoroughly with hands. Then put meat in a baking dish, I used this instead of a loaf pan to make it cook faster ( is it even called a loaf pan?? thats such a silly word to me)

Then totally cover the top with strips of bacon

Put in the oven for 40 minutes then turn on the broiler and leave in the oven for 4 more minutes to crisp up the bacon..yes four minutes exactly is what worked for me, another minute and I probably would have had burnt bacon. No Bueno.

Top it with BBQ sauce and serve it with your favorite veggie, I had spinach sauteed in coconut oil, and I tossed in some walnuts for a little crunch, the texture of cooked spinach gets to me sometimes.

I didn't notice that nice chip in the plate until right now. Ooops.

Enjoy!

Crab Cakes

2011-06-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

This recipe is also from Sarah at every day paleo. The roasted red pepper mayo I posted yesterday was for these delicious crab cakes! Who doesn't love some fried seafood in the summer time! These were actually really simple to make. The red pepper mayo was the tricky part, if you make your own mayo like I did, but at least you can make the mayo ahead of time so its ready for dipping when you make these little crabby cakes. Here is the link to the every day paleo recipe crab cakes

you will need:
- 1 lb crab meat- sarah suggested using the canned crab meat from trader joes so that's what I did, you can use fresh crab meat if you'd like.
- 2 tbs of chopped chives- recipe called for red onion but I like chives better
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- sea salt and pepper for taste
- 1 egg
- 2 tbs coconut flour
- 1/8 teaspoon of chipolte powder
- 2 tablespoons paleo mayo recipe here -- the plain mayo not the red pepper mayo
- I also added about 1/4 shredded carrots- you can leave this out, I just had it left over and thought it would make a nice addition
- 3-4 tbs coconut oil for frying

1. mix crab meat ( break apart with hands to make sure there is no shell), chives, garlic, salt, pepper, coconut flour, chipolte powder, carrots, and mayo.

2. heat coconut oil in frying pan
3. form mixture into small cakes, toss in frying pan, fry on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until brown on both sides.

Even sponge bob likes these crabby patties

I served my crab cakes over raw spinach, the red pepper mayo is enough you don't need any dressing or oil, but you can service them however you like!

For those who didn't see yesterday, to make the red pepper mayo dipping sauce for these crab cakes, I just put about 1/2 cup roasted red peppers in the food processor with a tsp of garlic, pureed it and folded it into the Paleo Mayo recipe. Thanks to Sarah from Every Day Paleo for all of these yummy recipes and ideas!

Enjoy!

The Art of Mayo Making

2011-06-28T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have finallllly mastered the Art of Making homemade mayo! It took about 3 attempts and a bunch of wasted olive oil and time, but after watching this video from Sarah at every day paleo, it made it much easier!

If you decide to make your own mayo know that it will take at least 10-15 minutes. All the recipes I followed said slowly add olive oil to blender while blending. They aren't kidding, you have to drop in the olive oil drop by drop at first (with 2 cups this takes a while). My first few batches failed because I added the oil too quickly and it just was a watery mess. I would say at least the first ten minutes you should be adding the oil in drop by drop, then once the mayo starts to emulsify, you can add a slow stream, it will eventually thicken and get a mayo texture. Another tip I learned from this recipe from every day paleo is to actually use a lower quality olive oil. You want to go to stop and shop and get a plain old olive oil, no extra virgin. The extra virgin has a really potent taste, I used extra virgin on my last attempt and I couldn't stand the smell when I was trying to make it.
Also, she put a fun twists on her mayo recipe, you can turn it into dips, dressings, any other flavorful condiments. I made a plain mayo and a roasted red pepper mayo that Sarah also posted on her site. I'm very excited to now have my own "paleo" mayo to make chicken salad with! here is the every day paleo blog for this recipe click here for blog
Ok here it is:

What you will need
- 2 cups of olive oil
- 2 eggs ( on the every day paleo site it shows how to pasteurize your own eggs if you are worried about salmonella)-- but using good quality farm fresh eggs pretty much eliminates your chances of getting sick from this.
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. add eggs, vinegar, and mustard to blender. Blend alone for about 30 seconds.

2. keep blender running on low and SLOWLY drip in olive oil drip by drip until the mixture starts to emulsify. It is very tedious and time consuming, but if you add it too fast the mixture will get ruined. It took about 10 minutes for my mixture to start to emulsify, and then I added the oil with a slow pour. Be patient.
3. Once all the oil and your mixture is creamy and thick, you can turn off the blender and add mixture to a small dish.

4. then add the cayenne pepper and sea salt

I then split the mixture into two dishes, one I kept plain and one I made into a roasted red pepper mayo for a dish I was making for dinner(that recipe will be posted tomorrow)

For that I put roasted red pepper and garlic in the food processor, blended it up and then folded it into the mayo. This could be use for a veggie dip, sauce, condiments, sea food, etc. Another idea I want to try is a sundried tomato & basil mayo, maybe a pesto dip, you can basically add any spices, herbs, or flavors that you want!

Spice it up

2011-06-21T18:56:00.000-07:00

Two things I've been eating a little too frequently, my coconut crusted chicken recipe and chicken salad. These are two things I prepare on sunday or monday so I have a few days worth of mindless lunch and dinner. I really enjoy both of these things, but sometimes you just need to spice it up a little. These aren't really recipes but here's two things I did this week to spice up my food a bit.

Coconut Crusted Chicken w/mango salsa

I make a bunch of "chicken cutlets" and leave them plain, that way if I eat it a few days in a row I can switch between salsa, marinara, different veggies or whatever I feel like having on it.
To make the chicken cutlets I dip thin sliced chicken breast in egg, then "bread" them in a mixture of unsweetened coconut and flaxseed meal, I then brown them on both sides in coconut oil, and then bake them covered for about 15 minutes at 350 to keep the moisture in.

You can find my Mango Salsa here. (scroll to the bottom of the page) The salsa and coconut chicken was a reallllly yummy/summery/refreshing combination.

For lunch today I made my self some cute little edible chicken salad bowls.

I usually just eat chicken salad out of the container or wrap it up in lettuce, but if you slice one pepper(find a nice round one) into four pieces they make perfect little dishes that you can eat the chicken salad with. It adds a nice little spice to your same old lunch. I made this chicken salad with chicken breast, walnuts, shredded carrots, and olive oil mayo ( not paleo, I know, not the best, I know, but I haven't successfully made my own mayo and I only use a little bit ..ok?) For a lot of people lunch seems to be the most difficult to prepare for because most people associate lunch time with sandwiches, chips, soups, etc. These little guys kinda make you feel like your eating a sandwich, just a littttttle crunchier. They are even easy to eat in the car! Trust me, I tried it out today, it was way less messy then trying to eat my spaghetti squash egg bake on the road this morning. I'm not even that busy , I don't know why I ate breakfast and lunch while driving. Anyway, I know I get way too excited about silly things like salsa and red pepper "bowls". Hope you enjoy a couple new ways to spice up your food.

Coconut Crusted Chicken w/ Spinach Marinara

2011-06-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Deadlift Tuesday at CFM. After Strength days i'm always ravenous, so I needed something fairly quick yet satisfying for dinner tonight. This recipe is basically the same as my chicken parm recipe, but I added some sauteed spinach to the sauce and left out the "parm". It was really delicious so I just thought i'd share. I even liked the spinach, sometimes cooked spinach grosses me out a little, maybe the texture it gets after cooking it in coconut oil, or maybe because its not the pasta I would prefer to have with chicken parm, or maybe because I ate it almost every day for lunch while doing my clinical rotations at the hospital because it was the only decent thing I could get there. But when it was all mixed up with the sauce and the chicken it was much tastier.

You will need:
- 1 egg
- 4-6 thin sliced chicken breasts
-1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
-1/4 cup flax seed meal-- you can leave this out and just add more coconut if you want
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara ( unless you are feeling ambitious and want to make your own--certainly not the case for me today)
- 1 bag of spinach
- 2 tbsp coconut oil- 1 tbsp for frying the chicken and 1 for sauteeing the spinach

*** sorry friends my hands were covered in egg and coconut so I didn't get to take any pictures along the way, just the final product. Forgive me, okthanks.

1. preheat oven to 350
2. beat egg and heavy cream in a bowl
3. add coconut and flaxseed meal to a plate
4. melt coconut oil in frying pan
5. dip chicken breasts in egg, then coat in the coconut/flaxseed mixture, toss in frying pan.
6. cook about 1-1 1/2 mins on each side ( just until slightly browned on the outside) then add to a baking dish.
7.sautee spinach in melted coconut oil, add jar of marinara to that. Dump over chicken in the baking dish, cover it with foil, and throw it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Zucchini "spaghetti" with a Creamy Tomato Meat Sauce

2011-06-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

There really isn't a substitue for pasta, but at least there are some things you can do to give the texture, feel, and satisfaction of eating a nice hearty pasta dish. Many people use spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute, I like spaghetti squash but for a pasta dish the sweetness throws me off a bit. So I found this delicious looking recipe from Every Day Paleo . I changed the recipe up a bit, but that's the beauty of cooking at home, you can make it however you like it. I went out and bought a new toy for this recipe also, a Julienne Slicer , this isn't the exact one I got, but I got mine from Bed Bath and Beyond for less than $15. This recipe was a little time consuming between making my own turkey sausage and slicing the Zucchini, but it was worth it!

Here's what you will need
- 5 zucchini sliced thin
- 1 lb ground turkey sausage, I posted the recipe for this last week, here it is, Turkey Sausage - note I added 1 tsp of fennel seed to this recipe.
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1-2 tbs coconut oil (for sauteing)
- 3 small shallots chopped

the cutest little shallots that you ever did see

For the sauce:
- 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomato (no sodium added)
- about 10 small basil leaves
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2-3 tbs grass fed heavy whipping cream

1. Make the turkey sausage ( or buy any kind of sausage you would like)Peel then slice all zucchini using the Julienne slicer, slice the red pepper, chop shallot and garlic.

2. Melt coconut oil in fryin pan and add shallot and garlic, sautee for a few minutes then add pepper.
3. while doing that, pour can of tomatoes into small sauce pan, add oregano, basil, and cream. Heat on low until you are ready to add it to the "spaghetti"

4. Add Zucchini to the oil, garlic, shallot, and pepper. Sautee for about 5 minutes.

A lot going on here

5. Add sausage to the veggies and either just dump the sauce right into it , or you can leave the sauce on the side and allow people to add as much as they want.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding ( with a secret ingredient)

2011-06-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well after looking at this picture close up, I think I need one of those fancy cameras (or a photographer) to make my food look as appetizing as the fancy pictures on other blogs. Anywho, I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while, ever since my buddy David from the gym emailed me asking what I thought of a chocolate pudding made out of.............Avocado! I wasn't sure what I thought of the idea until I actually tried it. It was freakin' good! You can't taste the avacado but it gives the pudding a really smooth texture. Even better news is that it only has four ingredients ( unless you add a dallop of home-made whipped cream on top like I did), in that case 5 ingredients. I shared this recipe with a friend who was over for dinner, who also decided to eat this pudding with an 88% dark chocolate "spoon" (aka used a big chunk of chocolate to scoop out the pudding).
I know you're probably thinking "whats up with this chick and mixing chocolate with wierd stuff lately", in my defense, I didn't create these recipes, I got ideas from other sites. So there are other strange foodies out there just like me! This recipe I got from Lisa's Paleo Nutrition Blog

Ok Chocolate Lovers here is your Chocolate Avocado Pudding!

you will need:
-1 large avocado (or two small)
- 3 TBSP of cocoa powder
- 1 ripe banana
-2-3 tsp of honey depending on desired sweetness ( or none if the banana is sweet enough for you)

** optional- heavy whipping cream for topping.

1. scoop out inside of avocado and put in food processor or blender

2. add cocoa powder

3. add banana & Honey

4. blend it all up until you have a nice smooth texture ( about a minute)

Optional: Whipped cream
1. Put about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream & 1-2 tsp honey into a tupperware container

2. shake it up for about 2 minutes- you will know its done when you don't hear the liquid moving anymore

3.add to your pudding-- or just eat it plain

Enjoy!

Turkey Sausage

2011-06-06T16:44:00.000-07:00

I made my spaghetti squash eggbake the other day, and decided I needed to add even more protein! I love pork sausage but I had my fill of pork and red meat after this past weekend, so I wanted to stick with a lean meat. All of the turkey sausage I found at the store were already cooked links, and I wanted the crumbly sausage to put in my eggbake, so I just bought some ground turkey and made it myself!

here is the link to the spaghetti squash eggbake recipe Spaghetti Squash Egg Bake

And here is the recipe for the turkey sausage:

You will need:
-1 lb ground turkey
-1/2 tsp dried basil
-1/2 tsp dried thyme
-1/2 tsp celtic sea salt
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-most recipes also have fennel seed, I didn't have it and I just used what I could find in my cabinet, I do want to add it next time though!
- any other spices you feel like adding in

1.) add all the spices to the turkey sausage-mix thoroughly

2.) brown meat in a frying pan ( if you aren't adding sausage to eggbake, you can also form small patties)

--I added mine to eggbake, but you can serve it however you want!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered..... BACON

2011-05-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Chocolate and Bacon are probably two of the best foods ever. So why not put them together?? I came across this recipe on paleodish.com. I made it for a picnic at my parents house this weekend, they liked it, but they aren't used to the dark chocolate, so it wasn't that big of a hit with them. But I loved it! Dark chocolate and bacon lovers will really enjoy this treat! Check out the recipe here : http://paleodish.com/2010/12/19/chocolate-and-coconut-covered-bacon/

You will need:
-1 lb of bacon
- 2 bars of 83% dark chocolate (or dark chocolate of your choice)
- unsweetened coconut to sprinkle on top
- 1 tbs coconut oil ( i added this when melting the chocolate to make it a little smoother)

-
1. cook bacon - its better nice and crispy
2. melt dark chocolate with 1tbs of coconut oil- I did so by putting a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water ( last time I burnt the chocolate trying to melt it in a regular sauce pan)

3. the recipe said to dip each piece of bacon in the chocolate, but I just tossed it all in and mixed it up.

4. place bacon on cookie sheet lined with wax paper
5. sprinkle on unsweetened coconut
6. refrigerate until ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers

2011-05-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

After eating chicken for three nights in a row, I decided it was time for some beef tonight. I love stuffed peppers, but every time I try to make them something doesn't come out how I wanted it to. Last time I made them, I cooked the meat first then added it to the peppers and baked it afterwards, but I didn't like how the peppers didn't seem cooked all the way. This recipe I got straight from the Paleo Cookbook I bought ( I added a few things) and it called for putting the meat in the peppers raw and cooking it covered for an hour. I thought this would be great because all the juices would allow the peppers to get nice and soft. I was right, after an hour cooking it covered the peppers were perfect! But the meat was only browned on the outside and I do not do pink beef, especially in stuffed peppers! Ugh! I was too hungry to put them back in the oven for another 1/2 hour or so, So I ended up scooping all the meat out and finished browning it in a frying pan, then added it back to the peppers. So my suggestion to you would be to the brown lightly the meat first, then add it to the peppers and then bake it covered with foil for about an hour. Despite the set back they were still delicious and I was full after one!

Here's what you need:
- 1 pound ground grass fed beef
- 4 large bell peppers or 6 smaller
- 1 egg
- 1 scallion chopped thinly
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- dash of garlic powder
- dash of sea salt
- tbs melted coconut oil or coconut oil spray

-- preheat oven on 350
1. cut the tops of the peppers and scrape out the seeds

2. place in a coconut oil sprayed or greased baking dish
3. in a bowl, mix the beef, egg, scallion, garlic powder, sea salt, and one can diced tomato
4. lightly brown meat in frying pan
5. add mixture to peppers
6. any left over mixture just dump into the dish and top off with the other can of diced tomatoes

7. cover dish with tin foil and cook for about an hour

Enjoy! I'm still looking for the Perfect Paleo Stuffed Pepper Recipe, let me know if you have it!

Lime in the Coconut Chicken

2011-05-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I had left over limes from the margaritas and tons of left over cilantro from the mango salsa. So when life hands you limes and its not an acceptable day to be drinking margaritas, make lime chicken! This is very very simple. Only ingredients being lime, cilantro, scallion, chicken, and coconut oil. The less ingredients there are, the better it is for your health(usually) and the better it is on your wallet.
When I first started trying to eat paleo, I ate everything plain. Plain chicken, plain turkey, plain beef, plain veggies, plain everything. Plain anything gets old pretty quick. I knew most of the things I used to add flavor to my foods were out of the question. Normally, I would have put cheese and sauce on chicken, gravy on turkey, BBQ sauce on burgers, ketchup or ranch dressing on ANYTHING. I have no idea why it didn't occur to me at first that there were healthy, natural herbs, spices, veggies, and fruits that could add a ton of flavor to my foods. Here's a list of a few natural flavorful/acceptable paleo ingredients you can try adding to your plain ol' chicken.
Oils: olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil,
Dried Spices: onion powder, oregano, paprika, parsley, sage, thyme, tumeric, rosemary, cinnamon, curry powder, bay leaf, garlic powder ( basically any dried spice without sodium added-stay away from pre mixed seasonings-usually packed with sodium)
Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, parskey, tarragon
Veggies: onions, scallions, mushrooms, celery, garlic
** of course there are many more but this is just a start for those new to paleo.

Ok here's the Lime in the Coconut Chicken

- 3-4 tbs coconut oil for cooking chicken
- 2 tbs cilantro
-2 tbs scallions
-4 thin chicken breasts
-1/2 lime

1. Add coconut oil to a skillet and squeeze as much of lime juice in as you can. Heat until coconut oil is melted-- I added the lime after the coconut melted and the cold lime and hot oil was a bad idea- got sprayed with hot oil.
2. when oil is melted add scallion and 1 and 1/2 tbs cilantro. sautee for about a minute
3. add chicken- cook until white all the way through

4. thats basically it! I put some mixed greens on a plate put about a tsp or 2 of olive oil over them and squeezed some lime over it, then served the chicken over my mixed greens salad and sprinkled the remaining cilantro over the top. You can serve this with your favorite veggie.
** would be yummy with some mango salsa ontop as well!! note to self..

"Paleo" Margaritas

2011-05-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Is tequila Paleo? Some people say yes because it comes from the agave plant and some say no because reguardless of what it is made from it is still alcohol and does have negative affects on your body. With that being said, most of us are going to drink once in a while anyway! So if we are going to drink, lets at least try to make a better option right?
I love a good margarita. There is nothing better than sitting outside on a sunny day, with a margarita in hand, maybe some Jack Johnson playing in the background, and with some good company. All margarita mix you buy at the store has SO much sugar. Real margaritas actually give me instant heart burn with all the sugar and sour mix. So I like to make my own. I made these last night, continuing the graduation celebrations. I'm already ready for the celebrations to end and i've still got the big 2-5 coming up soon. Yikes my poor body.

Side note: this post is for people who chose to drink while on paleo diet (aka fun people...just kidding..kinda), its not intended to strike a debate about if tequila is paleo or not. K thanks.

Margaritas:
- 5 large strawberries cut into chunks/ or container of blackberries/raspberries
- 1 lime- cut a couple slices to decorate your glasses and the rest used for fresh squeezed lime juice
-1/2-3/4 cup of silver tequila of your choice
- 1/2 cup of lemon-lime club soda
- 2-3 tbs honey/agave nectar- add more or less depending how sweet you want it
-ice
-1/2 cunsweetened coconut- for rim of glass
** makes one pitcher-about 4 large margaritas

1. Add berries, tequila, club soda, honey, lime juice in blender. Fill the rest of blender with ice. Blend it all up!

2. get to small plates, put unsweetened coconut on one plate and a few squirts of honey or agave nectar on the other plate.
3. dip rim of margarita glass in honey first, then dip in cocout.

Enjoy Responsibly!

Build-a-burger

2011-05-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

It is nursing school graduation week! I have never felt more relieved in my life. I feel like the next couple months are going to be fulll to the max of celebrations. Graduation parties, memorial day, birthday parties, and just your average nice weather picnics. What comes along with celebrations?? Food, food, beer, food, margaritas, and more food. Picnic food is always the best/worst. Worst because its mostly carbs. Buns for the hot dogs/burgers, fruit salad, potato salad, pasta salad ( you know, every kind of salad, EXCEPT just a veggie salad), deserts, and so on. I decided to dedicate the next few posts to "paleo party" recipe ideas.

The only purpose a hamburger bun has is to be able to eat with your hands. Well, ditch the bun and eat with a friggin fork and knife. Other than holding the burger together the only thing it will add is lb's to your problem areas. Maybe the bun makes us feel a little more satisfied after eating a burger, because at the usual picnic most of the time the only toppings available are ketchup, lettuce, and tomato. So why not make a "burger bar" at your next picnic! Find tons of yummy toppings to give your guests more options for their burgers, leaving them satisfied even without a bun! Lettuce, tomato, onions, salsa ( check out my last post for mango salsa recipe), sauteed mushrooms, avacado, spinach, pesto ( I have a Kale Pesto recipe posted also), sweet potato chips ( yum I just thought of this right now, will have to make these next time), or anything else you can think of! Maybe have a package of buns available for your non-paleo friends who may think the only thing more evil then Bin Laden is a burger without a bun.

I didn't have myself a little picnic tonight, but I made turkey burgers from the new recipe book i purchased and had a friend over for dinner, so I made a mini " build-a-burger" station in my kitchen.

Turkey Burgers:
- 1 lb ground turkey breast
-1 egg
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 a small shallot, minced
- 1/2 clove garlic minced ( i know this sounds silly, but it was a HUGE garlic clove-- but for garlic lovers add as much as you'd like)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- pinch celtic sea salt

My toppings:
- one avacado-cut into chunks
- 1 tomato sliced
- lettuce
- one package of white mushrooms- sauteed with a couple tbs olive oil and 2 tbsp of red wine- you can leave the wine out if you want.

1. Preheat oven to broil
2. combine turkey, egg, shallot, garlic, oregano, olive oil, and salt. Mix well and shape into patties- this made 5 burgers.

3. place on sprayed cookie sheet and put in oven and broil for 4-5 mins on each side.-- You could also grill these if you wanted .
4. set up your burger bar, simple as that!

Enjoy!
~Nicki "Clean Eats" Peet ~

Tilapia Tango's ( Tilapia "Taco's" w/ Mango Salsa)

2011-05-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have not forgotten about Clean Eats! It was just temporarily put on the back burner. I finished up with finals last tuesday and left wednesday for a mini vaca to california to visit my brother. I'm still trying to get my body back to normal between the time difference, 24 oz beers @ country concerts, and over indulgent meals. The only exercise I really got in besides a mini hike was walking to my towel on the sand, where I layed for hours on end. I never thought my favorite thing to do would be laying still on a beach for hours with nothing but my ipod and some trashy magazines.

On mother's day I was at Barnes & Noble trying to pick out a very last minute gift for my mother. I didn't find anything for her there, I did purchase a new book, which will greatly benefit my blog. "The Paleo Diet Cookbook"- by Loren Cordain. While this cookbook is pretty simple, lacking any pictures at all for any of the recipes, it is full of great recipes and ideas for those who, like myself, who get sick and tired of eating the same old thing.

Myself and my new cookbook- please ignore my post-workout look

Anywho, i'm not a fan of fish ,I know i've probably mentioned this a million times. I want to like it so badly so I have more options. I actually like sushi much better than cooked fish, maybe its the rice, soy sauce, and saki that usually go along with it. I am well aware of the nutritional benefits of fish so i'm trying to find ways that I actually enjoy eating it, instead of trying to force down that wierd textured meat. I found this recipe for Tilapia "Tacos" and Peach Salsa( which I changed to Mango, when I couldn't find a peach anywhere in Whole Foods) in my new book! I really liked this recipe, the cilantro and sweetness from the salsa really complimented the Tilapia well.

"Ok Nicki, stop talking about yourself and just show us the stinkin recipe"

You will need:
4-6oz Tilapia Filets
Cayenne Pepper to taste
2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 red bell pepper chopped( I left this out, peppers haven't been treatin me well lately)
2 scallions diced
2 garlic cloves- left this out also, the garlic/onion/pepper family is no good for those with tummy troubles.-- for those who have bellys of steal--go for the extra flavor. At least those less fortunate will have better breath.
2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro
whole Romaine lettuce leaves
1 avacado- chopped
1/4 of a lemon

These guys will be your taco shells

1.squeeze lemon over Tilapia filets and season with cayenne pepper and pinch of sea salt-- set aside for now
2. heat oil in skillet over medium flame. Add scallions ( and peppers if you are adding them) and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add garlic if you are using it and cook for another minute or two.
4. move veggies to side of pan to make room for fish. Add Fish and cook for four minutes- turning after two minutes. ( or until cooked all the way through-- will fall apart easily when cooked through)
5. remove fish and run fork through it--should fall apart very easily into tiny pieces.
6. scoop into whole lettuce leaves to form a taco
7. sprinkle with cilantro- there is also cilantro in the salsa, so if you aren't a big fan leave the extra cilantro out.
8. Add Avacado and Mango Salsa for taste.

Mango Salsa

Roughly 1 cup chopped Mango- I bought the pre-cut mango from whole foods.

1 tbs fresh squeezed lime juice

2 tbs red diced onion- add more if you like

1 tbs minced fresh cilantro

5 chopped cherry tomatoes

2 tsp Hot sauce

Enjoy!

~Nicki "Clean Eats" Peet