Paleo 'Ranch' Dressing

Ok, first I made homemade BBQ sauce which is also Paleo friendly because Ive been craving BBQ chicken!! That turned out d-licious!! Then when I was getting the rest of my sides ready to serve with my BBQ chicken (asparagus and green salad) I was really really craving ranch dressing!! So I started thinking....there has to be a way to make ranch dressing. I started throwing things in an jar that has a good sealing lid so I could shake it and this is what I came up with. I wouldn't say its an exact replica to ranch....but I would say that it can definitely cure your ranch blues!!

*Beware....these are not exact directions that I used.....I tried to keep track of what I did, but I didn't measure anything so these are my approximations  ;O)

1/4 cup of homemade Paleo mayo you can use any recipe you want I used this one!
1/4 cup coconut milk (from can)
2 T red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated on micro plane or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/8 tsp salt or as much or as little as you like
1/2 T dijon mustard
3 dashes of franks hot sauce

Put all ingredients into a jar or container with a well sealing lid and shake the snot out of it!! Refrigerate for about an hour before serving for best results. The coloring might be a little yellower than ranch but if you are looking for that 'creamy' salad dressing.....you've come to the right place. ;)

Chicken Veggie and Kale Soup~Paleo friendly

Ive been thinking about making this for a couple of days now, but I just got around to it today!! I love when you have a thought of something in your mind and it comes to life in a bowl!! There are different varieties you can make of this soup but it is certainly tasty and is a Paleo friendly recipe!!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and its also great because you can make it and snack on it for a couple  days!!! And a side note for this recipe, I made it with basil chicken meatballs that I had, but you can just used chicken breasts and it will be just as delicious!!

1 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used basil chicken meatballs but boneless breasts are fine or ground chicken or turkey. Whatever you have available
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
1 med onion, diced
3 small carrots, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced (or less if your scerd)
3 cups of fresh kale, chopped
8 cups of chicken stock, or you could use water and salt it but stock adds more flavor

In a large stock pot saute sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, and bell pepper  with coconut oil or olive oil for about 10 min. Add stock and chicken and cook until chicken is cooked all the way through. Add kale and simmer for 5 minutes. Drizzle with fresh squeezed lemon juice and 700 dashes of hot sauce....cuz that's what I did!!

Now if you were not following a paleo lifestyle you could add rice to this soup if you wanted, you would just add it at the same time as the chicken!!

Chorizo Stuffed Mushrooms

Holy chorizo these were good!!! Sooooo stinking simple you would not believe it!! There are literally 6 ingredients and 2 of them are optional!!! These would make excellent Super Appetizers!! I used them for my lunch meal and was completely satisfied. If you think about it you got your spicy your protein your veggie and your cheesy richness!!

So give them a try and let me know what you think!!

12-15  mushrooms, can be regular white mushrooms or crimini
1 small tube of chorizo
4 oz of cream cheese
1/2 tsp of oregano
2 cloves or minced garlic
1 cup of grated monterey jack or pepper jack

Squeeze chorizo out of casing and cook in frying pan until completely done. Drain off as much of the drippings as you can. Remove pan from burner and add cream cheese, oregano and garlic. Mix well. Clean mushrooms and remove stems. Add chorizo mixture into mushroom center. Fill as many mushrooms as you can. Top with grated cheese and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Zuchini, Spinach and Mushroom Breakfast Scramble~Paleo Friendly

I have been eating Paleo and following the Whole 30 program since December 30th and I feel amazing!!!! The Whole 30 is basically a challenge to go above and beyond eating Paleo by cutting out ALL forms of natural sweeteners too. Eating Paleo is basically eating meats, veggies and fruits and nuts in moderation. It is amazing how good your body feels when you start cutting out all the junk that you put into it!! I'm so excited!! And though during the challenge I'm not supposed to weigh myself but I did and in 5 days I had lost 4 lbs....so I'm happy!!

Here's what I had for breakfast this morning!! I was simple and yummy and I slathered it with homemade salsa!!!!!

Single serving (add more ingredients according to people)
2 eggs
1 small zucchini, halved longways then the halves halved and all of it diced
1 Tbls diced onion
3 small mushrooms sliced
1 lg handful spinach
1 lg clove of garlic, minced

Saute all veggies in coconut oil or olive oil for approx 5-10 minutes until your desired doneness. In a separate bowl scramble eggs and pour into pan with veggies add salt and pepper to taste. Mix around until eggs are fully cooked.

Lady Bug Cake and Cupcakes....so cute!!

This weekend was my friends daughters first birthday. I consider myself to be her Auntie Grandma!! I consider myself too young to be a grandma....so I threw the Auntie in front of it to 'young' it up a bit!! I just love me some Bailey Grace....she is just a cutie with a great personality and the cutest face ever!!! Although I don't want it to happen anytime soon.....I cant wait to be a grandma!! Shhh.....don't tell anyone I said that!!

The above pic is of Bailey's own personal cake. I stacked to 8" rounds and cut and shaped it to look like a lady bug. Then I frosted it with butter cream and used fondant for the face and spots. For the cupcakes I didn't do anything special really. Just made the cupcakes and butter cream (homemade of course) and then I made mini fondant pink lady bugs to top each cup cake with. All I did for those was roll a ball of pink fondant for the body and a way smaller ball of black fondant for the face. I made a line down the center of the 'back' and used a tooth pick to dot on the black spots.

I thought they turned out super cute but very simple!! And it wasn't even hard to make the lady bug cake.

Cheddar Cheese Stuffed Carmelized Onion Bacon Burgers on Pretzel Rolls

So my Blue Cheese Burgers With Bacon Jam were such a big success that I wanted to venture out this time. I made these Homemade Pretzel Rolls and added a variety of fun items to the burger to create this very long titled but tasty burger!! For some reason using a green tomato just felt right!! I think it was because of the sweetness of the caramelized onions and bacon, coupled with the spicy bite of chipotle mayo that made it all ok!! ;)

2 lbs ground beef
6 2x2x1/4" pieces of cheddar cheese
1 lg onion sliced thin, and caramelized
12 slices of cooked bacon
1 1/2 cups arugula
6 slices of green tomato
1/2 cup chipotle mayo (1/2 cup mayo with 1 mashed canned chipotle pepper mixed in)
6 pretzel rolls

Divide hamburger meat into 6 equally sized balls. Then divide each of the 6 burger balls in 1/2 and form patties. Top 6 of the '1/2' patties with the cheddar cheese and top with the other half of the burger patties. Press to seal the edges. Bake or grill until desired doneness.

Assembly
Slice the pretzel buns in half and spread chipotle mayo on bottom bun. Place burger, caramelized onions, bacon, tomato, and arugula and top with bun. Eat and enjoy!!

Homemade Pretzels

So....it was late one night and I couldn't sleep.....so I was doing what I usually do when I can't sleep.....I was watching Food Network. ;) All time favorite channel!! Whoop whoop!!

K.....I'm done. Dine'rs, Drive-in's and Dive's was on.....man I LOVE that show!! I like it because you get to 'go' to such a wide variety of restaurants and semi-experience their menu all be it a tease...you still in some way experience it!! So there was this bar that had the raddest menu......yeah I said it.....RADDEST.....what??? I'm a product of the 80's and 90's.....I can't help it!! Their burgers looked u-mazing and variety was AWESOME!! (another 80's word) They served all their burgers on pretzel rolls that they made! So I said to myself......"self....if a bar can make pretzel rolls....so can you" and I did!!

Now I know my salt doesn't look all pretty on the top, but that's cuz all I had was kosher :) With this recipe I made pretzels and rolls for my burgers that I will post next!!

2 tsp. active dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 Tbsp. canola oil
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Boiling solution:

2 Qts water
1 Tbsp. salt
4 Tbsp. baking soda

In the bowl of your stand mixer with dough hook  attachment mix in about half of the water (measure it, then just pour a bit into the bowl to make sure the yeast is active); let it sit for about 10 minutes. If it’s not foamy, toss it out and buy fresh yeast.

Add the rest of the water, milk and canola oil to the yeast, then add about 3 cups of flour and the salt. Turn mixer on low and mix about 2 min. Add about a cup more flour, and mix for another min. Once all the flour is incorporated mix on med speed for about 6 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with a towel and let rest for an hour.

Cut the dough into 10 pieces and roll each into a ball, or a rope if you want to make pretzels. Cover the balls, or shape the pretzels, then let rest for 15 minutes while you bring 2 qts of water to a rolling boil with the salt and baking soda. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Boil about 3 at a time, so you don’t crowd the pot (they will swell) and bring the temperature down, and simmer for a minute per side. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Sprinkle with coarse salt as soon as they come out of the water, so that it sticks, and if you’re doing buns, cut Xs on their tops.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden. Makes 10 pretzels or pretzel buns.