Friday's Quote for Thought

Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.

Mark Victor Hansen

Spooky Good Paleo Candy Bars

Yes, they do exist. I made these little guys for my CrossFit Round Rock class to celebrate Halloween and they requested the recipe. :)

- 5 tbs coconut oil
- 1/4 cup non-dairy cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1 tbsp honey

1. Melt the oil and honey in a sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until everything is the same color (you'll see what I mean) and consistency.
3. Pour your mixture into a non-stick baking pan. I used a rectangular one, but you can use any shape you like/have.
4. Stick it in the freezer. Mine took about 1.5-2 hours to freeze, but I like to leave them in for 3 just to make sure (no one likes mushy candy bars).
5. Once the candy has hardened, dump it out onto a cutting board (literally, turn over your pan and it should fall out). Slice into pieces and serve!

No Tricks, All Treats - Cacoa Cookies!

My name is Tegra and I have a chocolate problem.

I LOVE sweet things. I blame my mom. The Chandler sweet tooth is alive and well, which does not make paleo life the easiest. Whenever I can't put my sugar fire out with veggies and copious amounts of sun butter and ground beef, I turn to my cheats :). This urge for an insulin spike is always stronger around holidays and Halloween is no exception. So when my co-workers are diving into Kit Kats, I reach for my Cacoa Cookies!

Here's the recipe for the Cookies:

- 1 cup Almond Flour
- 2/3 cup shredded Coconut (I love the thicker ones)
- 1.5 tbs Coconut Oil (and a little extra to grease the pan)
- 1/2 cup Almond Butter
- 1/3 cup Coconut Flower (I didn't have any, so I used the super thinly shredded coconut)
- 1 tbs Vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1.5 tbs Cacoa Powder/Non-Dairy Cocoa Powder
- .5 cup Agave Nectar or Honey

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet ones in another.
2. Grease a baking sheet with some coconut oil and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
3. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
4. Using a spoon, drop rounded spoonfuls onto the baking sheet about 1.5-2 inches apart. I prefer to flatten mine so they bake all the way through. If you are a chewy cookie person, leave them in spherical form for a mushy center (sickos).
5. Bake them for about 10 minutes (depending on your cookie size and oven) then transfer them to a baking sheet to cool.

Friday's Quote for Thought

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
- Mahatma Ghandi

Holy Coconuts!

When I first told my mom that I eat coconut oil on a daily basis, she was stunned. Going against the nutritional advice of the government, I have been downing coconut oil by the teaspoon and using it for all of my paleo baking adventures for the better half of 2010. True, it is more than 90% saturated fat, however, the acids contained in coconut oil actually make it a heart-smart choice for your kitchen. Lauric acid, which makes up about 50% of the oil itself, is amazing at preventing high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels.



The sexiest benefit of coconut oil is its ability to increase your metabolism. That's right, something that tastes amazing can help you keep off excess weight! Coconut oil is super easy for your body to digest and promotes healthy functioning of your thyroid and enzyme systems. Further more, it removes stresses on your pancreas, causing you to use more energy (without even knowing it) and burn through more fat. It doesn't hurt that it's calorie count is slightly lower than its vegetable oil counter parts, and the high fat content is extremely easy for your body to burn through and is known to improve energy and muscular endurance. That being said, please don't run out and eat a whole jar of coconut oil this very second. Like anything in life, the benefits of coconut oil can only be achieved through a balanced diet. If you're zoning, 1 tsp = 3 blocks of fat, so be mindful of what you're intake of it is.

Now that I've sung the praises of coconut oil, here is a delicious recipe that uses it as a baking aid:

Paleo Coconut Waffles & Pancakes

Primal Blueprint Recipe: Coconut Pancakes/Waffles from Adam Kayce on Vimeo.

So I totally stole this one from Jessica Sharrat's blog and I am totally against recipe hijacking but it looks absolutely amazing and I couldn't resist sharing it with all my paleo peeps! I am saving it to try this weekend for my cheat after our Free Workout at CrossFit Round Rock, so I will update this as soon as I give it a go.

Boom Boom Broccoli

As a kid, I was totally that girl that hid the broccoli in her milk or tried to pass it off to the dog. Now that I'm grown and don't have a puppy (nor do I eat dairy), it's time to face the music. Broccoli is relatively inexpensive and filled with vitamins C, D & A and is constantly praised for its detoxifying properties. Now on a mission to make it a part of my diet, here is one way I was able to actually enjoy it.

Ingredients:

-2 bushels (?) of broccoli
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 4 slices of bacon
- 2ish tsp red pepper flakes
- olive oil spray

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450. Break up all the broccoli and cauliflower into florettes. Wash them (unless you like dirt and bugs).
2. Get them fairly dry and place them on an olive oil sprayed baking sheet.
3. Give your veggies a once over with the olive oil spray, just enough to lightly coat them but not so much that you can see your reflection in it.
4. Cut up your bacon into bite-size pieces and evenly distribute it on the baking sheet with the cauliflower and broccoli.

5. Sprinkle your red pepper flakes over everything. You can use more or less than the 2 tsp, you're the one who has to eat it.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste, then toss that bad boy in the oven for 15 - 17 minutes. Feel free to shake up the veggies about halfway through the cook process to ensure they cook evenly.
7. Let 'em cool, serve them up and say hello to some broccoli!

Pesto Please!

When you start worrying about your waistline, the first thing you cut is carby goodies like bread, cookies and , you guessed it, pasta. As someone who has been carb-concious since 2007, I can fully admit that it has been easily a year since I indulged in spaghetti. This is why:

I LOVE pesto. However, your typical pesto includes things like parmesan cheese and pine nuts - both of which are frowned upon in the paleo world and for good reason. Just because it's not good for me in it's original form, doesn't mean I can't tweak it to meet my discerning paleo taste.

Ingredients:
-1 cup spinach
- 3.5 cups fresh basil
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 cup walnuts (preferably in halves or pieces)
- 6 cloves garlic
- .25 tsp salt
- 2 tbs lemon juice

1. Toss walnuts, olive oil, salt and garlic into your handy food processor and pulse until they are a creamy texture.
2. Add basil (de-stemmed if necessary), spinach and lemon juice.
3. Continue to pulse until you reach an even and smooth consistency.

NOTE - this makes a ton of pesto, feel free to use it on absolutely anything. My dish of choice was made up of raw zuchinni that I ran through the Sprializer (the most amazing device ever) to replicate the texture of spaghetti. I added some grilled chicken to get my protein in and then tossed it with my pesto. A little goes a long way with this flavorful sauce, so this batch should last you at least a few weeks!