Nutrition

The Crossfitters Kitchen

From Jen L.


Apple Cinnamon Paleo Muffins

1 c almond flour
1 c unsweetened finely shredded coconut
2 eggs
1 large apple, cored, peeled, and diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp almond butter
1/4 c raw honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
a dash of nutmeg

Mix all ingredients and divide evenly into a muffin tin. Bake 15 minutes at 375F. Makes 1 dozen. The recipe can easily be halved, but fill the 6 unused muffin cups halfway with water so the pan heats evenly.

Some Bonus Variations

Blueberry Muffins:
substitute 1/2 to 1 cup of blueberries for the apples
you could omit the cinnamon or swap it out for another spice

Peach Muffins:
substitute a cup of chopped peaches for the apples
could be really good with local Colorado peaches in the summer!

Nut Muffins:
omit apples
increase olive oil to 3 Tbsp
add 1/2 c chopped walnuts or pecans
maybe add a little unsweetened applesauce too, if they are too dry

 

Coconut Chicken Curry

 

 Nicole found this recipe on Cosmopolitan Primal Girl 

Paleo Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients (serves 4):
- 4 chicken thighs & legs (still intact), skin on
-  1 cauliflower (to make the rice)
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 Onion – finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves – smashed and roughly chopped
- 1 red chili pepper – seeds removed, chopped (I used a Scotch Bonnet pepper)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp curry powder

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, heat coconut oil to a med-high heat
2. Put chicken pieces into the skillet and cook until each side golden-browned (about 3 min per side)
3. Remove chicken and set aside.
4. Add onion, garlic and chili – saute for about 3 min or until soft
5. Add the coconut milk and curry powder – mix together thoroughly
6. Add back the chicken and simmer at medium heat covered for about 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  You can use a meat thermometer to check and it should be about 155 before you stop cooking it (it will continue to cook up to 160 which is the perfect internal temp).  The coconut milk that the chicken is simmering in should cover about 1/2 of the chicken – if yours’ doesn’t you can add more coconut milk or some chicken stock.
7. For the cauliflower rice, either use your food processor to chop the cauliflower to a rice consistency or use a cheese grater.  If you have a microwave you can cook it in the microwave for 3 minutes and it’ll be good to go.  Otherwise you can steam it for a few minutes.  I always cook my cauliflower after I’ve grated it.
8. Serve the chicken on a bed of cauliflower rice.  
9. Enjoy!

Nicole said "I made this last night, it was amazing!"

Kim said "I changed a few things. Wanting leftovers, I doubled the recipe. Because I had broccoli and because broccoli acts like a flavor sponge in a curry dish, I added that too. The Cauliflower Rice is fantastic and my 13 and 15 year old girls loved it."

Check out the Cosmo Primal Girl website. Lots of great info. Post your thoughts about the recipe in comments  

 

Sharing Recipes-This one is from Joe

Hey Kim—

Since becoming “primal” I have had a pretty easy time dealing with the cravings (27 years of pasta is easier to ignore than I thought it would be!) but the one thing I can’t seem to shake is the desire for a good piece of pizza! So, when I find some free time I like to scour the various primal websites for new recipes to keep me living according to our true nature. I am a huge fan of Mark Sisson’s site and from there I found the personal blog of another primal (www.castlegrok.com) and for the most part his blog is... meh. However, he does have a few really tasty looking recipes on there, particularly one for meatza. Meatza, for those of us not in the know (I was one of them as well) is a pizza that uses a meat source for the crust—pretty crazy, I know! However, it sounded really good, so I went ahead and tried it and HOLY BURPEES was this sucker tasty! I’ve got some pics and the directions accompanying for anyone interested. Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Crust Pizza (aka Meatza)

Ingredients:

·       36 oz of raw chicken

·       3 eggs

·       1 Tbsp. of red palm oil (I didn’t have r.p.o. so I used Sesame oil and it was WONDERFUL-fabulous flavor/aroma)

·       2 Tbsp. of melted butter

·       Various spices for crust/sauce

·       1 small can (I think they’re 5-6oz) tomato paste/small bit of water to loosen paste

·       Cheese of choice (if you’re still eating dairy)

·       Butter for greasing cookie sheet

·       Cookie sheet for baking

Directions:                        

·       Take the raw chicken and slice into small pieces (about 1” square) and place in to blender or food processor to puree. This was much easier than I thought it’d be.

·       Place pureed chicken in mixing bowl. Add eggs, spices (I used 2Tsp garlic salt, 1Tbsp ground pepper, 1Tbsp dried parsley) and oil. I also added 2Tbsp of melted butter for a bit of added fat.

·       Prepare your cookie sheet by greasing generously with fat of choice (I used butter) this is very important if you want your slices to come off in one piece.

·       Place “dough” on sheet and spread out to desired width/thickness (I had a solid 12” by a good ½ inch thick crust)

A Recipe from the Whole 30

From Melissa Urban at The Whole 30 Recipe Book

  

 

Mexi-Salad with fresh Guacamole

Taco salad:

• 2 lbs. organic, grass-fed ground beef (fresh, or frozen and thawed)
• 1 can (16 oz.) of organic diced tomatoes (read ingredients!), or dice your own
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 head of fresh, crisp romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 each yellow, green and red pepper, diced
• 1 jar of organic salsa (or make your own )

Guacamole:

• 4 fresh avocado, pitted and mashed
• 1-2 garlic cloves, pressed
• 2 limes, squeezed for juice (squeeze them like you’re deadlifting!)
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• fresh cilantro (chopped), to taste

Instructions:

• Prepare the guacamole ahead of time, and chill while you make the salad.  Mash the avocado in a glass or ceramic bowl* to desired consistency.  Pour the lime juice over the avocado right away to prevent browning.  Use a wooden spoon* to mix in all other ingredients.

*The lime juice in this recipe is reactive with metal, so avoid metal mixing bowls and spoons.  Plus, we always prefer alternatives to plastic.

• Start to brown the ground beef.  Add tomatoes and spices and simmer until it’s no longer pink.  Drop a pile of chopped romaine on a plate, top with ground beef, sprinkle with diced pepper and cover with fresh salsa.  Spoon a hearty helping of guacamole on the side.

We’d also like this topped with black olives, onion or chives, or any other fresh vegetables you can think of.  You can also boost your leafy green consumption by using baby spinach as your salad base… but there’s something about the warm ground beef on top of the crispness of romaine that we really like. (A blend of both lettuce and spinach might be just the thing.)

We don’t count calories or blocks, so we’re not sure what this would work out to from a macronutrient perspective… but if you Zone, you can easily figure that out for yourself.  Add or subtract fat in the form of more or less guacamole, and if you need more carbs, consider adding pineapple or making a mango salsa instead of the traditional tomato-based version. Olé!

Spaghetti?

Any Paleo/Primal eater knows that pasta is a no-no. I have found that since giving it up I've really not missed it. On occasion though, I do crave spaghetti sauce! Spaghetti Squash is named so for a reason. After being cooked the meat of the vegetable is scraped out and it resembles strands of spaghetti. I can be a great alternative to noodles as a conduit for your favorite (paleo/primal) sauces. When buying look for squash that is heavy for it's size. Most grocery store spagehetti squashes are orange to pale yellow in color. The more orange the color the more sweet the squash.

My squash was slightly orange and had a mild sweet flavor. I paired it with a store bought spaghetti sauce. I felt that the squash was a bit too sweet but I still enjoyed it. The next morning I pulled out the left overs and had it with a strip of bacon. Now that was amazing! The pairing of the lightly sweet squash and the saltiness of the bacon worked beautifully. I added nothing else to it. I think that in the future if I want to use a red sauce (that usually tend to be a bit sweet because of the tomato base) I'll look around for a more pale squash.

Basic Spaghetti Recipe
Baked: Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Whole-Pierce the fruit several times with a long fork or skewer. Place on a baking sheet. Bake for one hour. Squash is done when an inserted fork meets little resistance. To reduce baking time, cut in half longwise, place cut side down and bake for approx. 30 mins.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10-20 mins. Cut in half long wise. Scoop out the seeds like a pumpkin. Using a fork scrape all the flesh away from the skin. Getting as close to the skin as possible.

I will be experimenting further in the near future. For now try this recipe

Spaghetti Squash and Bacon
One cooked and prepared spaghetti squash using above recipe.
A few strips of crispy bacon
2 Tablespoon olive oil
Sprinkle of parsley

In a skillet heat the olive oil, add the squash and bacon bits. Toss until heated through. Sprinkle with a bit of parsley.

Enjoy!

Zone, Recipes