Chicken and Chard

I discovered another favorite recipe from Everyday Paleo. Matt bought some rainbow chard from the Grower's Market a couple of weeks ago so I went on a hunt for recipes with chard. I made it and absolutely loved it! We bought more chard this past weekend so I decided to make it again. It is super easy to make and I just loved all the flavors together!

Chicken and Chard 

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
• 1 large bunch of rainbow chard  (roughly chopped)
• 1/2 red or sweet onion (diced)
• 5 garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 (4oz) can of roasted green chiles 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of raisins and slivered almonds for garnish

Directions:

1. Saute onions over medium heat in 2 tablespoons coconut oil

2. Once onions are translucent, add chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes

3. Add garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes

4. Add green chile and cumin

5. Add chopped chard and cook for a few minutes or until wilted

6. Add slivered almonds and raisins as garnish and  Enjoy :)

 

Birthday Brownies

Last week was my dad's birthday and I am usually the one to make the sweet treats in the family. I had been looking for an excuse to experiment with Paleo Sweet Treats so I used my family as guinea pigs for these brownies :)

They turned out really good and extremely rich! You don't even need a big piece to get the yummy chocolatey and nutty flavor! I combined two different recipes from this website.

Brownie Ingredients 

• 16 ounces of walnut butter (take a bag of walnuts and ground in the food processor)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup agave nectar or honey
• 1tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 ounces chopped dark chocolate

Sauce Ingredients

• 1/3 cup agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 8x8 baking pan

2. Mix together walnuts, vanilla, agave, and egg

3. Add baking soda, salt, and cocoa

4. Once the batter is incorporated completely, mix in chopped chocolate

5. Pour batter in greased pan and bake for 30-35 minutes

For the sauce, heat cocoa and agave in a sauce pan and pour over cooled brownies. I also added slivered almonds, which made a nice finishing touch!

Enjoy :)

Grilled Chokes

Last night we went to the first night of Zoo Music! I also finished my classes for the first session of summer school, so it was nice to get out of the house and not think about having to do homework! You are able to pack a picnic to the Zoo and sit out in the grass to enjoy good music, food, and friends! To get ready I busted out my picnic bag that I got for my birthday last year and turned on my grill  (also from my birthday last year :) )

The menu included: grilled artichokes, grilled peppers, grilled peaches, left over brownies (recipe coming soon) and mixed fruit with nuts!

Grilled Artichokes

1. Cut the ends off all of the tips of the artichokes with scissors. Cut the tops off with a knife.

2. Stem artichokes using a steamer basket and about an inch of water. 

3. When they are tender (I steamed them for about 20 minutes), carefully take them out of the pot.

4. Slice the artichokes in half lengthwise (careful--they will be hot if you don't allow them to cool enough)

5. Using a spoon, scoop the "choke" out (the hairy looking things toward the bottom)

6. Brush olive oil and salt/pepper on both sides of artichoke

7. Cook on medium heat on the grill for 5-10 minutes each side

Grilled Mini Peppers and Grilled Peaches

1. Brush the peppers with olive oil and salt/pepper and place on the grill turning occasionally

2. Slice peaches in half. Take the seed out. Brush with olive oil and place on grill turning occasionally (I forgot to get a picture of the peaches)

I just love summer! 

Smile, laugh, and live in the moment :)

This montage of pictures (Canine Bliss Series by Chris Becker) was in the June issue of Real Simple Magazine. The caption for it says:
"To me, nothing says 'happiness' quite like a dog hanging its head out of a car window...it has a straightforward purpose: to make the viewer smile, laugh, and remember to live in the moment."
That's it....enjoy :)

Paleo Pancakes

Yay for delicious Paleo Pancakes! I am not going to lie...I was somewhat skeptical about pancakes that would taste good and be Paleo. But I think I like these pancakes more than regular ones. They are also super easy to make and only have 3 ingredients! I can't wait to make them again :)

mmm.....

Paleo Pancakes

• 3 bananas
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup Almond Butter  

1. Mash bananas in a large bowl
2. Mix in eggs and almond butter until smooth (you can use more or less almond butter depending on your desired consistency)
3. Heat pan and coat with coconut oil
4. Use a 1/4 cup to pour batter in pan
5. Cook on both sides until brown (about 1-2 minutes on each side)
6. Enjoy with fresh fruit, honey, or maple syrup

Bananas, eggs, almond butter

Mash bananas in large bowl

Mix in eggs and almond butter until smooth

Use a 1/4 cup to pour batter in pan

Enjoy with fresh fruit, honey, or maple syrup

Coconut Macaroons

I decided to make Coconut Macaroons today because they are a "Paleo Friendly" dessert. Earlier this spring, I made several dozen macaroons for our Passover Family Sedar. I didn't write down the recipe I used though. So I spent a good portion of the afternoon today looking for a recipe (more specifically the recipe!) but didn't have much luck. So...I decided to "wing it" and try to create my own. It definitely wasn't the same as the ones I made earlier this year, but they were still a sweet treat ! I will work on fine-tuning the recipe in the future.

Coconut Macaroons

• 3 cups coconut 
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• lemon zest

Coconut, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. Whisk together egg whites and sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract 
3. Mix in coconut and lemon zest. Be sure to coat all of the coconut with the egg mixture.
4. Use a tablespoon scoop to drop coconut mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (makes about 30 cookies)
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are toasted
6. (optional) Dip in melted chocolate and put in refrigerator to set
7. Enjoy :)

   

   Whisk together egg whites and sugar. Add vanilla and almond extract

   
   

Mix in coconut and lemon zest. Be sure to coat all of the coconut with the egg mixture.

Use a tablespoon scoop to drop coconut mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are toasted

(optional) Dip in melted chocolate and put in refrigerator to set and most importantly ENJOY :)

New Look

So I may have been somewhat distracted in class today and started downloading fonts online from this website. I never would have imagined that there would be so many crazy fonts to choose from! I am going to have to fun writing in Word and playing with them all. Hopefully when I have time to scrapbook, I will be able to use some of them.

I also discovered free blog backgrounds at The Cutest Blog on the Block! I love the name of it and there were so many to choose from! I will be checking out her other backgrounds often! For now, I am happy with this one!

It is the little things that make me smile!

Egg Cupcakes

 This past weekend, I flipped through every page of Everyday Paleo and marked all of the recipes I wanted to try. One of those was Egg Cupcakes. I started my summer school classes for my masters this week and knew that I was going to have to have snacks for the day ready and have little time in the mornings. I made a batch and put them in the fridge for the week. I like them because you can eat them cold straight out of the fridge or I have been heating them up in the toaster oven and eating them with my favorite Chunky Salsa from Trader Joe's. I have been eating two in the morning for breakfast and really like them. Next time I am going to try out a few different variations of ingredients and probably less spinach to make them less watery.

Egg Cupcakes

  (adapted from Everyday Paleo)

• 10-12 eggs
•  1 cup peppers (I used red and yellow mini sweet peppers) 
• 1 cup squash (I used a yellow squash and zucchini from the Grower’s Market)
• 4 slices of cooked bacon (you can use more or less if desired) 
• 4 handfuls of spinach
• 2 cloves garlic 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan (I used Pam). 

 2. Whisk together eggs in a large bowl 

             3. Combine peppers, squash, garlic, and bacon in a food processor. 

          They should be chopped in small pieces and not be a runny consistency. 

4. Add to the bowl of eggs and mix.

5. Put the spinach in the food processor and chop. (I may have used too much spinach and will probably use less next time).

Add the spinach to the egg mixture.

6. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, pour eggs in muffin pan. 

7. Bake 20-25 minutes until center is set. (Makes about 18-20)

Flowers make me SMILE

I just love flowers. Something about them brings a smile to face everytime! I try to have fresh flowers in my house as often as possible!

This summer I decided to have a flower garden instead of a vegetable garden. Last year my tomatoes were out of control! They just kept growing until they took over the small bed. I also tried to grow artichokes last year…again a crazy looking plant that didn’t produce any artichokes! When I have more space I will try to plant more veggies again.

I have a few different flowers in my garden. I love sitting outside and looking at them! I didn’t realize it when I was buying them but I have lots of pinks and red flowers. My Lilies were my favorite! They bloomed soon after putting them in the ground and had the most beautiful yellow and orange colors. My Daylilies are trying hard to survive but not sure if they are going to make it. Surprisingly my strawberries came back this year (they haven’t flowered yet though). There is also another flower/plant that I came back from last year that is huge (I threw a bunch of seeds in the ground last summer and not sure what type of flower it is).  I am looking forward to spending lots of time outside on my little patio/backyard and enjoying my flowers this year :)

Pecan Crusted Chicken

I tried out my first recipe from Everyday Paleo! It was actually the first recipe listed and I pretty much had all the ingredients in my kitchen.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken

•    ½ cup spicy brown mustard (I used a Honey Dijon because that was I already had)  
•   2 Tablespoons of honey
•     1 cup pecans, crushed
•     Boneless, skinless chicken breasts--dried with paper towel (her recipe says 4, but I made 3)

1.   Heat oven to 350° 
2.   Whisk together the mustard and honey in medium bowl
3.  Finely chop pecans  (I used my Magic Bullet for half and used a knife to chop the other half)  and put in another bowl
   
4. Roll the chicken in the mustard and then into the pecans—be sure to coat both sides
5.   Place the chicken in a greased glass baking dish and bake for 45 minutes

I was pleased with the results. My chicken didn’t quite look like the picture in the book, however it was tasty and got a thumbs up. I also made a salad to go with the chicken:

•  Spinach
• Red Peppers
• Mushrooms
• Artichoke Hearts
• Chopped Pecans

mmmm…..

Everyday Paleo

I have been eagerly waiting all morning for the UPS truck to arrive! After coming home from a delicious lunch at P'Tit Louis Bistro , my much anticipated package was waiting at the door. I literally dropped what I was doing and ripped open the package. 

Matt has introduced me to the Paleo eating lifestyle. I don’t want to call it a diet, because the word diet has a negative stigma attached to it. The more I read about it, the more I look at it as a lifestyle change.

As I begin reading more and more about Paleo eating, the more intrigued I am. It basically cuts out processed foods, dairy, legumes, and grains. It says that we should be eating the way our Paleolithic ancestors ate; meat, fruits, and veggies. While I haven’t quite gotten rid of all of the grains from my pantry, I have started to change the way I eat. I am excited to try out the recipes from Everyday Paleo. I have already been looking at several of them on Sarah Fragoso’s blog, Everyday Paleo.

Wish me luck in my adventures in Paleo cooking!

What's for lunch?

Today is the start of summer vacation! No more rushed mornings, trying to pack my lunch for the day (well for a few days at least...summer school starts next week). For lunch today I made a yummy salad with ingredients that I had on hand in the fridge.

•  Spinach
•  Strawberries 
•  Artichoke Hearts
•  Slivered Almonds
•  Balsamic Breeze Spray Dressing

Welcome

Welcome to Sweet Treats by Shayna

I have entered the world of blogging! I will be sharing a little bit here and there about whatever is on my mind at the moment, recipe adventures, or projects in progress. Feel free to stop by and share comments!