Grub It Up: Homemade Fruit Slurpees!

I don't know about your kiddos, but we LOVE slurpees. There's a 7-11 right by our dry cleaners and whenever we do a pickup/dropoff with mom, we beg and plead for some of those brain-freezing drinks. They are fine every once in a while, mom says, but apparently there's not a whole lot of healthy in there. So when we put "make fruity drinks" on our Summer Bucket List, mom knew she wanted to try to make some healthier fruit slurpees. And since everyone seems to be pulling down pounds of picked fruit this week, we thought it would be a good time to try it. We used organic frozen fruit, but you can clean, chop and freeze anything you pick and then use it in the drink. And while lemonade still has sugar in it, you can use a variety sweetened without high fructose corn syrup that's a bit healthier (we like Newman's). Happy brain freeze!

Homemade Fruit Slurpees

makes 2 servings

(based off of this Babble recipe)

Ingredients

- 2 cups lemonade

- 1 1/2 cups ice 

- 1/2 cup frozen fruit (we used a tropical mix and separated the strawberries from the mango/pineapple/banana to make pretty layers)

Directions

1. If you want to make a layered drink, separate frozen fruit into color groups.

2. Blend 1 cup lemonade, 3/4 cup ice, and 1/4 cup frozen fruit together. Set aside. 

3. Blend remaining ingredients together. 

4. Spoon two frozen mixtures into layers in a glass. 

5. Drink! 

Grub It Up: Piña Colada Popsicles

We're no strangers to making popsicles, but this summer, we wanted to make some "fancy popsicles." (mom blames Iggy Azalea for all things fancy related). And once we returned from our awesome Jamaican vacation, there was no question as to what we were going to make: Piña Colada Popsicles. I didn't exactly keep track, but if I had to guestimate, I'd say that between the two of us, Cam and I put away about 75 kids piña coladas on vacation. And we wanted more. Mom obliged and made us these sweet, sweet pops. We had a bit of trouble getting all of them to freeze solid, but we scooped out the ones that didn't and ate them like ice cream. There were no complaints.

Piña Colada Popsicles (from The Cottage Market)

Ingredients

- 1 can of sweet coconut cream

- 1, 20 ounce can of chunk pineapple pieces with 100% natural pineapple juice

- 1/4 cup packed sweet granted coconut

- 8 maraschino cherries

- popsicle molds or dixie cups and popsicle sticks  

Directions 

1. Combine the can of sweet coconut cream and pineapple chunks (with juice) and blend in blender. 

2. Add sweetened shredded coconut, pulse just a few times.

3. Place a cherry at the bottom of your mold/dixie cup

4. Pour mixture into mold/cup and place in freezer for about an hour. Remove after an hour and add the popsicle stick. 

5. Put back into freezer for another 3-4 hours

Grub It Up: Citrus Bacon Shrimp + Grilled Stone Fruit Salad

Yes, mom did post a stone fruit and grilled shrimp salad last year. But this new one is somehow an entirely different taste and is PHENOMENAL. Kane wasn't having any part of it, but I'm big on trying new things. It is a must make. Seriously. It has so, so much flavor. Yet it really simple to make. Score.

In addition to the shrimp, mom has been grilling up a storm this summer. Almost every single night this past week, in fact. So before I get to the shrimp, here's our paleo/primal friendly menu from last week.

Monday -- Grilled Moroccan Chicken (I subbed ras el hanout for the other spices) + Butternut Squash Apple Hash

Tuesday -- The Perfect Paleo Burger (without avocado mousse and parsnip fries, still delish!) + grilled veggie kabobs

Wednesday -- leftovers

Thursday -- Citrus Bacon Shrimp + Grilled Stone Fruit Salad

Friday -- dinner out for mom + dad; TJs for us

Saturday -- dinner out for all at Custom Fuel Pizza -- not paleo, but mom did get a fairly good gluten free crust.

Sunday -- Italian Baked Eggs (no bread) + Salad

Citrus Bacon Shrimp + Grilled Stone Fruit Salad

(shrimp recipe slightly adapted from Paleo Newbie)

Shrimp + Bacon Skewers

Ingredients:

- 2 lbs large shrimp

- 16 strips of bacon

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- juice of 2 limes

- 2 tsp salt 

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 

Directions:

1. Peel and de-vein shrimp. Mix olive oil - garlic in a plastic bag, add cleaned shrimp, and allow to marinade for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator. 

2. Pre-heat oven to 400-degrees F. Place bacon on a foil-lined cookie sheet and cook for about 8 minutes -- just till partially cooked. Let cool for a few minutes and then cut each strip of bacon into thirds. 

3. When shrimp is finished marinating, thread shrimp and bacon onto skewers -- mom did a two shrimps, 1 piece bacon pattern.

4. Grill skewers for about 3 minutes each side. Let cool slightly before placing on salad.

Grilled Apricots 

- Half and de-pit desired number of fruit -- mom used 6. Brush all sides with olive oil. Grill 1-2 minutes each side.

Salad 

Ingredients:

- 1 lb spinach

- large handful of mini heirloom tomatoes, each halved

- 1 avocado, chopped

- 1/2 red onion, diced finely

- 1/3 cup pecans

- 2-3 tbsp honey chèvre

- balsamic vinegar + olive oil to drizzle

Directions: 

1. Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl. 

2. Place a serving of salad on plate, top with a few grilled apricots and two skewers of shrimp. 

3. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 

Grub It Up: Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Mom had a great paleo menu plan last week ... that got totally scrapped almost every night. It was just a crazy busy week. BUT she did swing these really yummy taco stuffed zucchini boats, which have been on her to-do list for quite some time. She stuck fairly close to the Skinny Taste recipe, but she only used 1/2 the number of zucchini called for (the original recipe calls for 4) -- she knew we wouldn't eat them, but that we would eat the turkey stuffing. And then she'd be left with empty, sad veggie boats. Her plan worked out. If your kiddos will eat their greens cooperatively, go ahead and use 4. If not, just pile extra turkey filling on top of the 2 for cooking. Mom thought this was flavorful, without being too spicy -- but if you like more heat, adjust the spices accordingly.

Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats

(from Skinny Taste)

Ingredients: 

- 2 medium (or 4 medium) zucchini, cut in half lengthwise

- 1/2 cup mild salsa

- 1 lb lean ground turkey

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1 tsp cumin

- 1 tsp kosher salt

- 1 tsp chili powder

- 1 tsp paprika

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- 1/2 small onion, minced

- 2 tbsp bell pepper, minced

- 4 oz can tomato sauce

- 1/4 cup water

- 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese

- 1/4 cup chopped scallions or cilantro, for topping

Directions: 

- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Preheat oven to 400 F. Place 1/4 cup of salsa in the bottom of a large baking dish.

- Using a small spoon or mellon scooper, hollow out the center of the zucchini halves, leaving 1/4-inch thick shell on each half. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces and set aside 3/4 of a cup to add to the taco filling (squeeze excess water with a paper towel). Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 1 minute. Remove from water.

- Brown turkey in a large skillet, breaking up while it cooks. When no longer pink, add the spices and mix well. Add the onion, bell pepper, reserved zucchini, tomato sauce and water. Stir and cover, simmer on low for about 20 minutes. 

- Using a spoon, fill the hollowed zucchini boats -- dividing the taco meat equally and pressing firmly. Top each with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and zucchini is cooked through. Top with scallions and serve with salsa on the side. 

Grub It Up: Almond Butter + Banana Smoothie

I know, more food. What can we say? Apparently all we've been doing is eating. But you'll be glad we shared this yummy, almost milkshake like, smoothie with you. It's super delicious, a quick blend, and a great way to get protein in your kiddos fast.

Almond Butter + Banana Smoothie (adapted from Lunchbox)
(serve 2)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 bananas (frozen or unfrozen)
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1 cup ice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions: pop all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Easy peasy.

Grub It Up: Salted Prosciutto-Wrapped Watermelon

Mom and I are OBSESSED with this seemingly bizarre snack combo we came up with recently (mom is also obsessed with her new black plates -- can you tell!?). The boys in our house don't particularly care for it, but we think it's perfect. It's salt, it's sweet, it's pretty much the perfect summer snack. We have it for breakfast, too. Mom doesn't even normally like watermelon (how un-American!), but she loves this. You have to try it!

Ingredients
- watermelon, sliced into 1 1/2" thick wedges
- sea salt
- thinly sliced prosciutto (about 1 piece per 2 watermelon slices)
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- goat cheese
- mint leaves for garnish

Directions
Sprinkle watermelon slices with sea salt. Cut each slice of prosciutto in half length-wise and wrap one piece around each watermelon slice. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Sprinkle goat cheese over the wrapped slices and garnish with mint. Devour. Repeat.

Grub It Up: Top 10 Favorite Spots to Eat

It's no secret that we love to eat. We are both big fans of dining out and love spending the week planning out where we'll dine for brunch and dinner on the weekend (not that we actually get to eat out every meal on the weekend, but we like to plan for it just in case). We've hit up a bunch of new spots lately and thought it would be fun to share our top ten favorite meals with you. Mom would like to stress that these are OUR favorites (not hers) -- she never seems to have trouble finding something at each spot, though. We are incapable of ranking them in order of favorites, so we've gone alphabetical by restaurant name.

p.s. don't worry -- mom makes us eat plenty of fruit and veggies at home, too.

1. DGS Delicatessen - we visited for the first time over spring break, but we won't stop talking about it. Our favorites were the gnocchi mac n' cheese, chicken and waffles, and the egg cremes, which according to Kane, were "so yummy, I want a 100 the next time we go."

2. El Centro DF - this was another spring break discovery of ours where we really branched out of our quesedilla safe zone to try a cheese enchilada. Mom's pretty sure that we loved it because the waitress promised to put candles in one for Cam's birthday, but Kane says he found it "very inspiring."

3. IHOP - we are weekend regulars at this breakfast staple, which is within walking distance of our house, and we usually show up in our jammies. Mom tries to make us order the Create a Face pancake (with fruit and yogurt), but we favor the Funny Face pancake (with chocolate chips, whip cream and maraschino cherries). Cam says the chocolate chip pancakes are "out of this world, totally yummy."

4. Nationals Park - we start eating from the moment we get off the metro stop (we get our peanuts outside the park for the walk over) and do not stop until the end of the game. Mom and dad don't mind because it ensures we actually make it through an entire game. You might not say it's a "meal" per se, but peanuts, popcorn, and dip n' dots are tops. "I love it all," says Kane.

5. Panera Bread - also within walking distance of us, we love a little weekend lunch at Panera. Mac n'cheese with a smoothie is our favorite and picking which cookie we'll get is always a big decision. "So delicious," according to Cami.

6. Pete's New Haven Style Apizza - we keep it simple here with slices of Original, but the real pull? "I like the gelato," Cam spills.

7. Pleasant Pops - Cameron brought this one up kind of out of nowhere, but it truly is one of our go to food trucks in the summer time. They also now have a store. According to Cami, she "like[s] all the flavors" of popsicles offered.

8. Potbelly Sandwich Shop - it's your standard turkey sub and chips meal, but as Kane says, "it has cheese."

9. Teds Bulletin - this has long been a favorite spot of ours and our favorite meal makes it clear why: Mr. Breakfast (with a bacon smile), 1/2 a vanilla shake, and whatever homemade pop tart we're feeling that day. Kane dishes that it's the pop tart that seals the deal: "They're outstanding. Different colors for different holidays." Can't go wrong.

10. Zaytinya - this is numerically last, but probably first in our hearts (if we HAD to pick). We love it for both brunch and dinner and even have made mom come up with our own version of the "Zaytinya snack plate" for home (toasted bread/pita, olive oil and balsamic vinegar dipping, hummus, a cheese, and usually a greek yogurt parfait). Kane's most favorite menu item are the meatballs, which he declares are "infinity out of this earth." Jose Andres was actually there on our last visit, but mom couldn't get Kane to go take a picture with him -- Kane said he'd "catch him next time."

Grub It Up: Frozen Hot Chocolate

So warmer weather finally seems to have moved in, but we decided that with the On-Demand release of the much-beloved "Frozen," we needed to make a frozen treat for movie viewing (mom might have been reaching a bit since it rained ALL weekend and daddy is on a long jaunt out of town, but we weren't complaining). It's not fancy, but that means it's an easy recipe and probably a good way to use up any of that powdered hot chocolate mix you've got left from spring errr.... winter. Here's the frezeal, you'll need:

- 2 packages of single-serving hot chocolate mix

- 3 cups milk 

- 1 1/2 - 2 cups ice 

- whip cream and marshmallows 

In a blender, blend hot chocolate mix, milk and ice. Top however you'd like. Mom gave us some chocolate and vanilla macaroons, too. Yum! 

Holidaze: St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Fun

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! If you're anywhere in our area of the country, we understand if the snow has you confused. BUT it is indeed March and St. Paddy's Day! To celebrate, mom rounded up our favorite rainbow activities, all of which can be done indoors for those in the cold. AND stay tuned for a snow-related rainbow activity on our Facebook page later today!

- Rainbow Cupcakes
- Rainbow Popsicles
- Rainbow Roller Paintings
- Rainbow Scavenger Hunt
- Rainbow Shaving Cream Tub Paint

Grub It Up: Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Blackcurrent Dipping Sauce and Ombre Citrus Carrots

We have no idea what's going on in the universe, but our social calendar has been cray-cray this week. We've been meeting up and dining out on a ridiculous schedule that has made it very clear we could never keep up with the Kardashians. BUT mom did sneak in one homemade meal that was so ridiculously good, we didn't have any leftovers (fortunately, our dining out schedule ensured we didn't need them). Everyone ate everything on their plates -- dipping sauce and veggies included, which basically never happens. It might have had something to do with the fact that, altogether, the meal made a rainbow on our plate. Or that we accompanied mom to the grocery store and made her buy two bunches of expensive carrots. Mom would like to think it had something to do with her hand peeling all those pistachios. Either way, it was delish.

Pistachio-Crusted Chicken with Blackcurrent Dipping Sauce 

(slightly adapted from South Beach Primal)

Ingredients

For the Chicken: 

- 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch strips 

- 1 cup pistachios, peeled

- 1/2 cup ground almond flour 

- 2 tbsp fresh parsley

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- salt, to taste

- 1 egg

For the Dipping Sauce:

- 3 tbsp unsweetened black currant jam

- 3 tbsp whole grain mustard

- 1 tbsp raw honey

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 500 F degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets with coconut oil and set aside. 

- Blend the pistachios using a food processor until you have a crumb consistency. Add the almond flour, parsley, garlic powder and salt. Pulse until incorporated. Dump the breading onto a flat plate.

- In a small, shallow bowl, beat the egg well. Dip strips of chicken first in the egg and then coat with the pistachio breading. Place coated chicken strips onto baking sheets. 

- Place trays in the oven, bringing the temperature back down to 375 F. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until fully cooked. 

- In a small bowl, mix together the black currant mustard sauce ingredients. Serve on the side of the chicken tenders. 

Ombre Citrus Carrots

(from Beard & Bonnet)

Ingredients

- 4-6 colorful carrots, I used 2 large red, 2 large orange, and 2 yellow 

- 3 tbsp melted butter or olive oil

- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

- zest from 1 orange

- 2 - 3 springs fresh thyme

- kosher salt to taste

Directions

- Preheat the oven to 450 F with an oven rack in the center position. Lightly brush the bottom of a medium baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter/olive oil and set aside. 

- Wash and peel the carrots then slice thinly -- about 1/4 inch thick. Line the sliced carrots in the baking dish in whatever pattern you'd like. 

- Mix the orange juice with the remaining butter and drizzle over the top of the arranged carrots. Sprinkle coarse salt to taste over the top of the dish along with the orange zest and thyme leaves. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of your carrot slices. 

- Serve warm.

Grub It Up: Slow-Cooker Brisket and Onions

So between the polar vortex madness and spring race training, mom's been having a real hard time staying strictly paleo. She ended up stopping her Whole30 about 1/2 way through and trying a more modified paleo diet, but it hasn't been doing the trick. It's just not enough calories and carbohydrates to support running for hours and, likely more importantly, it quickly became clear that day after day of canceled school due to anticipated snow was not going to happen sans evening cocktails. SO, what that means is that we are in an extremely modified paleo mode for a while. Mom plans to do another Whole30 after her 1/2 marathon in March, which hopefully will also be the end of this insane winter weather.

But paleo or not, and it happens to be, this classic beef brisket went over like gangbusters in our house. Kane even asked if she could make it again for our family Superbowl party yesterday, for which he had already planned a very serious menu. And it takes about 10 minutes of actual working time to make -- the real work is done by the slowcooker over 6 hours. Mom served it up with carmelized brussels sprouts with bacon, balsamic vinegar and goat cheese. We had ours with carrots and some butter noodles. YUM.

Slow-Cooker Brisket and Onions 

(from Martha Stewart) 

Ingredients

- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

- 2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

- 1 first cut* of beef brisket (4 pounds), trimmed of excess fat

- coarse salt and ground pepper

- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving 

Directions

In a 5- to 6- quart slow cooker, combine onion and garlic. Season brisket with salt and pepper and place, fat side up, in slow cooker. Add broth. Cover and cook on high until brisket is fork-tender, about 6 hours. Remove brisket and thinly slice against the grain. Serve with onion and some cooking liquid; sprinkle with parsley.

* according to Martha, a "whole brisket is made up of a first cut and a second cut." She used the leaner first cut for hers. I used what Trader Joe's had, which I'm pretty sure was a whole brisket, and it was still delicious.

Grub It Up: Greek Spaghetti Squash

This week. Oh, this week. We're sick of hearing ourselves complain about how cold it is, so we'll just let that go without saying, but we (mom) took definite advantage of the snow and cold days last week and suspended basically all dietary restrictions (and good sense). We've now (mostly) righted ourselves, after seeing that it's not going to get warmer any time soon. But, suffice it to say, there was not much cooking and definitely not much paleo cooking going on in our house last week. Here's the pathetic bit we've got that's reportable:

M -- W: exempt holiday/snow/f'ing cold/daddy brought cannolis back from boston days

Th: Paleo Chicken Fingers and Greek Spaghetti Squash -- the chicken fingers are an old favorite, but the spaghetti squash was a new one. Mom and dad seemed to love it. Mom finally got the squash cooking down pat and thought this had great flavors. A keeper. Plus, she doesn't usually love feta cheese, but she found a really yummy sheep's feta cheese at Trader Joes and is now a convert (for those who eat dairy on paleo, check it out).

F: Sauteed Lemon Chicken with Onions and Roasted Grape Goat Cheese Honey Sweet Potatoes -- HOLY HECK. Mom almost posted on both of these, but she was so excited that she finally got the spaghetti squash to work, she insisted on that. We LOVED this chicken (mom subbed honey for the sugar) and mom and dad seemed legitimately sad that mom only had one sweet potato to split between the two of them. Both of these are at the top of our list now.

S: empty the refrigerator omelets -- no recipe, just whatever perishable tidbits went well together.

S: dinner out and not paleo -- it was cold outside. that's all we've got.

Here's to a week full of more clean eating and less weather complaining. When we feel cold, we'll just think of our poor Chicago cousins who have a week full of temperatures far below 0.

Greek Spaghetti Squash

(slightly adapted from Nibbles and Noshes)

Ingredients

- 1 spaghetti squash

- 2 tbls olive oil, divided

- 1-2 tbls of red wine vinegar

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 tbls fresh basil, chopped

- 1/2 tbls of oregano

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/4 tsp ground pepper

- 1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, chopped

- 1/2 an onion, chopped

- 1/2 cup Kalamatta olives, pitted

- 2 tbls fresh parsley, roughly chopped

- feta cheese, to top 

Instructions

Spaghetti Squash

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

- Cut the squash in half lengthwise, from pole to pole. Remove all seeds and stringy bits. 

- Place two squash halves, cut side up, in a rimmed baking tray and add about a cup of water.

- Place squash in the oven and roast until a fork can be inserted easily into the squash's flesh, but it is not mushy. About 45-60 minutes. 

- Carefully remove the roasted squash from the oven and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then use a fork to scrape out the squash's flesh into stringy "spaghetti."

Vegetables

- While the squash is roasting, combine 1 tbls of olive oil, red wine vinegar, 1 clove of the minced garlic, and salt into a bowl and then add the chopped tomatoes. Stir to coat as thoroughly as possible and allow the mixture to sit for at least 20 minutes. 

- When the spaghetti squash is ready, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When the oil is hot, add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to turn translucent. 

- Add the remaining garlic and cook for about 30 additional seconds.

- Drain the tomato mixture and then add it to the skillet. Add the oregano, basil and pepper, and then allow it to cook for 2-3 minutes.

- Toss in the spaghetti squash. You may turn up the heat to brown it slightly, if you'd like, or just reheat it. 

- Move the skillet from the heat and stir in the olives and parsley and then top with feta.

Grub It Up: Hot Chocolate Spoons

We are SO excited to be coming out of this week's snowstorm. The first day was fun for about 5 minutes --  until mom told us we'd be spending the day continuing our clothing and toy purge we started on our MLK holiday. Whaaaaat!? At least we had plenty of these yummy hot chocolate spoons leftover from last weekend's brunch to get us through. They were super easy to make and went over big with our buds at the party. All you have to do is add the spoon to warm milk, stir in the chocolate, and drink up!

Here's how we made ours. You'll need:

- silicone ice cube molds
- 1 bag dark chocolate chips
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips
- 1 bag white chocolate chips
- sprinkles
- mini marshmallows
- mini wooden spoons

Melt each chocolate slowly in a saucepan -- you need to stir it constantly so that it doesn't burn. Spoon chocolate in desired pattern into each ice cube mold about 3/4 of the way. Place spoon in and hold it for a few seconds while the chocolate sets around it. Add any sprinkles or mini marshmallows you want. Let the cubes set for about 10-15 minutes on the counter and then move carefully to refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes.

Ours came out of the molds pretty easily and we even wrapped some extras up in plastic lollipop bags for our friends to take home as goodies.

Grub It Up: Winter Salad

We know. Another salad. But, according to mom, this one is just too delicious and simple to make not to share. Plus, Cam and I have been picky eaters lately. And it's easier for mom to stick with tried and true main dishes and experiment a bit with sides for the 'rents to change things up. For that reason, and because we had NO leftovers last week, mom doubled most recipes this week. Which meant that we also ate leftovers way more than usual this week. By Sunday, when mom asked whether he'd like chicken burgers for dinner, dad said "you mean the chicken burgers I ate three times this week? no." Oh well.

btw, if you haven't checked out mom's other blog in a while, they posted a great weekly Paleo shopping list template and menu planner recently. You can download it for free -- just follow this link. Mom uses it to plan, organize, and shop for the week.

Monday -- dinner out at Daily Grill with Aunt Erin. Steak for mom and mac n' cheese for us.

Tuesday -- Roasted Pork Loin with Grapes and Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts -- mom somehow ordered a 10.5 pound pork loin! She had to cut that baby into threes and freeze two sections of it. Even then, 3 pounds of pork is a lot of loin.

Wednesday -- leftovers (shocking).

Thursday -- Apple Basil Chicken Burgers and Roasted Carrots -- despite being our favorite chicken burger the last time mom made these, we were both finicky about them. We did love those carrots, though.

Friday -- leftovers (hahaha).

Saturday -- Baked Egg + Prosciutto Cups and Winter Salad -- we had a big group of friends over for brunch on Saturday and had leftover egg + prosciutto cups for din. Dad and Cam were itching to get out of the house, so they actually went on a dinner date. But mom and I stayed in and noshed more brunch food. If you don't eat dairy, just leave the cheese out.

Sunday -- Paleo Burgers, Sweet Potato Fries and Winter Salad. leftovers? mom tried. We insisted on something new, so she whipped up some easy burgers WITHOUT onions this week -- they were quite tasty (mom cut the paprika in half and left out the red pepper).

Winter Salad

(from Heirloom)

Ingredients

Salad:

- 4-6 cups mixed fresh spinach and arugula

- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

- 1-2 apples, chopped or diced

- 1/2 cup walnuts

- sea salt and pepper to taste

Vinaigrette: 

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 1 tbsp raw honey

- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

- 1 tsp water

Directions

- Place all salad ingredients in a large bowl. 

- For vinaigrette, whisk together all ingredients. Pour over salad and toss. 

Grub It Up: Shaved Beet, Carrot, and Radish Salad with Coriander Mustard Viniagrette

Mom started her second (and much-needed after a long holiday stretch of dabbling in carbs and drink) Whole30 challenge this week and planned ahead to incorporate some interesting salads. Her first challenge was successful, but she felt like she made the same side salad over and over and over again. First up this week was a yummy beet, carrot, and radish salad. Well, yummy for mom and dad. We were interested in it, but no way were we touching it. Instead mom mandolined some long carrot strips separately for us and that novelty did the trick for a bit. If your everyday dinner salad needs some shaking up, give this one a try.

And here's our menu from this past week, in case you're looking for something to go with your salad. Any newbie paleo/primal/clean eaters out there? What are YOU cooking?

Monday -- Lemon Chicken with Olives and Cauliflower Rice -- mom's favorite quick meal that is a sure win with everyone.

Tuesday -- Italian Baked Eggs (minus the cheese and bread), Shaved Beet salad below -- mom wipes the sauce off our eggs for us and serves ours with fruit.

Wednesday -- Burgers and Salad (no recipes here, just easy quick fixes) -- despite being the most straightforward meal of the week, we threw fits about the onion in our burgers.

Thursday -- Creamy Shrimp over Zucchini Pasta -- daddy was not a fan of the coconutty sauce. mom said it was so-so and probably won't make it again. the kids had mac n'cheese.

Friday -- Honey Orange Chicken and Broccoli -- kiddos got brown rice, too

Saturday -- dinner out at District Chophouse -- steaks the size of our heads for all.

Sunday -- BBQ Baked Chicken and Sweet Potato French Fries -- mom generally followed the BBQ sauce directions, but left out the spicy spices and pineapple. she added honey instead. and she baked the chicken instead of grilling it. it was just OK. we're guessing it would have been better grilled.

Shaved Beet, Carrot and Radish Salad with Coriander Mustard Vinaigrette 

(slightly adapted from gourmande in the kitchen)

Ingredients
Dressing:
- 1 1/2 tbls apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbl extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp raw honey
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- freshly ground black pepper to taste

Shaved Salad:
- 4 small golden beets, peeled
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into two
- 1 small bunch of radishes, trimmed and cleaned
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a large bowl.

- Thinly slice the beets, carrot, and radishes on a mandolin or in a food processor with the slicing attachment.

- Toss the sliced vegetables with the dressing to coat evenly. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, season to taste with additional salt and freshly ground pepper if desired.

Grub It Up: Real Snow Maple Snow Cones

I wish we could say that we've been off solving some big world problem, but we've really just been letting our busy lives get the best of us. So we were all (mom perhaps slightly less so than the two of us) really excited to get the last two days off of school to hang out in our jams and piddle about the house -- playing, crafting, and eating. This afternoon snack was supposed to be maple snow taffy, but it just didn't turn out like that. It likely had something to do with our lack of a candy thermometer and our general "wing it" attitude towards most things. But it was so delish -- it tasted just like caramel -- we didn't complain.

Real Snow Maple Snow Cones

(slightly adapted from maple snow taffy)

Ingredients
- small bowl full of fresh snow
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup salted butter

Directions
- In a medium-sized pot, over medium heat, heat the syrup and butter together. Time it for about 5 minutes after it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes -- test it on a bit of snow, you don't want it to melt the snow instantly.
- Pour the mixture by the spoonful over a bowl full of clean snow, mix gently.
- Eat.

(note the carefully applied purple eyeshadow on Cam -- mom let her wear her new "makeup" since we were going to be inside all day for a snow day. Cam takes the raccoon application approach.)

Grub It Up: Paleo BBQ Chicken Pizza

Mom sat down to write this post with her menu from last week and was immediately stumped. She couldn't remember making any of the things on the list. In fact, all she could remember was making various forms of brinner and eating out twice. And that would be because she only made one actual planned meal. It was a busy week (mom was working hard with her friend Suzanne to get their new blog project -- A Feteful Life -- up and running) and, well, we basically ate breakfast every night. Feeling bad, mom realized she had time to get one more dinner in last night and, thank goodness, because this paleo BBQ chicken pizza was AWESOME.

Well, to be honest, we were bigger fans of the toppings than the paleo "crust," ("can I have some more of that super yummy chicken, mommy?") but mom said it did the trick for her and she was happy she decided to get it together and make an actual dinner for dinner. So, no weeklong menu for his post. But, a decent substitute for pizza.

Paleo BBQ Chicken Pizza 

(crust recipe by Brooke's Kitchen)

Crust Ingredients

- 1/2 head cauliflower

- 1 tsp dijon mustard

- 1 tsp horseradish

- 2 eggs

- 1 tbsp chia seeds

- 2 tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)

- 3/4 cup almond meal

- 1/2 cup coconut flour

- 1 tsp raw honey (or granulated stevia)

- salt and pepper to taste

Crust Directions

- Preheat oven to 410 F. Line a pizza pan with baking paper and place it in the oven to warm up. I forgot to line it with paper and the crust burned a bit, so this step is probably worth it.

- Chop the cauliflower into small florets and blend in a food processor on high in small batches until the cauliflower resembles rice-like particles.

- Remove the cauliflower crumbs from the food processor and place in a small microwave-safe bowl. Place a damp piece of paper towel on top of the mixture and microwave for 5 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes and then squeeze out the excess moisture using a paper towel.

- In a medium-sized bowl, add the cauliflower, mustard, horseradish, eggs, chia seeds, parsley, honey/stevia, almond meal, coconut flour and seasoning and mix to combine. You may need to add more or less almond meal/coconut flour to the mixture to achieve a wet dough-like mixture.

- Once you have a dough-like consistency, remove the hot pan from the oven and place the dough on the prepared pan, spreading it with your fingers until it covers the base of the pizza pan evenly. Put the pan in the oven and bake it for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

- Remove the cooked dough from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before topping with desired ingredients.

BBQ Chicken Topping Ingredients

- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 10 oz tomato sauce 

- 3 tbsp raw honey

- 1/4 red onion, sliced 

- 1 tbsp coconut oil

- 2 tbsp chopped garlic

- 1/4 tsp dry Italian seasoning

- handful of kale

- 3 oz goat cheese

BBQ Chicken Topping Directions

- Mix 5 oz tomato sauce with raw honey in medium mixing bowl. Slice chicken breasts into 1/4" thick pieces and add to tomato-honey mixture. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes.

- Meanwhile, heat coconut oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan. Add chicken mixture and cook for 8 - 10 minutes, until cooked through and beginning to brown. Add sliced red onion and cook for 1 minute further and then remove from heat. 

- Mix remaining 5 oz tomato sauce with chopped garlic and dry Italian seasoning. Spread with pastry brush over cooked crust. Top with chicken and onion mixture, kale and goat cheese. 

- Place pizza back in oven for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 - 10 minutes. EAT.

Grub It Up: Spicy Twice-Baked Turkey Sweet Potatoes

Mom's favorite paleo recipe this week turned out to be not very kid-friendly. It was realllly spicy. So much so that she had to add a few things to cut the heat. She originally had plans to make a small not-so-spicy batch for the kiddos, but as she was making it, she realized that while there was a good chance we'd balk at eating anything (she was trying to feed us before heading out to Boo at the Zoo and we were pretty much only interested in getting our hands on some candy), she'd likely appreciate extra leftovers. So she made this just for the 'rents and we had pumpkin ravioli in honor of Halloween. Word is that this was delicious and maybe she'll think twice next time and make a kiddo-friendly version for us.

Before we dish up the spicy twice-baked turkey sweet potatoes recipe, here's what else was cooking at our house last week:

Tuesday -- Paleo Shrimp Tacos -- super easy, super yum. the kids were not amped about these, so we had fish sticks instead and some of the guac.

Wednesday -- Brinner Scramble -- aka "clean the refrigerator out and add eggs." lots of veggies and some bacon added for good measure. we mostly picked the veg out.

Thursday -- Trader Joe's Burgandy Pepper Lamb Tips (not Whole30 compliant -- some sugar in marinade) and Coconut Baked Carrots with Figs. everyone loved the carrots and mom and Cam loved the lamb.

Friday -- Paleo Bruschetta Chicken over Zoodles -- mom made this one for dad and, fortunately, he was a big fan. Kane and mom were not so much - something about the coating didn't taste right. also, having dragged Kane and I to Whole Foods for a second grocery store stop of the day to find arrowroot and finding none, mom subbed a gluten-free rice starch thickener (not really Paleo compliant, but GF). that might have been the problem.

Saturday -- Dinner out for the adults, mac & cheese and leftover Paleo Bruschetta Chicken.

Sunday -- Spicy Twice-Baked Turkey Sweet Potatoes.

Monday -- Hearty Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash -- this one rivaled the sweet potato for a feature post. it was DELISH. mom subbed uncooked cauliflower rice for the quinoa and used boneless, skinless chicken breast because dad cannot stand chicken thighs. super yum (although this one was more time intensive). the kids had the chicken out of the stew with brown rice and edamame. and because she is mom's culinary twin, Cam had kalamata olives, too.

Spicy Twice-Baked Turkey Sweet Potatoes 

(adapted by addition to Paleo OMG's recipe)

Ingredients:

- 1 lb ground turkey

- 2 large sweet potatoes

- 1/4 cup hot sauce

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 yellow onion, diced

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 2 tsp chipotle chili powder

- 1 tsp ground red pepper

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 1tsp onion powder

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- salt and pepper, to taste

{topping suggestions: avocado, goat cheese, sliced tomatoes}

Instructions: 

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

- Cut sweet potatoes in half, lengthwise and put them face down on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven to cook for about 25-30 minutes depending on how thick they are. You will know when they are done if they are easy to push on, on the skin side. If you pull them out early and the inside doesn't come out easily with a spoon, you'll need to cook them a bit longer. 

- While your sweet potatoes cook, put out a pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil to the pan and then add garlic and onions. Cook until onions are translucent and then add ground turkey, using a large spoon to break it up. 

- When the turkey is half-way done cooking, add the spices. {Here is where mom was going to separate out a small batch of turkey for us and cook it sans spices} Let the turkey cook until no longer pink or until completely cooked through. Remove from heat. 

- Remove sweet potatoes from oven and use a large spoon to scoop out the insides, taking care not to scrape down totally to skin. 

- Put scooped sweet potatoes into pan of turkey and mix thoroughly to combine. Spoon the new mixture back into your sweet potato skins and place back into oven (face up) for about 3-5 minutes more. 

- Add cool toppings to cut the heat to your liking. Mom added avocado slices, goat cheese (she eats some dairy), and sliced tomatoes. 

YUM!

Grub It Up: Mediterranean Chicken Pasta with Zoodles

After listening to everyone rave about zoodles (zucchini noodles) for quite some time, mom finally decided to get on board and check them out. She had a heck of a time finding a julienne peeler (yes, you can get one online super easily, but she wanted to make them immediately, so that wasn't going to do). She finally tracked one down at Williams & Sonoma, but wouldn't you know that the saleswoman gave her the WRONG peeler. The one that does exactly what every other peeler we have at the house already does. You know. Just peel. All the zoodles mom saw online looked like spaghetti noodles, but she kept getting flat, wide ribbons. Once she finally realized she'd been duped and wasn't physically incapable of replicating all the youtube videos she forced herself to watch on repeat, she declared that we were having linguine zoodles instead of spaghetti noodles and moved on.

Good thing. Because this mediterranean chicken pasta was DELISH. Nice and bright and lemony. Plus, we're all obsessed with kalamata olives. And mom reports the zoodles were super tasty and did the trick of satisfying a pasta craving. You know we weren't down with green noodles, no matter what shape they were -- we had them over regular spaghetti noodles. Daddy tried them, but also on top of regular pasta. We'll give him a pass, he was carb loading for his Tough Mudder this past weekend.

And before we get down to zoodle business, here's our menu and links from the rest of last week:

Tuesday -- Veggie Fried Rice -- no real recipe here. mom just stirfried whatever veggies we had, added some fish sauce and coconut aminos to taste and threw in cauliflower rice. And she gave us some turkey with ours, too. Not award winning, but used up a lot of veg we had.

Wednesday -- Mediterranean Chicken Pasta with Zoodles.

Thursday -- Bacon Apple Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries (these a real fam favorite) -- YUM. Mom couldn't find cranberries, so she skipped the topping and put 2 tablespoons of maple syrup into the burger mix itself. Awesome move, mom.

Friday -- Roast Beef Stuffed Peppers and Spaghetti Squash with Bacon and Garlic -- the stuffed peppers were delicious (mom used Trader Joe's sweet and spicy mustard, which isn't really Paleo), the squash was not. Mom is going to blame most of the squash issues on underdoneness, but there wasn't a whole lot of flavor going on there. Everyone raves about spaghetti squash, so she's on the lookout for a new recipe to try.

Saturday -- Carb loading dinner out! Daddy's race was on Sunday, so we went out to dinner Saturday night. We assisted in carb loading while mom stuck with steak and veggies.

Sunday -- Leftovers! Burgers, Stuffed Peppers, Cauliflower Rice and some steamed veggies.

Monday -- Honey Orange Chicken over Cauliflower Rice -- heck yea faux Chinese food. This was super good and a quick fix for mom. Win, win.

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta with Zoodles 

(adapted from The Foodie Physician's recipe)

Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients:

- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes in oil

- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken stock

- 2 tablespoon lemon juice

- 3 teaspoons lemon zest

- 2 teaspoons almond meal

- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces

- salt and pepper

- 3 teaspoons olive oil, divded use

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

- 1 package (9 ounces) frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

- 2 tablespoons capers

- 2 tablespoons chopped, fresh basil

Directions:

To make the sauce, stir the chicken stock, lemon juice, zest and flour together in a bowl. Set aside.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook without moving it until it is browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook on the other side until browned. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl. 

Turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining teaspoon oil. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir the sauce mixture and pour it into the pan. Stir to pick up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 

Slice sundried tomatoes and add them to the pan along with the artichokes, capers and chicken. Simmer for a few minutes to allow the ingredients to heat up. 

Add zoodles (see below) and basil. Toss to combine all ingredients well and serve immediately.

Linguine Style Zoodles

Ingredients: 

- 3 zucchini

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- salt and pepper

Directions:

Using a peeler (YES, a regular peeler), peel long strands of zucchini into flat noodles. Place zoodles into a strainer and sprinkle with salt to help drain some of the liquid out. Heat olive oil in pan and warm up zoodles for a few minutes. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Grub It Up: Roasted Pork Loin with Grapes

We promise that we will eventually post something other than paleo recipes and meal plans -- it's just that we celebrated Kane's 5th Birthday this past weekend with a big knights and dragons bash (post on that soon) and we've been incredibly busy little party planners. Besides party prep last week, we basically just went to school and ate dinner. And mom has a hard enough time getting out of us what we did at school, so recipes it is.

But you won't be disappointed with this one. Daddy doesn't really love pork and he started grumbling about this dinner as soon as he walked in the door. He wasn't grumbling when he was fighting Kane for thirds. Mom made a 2 1/2 lb pork roast and there were hardly any leftovers. It is the combination of the sear and the roast that makes such a juicy piece of meat and the grapes are a nice seasonal touch (although mom was surprised to find that Kane and I weren't that into the roasted grapes). And mom loved that this was a super easy, quick dinner to make.

And last week's looking-back meal plan seemed to go over well, so here it is for this week. Because mom cooked almost every night the week before and we had my birthday party over the weekend, there were more than the normal amount of leftovers going around. And, as part of our birthday celebrations, mom, dad and their visiting siblings always go out to dinner after we've gone to bed. So there was one night of dining out.

Tuesday -- leftovers {see last week's post for recipes that were still good a few days later for leftovers}

Wednesday -- Crunchy Paleo Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potato Fries {mom didn't do the pumpkin pie spice} -- EVERYONE loved these chicken fingers. Super sweet with a nice peppery balance.

Thursday -- Roasted Pork Loin with Grapes and Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts {so addictive}.

Friday -- Primal Italian Baked Eggs and a side salad -- this was mom's first time trying raw cheese. it was good, but she's not sure it was worth the $. the kids ate out Friday night with daddy and the Green Family because the dining room table was already all set up for Saturday's party. mom and Grammie B had these eggies while they party prepped -- very easy to just pop in the oven while you work on other things.

Saturday -- the kiddos had a generic brinner while mom and dad and their siblings dined out at their semi-annual "we kept our kids alive another year and our parents are in town to babysit" meal at B Too. mom did mostly a good job of staying paleo and had brussels sprouts {with crispy duck confit and duck fat!} to start and the Josper grilled hangar steak with extra vegetables {instead of frites. damn those frites looked good}.

Sunday -- party leftovers. love the party leftovers (which were almost all from Whole Foods catering). mom might have skipped actual food to have leftover castle cake and then might have paid for that decision all night long. from 6 weeks of no sugar to a giant slice of cake, not a good move. she fully blames her friend Liz for making such a fabulous cake.

Monday -- Paleo Fish Sticks with Apple, Pecan & Bacon Butternut Squash Hash -- the fish was super easy, super yummy. mom's really trying to work more fish in to all of our diets and this was a good way to do it.

Roasted Pork Loin with Grapes 

(mom adapted this Whole Living recipe for paleo purposes and to, well, make it less fancy since she doesn't have all the fancy cooking gear for which it called. still delicious.)

Ingredients:

- one, 1 1/4-pound pork loin roast {mom made a slightly bigger roast and adjusted accordingly}

- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

- ground marjoram

- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil 

- 1 pound seedless grapes, separated into small clusters

- 1 shallot, sliced

Directions: 

- Heat oven to 425 degrees. Generously eason pork with salt, pepper and marjoram. 

- Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat {if you have an ovenproof skillet, the whole meal can me made in that. if you don't, you can transfer the roast to a glass baking dish when it needs to go into the oven}. Sear pork on all sides until golden, about 8 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside. 

- Add remaining oil to pan with grapes and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. Nest pork in center of pan or transfer all to a glass baking dish if you don't have an ovenproof skillet. 

- Transfer pork to oven and roast until it reaches 145 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes. Remove pork and let stand 10 minutes before slicing. 

- Spoon grape mixture over pork and serve.