Banana Bread French Toast

It has been a crazy couple of weeks! I haven't been trying new recipes at all and I have been eating out a little too much. I cooked so much for Regionals, I needed a break and cooked a lot of my staple recipes that are already on the blog. Regionals was a blast! I am happy that it is over since it was so time consuming, but all the hard work that our team put in was shown at the CrossFit regionals. Our team ended up in twelve place out of 30 teams. The best workout was WOD #4 where Soco took first in their heat and they had all of us cheering them on and screaming SOCO! The team had a lot of ups and downs, but worked through everything to give it their all. I'm so inspired by everyone on the team and how much hard work they put in and for never giving up, GO SOCO!

Non-Paleo french toast...nom nom

So I have wanted to make this recipe for a long time. I LOVE French Toast. So much that I almost went and bought bread (ahh!) and made it the the day. Though whenever I crave non-paleo foods, I wait a few days and see if I'm still craving it. If I am, then I devour it and I'm ok with that! I have been looking for a paleo french toast recipe and found this one! So I have been eyeing this recipe for awhile and finally had some time to make it. I got it from the great site of Paleomg where the genuis paleo cooker Juli Bauer made up this one. I couldn't wait to try it!

RECIPE: http://paleomg.com/banana-bread-french-toast/

INGREDIENTS:
  For the bread:

• 3 medium spotty bananas
• 1.5 cups unsalted cashews- Used 1 cup almond butter
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil -Didn't use
• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1 TBSP Raw honey
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt

  For the French Toast:

• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup canned coconut milk
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I mixed the bananas and almond butter in my Vitamix or if you have a food processor that would work well too until its smooth. After that is done add it to the 2 whisked eggs and mix it up. Then add the rest of your ingredients. Simple! I had a bread pan that was just a typical one, not sure the sizes, but I had a tin foil one I bought from the grocery store. Make sure you oil the heck out of the pan though so the bread can easily slid out. 

After baking for about 28 minutes, the top was very crusty and I took it out for it to cool! That is the hardest part since I love Banana Bread and it smelled so great. I let it cool for about 10 minutes for I let it out of the pan. The bread itself fell quite a bit and I think that is because I used a little too much almond butter, I would decrease it a little bit next time. Don't get me wrong, it still was amazing! After eating a piece of the banana bread, I was excited to make it into french toast. The bread stayed together well and was hearty enough to make a good French Toast. 

I cut a few larger pieces and dipped it into all my french toast ingredients minus the coconut oil and placed in a pan to cook! Yum Yum. They came out nice and crispy. Pure yuminess. I topped it with a few banana slices and had a little agave nectar and grass-fed butter. I had two slices and was full. The bread is dense compare to other french toast breads, but the banana and the almond butter together taste fantastic. I had no idea you could use these ingredients to make such a tasty bread. I saved the rest of the bread for later and finished in a few days since the bread itself is great. 

So even if you don't want to make it into french toast you have a great banana bread. Next time I want to add some chocolate chips. 

CrossFit Games Regional Prep

The weekend is coming and you know what that means? No probably not, but I'll fill you in...Crossfit Games Regionals?!?!?! OMG OMG. So for the few of you that have no idea what I'm talking about it is a huge competition that is going on in Castle Rock, CO where teams and individuals from the Southwest region compete for a chance to go to the Crossfit Games in California! I mean this is the creme de la creme! I am so excited for this event because I get to volunteer the whole weekend and immerse myself into the CrossFit community, not to mention meeting awesome CrossFit people. And the best part you ask? CrossFit Soco is sending a team to compete!! I can not wait to lose my voice from screaming and live vicariously through all the athletes. Sean is on the team and I think I might be more excited than he is. If anyone is in the area and wants to check out this "CrossFit" thing since all you do is here me talk about it 24/7, then you should  for sure check this out. 

We are so lucky to be able to host the Regionals in Colorado and you should take advantage of being able to watch some amazing athletes! 

So I'll be volunteering the whole weekend and Sean will be competing so the first thing that comes to my mind is food. I'll be lucky enough to have catered food from the amazing Paleo Wagon while I'm volunteering so I'm good there, but Sean will need lots of food all the time..oh vay! So we decided to start planning out a menu that will be easy, but good so Sean can power through the workouts and stay energized.

So here is what I'm packing up for the weekend!

1. Sweet Potatoes- I am going to make chips and mash! For the chips I'm just going to cut the sweet potatoes in even circle 'chips' and bake for 10-15min at 350. For the mash I bake the sweet potatoes for about 35 minutes. I then through them all in a bowl and mash!! I usually always add full-fat coconut milk so there is some fat and carbs. Then you can get creative. I like adding things like cinnamon, grass-fed butter, chives, and anything else that might be paleo I can put in a potato! 

2. Avocados- Great fat that is easy to cut open and eat with anything else. Might make some guacamole to put on cucumbers, carrots, etc. 

3. Coconut Water- Great potassium. I think this stuff is gross, Sean loves it. 

4. Bison- I'm making a bison crockpot stew that will be good cold, but easy to make and easy to pack away and put in a cooler for a nice meal after a WOD or a snack in between. I'm honestly just throwing whatever I have in crockpot. I love crockpots.

5. Coconut/Almond Butter- Another great fat source that actually tastes really good by itself

6. Some fruits- Some oranges, bananas, and apples for a quick carb snack if needed

7. Protein Shake- Gotta have some recovery protein for right after the WOD

8. Veggies- Some quick go to veggies like cucumbers, carrots, and celery. Can dip in guac or almond butter.

9. Bacon- Obvious reasons, its awesome. 

10. LOTS of Water

11. Nuts- Probably some Macadamia and Almonds

I know I'm probably missing a few things, but so far this is what we have. It takes a lot of planning, but so worth it in the long run. The way you fuel yourself is so important especially when you are competing. Since I got rid of all processed and refined foods and have focused more on a 'paleo' diet, my energy has increase, my fitness level has gone way up, I feel great, and I have leaned out without even trying. 

I'll be volunteering all weekend long so say hi if you see me, I'll probably be stuffing my face with Paleo Wagon goodness! Good luck to all the teams and individuals, I'll be cheering you on! And right when you think you can't....just know that you CAN!!

Almond Crusted Stuffed Chicken Breast

So I did it...almost cried when I did, but I'm hoping this is the best purchase of my life...a VITAMIX!! If you don't know what a Vitamix is, get with it, its only the best ever high speed rocketship, I mean blender out there. You can put anything in this thing and it will blend it. All of my friends have gone crazy about it, so I thought I would get one...after I thought about it for 6 months. Why you ask? Google it, the price tag will shock you. 10 year warranty and a chance for me to get more vegetables and not even know it...worth it. So I thought I would dig in and make a few recipes and start experimenting. So far I haven't been disappointed (except when Sean decided he was going to make a smoothie and put chicken in it...GROSS, don't do this, he does strange things ;-)). Best one so far, banana, cocoa powder, 1 date, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, handfull of spinach, two stalks of kale. Yup you heard me right, kale and spinach. The smoothie tasted like a banana chocolate smoothie. I inhaled it and forgot that I even had put vegetables in it. 

Ok enough with the Vitamix. I went to Sunflower market and they had chicken on sale (the range-free kind!) so I bought some more. I seem to buy a lot of chicken so I have to think of different ways of cooking it otherwise I get sick of it and don't even want to look at it anymore. I actually had some time for once to make a recipe instead of grilling or baking it real quick so I went on a google search and I found a winner (it has bacon in it, so I picked it)! This recipe definitely takes a little bit of time, buts it worth it and you can make the stuffing ahead of time if need be.

RECIPE: Almond Crusted Stuffed Chicken Breast

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 chicken breasts thinned to about 1/4 inch thick (I put each chicken piece a large ziplock and pounded the heck out of them with a mallet, great way to get rid of some agression :-)).
• 1 onion (yellow or white), chopped
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled into smaller pieces
• Olive Oil/Coconut Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• coarsely ground almonds 
• Toothpicks (to hold the chicken together!)

I also added Mushrooms and Kale since I had them. Feel free to add or take out whatever you want. I feel like this recipe you can make lots of different varieties, but I would keep the bacon! Pre-heat the oven to 350 before you start. Start with heating up some coconut oil and sautéing the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add your spinach, bacon bits, and anything else you want to. After it looks like the picture on the right that I stole from the website since I forgot to take a picture of this part, spread it on your chicken breasts. I used it all, you'll figure out how to close the chicken, don't be shy, get all that stuff in there! After you have done that roll up the chicken and secure with toothpicks or sting. I used a million toothpicks...ok that is a little dramatic, but you get the idea, you need a lot. 

After you have that little bundle all secured and looking awesome, brush some olive oil or coconut oil on it, seasoning with salt and pepper and then roll in the ground almonds. I just put a handful in my food processor and pulsed until I got it coarsely ground, don't let them get to almond flour! 

Bake the chicken for about 30-35 minutes. I just had a baking dish I used to put them in and it worked great. Make sure to check that the chicken is done and the almonds should have a brown color to them. Don't forget about the toothpicks and dig in!! 

I was pleasantly surprised how awesome this was. All of the stuffing inside complemented the chicken perfectly. The bacon gave it a little crunch, but went well with the onions and spinach and kale. The almonds on the outside are a perfect addition to the meal and you won't want to stop eating it! I served it with some Cauliflower Mash and a Kale Salad! SOO good, I will for sure make this again. Especially since I probably can do it quicker than I had. I always suggest chopping your veggies too whenever you have time since that is what takes the most time in this dish. 

If you are sick of chicken and need a new recipe, try this one out, its fantastic! Enjoy!

Sundried Tomato Chicken Bake

So I've decided to take a break on baking. I know, sad, but it still has sugar in it and I had no self control when it came to not eating the whole batch. Whoops, paleo treats are just so tasty, I can't help it! I'll start baking again in May (I've already got some good ones), but I thought I would actually make some dinners, snacks, side dishes, etc also. Lately, I have still been grilling and making lots of burgers! They are super easy to throw on the grill and just as good for leftovers, especially with some avocado or a fried egg on top. This week I bought a bunch of chicken, so I decided to post about some great chicken recipes and a few side dishes!

I hope everyone had a great Easter! We couldn't have asked for a better day. Sean and I went mountain biking in the morning, a beautiful 70 degrees! Then we headed to Castle Rock to my Aunt and Uncle's house. I'm so lucky to have them here in Colorado, they are my only family here, and they go out of there way to take care of me! Not only did we have some amazing ham, but my Aunt even had some paleo foods for me! I never ask anyone to cater to my diet since I usually can always find something to eat and I hate when people make something special just for me. I was amazed on how sweet her and her sister were to think about me. Her sister made a Paleo Dip for fruit and it was great! I even made my family Kale Chips for Easter and they loved them!  Paleo is fantastic, but I never shove it down anyones throat since it isn't for everyone. Though it is what I know the most about and believe in. I love introducing and talking about it with people that want to know more about it. For those of you that don't know, I'm getting my Masters Degree in Nutrition and Health Education, focusing on Weston A. Price theories of Nutrition to eat nutrient dense foods based on ancestral times. I love it and can't wait to share what I learn to anyone else looking to make a positive change in their diet.

So today I'm sharing one of my favorite and super duper fast and easy recipes I got from Everyday Paleo! They have some great recipes that Sarah Fragroso has created and I have yet to taste a bad one. She also has a book out called Everyday Paleo that has some amazing Paleo recipes too I recommend checking out. I've made this a few times when I want leftovers and have a lot of chicken. My friend Eric introduced me to this one and raved about it, so it was my turn to try.

RECIPE: Sundried Tomato Chicken Bake

INGREDIENTS:
Around 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (I get the good chicken, organic, range-free, etc), cut them to the thickness you like (I cut them in half).


8.5oz jar of julliane cut sun-dried tomatoes. (Make sure to get 8.5oz)


8 Garlic Cloves (sliced thin)


2 Tablespoons Dried Basil (This seems like a lot, but you need all of it!)


Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste


Yup thats all the ingredients you need! The jar might be a little hard to find, but I found it in the produce section on the bottom shelf under the tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Throw the chicken in a baking dish and then add all the spices and mix around. Then put the garlic on top followed by the whole jar of sun-dried tomatoes, oil and all! These are what make the dish amazing. Next time I might add another half a jar because I get really cranky when I get to the last chicken and there is no more sun-dried tomatoes left (Ok I might pick some off and eat them, which could be the reason why)! Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20min and then take the foil off and bake for about another 15min until you see the tomatoes are crispy and the chicken is done!

YUM! (photo credit Eric Chin)

The chicken stays super moist and the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes taste amazing on the chicken along with the crispy tomatoes. The basil is also a great touch and doesn't over power the taste at all, which I thought it might since you use so much. The dish has tons of flavor and I usually pair it with some spinach and a paleo side dish like cauliflower mash. For a quick, simple chicken dish this one is great! You will be amazed how something so simple can taste so good. I can't fine my picture, but here are some others that looked just like it!  :-) Enjoy!

Kale Chips

Eric's Paleo Cakes and cookies

Ok, I'm going on a baking hiatus for a little bit. I've just baked a lot and than ate a ton if it, which is never good. My sweet potato brownies were a hit at the CrossFit party until Eric showed up with his most amazing cakes on the planet. I couldn't make these cakes if my life depended on it and they were all gluten-free, and for the most part paleo! So our CrossFit party on Saturday night was ridiculous fun. My CrossFit gym knows how to party and well we did, until the wee hours of the night. I decided that I was going to have a few adult beverages since I'm usually always the DD and this night I wasn't. Well, once I get a few of those in my bloodstream dancing just takes over. I danced for about 3 hours non-stop and it was fantastic, even though I'm sure I was making a fool of myself, which made it that much better. I'm not saying I'm a good dancer or anything, but I sure had a lot of fun letting loose and having a great time with even greater people! Though the whole point of the party was to congratulate everyone that finished the CrossFit Open and to wish our team good luck at CrossFit Regionals! (May 4th-6th in Castle Rock..BE THERE! BUY TICKETS HERE!!)

Also, real quick for those people that didn't compete in the open or are thinking about it next year..DO IT!  Last year I could only do about 2 of the 6 workouts prescribed. This year I was able to do all of the workouts and it gave me the urge to want to get even better. I realized I should have done it last year even though I couldn't do it all..learn from my mistake and sign up next year no matter what.  Saturdays were CrossFit days during the open and it was inspiring. The camaraderie, support, and everyone working out, gives you the strength to do a lot more than you think you can. Don't think, just do and every time you go to the CrossFit gym from here on out, work as hard as you can, you will surprised how much better you will get ;-).

So here is a super easy recipe that EVERYONE should make. I know it might sound scary at first. Kale..ahhhh thats healthy and sounds gross. I will show you how you will want to make this amazing vegetable a staple in all your meals. I couldn't tell you how many of my friends that I have showed how to make this recipe have become obsessed with them. Most of them are non-paleo or vegetable haters too..yea they are that good! (Find Kale by the greens in any grocery store!)

Why Kale is amazing: Eating a variety of natural, unprocessed vegetables can do wonders for your health, but choosing super-nutritious kale on a regular basis may provide significant health benefits, including cancer protection and lowered cholesterol. Here is a link that explains the 9 Health Benefits of Kale: Kale is a superfood!


RECIPE: KALE CHIPS
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Rip the leaves off the stalk (you can even keep them on the stalk too, but I'm not a fan of stalk)
3. Rip the leaves in 'chip sizes' Don't get to technical here, they shrink, so don't worry to much about the size of all the leaves.
4. Spread out on a cookie sheet, try not to have too much overlapping as then some end up a little soggy instead of crispy how you want them. I usually make a few batches
5. Add a little bit of olive oil and mix around with the kale on the cookie sheet, just enough to coat
6. Add sea salt (and anything else you want like pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, etc)
7. Bake for about 10-15min. I usually just check them a lot after 10min until I see them getting brown and they look nice and crispy! You should be able to pick one up and it shouldn't be floppy. 
8. Eat them all and wonder why you didn't know about this recipe sooner! I guarantee you will want to make more right away.


They don't take long and are a perfect side for anything you are making. They are also great when you have guests over to show them how easy to cook and how good kale is! If you haven't made this yet, go to the grocery store, grab some kale and enter into the kale obsession! Yum Yum, I think I'm going to make some now :-).

Best Paleo Chocolate Chips Cookies

El Capitan to left, Bridelveil Falls to right
Hard to see Half Dome in the way back.

So Napa Valley and Yosemite are really fun places to go! The last week I was lucky enough to take a trip with my awesome friend Deanna and drink lots of great wine and see one of the most amazing National Parks ever. Traveling and eating Paleo are two very tough things, but they are very doable if you come prepared and you know that its ok if you aren't perfect the whole time. Of course I went way over my wine limit and I'm completely ok with that since I was on vacation! (I'm human people). I recommend heading to Yosemite if you can, the scenery is breathtaking and even though it was a little too cold to camp and hike, I can't wait to go back to do that and make it to the top of El Capitan or Half Dome. We just did a bus tour, which was great to learn everything you need to know about the Park and we had a crazy tour guide who said 'Yosemite is so magical' about 124 times. We also decided that next time we are wearing fanny packs, we'd fit in much better..haha. Great trip and great company!

Anyway, I thought I would share this awesome Cookie recipe I have. I freakin love cookies so much and finally found one that is super duper good. Once again my friend Eric gave me this recipe and not really sure where he got it from, but it doesn't matter since its amazing. If you are looking for a good paleo (or even not) chocolate cookie recipe. DO NOT look anymore, this is the one to use.

Yup, thats me.

INGREDIENTS:

3 Cups Almond Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Sea Salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup or Agave (I always use Agave)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
1-2 Cups Chocolate Chips


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Combine the Almond Flour, baking soda, and salt
2. Beat the eggs, and then add the Maple Syrup/Agave and Vanilla Extract
3. Melt Coconut oil and add to Egg Mixture
4. Mix Wet with Dry, then stir in Chocolate Chips
5. Drop about tablespoon dough balls on cookie sheet and bake (8-12min)

IMPORTANT NOTES
      - Don't use Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour, I use Honeyville Almond Flour or Whole Foods bulk   
      - The cookies don't really spread out, so you can put them closer together, but I would try and make        
      them the same size
      - I would use parchment paper or spray the heck out of the cookie sheet so the cookies won't stick
      - Keep an eye on the cookies!!! In one oven it took 7min and in another it took about 12min. The
        worst thing ever is burnt paleo cookies....so sad :(
     - Feel free to add whatever to the cookies!! I like to add cinnamon and coconut flakes, but you can get
       creative.


Wait unti the cookies get a little brown all around them and take them out of the oven. Try and let them cool for at least 15min if you can. I have yet to be able to make this happen. I usually like to take them out a little earlier too, since I like them a little undercooked. BAM!!! Amazing cookies and people won't even know they are paleo. All of my 'non-paleo' friends love these cookies too. They are a great consistency and aren't too sweet. More cake like than a usual cookie, but taste amazing. I bring these to parties a lot too since I know everyone will enjoy them and I know I'm eating a paleo treat. Good luck stopping at one cookie!! I try and limit myself to two, but if you have read my blogs you know I don't have self control, hence why I bring them to parties! Enjoy

Speaking of parties, my CrossFit gym is having a big 'The Crossfit Open is over so we need to have a party, party' The gym I belong to don't do things half-ass that is for sure. We are renting out a community room and having a DJ, tons of food, drinks, and we get to all hang out with super awesome people since we only have super awesome people at CrossFit Soco! I'm making the Sweet Potato Brownies for this one, can not wait!!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chest to Bar Pullups?!! #@$)#@!!! I really thought we were going to see Handstand Pushups, but CrossFit got really creative and is using the same workout they did in last years open. This means nothing to me since last year I didn't even compete. For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, the next CrossFit Open workout is a ladder of Thrusters and Chest to Bar Pullups. The good news...its the LAST one!! Bad news..I'm not good at CTB! I just learned how to do a CTB pullup so I'm going to try my best and we'll see what happens.

Anyway, once again I was in a baking mood, weird right? No not at all, I have a problem. And I know what happens when I bake...I eat a lot of everything I bake unless I immediately bag it up and bring it somewhere else so someone else can eat it! Well I took a look at what I had laying around and noticed I had some super ripe bananas that needed to get thrown in the freezer or I needed to bake with them. So, I went to one of my favorite sites, DessertStalker and searched banana. So many amazing things came up, but I got stuck on the chocolate chip banana muffins. I have never made a muffin yet, but I do like them and thought this would be a great time to try making some muffins. It was a new website that I have never been to before, but the picture made me drool so I knew this one could be a winner. 

RECIPE: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

3 mashed over ripe bananas (Mine for small/medium size)
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I use ENJOY LIFE)

Another reason I liked this recipe is the person that created it is lazy like me and just throws everything into a bowl and mixes. Ahhh so easy for us people that hate dirtying 2 bowls and many different utensils. I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips for this one, but sometimes just buy some dark chips to use too. Yes, they aren't paleo and you can omit them, but who doesn't love some chocolate? You can buy the Enjoy Life ones at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers or buy them on Amazon HERE.

Also, when you bake Paleo,  you always seem to use lots of eggs. Eggs are one of those things I never skimp on. I always get Cage-free, organic, Omega-3 eggs. They have great prices at Sunflower market and even the regular grocery stores are selling these type of eggs. I go through like 3 dozen every few weeks...I like eggs. I even got one that had two yolks in it the other day...I think that means I'm going to have good luck or something or I could have made that up..whatever.

Ok on to the Muffins, after 25min at 350 degrees, they came out of the oven puffed up and little brown on top and smelled wonderfully! If you have those awesome silicone muffin cups, I'd use those. I didn't so they stuck a little to the paper, but i did sneak them into 12 cups even though the recipe said 11. 

After letting them cool for 10 seconds (yes you should wait longer..much longer), I had to dig to in, the smell was overtaking my will power to wait. YUM!! The taste of banana doesn't overpower your taste buds and its great banana actually makes the muffin a little sweet. The banana and chocolate chips complement each other and the texture is just like a muffin, just a little spongier I thought. I became immediately addicted to them and if you read my previous posts you know I have no self control and soon inhaled two more of these puppies. They are all gone now after I decided to give the rest to Sean and well he ate three right away before I had to take them away from him. Success!! And I was even complemented that this was one of my better baked goods!! 

If you are looking for that paleo muffin recipe and enjoy the combination of chocolate and banana, these are a no-brainer. I might wait a long time before I make another batch though, unless I have taste testers other than me! Ok time to enjoy this amazing weather..have a great weekend everyone, its supposed to be 80 here! Oh and get ready for the best paleo cookie recipe ever!!!!