All About Food

When I was 10 I started to get these really bad migraine headaches. My mother, bless her soul, dealt with the military hospitals and did all she could to figure out what was wrong with me. I had CAT Scans, MRIs, and referrals to a plethora of different specialists. Nothing worked and I just figured by the time I was an adult that exhaustion, migraines, and pain were going to be my status quo. In an effort to deal with the symptoms of another issue I was having I started the Paleo Diet. What Is the Paleo Diet?

Anyways, everything I read said I would feel sluggish, have mega cravings for carbs, have headaches (ha ha, like I could have more than I had already), and in general go through some pretty crummy grain and gluten withdrawal. It never happened. In a few days my energy levels increased. I fell asleep at night when I wanted to. I felt FANTASTIC! It wasn't until about 3 weeks into the Paleo lifestyle that I realized I hadn't had a headache since I started Paleo! It was eye opening to compare my life pre-Paleo to now. I cried when I realized how poor my quality of life had been. I still mourn the energy I should have had in high school and college (you know there is something wrong when you would rather sleep than explore Vegas with your husband at 21).

I think if you suffer with any of the symptoms I had, cutting gluten, grains, soy, and processed foods from your diet is worth a month long test. I'll do my best to post recipes here for you to try that I've already tested on my family. 

Tonight is my very favorite recipe for Stuffed Peppers that I've Paleo-ized! I'll post how to make ahead and freeze. You can skip the make ahead and freeze part if you want to :) 

STUFFED PEPPERS (To Freeze) 

1 lb. ground beef or turkey

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp. salt

2 cans tomato sauce

8 green peppers

1 c. chopped onions

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 lb. sharp cheese, cut up or shredded (omit if you can't tolerate dairy)

1 1/2 c. riced cauliflower

Cook meat, onion, garlic until meat is brown. Add seasonings and soup, simmer covered 10 minutes. Add cheese, cooking until cheese melts. Stir in riced cauliflower (use shredding attachment on a food processor to rice your cauliflower). Cool if you plan to freeze ahead of time.

Cut peppers in half lengthwise and take out seeds, or if you'd like, you can cut the top of the peppers off and stuff whole. Cook in boiling salted water about 3 minutes. Drain and cool.

Place peppers on baking sheet. Stuff with meat-rice mixture. Place in freezer until frozen. Remove, wrap, seal and return to freezer. You can also freeze in baking tin if sealed tightly with saran wrap. 

To serve: Remove wrapping and partially thaw at room temperature. Place in shallow pan, cover with foil. If frozen in baking tin, partially thaw at room temperature and cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until heated through. 

Tip: If you'd like more sauce you can add an 8 oz. (or more) can of tomato sauce over top of peppers 15 min. before taking out of oven.  

My girls INHALE this meal. I can never make enough of it. Here is the evidence ;)

So Many Kids, So Few Chores. . .

What do you do when you have so many kids and not enough chores to keep them all busy longer than 20 minutes? You make stuff up. My children are 5 (6 in 2 months), 4, and 2 1/2. We started chore charts this week, and my kids are so excited they keep asking me for MORE to do. I accept that challenge. I am sure I can think of something that needs to be done. At this moment, my 2 and 4 year olds are wiping down our walls with wet sponges. Are they actually accomplishing anything? Probably not. But they aren't breaking anything, aren't fighting, and aren't making bigger messes. That's a win in my book.

Each child does have "real" chores that need to be done daily. I found my inspiration for their lists from Pinterest.


H, my 5 year old, does the following: brush her teeth twice a day (yes, I included hygienic "chores" in their chart - more stars! Yay!), brush her hair, make her bed, put her toys away. Then she has the meatier stuff - wash the dishes before dinner, sweep the house, fold towels from the wash, wipe down the bathroom sinks, counters, and mirrors, scoop the cat box, and help mommy with meal preparation (hopefully not that in order without washing her hands first).

J, my 4 year old, does all the same hygienic chores and her meatier jobs are: feed the cats, wipe down the table after meals, help load/unload dishwasher, wipe down our leather couch, put folded clothing away, and wipe down all the door knobs.

F, my 2 year old, along with the basics helps clear the table after meals, helps unload the plastic/Tupperware from the dishwasher, wipes down walls and the fridge, and if she's bored I give her a cloth to "dust."

So far, my girls think it's a game (yay for games!). They also think their school work is a make-believe. I know someday in my future they will catch on, but I won't be the one to tell them. ;)

For today's recipe I'm going to share with you our FAVORITE go to Paleo breakfast muffins (they are so good, we've been known to eat them for dessert). I found the recipe on Fast Paleo but for the size of our family, it just wasn't enough. I had to tweak here and there and this is how I make them now:

Paleo Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (I know, right?)

Dry Ingredients

• 1 1/4 C Coconut Flour
• 1/2 C Potato Starch
• 3 tsp. Baking Soda
• 3 tsp. Cinnamon
• 2 tsp. Salt
• 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg

Wet Ingredients

• 15 oz. Canned Pumpkin
• 6 Bananas
• 6 Eggs
• 8 oz. (1 C) Apple Sauce
• 1/4 C Melted Coconut Oil
• 16 Medjool Dates, pitted
•  1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

Add in - 1 pkg. Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.
2. Pit dates and place in your handy dandy food processor then pulse until they are in teeny tiny pieces. 
3. Add the bananas until smooth. 
4. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to your food processor until mixed. 
5. Mix together dry ingredients in a LARGE bowl with a fork. 
6. Add wet ingredients from food processor to dry ingredients in a LARGE bowl.
7. Whisk everything together until fully integrated (about 2 minutes). 
8. Add package of chocolate and combine.
9. I use 24 silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet to cook the muffins all at once. OR you can grease a muffin pan with coconut oil and cook in 2 batches. 
10. Cook for about 20-25 min. until a toothpick inserted in a center muffin comes out clean. 
11. Cool and enjoy. OR put them in the fridge overnight. I prefer them cold. My hubby likes them however he can get them ;)