Meatloaf and Beet Chips

Ingredients: preheat oven 350 degrees
1lb beef (makes 6 patties)
1 egg
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1/3 garlic clove minced (could've used 1/2)
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1/2 cup almond meal
1 Fresh Beet thinly sliced
as many brussel sprouts you want chopped up
some salt, some pepper

Add everything (except the beets and brussel sprouts) and finger mush it until it's all blended. Tell your kid to wash his/her hands and start mashing. I made patties (takes less time than a loaf), put them on aluminum foil, and had them in the oven for 20 minutes or so. They were probably sitting for another 10-15 minutes after I turned the heat off, waiting for Shaun to return from the gym. This was plenty of time to make our side dish!

I like to try new things week to week. This week, BEETS! I was never one to try them at the dinner table when I was growing up, but there's no doubt your kid would love them when you give it to em chip style! I made them tonight because I bought the Primal Cookbook and saw veggie chips. Basically, get some olive oil really hot. Cut the beets thin like a potato chip. Put in a few at a time (you don't want to crowd them), but keep your eye on it because it'll burn quickly. After 30 seconds-1 minute turn them over; after 30seconds-1 minute put them on a plat to the side. Just keep repeating the process until you are out of beet...fyi to new cooks like me, don't put the beet chips in the oven to keep warm because they will get soggy :( When you do them right, They are so SWEET and CRUNCHY and YUMMY and PALEO! I had leftover olive oil in the pan, so I chopped some brussel sprouts and let them get a golden brown.

Chicken Pesto Spinach Salad

Main Ingredients for 2 people:
8 chicken strips
lots of spinach
3 strips of bacon
a medium bowl of cauliflower
pesto

Pesto Sauce recipe provided by Everyday Paleo
4 oz fresh basil (3 ½ cups)
1 cup walnut halves and pieces
6 garlic cloves
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Juice from ½ a lemon

Firstly, I bought pesto from Bloomingfoods. It included parmasen :/ I've made paleo pesto in the past when I grew the basil. This time I bought it. I didn't use lemon in my recipe, but it's good to try new things. I put the bacon on the george foreman; while that was cooking I washed and cut up the spinach (don't forget to pat dry the spinach). When the bacon was done I cut it up into pieces. Then I put the chicken on the george foreman. In the meantime I steamed the cauliflower with a drop of water in a bowl, covered with saran wrap for 2-4 minutes (it depends on how much cauliflower you makeit shouldn't be hard when you take it out of the microwave).

I wanted to try out the new mini food processer my grandma gave me, so i put my cauliflower in it with some garlic. If you try this, put in tiny amounts of garlic and taste it as you go along. I made mine with WAY too much- i used half a clove on that small plate.

Paleo Pizza

When you make a pizza with only almond meal and eggs to make your "crust," you know from the start it's not going to be the "real deal." But hey, it suffices because you know that you won't have to sleep on your side due to a bloated belly. This is a recipe for 2 hungry people -3 medium hungry people.

preheat oven to 250-300 (after about 15 minutes, i turned it up to 300...i just felt like it)

1 cup of almond meal
3 eggwhites
spritz of olive oil (keep it aside)
3 TBS of cashew butter (optional - it just costs more than I wanted to pay)

*stir it all but olive oil together. When it looks like morning grits, then spread the olive oil around the baking sheet (I put down foil, then olive oil. my crust stuck to the foil and broke it into pieces, so next time I won't use foil). The recipe called for 1/4 inch thick crust, but Next time i'll probably try to make it as flat as possible. I was overhwhelmed with the crust when it was done. I put it in the over for around 30 minutes, just keep your eye on it.

1C broccoli chopped
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1/4 C onions chopped
handful mushrooms chopped
a dash of fennel seed
a dash of oregano
1 C Pomi Marinara Sauce
5 chicken strips (i put the chicken seperate in a george foreman for about 7 minutes, then cut it up into pieces)

I found this sauce on sale at Bloomingfoods. It's awsome and these are the ingredients: crushed tomatoes, tomato puree, onions, olive oil, salt, garlic, sugar (ok not perfect), parsley, oregano, natural flavor, pepper.

While my crust is in the oven, i put the veggies in a skillet. You don't want them to get mushy, but mine got mushy since I'm still learning. I added everything but the sauce to the skillet.

When the crust seemed pretty much all the way baked instead of raw, I took it out and put the sauce down, and the veggies on top of it, and then the chicken pieces. I put it back in the oven for many another 10 minutes...

This mean took me an hour, but I'm not an experienced cook in general, nor with paleo recipes. Just have FUN with it!

Savory Roasted Sweet Potatos / Yams

Looking for a yummi side dish with your meal?! Sweet potatoes are wonerful! They don't need all the extra marshmallowee sugaree additive, as they are perfectly sweet on their own.

1/3 of a sweet potato is 1 block. For a 4 block zone meal, you can have 2/3 of a sweet potato for 2 blocks, and 12 spears of asparagus for 1 block, and 1/2 a slice of bread (if you gotta have your bread) is 1 block. This is only your carb portion. You still need to add 4 blocks of meat, and 4 blocks of fat.

Savory Roasted Sweet Potatos / Yams
Ingredients:
Desired number of sweet potatos (make extra to warm up later!)
Olive oil
Chopped Rosemary
Sea Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Peel sweept potatos (if desired - I like the skin!) and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. spread in single layer in a jelly roll pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and rosemary. -You could also put these all in a bowl and really coat them well.

Bake at 350-375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Edges will be crispy brown and may caramelize in the pan. YUM!

Photo from wholesomemommy.com

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 3 slices lean, smoky good quality bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 10 sticks of asparagus
  
• 1 Leek, cut white roots, wash really well, and chopped into 1/2 inch piece,
  
• some salt
• some garlic powder
  
• 1/2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes no salt added
  

Directions

Heat a medium soup pot or deep sided skillet over medium-high heat with diced tomatoes.

On a skillet I added chicken, and cooked asparagus next to it. I seasoned the chicken withwith Weber's Kickin Chicken. On a Seperate Skillet I cooked the bacon; when it was brown and crisp, I added the leeks and cut up the asparagus that was cooking with the chicken to the bacon grease. After about 5-10 minutes when i figured it was a good time,I combined the stock and veggies with the tomotoes. Cut the chicken into pieces and add to the soup. I added some garlic and salt for seasoning. You can add other spices and flavors to your taste.

Killing Cancer: http://fuelasrx.blogspot.com/2010/10/killing-cancer.html

Killing Cancer...

This is a post that I did for the Paleo Brands blog awhile back. Cancer runs deep in my family and there are not many people that don't know someone battling the deadly disease. This one bears repeating - so here it is making its Fuel As Rx debut:

Cancer, it's a word no one wants to hear, yet according to the National Cancer Institute it's a diagnosis that 1 in every 2 of us will face. In 2009 it was estimated that 1,479,350 people were diagnosed with cancer and 562,340 died from the disease. These statistics make the search for a cure and mechanisms for prevention hot topics.

Here's a little FYI on cancer cells - they require glucose (sugar) to grow. In fact, they consume 4 to 5 times more glucose than normal cells! So, logic would say, restrict sugar (carbohydrate) to starve and kill cancer. This has proven to be effective as demonstrated by this study and numerous others. Following a restricted calorie, ketogenic diet literally 'starves' cancer cells. But instead of instructing cancer patients to follow a diet like this the American Cancer Society recommends a 'plant-based' (primarily vegetarian), whole grain rich, low fat diet instead. Scroll down this list of 20 examples of 'healthy' snacks for cancer patients... Hmm...

Now, this is not to say that the knowledge of how the 'starve' cancer isn't out there. In fact, according to some recent research (read here for the non-geek version), scientists have developed an anti-cancer agent (drug) that acts as an 'energy restriction mimetic'. The researchers state that "Energy restriction may be a powerful 'new' strategy for treating cancer because it targets a survival mechanism used by many types of cancer cells." The research shows that it's possible to develop drugs that act to simulate glucose and energy restriction.

Since we have this information, does it not make sense to use it to prevent and help stop the spread of cancer now? Can we afford to 'wait' for the drug to be developed and approved by the FDA? When it comes to cancer it could mean the difference between life and death... Is that piece of cake really 'to die for'???

Marinated Chicken Kebabs

There's no reason why you can't keep that grill hot! Dig into this recipe for some great kebabs, put some asparagus on the grill, and any other veggie you want to meet your palate tonight!

Chicken Kebab Recipe
Makes 4 skewers Ingredients:
1 skinless and boneless chicken breast (about 12 oz.)
1/2 green bell pepper (cut into big cubes)
1/2 yellow bell pepper (cut into big cubes)

Marinate:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 – 1 teaspoon paprika (if you like spicy, use 1 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1/4 of one small onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves (or dried parsley)

For Grilling:
2 tablespoons olive oil (for brushing)

Method:
Cut the chicken into small cubes (a total of 16 pieces if you will), pat dry and marinate with the ingredients for 1 hour.
Thread four pieces of chicken meat with two pieces each of green bell pepper and yellow pepper (see the picture above for the order) onto a metal skewer or bamboo skewer. Repeat the same and make four skewers. Set aside.
Fire up your outdoor grill (or indoor grill) and grill the chicken kebab until cooked. While grilling, brush the chicken and bell peppers with olive oil. Serve hot.

Cook’s Note:
If you use bamboo skewers, soak them in cold water overnight so they don’t get burned during the grilling process

Recipe found at: rasamalaysia.com