Gluten Free Lemon Bars

Ingredients

Filling:

6 whole eggs

1/2 cup honey

1 cup lemon juice (about 8 lemons)

1/2 cup coconut oil

Crust:

1 cup of raw almonds

1 cup of raw pecans

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

2 eggs

Directions

Filling

1. Whisk eggs, honey, and lemon juice together in a small sauce pan.

2. Heat on medium/high and add coconut oil. Stir until the coconut oil has melted.

3. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens and bubbles.

4. Remove from heat and place in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool and thicken further.

Crust:

1. Place nuts in a food processor or blender until finely chopped, do not puree. They should be in tiny pieces but not as fine as almond flour.

2. Mix the nuts with the remaining ingredients until they are well combined.

3. Spread over the bottom of a greased 8 x 12 pan. I used olive oil spray.

4. Heat oven to 400* and bake for 15-18 minutes. The crust will be done when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean. (Watch closely, it can easily burn)

5. Cool crust completely before layering the filling over the top. Return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Paleo Granola

 I am so sick of eating eggs for breakfast. I've never been a big egg-eater anyways, so I commend myself for lasting this long. In an effort to spice things up, I made a trip to the bulk section and got ingredients to make Paleo Granola. I can't tell you how delicious this is.... the cinnamon mixed with the coconut milk (my preference, almond milk is too... nutty) is pure perfection.

Recipe: Coconut Pancakes

When it comes to a Sunday morning breakfast, I crave pancakes. Now that I am eating Paleo, I needed to find a pancake recipe that wouldn't leave me feeling guilty.

 I found it.

 Coconut Pancakes 

 Ingredients

 4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk (raw cow’s or coconut both work)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Coconut oil or butter for frying

 Directions

 Preheat griddle over medium-low heat.
 In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes.
 Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or stevia.
 In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together.
 Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
 Grease pan with butter or coconut oil.
 Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake.
 Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon.
 The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick.

Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the tops dry out slightly and the bottoms start to brown.
Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.

Veggie Cooking Tips

Recipe: Chocolate Banana Coconut Custard

I have a sweet-tooth, and most evenings I crave a frozen yogurt or a big bowl of ice-cream. A few nights ago I stumbled upon this recipe and it must had been fate….. I had all the ingredients!! Within 30 minutes, I was eating spoonfuls of this delicious, Paleo dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe banana
• 2 Tbs almond butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• splash vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs raw cacao powder
• fresh fruit (to top: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Cooking Steps

- Mash banana with fork until creamy.
- Add almond butter, stir until well incorporated.
- Add melted coconut oil and vanilla extract, briskly mix using small wire whisk. (Use your muscles here to really smooth out the mixture with any remaining banana chunks.)
- Add cacao powder, whisk again and until thoroughly mixed.
- Chill in refrigerator for at least 30 mins to allow coconut oil to set and thicken the mixture.
- Add fresh fruit 

ENJOY!!!

Lifestyle Change

Warning: This post is a bit personal.

Over the past few weeks or so I have felt pretty down on myself. With derby season being over (no required work-outs) I've felt like a gross slob. Through some self-refection, I've realized this is a cycle I tend to fall into. I will become really active for awhile, and then eventually an excuse comes up and my health takes a backseat.

I'm fed up with that cycle.

I have an ideal image of what my health should look like. For the first time, I feel really motivated to obtain it. So… with that said….

I have made two new lifestyle changes.

1) I am eating Paleo… with the necessary vegetarian twist. WHAT'S PALEO?

A Paleo diet, also known as paleolithic diet or caveman diet, is all about natural foods. The human body evolved for more than 2 million years with the food found in nature: game meat, fish, vegetables, wild fruits, eggs and nuts. The human race was thriving on this diet high in animal fat and proteins and low in carbohydrates, but things changed when we introduced unnatural foods to our bodies.     (Paleo Diet Lifestyle) 

Because I am vegetarian, I have to make changes to the normal Paleo plan. This just means I still eat beans, quinoa, and lentils. I have also incorporated a few vegetarian-protien supplements (happy, mom?) To help with all of this, I have turned to the No Meat Athlete website. Finally, I found MY people!!

My second change:

2) I've hopped on the Crossfit bandwagon. Noah started it about 7 months back, and I have watched him fall in love with it. I started a week ago. It's grueling, hard, sweaty, and blissfully painful… but at the end of the workout… you feel like a complete badass.

Don't know what crossfit is? Check it out:

So far, I am feeling pretty good. Planning meals is essential, I've never eaten so many eggs in my life….and sometimes I want nothing but a big bagel… but, I'm determined to end this cycle.