Butternut Squash Soup by Alex

It is getting cold outside!  Tomorrow is going to be even colder.....So, my go to is Soup!  The only way to avoid all those extra ingredients and sodium found in store bought soup is to make your own.  Here is a recipe for a delicious butternut squash soup brought to you by Balanced Bites

Ingredients:

1 Butternut squash, roasted

1 Tbsp bacon fat, coconut oil or ghee

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed

celtic sea salt

2 pinches of dry sage

black pepper

16oz chicken or vegetable broth

2 Tbsp coconut milk (optional but recommended)

2 Tbsp water (or more for thinner soup)

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Halve the squash and place it face down in a glass or ceramic roasting dish about 30-55 minutes. After the squash has been roasting for about 20 minutes, begin to cook the rest of the soup ingredients on the stove-top. 

Use a large pot and sautée the bacon fat and onions until the onions begin to brown on the edges. Then place the garlic in with the onions and add salt, sage and pepper. Allow this to cook for just couple of minutes to take the edge off of the raw garlic then add your chicken stock, coconut milk and water.

By now your squash should be roasted and you can add it to the mixture and stir together. When it's combined, add the orange juice as the last thing you do before you turn off the heat. 

Allow the soup to cool a bit and then pour it into a blender and whir it up until it's smooth. Be careful not to fill the blender to the top when you're blending hot liquids as the steam tends to expand the liquid when you blend it - blend in batches if necessary.

This makes 4-6 servings depending on how big you serve up the bowl!

Salmon for Breakfast? Yes! By Jess

I often hear clients say the hardest part about going Paleo is breakfast. Traditionally breakfast is thought of as starchy carbs such as cereal, oatmeal, bagels and more. When people switch to paleo eating eggs every single morning can get boring. So don't!!! Mix it up just like any other meal. One of my favorites is a few pieces of smoked salmon with 2 sides...1/2 a pear and 1 Tbs. Nut Butter of your choice. This breakfast is loaded with healthy Omega3s and a perfect balance of protein, carb and fat!

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 oz Smoked Salmon
1/2 Pear or Apple
1 Tbs. Nut Butter (Almond, Walnut, Cashew, etc.)

Deviled Eggs by Coach Megan Parsons

I made Deviled eggs for a Thanksgiving appetizer. Total success and pretty simple to prepare if you already have the Paleo Mayo whipped up. This morning I ate a few Deviled eggs along side sauteed spinach for breakfast.

PALEO MAYO

Ingredients: (makes about 1 cup to 1 1/4 cup)

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp mustard
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup coconut oil

Technique:

1. Put the yolks in a bowl with the mustard and 1 tsp lemon juice
2. Start whisking vigorously (blender or food processor on low) while dripping the oil very slowly, even drop by drop in the beginning. You’re creating an emulsion and if you put too much oil at once, it will separate and will be very hard to save. Whisk non-stop and use a towel under the bowl to help stabilize it. Mys sister helped me here!
3. As you add more oil, the emulsion will form and the mayonnaise will start to thicken and you can pour the oil faster at this point.
4. When all the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise is thick, add the rest of the lemon juice and taste your creation. You can season to taste with salt and pepper.

DEVILED EGGS

Ingredients:

• 12 eggs
• 1/2 cup Paleo Mayo (see above)
• 1 TB mustard
• 1 TB cumin
• 3 slices bacon
• Paprika for garnish
• Sea salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the bacon slices until crispy. Let cool.
2. Crumble the bacon to small bits.
3. Place eggs in a pot filled with cold water.
4. Bring to a boil and let boil for 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes, remove from the heat, drain and run some cold water immediately on the eggs. The cold water will cool the eggs so you can work with them and will also stop the cooking process.
5. Once the eggs are cold enough to handle, peel them and cut them in half.
6. Scoop out the yolks and mash them in a bowl with the mayo, mustard, bacon bits, cumin, salt, & pepper.
7. Spoon the yolk, mayo, and bacon filling into the egg whites.
8. Garnish with paprika.

Bacon Broccoli Salad

Bacon Broccoli Salad

By Coach Karen

(Primal Blueprint Cookbook p.139)

Ingredients:
2 cups of hommade mayonnaise (see below)
2-3 tablespoons raw honey, grad B pure mable syrup, or coconut/palm sugar
1-3 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar, preferable raw (may be ommitted)
10 slices of cooked bacon, cooked or crubled into bit-size pieces
2lbs of fresh broccoli (about 2-3 large crowns), rinsed well and cut into small florets about the size of a walnut or smaller
1 cut nuts, chopped coarsely (try almonds or walnuts)
1/2 cup assorted raisins or dried fruit, or 1 cup cut up fresh fruit: grapes, cherries, blue berries, or chopped apples (optional)


Insctuctions:
Combine mayo and honey or maple syrup in a large bowl and mix well (adjust sweet-tart taste with cider vinegar). Add bacon, borccoli, nuts, and dried fruit (if using) and mix until everythign is evenly distributed and coated with dressing. Flavor is best if allowed marinate in the fridgerator or on ice in a cooler at least a few hours.

Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
1 whole egg or 2 egg yolks
2-3 table sppons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Dash of paprika
Pinch of salt
3/4 to 1 cup pur olive oil (not that extra virgin olive oil can create a very bitter flavor when blended with an electrice device. Eitehr use refined or "light" olive oil, or blend with a whisk instead of an electric device)

Instructions:
Place egg, vinegar, paprika, and salt int eh container you will whisk it in. I fyou are using a hand-held or "stick" immersion blender, make sure the container is tall enough to prevent splattering yet wide enough to accommodate the immersion blender. Drizzle the oil in while blending. If sing a hand-held whisk, a glass or stainles steel bowl works best. Measure 1 cup oil into sperate container, ideally with a good pouring lip. Whisk or blend the egg misture for 10 sec. while continuing to whisk, begin to slowly drizzle oil into the container in a very thin, steady stream, no thicker than pencil lead. When about half the oile is mixed in, the mayonaise will start to thicken and take shape. Continue blending and drizzling until the oil is gone, or until no mroe oil will disappear into the emulsion. Season to taste with more salt if necessary. If the emulsion shoudl seperate, add1 teaspoon water or vinegar and whisk again briefly.

Crystal Nelson's Cinnamon Walnut Turtles

Happy Thanksgiving!!! It's very likely you are already enjoying some other treats, but I thought that this might be an easy dish to take to a party as an appetizer or simple dessert.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Walnuts
1 Cup Raw Honey
1/2 Cup of Cinnamon
1 Tsp of Vanilla Extract

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix honey, cinnamon and vanilla into paste. Stir in walnuts and thoroughly coat. Form into small clusters and dehydrate for at least 24 hours. You can also bake 20-30 minutes if you don't have a dehydrator.

Your new Thanksgiving Sweet Potato dish by LBT

Yes, we're gonna consider sweet potatoes Paleo - especially since it's Thanksgiving!

What You Need
• 3 pounds sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 head radicchio, chopped - No, I didn't know what this was either...but you can find it!

• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped and roasted - about 10 minutes on 325 in the oven if you wanna make your own without all the added 'stuff'

Dressing
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 jalapeño, finely diced aka minced for all you chef's out there!
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

How to Make it
1. Boil peeled and chopped sweet potatoes in large pot until tender. Drain water off when cooked.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together orange juice, olive oil, honey, jalapeño, salt and pepper.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked sweet potatoes with chopped radicchio, cilantro and roasted walnuts. Toss gently with dressing and serve!

Coconut Macadamia Bark-by Coach Alex

photo: Coconut macadamia, Coconut macadamia and blue berries and coconut peppermint chocolate and macadamia bark

The sugary season is upon us!  It is also the season of giving, so try this paleo treat and bring some along to your parties!
Below is the instructions for the coconut macadamia bark but don't be afraid to have fun and try some variations.


Ingredients:
1/3 Coconut Flakes (unsweetened)
1 cup Coconut Oil
2/3 Macadamia Nuts

Instructions
Mix together oil, coconut flakes and nuts. Line a pan or plate with parchment paper.  Pour the oil mixture onto the parchment paper. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Break apart into pieces of bark. Store in the freezer.