Paleo Granola in 2 minutes!

I accidentally discovered this and it's my new favorite breakfast go to. 

I am a big granola fan and missed having it since doing the paleo challenge. One night as Andrew was having his usual bowl of cereal I gave in and came up with this...

Despite the bird seed appearances...it's an awesome granola.

Paleo 2 Minute Granola

In your cereal bowl, toss in:

1 Handful of sliced almonds
1 Handful of chopped pecans
1 Large handful of shredded unsweetened coconut flakes
1 small handful of flaxseed meal.
1 small handful of chia seeds (I learned the fascinating facts of about them in this book. The ultra-marathon runners ate them on their 100 mile runs. Super food)
! handful of Cranberries or Raisins....or blueberries or sliced bananas.
Cinnamon - I usually give the bowl a good dusting on top
Honey - to taste

Add in milk of choice - doing paleo I did unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Best part about this granola- so easy and very filling for breakfast.
Voila! My granola cereal fix is satisfied!

Halloween 2015

The Royals Baseball player, the kind witch, Belle, and a little pink pig. 

 Despite appearances, this was the only tearful moment. It was a night full running and laughing and of candy sorting and trading.

Paleo Tomato Basil Soup

This weather....

Calls for this soup....

It's adapted from this recipe...converted it so it's dairy free.

Of course I make it with grilled cheese for the kids. I had mine with this Paleo Rye bread and some Cesar  salad and it was delish!

Paleo Tomato Basil Soup
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tbs. minced garlic
14 oz chicken broth
3 Tbs. Honey OR 2 Tbs. coconut sugar
1/3 c. ghee
1 Cup of Full Fat Coconut Milk
15 chopped basil leaves or 2 Tbs. of dried basil

Directions: 
Combine tomatoes, broth, and garlic and bring to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, then reduce heat to low and stir in honey(or sugar) and ghee until dissolved.

Pour in coconut milk until combined with soup.

With an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth and creamy!

Stir in basil.

It was a great cold weather night dinner.

Sunday Dinner: Paleo Chicken Tenders

WOW. These HIT THE SPOT! I love them better than any other chicken tenders I've made.

Hello Wonderful! We served ours with a honey mustard dipping sauce....EEEIIII happiness!! I thought maybe I did something wrong because it tasted so good it couldn't be paleo! 

Serve with some cauliflower mashed potatoes and kale salad and BAM. I could have these every Sunday. It's a great change up to red meat and the a big hit with my kids too! 

Paleo Baked Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

3-4 Chicken Breasts cut into strips or about 10 Chicken Tenders

4 Tbs. Ghee 

1 C. Almond Meal 

1 1/2 Tbs. Sea Salt 

1/2 Tsp. Pepper 

2 1/4 Tsp. Paprika 

1/8 Tsp. Turmeric 

1/8 Tsp. Onion Powder 

1/8 Tsp Garlic powder

Directions: 

Preheat Oven to 400. 

Line a baking sheet with silicone baking mat or foil. Place ghee on prepared baking sheet and place in oven for a minute or two to melt. 

Place almond meal and seasonings in a large ziploc bag. 

Rinse chicken and blot dry with a paper towel. 

Toss in chicken into seasoning mixture and shake until well coated. 

Place chicken strips on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. 

Take out and flip over, baking another 10-12 minutes. You can bake an additional 5-10 minutes if not done. (Mine took only about 20-25 minutes). 

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce: 

3/4 C. Paleo Mayonnaise (I like this version best)

3 Tbs. Honey

2 Tablespoons of Yellow Mustard 

1 Tablespoon of Lemon juice (or 1/2 lemon) 

2 Tablespoons of fresh Squeezed Orange Juice 

Combine all ingredients and whisk together. 

Cover and chill for 2 hours. 

Paleo Pumpkin Hot Cakes

With anything pumpkin, many are in the pumpkin camp or way out. But if you are, I recently made these for my siblings and kids over Fall break and we all loved them.

There are lots of paleo pancake recipes around and I've played around with a few and came up with this one that is by far my favorite!

They are are thick and I can feel full after eating them. I love them with the teeniest bit of ghee and pure maple syrup.  There's no food coma like after four pancakes, but your belly and body are full and happy afterwards!

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 Banana mashed
1 Egg
1/4 Almond Meal
1/4 Coconut Flour
1/4 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
2 Tbs. Canned Pumpkin
2 Tbs. Unsweetened Almond Milk or Coconut Milk
Coconut Oil or Coconut Oil Cooking Spray

Directions
Mix all Ingredients together.
Heat skillet or griddle medium-low heat and spray with cooking spray.
Batter will be somewhat thick. With a spoon, spread batter out for about 4 to 6 hotcakes.
Flip after about 4-5 minutes and brown on other side for about 4-5 minutes.

Serve with maple syrup, pecans, or fresh fruit.

***As with most paleo recipes I double or triple to save time. So when on the go in the mornings I reheat left over hotcakes in the toaster oven for breakfast and only have to "make" them once.

Pure Joy

My goodness they give me so much joy! 

I didn't expect to love motherhood so much. 

Oftentimes, in college when I would think about having kids, I would assume it was just work, an extended babysitting job, time and commitment. And yes, of course, there are equally hard days mixed with the wonderful ones. 

Thank you God for allowing me glimpses of Heaven by the happiness they give me. How lucky I am for the gift of motherhood. 

Paleo Fried Sweet Potatoes

 My go-to Paleo side dish, these leave me FULL and SATISFIED when I eat them and they are SO GOOD! 

Ingredients: 
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Ghee (I get this one on Amazon and when I'm not doing Paleo I just use regular butter) 
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes 
1 Medium Onion 
1 Medium Tart Apple (I prefer Johnathan) 
About 1/2 Tbs. Garlic Powder (I usually just dust over the top of them while they are in the skillet.)
1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt (or more to taste)

Directions: 
Cut and quarter sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch wedges. Turn wedges flat on their sides and cut in half again so they are in even strips. 

Cut onion and apple in 1/2 inch slices as well. Frying sweet potatoes can be tricky as you don't want them to be hard or too soggy.  

In a large skillet heat oil and ghee over medium high heat. I have a huge Cuisinart skillet at about 375-400. Make sure skillet is large enough that all sweet potatoes have enough room lay flat so as to fry up evenly if you can.

Place sweet potatoes and onions in heated skillet. Toss and stir. 

Sprinkle with garlic powder and sea salt. Continue to stir and flip so they cook evenly and don't burn.

After about 8 minutes add in apples. Fry for about 8 to 10 minutes more turning often until onions are translucent and sweet potatoes are tender when poked with a fork. 

Sometimes I'll even do a sprinkle of cinnamon for a twist and it's good too! 

May your bellies be full and your heart happy!

For My Grandma Slonkosky

I promised you a long time ago I would publish a post just for you. For my family far away...here's Julia's 1 year pictures.

And My Heart Sang

It swelled actually. The four kids and I packed our bags and headed out one early crisp fall morning to make the trek to St. Louis and meet my sisters and family for Fall break.

We jumped in leaves, baked apple pies, and took long hikes and walks. It was just in time to see the wonders of Fall before they faded and spent enough time with family to fill our hearts to the brim. 

"You will find something more in the woods, than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters." St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Speaking of Fall...

Why not make an ordinary night into a memory or start a tradition with something warm and wonderful.  

Hot Cinnamon Cider

 It beats regular cider any day. We love to make this on Friday nights and take it to go during football games. It's a family favorite here! 

 Recipe: 

64 ounces apple cider 

1 quart orange juice 

1/3 cup red hots 

1 Tbs. whole all spice 

3 Tbs. honey 

Bring cider, orange juice and red hots to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove all spice and stir in honey. Makes about 12 servings. 

The Good Bad October Day

Cool air in October makes my heart skip a beat. It beckons me to cook and bake and light cinnamon candles. 

It was one of those days...I had chicken pot pie bubbling in my oven, fall is in the air...no one sick or fighting and all is well in the world. 

I picked Nicholas up from piano and I overheard on the radio,

 "new survey states almost all parents are really looking forward to when their kids move out. The main reasons being: more money left over each month, more quiet, and more freedom." 

Good grief. This doesn't shock me. I see many couples trying to live this way while still having their kids at home. It's sad. But I think it is impart, how the world teaches them to live. 

I thought back to the car commercials I watched while watching baseball the night before. They market to the restless heart. Go get away, take an adventure, laugh, experience more and again. It's interesting to listen to because it has nothing to do with the car itself, but catches the viewer with images and notions of what they may be longing for deep inside. Doesn't it always go back to wanting to be happy? 

I come home still pondering that bleak statistic, and I notice this...

I know my own theory on a happy life is different, even opposed to what the world says. 

But I have experienced the following equation that gives me that conviction: 
More children (or even not being able to have children) = more sacrifice = more love = greater happiness.



It's a little secret my mom and dad showed me growing up, having 11 kids, choosing to die to themselves, whatever the number may be.  I saw it in their faces, deep wrinkles from suffering and deep wrinkles from laughter. A secret because most people only saw multiple kids going to and fro, most only thought they saw less money, more noise, and no freedom. They were right. 

I saw a father with a stack of bills and and tears coming from his eyes as four girls stacked on his back belly laughing caused him to laugh so hard it made him cry. I saw a mother with a mountain of laundry somewhere, dancing and clogging in the kitchen with her husband and kids around her. So yes, there was less money, definitely more noise, and no free nights and weekends. They proved the theory of sacrifice out of love and loving in the moment produces more love. 

Now I choose to have more children, choose to live without certain material things, choose to live for them, for Andrew, for God. And deep in my soul that is what is most fulfilling, albeit more difficult sometimes. Sometimes it feels supremely hard most of the time and other times it feels wonderful, and some days, maybe mostly everyday, it's both. 

My life's quest is Heaven, it will be my greatest adventure. My car, well, it needs to be a love boat of sorts. It's how the good Lord told me how I will get there. 

My favorite quote lately from St. Therese of Lisieux...

"Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, or even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them." 

  

That night... music played, bread baked, Julia rocked in her swing sleeping. I could see Nicholas throwing himself a football through my living room window and the girls put on their aprons and helped me bake an apple crisp. Thank you Lord! I will pour love even in this moment, and even in my joy I can still give you glory. 

"When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude." G.K. Chesterton.

But later that night...I got to bed late and was up with Julia who was chatting with the bullfrogs at 3 am. for 2 hours. Then Avila awoke to use the bathroom at 5 and then Julia got up again to eat at 6. And there were only small minutes of consecutive sleep. That hurt. Oh sweet Jesus there are moments of pain in parenting such as eyes stinging and body aching for deep sleep. Such is life: good days mixed in with painful ones. But in all things I will give thanks and I will love....well, I will be trying at least. 

What we do on free evenings...

We take long walks, we dance and wrestle in our living room, and in the fall, we play football.

Whatever one member of the family does....so do we all.

 

Andrew is teaching them "pass patterns". 

Avila, dressed for watching football. 

                          

Popeye, Olive Oil and the Can of Spinach

I didn't get to blog about our costumes last year. Oh did we have fun. They even won the local "Best Homemade Costume" award. 

My parents passed down their dress up genes. I remember so many Halloweens and not Halloweens of my parents dressing up in wigs and clever costumes. I remember my mom laughing hysterically after she dressed my sister into a nun costume she made.

I must have belly laughed all day long staring at Avila in her green spinach face. Goodness this was fun.

Crepe paper, poster board, and yarn....my old shirts, pipe cleaners and felt. One good wig and three willing kids. Happy Halloween.

We may have had to bribe her to stay in costume with a sucker...or two....

These are the Days....

Just an evening spent watching Dad mow the lawn and squeezing the last good bit out of the summer. 

I spent the evening watching them, it was my delight.