Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

This weekend Riley and I played with one of our favorite recipes to make our first batch of pumpkin muffins this fall.  We love how they turned out!!

 - 1 cup pumpkin puree
 - 2 large eggs
 - 1 cup plain greek yogurt
 - 2 cups oats
 - 3 T honey
 - 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
 - 1/2 tsp baking soda
 - 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
 - 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
 - 1 tsp nutmeg
 - 1/8 tsp ground cloves
 - 1/8 tsp salt
 - 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease muffin tin, or line with lightly greased muffin liners.

Place all ingredients except for chocolate chips in blender.  Blend on high for several minutes, until oats have broken down.  Once batter is blended well, stir in chocolate chips by hand.  Fill muffin cups with batter.  Bake about 15 minutes, until tops are set and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool muffins on wire rack.

Burrito Bowl

New recipe this week for lunch - Chicken Burrito Bowls!!  I have a new accountability group starting today, so we wanted at least one new recipe for the week.  This one was great, so happy to have another to add to our rotation!  One of the great benefits to running the accountability groups is that they push me to not only focus on my workouts, but I end up looking for new recipes for challengers and find great ideas for our meals too!

Here's our recipe:

shredded chicken (see recipe below)
black beans (canned, rinsed and drained, or crock pot recipe here)
brown rice - cooked according to package instructions
shredded romaine lettuce
salsa - store bought or recipe below
cilantro, chopped
green onion, diced
grape tomato, halved
greek yogurt (optional)
avocado (optional)


Shredded Chicken in Crock Pot
4 chicken breasts
2 limes
cumin
garlic powder
salt
pepper
 -  Place 4 chicken breasts in crock pot.  Squeeze juice of two limes over chicken.  Sprinkle with cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Cook on low for 4 - 5 hours.  Shred chicken in crock pot.

Salsa
2 cans rotel with lime and green chiles
2 cans fire roasted tomato, salsa style
1/2 jalapeno
1/3 bunch of cilantro
1 tsp garlic salt
 - Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Makes a large batch of salsa, so either half the recipe or plan to use in another recipe for the week.  We love using the salsa as salad dressing!

Place almost a full green container of shredded romaine in a bowl, top with 1 red container of chicken, 1 yellow of rice/beans, add other toppings as desired (salsa, cilantro, green onion, grape tomato, greek yogurt, avocado).  Be sure to count your avocado as your blue!  Enjoy!!

Asparagus Salad

We tried out an asparagus salad tonight, and it's going into our regular rotation!  This is a great side dish for all of your summer get together's and perfect for the Fourth!

Asparagus Salad

2 bunches of asparagus
bacon (I cooked about 12 slices, and used 1/2 a slice on my serving)
boiled eggs (I made 5 boiled eggs, and topped my serving with 1/2 of one)
one pint of grape tomatoes, halved
one yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)
sea salt, to taste

First step, cooking the bacon.  It's a personal preference, but I like my bacon crispy, especially in a salad like this one.  We buy the thick sliced bacon, and cook in the oven.  I put on a baking sheet lined with foil, and cook at 400 degrees.  I cook about 15 minutes, then flip, cooking about another 15 minutes.  Remove from sheet, place on plate lined with paper towel.

While the bacon is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add asparagus to boiling water, and boil 4 - 5 minutes.  Drain, and add asparagus to a bowl of ice water, letting it rest for about 20 seconds, then drain again.  While my water was boiling for the asparagus, I also put my eggs on to boil.

Chop asparagus and place in large mixing bowl.  Add all veggies, 1/3 cup of vinaigrette, sprinkle with sea salt, and mix.  Chill 30 minutes.  When serving, top with diced boiled egg and bacon pieces.

For the balsamic vinaigrette:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsmic vinegar
1 T diced red onion
1 T dijon mustard
1 T honey
1/4 tsp garlic
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Mix above ingredients in food processor or blender.

Fried plantains

We found a recipe years ago for pork carnitas, and the site included a recipe for fried plantains.  We had never made plantains at home, but they've become one of our favorites!  They are amazing with guacamole or as a base for a great mexican pizza, but are also good dusted with a little cinnamon and sea salt.  They are a little work, but totally worth the effort!

We look for plantains that are pretty green, and typically buy 4 for our family of 5.  Our girls love the fried plantains as much as we do, and they sneak them off the plate as I'm cooking!  The easy version - Peel the plantains, slice very thinly.  Heat coconut oil on medium high heat on the stove top.   The recipe we initially found called for more coconut oil than we prefer to use.  I start with about 2 T of oil, but I do usually need to add more oil as I'm cooking the plantains.  Cook on each side until lightly browned, a few minutes each side.  Remove from oil, sprinkle with sea salt.

My favorite way to cook them is a little more involved, but I really just love them this way!  Slice the plantains about 1.5 to 2 inches thick.  Place in preheated coconut oil.  Cook on each side until browned.  Remove from pan and place on flat surface.  Use the bottom of a glass to smash the plantain.  Once smashed, place back in pan and cook for a minute or two on each side again.  Remove from oil, sprinkle with sea salt.

Plantains count as a purple for 21 DF, so I usually skip my fruit on days we plan to eat plantains.  I also skip my tsp since you'll be cooking the plantains in coconut oil!

Hope your family loves them as much as we do :)

Paleo Coleslaw

DJ grilled ribs for Father's Day this weekend, and though ribs aren't exactly 21 day fix approved, we enjoy splurging sometimes!  We opted for a homemade coleslaw and baked asparagus as our sides to balance out our splurge.  We made the homemade mayo for the coleslaw, and I had to play around with it this time.  I added an egg yolk, as it just wasn't as thick as the last time.  We've read about adding bacon grease to the mayo as well, to give it a little flavor.  I did not go that route this time, as I thought it would be fine in the coleslaw as it was; however, if I was using the mayo on a sandwich, I might give it a shot!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 head green cabbage, chopped
1/2 head purple cabbage, chopped
2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/3 cup chopped green onions (add more or less depending on how strong your onions are)
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup homemade mayo
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp dry mustard
3/4 tsp celery seed
3/4 tsp garlic powder

The hardest part of this recipe is chopping the cabbage!  It makes a pretty big mess - at least it did for me.  After chopping the cabbage, just mix all ingredients together, cover, and chill for about an hour. Enjoy!

Paleo Broccoli Salad

If you are looking for a side dish for your holiday cookout, give this broccoli salad a try!  We loved how this turned out with the paleo mayo!

2 heads broccoli, cut in small pieces
1 1/2 cups red grapes, halved
8 - 10 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 1/4 cup paleo mayo
Salt and pepper to taste

Paleo mayo:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

Place yolks, mustard, and salt in food processor and mix.  Begin adding a little bit of oil slowly, on low speed.  Continue adding oils slowly, and the mixture should begin to thicken.

The mayo is the only step of the recipe that requires any time.  The rest of the prep is just mixing the broccoli, grapes, bacon, green onion, mayo, salt, and pepper!

Crockpot Zucchini

Another super easy recipe!  We love crock pot recipes, and this one is an easy but great option!


2 lbs lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 yellow onion, diced
5 zucchini, diced
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in crock pot on low heat, cooking for 4 hours.  I love topping with greek yogurt and a little shredded cheddar cheese.