Ever wondered the difference between baking powder and baking soda? How do you know when to use which? Here's a little food science 101 for you. Baking soda should be used in recipes that also have an acid added to it. When baking soda comes in contact with an acid like lemon juice, vinegar, or buttermilk (which is really just milk + an acid) it becomes activated, giving off gas … [Read more...]
Archives for 2014
Arugula Lime Pesto with Walnuts & Jalapeño
This is a totally versatile and non-traditional take on pesto. In this version arugula and walnuts replace traditional basil and pine nuts, while lime and jalapeño add a south-western flair. I really like cooking with pestos because they add so much flavor! If you ever think paleo food is boring, get into pesto. This one only has 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/3 cup of walnuts so its quite low in calories compared to traditional pestos … [Read more...]
Turmeric-Ginger Vietnamese Spiced Chicken
January 23, 2012 is a date I will always remember. It was the day in Hoi An, Vietnam that my husband proposed. Why were we in Vietnam? Well for one, … [Read more...]
Portland Forest Mushrooms
It is so easy to say that I really enjoyed my time living in Portland, Oregon. Don't even get me started on my favorite restaurants or favorites places I adored because this post will turn from 400-some words into 5,000. One of my favorite things to do in Portland was on Saturday morning to take the street car from my South Waterfront neighborhood into the Portland Farmer's Market at Portland State University. It was close, just into … [Read more...]
Banana Green Protein Smoothie
This green-colored banana smoothie combines bananas with green-vegetable-goodness, sweet frozen grapes, and protein from the best source out there: egg whites. The egg white addition is tasteless! If you want to use the whole … [Read more...]
Apple Breakfast Sausage
When I was training for my Ironman Triathlon in 2009, I was focused on trying to incorporate more protein into my diet. This was because after a self-analysis of my diet, I found I was not eating near enough protein. The easiest and quickest way I found to add protein to breakfast was to have this … [Read more...]
Roasted Fennel
Roasted fennel is one of those foods that I can eat, and eat, and eat, and eat. I just love it. This recipe is only fennel, olive oil, salt and pepper. That's it. You'll notice the serving size is only two, because in my family (Shaw and DiCello) we love our fennel. So I plan for 1 fennel bulb per person, … [Read more...]
Nana’s Italian Tomato Sauce with Pork & Sausage
I come from an Italian family. My mom's side is from Sicily and my dad's side is from Calabria. Like any good Italian family, we have a spaghetti sauce that's been passed down through generations. Grandma DiCello's tasted a little different than my mom's, and Grandma Purpura's tasted a little different from hers. As for "Grandma Purpura", that just sounds odd. To us, she's Nana. (In Italian nonna means grandmother. I guess when my sister … [Read more...]
Chocolate Raspberry Muffins
To close out Chocolate Week, why not chocolate for breakfast? After all, cocoa has anti-aging properties, antioxidants (two times more than touted superfood acai), calcium, iron, and magnesium. It's been known to be energizing, mood stimulating, a mild central nervous system stimulant, increasing of serotonin levels, rich in polyphenols (help reduce bad cholesterol), and … [Read more...]
Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies
Chocolate Week (in honor of Valentine's Day this Friday) continues today with Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies! These meringue cookies are not your traditional cookie. They're, as titled, a sort of meringue which is egg white and sugar. So in the same family, if you will, as macaroons and one of my Aussie favorites: pavlovas. Generally, they're incredibly … [Read more...]
Fudgy Brownie Bites
With Valentine's day on Friday, I'm declaring this week at Paleo Paisan Chocolate Week. Three recipes this week... all with chocolate. To start us off, I have my Fudgy Brownie Bites. These puppies are flourless! By flourless, I mean totally flourless: since we're talking paleo, obviously no wheat flour, but also no almond flour and no … [Read more...]
Basic Spaghetti Squash
This recipe is the base for many creations. It's your starting point. You can take it from here and put sauce on it, sauté it in ghee (or butter), season it up, add some herbs, toss it with pesto (like Arugula Lime with Walnuts and Jalapeno), whatever you like. Whether you follow a special diet or not, spaghetti squash is a great sub for pasta if you're looking to increase your vegetable intake. It's not the most vitamin-, mineral-, … [Read more...]
Thai Red Chicken Curry
I love Thai food. I have been known to take Thai leftovers home from a dinner out and eat them in the morning for breakfast. Who says you can't have curry for breakfast? Hey, I like what I like. I can't explain it. Below is additional information about this recipe and the ingredients in it. If you're not familiar with some of the ingredients, the info below should help guide you. … [Read more...]
Garlic Mustard Roasted Salmon
This is up there as one of my favorite salmon recipes of all time. I like that I usually have all of the ingredients on hand, it's super easy, it doesn't make a big mess, and it has amazing flavors. It's only a four-ingredient marinade, but the flavors together just plain work. … [Read more...]
Guacamole
No big game day is complete without guacamole... ... even if you could care less about football. Growing up in a major college football town, I don't get too excited about NFL. Growing up in Buckeye country, I'm far more familiar talking college football. Living in Seattle right now, … [Read more...]