LINKS - Paleo recipes & resources

Tonight there is no recipe to share. For dinner I frankenstien'd various leftovers from other recipes but it was basically spaghetti squash "noodles" with a homemade sauce (my husband makes the best marinara) and plain meatballs. I have to say it was pretty good.

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Last week I found a recipe for spaghetti squash "noodles" I was so excited, and a little nervous to try it. I have never been a fan of squash, but I really wanted to find a good replacement for pasta, something other than sweet potatos-I want to build an arsenal of veggie alternates to pasta. The picture looked yummy so I decided to give it a go (to the utter shagrin of my husband, he hates squash). Well, let me just say it was a fail. Not an utter fail because now I know I like spaghetti squash, but a fail nonetheless. You see this yummy looking recipe took 2 hours!!! I couldn't believe it! Seriously, WHAT?! OK, a little background on me. I am not a great cook-I rely on recipes, I can't just open the cupboard and imagine everything simmering sweetly on a pot atop my stove. That said, why oh why would I even attempt a recipe that takes 2 hours? I pretty much have recipe ADD. After 30 minutes I am restless, 45 minutes and I find myself trying to combine it with other recipes or just give up altogether. But I swear the recipe said it would take 45 minutes. So I am not sharing it. I won't be making it again, and I am sure no one else wants to spend 2 hours making it either. So I will find one that it awesome and post it at a later date.

Not being a foodie, or a naturally good cook, I rely on finding recipes that look simple and easy yet pack a lot of flavor...that's what I plan on sharing on the Healthy Flamingo (although no fish, seafood shellfish etc., recipes-unlike a healthy flamingo, I don't eat any of those. Ever).

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Paleo has become quite the buzz-word lately so it's difficult to know what's real out there and what's just trying to get to the top of the search engine results. And Since there's not a yummy recipe tonight, let me share some of my favorite and trusted Paleo recipe sites and resources.

The Clothes that Make the Girl - awesome site! One of my favorites. All the recipes I've tried from this site have exceeded my expectations and when I get confused about Paleo ingredients, I know I can try this site first to see what she's used and I know it'll be Paleo compliant. Plus, she now has a cookbook. I have not yet bought it, but I will for sure!

PaleOMG - also an awesome site for recipes! I have been seeing more and mmore recipes from this site popping up in the instagram feeds I follow as well as some of the Pinterest Boards. I have already tried a few and loved them and I have so many more to try.

Robb Wolff - a MUST read! He's one of the world's leading experts on Paleo. 'nuff said. You'll want to bookmark this site for sure.


Those are just a few of my favorites, I hope they become a favorite of yours as well.
-Hilary

RECIPE - Paleo Pad Thai Chicken

This evening I made Paleo Pad Thai Chicken. I originally found the recipe on Pinterest (gotta love Pinterest! Check out my Paleo and Whole30 boards...). I clicked on the link and discovered not only a new site full of resources, but what would become my very favorite Paleo recipe! I have modified the recipe slightly, as I do most of the recipes (again, food allergies). Check out the original recipe here.

I took 2 photos tonight, the one on the left is what my husband ate, he had his with rice, the one on the right was mine, no rice and added siracha sauce (I love spicy food!!). I love recipes that are flexible like that and usually have to make modifications for one of us. The whole recipe takes about 25 minutes (which I have found to be the ideal amount of time for a weekday meal).

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast cut up
(I like smaller pieces)
1/4 C Almond Butter
(if you haven't tried almond butter, I say go get some. stop reading and go now! we'll be here when you get back. I'm in the middle of a recipe, but I'll tell you more about the wonders of almond butter in another post...)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c coconut aminos
(these can be hard to find, at least for me living in a small town)
1 lime
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
1/3 C cashews (crush 1/2 of them)
cilantro
(I used more than the original recipe called for because I love the flavor it gives. I say chop some up so you have it ready and add how ever much you want)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Cooking Instructions:
1. Make the Sauce:
2. In a bowl, combine almond butter, coconut aminos, juice from 1/2 lime and salt. Set aside
3. Heat oil coconut in a pan

4. Add chicken to the pan and cook

5. Stir chicken, when it's about half way coooked, add minced garlic, crushed cashews and red pepper flakes. 

6. Once the chicken is done or almost done, add the sauce and stir. 

7. After 2-3 minutes if it seems a little dry add 1/4 C water (The water is a new addition just tonight, I was finding that the sauce was a little thick and would stick too much to the pan. The water helped so much and I liked that it truly was more like a sauce). Mix well, simmer for a couple more minutes.

Add fresh cilantro, cashews and lime juice to each serving.

Tips and variations: I have used both cashews and almonds, both are good. I say use what you have on hand. The almond butter give a really rich flavor, I do recommend adding the 1/4 C water to the sauce as it cooks with the chicken not only to make it saucy, but to cut the richness a little.

The coconut aminos can be hard to find, I tried using red wine vinegar as a substitute when I was out and it was not the same, it was ok as far as flavors go but next time I will just make something else. However another time I only had half the amount I needed, I substituted the other half with rice vinegar and it tasted fine.

Possible additions: Serve with rice for your non-Paleo friends and family (seriously, this recipe is so delicious you'll want to make it for everyone!!), add siracha sauce for an extra kick, serve over veggie noodles (i will try that next) and finally top with grapes, pineapple or mango for variety.

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I can't tell you how many times I have made this recipe since I first discovered it in January. I've made it many times for dinners with just my husband, twice when we had company over and then when my Dad came to town to visit (he requested the recipe for himself). I love Thai food but haven't really found a fabulous restaurant where we live so I have resorted to finding my own fabulous recipes.

If you decide to make this recipe I do hope you enjoy as much as I have! And if you tips to make it better or discover amazing (or just easy) additions, please share I'd love to hear them.

-Hilary

RECIPE - Sweet Potato Lasagne

A couple of weeks ago i found a sweet potato lasagne recipe on pinterest (see original recipe here).

It looked really good and I was excited to try a recipe that had a vegetable substituted for the noodles.

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Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 chopped red pepper
2 chopped yellow pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
pinch of salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
3 cups tomato sauce (I used homemade)
1/2 cup water
2 Handfuls of spinach leaves
1 large sweet potato

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Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. Cook the meat and spices.
3. When meat is cooked, add peppers, tomato sauce and water, let simmer for 10 minutes.
4. While that mixture is simmering, peel and slice your sweet potato. I used a mandoline (get one!).
5. Grease a lasagne pan with some coconut oil.
6. Layer meat sauce, a layer of sweet potatoes, then sauce, sweet potato, sauce, spinach, repeat until all ingredients are gone. This doe not have to be precise really, any layer order would work. I got mine mixed up. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 mins.
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After 30 mins, remove the foil and bake for another 15 mins. Let cool and serve.
Serves 6.

I made recipe, and although the photo from the original post looked like lasagne, mine looked nothing like it once cooked. It was more like a casserole. which was just fine. It was my first time replacing a noodle with a vegetable and that part of the recipe was highly successful. I will do that again for sure!

What I will do differently next time:
Use more spinach and fewer peppers, I found using  peppers overpowered the other flavors. Also next time I will transform this recipe into a goulash. I remember that being one of my favorite recipes as a child. I will have to look up what spices to use and will slice the potato into potato chip size slices instead. And when making a goulash, I will cook in the crockpot and let you know when I make it for sure!

Lasagne with Sweet Potato "Noodles"

Here's a little teaser-the first recipe I will post. I figured the first two posts were a little wordy.

Stop back soon!

-Hilary