Rollin Greens

Obvsies y’all know we’re a healthy eating family. I hate the idea of sending my kids to school or activities with a stomach full of processed gunk. We pack the healthy lunches with energy producing sides to make sure they don’t crash and can continue to thrive in school… Well what about when they get home? You’re exhausted from your day and your kids are bouncing off the walls..

It can seem difficult to find the motivation to prepare a nutritional meal for your family but when there are options that are healthy and just as easy as processed foods then you’ve GOT to choose the healthy route – There’s not excuse at that point!

Currently, my favorite healthy side for my kids’ dinners are Rollin’ Greens’ Millet Tots!! They’re delicious tater tots made from only good ingredients and millet, an ancient grain! They taste delicious, take the same amount of time and are easypeasy! (And what don’t tots go with? 😛 )

So if you’re looking for a delicious side alternative for lunches or dinners try the Rollin Greens’ tots! There are three delicious flavors so you can switch it up and see what they and you like best!

They’re available in the freezer aisle at your local Sprouts Farmers Market!

↓ They’ll be changing their packaging soon so be on the lookout for these beauts! ↓

(I was compensated for this post, all opinions are my own)

Whole Foods

Eating whole foods is not as boring as some people may believe it is.. It’s a sore spot lately because I’ve heard so many people say they couldn’t possibly eat nothing but fruits, meats and veggies everyday..

Well, these are just a few snippets of things I wanna show y’all to prove it can be easy, cheap, quick and delicious to treat your body to wholesome real food!

Smoothie Bowl :: 3 minutes TOPS! Banana base (Just add a little water) then top with whatever! DELICIOUS – NUTRITIOUS – CHEAP – ANY.MEAL

So that’s a good start for meals but when asked how I snack? So many different ways, frozen fruits (Yummm..), nuts, sweet potato chips, etc.. But right now my current favorite is Kale Chips!

You can easily bake these on a low temp til crispy but we’ve got a lovely dehydrator that I throw them into after oiling and salting for 5 hours at 113*F. SUPER CHEAP – SUPER DELICIOUS – YUM.

Crazy, right? It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but my Husband and Father in Law who don’t like them usually LOVED mine! Seriously ridiculously cheap and tasty.

Everyone loves salads, right? There are even paleo dressings – And they’re really good! Simple salads are a staple.. They’re super easy and you can throw any type of protein on.. Duh… But this is just to show you you can still enjoy a delicious salad without the guilt of crummy-ingredient dressings!

Yummm.. The ranch is my favorite, SO GOOD.

Lastly, I am frugal-finatic – Got this salmon on sale at King Soopers (Kroger) and Hass Avocados and Purple Cauliflower on sale at Sprouts! It was delicious and added variety instead of chicken or beef which we use a ton 😉

Variety, Variety, Variety – You WILL burn out if you eat a ton of the same stuff over and over. Just find stuff with good ingredients that’ll satisfy whichever craving you’re currently having and your body will thank and reward you.

Wanna see more paleo/wholesome recipes? Lemme know your current cravings below and I’ll make it and post it for you!

Ghoulish Halloween Dinner (For Kids!)

It’s almost Halloween!! Our kids are SO excited. They’ve nearly got their costumes by the front door hahaha! We’re excited for all of the plans we have starting today til Halloween! Pumpkin carvings, haunted houses, festivals, Boo at the Zoo, and ghoulish treats!

For dinner tonight I decided to make the kids some delicious and hilarious looking goodies – Mummy Dogs and ghost bread! I preheated the oven to 350°F and grabbed a roll of Crescent Rolls, some cheddar cheese and a pack of Oscar Meyer Weiners!

I opened the dough roll, laid it out flat and cut the dough into long strips to make it easier to wrap the dogs in their Mummy Wrappings (I placed the cheese over the weiner before wrapping it) Obviously they weren’t going to eat ALL the weiners so I used the leftover dough to make Ghost Bread (I didn’t have any Halloween cutters so I used a gingerbread man and joined together his legs hahaha!) and BRAINSS (Which was balled up leftover dough with red food coloring)!

I placed the pan in the oven and cooked for about 13-15 minutes! I kept a watchful eye on the ghost bread since they were a little thin (But they got SO fluffy! So they cooked ALL perfectly at the same amount of time!)

 

Once they were done I dotted eyes on the mummies and biscuits with ketchup and mustard and the kids DEVOURED them! I added a jack n’ cheese cup to their dinner for a cute Halloween extra 😉

The kids had some pumpkin honey on their brainssssss and ghost bread! It was sooooo yummy!

It’s little meals like this that really get the kids excited for Halloween AND helps them eat if they’re being picky hahaha!

Try it for your kids today, they’ll love them!!

Paleo Cuban Sandwich

If y’all remember, I recently went to Austin, TX to visit my Dad – During the visit we tried an amazing Cuban joint called Habana.. It was sooo amazing. Since then, I’ve really been craving another Cuban Sandwich.. So I looked online but didn’t see a SINGLE paleo cuban sandwich – So I called the restaurant and asked how they made their plantain bun. The woman was so sweet and incredibly helpful! So here it is – My creation of the paleo cuban sandwich recipe!! It is INCREDIBLE if I do say so myself ;)

Paleo Cuban Sandwich

There actually isn’t too much to the sandwich itself but more-so the paleo plantain (plantano) bun. Begin with a plantain by cutting it in half lengthwise and remove from peel.

In a pan heat quite a bit of oil on medium (coconut or olive are both great!) and carefully set the plantains on one side and let it sit til it’s a dark yellow then flip. Once both sides are a dark yellow and the plantain is softer move to cutting board, line the bottom of a small pan in foil and spray then squish the plantain until it’s flat-ish.

Place back into pan and cook each side for another 2 minutes, then remove. Place on plate to allow to cool and harden. Your buns are ready!

Grab some ham, roast beef (It usually calls for pork but I didn’t have any ready! And the roast beef was really delicious!), pickles and mustard! Throw them all together and it makes a very filling and delicious sandwich!!

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Yuca Fries / Yucas Fritas

I had no clue what a yuca root was until I ate it and I get tired of sweet potatoes frequently so it was really nice to have a little change of pace! I grabbed two, they’re HUGE and weird looking, haha.. And they are a little more time consuming but it’s well worth it!

You start with removing the skin (You definitely need to do this and ensure all of the waxy bits are shaved as yuca root skin contains linamarin that when eaten turns into cyanide in our bodies! Scary, but worth it ;)) and once done you begin to cut them into fry shapes. Once completed, throw them into a pot, add water and bring it to a boil. Once it boils leave them in there for 10 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 450* and get a large oiled pan ready for the fries. Once they have boiled for 10 minutes, strain them and run through cold water. Pour the fries into a bowl, toss in oil, salt, pepper and chili powder; Once covered throw on pan, place in the heated oven and cook for 15 minutes. Once done, remove, flip the fries and place in for another 15 minutes.

Then they’re done!! And delicious!!

This makes me want to look at other cuban recipes to see what else I can turn paleo – Because MAN the Cubans know how to cook!! More to come, so stay tuned!

♥

Blooming Beets

Paleo eaters understand how difficult it can be to find good paleo ingredient foods at stores alone, so when I heard there was an actual restaurant nearby that was almost completely paleo friendly we were SO excited. It’s so frustrating when we want to go out and enjoy a nice date night at a restaurant but have to be incredibly choosey and limited because there aren’t many healthy options out there.

After looking at their menus online it was obvious we could choose almost ANYTHING and we felt like kids in a candy store. So we decided that we would try it out for our anniversary dinner! We walked in and were immediately greeted by their very friendly staff and gorgeous decor! It was very rustic and modern; With lodge-esque wood decor along with metal pipe accents. Definitely made for a very comfortable but upscale atmosphere.

We were seated and waited on by Kim, she was amazing! She was so genuinely sweet, helpful, and knowledgable. After being handed our menus and showing interest in the Ciders she said it was locally made and had really great ingredients – This definitely interested us! Locally made ciders? How unique! And MAN they did not disappoint.. They were AMAZING. We’re going to have to find them in store now, because we’ve been craving more of them all day -_-

We were having a great time chatting and raving about the ciders, but definitely started working up an appetite. After looking at a few reviews online and advice from Kim we heard their bacon wrapped dates were incredible so we HAD to try them.. I am not kidding when I tell you I’ve never craved anything more than these, they were the most DELICIOUS things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life. They were cashew butter STUFFED dates wrapped in bacon and it came with three different (And equally amazing) dipping sauces made into beautiful designs! I am salivating just thinking about them – I NEED more.

It came with four and I could’ve eaten SO many more.. But it was time for the entrees and we were so excited to get to try their grain free fettuccini noodles since paleo doesn’t allow it (Since it’s usually made out of grains) and we usually only have zucchini noodles, which is good but not the same. Kim told us these noodles were completely almond based so we both HAD to try some, especially because the meat in the pasta was made from elk, bison, venison and boar!

I don’t know HOW they made almond based noodles but we’re going to have to figure it out. It was so incredibly delicious! It tasted JUST like normal noodles (Probably even better) and had the same texture! The meat and sauce were delicious, light and had perfect flavor. It was so filling but I couldn’t stop.. I ate more than my Husband, it was just so good it was worth hurting over 😉

We were stuffed and ready to try some dessert but we were talking about how much we loved the cashew butter from the wrapped dates and Kim was so sweet she brought us one of their popular cashew waffles to try! It came with their maple syrup and caramel sauce to pour on top. It was sooo good! Even Hudson enjoyed it!!

We were so excited to get to try their amazing raved about Lava Cake… Completely paleo and completely delicious!! It was a molten chocolate lava cake topped with coconut ice cream, almond infused caramel and pecans… It was the perfect way to end our extraordinary anniversary meal. We were so full we ate as much as we could and Hudson insisted on the rest 😉

This was seriously one of the nicest restaurants we’ve ever been to. Having the ability to choose anything off the menu we want, the service being exceptional, feeling so full YET light afterward and opening our eyes to the different paleo meals we can make at home ourselves! (Heading to the store soon to grab some cashews so we can try our hand at some cashew butter!) Blooming Beets is officially part of our Anniversary tradition moving forward and we cannot wait to get back in here as often as we can. Thank you Blooming Beets for such an amazing experience and meal!

They currently have locations in Boulder, CO, Chandler, AZ and will be opening their Denver, CO location in Spring 2017! Try them out for yourself, you will NOT be disappointed!

(I was compensated for this post, all opinions are my own)