Recipes Archives – Primal Fed’s Paleo Lifestyle Blog

Recipe: Sweet Potato Chips

December 30, 2012 By Richard and has 1 comment.

Are you in the mood for a quick and easy snack?

Are you craving the salty crunch of regular potato chips but can’t bring yourself to blow your diet?

Good. We don’t blame you.

Instead, why don’t you give these a try next time you’re in the mood for snacking.

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes
1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
Sea Salt (Optional)

Preparation:

To begin, you want to grease the skillet you’re going to be using with the coconut oil.
Next, take your sweet potatoes and wash them well. You can skin them or leave the skin on as we did here.
Cut the sweet potatoes in thin slices. A food processor works great for this, but we’re doing it the old fashioned way.
Drop the potato slices in the pan and cook over medium heat for about 6 minutes and then flip them.
Cook the chips on the other side. Reduce heat if necessary so they don’t burn.
Continue cooking until the chips take on a firm, crisp texture.
Serve on a fancy picnic plate and enjoy.

: The Miracle of Coconut Oil

: Sweet Potatoes

: Sliced.

: Sizzling in Coconut Oil

: And they’re served.

How did you like this post? Please tell us about it in a comment.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Toasted Squash Seeds

December 29, 2012 By Richard and has 1 comment.

Toasting Squash Seeds

Over the last few weeks I’ve posted a couple meals I’ve had with spaghetti squash. We try to follow the mantra of “waste-not, want-not” as much as possible. We hate throwing things away. That mantra carries over to cooking as well. Anything that can’t be consumed is composted.

There are no thrown out leftovers in our house. Leftovers are always consumed, sometimes even at the expense of eating a more appetizing food at the time. Food near expiration is used before rotating in new stock. Nothing is thrown out.

So when we make spaghetti squash, we end up with quite a collection of squash seeds — seeds that are quite delicious as long as you spend a few minutes to prepare them.

Sure, you can go out and pay $2.00 for a small pack of seeds at the store, or you can spend a few minutes and make them (healthier) at home, yourself.

Ingredients:

Squash Seeds/Pumpkin Seeds
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt

Preparation:

The basic process in toasting squash seeds is:

1) Separate the seeds from the pulp. This is definitely the messiest part of the job. If you’ve ever cut open a pumpkin you know what a thick gooey mess the pulp is.

Golden Squash Seeds. Yum.

2) Put the seeds in a small bowl and splash with EVOO and a dash of Sea Salt. It’s fine if there is still a little pulp on the seeds. It will crisp and cook off when you put it in the oven.

3. Place seeds on parchment paper and toast for 10 minutes at 375*F until golden. We used a small electric toaster oven for this so we didn’t have to fire up the big gas oven.

In the end you have a snack that is both very healthy and very paleo. You can also try substituting the sea salt for a variety of spices to make other delicious flavors of seeds.

Did you enjoy reading this? Then please leave a comment or subscribe to our Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Surf and Turf

December 17, 2011 By Richard and has 11 comments.

Yesterday was my 27th birthday. I’m not looking forward to getting old anymore, but it was a great day overall.

I had to work, but Amanda and I were able to go out and eat at Colton’s steakhouse in Russellville for lunch. We both had the sirloin tips which were awesome. Colton’s is one of the few places around where we’re able to eat real food that isn’t breaded or covered in some form of questionable sauce.

For dinner Amanda had bought “crawfish” from the butcher and rib-eye steaks.

I always thought crawfish were small, brown or red, freshwater shrimp — but these things she brought home were gigantic.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I have no idea what these are. They were labelled as ‘Fresh Canadian Crawfish,’ but some quick Google Images pictures leads me to believe they are, in fact, lobster based on their size and the size and shape of the claws. Do they have enormously oversized crawfish in Canada? Anyone know?

Preparation was as easy as steaming them in a little water, butter, and a few slices lemons.

They were served up with a rib-eye steak (rare), and a baked potato with butter. (Yes. A potato. In case you weren’t aware… Some guy, who does some TV show, said they were OK to eat again.)

After dinner Amanda whipped out a paleo ice cream cake. Amazing, right?

Cake recipe will be posted once she gives it to me.

Did you like reading this? Then please leave us a comment or subscribe to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Deer Steak and Artichoke Hearts

December 13, 2011 By Amanda and has 2 comments.

Luckily, we have plenty of access to fresh deer — living in the country in Arkansas and all.

So I like to find new things to do with it.

I made a quick marinade for this deer steak. The steak was marinated in fish sauce (you can find it in Thai foods section) and white vinegar. I only used 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and about 2 Tbsp. of white vinegar. It sat in the marinade for about 8 hours. The vinegar helps make the meat less ‘gamey.’

I cooked the steak in a frying pan on the stove at medium heat. It wasn’t a very big steak, and we were splitting it, so as it was cooking I cut it into thinner slices. When it was nearly done, I sprinkled 1 tsp. of onion powder on it. In total, it cooked approximately 15 minutes.

Honestly, I never used to like deer. And if I didn’t know it was deer before I cleaned the meat, I would have guessed it was beef just from the taste.

The artichoke hearts were quickly fried in a couple of ounces of lemon juice (to taste) and a pinch of sea salt.

Want to read more posts like this? Then please consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Paleo Cranberry Sauce

November 23, 2011 By Richard and has 4 comments.

If you’ve ever tried to find a cranberry sauce at your supermarket that isn’t loaded with refined sugar you’d know it’s almost impossible. We’ve literally checked dozens of brands at many different stores and there wasn’t a single one that would be acceptable in terms of following a paleo or primal diet.

Last year for Thanksgiving we went without cranberry sauce, but this year we’re making our own homemade version.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Orange Juice
2 Cups Fresh Cranberries
1 1/2 Cups Dates

Preparation:

1. Measure out 2 cups of Cranberries, a cup of Orange Juice, and 1 1/2 cups of Dates.

The source of the of orange juice isn’t really important here; most natural orange juices from your grocer will be 100% juice without added sugar. If you wanted to be a perfectionist you could squeeze the juice yourself at home — but I’m sure you have plenty of other things you need to be doing to get ready for Thanksgiving.

2. Add the Cranberries and the Orange Juice to a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir it gently until…

3. The Cranberries begin to pop and split (this could get a little messy). Keep stirring and the sauce will begin to thicken into a gel.

4. Remove from heat and pour the sauce into a blender of food processor (we used our Ninja) along with the Dates. Blend until smooth and then refrigerate the sauce. The longer the sauce is refrigerated the sweeter it becomes.

5. Serve and enjoy.

Did you like reading this? Then please leave us a comment or subscribe to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Broccoli Mushroom Casserole

November 21, 2011 By Richard and has 1 comment.

We’re still trying out recipes for Thanksgiving and another one that we really enjoyed was this steamed broccoli served with a mushroom and brandy sauce. It would make a great holiday side and it’s really easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sliced Button Mushrooms
4 Cups Broccoli
1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp. Brandy

Preparation:

1. Combine the Mushrooms, Coconut Milk and Brandy in a sauce pan and simmer on low, stirring occasionally.

2. Allow the mixture to simmer and thicken up.

3. Steam the Broccoli using your preferred method and add to a casserole or similar serving dish.

4. Pour the mushroom sauce over the broccoli and mix well.

5. Serve.

Did you like reading this? Then please leave us a comment or subscribe to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Pecan Sweet Potato Pie

November 9, 2011 By Richard and has 9 comments.

We’re going to be visiting our family in Texas for Thanksgiving again this year and we’re trying out some new recipes for the upcoming trip.

One of the things we tried and really enjoyed was a paleo Sweet Potato Pie.

Ingredients:

2 Large Sweet Potatoes
1/3 C. Honey
1/4 C. Pecans
1 Egg
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Agave Nectar
1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 Tsp. Sea Salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350* F.

2. We started off by steaming the Sweet Potatoes for 5-10 minutes to soften them up and make them easier to cut. Then we peeled them and cubed them and steamed them another 10 minutes until they were tender.

3. In a blender, add the Sweet Potatoes, Egg, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Sea Salt. Blend until creamy and smooth.

4. Grease the pan with coconut oil and spread sweet potato mixture on the bottom of the pan.

5. Sprinkle chopped Pecans over the top of the pie and drizzle it with Agave Nectar.

6. Bake 30-40 minutes until firm and edges begin to crisp.

Want to read more posts like this? Then please consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Mocha Nut Brownie Ice Cream

November 5, 2011 By Richard and has 3 comments.

We haven’t had traditional ice cream since we’ve been on the paleo diet over a year ago. We’ve often looked at getting an ice cream maker and making some paleo ice cream ourselves but never went through with actually buying one.

Some of them are very expensive and they look complicated and hard to clean. It also seems like one of those things that you would use a couple times and then it would sit, taking up space in your cupboards for years.

For Amanda’s birthday, she received a cool attachment for her kitchen-aid mixer that makes it easy to make your own homemade ice cream.

The attachment is actually a bowl that you freeze and then pour the mixture in to. No need for ice. And it’s fast. You end up with awesome ice cream consistency in about 15 minutes.

A recipe that Amanda came up with and that we’re really enjoying is her Mocha Nut Brownie Ice Cream.

Ingredients:

Mix-In:
1/2 C. Unsalted Cashews
1/2 C. Pitted Dates
2 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

Ice Cream Mixture:
2 C. Coconut Milk
2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
1/4 C. Chilled Coffee
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract

Preparation:

There are two parts to making this ice cream; making the ice cream mixture itself and then making the nut crumble mix-in.

To prepare the ice cream mixture, combine the Coconut Milk, Agave Nectar, Chilled Coffee, and Vanilla Extract in a blender and mix together well.

We really love our Ninja blender here because it functions both as a blender and as a food processor. You can do both at the same time just by moving the blender top to the other container.

In another container, combine the Cashews, Dates, and Cocoa Powder and set aside.

Set the mixer on low and pour in your ice cream mixture.

Mix well until it starts thickening up.

Once the mix has started thickening up, spoon in the date and nut mixture.

After about 15 minutes you end up with some of the most delicious ice cream you’ve ever had:

It’s ready to eat and you can spoon the rest into small, freezable containers to have on hand as a quick dessert later.

Do you like this post? Please leave a comment or subscribe to our feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Paleo Blackened Catfish

September 30, 2011 By Richard and has 6 comments.

A few nights ago Amanda caught a dinner-sized catfish at Shiloh Park. We brought it home and I cleaned it and then we ate it the next night. Here’s our recipe:

Ingredients:
2 Catfish Fillets
2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
2 Tsp. Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. Ground Black Pepper
2 Tbsp. Frank’s Red Hot (Cayenne Peppers, Vinegar, Water, Salt, Garlic Powder)
1/4 C. White Wine Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

Preparation:

1. When I prepare any kind of ‘gamey’ meat or fish that might have an off-taste, I like to soak it overnight in the fridge. Some species of catfish can end up tasting muddy and that’s because, well… Because some of them live in the mud. Typically the muddy tasting ones are flathead catfish and what we have here is a channel catfish, so we’d probably be fine, but…

When purchasing catfish in a store the species probably won’t be listed — frequently it just sells as ‘catfish’ so you don’t really know what you’re getting.

To soak the catfish you put it in bowl with enough cold water to cover the meat and 1 Tsp. of Sea Salt and 1/4 C. of White Vinegar. You can use cider vinegar or balsalmic vinegar as well. I have done that in a pinch. You don’t taste the vinegar once the meat has been cooked, it just works really well for removing the less than savory flavors.

2. To make the seasoning, mix the Garlic Powder, Chili Powder, 1 Tsp. of Sea Salt, and the Ground Black Pepper in a bowl.

3. Pour the Frank’s Red Hot over the seasoning. Depending on how well you measured the spices, you might need slightly more or less than 2 Tbsp. of the hot sauce.

You want to end up with a sticky paste consistency:

4. Add the Unsalted Butter to a frying pan on high. Get it hot, but don’t scorch the butter.

5. Rub the catfish fillets in the seasoning mixture until you have both sides coated all over.

6. Add the fillets to the pan and cook until they look done. Then, use a spatula to flip the fillets and cook them even longer.

They should take on a crispy/blackened look and that’s when you know you you’ve got some finger-licking good catfish.

Hope you enjoy it!

Want to read more posts like this? Then please consider subscribing to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

Recipe: Grilled Fajita Chicken Salad

September 15, 2011 By Richard and has 1 comment.

Last night’s dinner was a very delicious grilled fajita chicken salad.

Ingredients:
1lb. Chicken Tenders
Choice of Salad Greens (Romaine, Spinach, Iceberg)
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Large Tomato
1 Medium Onion
Black Pepper
Morton Roasted Garlic Sea Salt

The Sea Salt might be a bit hard to find, but it’s a lovely addition to any kitchen and comes in it’s own grinding bottle.

Preparation:

There isn’t much to preparing the salad, but we’ll go over it anyhow:

1. Begin by cutting the Onion and Green Bell Pepper into thick slices.

2. Fry the Chicken Tenders and the Onion and Green Bell Pepper together. Season the chicken with Black Pepper and the Morton Roasted Garlic Sea Salt.
3. Cut up the Tomato into chunks.
4. Continue cooking the chicken until slightly blackened.
5. Toss all the ingredients together and serve.

Enjoy reading this? Then please leave us a comment or subscribe to our RSS Feed.

This was categorized under: Recipes

Related Reading:

1 2 3 4 Next Page »

Getting Healthy the Old Fashioned way