Who doesn’t love a muffin, a little sweet treat in the morning to go with your coffee or my favorite, TEA.

Did I ever tell you I’m obsessed with tea, like I buy teas wherever I go it’s pretty ridiculous I have a cabinet full of different tea and flavors. I love smelling the tea, I love sipping the teas, I love sharing the teas.

Starbucks has this new spearmint and Lemongrass tea with an aroma that will take you to another realm. Plus the caffeine is appropriate for the energy depriving lifestyle that comes with being a mommy.

But about these muffins, they are small batch too. Just 8 muffins to share or enjoy alone over the week for breakfast.

Plus they are low in sugar.

I’ve been making these at night after putting the kids to bed and passing them out in the morning, for a protein packed pre breakfast starter.   

Let’s get to these muffins tho.

Mix your dry ingredients together.

Mix in the wet ingredient. You gotta go fast during this step, or else the coconut flour will soak up all your moisture and mixing the berries in will not be so easy.   

Carefully fold in blueberries. (frozen blueberries were used in this picture but I highly recommend allowing the berries to defrost before adding them to the mix or else it will get to thick. Better yet you can use fresh blueberries.)

 Place mix in muffin tins.

To make the crumble topping, with a fork mix in the butter, sugar and tapioca flour until crumbly texture is reached.

Sprinkle on top of muffins after they have baked for 15 minutes.

The picture shows the crumble on top but it comes out much better if you wait until the muffin has cooked a bit first. I also ended up preferring using the coconut sugar or brown sugar over the white sugar for the crumble topping.

Bake the muffins for 15 more minutes after adding the crumbled topping, so 30 minutes in total.  

Remove muffins from pan and let them cool a few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

I have to give my body a bunch of good stuff first thing in the morning.

I need the energy.

I’m no good on an empty stomach.

If I’m at work with food all on my mind you can count me useless.

Well food is always on my mind, but if I fail to eat a decent breakfast it’s on ten.

To counter that morning hunger crankiness I make sure I’m getting some real sustenance before I step foot out the door.

This meal is a bunch of REALfood that fills your belly, provides good nutrition, while pleasing the palate.

Grass fed beef is always better but this time I’m using this frozen all beef steak.

Yep I used a pack of good old frozen cheese steak meat. Mostly I’m pretty particular about the cut and quality of meat I use, but these work perfect. When it’s a busy & rushed morning, this frozen beef is as good as prime rib as far as I’m concerned.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat olive oil in pan and add the steak.

Cook steak (til it’s brown all ova’)

Add chopped peppers and onions.

Season generously with salt, peppers, and herbs of you choice.

Cook peppers and steak mix down.

Crack eggs over top of the peppers and meat.

Bake in oven for 5 minutes or until egg is done to liking.
I like my eggs a little runny so I don’t keep them in the oven long.

You can place it over top a cooked and sliced sweet potato for an energizing, and healthful breakfast.  

I add a little cheese to my kiddos but for me it’ perfect just as so.

Hope you enjoy!

Who doesn’t love Pinterest?

You get to pin a bunch of  crap that you’ll probably never have, like a grown up tree house made out of old bottle caps.

DIY Pallet refurbishing projects that you’ll never start.

Or recipes that you’ll never cook like a Krispy Kreme Donut casserole.

Who am I kidding?! 

If I had some grain free donuts I would totally make a ridiculously sweet casserole out of them. 

This recipe was inspired by a Biscuit Battered Fruit Ring Pin I found one day.

I was doing my daily Pinterest browsing and up pops these little treats. The process thy used is much more sophisticated than mine. They actually dip the entire fruit into the batter and cook.

I just knew I had to remix this recipe into a grain free/Paleo  hit!

I decided to make grain free pancakes and simply place a fruit ring in the middle.

These and my Paleo Cinnamon Roll Pancakes are my favorite grain free pancakes thus far.

But if I had to choose one recipe between the two I’d probably choose this one.

The mix of grain free flours I used gave this the most traditional pancake texture. With the addition of fruit you add more sustenance to the recipe.

These pancakes will be in constant rotation on our grain free breakfast menu.

If you try them they’ll be on yours too.

It’s not a difficult recipe. I mix everything together and whip two egg whites separately. Adding the egg whites to the batter I fold them into the mixed batter.  This part is crucial to the final product, it gives the pancakes the fluffy texture you would expect from traditional pancakes.

Here’s all you do.

Mix all Dry ingredients together.

 In a separate bowl beat two egg white until they are stiff.

Carefully mix stiff egg whites into the batter.

Oil and heat skillet to 375.

Pour batter onto preheated skillet and place the apple ring in the middle.

When edges are brown flip over and cook for a few more minutes or until pancake is done. Serve with a little maple syrup, and voila.

I just love how the hot skillet gives the apples a nice and sweet caramelization.

You really don’t need much syrup with all the flavors you get out f these cakes.

                                                                        Paleo/Vegan Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

I like all food, and sometimes that includes food that other people won’t eat.

From Pigfeet to neck bones I have grown up on it all!

I enjoy it all. I eat it all. 

I realize that this will not be a snack that most will indulge.

But my hope is that this recipe reaches all my friends, and one day I will visit their homes and they will have fried up some gizzards using these instructions.

Then we can dip them in a spicy sauce and enjoy as if there is nothing strange happening.

As of now I’ll take those side eyes’ and rude remarks as I offer up some of the weirdly shaped nuggets to my guests.

I’m an old school girl, and I will try to  carry these strange, overlooked, and discarded cuts of meat on to the next generation. I will try.

Most of us have used them to prepare gravy. 

But did you know that when fried they can make a pretty satisfying snack. 

I first use the gizzards to make a well seasoned broth. They make a really great broth. 

I then batter it up and fry them. 

These’ll be apart of our super bowl spread this year!

Maybe you’ll try them. 

Maybe?

Put gizzards, herbs, and spices into pot, cover gizzards with water. 

Bring to boil, cover pot and turn to low. Simmer covered for 2 hours. 

Turn off heat and let gizzard sit in broth for at least 30 more minutes. 

Drain broth from the rest of the pot. Save broth for use later. 

Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer up to 2 months. 

In a bag with flour mix, salt, and pepper drop cooked gizzards. 

Shake bag up 

Heat lard in pot. When temperature reaches 375 carefully place battered gizzards into oil. 

Fry for 2-3 minutes or until brown. When they start floating to the top of oil I remove them from pot.

They can easily get over cooked, remember they’re already done you just want to get the outside crispy.  

Place finished gizzard on paper towel lined plate. 

Sprinkle with a little salt while still hot. 

I like chicken wings.

I mean I really like chicken wings.  

I can eat a couple of plates stacked of wings all to myself.

My favorite are the two bone flat ones. Big Noah prefers the little drumettes which works out perfect.

I can have my flats he can have his drumettes. 

I like juicy, wet, and sticky wings sometimes. This time it’s my dry rub juicy on the inside salty on the outs. This recipe is salty and sweet, with a lot of chili powder. 

4 simple ingredients and you have a quick plate of appetizing wangz! Yes, I mean wangz…that’s how I say it in real life anyways.

The trick to cooking tender and crispy wings are the  temperature of the oven. It needs to be high. They need to cook quick. 

Set your oven to 400°

Mix together the salt, chili powder, and brown sugar. 

Pat dry wings. 

Rub the seasoning evenly over the wings. 

Spread the wings out onto baking sheet. 

Bake for 30 minutes. 

Close up of the easiest and tastiest wangz ever. 

I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has quickly come and gone, and it was nice enjoying my family without doing all the work. I made just a few Paleo/Grain Free Side items and three different grain free desserts.

The Non-Paleo family members enjoyed! So of course I felt good about myself. They have even asked me to prepare an entire Christmas menu complete with the desserts!

Now I’m just a little suspicious that all the praise and enthusiasm over my healthy desserts were really just to get me on the hook for Christmas dinner. Either way I obliged and I’m ready to get the ball rolling on making our families first grain free Christmas so good we continue the tradition….forever! I’m hopeful. 

Bacon, Leeks & Sweet Potato Jalapeno Poppers

The recipe I’m sharing today is one of the appetizers I made at Thanksgiving. Only difference was I used white potatoes at Thanksgiving. They were a hit. I mean they were gone before you could say amen.

When I got home I decided test them again for accuracy and switched it up a bit  to add more nutrition. I switched out the white potatoes for sweet potatoes. It not only added more nutrition, it added more flavor as well.

Switching the potatoes were just the addition needed to kick this recipe up a notch.

These will be served at Christmas and I’m sure everyone will enjoy them even more now that I added the sweet potato.

I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t want to cook pig feet!” Maybe even “disgusting!”, and all things considered it does sound disgusting…maybe it even is disgusting. 

I mean it’s feet…..pigs feet, and when I initially explained to my kids what they were eating faces got chopped and screwed.

But a few minutes later, everything on their plate quickly moved into their tummies. They loved them! I’ve made pig feet in the past but my husband won’t eat them and I didn’t want to make the kids eat them, so I was kind of on my own. Now that they’ve tried them I’m not on my own anymore…they asked for seconds. 

Seems like the more off beat and less mainstream my posts are the more interest they get, in return the more people I get to help. I like helping. 

I’m sure someone will soon be looking for a pig feet recipe this New Year(pig feet are a tradition on New Years) and this one is the best!

Plus, if I can just be really real with y’all……

I really like pig feet!

Did you know how healing gelatinous  meats can be for the skin and digestive track?!  I’ve upped the ante on my gelatinous meat intake. I.E pig feet, since starting an effort to heal my skin.

Animals feet contains high amounts of collagen! Collagen is that protein they use to fill out wrinkles on the skin. So save your money…just eat pig feet. I like that slogan. 

My daddy calls them jelly rolls. lol

That really makes me laugh….

…..and I’m still rolling. My daddy is funny, he’s really funny.

But about these jelly rolls…

yep still laughing….

they are simple to prepare.

You put all your ingredients into the pot cover and simmer, and that’s it.

Let me show you.

Make sure to clean the meat off really good.

Pigs have been known to have some hair on their toes. Please get rid of them before you traumatize anyone including yourself. 

Place pig feet in large braising pot. (we call it the greens pot, that’s how we braise large amounts of collards, kale, or mustard greens.)

Throw in your cut onion bunch of parsley and the rest of the spices. 

Pour in the water and vinegar.

Cover pot and bring to rolling boil. Check the pot after 2 hours. If the feet are not covered pour in some more water to cover and boil another 1 hour.

After 3 hours on the stove your pot should look something like this. Meat will fall right off the bone! There you have it tender and flavorful Jelly Roll!

Still laughing…

Any unique meals you or your family enjoys? 

This entire post is a sort of fluke, no planning on my part at all. I was making dinner as always and thought, ” Why haven’t I posted this go-to potato recipe yet?” Probably because it’s so simple or maybe because it’s just yet another potato recipe. 

I’m posting it anyways in hopes that  it will help someone out there on those uninspiring days you need a quick side to serve with a Hamburger, or a delicious chicken recipe. 

This recipe is more a tutorial. If you follow the steps exactly you can use any flavoring or seasons you desire. If you’re having a classic meatloaf like our 7 ingredient Ritz cracker meatloaf you can mix together a quality Herbs DE Provence and salt for a complimentary side. 

The pictures show a simple sea salt, dried parsley, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika mix which produced a subtle spice beside our Honey and ginger glazed chicken, this night in particular.

Preheat oven to 450°F

Cut potatoes into wedges.

Run potatoes under cold water.

In a large bowl cover potatoes with cold water. 

Let potatoes sit in water for 10 minutes. 

*crucial* Add Bacon Fat/ Leaf Lard to pan and heat for 5 minutes. 

Remove potatoes from water and pat dry. 

Add seasonings and with hands make sure all potatoes are fully coated in flavors. Place potatoes evenly onto PREHEATED roasting pan. 

Be careful hot pan will sizzle.Place potatoes into oven.

After 15 minutes Shake pan and flip potatoes around. Bake potatoes for another 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden and crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.

All done!

What’s a go-to side dish you love? 

I’ve jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon, reluctantly I will say. I’m all about the sweet potato and growing up there was no pumpkin pie in sight at Thanksgiving. We stuck with the sweet potato pies, that just our tradition. Last year I wanted to switch it up a bit and since I was in charge of the deserts I decided to make some pumpkin pies. When I revealed that my desert of choice was a pumpkin pie instead of a sweet potato, I was met with  some poignant protest from my daddy and a screwed up face from my mama.

Mom even decided last-minute to make a sweet potato pie so that  Thanksgiving wouldn’t be completely ruined. Little did we all know that pumpkin pie was going to give Ms. Sweet potato a run for her money. The pumpkin pie made a disappearing act to everyone’s belly in record time!

They loved it! 

With my highly successful first attempt at pumpkin, I’m excited to take it a step further using pumpkin this season.

This pumpkin Salmon is exactly what I was hoping for with experimenting. The recipe is flawless. 

I could not stop eating the Salmon, and by the time it reached the table it was picked and mangled to just enough pieces for the family to get a taste. :/ Sorry family.

I’m sure you and your family will love this one as well. Oh and did I say bacon? 

What you need…..

1 Lb Salmon

3-4 slices Bacon (uncured) 

1/2 cup cooked pumpkin

1 cup coconut milk 

1 tablespoons coconut aminos

Spice mix (roasted ginger, chili powder, crushed peppers)  

Sea Salt

Mix coconut aminos and spices into a paste consistency.  

On medium high heat brown chopped bacon and render its fat.

Season Salmon fillets with sea salt.

Place salmon fillets face down in skillet. 

Cook for about 4 minutes on each side.

After Salmon is browned on both sides, remove from skillet and place on plate. 

In the same skillet add the cooked pumpkin. 

Let pumpkin fry in bacon fat for about 5 minutes stirring constantly. The aromas at this point are unbearably delicious! 

Add coconut milk to pan and continue to stir and mix everything together.

Add spice paste to skillet and mix into sauce. 

Add Salmon back to pan place top on skillet, and turn heat to low.

Let simmer for 5 more minutes. 

As of recent I’ve been concocting all sorts of pumpkin recipes, so I’m kind of pumpkin pro. Well sort of…no, not really,  I just figured a few things out about pumpkins through trial and error and I’d like to share that with you. 

I found that the smaller pumpkins are sweeter which work great for my  baked goods and smoothie recipes , and the larger pumpkins have a perfect taste profile for my savory ones. 

For this savory recipe I actually used a smaller pumpkin which gave these wings a nice sweet flavor. This simple pumpkin recipe is perfect to serve your family on those long game days that are (and I’m not happy about) happening this season. 

I’ve noticed football season is getting much more intense as years go by and even you ladies are getting in on the football madness. I guess if you can’t beat’em join’em.

I totally get it. As for me I’m dropping off the snacks and going on about my business watching some real life murder drama or working on some new paleo recipes.

Hope you enjoy this one…I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one!  

Picture steps below with the recipe to follow.