Paleo brownies yummmmm

So if you know me at all you know I love love love a chocolate chip cookie. Before 10 days ago I would pick a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, the kind that is crunchy on the outside but gooey on the inside, over an actual meal all three meals of the day. Seven days after my last bite of sugar I was about to have a crash and burn moment. I had eaten my lean meats and fresh veggies. I had eaten an apple. I had done everything I knew to do but I NEEDED some chocolate and I wanted it to be in the form of a yummy cookie. So thanks to google, my go to for any question I may have, I discovered paleobrownies.com (yes that is an actual thing). Now granted I wasn't interested in eating the whole pan like I might have if sugar and flour was involved but I no longer have a sweet tooth AND I still haven't had a bite of sugar!

Try it and enjoy!

Makes 10
½ cup coconut oil (solid)
½ cup good quality cocoa powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup coconut milk (publix was out of coconut milk so I used almond milk)
2 tbs honey
1 egg
1 cup almond meal
Good quality cocoa powder to dust (optional)

Instructions
Preheat oven 325°.

Place the coconut oil, cocoa powder and cinnamon in a bowl and combine well. Add the coconut(or almond) milk, honey, egg and almond meal and mix until combined.

Line a small brownie tin or cake loaf tin with baking paper. Spoon the brownie mixture into the tin and smooth the surface of the mixture.

Place in the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator for 60 minutes.

Dust the brownie with cocoa and cut into individual portions to serve. (optional)


I personal wasn't a fan of cocoa dusted on top (talk about bitter!) I actually ended up sprinkling a little honey on the top to give it the sweeter taste I was needing!

Paleo butternut squash lasagna

Yesterday I tried a paleo butternut squash lasagna. (Thanks to paleotable.com)

Ingredients

 

  1 package of hot Italian sausage (remove from casing)

  1 yellow onion chopped

  3 cloves garlic, minced

  1 15 oz container of your favorite all-natural tomato sauce (I used Mario Batali)

  1 small butternut squash

 

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions and garlic.
3. While sausage is browning, use a sharp knife to cut off the top and bottom ends of the squash. Peel the squash. Quarter the squash, making one vertical cut and then one horizontal cut through the entire squash. Remove the seeds and slice the squash lengthwise into ¼-inch planks.
4. Lightly cover the bottom of an oven-safe dish with sauce. (This keeps the squash from sticking.) Layer about half of the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on half of the sausage mixture, followed by half of the remaining sauce. Repeat once, ending with sauce on as the top layer.
5. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is bubbly with a crispy, browned top. Right out of the oven, the lasagna may be liquidy. Let it set for approximately 30 minutes before cutting to allow the liquid to dissipate

If I do say so myself I thought it was pretty good! Make sure you have a SHARP knife and a good pealer becuase that was by far the most dificult part of preparing this meal.

Dont know about a Paleo based diet? Ignite Fitness fueled by Crossfit (in Hoover across from Wal Mart) is having a FREE paleo workshop Thursday 1/12/2012 at 700.

I dont (yet) have a gun but I know how to use it.

I have always been as scared of a gun as I was of a spider. My biggest fear has always been to be taken at gun point then raped and killed. My obsession with shows like Criminal Minds makes me realize it is not the gun I need to be scared of rather the crazy people behind the gun. This week, thanks to my friend Susan, I took a basic gun class. We had two nights of fun facts about guns, basic shooting skills, and gun protection information. I actually took a written test and got a certificate. Yesterday I finally got to shoot my first gun! We went to Hoover Tactical Firearms (if you haven't been you should go! you can rent a gun and target practice as long as you want!) We all shot 50 rounds from both a revolver and a semi-automatic. If you are in to things like cowboys and like the loud boom and kickback then the revolver is for you. Me on the other hand like how the semi-automatic looks, feels, and not to mention I was a decent shot. I really enjoyed it and cant wait to go back target shooting. At the same time, just because I know how to use a gun doesn't mean that I hope I get the opportunity to use it in a real life situation. Next step... purchase a gun!