Paleo Butt Naked Sliders

Butt Naked Sliders

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

½ onion, finely diced

2 strips bacon, diced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 avocado

½ cup Paleo friendly mayo

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

In a large sized bowl, add ground beef, onion, bacon, chili powder, cumin, sea salt, pepper and garlic. Mix thoroughly with your hands.

Form patties about the size of golf balls. Press down and slightly flatten the patties out. You want them as thin and flat as you can get.

In a large sized skillet over medium-high heat, add each patty. Cook until your desired wellness.

While patties are cooking, slice tomato and place each slice on a serving tray.

In a small sized bowl, add avocado, a dash of sea salt, and mayo. Mix well.

Add a dollop of avocado on top of each tomato slice.

When burgers have finished cooking, top each tomato slice with a burger patty and serve 

immediately.

This recipe is featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Burger-Recipe-Cookbook-Jennifer-Edlund-ebook/dp/B00LEW1YQC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1414765964&sr=8-7&keywords=jennifer+edlund 

Paleo Chicken and Bacon Alfredo

Paleo Chicken and Bacon Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, cooked and gutted.

1 package shirataki yam noodles, rinsed, drained and cut in half.

½ pound chicken tenders, cooked

4-6 slices of bacon, diced

½ cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

In a large sized skillet over medium-high heat, add diced bacon cook until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to pull out your cooked bacon, but leave bacon the grease.

Add yam noodles into the warm skillet filled with bacon grease.

Add coconut milk. You may need to add more coconut milk, depending on how large the spaghetti squash is.

Add spaghetti squash to the skillet. Mix thoroughly.

Add seasonings to the mixture and seas salt and pepper as needed. Mix thoroughly. Cook on low for about five minutes.

Add more coconut milk over spaghetti squash if needed—or to your desired liking. Mix well. You want to be sure that the yam noodles and spaghetti are completely coated with coconut milk mixture, and not dry.

Add chicken to the mixture. Stir until well combined.

Remove from heat and serve.

Top with bacon.

This recipe is featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Paleo-Cooking-Dinner-Cookbook-ebook/dp/B00OP4IXN8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414682589&sr=8-1&keywords=jennifer+edlund

Paleo Tex-Mex Breakfast Casserole

Tex-Mex Breakfast Casserole 

Ingredients:

2 eggs, poached (1 egg per person)

1 pound ground beef

2 parsnips, diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 140z can diced tomatoes

1 large sweet potato, shredded

3 cups baby spinach

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, diced

2 tablespoons ghee butter

4 green onions for garish, chopped

3 tablespoons coconut oil

Your favorite hot sauce

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Dried parsley for garnish

For the guacamole:

3 tablespoons Paleo friendly mayo

2 avocadoes, smashed

Juice of 1 lime

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons onion, diced

1 roma tomato, diced

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add ghee butter. Once pan has heated, add garlic and all the veggies except the spinach and diced tomatoes. Cook until the vegetables become tender, stirring occasionally.

Add ground beef. Cook thoroughly while stirring occasionally.

Add diced tomatoes. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. Mix well.

Add spinach. Stir well. Cook until spinach has wilted.

Remove pan from heat.

In a medium bowl, add shredded sweet potato. Add coconut oil and mix together gently.

In a large baking dish, add meat and vegetable mixture.

Top meat and vegetable mixture with an even layer of shredded sweet potato.

Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the sweet potato becomes crispy.

While casserole is cooking, start on your guacamole

In a small bowl, add all the guacamole ingredients. Mix well to combine. Set aside

5 minutes before the casserole is finished cooking, prepare your poached eggs.

Remove casserole from oven and plate accordingly.

Top each casserole serving with a generous dollop of guacamole.

Top guacamole with poached egg.

Top poached egg with onion green onions, parsley and hot sauce.

This recipe is featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Paleo-Delicious-Recipes-Breakfast-ebook/dp/B00O80HPII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414595276&sr=8-1&keywords=jenny+edlund

Paleo/Gluten Free - Crab and Avocado Spring Rolls

So, this is not 100 percent Paleo because I use rice paper for the spring rolls, but sometimes you gotta live a little.

Ingredients:

1 package all natural rice paper, prepared as directed on the packaging

2 avocados, sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

1 can of crab meat

Your favorite all-natural, Paleo friendly, Asian dipping sauce 

Cooking Directions:

In the center of the rice paper, place a few slices of avocado, a few slices of onion, and about 2 tablespoons of crab meat. Now fold the rice paper like you are wrapping a package. Start with folding the right into the center and the left into the center. Then fold the top into the center and the bottom into the center. Make sure it's nice and tight like a sushi roll. Repeat this process for the rest of your spring rolls.

Dip rolls into your favorite Asian sauce! But make sure it's Paleo!

Paleo Breakfast Burger Stack

Paleo Breakfast Burger Stack

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef
4 eggs, fried (two eggs per serving)
1 sweet potato, cooked and sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 avocado, sliced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon of your favorite seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Cooking Directions:

In a large bowl, add ground beef, onion, thyme, your favorite
seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. Mix well
with your hands to combine. Form large patties about the
size of your hand, and press down to thin them out.
You should be able to make about 4 patties, which
equals two servings.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add burger patties.
Cook until brown on both sides, flipping occasionally
until meat has cooked thorough. When finished, remove
patties from pan.

Use on of the burger patties as a bottom bun.
Top burger bun with avocado slices
Top avocado slices with 1 slice of tomato
Top tomato with fried egg
Top fried egg with burger patty
Top burger patty with sliced sweet potato
Top sweet potato with fried egg
Top fried egg with slices of avocado.

Eat with a fork and knife.

You can find more recipes like this featured in: http://www.amazon.com/Burger-Recipe-Cookbook-Jennifer-Edlund-ebook/dp/B00LEW1YQC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1414511036&sr=8-6&keywords=jennifer+edlund

15 Foods that Naturally Cleanse and Detox Your Liver

15 Foods that Naturally Cleanse and Detox Your Liver

Don’t wait until your liver is overloaded! Eat these foods daily to help cleanse and detox your liver naturally and help clear toxic waste from your body.

Your liver detoxifies and cleanses your body by continuously filtering your blood of bacteria and toxins that enter it through the digestive tract, the skin, and the respiratory system. When your liver becomes overworked as a result of stress or excessive exposure to toxins, your entire system can be thrown off balance, and your health can be severely compromised.

Your liver is also responsible for producing bile. Bile is another form of detoxification that is metabolically necessary for the breakdown and assimilation of fats and proteins from your food. It is exceedingly important that your liver be properly maintained because without a well-functioning liver, your body will be unable to cleanse itself or absorb nutrients properly.

When you overeat food, or eat highly processed foods, and any time you are exposed to environmental pollutants or stress, your liver can become overworked and overloaded. When the liver is taxed, it can’t process toxins and fat in an efficient way. There are many foods that can help detox your liver naturally by stimulating its natural ability to clean toxic waste from the body.

Grapefruit

Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C as well as antioxidants, which both help support the immune system and two powerful liver cleansers. Phytonutrients in grapefruit called limonoids inhibit tumor formation by promoting the formation of glutathione-S-transferase, a detoxifying enzyme. This enzyme sparks a reaction in the liver that helps to make toxic compounds more water soluble for excretion from the body. Grapefruit increases the natural cleansing processes of the liver. It also contains a flavonoid compound known as naringenin that causes the liver to burn fat rather than store it.

Beets

Beets are a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains (betanin and vulgaxanthin). Betalains provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and Phase 2 detoxification support for the liver. Phase 2 is the metabolic step that our cells use to hook activated, unwanted toxic substances up with small nutrient groups. This “hook up” process effectively neutralizes the toxins and makes them sufficiently water-soluble for excretion in the urine. Beets are also a very good source of the antioxidants manganese and vitamin C.

Carrots

Carrots are extremely high in antioxidants, like beta-carotene, and phytonutrients. The rich carotenoid content of carrots helps prevent oxidative damage inside our body. Carrots are very high in Vitamin A, as well as vitamin K.

Green Tea

Green tea is loaded with catechins, a type of plant antioxidant that has been shown in studies to eliminate liver fat accumulation and promote proper liver function. This powerful herbal beverage also protects the liver against toxins that would otherwise accumulate and cause serious damage.

Apples

Apples are high in the soluble fibre pectin, which can help detox metals and food additives from your body. Apples also contain many beneficial phytochemicals used in the detoxification process, including flavonoids that help stimulate bile production which helps with detox as the liver gets rid of some toxins through the bile. Make sure to eat only organic apples because the non-organic varieties are among the top 12 foods that have been found to contain the most pesticide residues.

Broccoli

Broccoli contains anti-inflammatory nutrients, antioxidant nutrients, detox-support nutrients, and anti-cancer nutrients. Broccoli contains phytonutrients in a special combination that support all steps in body’s detox process, including activation, neutralization, and elimination of unwanted contaminants. Broccoli is also extremely rich in vitamin K, vitamin C, chromium and folate.

Lemon

Lemon stimulates the release of enzymes and helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that can be easily excreted from the body. Lemons contain high amounts of vitamin C, which is needed by the body to make glutathione. Glutathione helps ensure that phase 2 liver detoxification keeps pace with phase 1, thereby reducing the likelihood of negative effects from environmental chemicals. Drinking lemon water, which is alkaline-forming, first thing in the morning will help stimulate the liver.

Argula/rocket and other Bitter Greens

Bitter greens include arugula, endive, dandelion greens and spinach. The bitter flavor in these foods actually detoxifies your liver by increasing bile flow, while the greens themselves flush out toxins.

Walnuts and Brazil Nuts

Walnuts contain the amino acid arginine, which is necessary to help the liver detoxify ammonia. Walnuts are also high in glutathione and omega-3 fatty acids, both of which are known to support healthful liver detoxification. Brazil nuts are one of the most concentrated food sources of selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that helps protect against damage to liver cells, mobilizes cancer-fighting cells, strengthens immunity and contributes to tissue elasticity – an essential for healthful liver tissue.

Cabbage

Cabbage contains sulforaphane, a substance that can increase the production of antioxidant and liver detoxifying enzymes. Sulforaphane works by stimulating the production of glutathione, the body’s most important internally produced antioxidant which plays a role in liver detoxification.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower helps your body’s ability to detoxify in multiple ways. Cauliflower contains antioxidants that support Phase 1 detoxification along with sulfur-containing nutrients important for Phase 2 detox activities. The glucosinolates in cauliflower also activate detoxification enzymes

Avocado

This nutrient-dense super-food helps the body produce glutathione, an antioxidant that is necessary for the liver to filter out harmful substances and protect liver cells from damage.

Spinach

Spinach is very rich in vitamin K, and an excellent source of antioxidant nutrients — including vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), and manganese — as well as being a very good source of the antioxidants zinc and selenium.

Garlic

Garlic contains numerous sulfur-containing compounds that activate the liver enzymes responsible for flushing out toxins from the body. This bulbous relative of the onion also contains allicin and selenium, two powerful nutrients proven to help protect the liver from toxic damage, and aid it in the detoxification process.

Herbs & Spices to Support Liver Function

Turmeric

Turmeric, one of the most powerful foods for maintaining a healthy liver, has been shown to actively protect the liver against toxic damage, and even regenerate damaged liver cells. Turmeric also boosts the natural production of bile, shrinks engorged hepatic ducts, and improves overall function of the gallbladder, another body-purifying organ.

Milk Thistle

Silymarin is a strong anti-oxidant extracted from the seeds in the Milk Thistle plant. Silymarin provides protection from the damaging effects of free radicals. It helps repair damaged liver cells, keeps new cells from being destroyed, and helps reduce inflammation of the liver. Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding.

Paleo One Pot Wonder (Poor Man's Meal)

One Pot Wonder (Poor Man's Meal)

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, diced

1-2 packages of frozen mixed veggies (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini)

1 avocado, smashed

1 tablespoon Paleo friendly mayo

1/2 juice of a lime

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Your favorite seasoning

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Extra-virgin Olive Oil

Your favorite hot sauce

Cooking Directions:

In a small bowl, add avocado, mayo, garlic power, lime juice and sea salt to taste. Mix well. Set in the fridge to chill.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add ground beef. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally.

Add onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add frozen veggies. Cook until heated through, mixing well.

Add your favorite seasoning, along with sea salt and pepper.

When finished cooking, remove pan from heat.

Serve topped with your guacamole and hot sauce!

Enjoy

Paleo Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet

Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet

Ingredients:

1 red onion, cut into quarters

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into quarters

1 yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 orange bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 egg per serving

Extra-virgin olive oil

Your favorite seasoning

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Your favorite condiments such as avocado, sour cream

...salsa. Your choice.

Cooking Directions:

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil. 

Add sweet potato and let them cook until slightly brown

and tender.

Add onions and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add bell peppers and cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Add your favorite seasoning, sea salt and pepper. Stir well.

Create two wells in the pan and crack an egg into each of them.

Let the eggs cook to your desired preference. 

Serve with guacamole if you so desire.

5 Significant Reasons To Eat Family Meals Together (And How They Can Make Your Kids Healthier)

Solitary dining has become more common as busy families are finding it more challenging to carve out time for family meals, particularly when all adult family members work outside of the home.

Traditionally, family meals have represented much more than just communal eating—they're a time for good conversation and genuine family bonding.

Unfortunately, today, many meals are consumed at stoplights or in front of the computer—alone. The US ranks 23rd out of 25 countries in the percentage of children who eat the main meal of the day with their parents several times a week.1

Although solitary meals are occurring on a regular basis now, recent research suggests they are not contributing to you or your children's well-being. Families that make an effort to eat meals together at least three or four times a week enjoy significant benefits for their health, happiness, and relationships.

The shared interest in preparing and cooking food in traditional ways has been overshadowed by a desire for convenience foods over the past several decades, although evidence suggests those trends might be starting to reverse.

If You're Eating Alone, You Have Plenty of Company

The family meal hit a low point in the 1950s, when people began to regard cooking dinner for the family as a major inconvenience. As foods became more readily available and storable in the freezer and pantry, the idea of cooking from scratch became almost passé.

Perhaps people are beginning to miss the security and the socialization that family meals impart. Research into eating trends varies substantially, which may suggest that values and attitudes are changing.

The relative infrequency of shared family meals is not associated with a lack of desire for them, as people consistently report fond memories of eating together during their childhood years.

Several recent studies reveal how American families are struggling to find time to eat together. When thinking about the following statistics, consider that 27 percent of households consist of a single person living alone.2

• A new report from NPD3 found that Americans eat more than half of their meals solo; people are the least likely to eat dinner alone, and most likely to eat breakfast and lunch alone (refer to chart below).4
• A 2014 study found that the majority of American households eat meals together less than five days a week.5
• A 2013 Harris Poll6 found that among Americans who live with at least one family member, only 58 percent report eating with others at least four times a week, but 86 percent report sitting down to a dinner together at least once a week. The poll also found that the frequency of family dinners is declining with each generation.

Source: The NPD Group/Enhanced National Eating Trends®

Why Eating With Family Is Beneficial...

1. Kids Who Eat Meals with Their Families Enjoy Healthier Eating Patterns and Less Obesity

The 2013 documentary The Family Meal focused largely on the connection between the epidemic of childhood obesity and the role eating dinner with your family could play in curbing it.

Research shows that children who share family meals three or more times a week are more likely to be in a healthy weight range and make better food choices. They're more likely to eat healthy foods and less likely to eat unhealthy ones, and also less likely to develop eating disorders.7

Interestingly, a Cornell University study8 found that families (both adults and children) who eat dinner in their kitchen or dining rooms have significantly lower BMIs than families who eat elsewhere. For boys, remaining at the table until everyone is finished with eating was also associated with a lower BMI.

Researchers at the European Conference on Obesity9 reported that children who don't eat dinner with their parents at least twice weekly are 40 percent more likely to be overweight than those who do. This might say something about the importance of family rituals and routines for children's emotional health. In reference to predictable family routines, ScienceDaily10 reported:

"Researchers believe that being cared for in stimulating and nurturing environments in early life, with regular participation in predictable family routines, reflects greater family organization and can provide a sense of security and belonging. It also may positively impact children's socio-emotional health before school entry and contribute to their future school and life success." 

2. The Psychological Cost of Eating Alone

Kids who eat meals with their families not only have less obesity, but also fewer psychosocial and behavioral problems—the benefits are truly profound. For example, teens who eat with their families at least five times a week are 40 percent more likely to get A's and B's in school than their peers who don't share family meals. They're also 42 percent less likely to drink alcohol, 59 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes, 66 percent less likely to trymarijuana, and tend to be less depressed.11 Other research shows that with each additional family dinner, adolescents have:12,13

• Higher self-esteem and life satisfaction
• More trusting and helpful behaviors toward others and better relationships with their parents
• Better vocabulary and academic performance
• Lower teen pregnancy rates and truancy14
• Increased resilience to stress

3. Family Meals Help Pass Down Healthy Cooking Traditions

The benefit of the family meal comes not only from time spent eating together, but also from the time spent shopping for food, preparing your meals, cleaning up, and even tending a garden. Getting your children involved teaches them about nutrition, as well as how to work together as a family. Children will also learn environmental awareness and the importance of supporting organic and sustainable foods and farms.

Sharing meals gives you an opportunity to pass along special recipes and family traditions that you may have learned from your mother or grandmother. You can teach your children the importance of traditional food preparation methods, such as fermenting, juicing, sprouting seeds, soaking nuts, and preparing raw meals. These lessons are invaluable for building a rich family heritage, as well as giving your children the tools they need to live long, healthy lives.

4. Family Dinner Is Less About 'Dinner' and More About 'Family'

What is it about family dinners that exerts such a powerful influence on our children? Or is it the family dinner at all? These are the questions professors Ann Meier and Kelly Musick sought to answer by delving deeply into the data. The professors removed variables such as income, time spent with children (meaning, activities such as helping with homework or participating in extracurricular events), how closely the kids were monitored, and overall quality of family relationships. Once all of those factors were stripped away, they examined the impact family dinners have on children's mental and behavioral health.

Meier and Musick published the results in the Journal of Marriage and Family, and their findings might surprise you.15, 16 They concluded that it's the family connections that matter,not the meals. In other words, the family dinner is less about the "dinner" and more about the "family." They identified the following critical requirement:17"The effects of family dinners on children depend on the extent to which parents use the time to engage with their children and learn about their day-to-day lives."

So, if your family dinner hour consists of nagging about chores and unfinished homework, or everyone texting at the dinner table, or if it's a battle getting everyone TO the dinner table, it's unlikely you will see as much benefit. But if your mealtime is instead filled with sharing and genuine caring and connection, and everyone is on board, then the benefits are plentiful. This data does not diminish the value of eating together for your child's physical health and fostering his appreciation and education about food. But when it comes to the psychosocial factors and relationship dynamics, there is much more to it than simply sharing space at the dinner table.

5. Clever Mealtime Conversation Starters

If you are looking for ideas on how to corral your family into eating more meals together, The Family Dinner Project (FPD) might be helpful.18 The FDP is a resource aimed at helping families "improve the frequency and quality of their mealtime interactions." Their site has abundant tips for engaging children of all ages in the entire food preparation process through fun dinner games, recipes, age-specific conversation starters, and even instructions for turning your own kitchen into a makeshift Iron Chef arena! In terms of dinner table conversation, columnist and author Bruce Feiler offers three interesting strategies for stimulating fun and meaningful family talk time:19

• Word a day: Since your child is expected to learn about 3,000 words a year, you can teach him a word a day at the dinner table. Feiler suggests bringing a newspaper or magazine to the table and asking everyone to find a word they don't know. In this instance, Googling is allowed.
• Autobiography night: Encouraging your child to tell stories about his past successes or how he overcame failure will boost his future performance, so encourage him to tell a "who, what, when, where, why" story at dinner.
• Pain points: Focus on a current "pain point," which is essentially a difficult situation for someone. For example, your daughter has to do a project with someone she doesn't like, or your teenage son hasn't found a date for prom. In the course of the discussion, family members share their own experiences and team up to dissect the dilemma and devise possible solutions, which teach children good problem-solving skills. If no one has a pain point, you might discuss a current event. 

More Food for Thought

In order for family meals to occur, you must make them a priority. One of my favorite sayings is, "If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail," and this certainly applies here. Making it possible for your family to eat together means not only shopping ahead of time so you have the food to prepare, but also selecting a time that works for everyone—whenever that may be.

Can't gather three teenagers together at one time for a family dinner due to math club, soccer, and cheerleading practice? Plan a weekly family breakfast or meet for a bedtime snack. Even one meal on weekends can have a positive impact. Just be creative and make your mealtimes as regular, stress-free and enjoyable as possible!