Hazelnut "Breaded" Chicken Kiev

This was yummy and even my son enjoyed it! It had lovely flavours in the sauce and the crunchy nut coating went really well with the avocado I had with it.

Serves 2

2 x chicken fillets

Hazelnut crust
40g hazelnuts ground
Pepper
Parsley
1 x Free range egg beaten
Olive Oil

Garlic Butter
15g Kerrygold Butter
4 x garlic cloves minced
1/2 tbs of parsley
Sea Salt
Pepper

Make sure the butter is at room temperature. Blend ingredients together well.

Take chicken a make a slit in the side of it to create a pocket. Add a spoonful of garlic butter and close pocket.

Coat the chicken fillet in the beaten egg mixture and cover in the hazelnut mixture.

Place in a cooking dish and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 200C for approx 25 minutes until cooked fully.

I served with avocado slices, roasted sweet potato and vegetables.

Making Paleo "Easy"

Say No to Carbs

Whenever I mention my new lifestyle I am always met with blank stares and "Oh I couldn't survive without bread" or "I couldn't live without pasta". I thought this too - I thought I could never forgo my buttery toast and sandwiches. But I am doing it. And what is more I am finding it easy to do it!! 

Easy Peasy 

But changing to the Paleo lifestyle is actually quite easy if you are living a relatively healthy lifestyle anyway. I always enjoyed fruit and vegetables and preferred savoury foods to sweets so changing to a Paleo lifestyle was more about tweaking what was already the norm for me. If you are currently living a less than ideal lifestyle with fast food a big factor, taking little steps is the key to living a healthier way of life. 

It doesn't have to be daunting - instead of eating toast for breakfast, have an omelette with a side of avocado.

Sometimes I fast through breakfast as I dont feel I need it to be honest, but this is just a personal preference.

Lunch can be thrown together very easily in the morning - I usually put a chicken or salmon fillet into the oven with dinner and have it ready for the next day in minutes. Its about being organised and realistic. Throw in some salad, avocado, nuts and an apple into your lunch box and you have more than enough to keep you full for the day. 

Keep it clean

Dinner is actually the least challenging for me. I find it relatively easy to adapt meals to Paleo and avoiding processed food at all costs really help too. Just eat good healthy "clean" foods for dinner and it becomes less of a mystery. One of my favourite treats is sirloin steak with onion, mushrooms and red wine reduction with a side of sweet potatoes. Or an easy dinner is Paleo Bol with courgette "pasta". 

For me, the most challenging time is when eating out or in other people's house. Sometimes you cannot be 100% Paleo (or you might not be reinvited!) and it is usually these times I allow myself to sway a little. Accepting a small potato at dinner or eating someone's apple pie so as not to offend will not be the end of the world - just make sure it is the exception rather than the rule. 

Eggs are your friend

Eggs are a great food stuff - and can be adapted for any meal time to create a nutritious meal in minutes. 

Try and look for Omega 3 eggs or free range eggs - healthy hens mean healthy eggs! 

Resources

There are so many resources out there for you to use in your research, personally I love 

everydaypaleo.com

I also read Loren Cordain's "The Paleo Diet " and found it good. (Though a little strict) 

And lastly

Dont make things complicated, and do not concentrate on what you cant have - more on what you CAN EAT! 

The results will speak for themselves. Try it and you too will see the difference!! 

Salmon Parcels with Cauliflower Mash,

I actually cannot believe I already have over 100 facebook fans already! The Paleo Community is brill! It has made me even more determined to be a better Paleo...er....ist??!

Had a bit of an indulgent weekend again (drink wise) so I have to stay in and be more settled the next few weeks. Its great not to feel bloated after a weekend of socialising. I even discouraged my fiance from going to the chippy after the pub. There's determination for you! And hangover breakfast was leftover Paleo pizza - yum but without the guilt!

I did have a little cheat yesterday in my Mum's house for dinner. I had a small amount of potatoes with dinner and apple pie. Oops. Must do better.

Anyway, here is my Salmon receipe - a firm favourite in our house from pre-Paleo days which didnt require much adaptation - so that is good news!

Ingredients per person

For Salmon:
1 x Salmon Fillet
Splash of white wine (and a slug for the chef!)
1/2 teaspoon of dried dill
1/2 teaspoon of dried parsley
1/2 spring onion
Knob of butter
1 x slice lemon
Pepper and sea salt

Create a "parcel" out of foil and place the salmon fillet in.
Add wine, onion, dill, parsley, butter, salt, pepper, and lemon in with the salmon and seal up the parcel to allow steaming. The wine and butter create a sauce which is lovely with the mash. It also stays unbelievably moist and juicy.

Place in an oven at 200C for about 15- 20 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

Mashed Cauliflower
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 tsp of garlic powder
Sea salt & pepper
Knob of butter

Steam the cauliflower for approx 10 -12 minutes until tender
Mash in a bowl with a potato masher and add butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.

Serve alongside the salmon with steamed, buttered broccoli and carrot sticks.

Enjoy :)

Paleo Pizza

Who said Paleo wasnt fun??1

Pizza Base

2 x cups of almond flour (ground almonds)
3 x tbs olive oil
2 x Omega 3 enriched eggs
1tbs Oregano

Mix all ingredients together to make a thick dough. Press onto a greased baking tray as thinly as possible.
Bake DRY for 20 minutes at 170C

Topping

While the base bakes, get your toppings ready. I used:

Mushrooms, bacon, ham, pepperoni, chopped tomatoes, parsley and 10g Lactose Free cheese.

Take base out of oven and top with tomato sauce. I used a shop bought passata. You could even use your favourite pasta sauce. Top with remaining ingredients and put put back into the oven for 20 minutes until toppings are cooked!

Yummy!

Happy Friday - Paleo Lasagne!

Happy Friday! I love Fridays - glass of wine and relaxing without work in the morning. Bliss...

So this was a bit of an experiment. I tried to make bechamel sauce from coconut milk - FAIL! It didnt work at all... so I threw it out.

Anyway here is how I made the rest.

Paleo Lasange

1lb minced beef
2 x cloves garlic sliced
4 x slices of bacon cubed
3 x button mushrooms sliced
1 x large aubergine sliced lengthwise
1 x onion chopped
50 g Lactose Free Cheese
1 tin of tomatoes
1tbs oregano
1 tbs parsley
Black pepper
1 tbs coconut oil

Heat the oil and fry the bacon, onions and garlic until soft
Add the mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes
Remove from pan and set aside
Fry beef in pan until brown
Add vegetables back with the meat and add tomatoes and herbs. Fry for 5 minutes
Layer the sliced aubergine in bottom of a lasagne dish and top with meat mixture.
Alternate until mixture is used up.

Pop into oven at 200C for approx 30 minutes until aubergine is tender.
Allow to sit for 10 mins before serving
Serve with salad and sweet potato chips and a large glass of Pinot Grigio (optional!)

Curried Cauliflower

I haven't really been experimenting much this week but I had some leftover cauliflower and no mayo to make salad, so I decided to try something different.

1 x courgette sliced
1/2 head of cauliflower
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Curry Powder
1 tbs Coconut Oil

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes
Add the courgette and fry for about 5 minutes until all the vegetables are softening.
In the meantime steam your cauliflower florets for 10 minutes or until tender.
Add to the pan with other vegetables.
Add 1 to 2 tbs of curry powder depending on how spicy you want it.
Stir well and fry for about 2 minutes

Serve.

Paleo "Potato Salad"

This potato-less salad is yummy. There are many variations of this and you add anything you like but this time I have added bacon. Its a great addition to any salad or sometimes I add it to dinner when my other half has potatoes.

5 florets of cauliflower
4 pieces of fried bacon
Mayonnaise
Pepper
Parsley

Steam the cauliflower for 10 minutes or until tender
Run under cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool down
Break the cauliflower into small pieces into a bowl
Add the rest of ingredients and mix until all incorporated.

enjoy!!

Chicken Hotpot

So, after a fairly hectic and sometimes un-Paleo weekend, I have crash landed into Monday again!

It is a horrible damp evening here so comfort food is definitely the order of the day for dinner!

This recipe is actually one of my M.I.Ls and didnt need much tweaking so its going to be a firm resident on our menu from now on!

Serves 3
3 x chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1 x medium onion chopped
2 x garlic cloves chopped finely
4 x pieces of bacon sliced
3 x carrots peeled and sliced
1 x parsnip peeled and sliced
2 x sweet potato sliced finely
1 x litre of chicken stock
1 tbs coconut oil

Heat the oil in a pan and cook the bacon, remove from the pan
Add chicken and cook in coconut and bacon oil in batches until browned, remove from pan and set aside with bacon
Add onion and garlic to pan and cook for 2 -3 minutes
Return bacon and chicken to pan and add chicken stock.
Add carrots and parsnips and bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer for 15 mins.
Add sliced sweet potato to the top of the pot for last 10 minutes.
Cook until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender.

Vegetable Surprise Omelette

Saturdays are generally shopping day in our house, so there is usually very little left in the fridge for breakfast! So this mornings omelette surprise involved using up all the leftover vegetables - throw in a few eggs and voila! Paleo friendly breakfast!

Mine consisted of yellow peppers, red onion, a mushroom and leftover courgette.

Fried off in coconut oil until soft and I added 3 eggs and cooked until cooked through.
I flipped mine but you can also grill the top if you find that easier.

On the side I had half an avocado and 1 piece of bacon (thats all there was left!!)

Yummy and packed full of protein and good fats.
I need all the fat I can get today I have housework to catch up on and a girls night out planned tonight so soakage is very much needed!

Lunch will be leftover Butter Chicken from last night.

Lets hope there are Paleo friendly drinks and snacks tonight and my friends are non judgemental about my new lifestyle!!

Chat soon
xx

Butter Chicken

I was dying to have some kind of curry for a change from the usual.



1 can coconut milk
1 red onion diced
3 tbsp coconut oil

6 boneless chicken thighs or 3 x skinless breasts cut into bite sized pieces.
½ tbsp crushed garlic
4 tbsp Kerrygold Butter (clarified) 
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp of medium curry powder (good quality, no added preservatives) 
3 tbsp tomato paste

Melt coconut oil in a pan.
Add chicken and brown. Remove from the pan.
Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is softened.
Add any other vegetable you may like now if desired.
Return chicken to pan and add the coconut milk and tomato paste.
Bring to a simmer and cover for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Add butter and cook out for 2-3 minutes and serve! 

This was AMAZING! If you are an Indian fan I really recommend it.

I also added peppers and mushrooms at the same point as the chicken just because I had some to use up!

I served with cauliflower "rice" which can be made very easily by steaming cauliflower for 10 mins and then mashing with a potato masher to "rice" consistency.

My Amazing Takeout Salad

Since I had adopted this new eating lifestyle, one thing I have found very difficult to conquer is a finding a Paleo friendly takeout lunch that doesn't involve bread.

So today was a little victory for me when I discovered a cafe near my work does fab salads that are more exciting that the average lettuce leaves and tomatoes type thing I usually see.

Today I had a lovely smoked chicken, halumi cheese, avocado, walnut and mixed salad (including nettles!)

I was excited to have takeout lunch without the guilt!

(although the homemade bread had to be left after me, I just didn't want the temptation!)

I even took a picture!!

Beef Bolognaise with Courgette "Pasta"

Ok, so we all know how to make Bolognaise and it may not be the most adventerous of meals, but for those who may not know how to make:

Ingredients:

2 tbs coconut oil
500g minced beef
Tin of plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic minced
1 white onion chopped
1tbsp dried basil
1tbsp dried oregano
Black pepper
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 glass of red wine (optional)

1 courgette per 2 persons

Method

Heat 1tbs coconut oil in pan on medium heat.
Add onions and garlic and saute until soft
Add wine now if using and simmer until the alcohol cooks off and there is very little liquid left.
Add beef and fry until browned
Add tomatoes, sugar and herbs and bring to simmer
Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes until sauce has reduced and thickened.
Test for seasoning.

In the meantime use a potato peeler to slice the courgette, including skin, length ways to create "pasta" ribbon. Continue until you can used the entire courgette.

In a pan heat the other tbs of coconut oil and add courgette ribbons. Fry for 2 -3 minutes.

Serve mince and courgettes immediately.

A new lifestyle

Hi, I am a 26 year old female from Ireland.

Stats:
Height: 5"7,
Start weight : 10 stone
Current weight: 9.5 stone (I lost just under half a stone the first week!)


In July this year I decided to embark upon the Paleo Diet, a diet based on the diet and lifestyle of our ancestors.

I decided to do this blog as Paleo is as yet fairly unheard of in Ireland, but it is steadily growing Stateside.
Hopefully this blog might be a useful resource for someone in Ireland who might feel detached and unsupported from other Irish Paleos. I will be posting my progress and my recipes and photos to hopefully inspire others!

It is based around eating three types of foods:

Lean Protein - Fish, chicken, beef, lamb etc
Fresh Fruit & Vegetables - except pulses or corn (or potatoes if weight loss is priority)
Healthy fats - Olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts and seeds.

Foods to be avoided are:

All processed foods - eg. pizza, packet sauces, gravies
Grains - Wheat, rice, rye, spelt etc so that excludes all breads and baked goods containing wheat.
Transfats - Found in processed foods, crisp and snacks etc
Dairy - This is negotiable. Not everyone gives up dairy and some argue that if you can tolerate it to keep it in. I personally keep milk in but only for tea and some cheese (but seldom)
Sugar - all sugary foods and sugar substitutes.

What can I eat then??!

Before you freak out and think - "what can I eat then"?! Let me explain!
Its not as restrictive as you may think at first!

For argument sake let me illustrate this by providing a typical days menu for me on the Paleo Diet:

BF: Bacon, scrambled eggs and strawberries

Lunch: Salmon Salad with mayo dressing and avocados.

Dinner: Bolognaise with courgette "pasta" (surprisingly tasty!) with roasted sweet potato
Dessert: "Paleo" Fruit Crumble

Snacks: chopped veg with guacamole dip, nuts, fruit etc.

You will not be hungry! But you will feel leaner, less bloated and your skin will glow!

Try the diet for 30 days and I bet you wont go back! :)