Green Recipes For St.Patrick's Day

So my goal for St.Patrick's day was to incorporate green into all my meals for the day.  Green is pretty much the easiest color to add to your meals. There are so many healthy options: Broccoli, kale, asparagus, cabbage, green beans, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, avocado and so many more. Green at every meal was my challenge, challenge accepted, and completed. My success earns you 2 new recipes!

For Meal 1 I sauteed some broccoli to go with my breakfast. Have you tried broccoli with breakfast. It was very filling.

Meal 2 was a post-workout green smoothie with kale and orange juice. The orange juice really helps to cut the strong flavor of the kale.

Meal 3, not pictured, because I was hungry. Was turkey chili with broccoli mixed in and topped with guacamole.

My grand finale was Meal 4, dinner: Cabbage and Beef Skillet with Potato Cakes.

Beef and Cabbage Skillet (Gluten free and Paleo)

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I had this the other day for lunch at Whole Foods. It was so tasty I thought I would try and recreate it. What better occasion for beef and cabbage than St.Patrick's Day.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 lb 93% Lean Ground Beef
• 1/2 a head of Green Cabbage
• 4 strips bacon (Whole 365 uncurred and nitrate free is my preference)
• 1/2 clove Garlic Minced
• Pinch of Salt

Prep

You will need a sharp knife and a skillet with a lid.

• Cut cabbage in half, Then into quarters, then thinly slice and set aside. Save half for later use.
• Layer 4 slices of bacon and cut into sixths. Place in pan. Heat pan and cook bacon (for a lower fat recipe remove the bacon fat from the pan or be like me and reserve it for use later to fry the potatoe cakes).
• Add garlic to pan.
• Add ground beef to pan and brown.
• Add cabbage to pan and stir.
• Briefly raise the heat to sautee the cabbage with the meat.
• Cover pan reduce heat to low and allow cabbage to cook with the meat.

Cabbage can be eaten raw so as long as your beef and bacon is thoroughly cooked you can eat it whenever you're ready. I like a tender cabbage so I let it steam for about 20 minutes while I mashed and fried the potato cakes.

3-Ingredient Potato Pancakes (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)

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I simplified the traditional Boxty. The original recipe called for milk, butter, and flour, but I try to avoid extra flour when I can and dairy and I aren't always friendly. So I used what I had to make my own potato pancakes.

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 lbs Red Potatoes
• 2 Whole Eggs
• Pinch of Salt
• Bacon Grease or Coconut Oil for frying

Prep
You will need a large pot to boil the potatoes, a small bowl and fork to whisk the eggs, and a large bowl and spoon to mash the potatoes (I own a metal potato masher, it makes life soooo much easier, and I find mashing potatoes very relaxing).

• Boil potatoes until tender, 20-25 minutes. Mash. Mash thoroughly while warm. The better mash you get the better blend you'll get later. Add salt. Let cool. 
• Mix 2 eggs in a separate bowl. 
• Add eggs to potatoes, mash until smooth. 
• Heat oil in pan. 
• Add potato cakes 3 at a time. Cook until crisp approximately 3 minutes per side.

This recipe makes about 11 potato cakes. We started eating before I counted them all but I think we got 11, you could make yours a little smaller and get 12.

Did you get creative in the kitchen for St. Patrick's Day?

I love trying new recipes during holiday's. Share any your favorite Green or St. Patty's Day themed recipes in the comments below.

Health and Happiness,

Larissa

My Break up with Paleo

It's not you Paleo, it's me...

So I started to feel the Paleo crash coming last Saturday. But, I thought I would hold out for one more week and get in 3 whole weeks...I made it to the 22nd. A sign that Paleo was too strict for me at this point in my training. You shouldn't be counting down the days on a meal plan when it is the right plan for you and your goals.

My Paleo experiment ended with a yummy burrito bowl from Chipotle with brown rice and I had tummygasms and feelings of elation that do not make sense to most people.

Then I ate a box of Dr. Lucys gluten free cookies, very tasty! But all that sugar was too much for me, Had a 24hr stomach ache.

5 Things I loved about Paleo:

1. simplicity, think fresh think hearty
2. variety, I started following different Paleo blogs, twitter, and Instagram accounts, people get really creative it's not just salads and slabs of meat
3. recipes, learning to cook with coconut flour and think about carbs differently

    4.   fruit, all the fruit I want, and finding fun ways to incorporate fruit into my meals

     5.   result, my goal was not weightloss but I did drop about 3 lbs in the first week and my tummy was as flat as it gets during lean out

5 Things that made me question our relationship

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

- I love oatmeal and brown rice and I can't have that on Paleo

My favorite moments with Paleo:

Finally learning to cook quinoa (not stirct paleo)

Post workout fruit salads and coconut water

Meeting my nutrient goals while on Paleo

I will look back fondly on the days we spent together. I don't think I was ready for an exclusive relationship with Paleo, but I'd love to hangout with it occasionally.

Have you had success with Paleo? Do you have a Paleo recipe or blog you'd like to share? Comment below.

Health and Happiness

L