So we’ve been pretty quiet lately because for the first time, we have my parents and sister all staying in our house. It was fun to have everyone here. They even chose to watch us do the Tough Mudder. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a 12 mile run, with 20 different obstacles ranging from a mile of varying depths of mud that you have to trudge through, to a 30 degree water bath you have to submerge yourself in, to running through electric shock live wires. It was a lot of fun and I have to say, I’m proud of Angel and I for finishing it together! And no injuries is ALWAYS a good thing!

OK, so I love carnitas, but until now, I’ve never taken the time to really make a recipe. Who knows why? So the other day, I finally get around to it and I have to say, I’m pretty jazzed about it. If you like juicy meat that falls apart without being smushy, this is going to make your day. Notes? Make sure the pork is covered with liquids and stir it around so everything evenly cooks. Enjoy!

Pork Carnitas

3-4 lbs Pork Sirloin Tip Roast

2 cups Chicken Stock*

2 cups Beef Stock

½ Red Bell Pepper

Juice of ½ Navel Orange

6 Garlic cloves

1 Yellow Onion

½ cup Cilantro

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Dry Rub:

1 tsp ground Cumin

½ tsp ground Chipotle Pepper

1 tsp Sea Salt

½ tsp Black Pepper

*You can use one type of stock if you’d prefer, but we like the way this tastes best.

Cut the pork into 2-3” chunks. Combine the dry rub ingredients and mix well with the pork chunks until they are thoroughly coated.

Heat the olive oil over high heat in a saucepan big enough for all ingredients. Once the oil is hot, add the chunks of seasoned pork. Brown the pork on each side (about a minute per side).

Roughly chop the red pepper and onion. Smash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife to release the oils. Combine the red pepper, onion, garlic, orange juice, cilantro, chicken stock and beef stock.

Add these ingredients to the saucepan (with pork) and bring to a boil. The liquids should cover the meat. If they don’t, add water or stock until the pork is covered.

Once boiling, turn the heat down to low (~3) and simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Serves 4-6

Looking for dessert? Try our Lemon Flan or Lemon Curd for a light, delicious treat!

Paleo Pork Carnitas, A Puerto Rican Entrée originally appeared on on 21 May ’13.

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So I just found out that my sister isn’t coming until the end of the day on Monday to visit, which is kind of a bummer. I thought she was going to get in earlier, but am glad that my whole family can come, so I can’t really complain! At least we’ll get a couple of days to hang out together before mom and dad come out…you gotta have sibling time, you know? As long as she doesn’t mind that I have to go to the gym, as we are doing the Tough Mudder that weekend. 10-12 miles, in the mud, with 25 obstacles and some of them include being shocked by 10,000 volt live wires! I don’t know why this sounds fun, but it totally does. Angel and I will definitely share pics!

Now on to the food! This is a Southern classic. Anybody who knows anything about Southern cuisine will tell you that you have to have a shrimp and grits recipe. I actually like it a lot, even though I thought I didn’t when I first moved. Now, I like my food spicy – so this has a definite kick to it. Its not going to light you up on fire, but be wary that if you don’t like spicy food at all, you’ll want to adjust the cayenne pepper in this thing. Otherwise, enjoy!

Shrimp & Grits

1 lb large Shrimp

2 Andouille Sausages

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Walnut Oil

3 Garlic Cloves

½ Yellow Onion

1 Green Bell Pepper

2 Celery Ribs

2 cups Beef Stock

Juice of 1 Lemon

½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

½ tsp Paprika

¼ tsp Oregano

¼ tsp Cumin

¼ tsp Sea Salt

Paleo Grits (Coming soon in our book out in the fall!)

Peel and devein the shrimp. Set aside for later.

Dice the yellow onion and celery. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat (~6) and add them to the hot oil. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes.

Next, mince the garlic and dice the green peppers (sans stems and seeds) and add them to the onion mixture. Cook until the onions are browned and almost translucent, about another 3-4 minutes.

Once the onions are a tan color, turn the heat down to medium (~4) and add the sliced sausages (about ¼” thick), beef stock, lemon, cayenne pepper, paprika, oregano, cumin and sea salt. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Next, add the shrimp. You want to do this last because if you do this too soon, they get chewy like rubber bands. I like to add them in and let them cook until they turn pink, stirring frequently. Now, if you want the flavors to meld together even more, turn the heat down to 3 and let it cook until the sauce thickens a little…although we can never wait that long!

Looking for a dessert? Try our delicious Carrot Cake!

Paleo Shrimp & Grits, A Spicy Southern Entrée with Sausage originally appeared on on 9 May ’13.

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I am very excited to have my parents and sister coming to visit this next week! After 2 root canals, Angel’s hurt foot, One Spark (for our app Aurora), travelling for the merger at work and everything else we have going on, it will be very nice to see family and take a little break! We have a couple of surprises up our sleeves too, which is always a lot of fun! But on to the food…

So Angel’s dad made this delicious Puerto Rican seafood paella the last time he visited and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Something about it really stuck with me and I wanted to try to re-create the flavors that were so delicious. So this past week, I did and I am so happy that we can share this with you! Just a side note, you can totally freeze any extra that you have and it tastes great re-heated. I know, sounds weird, but works like a charm! 

Seafood Paella

½ lb Shrimp (with shells)

½ lb Mussels*

½ lb Squid

¼ lb Clams

¼ lb White Fish

2 Spicy Sausages**

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Cubanelle Pepper

¼ cup Sofrito (See our new book for recipe!)

½ White Onion

2 Tomatoes

½ Red Bell Pepper

1 Celery Rib

3 Garlic Cloves

2 cups Chicken Stock

1 Tbsp Culantro Y Achiote Seasoning

2 tsp Sea Salt

1 Bay Leaf

¼ tsp Saffron threads

*Make sure that if you are using fresh mussels, you clean them, de-beard them, and throw away the cracked or bad mussels (don’t know if they are bad? If you find a mussel that is slightly open, tap it on the counter and if they don’t close tightly, then throw them away). Still lost? Watch here.

**Like Andouille, Cajun, or Hot Italian if you can’t find Chorizo.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat (~6). Dice the onion, celery, and peppers (both cubanelle and red bell), then mince the garlic. Once the oil is hot, add the onions and celery to the pan and cook until the onions are almost translucent. Next, add the garlic, red peppers, cubanelle peppers and sofrito and cook for another minute, until fragrant.

Slice the sausages into ¼” rings and add them to the pan along with the cilantro y achiote seasoning, sea salt, and minced saffron threads. Mix to incorporate, then add the bay leaf and chicken stock, as well as the seafood. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until the shrimp is pink and cooked through. With 5 minutes left, add the diced and de-seeded tomatoes. If you do this too early, they will turn to complete mush, so if you are doing the step below, add at the appropriate time.

Here’s the part that you can take with a grain of salt…If you want to eat paella and don’t want to wait, then make sure that the shrimp is pink and cooked through. But if you have the time, I prefer to turn the heat to low, uncover the paella and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, to let the flavors incorporate.

Serves 5-7

Looking for yummy desserts to go with? Try our Flan, Coconut Macaroons or Lemon Curd!

Paleo Seafood Paella, A Puerto Rican Inspired Entrée originally appeared on on 7 May ’13.

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So I’ve been out of town on business for the last week and have REALLY slacked on uploading recipes! I cannot believe Angel let me get away with going this long! He’s usually really good about keeping me on my toes about posting.

Anyway, I was going to post the Pumpkin Pie recipe, but I feel that the crust needs a little work, so you’ll just have to wait a minute until I figure that one out ;)

We came across a version of this while we were out of town one weekend and it was so good, I had to make an adaptation of my own. I really have never heard of a citrus flan before, but it is so light and delicious. I made this recipe while he was out working late one day and surprised him when he came home (I love surprises that make Angel happy), and it seemed to really brighten his day.

Paleo Lemon Flan 

1 cup Coconut Crystals (or raw Sugar/Sugar Cane)

4 large Eggs

1 can Coconut Milk

1 Vanilla
Bean

Rind of 1 Meyer Lemon*

Sea Salt (about 1/8 tsp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Take ½ cup coconut crystals and put a thin layer in the bottom of each ramekin. If you are using sugar instead, put it in a saucepan and heat it slowly until all the sugar melts, stirring frequently. Then pour it into 6 (6oz) ramekins (you can do 4 8oz ramekins too).

Next, beat the eggs until smooth. Set them aside.

Cut the yellow part of the rind off of the lemon. If you get a little white, that is perfectly OK. Then cut the rind into thinner strips – this is not rocket science. It does not matter what they look like -  you just want to cut them down so the oils can get out. Then put them in a saucepan.

In the same saucepan, bring the coconut milk, remaining ½ cup coconut crystals (or sugar), vanilla, sea salt and lemon rind to a boil. Once it starts to bubble, turn down the heat, cover with a lid, and let simmer for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take the mixture and strain it into a separate bowl to remove all of the lemon rinds. Let it sit for 5 minutes (or more if you like, this is just to cool it down a little).

With a whisk in one hand and the eggs in another, slowly add the eggs to the milk mixture, whisking constantly. Pour slowly over the coconut crystals, taking care not to let the coconut crystals disperse into the milk mixture – the goal here is to have a sweet caramel-like topping when you flip it out of the ramekin. If you used sugar, it will be hard at this point…I mean, really really hard…like a rock, so you won’t have any issues with pouring.

Next, you want to take a baking dish (I used a glass 9×9), place the ramekins in it, then fill around them with water until the dish is 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. When done, the top of the flan will look a little tan and will be a little set. If you wiggle the pan, the flan will be a very thick liquid.

Take them out of the dish and put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour (the longer the better…I make ours the night before now that I know what I’m doing!)

Makes 4-6

This dessert is great with our Taco Salad, Flank Steak, Fajitas or Fish Tacos!

Paleo Lemon Flan, A Citrus Twist to a Spanish Classic Dessert originally appeared on on 5 May ’13.

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Today was a really perfect day. The weather was so fantastic that we opened the doors and worked on the house. We had the music going and the sun was shining. It was just really nice and we got a ton of things done. My parents gave us a patio set, so we put it together and then made some delicious Steak and Salsa Wraps for lunch and ate outside under the trees.

This recipe is light and really wonderful on a nice day with a glass of semi-dry white wine. We hope you enjoy this recipe!

Grilled Skirt Steak

1 lb Skirt Steak

1 Tbsp Adobo Seasoning + 1/8 tsp Cumin

1 Tbsp Coconut Vinegar (or White Vinegar if you use it)

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Heat the grill to high heat.

Grill the steaks for 3-4 minutes on each side. Let rest for 5 minutes, then slice the meat across the grain.

Try this recipe with our Guacamole or in our Steak & Salsa Wrap for a delicious meal!

Paleo Skirt Steak, A Tender, Grilled or Pan-Seared Dinner Idea originally appeared on on 5 May ’13.

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This weekend, we had a wedding in St. Augustine. I always love going to weddings with Angel because we get to get dressed up and dance and just enjoy each other’s company without any work or interruptions. I really do enjoy going out with Angel (it really doesn’t hurt that he looks so gorgeous in a suit!). So we drank wine and caught up with friends and danced and laughed. It was a beautiful, heartfelt wedding (for Carrie and Jon) and we had a great time.

We used to love going to out to Casa Maria and eat chips and guacamole and drink margaritas. Now that we are Paleo, we still like our little Mexican food nights. This recipe is our basic, restaurant-style guacamole. It’s simple and quick to make. Oh, and it is imperative that you use fresh cilantro or it just won’t be right.

Guacamole Restaurant Style

4 Avocados

Juice of 2 Limes

1 cup Tomato

1 cup White Onion

1 ½ cups Cilantro

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Sea Salt (to taste)

Dice all ingredients and combine. If you are using a food processor (like us, because we’re lazy), start by tossing in the onions, cilantro and lime juice. Pulse until the onions are almost the size you want. Then scrape them out of the way of the blade a little and add everything else (roughly chopped, of course). Season with sea salt and serve.

Serve on our delicious Tostones, Mexican Shredded Chicken or Fajitas!

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Paleo Guacamole, A Restaurant-Style Side with Lime and Cilantro originally appeared on on 5 May ’13.

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Today is such a fantastic day! The sun is out, we biked out to Metro Diner for a great breakfast of Steak and Poached Eggs and maybe later, we’ll take our dog Chance to the beach for a little swim. Well, a swim for him, its too cold for us for sure! Just in love with this time of year, when it starts getting warmer! We have a fun Oscar Party tomorrow at Sun Ray Cinema too, so looking forward to that!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…Angel’s Arañitas recipe! This recipe is so simple, you won’t believe it! Really Simple and delicious. That’s one of the things that I really enjoy about Puerto Rican food.

Arañitas

3 Green Plaintains*

3 Garlic Cloves

¼ cup Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Coconut Oil

Cilantro

*NOTE: They MUST be green. Not a little yellow, not brown, definitely NOT black. Green. Very Very Green.

First, mince the garlic and combine it with the olive oil. You want this to sit for at least 1 hour.

Peel the green plantains. This is much more difficult than a banana and you will want to use a knife to get you started. Once you get the peel off, soak the plantain for 30 minutes in a sea salt and cold water bath. Add enough sea salt so that the plantains are floating.

Then remove them from the water, dry slightly with a paper towel and grate the plantains into shreds. Season the plantain shreds with sea salt, then form handful-sized flattened “pancakes” with the green plantain mixture.

Heat about 2″ of coconut oil over medium-high heat (~350 degrees Fahrenheit) in a large enough pan to fry a few at the same time. Do a test with a piece of plantain – it should sizzle when dropped into the oil. You will want to drop one layer of arañitas into the pan – don’t overcrowd and don’t overlap or they won’t cook properly. Fry until golden, should be about 4-5 minutes on each side. Once golden, remove from the oil and set on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Sprinkle with sea salt and chopped cilantro (if you’d like) and serve warm.

Makes 12-15

These Puerto Rican Arañitas are SO DELICIOUS with our Puerto Rican Pork, Shrimp & Whitefish Ceviche, Restaurant-Style Guacamole or Skirt Steak!

Paleo Puerto Rican Arañitas, A Fried Green Plantain Appetizer originally appeared on on 5 May ’13.

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So this week, I had ANOTHER root canal. I am getting so sick of going to the dentist. Really, all of my issues with this have stemmed from the fact that I had a shady dentist when I was younger and now I’m having to replace it all and it is a mess. My face is killing me, so I am posting a new pickle recipe that I did last week when I didn’t feel like poo. I know, things are a little slow with us, but we’re getting back on track! Thanks for being patient – putting out a book takes a lot of time, so now that we’re finishing the last touches on it, we’ll be full steam ahead! Hang tight for just a little while longer J

So this recipe… Have you ever had a great BBQ that had sweet pickles on it that were a little tangy, a little sweet, a little dill-ish tasting and wonder how they do it? Well, now you too can be a wiz at the good stuff. This recipe was made specifically for BBQ and grilled meats. So if you eat them plain and don’t like them, make a batch of our Sweet Chipotle BBQ or Sweet & Spicy BBQ Pulled Pork or Ribs, add some of these pickles to it, and I promise, it will change your tune! But what if it doesn’t, you ask? Then I greatly apologize and will remind you that these are so easy to make, you only had to waste 10 minutes of your life. Hope you enjoy!

Sweet Gherkins

2 English (Hothouse) Cucumbers*

4 Garlic Cloves

½ cup Carrots

1 ½ cups Coconut Vinegar

3 cups Water

½ cup Honey

2 Tbsp Sea Salt

½ Tbsp Celery Seed

1 tsp whole Allspice

½ tsp whole Peppercorns

½ tsp Fennel Seed

¼ tsp Turmeric

2 Quart Sized Ball Mason Jars

*I was told at one point that the pickles had to be a certain kind, for canning, without wax. I am sure that in certain recipes, that matters, but not for this one. For this recipe, good old-fashioned grocery store hothouse cucumbers work. I wouldn’t try it with the regular kind, as they are watery and seedy, but salad cucumbers are great as well.

Slice the cucumbers into chips or strips (depending on how you want to eat them). Next, smash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and peel and slice the carrots. Divide them equally into the mason jars.

Next, bring the coconut vinegar, water, sea salt, celery seed, allspice, peppercorns, fennel seed and turmeric to a boil. Add the honey and bring the mixture back up to a boil. Once the honey is dissolved (this won’t take long), pour the mixture into the mason jars, over the cucumbers. If you don’t have enough liquid, add a little water.

Screw the jars shut (they don’t have to be sealed by canning) and leave on the kitchen counter for 3 days. Don’t open them, but shake them every now and again to make sure that everything is circulating.

After 3 days, refrigerate them. Leave them in the frig for one day, then they are ready to eat! So easy, and so good! You’ll never buy chemical-laden pickles ever again!

This recipe is Vegan!

These are FANTASTIC on our BBQ Pulled Pork or  BBQ Pulled Chicken with Creamy Coleslaw!

Paleo Sweet Gherkins, A Pickle Recipe for BBQ and Grilled Meat originally appeared on on 2 May ’13.

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OK. So I know what a lot of you are thinking… *1. Peas?? And 2. How is this a succotash? Both of which, I am prepared to answer. As for the peas, many of you have asked and this post will be the proof – peas can be a rare part of your diet, as long as you don’t have any auto-immune disorders, digestion issues or IBS. If you are doing Paleo for the healthy lifestyle, like we are, go for it. They can easily be eaten raw, they have lower volumes of phytate, and even Dr. Loren Cordain will tell you they are much less toxic than other beans. Here is a Great Article by Mark Sisson for those of you looking to hear a little more. If you are strict with no exceptions, then just simply leave them out.

As for the succotash, we don’t really eat anything that goes into a succotash, so we decided to make our own Paleo version. It is meaty, a little spicy, with pops of green and very hearty. We ate this for dinner the other day and it was just as delicious the next day!

Paleo Succotash

2 Sweet Potatoes

1 Yellow Onion

2 Garlic cloves

1 cup Peas*

3 cups Ham

2-3 Andouille Sausages

2/3 cups Carrots

¼ cup Chicken Stock

¼ tsp Lemon Juice

½ tsp Thyme

½ tsp Mint

1 ¼ tsp Creole Seasoning

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Dice the sweet potatoes (~3 cups) and carrots. You can leave the skins on the sweet potatoes, but I would peel the carrots. In a separate bowl, dice the ham and Andouille sausage (if it is already cooked. If not, cook it until no longer pink, let it cool a little, then dice it). Set all aside for later.

In a separate bowl, dice the onion and garlic. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat (~5). Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is a light, tan brown color.

Next, add the remaining olive oil, the diced sweet potatoes and carrots, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After the first 5 minutes, add the chicken stock, lemon juice, thyme, minced mint, and creole seasoning (or blackened seasoning). Stir to incorporate, then add the diced ham, sausage and peas.

Cook until warmed through and serve piping hot!

The recipe can be made Vegan if you swap the chicken stock with veggie stock and leave out the meat…just as good! …well, if you’re Vegan ;)

Try our Breakfast Casserole, its awesome too!

Paleo Succotash, A Vegetable Medley with Ham & Sausage originally appeared on on 29 Apr ’13.

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Wow, I never wrote anything to go with this post! Crazy. Well, it will be a sleeper post, as I am doing it much later. I turn 30 in 2 days and we’re almost done with the book! I am so excited! I know it won’t make sense in the order of how I wrote these blogs, but I wanted to update this post to make it better. Hope you like it!

Asian-Inspired Slaw

½ tsp Chili Flakes

1 Garlic Clove

¼ cup Coconut Vinegar

1 tsp Honey

1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos

2 tsp Coconut Oil

½ tsp Sea Salt

3 cups Napa Cabbage

1 Carrot

½ cup Broccoli

2 Tbsp Cucumber*

3 Green Onions

Combine the first 7 ingredients and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

While the marinade is in the refrigerator, shred the napa cabbage, carrot, broccoli and cucumber. Dice the green onions, reserving a few for garnish. Add these ingredients to the marinade and let rest for another 15 minutes. Garnish with green onions and serve!

*We would suggest that you use an English (or Hothouse) Cucumber. They are less watery and have fewer seeds, if any.

This recipe is Vegan.

Try with our Skinless Pork Dumplings and Dipping Sauce.

Paleo Asian-Inspired Slaw, A Crisp Vegetable Side originally appeared on on 26 Apr ’13.

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