Shrimp and Scallop Scampi - 446 Calories

It's no secret I love garlic so shrimp scampi has always been a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, the original recipe with butter over pasta isn't paleo but my version is.

6 Ounces of large shrimp

3 Ounces of bay scallops

3 Ounces of Miracle Noodles

1 Tablespoon of ghee 

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

1/2 Tablespoon oregano

1 Teaspoon white pepper

1/2 Teaspoon salt

Splash of moscato wine

Put ghee in a nonstick pan and heat on high. Add the shrimp and scallops and sauté for one minute. Add the garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper, sauté for two minutes and then add the wine. Rinse the noodles and add to the seafood mixture. Sauté until hot then serve. I sprinkle the food with crushed red pepper. 

Serves 1

"Miracle" Chicken Arrabbiata Florentine - 290 Calories

Arrabiata sauce is a spicy tomato pasta sauce. I added spinach to boost the vitamins and minerals, hence the "florentine." I served it over the miracle noodles from the earlier post.

7 Ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Cup spinach
3 Tomatoes, diced
1/4 Red onion, julienned
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
4 Large fresh basil leaves, ripped into small pieces
1/2 Tablespoon oregano
1 Teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 Tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 Teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Splash of moscato wine
Splash of vegetable broth
3 Ounces of Angle hair Miracle Noodles

Spray a nonstick pan with oil from the misto and heat on high. Add the chicken and sauté for three minutes. Add a splash of moscato to deglaze the pan. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, and spices. Cook until the tomatoes break down and the onion is tender. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Add a splash of the vegetable broth if you need to thin the sauce. Rinse the Miracle Noodles with cold water and add to the sauce. Heat thoroughly and serve.
Serves 1

Miracle Noodles - Zero Calories and Paleo!!

Pasta! I LOVE pasta! But when you're watching what you eat, especially when you're eating paleo, you look for substitutes. I've tried spaghetti squash - hated it! Zucchini  "pasta" - puke! Kelp noodles - ok, but crunchy so the texture is abit to get used to. I needed a pasta fix the other day so I was at Fresh Market looking for kelp noodles when I came across this...

I saw they were zero calories and the flour used to make it was derived from a Japanese yam. When I saw that, I thought "I bet it's paleo". I did abit of research and found that indeed it was paleo! That was half the battle! Now how do they taste? I bought them to put in my Chicken Arrabiata Florentine sauce. The prep was easy. Rinse in cold water and blanch for a minute in boiling water. The blanching was optional and since it was going into pasta sauce, I opted to just dump it in. Now the moment of truth...

IT WAS FANTASTIC!! It tasted just like angel hair pasta! In addition to the angel hair, Fresh Market also has fettuccine. Their website is www.miraclenoodle.com. Zero calories,great tasting, and paleo! Holy crap I'm in pasta heaven!!

Shrimp With Red Curry - 326 Calories

I love Thai food, so I bought some red curry paste. When you by the curry paste, make sure you look at the ingredients to make sure there aren't any chemical additives. Red curry doesn't have much heat so I add sliced jalapeños. If you want a milder dish, omit the jalapeños.

7 Ounces of peeled, deveined, uncooked shrimp
1/2 Red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 Red onion, julienned
1 Jalapeño, sliced, not seeded (optional)
2 Cups spinach
1/2 Tablespoon red curry paste
1/2 Cup coconut milk

Spray a nonstick pan with oil from the misto and heat on high. Whisk the curry paste into the coconut milk and set aside. Add the vegetables,except the spinach, and sauté for three minutes. Add the shrimp and sauté for two minutes. Add the spinach and sauté for two minutes the add the curry/coconut milk mixture and cook unti the spinach is wilted. Serve.
Serves 1

Chicken and Spinach Scampi - 386 Calories

The paleo hits just keep coming! Usually scampi recipes are made with butter, therefore aren't paleo. This one is made with ghee, therefore it is! The ghee recipe is also on this blog.

7 Ounces of boneless, skinless, chicken breast, cubed
2 Cups of fresh baby spinach
1/4 Cup of Moscato wine (or any white wine, I just prefer the sweet, fruity flavor of Moscato)
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic
1 Tablespoon of ghee
1/2 Tablespoon of oregano
1 Teaspoon of white pepper
1 Teaspoon of salt

Spray a nonstick pan with oil from the misto and heat on high. Add the chicken and sauté for three minutes. Add the salt and pepper sauté for two more minutes. Add ghee, garlic, oregano and sauté for three more minutes. Add the Moscato and after two minutes add the spinach and cook until it is wilted then serve.
Serves 1

Spicy Almond Butter Chicken - 410 Calories and White Sweet Potato Fries - 98 Calories

Since I'm doing paleo, I wanted to take the spicy peanut butter chicken and make it with a paleo twist - using almond butter instead of peanut butter. It came out great! I added onion and jalapeño to this recipe, otherwise the recipe is the same. The link is here... http://krossfitkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/05/spicy-peanut-butter-chicken-380-calories.html
As the side, I made white sweet potato fries. White sweet potato tastes like a sweet Yukon gold potato.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with oil from the misto. Wash the outside and pricing the skin, microwave the potato for 3 minutes on each side. Cut the potato in half then slice the potato in 1/2 inch strips. Place the fries on a cookie sheet, season with salt and pepper or your seasoning of choice, and bake for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the fries over and bake for another 15 minutes. If you want the fries crisper, place them under the broiler.
Serves 1

Ghee (Paleo Compliant Butter) - 112 Calories (1 Tablespoon)

I've always been interested in ghee and I've done quite abit of research on the subject. Ghee has been traditionally used in Indian cuisine. It is SIMILAR to clarified butter with one difference, the butter is actually cooked and not just melted. Cooking the butter does two things, it removes the milk solids (lactose, etc) by cooking it. In addition, cooking milk solids adds a "nutty" flavor to the butter. Since the milk solids are removed leaving only the oil, THIS IS PALEO! That means you can have your butter and eat it too! It's great to cook with because ghee has a very hight smoking point. Also, you an put it on any food as a condiment. I used it on baked white sweet potato tonight with some salt and pepper ant it tasted like I was eating a slightly sweet baked potato!

1 Pound of unsalted, grass fed organic butter

Place butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the butter to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium. The butter will form a foam which will disappear. Ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of the butter, and the butter turns golden. At that point, the milk solids will be in bottom of pan. Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in an airtight container being sure to keep free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep in airtight container for up to 1 month.
1 Tablespoon per serving 

Chicken with Sundried Tomatoes in a Basil and Garlic Sauce - 324 Calories

Well, since I have a black thumb and killed my first basil plant, I bought another one a few weeks ago so I figured I'd make something with basil.

7 Ounces of skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into cubed
4 Asparagus spears cut into 1 inch pieces (I grilled them the other day)
I/4 Onion, julienned
1/2 Red bell pepper, sliced
4 Sundried tomatoes, sliced
1/2 Cup vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 Teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon of sage
5 Basil leaves, ripped in half

Spray a nonstick pan with oil from the misto and heat on high. Add the chicken and sauté on for three minutes. Add the vegetables, basil, and spices. Sauté for three to four more minutes. Add the vegetable broth and continue to sauté until the liquid is reduced to about half. Remove from heat and serve. 
Serves 1

Chicken Cacciatore - 251 Calories

Well, I decided to take Amber Nagele's 30 day paleo challenge. While a number of my recipes are paleo, I haven't consciously developed a paleo recipe. So using Amber's rules, I came up with this one.

7 Ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Tomato, diced
I/2 Onion, julienned
1/2 Red bell pepper, diced
1 Jalapeño, thinly sliced (optional - I don't seed it)
1/2 Cup vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 Tablespoon oregano
1 Teaspoon black pepper
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Bay leaves, broken in half

Spray a nonstick pan with olive oil from the misto and preheat on high. Add the chicken and sauté for three minutes. Add the red bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, and garlic. Sauté for two minutes. Add the tomato, oregano, bay leaves, black pepper, and salt. Sauté for one minute. Add the vegetable broth and continue to cook until the tomato has completely broken down and turned into a thin red sauce. Add alittle more broth if you need to. Remove from heat and serve. I served it over quinoa but you can put it over spaghetti squash, cauliflower rice, or whatever you want.
Serves 1

Homemade Peanut Butter - 165 Calories per ounce

I LOVE peanut butter! I hate the calories, which can be upwards of 210 calories per ounce. In addition, the sugar, added fat, and preservatives found in commercial peanut butter. Making homemade peanut butter is really easy and tastes much better than store bought.

2 Cups of dry roasted peanuts
1 Teaspoon peanut oil

Place the peanuts in a food processor with the chopping blade and start grinding the peanuts. Occasionally, stop the food processor and scape down the sides. After 7 or so minutes, add the oil and  continue grinding until smooth.
Serving size is 1 ounce, the amount of servings vary.