Keep it Cool in Summer

We all love milkshakes. I can taste the flavor of my favorite kind (peanut butter and Oreo cookie) on my tongue right now. Well guess what, you can make a Paleo milkshake. With the help of Turtle Mountain we have easily accessible coconut ice cream. You can also make your own coconut milk ice cream but this is probably a lot easier for you folks just to take it out of the freezer. It's time to get creative guys so here's what I got for you:

Crazy Good Coconut Milkshakes
Ingredients:
- Hand full of ice
- 2 Scoops of plain Vanilla coconut milk ice cream
- 1 tablespoon almond butter
- 1/2 of a bananna
- 3 strawberries
- 1/3 - 1/2 can of light coconut milk (you can get it at Trader Joes)

Directions
- Put all ingredients into a blender
- Turn blender on
- Let it turn into the desired consistency
- Enjoy

You can take the base of ice, vanilla coconut ice cream and some coconut milk and mix in any kind of desired fruit. It would be good with strawberries, blueberries, mango, kiwi, raspberries, cherries, probably apples as well.

You might want to take a step on the wild side and throw in a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg in the shake as well. Mess around with some of those I am sure you can come up with some other great combinations.

By Popular Request

Yeah it's been a long time since the last post and I've gotten a little "lazy". Sorry guys. But in my laziness I have been scouring the internet and have come up on some good recipes that I am going to be sharing. Some of the members at CFNE have tested these out and have assured me that they are good...so don't blame me if they aren't! Just kidding. Some have been tested, some haven't but I am sure that they are all delicious. In the next couple days I will be posting more but to start here is one for "Salmon Cakes" that came from Every Day Paleo , a great website.

"Salmon Cakes with Ginger Mayo"
Ingredients
Salmon Cakes:
3 cans of wild caught Alaskan Salmon
3 omega 3 enriched eggs
4 diced green onions
1 tbsp dried dill
1/2 tsp ground ginger
a few shakes of red pepper flakes
about 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
a pinch of sea salt
about 1/4 cup coconut or grape seed oil
3 tbsps of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Shredded green and purple cabbage

Mayo:
2 omega 3 enriched eggs
2 tbsps apple cider vinegar
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups Light Olive oil or Grapeseed Oil

Directions:
Salmon Cakes
-Drain the water from the canned salmon and dump into a large mixing bowl. 
-Add the eggs, green onions, dill, ginger, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt and mix well.
-In a large skillet heat the oil over medium to medium high heat – make sure there is more than enough to cover the bottom of the pan.  You’ll know the oil is hot enough when it crackles after flicking some water into the pan – but do not get the oil so hot that is smokes. 
-Form the salmon mixture one at a time into patties or “cakes” and place gently into the oil. 
-Fry for 3 minutes on each side.  IMPORTANT – do not mess with the patties once they are in the pan.  Let them go for the full 3 minutes before you touch them or flip them or they will stick or fall apart.  -Serve the patties over a bed of the shredded green and purple cabbage with a lemon wedge and the ginger mayo.


Ginger Mayo
- In a blender or food processor place all ingrediants except for the oil.
-Cover and blend on low while you count to 5. 
-Continue to blend while you SLOWLY add the oil. 
-Once all the oil is in continue to blend while you again count to 5. 

These are super easy to make and you can make lots at a time. Very easy to put into a tupperware container on top of a salad and take to work. Or with some roasted veggies to throw in the microwave. 
We'll be back tomorrow with some more recipes.

Stir It Up

Hey guys, sorry for not posting anything for so long. I am taking a recipe I found on a blog called Every Day Paleo. It's a great site that has a lot of different recipes that you should definitely try out. Some are simple, some are easy but they are worth a shot. Here is one for Chicken Sausage and Shrimp stir fry over winter squash puree.

Chicken Sausage n’ Shrimp

2 packages of gluten free chicken sausages halved and sliced (I used sun dried tomato from Trader Joe’s)

1 bag of frozen already cooked shrimp

2 sliced leeks

1 sliced red bell peppers

1 big bunch of chopped asparagus

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tbsp all spice

garlic powder to taste

3 tbsps coconut oil

Saute leeks in coconut oil until soft, add bell peppers and asparagus until crisp but tender. Add sausages and all other remaining ingredients except for shrimp. Bring to a simmer and add shrimp just until the shrimp are hot. Serve over Winter Squash Puree.

Winter Squash Puree

Steam or pressure cook winter squash of your choice. Peel squash and put into food processor with a big drizzle of walnut oil, a few shakes of garlic powder, and a dash of sea salt. Process until smooth and creamy.

Gettin Sppiiicccceeeeeyyyyyy

With this weather, who isn't thinking about grilling? Now that it is finally above 10 degrees outside I hope you have all pulled out your grills and at least brushed the dust off of them. Today we're going to give you some good seasoning ideas for chicken.
I hope you guys are finding out that a lot of the time in cooking there is no "exact" recipe. Say you like a little more pepper then the recipe says...you add more. There is more balsamic vinegar then oil in your dressing...not really a problem. This idea that you can change and personalize recipes should also be used here with these spice ideas. If you like something a little different, then change it to your liking. Here we go.

"South West"
Rub ingredients: (combine all spices)
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Coriander
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/2 Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- Red Pepper Flakes (add however much to your liking)
- Dash of Paprika

"Balsamic Glazed"
For 3 Chicken Breasts...Marinate them in this for at least 20 min
- 3 Tbl Olive Oil
- 2 Tbl Balsamic Vinegar
- Half a lemon Juiced
- Half of Lemon Zest
- 1 tsp Rosemary
- 2 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp mixed "Italian Herb" seasoning

"Quick and Tasty"
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp Ground Allspice
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger

"The Jerk"
1 tsp each:
- Ginger
- Chili Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Paprika
- Allspice
- Thyme
- Black Pepper
- Cumin
- Nutmeg
and 1/8 tsp Cayenne

Taco Seasoning
- 2 Tbl Chili Powder
- 1-1/2 Tbl Cumin
- 1-1/2 Tbl Paprika
- 1 Tbl Onion Powder
- 1 Tbl Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

Give those a shot and let us know what you think.

We'd like to hear more about if you guys like the recipes, want different ones, what recipes you might want from us so the best way to do it is to leave a comment. Lets get some feedback guys, let us know what you think!

Fillet O' Fish

Omegas have been popularized in a big way over the last few years. You have seen them in the news, news papers and magazines. And you have heard from doctors and coaches at CFNE, fish oil, fish oil, fish oil!
Fish oil is so popular because of it's anti inflammatory powers. Fish oil and "Omegas" as it is listed on the nutrition label of many fish oils, is a combination of Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) which is a polyunsaturated fatty acid that is heralded as being helpful in reduce inflammation and beneficial in mental health with depression among other great benefits. Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) is the other active ingredient in fish oil. DHA is a major fatty acid that is found in the brain and in the phospholipids (basically, fat that is in and essential to cell and their individual functions) of the retina. DHA is known to help reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering the amount of triglycerides in the blood (fat that is in your blood...ew!) It has a great effect on cognitive function as well, being that it is the most prevalent polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the brain. Combining EPA and DHA will get you fish oil, and in high doses it will also help reduce inflammation as well as give you many of the health benefits listed above. The reason this is important is because you can get fish oil from food and that's what we are here to do, give you a recipe so enough of the scienncey stuff, time for a recipe.

Herb Grilled Salmon

Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 salmon fillets
- Cracked black pepper, to taste
- 4 green olives, chopped
- 4 thin slices lemon

(These are exact measurements from a recipe, but you do not have to be that precise if you don't have the need to be, chop some basil, parsley, mince some garlic, squeeze a lemon and you have all you need...simple, easy)

Directions
- Heat you Grill - Medium High/High
- In a small bowl, combine the basil, parsley, minced garlic and lemon juice.
- Pour about 2 tablespoons of Olive oil over the fish and make sure all sides are oiled.
- Sprinkle with black pepper. Top each fillet with equal amounts of the basil-garlic
mixture.
- Place the fish HERB side down and cook for about 3-5 minutes until the edges start to turn white
- Flip the fish and cook for another 5-7 minutes until the fish starts to flake and is cooked all the way through.
(For a piece of fish that is about 1 inch thick, it should take about 5 minutes per side.)


Salmon is very versatile. You can do almost anything with it and flavor it with anything. If you do not like those herbs, thats cool don't worry just use something else. Oil, pepper and garlic work really well. Dill works well.
Just make sure that you Oil your fish then put the seasonings on and cook from there.
If you come up with some other interesting flavors for salmon, let us know so we can tell the world! (Hint: Citrus is great!)

Who needs IHOP?

Guys, so far everyone is doing really well with the Paleo Challenge. People are starting to feel and see the power that their diets play in their health, body composition and daily performance here at CFNE. The results thus far are great and its going to be amazing to see what everyone is like when this challenge finishes. So, with that, we figured it was time to reward you guys with something that we think really switches up your breakfast meal and gives you the satisfaction of having something that you remember to be bad but now can be oh so good. Remember those fluffy fruit filled pancakes on Saturday mornings? You know the ones I am talking about and I bet you are now remembering the taste. Here's your new recipe:

Perfect Paleo Pancakes

Ingredients:
^ 1 cup almond flour
^ 3 large eggs
^ 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
^ 1/8 tsp cinnamon ... or more if you like it
^ 2 tbsp coconut milk (real coconut milk not light)
^ Any kind of fresh fruit you like (Apples, mixed berries, banana)

Directions
^ Combine all ingredients in a bowl (The batter will be appear a little thicker than the normal old pancake mix you remember)
^ In a lightly-oiled, non-stick frying pan over medium heat, drop a bit of the batter on the pan...try to keep the pancakes on the smaller/medium size.
^ About when the bubbles start showing up on the top, flip like you would any "normal healthy" pancake
^ Put on a plate...add more fruit if you want...how about some coconut flakes?...cacao nibs anyone? ...ENJOY!


P.S. To those of you who follow this blog who competed in this past weekends New England Sectional, congratulations on taking a step into the competition circle and putting everything you had on the line. What a great weekend!

A Two-fer!

We all know that it's important to get more veggies into our diets. The foods that we should eat are meats, veggies, fruits, nuts & seeds; but our diet should be mainly comprised of meats and veggies. So hopefully little by little with some help from some good recipes, we will all be eating more veggies.
Here is a good recipe that you can use for your broccoli instead of the regular steaming or broiling.

Let's call it "Blisteringly Good Broccoli"

Ingredients
> 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
> 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
> 1 onion, diced
> 4 or 5 button mushrooms, brushed clean and thinly sliced
> 1 or 2 tomatoes, diced
> 2 heads broccoli, cut into small flowerets, with stems peeled and thinly
sliced (the stems are great, they add a lot of crunch)

Directions
> Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.
> Add broccoli and cook until bright green but not completely tender, about 3 minutes. > Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process and preserve the bright color.
> Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
> Add garlic, onion, and cook, stirring, 2-3 minutes
> Add tomatoes and stir well
> Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes
> Remove cover and stir in broccoli
> Simmer, uncovered, 2-3 minutes

This next one goes out to everyone who loves CRUNCH! Well...not really, we want everyone to try it because your going to be eating one of the healthiest leafy green veggies.
Kale Chips

Ingredients:
]- 1 bunch kale, washed and dried
]- 2 tsp olive oil
]- garlic powder or onion powder work well sprinkled on these

Directions
]- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
]- Remove leaves from thick stems, and tear into evenly bite-sized pieces
]- Spread out over a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper)
]- Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with seasonings of choice
]- Bake for about 10-15 minutes... until edges start to brown, but do not burn! You'll want to keep a close eye on the kale chips as they start getting close

Healthy...chips...try them on your kids too. I have heard rumors that even those picky little future fire breathers they like them too.