Watermelon Drink

Watermelon Drink

Printable Recipe

I love watermelon. I love the smell of it; I love the taste of it and I love how pretty they are when they're growing on the vine. I love artificial watermelon candy, too, and anytime it's sitting around, I'll eat it.. paleo or not!

I watched a documentary about the immune system one night and the guy said that watermelon is a great cleanser so I thought I'd give it a try. It also contains cancer fighters, proteins, healthy fats, potassium, minerals and the list goes on and on. Check out this website for truly amazing information about what a watermelon can do for you, then come back here and make this drink because it's so good!

Ingredients:

For a single serving
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped watermelon

squeeze of half a lime (optional)

Directions:

Place the chopped watermelon and lime juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. I do not recommend a juicer because it doesn't provide the pulp/fiber/nutrients that you should consume so please use a blender or food processor.

I like to use fresh lime juice when I have it because it kicks the flavor up a notch but if you don't have it, don't worry about it. If you like salted watermelon, dip the rim of your glass in water or lime juice and then dip into some Celtic sea salt then pour the watermelon juice in and enjoy!

Nothing beats a hot summer day by eating healthy and drinking something so delicious. I hope you enjoy the benefits you're receiving by drinking watermelon juice!

Tip: I chop all of my watermelon into bite-size pieces before it's refrigerated. Once the kids are bored with it and I have some left over, I will freeze it on a single layer of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Once it's frozen, I place it in a freezer bag so I can enjoy watermelon juice any time of the year.

Be healthy, live paleo or primal and enjoy!

Simple Iced Coffee

Simple Iced Coffee

Printable Recipe

I don't know about you, but I'm guilty of going to the coffee shop and spending $2.00 on iced coffee. I could kick myself for not knowing how simple it is to make my own at home. I save tons of money doing it this way and it's always available to me, as long as I prepare the night before. A $7.00 bag of coffee grounds at the store will produce about 4 gallons of coffee. Not too shabby!

So, are you ready for these simple instructions? These are the recipes I love doing because I don't spend a ton of time doing anything!!!

Ingredients:

1cup ground coffee, whatever brand or flavor or strength. You choose

1 gallon of water

Directions:
Fill a 1 gallon jug with water and pour in 1 cup of coffee grounds. Stir. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight, or at least 8 hours. The next morning, or after 8 hours, simply strain the coffee grounds (and save for your compost heap) and pour into another gallon container. If you're strainer isn't fine enough, place a paper towel into the strainer and strain once more. This will catch all the fine grounds that passed through the first time.
This will last several weeks in the refrigerator. The "ingredients" can be tweaked to your liking so if you like a strong cup of joe, add 1.5cups coffee to your 1 gallon of water or if you like a weak version, add 3/4cup coffee grounds to 1 gallon of water. Make it yours!
You can also spruce it up by adding some honey, caramel sauce, or chocolate sauce when you serve a glass of it.

Serve with a ton of ice and heavy cream (or not) and enjoy!

Drink, slurp, sip, enjoy!

Spinach Smoothie

Spinach Smoothie

I love smoothies! My sister Chris came up with this smoothie cocktail.We both love shakes because they're easy to make and takes just a minute from start to finish. In this version, she came up with a drink that has spinach in it. Spinach is so healthy for you and has a very mild flavor, sometimes hardly no flavor at all. Her twin daughters love this shake as well. So, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Drink your spinach for breakfast and get a healthy fat and carb boost!

Ingredients:

A large handful of fresh spinach

About 1 cup of fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries

About 1/3 cup unsweetened full-fat coconut milk

As much water that you'll need to make it into a shake

Vanilla extract (optional)

Cinnamon (optional)

Mix everything together in a blender and blend until smooth.

Drink and enjoy! There's no better way to start your day off right if you can get in some good carbs and fats. The blueberries are a powerful antioxidant so this is a Super Shake!

Enjoy!

Paleo Strawberry Shake

Paleo Strawberry Shake

There is nothing better than a fresh, homemade shake. I love berry shakes because they provide so many essential vitamins. Add a little coconut milk and you've got great a fat source, too! Here's how I made this strawberry shake.

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries, about a handful.

*If you don't have fresh strawberries, get the frozen ones but make sure they are unsweetened.*

1/3cup unsweetened coconut milk in the can

splash of water or fresh fruit juice

Directions:

Blend everything together until smooth and drink. It's that simple! If you like it to be very cold, either add a few ice cubes or put the strawberries in the freezer for a few hours until they're frozen.

I make shakes a lot at the end of the day when I just want to drink something that screams HEALTHY. It's very filling and just tastes down right good!

Drink, and enjoy!

Perfect Paleo Plate!

Perfect Paleo Plate

(Say that fast 5 times!)

I am about to embark on a 30-day challenge by eating paleo. To sum it up, I will eat lean meats and fish, nuts, berries and fruit and veggies. I won't have any processed foods, wheat, corn, sugar etc. If the cavemen didn't eat it, I won't either. Eating this way for 30 days will help my body to heal from all the crap I put in it (and I eat pretty healthy too!). It will rid itself of all the toxins and hopefully clear up some persistent symptoms I have, including: acne, bloating near the end of the day, eczema and being a wee-bit tired by 9:00am.

My sister, her fiance and I will be blogging about our experience. (They have already started but I'm starting with my gym on January 15th). Click here to view the paleo blog! We are taking this challenge along with others at our crossfit gym and I'm pretty excited to see how everyone does. We get bloodwork done before and after, we will have pictures taken before and after and we will have measurements taken before and after. We also will take a strength test before and after so hopefully this "Whole eating challenge" will be beneficial. Anyway, click here to check out my Crossfit box and start eating healthier with me!

Recipe below for a paleo milkshake.

Ingredients for paleo shake:

Unsweetened coconut milk (The coconut milk in this picture is NOT paleo, so go buy some coconut milk in the can, please!)

1 cup unsweetened frozen blueberries (or whatever berries you have)

1 frozen banana

Directions:

Add everything to a blender and blend away. Add as much of the unsweetened coconut milk as you like. Serve cold! Easy, right?

Recipe below for paleo eggs.

Ingredients:

Three eggs

S&P (salt and pepper)

Olive Oil

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and crack your eggs while the pan is still cool. Take a spatula and start stirring your eggs seasoned with salt and pepper. I like scrambled eggs but I don't add any liquid to it. You can add a touch of water if you want to keep it paleo. Stir until eggs are cooked and remove from heat.

To keep with the zone diet I do (which is eating 21G protein, 27G carbs, and 6G fat for 3 meals a day), I have a complete zone-diet paleo plate.

It's easy. Just be creative and you can be as healthy as the rest of us. To read more about the zone diet, click on this link and then click the .pdf picture to the right.

To read more about Whole Eating, click on this link.

I looooove Crossfit so check out my local box here and check out the main crossfit website here.

Click here for our paleo blog!

Being healthy isn't boring. It's fun. It tastes good and it's going to make you be a better you!

Eat and Enjoy!

Healthy Berry Shake

I love a good berry shake. I wanted one today from a shake store but they didn't open until 11:00am. WHAT!? So, I saved myself probably $4-$5 from them not being open.. thank you :) I went to the store and picked up a small bag of frozen mixed berries and a container of plain vanilla yogurt. I spent maybe $6.00 on that and will be able to make at least 6 shakes. I'd say that was a money-saving idea!

Here's what you'll need to do:
Take about 1/2 cup of frozen berries and pour into your blender. Add about 1 cup of plain vanilla yogurt (or frozen yogurt if you want to splurge a little!). Also add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk and about 2tbsp of honey. Blend away! If you want to add sugar, you're more than welcome to but the honey gives it a natural sweetness that sugar just doesn't compete with. Plus, it's also MUCH healthier than adding sugar. I added a touch of vanilla as well.

If you didn't want to add milk, you could add orange juice! MMM!!

Any type of berries are good - especially if they are frozen so you don't have to add ice. If your berries aren't frozen, go ahead and add a few ice cubes.

If you have fruit that is ripe but won't be eaten, cut it up and freeze it. That way, you have it for any side dishes or yummy shakes!

One more note, if you are a work-out person and want to add something extra, add your Whey Protein here. This would be an awesome combination with the whey protein, fruit and vitamin D (milk/yogurt).

These are easy and delicious to make! Guilt Free!