Boots & Babies

I had two parties out in the 'burbs this weekend. Always good to get away from the city and be with family and friends.
My cousin Daniel is turning 30 and his wife Meggin threw him a nice little cowboy get together. Their dog is Roxy, a Pomeranian-mix rescue, and she is adorable! He loves his cowboy boots and country get up. So we all dressed up for the event and ate some delicious taco soup! I think he was intrigued by his candles.I've made fun of Daniel's cowboy boots my whole life, so one Christmas he decided to spray paint an old pair for me as my gift! I promised him I would wear them for a dance at my wedding since he had painted them white. Here we are doing the electric slide (his song of choice) on my big day.Happy birthday cousin, I love you!

On Sunday we threw a baby shower for my college roommate Ginny. She is pregnant with twin boys! I designed her invitation for her and I'm currently working on her birth announcements.The shower went great and it was so nice to catch up with old friends since we all live so far apart now.
This is my friend Missy with her daughter Willa.
Petite-fours from Rhodes bakery. Yum-o!The party hostesses and the 3 college roomies in the middle.Surprise to us! There are 3 babies in this picture-not just 2!

It was a great weekend filled with good food and good company.
More from my paleo kitchen soon.

Honey Nut Bars

I got this recipe from Bridget, one of the owners of our gym. It is SO delicious I'm going to make them all the time for snacks!

Preheat oven to 350º and grease a 13x9 casserole dish with coconut oil.

Place the following nuts into a food processor, grind into a coarse nut flour.
1/2 cup cashews
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup almonds

Put into a medium sized bowl and stir in the following:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg as I do not like cinnamon)

Melt in a small saucepan:
1/2 cup of honey
1/4 cup high quality coconut oil.
*I'm not sure what "high quality" means but you'll have to go somewhere like Whole Foods for this and I just bought the most affordable, they only had 3 there and it worked great.

Pour honey/oil over the nut mixture and stir until everything is evenly coated with it. Press evenly into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool for 20 minutes, the very gently cut and remove bars and allow to cool on a plate. They will be crumbly but if they fall apart gently mold them back together. As they cool they will harden.

Store in tupperware to snack on all week!

New York Christmas

This weekend I traveled to NYC to visit my friend Suzanne. She just moved into her new apt and she invited me up for some girl time, complete with shopping, painting and decorating!
On Friday night we made a yummy dinner and shared a bottle of wine as we got all caught up on life. Suzanne makes a super easy Caprese Salad.
2 Tomatoes Diced1/4 cup minced red onion
1/2 block of fresh mozzarella cheese cubedOne bunch fresh basil, chopped
Drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Dash of Salt & Pepper
Mix and enjoy!We also made some pesto to go on our Mushroom Ravioli! 1/4 cup pine nuts
1 bunch fresh basil
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Blend it all up in the food processor to smear on chicken or pasta like we did.

We got to work bright and early on Saturday, getting her new place all set up. Her place is filled with lots of custom bookshelves.I enjoyed arranging all their nick-nacks!
We picked a gorgeous gray for the walls in her dining room and bought her a new rug and mirror, but the mirror and picture for the wall didn't make it in my photo shoot! Love it Suzer! I had to include a pic of Abe's Ganesh.


























My friend is such a new yorker now, hails cabs like a pro.Julie came in from long island and we went to Cilantro, a really great Mexican place. We tried to order "Paleo Margaritas" or as they are known in the North "Skinny Girl Margaritas" but they just tasted like like juice and soda water. They didn't know how much the southern ladies like their tequila!
After dinner we went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. It was beautiful, just as I imagined. After a weekend of seeing what it's like to live in NYC being smashed in with all the tourists was crazyness, but I'm so glad we went. I got some great images.























Of course the perfect way to end a girls weekend is some hot apple cider with rum, chocolate chip cookies and Brothers & Sisters!
Love you girls! See you soon!

Beets n' Beef

For my fellow beet lover Sarah :)

We made a special trip to Whole Paycheck yesterday and I found these "Golden Beets". I love to try cooking with new things I've never tried before and these turned out great. We also scored our first grass-fed beef. It was tender and tasty!
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off of the beets and cut off the stems.
Rinse under running water and cut into cubes.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and just a bit of pepper.Roast at 350º for 1 hour, or until fork tender.
These 3 beets were enough for the two of us. Adam described it as a roasted carrot texture. I highly recommend these if you're up for trying something new that's easy.
Enjoy! More from my paleo kitchen soon!

Easy Enchiladas ....

...they're almost paleo!

I got this recipe from our friends Lauren & Wes and we have used it a lot. It is delish and as the title suggests easy! The tortillas do not follow the guidelines of the Paleolithic Diet, however you can substitute in corn tortillas which are made of no refined wheat or flour products. There are also people who do not eat beans and some diet followers do not eat cheese. This is the thing I've said before, I do things in moderation and my goal is to put healthy food into my body which it can use for energy. This recipe will do just that!

1 Rotisserie Chicken- meat pulled off in large chunks and chopped
1 can pinto or black beans, drained
2 cups salsa-just dump in almost a jar, leaving a little for topping
2 cups shredded Mexican Cheese-leave a little bit out for topping as well
8- 8 inch tortillas

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray

In a bowl combine chicken, meat, beans, salsa, and cheese. (leaving a little salsa and cheese for toppings later).Divide mixture evenly among tortillas.Roll tortillas up and place seam side down in the baking pan. Top with remaining salsa and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese melts and enchiladas are heated through.

Last time I made this I dumped in a spare can of diced tomatoes to get in some more vegetables. There are lots of options for this dish and it will keep for the week for several meals!
Enjoy!