Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! I see a lot of people inquiring on some paleo Facebook pages as to what else they can make for breakfast because they just can’t. eat. another. egg. I get that. There are days when I don’t think I could eat another egg. On those days I’ll usually make myself a green smoothie, they’re refreshing and seem to break up the monotony quite well. My son, on the other hand, has eaten eggs for breakfast almost every day since he started solids. At 18 months he is eating 3-4 eggs a day. Thankfully, John Crow Farm supplies us with 8 dozen eggs a month along with our meat and poultry CSA. (When we signed up for veggies this month, we added an additional 2 dozen, starting in June we’ll receive 10 dozen!) Recently I started making extra of my smoothies to share with him. He loved it! However, he still requested eggs and banana. “Buuuh!!” Oh well, I can’t deny a little caveman. Honestly, this recipe is so delicious that I happily welcome eggs back into my life 3 to 4 times a week. It’s a grand reunion because these are the perfect scrambled eggs. Do you know how to make the perfect scrambled egg? I didn’t. For years I was doing it wrong, thinking that they should be a quick and easy breakfast. All this time while eating dry, rubbery eggs with a splash of milk to make them “fluffy” I had no idea what I was missing. Now I do. Let me introduce you to the most delicious scrambled eggs you will ever eat.

Get together:

• 3 eggs, preferably pastured from your local farmer
• 3 Tbsp butter (I highly recommend Kerrygold)

And then you:

1. Break 3 eggs into a saucepan over low heat.
2. Add 1 Tbsp of butter
3. Mix eggs gently with a rubber spatula until butter is incorporated
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for remaining 2 Tbsp of butter.
5. Fold eggs slowly as they come together (it should take 15-20 minutes to reach this step).
6. When the eggs look “almost” done, remove them from the heat.
7. Allow the eggs to continue cooking in the pan as you gently fold them.
8. Add a pinch of sea salt and chives if you wish.
9. Enjoy!

Add a side of pastured bacon and some fruit and you’ve got a breakfast fit for a king toddler!

Caedmon’s Lunches
Above is pictured grilled steak fajita leftovers with raw cheddar, scallions, and salsa. A side of carrots and brussels sprouts roasted in duck fat, and chopped apple and pineapple for dessert.

On Tuesday Caedmon ate country ribs smothered in homemade BBQ sauce, chipotle cauliflower rice with cherry tomatoes, and spinach sautéed in duck fat. Walnuts and raisins for dessert.

Unfortunately, I did not snap a photo of the next two meals. I will have to remember to from now on!

Applegate hot dog, homemade ketchup, garlic kale chips, organic cheese stick, and raisins for dessert.

Roast beef and raw cheddar roll-ups, green grapes, with homemade walnut butter (recipe coming soon) balls.

Caedmon enjoyed some grilled chicken, watermelon, and Turkish tea. Emberleigh had a ball watching the tree tops and the people all around us.

Tonight, Evan and I had some time to sit down and relax. Since I eliminated dairy permanently from my diet a few weeks ago, I no longer am able to join Evan for an ice cream treat. Instead, I decided to whip up some chocolate avocado pudding. You want some too? Here’s what you do…

Get together:
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 Tbsp Enjoy Life chocolate chips

And then you:
1. Add ingredients to your Vitamix in the order listed.
2. Start at variable 1 and slowly increase to variable 7 until blended.
3. Spoon into dish and garnish with a few chocolate chips or grated chocolate.
4. Enjoy!!

What’s your favorite outdoor activity? If you’ve had an overly active day do you feel you can have or deserve a “treat”?

So, here’s an easy weeknight dinner that you can have ready in minutes. Enjoy!

Get these things ready:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil + a drizzle for the pan
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 4 lamb chops

And then you:

1. Drizzle some olive oil in your pan and set over medium heat, let it get hot.
2. Meanwhile, mix together the first four ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Rub the marinade evenly over each side of each lamb chop.

4. Place the lamb chops into your hot pan.

5. Allow to cook for 3 minutes on each side for medium rare.

Serve!

1. McCann, D. et. al. Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. The Lancet. 2007.

Here are a few other highlights from our year off…

June 8- Evan and I celebrated our fourth year of marriage and I lost my mother to cancer… yes on the same day. I officially became a stay-at-home-mom.

July- Lots of trips to visit Dad/G-Pa at the lake and Caed started crawling

August- Evan and I discovered we were expecting… again…at 20+ weeks. Baby’s estimated due date is 12/8/12, 13 months and one day after Caed’s birthday! We also took our first family camping trip.

September- Caed was hospitalized for 3 days due to an infection, thought to be salmonella contracted through dog food.

October- Caed’s first Halloween! We went as pirates and Caed was a parrot on Daddy’s shoulders.

November- Caed celebrates his first birthday!

December- Emmy is born and has her first Christmas!

January- Caed starts walking and Emmy keeps us awake at ungodly hours.

February- Caed pooped in the tub and Emmy smiles at Evan and me.

March- We celebrated my brother’s birthday and Caed had his first teppanyaki experience. Emmy rolled over!

April- I turned 29, we hiked to Lonesome Lake in Franconia, NH, and Emmy was baptized.

Phew!!

There you have it, folks. Next week I’ll be back to talk about Emmy’s birth story… and how, for 2 months, I thought I had a hernia.

Grandma had a birthday. We made carrot cake. It was really really good.

Caed had a great time being the center of attention. Grampy makes lots of funny faces.

Caed learned to roll from his back to his stomach and immediately preferred to sleep that way. It scared me for a bit and I began checking on him in the night like we had just brought him home. Evan kept telling me “Let’s see what squirt can do.” He did just fine.

We participated in the March of Dimes in Boston. Caed was awake the whole time!

Oh, and Caedmon was baptized. It was a great day, perfect weather, and filled with lots of love. However, I’ll save those pictures for another post.

Today we’re headed to the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI.  There’s going to be a lot of walking, so we revved up with some frosted cinnamon rolls. What a great way to start the weekend. A great way to start yours too!

The Paleo Cinnamon Roll

Makes 2 personal rolls

• 6 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch or two of sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp almond or coconut milk
• 2 tbsp local honey
• dried fruit of any kind

Frosting

• 1 tbsp unsalted Kerrygold butter
• 1tbsp unrefined coconut oil *the one that sill tastes like coconut
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375°

Add all the ingredients for the rolls, except the dried fruit, to a bowl and mix well.

Make sure all the lumps are gone.

Let the mixture stand for a few minutes to thicken. In the mean time prepare the frosting.

Soften the butter and coconut oil in the microwave, do not let it melt, 5-10 seconds.

Remove from microwave and add the maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.

Wisk together and place in fridge to harden up a bit.

Next split the batter into two and roll out on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.

Sprinkle your dried fruit of choice down the center and add another sprinkle or two of cinnamon.

Carefully roll them up. You may have to press the dough together with your fingers as you’re rolling it up.

Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

When they’re done, pull them out, ice them with your frosting, and enjoy!

Get these things ready:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp hot sauce
• 1/2 c plain yogurt
• 2 lbs meatloaf mix (50% ground chuck, 25% found pork, 25% ground veal)
• 1/2 c almond flour
• 1/3 c minced fresh parsley leaves
• 8 oz bacon (may need more depending on loaf shape)

And then you:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° Done? Ok, read on!
2. Toss that olive oil into a small pan and heat it up. When it’s hot and ready add the garlic and onion; sauté until softened. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl add the eggs, thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, worcestershire, hot sauce, and yogurt. 
4. Grab a whisk and mix it up! Once you’ve done that, slowly incorporate the meat into your egg mixture. (If you want you can put the meat into a larger bowl and slowly work the mixture into the meat… but who wants to dirty another bowl?)
5. Next, add the cooked onions and garlic, almond flour, and parsley. Get friendly with the meat… I use my hands. Combine well.
6. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil (I hate doing dishes). Shape the meat into 1 or 2 loaves, as you can see I made two to reduce cooking time.
7. Cover the loaves with the bacon, overlapping each slice slightly to completely cover the loaves. Tuck the edges underneath. 
   
8. Finally, bake the loaves until the bacon is crispy… this usually takes an hour. To make sure the meatloaf is ready, check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read 160°. When it’s ready, serve with your favorite organic ketchup or steak sauce!

What kind of veggies do you think go best with meatloaf? I have a great recipe for braised swiss chard, pretty sure it has bacon too… maybe I’ll try that!

Deconstructed Chicken Fajitas

Get these things ready:

• olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper (we didn’t have one, but it’s usually in there!)
• 1 yellow onion
• Fajita spice mix (see below)
• 1.5lbs chicken breast, cut into strips
• 1 tomato
• 2-3 green onions (green part, sliced)
• Kerrygold cheddar cheese (optional)
• salsa

Spice Mixture

• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 chipotle pepper
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp ground black pepper

And then you:

1. Chop up your peppers and onions like so…
2. Coat an 8-10 inch skillet with 1-2tbsp of olive oil and add the peppers and onions you just so nicely chopped up.
3. Let the peppers and onions soften, once the onions begin to turn translucent add the chicken.
4. While that deliciousness is cooking, grab your spice mixture, sprinkle to your little heart’s content (if you don’t mind a little heat, dash a few more red pepper flakes in there), and stir to coat.
   
5. While that continues to heat through, chop up your tomato and grate some of that cheddery goodness. Meanwhile, convince someone to set the table or at least grab yourself a bowl.
6. Generously fill your bowl with the spicy peppers, onions, and chicken. On top of that, layer the tomatoes, salsa, green onions, and sprinkle with cheese. Dig in.
   

TThere are so many great variations to this recipe. Sometimes I like to add a little avocado or (if I have time*) caramelized onions. Evan likes a really hot and spicy fajita dish so he’ll often add a little cholula on top of all the red pepper!

What are some of your favorite fajita toppings?

*almost never

As I thought he would, he LOVED them!! The Munchkin fresh food feeder has been a great tool. The handle is perfect for him to grab onto and the mesh part is perfect for bananas, avocado, or soft steamed veggies. He was as happy as a clam with his little breakfast. Even when it was all gone, the handle was a good substitute!

He was also a sticky mess when he was done…. So, off to bathe the babe before work!