Crockpot Beef

I love the crockpot. It makes delicious food with little to no work, and it simplifies at least a couple of my meals every week.

My first ever Paleo recipe was one I found on Paleomg.com

Easy Shredded Pork
1-2lb pork loin
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 cups beef broth (no sugar added) – add 3 cups if you go with a 2lb pork loin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste

Add all your pork ingredients to a crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours

It was delicious, and it doesn't get any easier.

Shopping!

 

I'm not really a fan of food shopping, but it makes life a thousand times easier. The usual plan involves me figuring out what I want to make for the week on Friday, and then shopping / cooking all the meals for the week on Sunday. It's exhausting, but totally worth it when I don't have to think about food at all during the week. On top of that, with everything portioned out already, it's much easier to eat the right amount of food. 

What I do:
- Shop for meat, frozen veggies, coconut milk, & tomato sauce at BJ's.
- Farmers Market for Fruits and Veggies ($0.69/lb for green peppers vs $2.99/lb at Stop & Shop)
- Trader Joe's for Almond Flour/Meal, Raw Honey, and other Specialty items
- Random other items at Shoprite

The New-er Me

So, as we start the new year, I figured I'd try to actually write in this blog again. I've mostly posted recipes in the past, which were all things people had asked for. I'd like to continue that, but now with a slight twist.. I've gone Paleo.

Regardless of people's opinions of my craziness level for doing this, I enjoy it. I tried the 30 day challenge as just that, a challenge. I figured if nothing else, it was something new to try. Turns out, I think i have a gluten intolerance. I've always had stomach issues, have been to a million doctors and on a million medications, and nothing has helped me more than this diet. Therefore, I don't ever plan on going back. Sure, I cheat here and there, but this has mainly become my new lifestyle. The more I read about it, the more I think it's right for me and little by little, the people I know and love seem to be jumping on the bandwagon.

Therefore, I'd like to help everyone out with some recipes I've tried, shopping ideas, food pictures, etc. Even if it's not something you're interested in, there are still a lot of great food ideas.


O, and in case you were wondering, these were my results from the 30 days. (Lost about 6 pounds)

Guava and Cream Cheese Empanadas.. yummmm

Easiest Recipe Ever.

Ok, so you buy the following ingredients (Puff Pastry Sheets, Guava Paste, and Cream Cheese)...





Then you're going to open up a puff pastry sheet and cut it into either 4 equal pieces, or 9 equal pieces, depending on the size you want your empanadas to be. I prefer 9 because the sheets are expensive and the desserts go fast.

You take a piece of guava and a piece of cream cheese, put them in the center of your square and then fold over so that you have a triangle. Then push down the edges with either your thumb or a fork to make sure it is sealed well.

Then you're ready to bake!

Bake them at 400 degrees until the puff pastry starts turning golden brown (10-15 min).

Make sure you cool before you let people eat them.  They tend to burn mouths.

Daddy's 50th Birthday

So this year was my dad's 50th birthday and he had decided he wanted a party. Between my mother and I, we decided that she would be in charge of food, while I'd be in charge of the theme / decorations. Since my dad's 2 favorite things are fishing and candy, I went with the fishing theme for the invitation and then decided to make the party an old school candy theme.

Here's the invitation:

I bought different shaped jars to fill with candy as the centerpieces and created my own can tops that i glued onto the lids:

Another idea I found while stumbling was the concept of making your own photo booth. I had to try it. We hung up a white sheet, I made a little banner for decoration, and then I made an assortment of lips and glasses as disguises. We also dug into the costume box for hats. It ended up being a huge success, because although not everyone is into taking pictures, everyone found this too fun to pass up. 

One last major decoration I made was inspired by Martha Stewart 

Martha's Version

As much as I loved the idea of the old pictures of my dad, I wanted it to be something that was usable after the party. Therefore, my version was a little different...

I scanned in old pictures and made a 50 in photoshop using all the pictures. I then had it printed at staples  on a board with a white border for everyone to sign.

Wedding Stuff

So after stumbling across a website all about unusual wedding guestbooks, there was one that I knew I had to try. However, since I'm currently short a fiance, I figured it'd be best to do it for someone else. This fingerprint tree was so fun to make/watch people use. I really love it.

Also, a friend of mine just got engaged and had an engagement party. I had absolutely no idea what an appropriate gift was, and surprisingly, the internet didn't help as much as I hoped it would. I ended up creating this personalized picture for them and framing it. I gave it to them, along with a bottle of wine. 

Perfectly Purple PB&J

I've already shared my PB&J cupcake recipe in an earlier blog, but I was pretty proud of this cute batch, so I thought I'd share pictures: