Sauteed kale w/Bacon

Tonight's recipe is so easy you'll be sure to make it a favorite!

I love bacon, it's sooooo delicious! And of course, kale is a pretty big deal right now. The only issue I have with kale is that it's a little tough raw. So I usually saute it or bake it in a quiche or casserole. And that's exactly what we're doing tonight.

What you'll need:

1 package simple truth uncured bacon - if you can't find Simple Truth, try to find uncured organic
1 package of cut/washed kale
Sea salt
A deep saute pan

I use a scissors to cut up my bacon into 2-3 inch pieces. Saute until it's mostly done.
Drain the bacon fat into a can until it's cool. Return the pan to the stove and add the kale and the bacon. Saute on low until the kale is tender. I like to throw a little sea salt in there too.

I hope you enjoy it as much I as I do!

Have an amazing paleo day!

Spicy Tilapia w/pineapple salsa

Tonight's feast is a super quick and easy recipe. 

What you'll need:

One pound tilapia fillets - (this is about 4 fillets)

Cayenne pepper

Crushed red pepper

Sea Salt

Lime juice

1/4 finely chopped onion

1 jalapeno 

1-2 cups pineapple - chopped

2 tomatoes

1-2 tbsp of vinegar

I make my salsa concotion ahead of time because of all the chopping. 

In a bowl combine the chopped pineapple, onion, tomato, jalapeno, a few tbsp of lime juice, the vinegar and some sea salt. Toss it together thoroughly, then using a sieve, drain the liquid into a bowl. Set aside. (if it's too hot, I temper the spice w/a little more vinegar but be sure to drain it off once you've toss it together)

In a saute pan, heat some olive oil and add your fish. Sprinkle the sea salt, pepper and cayenne onto each fillet. Add the mixture you sieved from the salsa. I add a little bit of lime juice through out the cooking as well, but this is completely up to your taste. 

Once the tilapia is cooked thoroughly, remove from the pan and plate. You can spoon the salsa over top or have on the side. I like mine on top. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. 

Stay fierce people! Rawr!!

Paleo Prepped Kitchen

Hey Paleo Peeps! 

I cleaned out my fridge and cupboards over the weekend and today hit the market w/my list for a more paleo friendly kitchen. 

Like I said before, fresh is best. Buy organic where you can and choose good food off the list that you will like and use. 

Here are some pictures of my paleo loot: 

There are a few infractions in these pictures. Nobody's perfect, to be sure. My dairy creamer and yogurt. The yogurt is for my dog and I have yet to open the creamer. 

You'll notice that I have some lovely cashew milk - it's free from carrageenan. Which unfortunately seems to be hard to avoid in most almond & coconut milks. I chose the unsweetened. I also chose the hazelnut So Delicious creamer - the other 2 - coconut and vanilla had carrageenan. 

Also, don't forget to stock up on some fermented foods like kimchi and pickles. Yum! 

I bought some yummy uncured bacon from Simple Truth. We'll be using that this week or next to saute some kale. 

The proteins, besides bacon, are tilapia, sole, cod and some flank steak. I'll be posting some amazing recipes this week using those proteins. It's going to be a really fun week to cook. 

In my crisper, there's celery root for my delicious Celery Root Hummus. 

Kale, romaine, avos, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, pineapple, grapefruit, raw honey, 85% dark chocolate and some cashews to snack on. 

This is a great start to the week. I can't wait to share my first recipe of this week with you. 

Have a great paleo day!

Operation: Ginger's getting married!

Hello readers! Well the time has come to prepare for my upcoming wedding this November. I will finally be marrying my best friend and two of the sweetest and funniest kids I've ever met. A wedding requires tons of planning, least of which is a weight loss/fitness plan. Every girl wants want to look fabulous on her wedding day and in her dress. I am no different. I will be taking a paleo approach, of course. Paleo nutrition focused on a 90/10 approach and a fitness regimen on the 6/7 approach. You can't train your way out of a bad diet so I'll be posting some great paleo recipes over the next 6 months. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

I'm going to start from scratch and go back to basics. For those of you who may have stumbled onto my humble little blog, I'll outline paleo do's and don'ts in this post. What to eat, what not to eat, easy snacks and a approachable plan.

So, you're going Paleo, what do you eat? All this hype about paleo but it seems so complicated. So many rules. Never fear! My list below has been created from several great resources, but most notably, Dr. Loren Cordain and Robb Wolf. I bought their books back in 2011 and found them to be great resources for starting the paleo lifestyle. I highly recommend both for explaining why this works, the health benefits and their expertise on the lifestyle.

First, clean out your fridge, your cupboards, etc. Get rid of all that non paleo stuff.

What to eat: 

Lean proteins - grass fed/organic - do your best here for what's in your budget. Just keep it lean!
*Simple Truth has a wide range of affordable lean proteins and organic selections

Beef **
Bison - naturally lean and very tasty
Poultry - Chicken, Turkey
Seafood - get wild caught fresh / frozen - stay away from farmed fish
Game meat
Eggs - get the most organic, humane kind you can

**With ground beef, never opt for fat content over 7% - keep it lean, always

Veggies - you'll want to load up on veggies, but some are off the menu - I'll get to that later.
The greener the better - leafy greens are your friends! This is not an all inclusive list, so be creative in the produce department - except for the ones on the no-go list.

Artichoke
Asparagus
Avocado - this is a fruit but doesn't have the same limit as fruits
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Collards
Cucumber
Endive
Green onions
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Radish
Spinach
Squash
Swiss chard
Tomatillos
Tomatoes
Hot peppers - habaneros, jalapenos, and other chilies for spicing up your recipes

Fruits - if you're trying to lose weight (like me!) limit the high sugar fruits
Only buy what's in season - if it's not, it's traveled a LONG way to get to you.

Apples
Bananas
Berries - lots of berries - raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc
Cantaloupe
Cherries
Figs
Grapefruit
Honeydew
Kiwi
Lemons/Limes
Mango
Orange
Pineapple
Rhubarb
Watermelon

Nuts, Seeds & Oils - this is going to be a little foreign to some of you but embrace the change!
With nuts - keep it unsalted. And as they are high in fat, limit this to 2-4 ounces a day

Almonds
Brazil Nuts
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Macadamia
Pecans
Pistachios
Pumpkin Seeds
Pine Nuts
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts

Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Olive Oil
Ghee - clarified butter
Grass fed butter

And don't forget your spices. Fresh herbs and spices are a must if you're going to enjoy eating.
Dried spices are fine of course, but herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, etc should be as fresh as possible. Salsas are also great to have on hands for salads and proteins.


Dark chocolate is okay too. Look for 85%.

Now, I know you're thinking. Where's the dairy? The grains? Sorry friends, that's where we diverge. These are no-nos on the paleo diet.

What you shouldn't eat or limit to the very rare occasion: 

Dairy
Grains
Legumes - beans, peas, soy, peanut butter
Corn
Starch - tubers, potatoes
Quinoa
Oats
Wheat
Condiments - these contain some serious infraction - high sodium, hidden sugars, chemicals
Processed meats
Soft drinks
Sugar
Honey - unless it's raw organic

And of course, alcohol. WHAT! Wait!! I know, I know. What kind of fun is that? Well, like everything, you should choose moderation for the limited foods above and alcohol. The occasional glass of wine, grain free liquor, or beer is fine but if you want results, you need to be committed.

Robb Wolf has an awesome shopping list. It was super helpful for me when I was starting out. Here's the link: Robb Wolf's 4 Week Shopping List

Alright, we're ready to get started! Go shop!

Here's a quick, easy and healthy snack:

Peel and slice 2 cucumbers
Splash w/lime juice
Sprinkle with sea salt
Toss together in a bowl and enjoy this light and refreshing snack!

Exercise is key. I'll be posting workouts along w/recipes. I plan on engaging a 6 day a week exercise program. Cardio, weights and strength training

Have a great paleo day!

Korean Inspired Salmon and Spicy mashed squash

This recipe is super easy and really delicious. I will warn you, it's very spicy so if you're not into spicy, this recipe may be a bit of a departure for you. I implore you to at least give it a whirl, as you can tailor the spice level to your liking.


Salmon is so good for us but it tends to be made a handful of ways and that can get extremely boring.
Since I gave up meat for Lent I've really been experimenting with seafood this season and this recipe is one that I really loved.

What you'll need:

For the fish:
1 pound fresh wild caught salmon
2-4 Tbsp of Gochujang (korean chili paste)
1/2 tbsp lemon juice (approx)
1/2 tsp olive oil (approx)
Sea salt
2-4 Tbsp water

For the squash:
2 packages of frozen, cooked squash - I use kroger or cascadian farms organic when I can find it
Sriracha sauce
pepper/sea salt
tumeric
crushed red pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put a little olive oil in a Pyrex dish and cover the bottom of the dish to avoid your salmon sticking to the pan. I usually cut my salmon in half for space and to allow for thorough cooking. Place the salmon in the dish, drizzle a little olive oil on top and then a dash of sea salt. In a small dish combine the gochujang, a little lemon juice and olive oil. You want to start off slow as you mix the gochujang into the liquid. Gochujang is very thick and what we want is a thinner version of this spice that we can pour over our salmon so that it can simmer in the sauce while baking. Get this to the consistency that you like and then pour it over the salmon. I add a little water to the dish - a few tablespoons just so that my sauce doesn't cook down too much and become syrupy.

Cook the salmon for 20 minutes.

While that's in the oven, remove your frozen squash from the package and place both in a large sauce pan on low - medium heat for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on this as you don't want to scorch it.
Once its cooked, start adding your spice - I'm pretty liberal with the sriracha as I really like it hot. Add in tumeric, crushed red pepper and fresh pepper to your taste.

Once the salmon is done - it should flake easily with a fork - plate along w/your sriracha squash and enjoy!

Back From Hiatus

Just a quick note to let you know that I am back from hiatus. I needed to take a break for a bit. I am now back! New recipes and postings will commence forthwith!

See you soon!

Sauteed Calamari in Lime and Garlic

Hello paleo friends! Sorry for the delay in posts, I am back.

Today, we're going to make a really simple recipe that cooks up fast and is really delicious and very healthy.

What you'll need:

Olive or avocado oil
1 cup lime juice
1 tbsp garlic - chopped
1- 1.5 pounds of calamari - cut up or 1 -2 packages of TJs Seafood blend (you can find this in their frozen section)
Crushed red pepper
Cayenne
Sea salt
Pepper


In a deep pan  or dutch oven, saute the garlic in olive oil for about 2 minutes, be careful not to scorch the garlic. Add the lime juice, spices and the seafood last. Simmer covered for about 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally. I tend to simmer mine a little longer than that but you can decide how tender you want your calamari. Calamari is a funny protein. The lime juice helps the calamari from getting rubbery - as it often can when cooking. So if it feels a little rubbery, just let it saute for a few minutes more until it feels tender.

You can eat this the way it is or have it over greens. If you feel like going off the paleo plan, I also recommend having this over rice - it's absolutely fabulous this way and gives the rice a really rich flavor.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Je suis Charlie

This is an off topic post, but I had to say something about the tragedy today:
Today a horrific crime was committed against some journalists in France. I'm sure you've heard about it by now. As an aspiring writer, I cannot imagine being cut down by terrorists for simply writing. My heart goes out to the families and loved ones of the victims and the people of France. #jesuischarlie #charliehebdo

Paleo Thai Larb

This is a quick, easy and inexpensive recipe. It's also perfect for work lunches.

What you'll need:

1 pound of organic ground beef
1 cup of lime juice
crushed red peppers
sea salt
cayenne pepper
cabbage slaw

Brown your beef in a saute pan and drain off any water/fat. Then add the lime juice, salt and seasonings to your heat/spice level and simmer for 15 minutes. Once it's flavored and tender enough to your liking, remove it from heat and plate over the cabbage slaw. I usually just grab a package of washed coleslaw from the produce section. This is just the plain coleslaw salad mix - not the creamy mix! Just the salad. The lime juice and beef will flavor the slaw mix perfect.

Larb sauteing in the pan

Thai larb salad - Yum!

It's super healthy and very quick.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Have a great paleo day!

Happy New Year! Fierce and Fabulous in 2015!!

It's a new year and a chance for a new you! That's the great thing about New Year's day, we get to reset ourselves and begin fresh. We have 365 days to do it right and change our lives for the better. A blank slate is set before us, it's up to each one of us to decide how we'll write the future. 

Today starts a Paleo challenge for myself and a group of friends. Whether the goal is 30-60-90 days, we're in it together. We're using the Whole 30 plan - as most of us have done this before and find it really useful and easy to follow. 

I hope you'll join us in our challenge and set yourself on the road to health and wellness in this new year. 

My goals this year are:

~ To get fitter and hit my goal weight of 135 (at 5'9", that's pretty lean and mean!)
~ To make fitness a part of my day, everyday - no excuses!
~ To find nutrition that inspires me that I can share with others
~ To create peace and happiness in every aspect of my life
~ To learn new things and try things that challenge me 

What does your list look like? How do you plan on getting there? 

Make a plan and get on board!!

Happy new year primal friends! Let's Stay fierce together! Rawr!!

~There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results~