Bacon Wrapped Grilled Adobo Shrimp

I could, honestly, eat these grilled shrimp every week and not get tired of them.  They are so simple to prepare, flavorful and incredibly delicious.  I use an Adobo Ole' Spice Blend from Dangold's gourmet collection.  I love this seasoning for so many dishes, like seafood, tacos, fajitas, soups and chicken.  It's super versatile and does not contain preservatives, sugar or other additives that don't go along with my clean eating plan.  This spice blend contains: salt, paprika, ground black pepper, onion, dried oregano, ground cumin, garlic powder and chili powder.  You could easily make your own blend, too!

  Bacon Wrapped Grilled Adobo Shrimp

Ingredients:
1 1b jumbo raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 16-20 prawns)
2 tbsp Adobo spice blend 
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb uncured bacon, slices cut in half
wooden toothpicks, soak in water for about 30 minutes prior to using

Directions:
Preheat your grill by turning to high for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook bacon slices until bacon fat starts to melt, but not completely done (the bacon should be pliable enough to wrap around the shrimp.)  Set aside.  

Toss raw, peeled and deveined shrimp with olive oil in a large bowl.  

Add spice blend and mix until shrimp are thoroughly coated. 

Wrap bacon slices around each shrimp and secure with a toothpick.  Place shrimp on a grill pan and cook for 2-3 minutes each side, until bacon is crisp and shrimp is pink and cooked through, being careful not to overcook shrimp.  

Then eat and enjoy.  Nom nom!

Orange Mango Popsicles

These popsicles are so refreshing and really simple to make.  I love DIY popsicles for the kids without added sweeteners.  You can make so many different fruit juice combinations, the possibilities are endless.  I love this combo of orange and mango, the flavors compliment each other beautifully.  They are so easy you'll wonder why you don't make them more often. :)

Fresh Orange Mango Popsicles 

Ingredients:
6 Valencia oranges, halved
1 cup unsweetened mango juice, you can also puree fresh mango in a Vitamix or blender
Popsicle molds

Directions:
Juice oranges and pour liquid through a mesh sieve to separate most of the pulp and the seeds. 

Add strained juice to the mango juice and stir until mixed.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until set.

Salad In A Jar

Don't you just love Pinterest?!!  These single serving jar salads are all over my favorite eye candy site.  Not only are they really cute, but they stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to five to six days.  I do not put dressing on the bottom of mine, so they last longer and stay crisp.  If you are serving them right away, it's fine to add dressing to the bottom of the jar before you start layering your salad ingredients.  You can make these however you like, but the ingredients here will keep nicely and you'll have lunch for the whole week.  Saving time rocks!  Oh and serving things in cute jars is great, too. :)

Salad In A Jar

Ingredients (Layer from the bottom in this order):

Sweet or red onion, finely chopped 
Carrots, finely chopped 
Green peppers, finely chopped
Cucumber, peeled and finely chopped 
Fresh Spinach leaves, chopped
Iceberg lettuce, chopped
sweet cherry tomatoes, keep whole 

You can get really creative with ingredients for this layered jar salad.  I wouldn't recommend adding things that go brown or soften quickly, like avocado, chopped tomatoes, etc.  You can always add those things when you are ready to dive in and eat.  Enjoy!

Orange-Thyme Grilled Pork Chops

This recipe comes from my uber talented foodie friend, Carrie Farias, over at Carrie's Experimental Kitchen.  It's from her cookbook "Carrie's Experimental Kitchen (A collection of Mediterranean-Inspired Family Meals).  So far, everything that I've tried from her recipe collection has been fantastic, so I highly recommend that you check it out.  I am a cookbook hoarder anyway....you can never have too many recipes!

Orange-Thyme Grilled Pork Chops
*From Carrie's Experimental Kitchen (A collection of Mediterranean-Inspired Family Meals)

Ingredients:
4 center cut boneless pork chops, 1- 1 1/2 inch thick (I used 2 really large bone-in chops, because that's what I had on hand)
3/ 4 cup water
2 tbsp granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp fresh thyme, removed from stem
1/2 navel orange, juice and zest

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix water, sugar and salt until it dissolves.  Add garlic powder, thyme, orange zest and juice and whisk together until well blended.  Trim any visible fat from your pork chops; then tenderize using a meat mallet or the bottom of a glass.  Add the pork chops and the marinade to a resealable plastic bag and refrigerate no more than 2 hours.  Grill the pork chops until the proper internal temperature is reached.  Serves 4 (for 4 chops).  To grab your copy of Carrie's cookbook, see link below.

Paleo Flourless Chocolate Cake

My sweet friend, Laurissa, brought a piece of this decadent flourless chocolate cake for me to sample at the gym last week. It's, honestly, one of the best desserts that I've had in a long time.  It's called a flourless chocolate cake, but it's more like a decadent large chocolate truffle....the rich and creamy inside with a texture like velvet, smooth, dense and flavorful.  This dessert is very rich, so a small piece goes a long way!  I cannot take credit for this recipe, she got it from Mastering the Art of Paleo Cooking and the only thing that I changed in the recipe was the addition of vanilla extract.  I love vanilla in chocolate recipes, but other than that simple tweak, I kept it as is...I didn't want to mess with perfection!  Next time I make it, I may try adding toasted hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts...yum.  Kudos to Jessica over at Mastering the Art of Paleo Cooking.  Go visit her lovely page, but I am warning you, she'll make you hungry! 

Paleo Flourless Chocolate Cake
*Adapted from Mastering the Art of Paleo Cooking

Ingredients:
18 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (Ghirardelli chocolate chips recommended)
1 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup real maple syrup (can sub with organic,raw agave nectar or local honey)
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 whole eggs
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Directions:

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler. Let melt slowly and stir constantly to avoid burning the chocolate. Remove from heat when the chocolate is just fully melted. Beat in the maple syrup, water, vanilla and salt. Beat in the eggs, one by one, until completely incorporated into the mixture (a whisk attachment is recommended).

Grease a 9″ springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder. Surround the base of the pan (on the outside) with foil. 

Pour the cake batter into the pan. Cook in a water bath reaching halfway up the side of the cake.  

Bake at 275 for 50 minutes. Cake should be set, but still look a little shiny and wet in the middle when done.  Let cool at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate 5 hours before removing pan siding and serving.

Cut with a clean, warm knife (run the knife under hot water and dry between slices).  

Serve with homemade organic whip cream (if you do dairy) or almond milk ice cream.  It's hard not to eat more than one slice of this chocolate bliss! :)

Shared at:
I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Egg Salad with Bacon...Paleo-Friendly

I love a good egg salad.  What flavors go better together than eggs and bacon?!  Crumbled bacon in egg salad is just heavenly.  I like to save a little extra to garnish on top, along with a sprinkling of paprika.  Great for a quick and healthy lunch and it's Paleo-diet friendly!

Egg Salad with Bacon

Ingredients:
7 eggs, hardboiled and peeled
1/3 cup Paleo mayonnaise
8 slices, cooked and crumbled uncured bacon
3 tbsp sweet vidalia onion, finely diced
1/3 cup celery, finely diced
dash cayenne pepper
2 tbsp dill pickle, finely diced
sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
paprika for garnish

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine mayo, onion, celery, cayenne pepper, pickle and salt and pepper.  Stir until ingredients are well mixed.  Chop your eggs and add to the mixture, then stir in most of the bacon (reserve a couple chopped slices for garnish).  Top with paprika and serve over a bed of greens or in a lettuce boat.  

Simple Crockpot Italian Chicken

This is a quick and easy clean-eating crockpot recipe that the whole family loves.


Simple Crockpot Italian Chicken

Ingredients:
6-8 boneless chicken breasts
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (reduce to 1/2 cup if not using crockpot meat rack*see below)
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
sea salt and pepper to taste
1 (15oz) carton diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 cups freshly shredded parmesan cheese

*I highly recommend using a crockpot meat rack when preparing this recipe.  They are very inexpensive (see below for ordering information) and the texture of the meat is better when it's not sitting in a lot of liquid while cooking.  This can cause the muscle fibers to be too broken down and creating a texture that's too soft.  

Directions:
Place chicken breasts on the cooking rack and pour the chicken broth in the bottom of the slow cooker (it should come to just the top of the rack).  Add garlic cloves to the chicken broth.  Drizzle chicken with olive oil and season with Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper.  Pour drained, diced tomatoes on top and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Serve over top Zucchini Spaghetti. 

Don't forget to reserve that delicious, rich broth for another recipe.  Pour the liquid through a strainer and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Grab one of these handy roasting racks for less than $4.00 at Amazon!