Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples

I’m back! Whew! So sorry for the lag in posting – it’s been a crazy month, and we’ve either been out of town or had house guests the last four weekends in a row. Tons of fun, but it didn’t leave a lot of time for experimenting in the kitchen.  Finally got some downtime with the hubs yesterday, and it really was a fantastic day – woke up to the rain (Rain? In Austin? Seriously??), went for a nice, easy Sunday run, practiced my double-unders & handstands, ate a delish bun-less burger at Hopdoddy (I tried the Llano Poblano – yum!), and then rounded things out with Halloween costume shopping on South Congress (going to rock it this year!). Just lovely. We capped off the day by cooking dinner together and then watching John Carpenter’s The Thing (the original)… really a fantastic film, and despite being made in the early 80’s, it totally stands up today.

So, back to the food!  We made a couple of new dishes yesterday – all the recipes are coming shortly! Let’s start with my favorite of the newbies: Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples. Both P.J. and I agreed that this one just tasted like Fall and would be a really great Paleo Thanksgiving side option.  Hope you like ’em! Check out the recipe after the jump…

Read More…

Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes on the Griddle

Since going Paleo, I have to say that breakfast has become a whole different animal for me. I’ve always been a breakfast person, but for years, breakfast consisted of a glass of skim milk, a banana, and a cereal bar. Holy glycemic spike, Batman! I’d feel great for about 45 minutes, and then I’d be starving and dragging within a couple of hours… it was all I could do to make it to lunch.

These days, I get some pretty awesome sideways looks from my coworkers when I pull out leftover ribeye and salad to have for breakfast.  I’ll admit, it took some getting used to, but I feel so much more satisfied having some good protein and fat in the morning… I’m no longer starving by lunch, and my energy levels stay much more constant throughout the day. That said, every once in a while I’ll get a craving for some traditional breakfast food… e.g. pancakes.  Given that I love sweet potatoes, I figured I’d give some Paleo sweet potato pancakes a try for me and the hubby over the weekend.  There are tons of great recipes out there, and here’s my custom version, topped with sauteed cinnamon apples.

Read More…

Paleo Sweet Potato Fries Ready for the Munchin'

Every once in a while, it’s nice to eat something that’s a kick-back to the pre-Paleo days: something salty and reminiscent of burger drive-throughs without being a total gut-killer.  Sweet potato fries definitely fall into that category.  The combo of sweet and salty really hits the spot, especially alongside a good steak or bacon burger (bun-less, of course!). Yum!  My wonderful brother-in-law M made these when we were up in Connecticut a few weeks ago, so I had to give it a shot in my own kitchen.

Following is my recipe for baked (not fried!) sweet potato fries:
Read More…

Cute little serving of the sweet potato mash.

About two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have gum surgery (insert sarcasm here).  Seriously, I had been dreading this procedure (gum grafts due to genetic recession, for all you dental folks out there) for about three years. I’d had it done as a teenager and remembered it as quite literally the most painful thing I’d experienced. Ever. Lucky for me, I was introduced to Dr. David Yu here in town, and the experience was actually surprisingly pleasant all around (well, as pleasant as gum surgery can really ever be).  If you ever need Perio work and you live in Austin, go see Dr. Yu. Seriously.

How does this have anything to do with Paleo eating?  Well, since converting to Paleo in April of this year, I’ve been really strict about following the guidelines, and I’ve been feeling fantastic. However, as all of you who’ve had mouth surgery in the past know, the recommended post-surgery fare is pretty much limited to milkshakes, pudding, applesauce, and mashed potatoes.  Couple that with the fact that I wouldn’t be able to work out for a week, and I was TERRIFIED of how my body was going to react.

So, I looked for some health(ier) options to get me through the requisite “mushy” food stage.  Enter mashed sweet potatoes.

Read More…