Today I stumbled upon a new site and found some delish looking baked zucchini chips which are a perfect solution for a no-grain diet. The site isn’t focused on allergy-free eating, but if you find yourself wanting some inspiration for yummy looking baked goods, it seems like Maggie of Vittles an Bits will be a good source I’ve copied her comments about the recipe below for reference and note that she’s very responsive if you have any questions so feel free to post them on her site.

For reference here is her link

Baked Zucchini Chips

Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini
  • Cooking spray
  • Seasoned salt, or other seasoning(s) of your choice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil, and spray with canola oil. Set aside.
  2. Slice zucchini into thin medallions, about the thickness of a quarter. (You can either use a knife & a very steady hand, or a mandoline slicer.)
  3. Lay out slices on prepared baking sheet, and spray tops lightly with additional cooking spray. Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice. (A note on seasoning, however – use LESS than what seems appropriate. These shrink considerably in the oven, and if you use too much it gets very concentrated. It’s better to end up underseasoning and add more later.)
  4. Place in preheated oven and bake 45 minutes. Rotate baking sheet (don’t flip the chips though), and bake an additional 30-50 minutes, until chips are browned and crisped to your liking. These are best eaten within a couple hours of removing from the oven, as they start to get chewy if left out. One zucchini makes one serving (1/4 C. – 1/3 C. of chips depending on the size of your squash).
http://inspiredeats.net/baked-zucchini-chips/
 

From Maggie: 

To me, these chips taste kinda like thin & crispy pumpkin seeds.  (I guess that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since they are relatives in the squash family).  Much lighter, but the taste is similar.

And the seasoning possibilities are endless – you can tailor them to your liking.  Garlic, paprika, chili powder… use your imagination!  I went with a basic Seasoned Salt and they came out great.  But whatever you choose, just make sure you go easy on the seasonings, and only use a little bit – these do shrink a lot in the oven, so what looks like a reasonable amount on the raw veggies could turn out to be way too much!

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While working on the recipe section tonight I was compiling some kid-friendly, gluten free lunch ideas and I ran across this one I had saved from the Washington Post some time ago. It’s a great option for a cold lunch and the plantains make for a delish and healthy addition with the black beans. Plantains have a heart healthy combo of nutrients, including vitamin B6, vitamin C, potassium and fiber. They also contain resistant starch, which acts as a prebiotic, selectively nourishing the “good gut” bacteria that line the intestinal tract and protect against food borne illness. Yummy and good for us- yay! 🙂

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I completely admire people who can cook; while I LOVE food, I sadly didn’t inherit the cooking gene so I default to recipes by those uber-talented folks I’ve discovered online. So today I share with you a recipe I ran across from a fellow Paleo girl. It looks divine and I’m hoping I can convince my hubby to make it for us this weekend 🙂 Thanks to Girlmeetspaleo for this inspired dish!

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For today’s Inspired Bite I chose a recipe from The Mayo Clinic which happens to include the nutritional details as well. While I don’t typically concentrate on those aspects as I feel like they work themselves out when you’re following a Paleo or Primal Blueprint lifestyle, I went ahead and included them in case it’s helpful. I love salmon and find it to be an easy, super healthy option packed with healthy Omegas, and while this recipe calls for lemon, I often pair mine with a mango or other fruit based side to complement the salty/fishy flavor.

 Enjoy!

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For those of you following a gluten free and paleo diet, the occasional comfort food meal is encouraged, so long as you stick to the healthy Paleo guidelines. So when I saw this post on Cavegirl Cuisine’s site for a gluten free, paleo eggplant recipe, I had to share it. Our version is slightly modified, but you can see her original version here

What I love about this recipe is the almond meal which helps the eggplant maintain a crunchy, fried, aspect to it, even though it’s baked.  So you can enjoy this guilt-free, delish version of a formerly unhealthy meal! 

Paleo “Fried” Eggplant Marinara (on a bed of greens)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Paleo “Fried” Eggplant Marinara (on a bed of greens)

Ingredients

  • 1 medium eggplant
  • 2 cups almond meal
  • 1 cup marinara sauce or fresh diced tomatoes
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 cups of greens (I used arugula)
  • 1T macadamia nut oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Peel eggplant and slice into 1/4 inch rounds.
  4. Whisk eggs in a medium bowl.
  5. Place almond meal in another bowl.
  6. Dredge each eggplant round in the eggs and then coat with the almond meal on each side.
  7. Place on the parchment paper
  8. Repeat for all of the eggplant.
  9. Drizzle or mist the oil over the coated rounds.
  10. Salt and pepper lightly.
  11. Cook for 30 minutes.
  12. In the meantime, place a cup of greens on each plate.
  13. Divide the cooked eggplant among the plates.
  14. Put a 1/4 cup of marinara sauce or fresh tomatoes over the top of each serving. Enjoy!
http://inspiredeats.net/paleo-fried-eggplant-marinara-on-a-bed-of-greens/


Ahh, the juicy, sticky, chewy goodness of fruit rollups brings back memories of  childhood –  twisting and pulling it from my teeth after making all sorts of weird shapes with it. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure how it got that pliable quality, and its probably best I dont know!

But, since I’m living Paleo, and trying to keep my son on the Paleo track too, they aren’t something I let him enjoy. So, when I found this recipe I was excited to give it a shot for him, and excited at how simple and clever the idea is!  They take a bit of time to bake, so you’ll have to plan ahead for a time when you’ll be around for a couple hours to let them bake, but they stay good for a couple weeks so go ahead and make a big batch and keep slipping them in your kids lunch boxes and feel good about it!

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Sometimes it’s hard to keep things interesting at breakfast when you’re on a gluten-free and paleo diet. I’ve read of some great paleo options that aren’t gluten-free so I can’t try them, so when I ran across this recipe today I fell in love with it – too bad it’s mid afternoon and I’ll have to wait till tomorrow morning to try them!

 

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This is a quick and easy recipe for a side dish that I love to pair with meats and fish. It’s similar to the old-school wedge salads but doesn’t have all the fatty and high calorie badness from the Blue Cheese dressing, though it has the same creamy texture thanks to the avocado. And if you’re like us, you believe that most anything is made better with a touch of bacon 🙂 But for those avoiding meat, this is a great salad minus the bacon, and I’ve been told that almonds are a nice salty touch in its place. 

Super simple and delish – enjoy!

Southern celebrity chef Paula Deen appeared on the Today Show with Al Roker this morning to address rumors that she has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes more than 3 years ago. While it’s a sad thing to hear that any of us have Type 2 diabetes, I have to admit that I wasn’t overly surprised to hear that she was diagnosed with it. While I love Paula’s fun-loving, southern hospitality approach to life, her food is laden with carbohydrates, fat and sugar. Now, depending on the type of fat you consume, it can actually be a healthier lifestyle and is absolutely encouraged on the Paleo and Primal Diets, but I’m guessing that Paula isn’t cooking with Coconut, Grapeseed or Flax oil, but rather, using good oil Canola and Vegetable Oils mixed in with some Olive Oil.

According to Pub Med Health, Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong (chronic) disease in which there are high levels of sugar (glucose) in the blood, and is the most common form of diabetes. When you have type 2 diabetes, your fat, liver, and muscle cells do not respond correctly to insulin (insulin resistance). As a result, blood sugar does not get into these cells to be stored for energy. When sugar cannot enter cells, high levels of sugar build up in the blood (hyperglycemia).