Chocolate Covered Macadamias and Raisins (Paleo, Refined Sugar-Free)

Run out of Larabars? Need a quick and easy snack? This takes about 10 minutes, produces a crunchy, sweet treat, and there's no baking required!

I used:

- organic raw macadamia nuts
- organic jumbo raisins
- Enjoy Life chocolate chips

These chocolate chips are the best! They're gluten free, soy free, nut free, and dairy free, for those who have sensitivities. They also only have three ingredients: Natural Chocolate Liquor (Non-Alcoholic), Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter, and Evaporated Cane Juice.

All I did was melt down the chocolate, threw in the nuts and raisins, mixed well to make sure everything was well coated, and then spooned the raisins and nuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper! After that I let them cool in the fridge for about five minutes.

Tadaaaaaa! Easy peasy!

Healthier Camping Alternatives

I spent a night "camping" in a trailer in Holyrood. I planned nice meal and dessert to make with my friend, camping style!

We grabbed some skewers, pork loin, orange pepper, bacon, and pineapple, and roasted kabobs over the campfire! We glazed half in Mr.Spice's Ginger stir-fry sauce, and half in Mr.Spice's Honey BBQ sauce! Oh, and this meal is paleo-friendly!

The pineapple and peppers were organic, and the bacon was gluten-free with all natural ingredients. Everything complimented each other perfectly. It flavours reminded me of Hawaiian pizza. I was pretty into it!

For dessert we roasted bananas instead of marshmallows. THAT'S RIGHT. They don't catch fire either!  Aaaaand we made s'mores with them using gluten-free graham crackers, and organic 70% dark chocolate.  I feel a little guilty about the refined-sugar that's in the graham crackers, but mannnn were they good. I still think I did pretty good for camping considering I'm used to homemade bread smothered in cheese whiz topped with hotdogs.

I may like these better than the original s'more! Saving those crackers for the next time I camp! :)

Bison Ragu (Paleo)

On Friday after work I took a trip to the Real Food Market. I went there searching for organic, free-range, grass-fed meat, and left with some ground beef and ground bison. BISON.

I cooked the Bison up as soon as I got home. My meal was pretty random, originally inspired by spaghetti, but ended up being more of a stew or ragu.

Use my spiralizer for the first time! It's the only one I could find, got it at Paderno out on Stavanger Drive. I used it on zucchini and got spaghettini-like strands!

I laid that aside and started to brown my bison on low heat. Where it was extra lean, I had to add a bit of extra virgin olive oil to make sure it wouldn't burn.  Added shallots, garlic, organic carrots, and organic mushrooms and cooked everything in organic tomato and basil pasta sauce with some extra garlic.

While that was stewing I roasted some baby red tomatoes in olive oil and sea salt.

In the last 5 minutes I sauteed my zuchinni in some olive oil, and then everything was ready to go!

Dad plated it right nice. :)

We all adored this meal and went for seconds. The Bison tasted like beef, only fresher. I don't know how else to describe it. I can't wait til my next grocery run to pick up more! Big fan.

The strands of zucchini made a great substitute for pasta, all the strands twirled around my fork perfectly!  I knew my spiralizer would be a good investment!


Eating organic is completely changing how I view food, and for the better. It's satisfying having control over what you put in your body. Being able to identify every ingredient is so important! As well as understanding the pros and cons of each ingredient, especially if you have a sensitivity too certain foods, or other health issues like an auto-immune disorder.


Someone should farm Bison in Newfoundland.

Garden Progress and Gluten-Free Beer

Better late than never!

That's my motto for this garden. I sowed my seeds late in the season so I'm just getting things beginning to sprout. But I'm so proud!! I'm a first time gardener so any progress is very exciting. The tomato and rosemary plants I transferred are doing very well! They've both over doubled in size!

Tried a new gluten-free beer while lounging by my garden. Well, new to me. New Grist. It wasn't awful, it was actually kind of good! I've tried other gluten-free beers before that left me less than impressed. It had all the qualities that a beer would have, golden colour, bubbles, crisp taste. This beer is flavoured with green apples, which I liked! It isn't made with wheat or barley, but it is made from other grains; rice and sorghum. I'm trying to avoid all grains so I'll only have this product once in a while as a treat, but I will definitely buy it again!

Oh, here's my baby radishes...

My baby lettuce....

and my single baby swiss chard :)

Some sweet right?

Turkey and Broccoli Goulash with FETA! (Gluten Free)

Today's another beautiful day in the city of St. John's! I worked, spent some time in the garden, and cooked supper for the fam.

I'm pretty excited tonight because I'm getting a deep freeze!!! Yup. That means my dream of stocking up on loads of awesome meat (ie: free range, grass fed, organic, local, no hormones or antibiotics, all that good stuff) is a possibility! Ya see, I'm going to be quite poor when nursing school starts up in September. So, the more I can stock up on now the better. Yay! Deep Freeze. <3.

Oliver's Farm in Whitbourne sells grass-fed free-range beef, pork, lamb, and poultry! How great is that?! They're also at the St. John's Farmers' Market on Saturdays from 9-2, but this Saturday I'm doing a day shift. I may try to adventure to Whitbourne on one of my days off.

Here's Oliver's Farm's Contact info:

Oliver’s Farm

Dave and Del Oliver
Phone:709-687-1639 or 709-687-3173

Placentia Junction P.O. Box 435
Whitbourne, NL
A0B 3K0

Shop Real Food. That's something else to be excited about. The little organic grocery store on Logy Bay Road. I'm heading there on Friday afternoon! They're only open on Tuesday's from 10-7, and Friday's from 10-6. However, they do home deliveries daily, and you can shop online!
Let me show you what I cooked for supper!


I made dinner for my parents and I. When I'm cooking for them I don't always do a completely paleo dish. However, this was a gluten free, and very healthy meal. If you continue to read this blog you'll come to learn that I go all over the place in the "paleo spectrum". hahaha.

Here we go...

I cooked up extra lean ground turkey with some garlic shallots and brocolli.

I used Dominion's PC Organics frozen broccoli. I got it on sale for $2.99 a while ago! Loves a sale.

Then I boiled my gluten free pasta which was Prairie Harvest's Organic Corn Macaroni (gotta use Macaroni in a goulash). I got it in Dominion's organic section. It only has two ingredients, which I like, corn flour and water. It's also fairly low calorie, low fat, no sodium, no sugar, AND it has protein and iron. Score!

I added my new favourite pasta sauce to my meat and veggies. Simply Natural's Organic Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce. You can get four 739ml jars at Costco for $8.79!!!

I seasoned my meat and sauce a bit more with a dash of salt and pepper, and some paprika. Right before I was about take it off the stove I added a sprinkling of arrowroot powder and coconut flour to thicken it up. Then, everything was mixed in a salad bowl and topped off with crumbly feta cheese.



It made a great family meal...warm and comforting. Mom and Dad were big fans. :)

Red Grape, Pine Nut, and Goat Cheese Salad (Lacto-Paleo)

My Dad was barbecuing pork chops for dinner tonight so I thought I'd whip up a salad to go with it. I didn't have any ideas in mind so I began scanning the fridge and pantry to spark one. When I saw the goat cheese I thought, "Yeah, I definitely want goat cheese." It reminded me of the Pear, Bacon, and Goat Cheese Salad at Nautical Nellies that I hold so dear to my heart. It's to die for!!!! I wanted something sweet to go with the creamy cheese, like the pear, only I didn't have pear....But I did have red grapes!  The mild nutty taste of pine nuts would go well too, so I tossed these ingredients together with Organic Earth Greens Superfood Blend that I got at Costco. The 454g bag was only $4.99, and includes spinach, kale, and swisschard!

 I used Mr.Spice's Organic Ginger Stiry Fry Sauce and Marinade as a dressing. Check out those stats man! I'm in love with this product. Dad also barbecued my pork in it, and let me tell you, it was perfection.

nomnomnom!

Kitchen Trials! - Snickerdoodles (Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free)

I got this recipe from SlimPalate.com

 

It's a great blog written by a young man (only 17!) named Joshua Weissman who completely transformed his body and outlook through clean eating and healthy living. He has a lot of great recipes listed, and I just adore his presentation. 

 

These Snickerdoodles are the bomb! They're chewy, sweet (but not too sweet), and very comforting. When I baked these tonight, my boyfriend and I couldn't even wait for them to cool before the whole plate was devoured! They're actually that amazing.

 

I highly recommend having a nice tall class of unsweetened almond milk nearby. 

 

*The only exception I made was instead of using the recommended coconut oil or butter, I used Earth Balance's Baking Sticks. They're lactose free, and gluten free, and taste delicious.