Healthier Paleo "Chili Rellano's"

I said I would do this post last night... but after a KILLER work out, some LA Kings Playoff action (leading the series 3-0!!), and quick hot tub sesh - I was down for the count.

One of my (and my Mom's) favorite Mexican dishes is good old deep fried Chili Rellano's - no matter what I do my recipe will never come close to the crispy, gooey, wonderfulness of beer batter but I tried to make a worthwhile replacement. Again, first time doing this and as you may see with my other recipes I perfect them as I go...

Note: for Greg's I did put a little cheese inside and as you can see on the outside as well - used the 2% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar - as with stronger cheeses you need much less to get that cheesy flavor that you may crave. His looked prettier cooked so I mostly took pictures as all I have is my trusty iPhone :)

Paleo Stuffed Chile Rellano's:

Note: I only had 3 Poblano Chile's & there was a lot of ground turkey left over - Which I don't mind as I eat 5-6 small meals a day and it's great having something pre-prepped (use in scrambles, with spaghetti squash & tomato sauce). However if you'd rather reserve your ground turkey for other uses try just cutting the recipe in half.

-1 Package Ground Turkey
-6 Poblano Chile's
-2 Tomatoes - I used Roma's
-1 Onion
-3 Gloves of Garlic
-1/2 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper (I had to use frozen as they are expensive in our area - canned green chile's would work great too!)
- 2 eggs separated (more for more chile's)
-Gluten Free Bread Crumbs (Basically Corn Meal broken down -next time I will try to just use corn meal and coconut flour and put it in my food processor)
-2% Low Fat Sharp Cheddar if desired

"Taco Seasoning": - You can buy pre-made but watch out for lots of salt & MSG!
-1 TBS Chili Powder (I added a few dashes more as mine isn't very potent)
-1/4 tsp Cayenne
-1 tsp Oregano or Italian Herbs is fine
-1 tsp Paprika
-2 tsp Cumin
-1 tsp Veggie salt or Sea Salt
-1 tsp black pepper - I added more but I LOVE black pepper

Also Need:
-Coconut oil for skillet
-Brown paper bag (I honestly use my Whole Foods bags)
-Enchilada sauce if desired

Slice a small slice to reach in and de-seed your peppers and rinse out (mine was too big whoops!). Turn the oven on Broil High & have your rack on the top spot. I like to let flavors "meld" for awhile so I chopped up the onion, peppers, tomatoes and pressed the garlic (mincing is fine too!) and let it cook on medium heat in a fair amount of coconut oil. I than placed the peppers on a baking sheet and put them on the top rack under the broiler. Keep mixing around your veggies in the skillet to prevent burning but they are good when they get a little browned! Keep an eye on the peppers in the oven, you want the skin to get blackened and flip so that both sides get a good blackened skin on each side. While the peppers are "burning" add in your Taco Seasoning to the veggies - I do this before I add the turkey as it seems to spread the seasonings easier. 

By now you should be able to take your peppers out - take them and place them in a brown paper bag and roll closed and let sit for 2-3 minutes to steam. DON'T LET THEM SIT TOO LONG! I accidentally did and they were a pain to work with. They'll taste fine just hard to stuff. 

Add in your turkey and "chop it up" well with your spatula and mix it thoroughly with your veggies. While you let that cook your peppers should already be back on the cookie sheet and gently peel all the skin off - just the thin layer of semi-transparent skin.... It should be pretty easy at this point. Cover the turkey and cook until you can just see there is no pink anymore - add 2 egg yolks near end of cooking. Remove from heat and let cool for a few. 

Preheat over to 350 degrees - and place rack in middle of oven. Whip your two eggs whites until frothy. Now carefully stuff the peppers as much as you can - add cheese if desired - pinching the open edge dip well into the egg whites and than immediately into your bread crumbs and place on well greased or foiled baking sheet. Repeat with all your peppers - then sprinkle the rest of the egg whites over each and drizzle some more bread crumbs (GF bread crumbs just don't stick as well as normal bread crumbs). I also drizzled a little Tapatio.. couldn't help myself :)

Bake for 30 minutes and if you're like me and like them good and crispy turn that broiler back on and broil for 5 minutes - really that's all you need!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I have not figured out calorie info for them yet but I will later today - time to get to work! :)

If you don't like them too dry you can easily follow all these steps and heat some enchilada sauce in a sauce pan and drizzle over afterwards which we may do next time I just didn't have any prepped!

Paleo Sweet Potato Pie Pancakes!

There is nothing like those memories of waking up Sunday morning to that wonderful greasy, buttery, sweet aroma of pancakes in the air.... As much as I would love to indulge in such a treat I have been gluten free since November & converting over to full Paleo diet (for those of you not familiar: http://www.fitbomb.com/p/why-i-eat-paleo.html) now. My usual breakfast is either some sort of veggie juice (morning is usually: spinach, beet, cucumber, ginger, tomato, carrots and A fruit usually an apple), or a bunch of good ol' egg whites. I woke up this morning wanting to shake things up a bit. This is my first time making something like this so I really just threw it together and may work on perfecting it later. However, that does not mean that this wasn't SUPER tasty and really hit the spot...




Sweet Potato Paleo Pancakes:

Note: I baked the sweet potatoes the night before - washed them well then covered with foil and baked 30+ minutes - you can always poke and microwave then place in the fridge. It's good to let them cool after cooking as it makes it extremely easy to take the skin off!

-1 pre-cooked Sweet Potato, skin peeled off (you want about 3/4-1Cup) smashed down (see pic)
-4 Egg Whites
-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
-1/2 tsp Baking Soda
-1/2 TBS Agave Syrup or 10 Drops Stevia (optional)
-1/2 tsp each of cinnamon & nutmeg - I added a bit more but I love both spices!
-2 TBS Coconut Flour
-2 TBS Milled Flax Seed
-1 Scoop and/or serving protein powder (I used a Chocolate Optimum Whey Sample from bodybuilder.com)
-1/3 Cup Almond Milk or Milk of your Choice
-Coconut oil for the pan


In a large bowl start mixing ingredients in order - with the sweet potato I mash it into the measuring cup and usually mash it into the bowl as well. I use a whisk and not an electric mixer as I like the texture better being a little more "lumpy" then too smooth - but if you prefer "smooth" pancakes use a mixer. The color isn't the prettiest but they look much better when cooked!

Heat your skillet on Med/high heat with a fair amount of coconut oil. Flick a drop of water and if it pops it's warm enough - I actually turned down the skillet to medium heat but our burners run hot. 

I just reused my 1/3 Cup measuring cup to pour batter into the pan but you can really make them any size you wish. I made mine about 5-6" which made 7 pancakes - adjust if you want more/less. Pour batter in and make sure the oil is hitting all sides of the pancakes - swivel if necessary. 

When there are a lot of bubbles on top flip them - for me it was about 3 minutes each side. I won't lie they can be a pain to flip but who cares what they look like as long as they taste good!

They WILL look burned even though they aren't! As stoves differ - you can always cut one in half and make sure the insides aren't gooey. 

I put a little bit of coconut oil on top and mmm mmm MMMM! They are very good plain, add a little more cinnamon on top or even be a little naughty and add some butter! Note all these pictures are taken with my iPhone and I really couldn't get the color to display right. 

The calculator I used didn't have the exact protein powder I used so these actually have MORE protein then listed! And remember this is all GOOD fat, essential fats you need. "Don't fear the fat" as my fitness friend Kasey always says!

	Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe   7 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 73.2   Total Fat 1.4 g       Saturated Fat 0.2 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g   Cholesterol 10.0 mg   Sodium 159.8 mg   Potassium 111.3 mg   Total Carbohydrate 8.4 g       Dietary Fiber 2.3 g       Sugars 3.2 g   Protein 6.3 g   Vitamin A 26.2 %   Vitamin B-12 0.0 %   Vitamin B-6 4.1 %   Vitamin C 5.1 %   Vitamin D 1.2 %   Vitamin E 3.4 %   Calcium 4.1 %   Copper 3.8 %   Folate 0.3 %   Iron 2.2 %   Magnesium 0.9 %   Manganese 5.5 %   Niacin 2.1 %   Pantothenic Acid     3.8 %   Phosphorus     2.0 %   Riboflavin 1.9 %   Selenium 0.3 %   Thiamin 2.0 %   Zinc 0.7 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

I ate 3 and I am stuffed! They smell amazing so make sure you take small bites, chew, eat slowly so your brain has time to tell you you're full! Easy as snacks too as they taste good cold or just pop them in the toaster! 


If you have a hard time finding some of these ingredients (like coconut products) I use iherb.com for everything! If you use my code: YEP919 you get $5 off your first order! 


Making "healthy chili rellenos" tonight - Post the recipe either tonight or tomorrow!


As always thanks for reading & feel free to ask questions!

Gluten Free Protein Cookie Experiment

What is wrong with me!? I am NOT usually a sweets person but the last week or two I have been craving sweets. I've luckily had a fair amount of self control besides having a little dark chocolate here and there... and maybe some coffee frozen yogurt on Valentines. I used to love making baked good out of thin air but since going gluten free last November.. let's just say there is a bit of a learning curve.

So maybe not so guilty cookies?

Protein cookie surprise - as I have no idea how this will turn out!

- 1/2 Cup Whey Protein powder (i have cake batter right now haha sounds so bad but it's not!)
- 1/2 Cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1/2 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
- 1 Cup cooked steel cut oats
- 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 1 TBS Vanilla
- 1 TBS agave
- 2 TBS non fat Greek Yogurt
- 1 Chia "egg" - 1 TBS Chia seeds and 2 TBS water - combine and set aside

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. "Create" the chia egg by combining the seeds and water and set aside. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl - Chia egg last... I literally just threw everything together. I wish I had some Earth Balance or something as I know the texture of these are going to be weird with no fat. I baked first batch for 9 minutes and they were a SUPER weird texture... so I tried 11 minutes.. ya, they are just a weird texture. They don't taste have bad and fill you up FAST! It made about 25 cookies and with about 60 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of fiber and 4 grams of Protein PER cookie... you can't feel too bad about it! Be better dipped in your milk of choice.

Neglecting my blog & Best way to make a good healthy snack aka popcorn

First off.. Sorry blog. I've been a bad blog owner. In between the move to SoCal - Hermosa Beach, finally healing up from surgery, then getting the Gardasil or HPV vaccine and having severe repercussions... and just LIFE. But hey! Enough about that. 2011 sucked. 2012 I'm getting into the best shape of my life, running a marathon, entering in a NPC bikini contest, getting closer to God, being a better friend, girlfriend, daughter and just being a better me. Not a New Years Resolution... more so making up for lost time and feeling more motivated then ever before.

So why am I back? I want to share how to make a healthy snack that is not only filling but helps me also combat cravings for other more guilty things. For some reason lately I have been on a sugar craving kick.. and I'm not usually a sweets kind of person.

Microwave popcorn is not only expensive but not usually not very healthy either and usually had a ton of kernels left over. But homemade popcorn seems like such a mystery to some or creating the perfect homemade popcorn seems like a craft.

Here is homemade popcorn demystified. Whole Foods has kernels for super cheap in the bulk bins. But you can find just kernels almost anywhere.

What you need is:

-3qt saucepan 

-about 3 TB oil (canola, peanut, grapeseed - has to have a high smoke point) 

-1/3 cup kernels 

-salt and then whatever you would like to add for me this case it was cinnamon. 

But you can add: nutritional yeast, shredded parmesan, cayenne, chili powder, curry powder, cumin etc!

(Note: I put the salt in the oil first as it distributes it nicely - just go easy you can always add but not subtract) Now here's the trick - heat the oil on med/high heat and throw in 2-3 kernels, when they pop evenly layer the 1/3 cup and REMOVE FROM THE HEAT and count to 30 then place it back on the heat and they will rapidly pop, try to shake the pan back and forth but also try and let the steam escape so they get nice and crunchy and then remove from the heat when you hear a couple seconds in between pops! Quickly place into a bowl and add whatcha want! I did a few shakes of cinnamon and it was so yummy!! It gave me my sweets fix, with my crunch fix, with my snack fix haha.

Just a quick little snack to get back into the blog but more to come!