Chocolate Chip Coconut Flour Pancakes

I had a request for chocolate chip pancakes from my backyard campers this morning.  I used this recipe.  All the campers like them!

I used the semi-sweet chocolate chips from Costco.
 
Here's what mine looked like:
 

Summer Eating

Do you eat different in the summer?  It seems that we have so much we want/need to do outside, no one cares about meals.  Often over a typical suppertime we are gone.  Yesterday was a perfect example of this.  We were drinking smoothies about 4:00 (some in the house had a PB&J), swam and played at the park, then we did not eat supper till 7:30.  We were all really ready for a meal, but I was not in the mood to be in the kitchen long or make a lot of dishes.  Here's what I came up with:  grilled chicken thighs & broccoli eaten out on the deck.  It was a gorgeous evening.

 

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs sprinkled with seasoning salt, pepper and Simply Organic All-Purpose Seasoning.  Grilled & served with fresh cilantro.

Steamed broccoli with garlic salt.

What are some of your healthy, go-to summer meals?

Ginger Mango Green Smoothie

Today I made the same smoothie as this day.  Only this time I used fresh kale from our garden.  Kale and mango pair well together. 

Breakfast Burritos

So, I had some things left over from supper.  This is what we had.
What I had leftover was a few tortillas,spices, guac, cilantro and salsa.  I also had about 1/2lb of ground beef/ground turkey blend in the fridge.  This is what I did.

Brown meat and sprinkle with seasoning.  Scramble 6-7 eggs and add to skillet with meat.  Season with additional salt.  Warm tortillas on a griddle, sprinkle with cheese (or don't).  Top with meat/egg mixture.  Serve with guac and salsa and fresh cilantro.  My kiddos loved these, so we will be making them again!

Nutella

I've tried a few different copycat Nutella recipes.   None of them end up being the very smooth, creamy  texture like commercial Nutella.  That being said, they are always yummy and we have no problem eating it!  This recipe for chocolate hazelnut butter is one of the simplest I've seen.  I omitted the cocoa butter.  Toasting the hazelnuts was the longest step.
 
***If you go to the bulk bins at your local health foods story looking for hazelnuts and cannot find them, they are also called filberts.  Been there, done that!***

Steak Fajitas

These steak fajitas are really good!  I omitted the red pepper flakes.  I used the tortilla recipe link on the fajita recipe.  Served ours with fresh garden lettuce, homemade guacamole, salsa and fresh cilantro.  We made a mess of ourselves eating these, but I think we overstuffed our tortillas with all the goodies!
 

Quick & Easy Guac:
2 ripe avocados
juice of 1 lime
handful fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
few splahes of hot sauce
1 Tbsp of water
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  For a chunky guacamole, omit the water, mince garlic and smash with a fork.  May use a couple spoonfuls of salsa or fresh jalapeno instead of hot sauce.

Roasted Chicken, Carrots & Kale

Ahh, a cool and rainy summer day!  It seemed like an evening for a big meal.  Here's what we had.

Roasted Chicken:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 whole chicken cut in pieces
garlic powder
salt
pepper
Simply Organic All Purpose Seasoning (or any seasonings you like)

Drizzle 9x13 pan with oil.  Arrange chicken in the pan.  Sprinkle with seasonings.  Bake 350-400 for about 1 hour.   

Roasted Kale:
2 Tbsp olive oil
several handfuls cleaned and cut kale
garlic salt

Drizzle a large pan (I use a jellyroll size) with olive oil.  Spread kale out.  Sprinkle with garlic salt.  Roast about 20 minutes or until kale becomes crispy.

Honey Lime Roasted Carrots:
A recipe from the brand new cookbook, "The Paleo Kitchen" by Juli Bauer & George Bryant.  If you have coconut oil, a lime, a dab of honey, some salt and a few carrots you are ready to go for roasting delicious carrots!

 
We also had our first watermelon of the season for dessert.

Chocolate Almond Joy Bars

I have posted this recipe for chocolate almond joy bars before, but here it is again for anyone who may have missed it.  This is a go-to recipe for me and was one of the very first paleo desserts I ever made.  They come together quickly and are always a hit!  I used 74% dark chocolate chips in the batter and sprinkled the top with mini EnjoyLife chocolate chips.  Store leftovers in the fridge.

 
Do I have to wait until tomorrow???????

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcake

I have been wanting to try this recipe.  It was delicious!  My family loved them, but would like more strawberries the next time.  The topping was so good and if anything a bit too sweet.  I think these would be great to take to a summer picnic or cookout.