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The other morning we made these for a different kind of breakfast, and to be honest, they were pretty freaking good!  So much so that when we went to a fabulous party last night (thanks again so much L!), we took them for appetizers.  It was something a little different, simple, and yet still paleo.  And, it was so nice being able to buy pre-cut sweet potato cubes from Trader Joe’s to make it super easy.  Love that place!

Here’s how to make the bacon wrapped sweet potatoes:

  • 1/2 bag of Trader Joe’s pre-cut sweet potato cubes (about 3 cups) or 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 1 lb uncured no nitrate bacon (I use Trader Joe’s 40 percent less fat, no nitrate bacon)
  • 2 tbsp Kerrygold butter or ghee
  • 1 tsp (or more to your liking) Celtic sea salt
  • 4 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)

The How-To

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.  If you have whole sweet potatoes, peel them and cut them lengthwise into quarters. Then cut each quarter in half, and then half again.
  2. Melt butter over low-heat and stir in celtic sea salt . Toss the potatoes in the salted, melted butter to coat for about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Put about 3 pieces of bacon together at a time, and then cut the row of bacon about 3-4 times so each piece is about 1.5-2 inches long.
  4. Put the toothpick on the top end of the bacon strip, put it through the sweet potato cube, and back through the bacon. Repeat.
  5. Place parchment paper on baking sheet, put your wraps on the paper side by side, and bake for 45 minutes, turning once about halfway through.
  6. These are done when the bacon is crispy and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender. Remove from heat, drizzle with maple syrup, and let cool before serving. Enjoy!

 

Tate’s response after trying one was, and I quote,  “MMMMMMMMMmmmmm”. Then, he left the kitchen, came back shorty after leaving, and said “Mom!!!” and gave me two thumbs up!

It’s like a shark taking the bait….

 

 

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  • Lanny Asamoto - You had me at “bacon”!ReplyCancel

  • Lisa Bell - Delicious!! And really easy to make. Can’t wait to dig in!!!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Awesome! So glad you and the family like it!!!ReplyCancel

  • Sibet freides - I made these for football tonight. They are fabulous.
    The bacon and sweet potato tastes really set each other off. Highly recommend.ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Awesome!! We love these things, too!ReplyCancel

No, not Alice’s super cute friend, but the tools I use for stretching.  They can tremendously help runners and non-runners alike. With that said, it is running season and honestly, these things have saved my legs more than plain stretching, a deep tissue massage, or even physical therapy.

The foam roller is something I believe everyone should own, regardless of your workout schedule. It hurts like heck the first few times you use it, but by the 3rd or 4th time, when it doesn’t hurt as much, you’ll realize “hey, this is actually working!”.

Here’s a quick YouTube tutorial to help you get started.  Once you get comfortable with it, roll over different parts and again, once it hurts, you’ve found a good spot to work out.  It sounds a little masochistic, but it works! You can get a roller at West Stride (a fantastic local running store), Target,  Sports Authority or most sporting good stores. Get the firmer one. It works better and lasts longer.

Alice’s and Tate’s buddies were happy to help demonstrate. Ahhh, be so young and loose and flexible!

This ball that I purchased at Target was the best $7.99 I ever spent. If you have a piriformis or hip issue (which is fairly common as I’m coming to find out), this can do the trick and get to that deep, almost impossible spot to reach in your rear end. William’s got it pretty well but to get even deeper, sit with one ankle crossed over your other knee (with that foot flat on the ground), while sitting with one cheek on the ball and roll. You’ll know when you have hit the sweet, or not so sweet spot. One good friend of mine had some rough hip pain, went to get deep tissue massage, did a lot of stretching, and she said nothing compared to this. In just a few days, she was ready to get out and start running again, when she could hardly walk a few days prior.

One more quick example I have to share because it’s so amazing to me how this ball can make such a difference. Because of yesterday’s run, my hips were tight and knee hurt a little this morning.  While rolling my hip on the ball, my knee that was tight, actually popped a few times, and now it feels soooo much better! And the crazy thing is, I wasn’t even trying to work on my knee. It’s all so connected!!

Okay, I think Alice was maybe being a little too dramatic on this one. It doesn’t hurt that bad or I wouldn’t do it. But this is a great tool too for rolling out those thighs, calves, etc. 

And lastly, this green band is an old favorite that I do often.  I’ll usually just use a towel at the gym and it’s great for your IT band or quads.  Oh, and please ignore my son checking out his booger. I’m sure he was actually just making sure his nails were clean.

Whether you’re a runner or not, we’re all getting older and with that, less flexible. The good news is that you can gain that flexibility back very quickly.  Taking just 10 minutes to roll or stretch can make a big difference, especially if you have any kind of back, hip or knee pain. It’s all connected so if one thing is tight, chances are good there are a few others.

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  • Jennifer Godfrey - Best advice ever, Landria. Thanks so much!!ReplyCancel

This is another crock pot favorite of mine I use to eat years ago. I will still eat some of it sans the kidney beans and just use a little sauce (oh Paleo!) but my family loves this super easy meal. The only thing that is a pain is trimming the pork loin but other than that, it’s ridiculously simple. Here’s what you need:

  • 2 pork tenderloins (clean up, cut off excess fat and membrane)
  • Jar of BBQ sauce
  • 2 cans of just kidney beans

Directions:

Put it all in crockpot for about 6 hours on low.  Then tear apart the pork so it becomes shreadded, let it soak in the sauce another hours or so, and enjoy!  It’s really good with a piece of Food For Life Brown Rice Bread under or with it.  It tastes similarly to cornbread when toasted and it’s mainly just brown rice with some fruit juice added.   Makes great almond butter and honey sandwiches for the kids too! My dad even loves it!

I do like Stubbs BBQ sauce if you are going to buy a sauce since it’s lower in sugar than most.  It has 4 grams per serving and no high fructose corn syrup.  Believe it or not, it’s almost impossible to buy a bottled BBQ without the stuff.  Ideally, if you have time to make your own, , mix the ingredients below together:

  • 1 can of no sugar added organic tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tbsp chipotle powder
  • 2 tsp celtic sea salt
  • A dash of garlic powder

Spice to your individual taste. You might like it more sour or more spicy or even sweeter.

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  • Shana - Stubbs is the best! Have been buying it for years, mostly for the taste, but come to find out it’s just about the best of the bunch! If only it were local…ReplyCancel

  • Lanny Asamoto - My mouth is watering just looking at the picture!ReplyCancel

  • Megan - Thank you so much for this recipe! I was looking for something to put in the crock pot to have ready when we got home from church. This was wonderful–my middle daughter, who doesn’t normally love meat, requested seconds! I also really like the homemade barbeque sauce. It was so easy to throw together, and the taste is just right. I’m going to try it with some meatballs soon. Anyway, thanks again for the great recipe. It’s going to be a regular in our house!ReplyCancel

After getting our Christmas tree yesterday and decorating the house (or at least attempting to get started), it just felt like a day for holiday treats and I always love a good excuse to make some yummy and fun baked goods with the kids! So, we decided on gingerbread man that of course were gluten/grain  free, without refined sugars, and even vegan if you wanted. With the help of the kids, we made some of the messiest cookies you’ve ever seen but boy were they good!   My husband actually asked me “are these gluten free”?  He obviously doesn’t know me very well (only 25 years)! But I’ll take that as a compliment.

Anyway they turned out great and were fun to make. Here’s what you need:

  • 3 cups blanched almond flour (love Honeyville)
  • 1/2 cup molasses (Whole Foods)
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons palm shortening for vegans (or you could also use Kerrygold butter instead)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp raw coconut palm sugar (Whole Foods)
  • 1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • gingerbread men/holiday cookie cutters
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a sauce pan, heat molasses to a boil.
  3. Add maple syrup, palm shortening, and coconut milk to sauce pan.
  4. Stir ingredients until combined, then remove from heat.
  5. In a small bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
  6. Pour dry ingredients into wet, and mix with a wooden spoon until batter is fully blended.
  7. Roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper, until about 1/4 inch thick.
  8. Put in fridge for about 15 minutes
  9. Cut batter with cookie cutters of choice. Make sure to rinse off cookie cutters after every 2nd cookie cut or it will start to stick and the cookies will not hold together well.
  10. Bake for 10-15 minutes on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
  11. Let cool, decorate as desired, and enjoy!

Oh and Scott had to take a picture of me for something and when he was done, we noticed something very odd in the top left hand corner.  Can you see it? Alice was actually the one to notice it first.  

 

 

When we cropped in a ton, this is what we found! WOW, our elf is f-a-s-t!

Guess everyone liked the cookies! Happy holidays!

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  • Drennen - Hilarious!
    Lets send your elf on a bank run!!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Ha, you’re cracking me up. Great idea! We certainly could use it!ReplyCancel

  • Chris Colwell - ok that is the cutest thing. That elf gets around. And what a lovely picture of you Landria. I am going to be trying these cookies.ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Thanks Chris! Can’t wait to see y’all in a few weeks!!ReplyCancel

What I love about this recipe is it tastes just like a supreme pizza with the bell peppers, onions, sausage and cheese. It’s SO full of flavor!  Scott and I especially love it.

By the way, I know everything isn’t organic in this picture but you do what you can and sometimes a second grocery store just isn’t in the deck.  And you really can’t beat the precut veggies!   Oh and I forgot to add the parsley, garlic and salt to the picture but you get the idea.  They’re all pretty simple, easy to get ingredients.


I tend to chop the veggies as small as I can. It helps on nights when you know the kids are going to be picky!

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used some grass fed butter too. Probably would just use all butter next time)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsley
  • 1 large eggplant, chopped
  • celtic sea salt to taste
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 Wellshire turkey sausage
  • 2 zucchini, peeled and sliced
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 large tomato or a can of chopped
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Cut up sausage and cook until brown. Set aside.
  3. In a warm pan add olive oil or Kerrygold butter and sauteed the eggplant, mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Then add the onions, and pepper only for 2-3 minutes.
  4. Tossed sauteed veggies with 1/2 can tomato sauce, chopped tomatos, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, sausage and zuchinni. Put it in glass dish and add the other 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.
  5. Cook on 375 uncovered for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

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  • Drennen - This dish is yummy and hits the spot!
    When Landria said that she was making Ratawhatie… and asked if I wanted to taste it, I said “No thanks”. Then, when I realized that I had not eaten lunch and I was starving, I took her up on her offer, reluctantly.
    I went back for seconds….
    Thanks Landria!ReplyCancel

    • landriav - Thanks Drennen! I actually have some leftover if you want a warm lunch tomorrow! 🙂ReplyCancel