When I was asked to try out a new gourmet line of Simply Snackin dried meat snacks, I knew I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by. I received two bags of Simply Snackin, one beef and one chicken.

Simply Snackin is not your standard jerky. It combines traditional meats, with not so traditional add ins, to get flavors like Beef Sirloin with Cranberries and Blueberries and my personal favorite, Chicken Breast with Black Bean Salsa. I was a bit unsure of the fruit and meat combos at first, but they are soo good! The flavors range from savory, to a little sweet and spicy – something for everyone.

Each snack is only 60 calories and they all pack between 8-11 grams of protein. Most of the varieties are gluten free and paleo friendly, which is a big plus for me! The best part about Simply Snackin is that it is a small, family run company, that believes in good food with no fillers or chemicals. Real food!

If you want to try some Simply Snackin yourself, head over to their website and use promo code SSjan2013 to get 10% off your purchase in the month of January.

Are you a jerky fan? What do you think of the fruit and meat combo?

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I found the idea for this dish in the Paleo cookbooks, Everyday Paleo, that I got for Christmas, and have made it twice since Christmas. It’s a big winner among everyone in my house, and just based on it’s appearance, my dad thought it was real rice. That might come in handy for tricking picky eaters! (I don’t condone tricking people into eating foods, but with a three year old who doesn’t want to try new foods, it comes in handy sometimes.)

Paleo Fried Rice

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Author: Sylvia T

Cuisine: Paleo

Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 3 minced garlic slices
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon Liquid Aminos
• (You need a food processor to make this recipe)

Instructions

1. Rinse cauliflower and cut into florets.
2. Place the florets into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped, with a texture similar to rice.
3. Saute chopped cauliflower and garlic in coconut oil in a large skillet for 5 minutes.
4. Add in scallions and Liquid Aminos and saute for another 5 minutes.
5. Push mixture to the side of the pan and crack eggs into the free space in the pan.
6. Quickly combine the egg and cauliflower mixture and mix until well incorporated.

3.1.09

This recipe comes together much quicker than traditional fried rice. You can also process a whole bunch of cauliflower at one time and freeze it in batches to make the rice at a later time without the most time consuming part

of the recipe.

Hope you enjoy it!

What’s your favorite paleo (or non-paleo) side dish?

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Being a huge fan of jerky and dried fruit, I was excited to try it out. Since we are trying to follow paleo, I also figured that the dehydrator would be lots of help in the snack department, as well. This  weekend I became best friends with the dehydrator. I kept it simple for my first experiment and did something that I figured would be impossible to mess up, dried apple slices. Dried apples are one of my favorite dried fruits (Munchkin’s too!). I was pleasantly surprised to see how simple it was to make a batch, for considerably less than I’d pay at the supermarket for a bag, and without added sugars.

I only had five apples in the house, but decided to go for it anyway. I peeled the apples as thinly as possible, cored them and chopped into uniform slices, about an 1/8 of an inch thick. I need to buy a mandolin to make this process easier! I also searched for this kind of corer for a while before finding it at TJ Maxx.

I laid the slices in the dehydrator and set it for 140 degrees. Four hours later…

I had my first batch of yummy dried apple chips! They turned out perfect and I cannot wait to make another batch today since my parents brought me 19 lbs of apples from PA last night.

Also, if you do not have a dehydrator, you can achieve a similar result from your oven. Just set it as low as it will go and place the apple slices on a wire rack so that the hot air can circulate. The only problem with using the oven, is that they usually don’t go low enough (mine only goes to 200), but experiment and see what you can do!

What’s your favorite healthy snack? What kind of dried fruit do you like?

The post Dried Apple Chips appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

The seminar was hosted by Katie from Paleo Pioneer and a registered dietician. The seminar lasted a little over an hour, but was incredibly informative and taught me about how the American diet has changed, how gluten was molecularly engineered in the 1960s and is slowly effecting all of us, and how the paleo lifestyle is a diet from a time before the diseases that are killing Americans were ever a problem.

The seminar started with some info about how the American diet has changed since the times of our grandparents. After the Great Depression, processed foods became abundant because people did not want to ever fall back to a time when there were widespread food shortages. With their long shelf lives, low prices and ease of cooking, processed foods became the norms in the 70s and 80s. Incidentally, this was also the same time that gluten, the protein found in wheat, was molecularly engineered and obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and cancer rates began to skyrocket.

So what is paleo? Paleo is the diet that our ancestors followed before the luxuries of modern farming, mass produced “health foods and pop tarts. The paleo diet turns the modern food pyramid on its head and completely eliminates grains, dairy and highly processed foods. Instead we are to get our nutrition from meat, fruits, veggies, healthy fats and nuts.

Although the diet may seem extreme at first, with some prep, planning and substitutions, you will never miss the processed foods that you were once so dependent upon. We went through some ideas on how to sub different foods, meals and snacks with paleo friendly items. We also discussed the cost of going paleo. Some people claim that paying extra for quality cuts of grass-fed beef with make your budget go out the window, if you offset the costs of not purchasing prepackaged, processed foods, the dent in your budget is not that noticeable. Especially if you take into account the fact that you won’t be eating out as much!

After the seminar, we were treated to some paleo goodies, which you would never be allowed on a “diet.” We indulged in paleo brownies, cookies and fudge, and trust me, you could not taste the difference!

Overall, the seminar gave me a great deal to think about regarding my diet, and the diet and lifestyle of my family. Tommy and I have been discussing and weighing the benefits of it, and we have decided to start taking steps to going paleo!

The post Paleo 101 appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

I hope you find something that you can share with your loved with this holiday season from the round-up below!

Traditional Christmas Cookies

Christmas Sugar Cookies via Madeline @ Food, Fitness, Family

Classic Sugar Cookies via Monica @ Moni Meals

Whole Wheat Gingerbread Cookies via Laura @ Mommy Run Fast

Ginger Spice Cookies via Coco @ Running with Perseverance

Flourless Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies via Melanie @ Nutritious Eats

Gluten Free/Paleo Cookies

Gluten Free Chocolate Souffle Cookies via Tracey @ Aspire Fitness

Gluten Free Fudge Ball Cookies via Sarah @ The Fit Cookie

Chocolate Pecan Truffles via The Purely Twins

Semi-Raw Chocolate Macaroons via Suzi @ Confessions of A Fitness Instructor

Wheat Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Quinoa Cookies via Kacie @ Savvy Sassy Me

Sweet & Salty Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies via Katelyn @ Chef Katelyn

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies via Tracey @ Aspire Fitness

Cocoa Hazelnut Vegan Cookies via The Purely Twins

Others Worth Trying

Chewy Granola Cookies via Laura @ Sprint 2 The Table

No-Bake Trail Mix Cookies via Sarah @ The Fit Cookie

My Oatmeal Flax Chip Cookies 

Everything-But-The-Sugar Oatmeal Cookies via Heather @ Kiss My Broccoli

Cherry Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies via Kristen @ Be Fit With Kristen

My Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies via Pamela @ Thrive Personal Fitness

What’s your favorite Christmas Cookie?

The post Christmas Cookies Gone Healthy appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Looking back on my July goals, I didn’t do so bad. So let’s reverse before we go forward and do a run down of July’s successes and failures.

1. Go to Crossfit 3 times a week. SUCCESS! We were only able to start Crossfit halfway through the month, but I’ve been there three times a week and am already signed up for two weeks in advance for WODs three days a week. I love Crossfit!
2. Run at least 2 times a week. This goal didn’t go over too well. The first two weeks of Crossfit left me a bit too sore to attempt any runs, but I did get out and run yesterday. 
3. Cook at least 3 times a week. DONE!
4. Really start potty training Munchkin. We are there! As long as I don’t put a diaper or pull-ups on him, he uses the potty. We are still working on going pull-up-less for trips outside of the house and at night, but I am so proud of how well he is doing.
5. Sign up for the pool with Munchkin and go to weekly Mommy and Me Swim classes. FAIL. I need to work out my schedule and make this happen. It might involve a 6am wake-up for Crossfit instead of doing the 11am WOD on Fridays. I need to get him in the pool because he loves it! Check him out on the water slide at my uncle’s over the weekend. The boy has no fear!
6. Learn to use my new camera. I’ll give this one a maybe. I didn’t learn as much as I wanted to, but I still played with my camera quite a bit. Then again, there will always be room for improvement.

My August goals include some of the same, something new and dare I say it, some school related goals. Yuck!

1. Crossfit at least 3 times a week. I only have a month of unlimited classes thanks to Groupon so I need to take advantage. Looking to the future, I think I might have to scale my membership down to be able to afford Crossfit long term.
2. Workout while on vacation. Tommy, Munchkin and I are heading down to Virginia towards the end of the month, and while I am planning on indulging and being in vacation mode, I don’t want to loose the progress I’ve made in the workout department. Can you can travel WODs?
3. Stick with the Paleo challenge. My box is having a Paleo challenge and I am being weighed in this afternoon. I’ve read tons about Paleo and found tons of recipes, so I am really hoping I can stick with it for the month and possibly beyond. I am however, going to be much more lenient when on vacation. I am a foodie at heart and I can’t pass up food that I may never be able to try again.
4. RUN. I don’t want to put specific numbers on this goal, but I want to get out there and do it. My races are creeping forward and I need to be prepared.

5. Get ahead on my reading for classes. I have already purchased my books, and they should be arriving shortly, so it’s time to put the put in gear and actually crack them open before it’s too late.

What are your goals for August?

The post August Goals! appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Enter, Thai Peanut Sauce Spaghetti Squash. This was super easy to make and so, so good.

Not too sweet, not too spicy, totally hit the spot. And I can’t forget to mention that it was super simple to make.

Thai Peanut Spaghetti Squash

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced into one inch chunks
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 cup unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 1 cup natural Peanut Butter
• 2 tablespoon Thai Red Curry Paste
• 2 tablespoon Liquid Aminos or Soy Sauce
• 4 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• 4 teaspoons toasted Sesame Oil
• pinch of ground Ginger
• pinch of ground Cinnamon
• pinch of ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped Green Onion
• 1/2 salted Peanuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Carefully, cut the Spaghetti Squash in half, remove the seeds and coat with a bit of coconut oil. Bake for 40 minutes to one hour, until fork tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing the spaghetti strands with a fork.

While the squash is baking, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, curry paste, aminos, fish sauce, sesame oil, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, green onion and peanuts in a large bowl and whisk together until smooth and creamy.

Take about a quarter of the sauce and marinate your chicken in it for about 40 minutes, while the spaghetti squash is baking. Once marinated, heat the remaining coconut oil on a large skillet and cook the chicken. Once chicken is fully cooked, top it with the rest of the sauce and toss in the spaghetti squash.

Garnish with some green onion, crushed peanuts

or sesame seeds and dig in!

It is also really easy to make this recipe vegetarian and vegan. Just remove the chicken for veggie and the fish sauce for vegan. This dish is also paleo friendly! Hope you enjoy!

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