Crock Pot Smoked Flank Steak

The only thing I regret about this recipe is the fact that I completely failed at taking attractive photos of it. Steak is a favorite in my house and when this sucker came out of the crock pot, Rich and I couldn't wait to get our hands on it. So much so that we ate most of it before I realized I hadn't yet taken any photos for my blog! I ended up taking photos of what was left on the cutting board. I think it demonstrates how tender the meat was. (wishful thinking?)

Attractive photo or not, this recipe is a fail-proof crowd pleaser that melts in your mouth. It's smoking without the smoker! All you need is a crock pot, a few simple ingredients and time to let it cook. Low and slow is the way to go! lol

Crockpot Smoked Flank Steak

makes 4-6 servings - prep time: 10 minutes - cook time: 6.5 hrs

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 cup liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 lbs grass fed Flank Steak (or smaller if you have a smaller crock pot)
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Instructions:

1. Pour olive oil into heated pan on stove top. Sear meat for 2-3 minutes on each side.
2. Place all ingredients (excluding meat) in Crock Pot and stir well.
3. Settle seared meat into the mixture in the Crock Pot making sure your steak is well immersed in the sauce.
4. Set Crock Pot on low heat and cook for 6-8 hours.
5. Remove and slice against the grain.

Crock Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken

After surfing the web for barbeque chicken recipes for the slow cooker and not finding anything that didn't call for bottled barbeque sauce, I decided to create my own. This recipe is super simple. Mix all ingredients in the crock pot itself. Add your chicken breasts and try to keep them as one layer. Cook for 6-8 hours or until your chicken falls apart easily. Shred with 2 forks and drizzle with leftover sauce.

For my first attempt at chicken in the crock pot I give myself an A+! Crock Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken was juicy and tender and definitely tasted like barbeque. I left out the cayenne pepper because my fiance is not a fan of spicy food, but next time I think I'll throw it in for a bit of a kick.  Enjoy!

Crockpot Pulled BBQ Chicken

makes 6-8 servings - prep time: 5 minutes - cook time: 6.5 hrs

Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Truvia/Sugar blend
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper (optional)
• 4-6 chicken breasts

Instructions:

1. Add all ingredients to the crock pot. Stir well.
2. Place chicken breasts in the bottom of the pan aligning them in one layer. Cover the crock pot and set on low heat for 6-8 hours.
3. After 4 hours have passed, flip the chicken over but be sure they remain as one single layer.
4. The chicken is done cooking if it pulls apart easily with a fork.
5. Put all cooked chicken in to a bowl. With two forks pull apart the chicken. Top with sauce that it was cooked in.

Moist Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

It's fall, what do you expect? Pumpkin is a fall staple and what better way to celebrate fall than to eat pumpkin! I was going to go with Pumpkin bars, but then I thought it'd be more fun to put the batter in muffin tins. Enter, Moist Paleo Pumpkin Muffins. Personally, I'm not a strict Paleo person. However, I do like to keep carbs and sugars to a minimum when I'm baking. For this recipe, the only carbohydrate source is the pumpkin. All other ingredients fall under the "paleo" or "grain-free" and sugar-free categories. I have to admit though, after an entire day of recipe flops, I was a bit skeptical about this one turning out ok. To my surprise these little suckers are quite moist and tasty! For something that has no butter, no oil, no flour, and no sugar - they are quite delicious and you'd really never know.

Have a muffin for breakfast or afternoon snack - they've got just enough protein to keep you feeling satisfied. Top 'em with some plain non-fat greek yogurt for a clever and delicious post-workout meal!

What's your favorite fall food? Have you ever felt a bit self-conscious about your cooking?

Moist Paleo Pumpkin Muffins

Prep time: 10 min. - Cook time: 18-20 min. - Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin or pureed pumpkin 1 cup Almond Flour 1/3 cup vanilla protein powder (I used a whey/casein/egg white blend) 1/4 cup chopped Walnuts (optional) 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon all spice 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal 3 egg whites 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 tablespoons almond butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons Nectresse or 2 more tablespoons Honey

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat muffin tin with cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients (including pumpkin) in a large mixing bowl.

Heat honey and almond butter in microwave safe dish for about 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites lightly and add vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients in to dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Pour batter evenly in to muffin tin. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutrition facts provided by nutritiondata.com Nutrition per muffin: Calories: 114, Total Fats: 6 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 130 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 7 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 4 g, Protein: 8 g, Iron: 0.8 mg

Double Chocolate Mint Protein Balls

What's better than chocolate balls? Mint chocolate balls. Then again, that's only true if you like mint more than you like chocolate. I'm not sure which I like better but I do know one thing, these are amazing balls...or AMAZEBALLS! (Finally! A use for that word!)

Moving on. TGIF! That's right, it's Friday! Today is a rainy day here in NY but I'm not going to let the rain rain on my parade. I wish I could say that my Friday is going to be loaded with fun, relaxation and joy, but instead I get to say that my Friday is going to be spent at work, like the rest of the world. After work is a whole different story. Gonna grab a quick CrossFit workout, then straight home to catch new episodes of Say Yes to the Dress (yes, I'm one of those girls). And for dessert, a couple of Double Chocolate Mint Protein Balls!

Question of the day: What's your favorite thing about Fridays?

What's even more cool? These balls are grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy free. You could call them Paleo if you want, I would.

Be careful making these balls, use only 1 teaspoon of mint extract, or else you may end up with a breath freshener instead of decadent treat.

Double Chocolate Mint Protein Balls

prep time: 15 minutes - cook time: none - makes 9 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Almond Meal 1/4 cup Flaxseed meal 1 cup chocolate protein powder 1/4 cup extra dark unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon mint extract 1/4 cup cacao nibs 1/4 cup raw honey 1/4 cup water

Directions:

In a large bowl combine almond meal, flaxseed meal, 3/4 cup of the protein powder, sea salt, cocoa powder and cacao nibs. Stir with a large spoon until all ingredients are well dispersed.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the honey for 15-20 seconds. Add extract to warm honey and stir. Then pour the honey mixture in to the dry ingredients; mix with a large spoon. Slowly add water and stir until batter gets sticky. Be careful not to add too much water. If batter is too sticky simply add a bit more protein powder.

Line a plate or cookie sheet with parchment. Place remaining protein powder in bowl. Scoop batter in to small 1-1.5 tablespoon size portions. Roll in to a ball in your hand, then roll in the protein powder for a nice chocolate dusting. Place balls on lined cookie sheet and allow to set in fridge for 20 minutes before serving.

Nutrition facts provided by nutritiondata.com Nutrition per serving: Calories: 119, Total Fats: 3 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 107 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 14 g, Dietary Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 10 g, Protein: 11 g, Iron: 1.0 mg

Paleo Banana Nut Protein Bars

Sometimes you just want a nostalgic treat without the calories.  When I was a kid my mother made the most amazing Banana Nut Bread that I'll never forget.  There's nothing like slicing a piece of fresh Banana Bread straight out of the oven and topping it with creamy Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  Nowadays tasty treats like the ones my mom made as a kid are found less than occasionally in my house.  Rich and I are both super nutty (you see what I did there, haha) about nutrition and eat the same clean foods every single day.

But after seeing a recipe online for Banana Nut Bread, I was inspired.  Why not make a healthy version that Rich and I can eat without feeling guilty.  Enter Paleo Banana Nut Protein Bars.

These things were awesome.  Of course they weren't as moist as Mom's original, but they were just as tasty.  We kept them in the fridge for a quick snack.  I kept finding Rich red-handed grabbing a taste with Trader Joe's Almond Butter.  What makes these even better is that they're grain free (which then makes them Gluten Free) and sugar free!

What's your favorite thing to top on your banana bread?  

Paleo Banana Nut Protein Bars

Prep time: 15 min. - Cook time: 20 minutes - Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients:

• 1 mashed banana
• 2 egg whites
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 scoops vanilla whey protein powder of your choice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp. light coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients (banana, eggs, egg whites, coconut milk and vanilla extract) until smooth.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the wet mixture and combine well.
4. Pour batter in to a greased or lined baking pan (I used a 9 x 11 cake pan). Spread batter with spatula making sure it's distributed evenly in the pan.
5. Bake for ~20 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.
6. Cut in to 6 squares and let cool on rack. Wrap individually for a quick grab-n-go snack. Best stored in the fridge.
 

Nutrition Information for Paleo Banana Nut Protein Bars via nutritiondata.com