A Paleo Adventure Part II: Save Your Bacon Weekend-Baconpalooza & P3 Presentation

After an awesome day at the farm, the next event was Baconpalooza.  How awesome is that name?   What is Baconpalooza exactly?  Eight teams of skilled paleo chefs were tasked with presenting appetizers featuring bacon for judging.  Each team partnered with a local farm to provide the bacon for their dish.  If this sounds like heaven to you, I can say it was pretty close.  There were also four kombucha brewers there for tasting and judging.  The event was held across the street from the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton Virginia, on a grassy hill.  

 

Chicken Avocado Bacon Salad from Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go

After a light and refreshing Spicy Salmon & Cucumber "Noodle" Salad, I went to the other end of the salad spectrum with this Chicken Avocado Bacon Salad from Diana Rodgers' Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go.  

This salad is really a 3 for 1 recipe review as the salad recipe requires you to make her mayonnaise, ranch dressing  recipes as well.  

My first step was to turn the oven on to pre-heat to 350 degrees to cook some chicken for the salad.  I used some boneless chicken thighs sprinkled with Penzey's Sunny Paris seasoning.  I think she intends you to be able to use any roast chicken you have handy, but I didn't have any handy.  I covered a baking pan with foil to minimize mess.  When the oven was ready, I put the chicken in and set a timer for 30 minutes.   

Next, I heated a saute pan and added the bacon to fry.  

Spicy Salmon and Cucumber "Noodle" Salad from Diana Rodgers

I got home late from work and errands one evening and decided that it was a good time to try this dish from Diana Rodgers' new book, Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go.  Yes, the book says lunches and breakfasts, but I really don't categorize my food by meal anymore.  I will say that when I started eating a paleo template, my biggest problem was breakfast.  If you're just starting out and breakfast perplexes you, perhaps this is the book for you.  Any recipe is fair game for any meal for me.  

When reading the instructions, the name of the recipe says salmon, the description of the recipe talks about salmon, but the ingredient list and recipe instructions talk about tuna.  I emailed Diana and she said it was a typo and that it should be salmon.   I think she was embarrassed, but typos happen to everyone and I'm quite sure my blog is rife with them.  If I treated this blog like a work document, I'd probably have a mental breakdown.  Back to the kitchen! 

Slow Cooker Hunter's Chicken from Make Ahead Paleo

It was an exciting day at my house when I opened my mailbox and found this a copy of Tammy Credicott's new book Make-Ahead Paleo: Healthy Gluten-, Grain- & Dairy-Free Recipes Ready When & Where You Are.  At first glance, this is a beautiful cookbook.  It's organized into six sections:  Make & Freeze, Low & Slow, On the Go, Room Service, Travel Treats and Week in a Day. If you've read my blog for a while, you know I'm not one to be fully won over by pretty pictures, so I'll be putting this book to the Paleo Review test cooking recipes from five out of the six sections.  

I am a huge fan of using the slow cooker and her Slow Cooker Hunter's Chicken seemed like a great place to start exploring this cookbook.  I gathered my ingredients and got ready to load my slow cooker.  

Imagine 2 cups of chicken broth and some white wine in this picture.

Ginger and Spice Breakfast Sausage from Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts to Go

Shortly after ending my AIP experiment, I was very lucky to receive a copy of Diana Rodgers' new book, Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts to Go: The Solution to Gluten Free  Eating All Day Long with Delicious, Easy and Portable Primal Meals.  Over the next few weeks, I'll be blogging a few recipes from this beautiful new cookbook.  I meet Diana this past weekend at the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund Save Your Bacon event in Staunton, Virginia.  Simply put, she is a paleo powerhouse. In addition to running a farm, she has a Paleo/Primal Nutrition Practice and is now a cookbook author. That makes me tired just typing it.  

What better way to start cooking from a breakfast and lunch cookbook than to start with some breakfast sausage.  One of my weekend rituals is to go to a local diner and have the breakfast platter that includes breakfast sausage that they mix in house.  Could Diana's recipe give me a reason to stay home?  

I gathered my ingredients.  I made a half batch of the recipe this time around.  

 

Don't forget the ginger!

The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook by Mickey Trescott

As you've seen, over the past few weeks while I was following an autoimmune paleo protocol (AIP) to see if it will help with my Grover's disease (an update will be coming soon), I've cooked through some recipes in Mickey Trescott's Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook.  She graciously gave me a review copy.  She's a brave lady as giving me a review copy doesn't always lead to a rave review.

If you've been looking for paleo recipe resources, there are hundreds of e-books out there and I know I've downloaded and purchased some pretty disappointing ones.  It's not hard to become skeptical about spending money on them.  I know I sure have.

Stir Fried Pork with Cabbage Noodles from Meatified

After having a great experience with Meatified's Grain Free CousCous Salad with Baby Kale, I was excited to see this AIP compliant Stir Fried Pork with Cabbage Noodles.  Could this be a new weeknight dinner?  

I gathered my ingredients.  

Curried Cauliflower from The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook

I'm always looking for quick and tasty side dishes.  While going through Mickey Trescott's Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, I came across her Curried Cauliflower recipe and knew I had to try it.  I thought it would be the perfect complement to her Coconut Amino Marinated Salmon I was making for last minute dinner company.

I gathered my ingredients.