WIAW: Baking from The Paleo Kitchen

***I haven’t been blogging as much because I’d rather be posting on my blog in the making. It should be ready this weekend for sure!

Hello everyone! I’m linking up today for What I Ate Wednesday!

This past week on Thursday I got my wisdom teeth out. That meant I was out of commission for working for my Dad. I got The Paleo Kitchen for my birthday and had yet to try out any recipes so this week was the time to whip up some recipes. I tried the Fluffly Blueberry Pancakes & the Cinnamon Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread.

 

 

 

 

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

I made these pancakes one morning for breakfast for my family. We fell in love! I do have to admit that they were not 100% Paleo because I had to use whole wheat flour since we didn’t have tapioca flour.

Regardless, these “almost” Paleo pancakes tasted just like a fluffy batch of whole wheat pancakes. These have coconut flour in them and y’all know my battles with coconut flour and honestly I still loved them. Y’all definitely have to try this recipe out!

Cinnamon Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread

Later that afternoon I got a little bored and decided to try the next recipe on my “to-try” list. Once again coconut flour was a starring ingredient. I had all the other ingredients on hand at home so this is a true Paleo treat!

I love this Banana Bread. I think it may take some slight getting used to, but I’ve been eating it all week and enjoy it even more every time. It’s dense and moist and full of banana flavor with some chocolate swirled in. My mom and sister also loved this bread so I’ll be making it again!

I’ve been enjoying a slice topped with some cookie butter. It may not be the healthiest way to eat it, but it sure as heck tastes good.

Salsa Verde Chicken Enchiladas

For my last meal before heading back to college on Sunday my mom made me some enchiladas for lunch. Evidently these are in no way Paleo. My mom found the recipe off Pinterest. Enchiladas is one of my favorite meals and I always request some while I’m at home.

My Mom used some Green Chile sauce that was evidently quite chunky and made the enchiladas pretty hot. She made flat enchiladas instead of rolled so there was another stack of tortillas that we got into before I remembered to take a picture.

While eating these I was wishing my wisdom teeth were already healed because I would have eaten a lot more than I did! I think this is a recipe that we’ll be coming back to!

That’s all I’m going to include for today. I’m starting student teaching this week so lunch has been pretty boring as in peanut butter and honey sandwiches and carrots. Which is delicious if you ask me.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

What is something you baked lately? Any recipes you’re wanting to try?

Thinking Out Loud: Rest & Airports

Oh hey everyone! I’ve been missing from the blog world for the past week and it’s truly been a nice break. So let’s try to catch up by linking up with Thinking Out Loud!

• Coffee and kitties are my favorite way to start my morning!
• In just a few hours I go into the dentist office and get my wisdom teeth taken out. I’m not excited about it, but I know I need to stop putting it off. Bring on the chipmunk cheeks!
• While I’ve been away I was able to truly rest. I think my body needed and enjoyed a break from Crossfit. It was also refreshing for my mind to get away to a new place and not have the stress and worries that fill my mind while at home. And it’s always nice to spend time with people who fill you with happiness.
• Airports are one of the most fascinating places to me. I absolutely love being in the airport. I love looking at all the people. Where are they going? What are they doing? Who are they? You see the true colors of people when they are dealing with delays and cancelled flights. After a evening filled with delays I was thankful to finally get home.
• A rainy day afternoon/night in the airport made me crave warm, savory foods. I had a cappuccino from Starbucks with a cinnamon chip scone. I forget how good cappuccinos are. I was also so thankful that I had chosen to wear skinny jeans and bring a hoodie since I was sitting in a cold place for a long time!
• Yesterday was my last Crossfit workout at the box I’ve been going to all summer. Next week I’ll return to school and will be trying out a new box once my wisdom teeth heal up. Yesterday’s workout was fun and I really enjoyed it. For 20 minutes we worked on gymnastics moves that we wanted to improve on. Many of us worked on handstands and it was a lot of fun. I definitely improved and got more okay with getting up on the wall. The WOD: 3 rounds of 3 min: 500 meter row then wall balls until time ran out. My quads were so tired!
• It’s always nice to catch up with you old friends from home. It’s neat how we can be at completely different stages of our lives, but still can talk about anything.
• I know I’ve been saying I’m moving to a new blog and I promise it’s happening soon. The design is almost done and I’m thinking by next week it’ll be complete! Eeeek! I cannot wait!
• I can’t believe my summer is basically over. All of a sudden last week was my last time working with my Dad since I’ll be out of commission this weekend due to my wisdom teeth. But I’m ready to get my final semester of school started.

That’s all for today!

Tell me your thoughts!

4th of July Ranch Rodeo Weekend

I spent this past 4th of July weekend at a Ranch Rodeo here in New Mexico. My best friend from high school was going to watch her husband and her younger sister was going along too so she invited me. Be prepared because things are about to get real punchy on here.

Ranch rodeos are different than your typical rodeo. Here’s how a ranch rodeo is described as by the Black Hills Roundup Rodeo: “Ranch rodeos are events in which traditional working cowboys gather to compete and demonstrate skills that are used every day in cattle ranching operations.”

Another important difference is that unlike rodeos where the competitors are competing individually (aside from team roping), ranch rodeos compete in teams of usually 4.

We’ll get to more descriptions of the events in a bit, but for now let’s talk about what I ate along the way. My friend had made chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and no bake cookies that I had several of and they were great. A bag of hot cheetos was also a victim from the weekend. I’m going to squeeze in a What I Ate Wednesday Ranch Rodeo edition.

Top left: Dinner the first night at Cattle Baron. Steak and a sweet potato with strawberries for dessert. You can never go wrong with a good steak.

Top Right: Breakfast. Scrambled eggs with green sauce  with a side of hash browns and toast.. I’ve been needing more green sauce in my life.

Bottom Left: Brisket quesadilla. Brisket in any form is always good.

Bottom Right: Meat and potato burrito.

The ranch rodeo lasted two days. The first day teams competed in 2 or 3 events and then the next day they were in the events they didn’t do the day before. All of these events are practical and reflect what happens on a working ranch. The event descriptions are from the Smokey Bear Stampede site. And I can promise you that no animals were harmed during this if you’re concerned about that.

Team Gathering – Four cowoys start behind a line to catch a steer and a calf and tie them down. Time stops when all members are back behind line. Fastest time wins. Simulates gathering breakout calves during branding.

Team Doctoring – Four cowboys line out a steer, rope, mug or hold to allow mark of chalk on his head. Fastest time wins. Event simulates doctoring sick cattle in the pasture with a shot of antibiotic.

Team Branding – One cowboy ropes two calves out of the herd, drags them to the ground crew, who flank and brand the them. Fastest time wins. Exhibits the exact skills the cowboys demonstrate each year at branding time.

Trailer Loading – Two cowboys rope a steer and take hime to the trailer, where two cowboys on the ground help load him in the trailer. The riders then load their horses and time stops when all four cowboys are in the pickup. Fastest time wins. Exhibits the exact skills that the cowboys use when picking up sick or stray cattle on pasture.

Wild Cow Milking – Four cowboys line out a cow, rope her and hold her as still as they can while one of them milks her and runs the milk to the judge. Fastest time wins. Demonstrates the exact skills the cowboys use when tending to a momma cow with udder problems or to give a little extra to a weak calf.

Ranch Bronc Riding

The team I was watching didn’t end up winning, but we all still had a great weekend. Aside from the ranch rodeo during the day there was always a regular rodeo at night to attend. I had started to forget how much I love to shoot rodeo type events, so this was a nice refresher for my photography skills even though taking pictures from the grandstands makes things a little difficult.

And that’s where I spent my 4th of July weekend. Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Have you ever been to a rodeo? A ranch rodeo?