Wow, almost the end of April already. Can you believe it? We continue to wind down the school year, plant our garden with high hopes for lots of veggies this season, and do our darnedest to keep the birds and squirrels from digging up all my seeds. I think they are sitting in the trees watching me plant because how else could they know exactly where to come dig?? Every time!

And of course, I’m also plugging away at new recipes for you.

If you read my Whole 30 Journal last week, you know I got food poisoning or some other such annoyance and therefore didn’t get any recipes posted or even a weekly update out. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss too much. Lots of lying around and eating rice and toast.

I have a few new, great recipes for you this week: baked plantain chips, super simple guacamole and beef and veggie taco filling (all perfect for your Cinco de Mayo feast) and my favorite this week: Crispy, Nut-Crusted Chicken. Trust me, you want to make this dish! I sautéed some vegetables to serve alongside and a delicious, nutritious, filling dinner was done.

I posted my favorite fried plantain chip recipe a couple months ago, and honestly, those are still my favorite, but when you want a more hands-off recipe, the baked version I posted this week is still tasty and less maintenance. You can see from the picture that they do not bake exactly evenly in the oven. I even sliced these with the food processor so the slices are consistent. And my oven is pretty even, this is just the nature of baking so many little things. They will not all come out the same. And these went from perfect to burnt in one minute so keep an eye on them if you go this route.

For years now, this has been my guacamole recipe: avocado, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper. I’ve tried adding onion, tomatoes, scallions, salsa, and any number of other ingredients, but plain and simple always comes out on top. My super talented husband decided this recipe called for video instruction, so be sure to check it out. If you’d like to see me sometime soon, you better get on it because Food Network is sure to come calling soon and I’ll be way too busy. 😉

My Whole 30 journey just keeps going on and on. If you want to read more about that, see this post. I’ve gotten into a groove (some might say a rut) with my breakfasts and lunches and that helps. I’m not sure why, but coming up with those two meals is harder for me than dinner. My favorite this week is a sort of turkey Waldorf Salad. Here’s what goes in it:

Blend this up in your food processor, serve over salad greens, and you have a quick and delicious lunch. This would pack well too if you need to take it to work.

We continue to work through all the red tape as we get set to sell THE BEST paleo cookies on the planet. Apparently, as far as marketing laws go, I am allowed to say they’re the best as long as I think so. 🙂

Something else in the works over here is a gluten free resource. I’ve created a gluten free flour blend that works really well in a lots of applications. Which would you rather have available: a cookbook with the flour recipe and lots of dishes you can make with it or the ability to buy the flour blend and then a cookbook of just recipes to make with the flour? Let me know in the comments. I aim to please.

Yes, there are gluten free flours on the market. Lots of them, in fact. But they all contain ingredients I don’t want to consume and that I don’t want to feed my family. You can make gluten free recipes work without the additives so I’m not sure why there aren’t any like this on the market already.

And yes, we do eat paleo, not just gluten free, but sometimes gluten free is good enough (like if I have to send a pan of brownies to a kids’ event) and I’m tired of buying those mixes full of sugar and unnecessary additives.

I have a pumpkin pie in the oven with a gluten free crust right now. I’ve been so frustrated with paleo pie crusts and I finally gave up and made one with my gluten free flour. It’s not strictly paleo because the flour blend contains potato flour, but there is nothing artificial in it at all. I can feel good feeding this to my family. My logic is this: there is no point in making something paleo just for the sake of being paleo. If I can’t create or find a paleo pie crust recipe that is easy to make and tastes good, then I’m going to try something else.

Stepping down off my soap box, that’s really about all that’s going on around here. I have some recipes coming up for you this week that will be great for the grilling season that is finally upon us here in North Carolina:

• Hawaiian Burgers
• Simple Grilled Fish
• Marinated, Grilled Shrimp
• quick and easy cole slaw

These are all super fast and simple, perfect for busy nights.

I hope you are all well!

“God is magnificent; He can never be praised enough. There are no boundaries to His greatness.” Psalm 145: 3 (MSG)