Hey there! I hope you are finding a way to stay cool in your little corner of the world. Or maybe you live someplace that is naturally cool. We are envious, if that’s the case. I know it is summer time and we should not complain, but it seems we’ve been experiencing a more mild spring and summer in North Carolina, so now that the typical summer heat and humidity is rearing it’s ugly head, we are not happy. Just a few short months until fall. That’s what I keep repeating to myself, anyway.

To help beat the heat, we have been enjoying some super simple dinners. Lots of salads, quickly grilled meats or simple scrambled eggs. I just don’t feel like standing over the stove for hours or having the oven on very long.

One of those quick dinners recently were these Chicken BLT Lettuce Wraps. Think all the fresh, crisp flavors of a BLT, but with chicken (complete meal) and wrapped in lettuce instead of bread (paleo friendly!). This one is almost AIP as well. If you can tolerate egg (it’s in the mayonnaise) then it’s AIP compliant for you.

We also whipped up a delicious summer dessert with blueberries and peaches. It’s full of antioxidants so it’s ok to consider this health food. 🙂

There are a couple more new recipes since I last sent an update: sweet potato meatza and fish sticks. I’ve been trying to find ways to get more fish into our diets without breaking the bank, and about the only way to do that is with canned fish. We usually buy wild caught, Alaskan salmon in 15 oz. cans and it costs a mere quarter of the price of fresh. Of course, we have to whip it into something yummy to make it taste as good as the fresh stuff. Hence these fish sticks. Make a big batch and freeze some for quick lunches and dinners down the road. I made these live for the KidCasts channel on Facebook. Head over there to watch the video. The video starts out sideways (boy, were we dizzy!) but a few minutes in, it straightens out. Facebook live is kind of wacky sometimes. So sorry about that.

The sweet potato meatza is my latest paleo pizza creation. I combined a sweet potato crust and meat crust to make the most delicious hybrid crust. It’s a little sweet, still plenty savory, and so full of flavor you can absolutely leave off the cheese and still enjoy a great pizza dinner.

Other happening in Our Paleo Family:

The cookie business is really taking off. We’re still for sale at Harmony Farms in North Raleigh. I did a demo there this past Saturday and got lots of great feedback. It’s fun to watch someone eat your food and go, “Mmmmmm….” and then take more samples! We sold quite a few as well, so that was nice.

The undeniable favorite of all my varieties were the molasses gingerbread. Close second were the paleo baklava with pecans and walnuts. These two are my favorites as well, so it’s nice to know my tastes are in line with that the customers liked! You can order some cookies delivered straight to your door by clicking here.

**Bonus! The cookies are all on sale right now so here’s your chance to grab some at a great price! 

The holiday recipe e-book is still in the works. I’ve finished all the recipe development now and am working on getting everything written up. My goal is still to have this available by early fall. But–school starts next week for this homeschooling family so my work hours are about to be cut a bit. None of us are particularly excited to get back to school right now, but we have to start early  in order to be able to take the breaks we want/need throughout the year.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment, question, concern, or suggestion, I’d love to hear it. Are you making any of these recipes? What do you think? Writing recipes is a tricky business and I try to write in a way that is easy to understand, but I’m sure everything doesn’t come across as clearly as I hope all the time. This blog is for you and I want it to be helpful.

I’ll end on a sweet note today:

I mean the cute kiddos and the donuts! Mom confession: I served my children donuts for lunch today. There was not side of kale or beets. Just donuts. Dusted with lots of sugar. They’ve been begging for me to try gluten free donuts for a long time and today I bit the bullet. I’m happy to say they were not hard (though took a little time), the dough was really nice to work with and they were YUMMY!

May your days be sweet!