Don’t miss the THREE recipes at the end of this post for your own TACO NIGHT!
This is Paleo in real life – our real life – with three hungry boys and a very busy schedule!
We recently implemented weekly meal plans and are sharing them with you in the hopes of providing you with some new tips, tools and recipes. To read more about why we’ve been meal planning, how it saves our family time and money, reduces waste, and helps us maintain a Paleo lifestyle, check out our first installment of ‘What We Ate Wednesday’ here!
To celebrate the debut of Sarah and Alaena’s debut of their book, we declared last week “The Healing Kitchen Week” and cooked almost exclusively out of The Healing Kitchen! It was an awesome week of meals (evidence below!) and a great tool for those who want to focus on healing without compromising taste – the recipes were simple, easy, flavorful, and fun. And we’re happy to share THREE of the book’s recipes for you to have your own taco night: Hawaiian Pulled Pork, Toasted Lime Cilantro Cauli-Rice, and Easy Guacamole as well.
We look at approaching meals plans in three ways: (1) when we can, we pick out seasonal, local produce and let that spark inspiration for our meals; other times, (2) we’ll take guidance from what we already have in the fridge and need to use up; or (3) we crave a recipe and then ensure we grab the ingredients for it when we do our weekly shopping. Frankly, each week is usually a combo of those steps. Once the plan is in place, any other requests have to wait until the following week. We’ve eliminated a number of additional stops at the grocery store with this method, saving us both time and money. Who doesn’t love that?!
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Last week’s dinners were:
Sunday: Bacon Date Crusted Salmon and Cinnamon Carrots
This was a special Sunday dinner with my mom and her boyfriend (who requested seafood) and we all enjoyed it, he even went back for seconds! Everything was super easy to make and looked so fancy!
—> All recipes from The Healing Kitchen
Monday: Caramelized Onion and Herb Meatloaf, and Roasted Roots with Garlic Sauce
We’re a family of meatloaf connoisseurs, and this one was totally legit! This dinner had so much flavor, and so many healing qualities.
—> All recipes from The Healing Kitchen
Tuesday: Coconut Crusted Chicken with Pineapple Sauce and Normandy Veggies
Normandy vegetables from Costco are something we always keep on hand because they take only minutes to prepare, are a great healthy side, and they go with anything and everything. They were the perfect pairing with this flavorful chicken!
—> All recipes from The Healing Kitchen
—> Normandy Veggies from Costco
Wednesday: Pulled Pork with Carolina BBQ and Garlic Rubbed Tostones with Avocado
It was AMAZING how Sarah and Alaena pulled off the flavors in these recipes with only healthful, healing ingredients (i.e. no tomatoes and peppers in BBQ sauce). There was barely a crumb left after this meal!
—> All recipes from The Healing Kitchen
Thursday: Taco Bowls with Hawaiian Pulled Pork, Toasted Cilantro Rice and Easy Guacamole
This meal was incredible, and the flavor of the rice was just like Chipotle’s!! Making Mexican without nightshades is a total AIP win here!
—> All recipes from The Healing Kitchen
Alaena and Sarah were kind enough to let us share these recipes with you so that you, too, can have your own Taco Night!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder such as Boston butt or picnic roast
- 1 (14-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juices
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 slices bacon
Instructions
- Place the pork in the slow cooker insert and pour the pineapple and vinegar over the pork. Sprinkle the salt on the meat and top with the bacon slices.
- Cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6 to 8 hours, until the pork is tender and can be easily shredded with two forks.
- Shred the pork and bacon by pulling two forks in opposite directions to pull the meat apart. Shred the pineapple if desired, or leave it whole, as pictured.
- Transfer the pulled pork to a serving dish and stir in at least 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
- Place the pork in the pressure cooker insert and pour the pineapple and vinegar over the pork. Sprinkle the salt on the meat and top with the bacon slices.
- Seal the lid and set the pressure cooker’s manual timer for 90 minutes. When the timer goes off, release the pressure. If the meat does not shred easily with two forks, use a knife to cut the roast into large chunks and re¬turn them to the pressure cooker for an additional 15 minutes of cooking.
- Shred the pork and bacon by pulling two forks in opposite directions to pull meat apart. Shred the pineapple, if desired, or leave it whole, as pictured.
- Transfer the pulled pork to a serving dish and stir in at least 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower (about 1 ½ pounds), cored and cut into florets, or 2 (12-ounce) bags cauliflower florets
- 2 teaspoons fat of choice
- 2/3 cup chicken broth, or water
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Place the cauliflower florets in a food processor or high-powered blender and pulse until finely chopped to the size of rice grains (work in two batches if using a blender).
- Heat the fat in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower, flatten down firmly with a spatula, and allow it to toast in the pan for 3 minutes.
- Stir in 1/3 cup of the broth, lime juice, zest, and salt and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed.
- Add the remaining 1/3 cup of broth and the cilantro and continue cooking for 2 to 3 more minutes, until absorbed again.
- Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm.
Ingredients
- 1 large ripe avocado
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime or lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Using a potato masher or fork, mash all the guacamole ingredients together in a bowl to the desired smoothness or chunkiness.
Friday: Leftovers
We’ve found it helpful to work a leftovers day into our meal plan. And if by chance there are no leftovers (which hasn’t happened yet!) we have a few quick dinners to fall back on – like grass-fed hot dogs and lots of veggie sides, or breakfast for dinner with eggs and waffles.
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Find The Healing Kitchen —> HERE!
