Homemade Salsa Recipe!

Credit: target.com

In a recent post that I wrote about my new favorite appliance, our NutriBullet, I mentioned a salsa recipe that I found and that I love!! I also recently found out that the NutriBullet blades never need to be sharpened, which is pretty cool. We'll see how true that is with time though. Back to the salsa!

I have this recipe for Southwestern Egg Rolls, which really aren't all that Paleo, but I make them on the rare occasion when I go to someone's house for a get-together and they ask us to bring a side. The egg rolls are really good with salsa, but most of the salsas you buy in the stores are full of sugar and other ingredients or they're fairly expensive. So I decided to make the salsa that was at the bottom of the egg roll recipe. I found both recipes on Annie's Eats if you're interested in viewing the original article.

It is named "My Favorite Salsa", which is great because it is now MY favorite recipe too! : ) I'm sure you will love it if you give it a try as well.

Credit: annies-eats.com

My Favorite Salsa
Ingredients:
2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, halved
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
juice of one lime

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic.  Process until finely chopped.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add all other ingredients to the food processor.  Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don’t overdo it).  Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.


I'm not a huge fan of cilantro so I made a small batch without any and then put some in the rest for my husband. He loves it! So we were both happy! 

New Favorite Appliance!

I just received a late (very late) birthday gift from my mother-in-law. In fact, it possibly could have been a half birthday gift if she gave it to me 3 days later, lol, but I am not complaining because it is awesome! I've been wanting one of these for quite a while now, but I don't really like to spend money on myself so I hadn't worked up to buying it.

← (Hubby holding the smoothie. Sorry for the poor quality. It was taken with my phone.)

I'm talking about the NutriBullet! A couple of years ago my husband and I bought a juicer. We thought we'd be healthy and make shakes and all that. Well, it's so big and such a pain to set up ... and even more so to clean up afterwards. And you have to chop and peel a LOT of fruit and veggies to make much juice. Besides that, you throw away a lot of the essential nutrients when you throw away the fibrous part. It does come in handy, but most of the time it sits on its shelf collecting dust.

Doesn't look all that appetizing, but it was delicious!

So, I had heard a lot of good things about this NutriBullet mixer/blender. You can put so much in it and it tears right through it and makes it into a delicious shake. Well, delicious if you use the right ingredients anyway. So I always wanted to try one. And lo and behold, my mother-in-law got us one!

So I got it out of the box and hooked it up, cleaned all the parts, and went to the grocery store to buy some fruit and veggies. So far I have only tried sweeter concoctions. My favorite so far is:

• 1/2 apple
• 1/2 banana
• large handful spinach
• 1 TBSP natural nut butter
• 1 scoop whey protein powder
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup of water

It's so good!! You really can't taste the spinach either. Not that I have issues with spinach, but you don't typically start salivating when you imagine peanut butter, bananas, apples and ... spinach. But trust me, if you haven't had it, it is delicious. It also turns the smoothies into a very lovely green color.

Another thing that I love about this blender is that it is so much smaller than my juicer. I can leave it on the counter and it barely takes up any room. You don't have to wash anything except the blade attachment and the container that you hold your smoothie in. So much simpler. Also, the blades are nice and sharp so I haven't had problems with large chunks of apple or anything. It blends everything very nicely.

Credit: nutribulletblog.com

The machine is super easy to use too. You just drop the container/blade attachment into place and push down. It twists into place, locking it, until you are ready to stop and you twist it a little to release.

I have pretty much used my own recipes for this, tossing in whatever sounds good, but if you go online you can find recipes on their website ... or just use any other smoothie recipe and mix it up in the NutriBullet. That'd work too. I have seen on the infomercials that you can even make stuff like salad dressings and salsas with this too, which is pretty cool, especially since I've discovered a new salsa recipe that I love. I'll be sharing that in a post in the next couple of days.

Pros:

• minimal clean up
• doesn't take up much space
• easy to use
• comes with recipes
• blends evenly

 Cons:

• you still have to wash and roughly chop your fruits and veggies

If you'd like to order one for yourself, click the link HERE!

Mexi Pork Taco Boats!

Another one of my new favorite recipes: Mexi Pork Taco Boats!

I am a huge fan of Mexican food. I love it all! But, as you may be aware, Mexican food is not always your friend. Taco shells and flour tortillas are not all that great for you. But how do you eat a taco without a taco shell?

Well, I've found a solution! You make the taco using romaine lettuce. And you get to put in all kinds of yummy stuff inside! I promise you will not be disappointed if you give this recipe a try! And it's super easy, so what's not to love?

I cannot claim to have created this recipe on my own, but I will help the original owner out and pass it along! I originally found it on fastpaleo.com.

So, without further adieu, here is the recipe! : )

**********************************************************************

First, you have to make the pork. There are three ingredients. It does not get simpler than that!

Credit: fastpaleo.com

Shredded Mexi Pork

Ingredients:

• Lg Pork Roast of your choice (about 4lbs)
• Pkg Epicure’s Burrito Seasoning (I made my own seasoning: click here)
• 1 Onion, wedged

Instructions:

1. Coat your roast in salt, pepper, and sear in a hot pan.
2. Coat roast in burrito/taco seasoning.
3. Put in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours, or until done.


Once you have your pork done, you're ready to make the tacos.

Mexi Pork Taco Boats

Credit: fastpaleo.com

Ingredients: 

• Shredded Mexi Pork
• Romaine Leaves
• Epicure’s Salsa – prepared
• Sour Cream
• Diced Avocado
• Shredded Cheese
• Epicure’s Guacamole Dip Mix
• A Lime

 Instructions:

Load the Mexi Pork into the romaine lettuce, then top with any or all desired ingredients. At the end, sprinkle on some fresh lime juice!


Such an easy recipe and it is so good! I actually did not use cheese when I first made these ... because I forgot. And it was so good even without it. I can eat Mexican food again and I don't feel like I'm missing any of the experience! I love it and I'm sure you will too!