Guys, last night Adam and I cheated on our diet. I know, I know, heartbreaker. Can you guess what we chose to eat on our cheat night? If you guessed a whole lot of chinese food carry out, you are correct. It was delicious and full of rice and fortune cookies and lots of yummy processed things paleo doesn't allow. Did I feel a taddddd guilty as I went back for seconds? Eh, maybe. But then I realized, what is life if we don't allow ourselves the smallest pleasures. And for me people, that includes takeout chinese food. So cheat people, enjoy what you love, maybe even have a glass of wine with it, I did. Granted today at pure barre, I felt like I had a 15 pound food baby inside of me, but a good workout and a healthy dinner tonight made last night feel like a drop in a bucket. So, cheers to cheat meals, and cheers to getting back on the horse on a Sunday night. Ps. Go Broncos!

Adam said it perfectly, we're doing the fat kids version of paleo. It seems like all we want, or all we crave is sweets. So, sweets it is! I know I've said this before but this recipe is the best ever, seriously, it's going to change your life. If you make these, prepare to want to eat them all, in one sitting. They're pretty easy to make and worth every minute they take to make. Get excited peeps, paleo almond joys are coming at ya.

Ingredients:
Crust

• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• pinch of salt 

Coconut Filling: 

• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon water

Chocolate topping: 

• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1.4 cup melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Prepare yourself, there is a lot of maple syrup and somehow everything ends up sticky. I'm not sure how and I'm not sure why, but even the handle on my refrigerator was sticky when I was done. 

1. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper and set it aside. 
2. To prepare the crust, combine the almond meal, maple syrup, coconut oil, almond extract, and salt in a medium bowl, and stir well until a sticky dough is formed. Press it evenly into the bottom of the lined loaf pan, and set aside.
3. To prepare the coconut filling, combine all of the filling ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir well. Spread the coconut mixture over the crust, then use a spatula to smooth the top. Set aside.
4. To prepare the chocolate topping, combine all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl and use a whisk to create a silky smooth chocolate sauce. 
5. Pour the chocolate sauce over the top of the coconut layer and smooth the top with a spatula. Place the pan in the freezer to set until firm, about one to two hours.
6. Pull on the parchment paper to easily remove the solid bar from the pan, then slice into bars and serve directly from the freezer. These bars will soften fairly quickly if left at room temperature, so it’s important to keep them chilled until ready to serve.

Hooray, I recently revamped my blog! It required a much needed facelift, it was getting a little dreary and sad and that's never a good thing.

I started this blog in August 2008 with the title "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart." I chose that name because at that point in my life, I was a senior in college, getting ready to graduate and I had no idea where my life was heading. It seemed appropriate that the title of my blog, which detailed my life and adventures, focused on following your heart. It was the perfect blog title for the last 6 years. This blog has followed me from Pepperdine, graduating college, moving home to Arizona...my year off.... going to law school in Omaha, falling in love...extreme happiness, extreme loss, failing bar exams, passing bar exams, getting engaged(!!!!), moving to Denver and now here we are. I feel like I'm finally at a place in my life where I can stand still, a place my heart has taken me. Hence, the name change.

Everyday Grace seemed like the perfect title for this point in my life. My hopes for this blog include everything day-to-day, paleo, adventures, love, Adam, Henry and life all with God's grace leading the way. I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it!

My friend (and future bridesmaid) Callie is the one who started me on the paleo diet. If you ever have the blessing to meet Callie, (1) she is beautiful, both inside and out and (2) she has the most energy of anyone I've ever met. We were just on vacation and she was telling me about paleo and how it's a lifestyle not just a diet. So, based on our conversation I decided to give it a whirl. So, I owe her the last month of my life because our conversation changed my life for the better. One thing Callie does in addition to teach school, cook paleo, be a girlfriend, friend and daughter, is she works hard on her body. She recently started sharing some of her workout tips via youtube and I thought it would be fun to share those videos with you! She does HIIT (high intensity interval training). She chooses 4 exercises and does them for 45 seconds with 15 seconds off and repeats this 3 times. Trust me, when you see Callie's bod, you'll be doing HIIT 10x a day!

HIIT gets your heart rate up faster than a 30 minute cardio session at an even pass and you burn more calories throughout the day. It's my favorite form of exercise when I'm tight on time, which is most days! --Callie

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Chinese food. If it was up to me I would eat Panda Express orange chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unfortunately, my metabolism (and Adam) do not agree with this lifestyle so instead I have to find alternatives. Luckily for me, I found a paleo version of General Tso Chicken and people, it was great. Lets be real, it was not fast food, orange chicken great, but it was right up there with it. It was so easy and I would totally make it again. Next time, maybe with some cauliflower rice!

Ingredients: 

• 2 chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated (use the real stuff, not the jarred stuff!) 
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil 
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make:

1. In a saute pan, heat the coconut oil
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cut into chunks. 
3. Add the chicken to the sauté pan and brown, about 7-8 minutes
4. Add in the tapioca flour 
5. Then add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens. 
6. Enjoy!

• 1 Red pepper, sliced
• 1 Orange pepper, sliced
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 2 Carrots, sliced
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into pieces or slices
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (leave these out if you don't love spice)
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (use less or leave out if you don't love spice) 

One word; fudge. Make it, then make doubles, eat it all day, repeat.

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons honey
• sea salt for sprinkling (aka the best part)

How to make: 

1. Line a small loaf pan with parchment paper, or if you don't have parchment paper, foil and then spray the foil with pam or something like it
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the almond butter, coconut oil, cacao powder, vanilla and honey. Mix. 
3. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan.
4. Freeze for 45 minutes or until it's set
5. Sprinkle with sea salt. 
6. Eat immediately. 
7. Repeat. 
8. Then thank me for curing your sweet tooth. 

Last week Adam and I were craving something sweet so I decided to make a variation of the blueberry crumble I made a couple weeks ago! Here's the recipe with the new ingredients! I have to be honest, this peach version was my favorite thing I've ever made. It was so sweet and warm and gooey and delicious. Even a non-paleo eater will love it, I promise. 

One of the things I miss about Paleo is salad dressing. Is that weird? I'm not saying ranch or something like that, but I miss poppyseed dressing and champagne vinaigrette and all those good summery ones. This weekend while Adam and I were in Omaha, his mom and I made our own dressing and it was so good and totally helped my craving. We put it on the table and the next we knew, people were putting it on their hamburgers, salad and everything else! It's super easy to make and goes on anything! Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 avocado
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon water
• pinch of salt

This makes 2 servings, so I doubled everything. After that I put a little more oil and water in to make it a little runnier!