I think that most of the time, the hardest thing about being Paleo is lunch. I won't lie and tell you that I don't wish I could just have a fabulous sandwich with some really crunchy sourdough toast most of the time. When I'm in the mood for a sandwich, I often roll turkey and salami up in lettuce with some vegetables and call it lunch, but that gets old really fast. 

Really, my favorite thing to do is to just have leftovers from dinner. I bring them to work in a Tupperware container and reheat them in the microwave at the office, but what if your office doesn't have a microwave? 

And also, what if you just want some sushi?

Maybe my family is weird because we randomly have seaweed and a bamboo mat for sushi lying around, but this was a fun, alternative lunch idea that I didn't even have to go to the grocery store to make happen.

 

Ingredients:

For the tuna salad

One or two cans of tuna

Mayonnaise (homemade is best)

Several tablespoons of chopped, pickled jalapenos

Salt and pepper

For the roll-ups

Avocado, tomato, lettuce 

Some veggie chips for texture

A package of seaweed sheets

Bamboo mat 

(Get the seaweed + bamboo together here)

1. Make your tuna salad the way you normally would (unless you would normally add something not Paleo; I use homemade mayo and usually some relish, but this time I added jalapenos instead. Also, Sriracha.

2. Put a sheet of seaweed on the bamboo matt. Add some tuna and spread it out down the middle. Layer your fillings on top of each other.

3. Roll the seaweed up. It helps to get your hands a little wet to get it all sticking together.

4. Cut them up and serve. Make three more batches when your family asks what you are doing and sees how awesome they are.

Every year, my mom plants an herb garden. This year we also got some salad bowls! Lettuce in one pot and arugula in another. This is always one of my favorite things--I love cooking something in the kitchen and being able to just randomly go outside for some fresh basil or chives.

We planted these about two weeks ago and they're growing further already. Spring is here and summer is on the way!

Sometimes you have a very rainy weekend that was supposed to be 74 degrees and sunny, but then Sunday rolls around and the sun comes out and it's warm and all the winter-y rain from the two previous days have made the afternoon smell like spring, so you go to the grocery store with bare arms and your best friend and you buy fresh berries because it's time for some muffins.

I came up with this recipe by accident one time when I was making mini-muffins for this post on Skunkboy. I was going to follow a recipe and just substitute regular flour for coconut flour, and then I messed up the measurements and added a bunch of random things like shredded coconut and honey, but what I ended up with was actually the blueprint for a pretty good Paleo muffin base recipe. Then, you can add whatever you want to make a flavored muffin--this time I chose raspberries and chocolate chips.

There's a tiny bit of baking powder in these muffins and if you're a Paleo snob who's going to freak out about it instead of simply choosing not to include it, then we probably can't be friends anymore.

Ingredients:

Makes twelve big boy muffins.

--

6 eggs

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

--

A 6 ounce container of fresh raspberries, washed and chopped

1/2 cup of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

(Save a few of the chocolate chips for the top.)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt the coconut oil in a bowl and add flour first, then eggs, and then all other ingredients.

3. Mix the batter together and spoon into greased muffin tins (you can use more coconut oil or an olive oil spray).

4. Bake for 25 minutes, (halfway through you can top them with the extra chocolate chips), broiling at the very end to brown the tops if necessary.

(I had to open one up so you could see inside. And also so I could take a bite.)

Whether it's rainy and cold or sunny and warm, muffins are perfect for whatever season you happen to be in.