Paleo Pancake and Sausage Muffins

Pancake and sausage muffins - sounds strange, don't they?  According to my husband, they remind him of a sausage McGriddle from McDonalds.  I've never had one, so I couldn't tell you if they do, or not.  But I can tell you that they're really good.  And really easy and simple.  My sister-in-law posted a non-paleo version on her blog, Homemade Dutch Apple Pie, a while back.  I wanted to make them paleo, though.  So I figured I'd use our favorite paleo pancake recipe from Urban Poser (with a few tweaks) and give them a shot.  They turned out great!  I'll definitely be making these again soon.  These were very nice to have the leftovers on hand for quick breakfasts on work mornings. 

Paleo Pancake and Sausage Muffins

1 pound bulk sausage
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large eggs from pastured chickens
4-5 Tablespoons almond milk or coconut milk (they're great both ways!)
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook sausage in a cast iron or stainless steel skillet until cooked through.  Remove from heat and let cool for a bit.

Meanwhile, mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, eggs, almond or coconut milk, honey, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large bowl. 

Once the sausage has cooled some, mix into the pancake mixture. 

Divide mixture evenly between 12 muffin cups.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown and cooked through. 


 

Paleo Turkey Nuggets

We had our Thanksgiving a little early.  We hosted some of my paternal extended family on Saturday for a mostly dairy-free Thanksgiving dinner (everything I made was dairy-free... the mashed potatoes and rolls that others brought were the only things with dairy in them).  I roasted two turkey breasts, made some homemade sausage stuffing (I subbed out the normal butter for lard), roasted vegetables (carrots, beets, butternut squash, and green beans), and made a cherry pie and a pumpkin pie.  Everything was so delicious!  And no one could even tell that dairy was missing from most of the meal, until I pointed it out.  :)

With two turkey breasts and four people that did not end up coming at the last minute, we had a lot of leftover turkey.  So to change up the leftovers a bit, I made turkey nuggets for dinner last night.  I made them the same way I make chicken nuggets (or chicken tenders, as Kevin insists they are called).  I used almond flour to keep them paleo, but any flour would work.  Just substitute whole wheat, coconut, rice, or even all-purpose flour in the recipe below.  These were so yummy!  And a nice change from regular ol' leftover turkey.  So keep these in mind for your Thanksgiving leftovers later this week.

Paleo Turkey Nuggets

leftover turkey
1 egg
1-cup almond flour
seasonings - onion powder, sea salt, pepper, to taste
lard or coconut oil, for frying

Heat lard or coconut oil in a stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat.  Chop your leftover turkey up into nugget sized pieces.  Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk until frothy.  Mix seasonings into flour in a shallow bowl.

Once oil is hot, drop turkey pieces into egg.  Then dip into the flour mixture and place gently into the lard or oil.  Fry until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes, and flip over until golden brown.  Remove turkey nuggets from oil and place on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Monday Mania @ Healthy Home Economist
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ SS&GF

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

We love brussels sprouts.  And we are really missing them this season.  I'm afraid to try them because of how badly one piece of cabbage (when I made cabbage rolls a couple of months ago) upset Bristol.  So we haven't had them since I was pregnant.  This picture was taken during that time.  My favorite way to have brussels sprouts is just to roast them with olive oil, salt and pepper.  But this is Kevin's favorite way so far.  And it comes close to roasting them for me.  :)

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

brussels sprouts
2-3 slices of bacon, chopped
coconut oil, lard, or butter

Melt some coconut oil, lard, or butter in a cast iron or stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat.  Chop the ends off your brussels sprouts and slice in half.  Add to the skillet.  Let cook until they are just starting to soften.  Add your chopped bacon to the pan.  Continue to cook until they reach your desired doneness.

** This is also delicious if you cook a pound of bacon in the skillet first, remove the bacon, then add the brussels and cook.


This post is linked to:
Monday Mania @ Healthy Home Economist
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ SS&GF

Fried Egg Topped Salad

For those that don't know, I've been dairy-free for 4 months now... since I've had my daughter.  I am breastfeeding her and she does not tolerate dairy well at all.  It's pretty much pure torture for her.  So I've had to make a lot of adjustments to my diet to suit her needs.

My favorite salad dressing is homemade ranch, but of course this has dairy in it.  I was making homemade honey mustard dressing there for awhile and would also use vinegar and oil (which has kind of become my new favorite, actually) quite often, but they both get old after awhile.  Especially with as many salads as I consumed (and still am consuming) this year with our delicious salad greens from our CSA. 

So I started using fried eggs on my salads.  I just cook the egg whites and keep the yolk runny.  The yolk then becomes my salad dressing.  This picture was taken one of the first couple times I made them like this and only has one egg on it.  I actually usually use one whole egg plus another yolk now.  It makes such a delicious salad dressing and it is SUPER nutritious!  Give it a try the next time you make a salad. 


This post is linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Monday Mania @ Healthy Home Economist

Zucchini Pancakes

I have a huge back-log of posts that I hope to get on the blog soon.  We'll see how successful I am at getting everything posted.  I kind of have a lot going on right now to keep me pretty busy.  Between being a mom of two now (one of which is 3-months old), being a wife, going to class at church one night a week, spending time with friends and family, starting up a small business, and commuting and working about 30 hours per week at work... I have been keeping myself quite busy.  :)  But I have still been trying to get healthful meals on the table everyday.  These paleo zucchini pancakes were a weekly item on menu this summer, while we were getting so many zucchini in our CSA.  They have continued to show up occasionally, as we are still getting zucchini in our weekly CSA share.  These are based off of the Barefoot Contessa's recipe.  They are delicious and so fast and easy to make.  We all love them. 

Zucchini Pancakes

2 medium zucchini (about 3/4 pound)

2 tablespoons grated red onion (or use a teaspoon of onion powder)

2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten

6 to 8 tablespoons almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Unsalted butter

Grate the zucchini into a bowl.  Immediately stir in the onion and eggs.  Stir in 6 tablespoons of the flour, the baking powder, salt, and pepper. (If the batter gets too thin from the liquid in the zucchini, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour.)

Heat a large (10 to 12-inch) saute pan over medium heat and melt 1/2 tablespoon butter in the pan.  When the butter is hot, but not smoking, lower the heat to medium-low and drop heaping soup spoons of batter into the pan.  Cook the pancakes about 2 minutes on each side, until browned.


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Hawaiian Meatballs

I've been looking for new recipes to make using ground beef.  I picked up this year's beef a month or so ago and we still had a decent supply of ground beef from last year... so I'm trying to use some of it up.  In the winter months, I always fear running out of ground beef, so I avoid using it much.  Then when it comes time to get the new order of beef, I find myself feeling like I'm drowning in ground beef.  So when I saw The Mango Duck's recipe for Hawaiian Meatballs on Pinterest the other day, I figured I'd give them a try.  I made a few changes - added some almond flour and an egg, plus omitted a few ingredients since I didn't have them on hand - red pepper flakes, lime juice, and cilantro.  I'll post the recipe as I made it below.  I also changed the cooking method to use the crockpot.  I'd like to try them on the stovetop sometime, as The Mango Duck made them, but we were going away during the day and I just wanted to have an easy dinner, ready to go once we got home. 

These were really good.  We all really liked them a lot.  It kind of reminded us of some thai-coconut curries we've had, but with a little sweetness from the pineapple.  It was yummy!  Carson even went back for seconds.  They were quite easy to throw together, too - at least using the crockpot for everything.  I'll definitely be making these again! 

Hawaiian Meatballs

For the meatballs:

2 lbs of ground meat (pork, chicken, turkey, etc)

3/4 cup almond flour

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

2 Tablespoons Coconut Aminos

2 teaspoon curry powder

2 green onions, diced

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 egg

salt & pepper to taste

For the sauce:

1 can coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon Coconut Aminos

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 green onion, diced

juice from 1 lemon

2 Tablespoons crushed pineapple

3 Tablespoons pineapple juice

2 teaspoon basil, chopped

Mix all the ingredient for the meatballs in a bowl and then form into meatballs.  Make them whatever size you like.  Place the meatballs into a crockpot. 

Mix ingredients for sauce in a bowl.  Pour over meatballs in crockpot. 

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meatballs are cooked through.


This post is shared at:
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Stifado (Greek Stew)

I pinned a post recently for summer slow cooker meal ideas.  One of the ideas featured in that pin was for a greek stew called stifado from Dialed-In Nutrition.  It sounded really good - plus I was trying to use up some of last year's beef before I pick up our beef this week.  So I made this for dinner one night last week.  I cut out a lot of the prep work to make it super easy to prepare and I don't feel like it really cut the flavors or taste at all.  I also cut out the optional ingredients and switched out a few for what I had on hand - I posted the recipe below as I made it.  This was very good - we all really liked it a lot.  My brother-in-law had dinner with us the night I made this and he thought it was very good, as well.  I served it with orzo, some roasted zucchini fries and roasted mushrooms. 

Greek Stifado

3 Tablespoons coconut oil
2-3 pounds grassfed beef, cut into 1 1/2" cubes (I used a chuck roast and cut it up)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato puree (I just used a can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Add everything into your crockpot.  Stir to incorporate ingredients.  Cover.  Let cook on low for at least 8 hours. 


This post is shared at:
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online

Collard Greens

Sorry I've been MIA for quite awhile.  Life has been quite busy preparing for the arrival of our new baby girl for many months.  She has now joined our family and life is still pretty crazy.  But I'm hoping to be able to post a few things here and there a little more regularly now.  I've got a back-log of posts that I want to get up on the blog, but I'm going to start with this one because collards are in season now and they make a regular appearance on our table once or twice a week these days. 

We have bought into a local, organic CSA this summer since I knew I wouldn't have time to tend a garden with a new baby.  We are loving it so far!  We're getting the chance to cook with and eat some veggies that we wouldn't normally grow (but likely will in the future).  One of which is collard greens.  We are really loving the greens.  I figured I'd share how I've been preparing them each week.  They take some time to cook, but its not active time on my part, so they're super easy to make.  And they turn out super moist, tender, and flavorful every time.  We all really like them a lot.  I make kale this way, as well. 

This is just the base recipe.  But I've also used bacon grease instead of the olive oil and added some chopped bacon to the greens at the end, which resulted in even more deliciousness. 

Collard Greens

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds washed collard greens
2 cups chicken broth

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened, about 2-3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Rip the collard greens from the stems and tear into small pieces.  Add to the pan.  Pour chicken broth over greens and stir.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes. 

Crockpot French Dip Beef

My husband loves french dip sandwiches. My son and I think they are pretty good, too, especially homemade. But we haven't had them in ages because we haven't been eating much bread while following the primal/paleo diet. With a new baby arriving in a couple of months, I've been trying to get some easy, tasty, nourishing foods in the freezer so that I can just pull them out for easy dinners after the baby is born. So I decided to make up some french dip beef a few weeks ago. It really couldn't be easier to make and it is so delicious! Using homemade beef bone broth and grass fed beef makes this a very nourishing meal, as well.  We ate it for dinner one night and I was able to put two containers of the beef and au jus into the freezer to have later on this summer. Kevin and Carson ate this on some buns, which obviously is not paleo, but I ate the beef on its own with some au jus over top.  I think I actually like it better without the bun, honestly.  I served it with some roasted vegetables - asparagus, mushrooms, and broccoli.

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

3-4 pound grass fed chuck roast
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 quart homemade beef broth
2 Tablespoons coconut aminos (a healthy alternative to soy sauce)
Water or more beef broth, enough to cover the roast by about 1/2 inch - the amount, or even whether you need it will depend on what size crockpot you are using. I used a 4-qt crock, so I only needed to add about 1/2 cup.

Place roast in crock. Add onions and garlic, broth, coconut aminos, and water, if needed.

Let cook on low all day until meat is very tender and falling off the bone. Remove the meat from crock and shred using two forks. Add shredded meat back into crock. Serve on its own with au jus over top, or on buns with a small ramekin of the au jus for dipping.

If freezing, be sure to include plenty of au jus in your containers.



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Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday

Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday

Guacamole

I know everyone has their own guacamole recipe, but I still need to post this one.  I've made a lot of different guacamoles over time, but this one beats them all... hands down.  I got this recipe from my friend, Melissa, over at The Franson Kitchen.  She made it with her amazing cafe rio when she invited our family over for dinner last winter.  It was delicious then and it was delicious when I made it again last weekend for my son's birthday party.  Guacamole has been one thing I've been craving during this pregnancy.  I think I could eat it every day... especially if I made this recipe every day!  And I did actually make this recipe (in smaller proportion) three different times in the last week.  :)  It is just that good.  I basically make it just as Melissa has it posted on her blog, with the exception of the jalapeno.  You need some for flavor, but I don't add a whole one... just enough to add the flavor without the spice.  I'll post it below the way I make it. 

The Best Guacamole Ever

4-5 ripe avocados (if they are large ones, only 4)

3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 to 1/2 of a small jalapeno, minced

1/2 cup minced red onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Cut avocados in half length-wise and remove pits.  Scoop the avocado flesh from the shells.  In a medium bowl, mash with a potato masher or large fork.  You don't want to completely turn it to mush, leave a few small chunks for texture.  Add the remaining ingredients.  

Serve with tortilla chips as an appetizer or as a topping for tacos or other mexican dishes. 

You can make this a couple of hours in advance, but you will want to be sure to seal it well so that no air gets to the surface and turns it brown.  I take plastic wrap and press it down on top of the guacamole in the bowl, removing all the air and making sure the edges are sealed well.  Then just remove the plastic wrap when you're ready to serve.

Balsamic Chicken

We are still loving all of the recipes I try from Make it Paleo.  Most of them are so simple and fast to make, which is what I really like in a recipe for a work night.  And they have all tasted wonderful, too.  This one is no exception.  In the book, it is titled Balsamic and Rosemary Chicken.  I could not find my rosemary when I made this, so I used some of my home-dried french tarragon instead.  It was awesome.  The herbs and garlic flavor the chicken while it bakes and the balsamic that is drizzled on immediately once you remove from the oven soaks in and adds an even more wonderful flavor.  I want to try this with bone-in, skin-on chicken some time.  I used boneless, skinless as the recipe called for this time, since I do freeze some boneless, skinless breasts when I butcher my fresh chickens (though most are frozen with bone in, and skin on.  This recipe will have a regular place in our meals.  It'll be awesome this summer on salads that we make from our CSA share - which we just decided on this weekend and will be sending in our deposit for this week!  We can't wait! 

Balsamic Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon tarragon or rosemary, dried - increase to 2 teaspoons if using fresh
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Press fresh garlic and tarragon or rosemary into chicken breasts. 

Roast at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately drizzle balsamic vinegar over chicken breasts.  Let rest in pan for a few minutes before serving. 

Paleo Smoked Paprika Chicken

One of my Christmas gifts this year was the cookbook Make it Paleo.  The cookbook is huge and every recipe is accompanied by a picture, which is so great.  I've been really anxious to try out some of the recipes and finally got around to trying a few this past week.  First up was smoked paprika chicken.  This was super fast and easy to prep, with virtually no cleanup from prep other than throwing the ziplock bag away.  It takes awhile to roast, but it's so worth it.  The chicken develops a wonderful smoky flavor with a crunchy skin.  It was so delicious! 

Even though the cook time is kind of lengthy, this recipe involves such little hands on time.  Prep took less than 5 minutes, then the oven does the rest of the work.  So this is definitely a keeper recipe.  I served this with side salads, roasted asparagus, and corn.

The recipe in Make it Paleo is for chicken thighs.  When I butcher my fresh chickens, I freeze the dark meat in quarters.  So I used quarters and increased the spice quantities a bit to account for more chicken.  The recipe also calls for red palm oil, which I do not have.  I used coconut oil and it worked great.  I've posted the recipe below as I made it.

Smoked Paprika Chicken Quarters

3 bone-in, skin-on pastured chicken quarters (leg and thigh)
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Put the spices and oil in a large ziplock bag, mix well.  Next, add the chicken and toss until the chicken is fully coated. 

Place chicken in a baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 425 for 40-45 minutes.


This post is linked to: 
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist

Paleo Dijon Pork Chops

I'm still getting back into the swing of things when it comes to cooking dinners.  I still have some "off" days, but thankfully my good days far outnumber the bad ones.  I've been kind of excited to finally get back to cooking.  Its been a long couple months of eating leftovers (if I would make a big crockpot of something on a weekend... cooked in the garage to avoid the smell :)), food brought over by my family, and eating out.  I think we were all looking forward to home-cooked family dinners again.  :)

I was hungry for pork chops last week, so I came up with this recipe based off of things that have been tasty in the past.  This is super simple and a very quick meal... Perfect for a work night!  Dinner was on the table within a little less than 20 minutes after starting the prep.  And it was delicious!  That's my kind of meal! 

Paleo Dijon Pork Chops

2-3 pork chops, preferably pastured pork
2-3 Tablespoons dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper

Preheat a stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Add some coconut oil to melt.  Also, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Meanwhile, mix dijon, garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Dip pork chops into mixture, making sure all surfaces are covered. 

Place pork chops in hot skillet.  Don't move them once you put them down in the skillet.  You want to get a nice brown color on each side.  It took mine about 2 minutes per side. 

Once both sides have been seared, transfer the skillet to your preheated oven.  Cook until done, probably about 7-9 minutes.  Remove from oven and serve.

I served these with peas, corn, and side salads.  Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online

PB&J Pork Tenderloin

My copy of Paleo Comfort Foods arrived while we were in Tennessee a few weeks ago. So, I was anxious to try some recipes when we got home. I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, so I decided to thaw it and try out the recipe for P, B & J Pork Tenderloin since I had everything on hand for it. So I made this for dinner a few nights after we got home. Pork and apples go so well together, I figured it had to be good. And it was so delicious! It reminded me of some other pork and apple dinners I've made in the past, but this was even better with the nut butter sauce. The recipe in the book calls for pecash butter (pecan-cashew). I just used homemade cashew butter - made with crispy cashews. Any nut butter would work, though. If you have some homemade chunky applesauce, you could just sub that in and make this prep even simpler.

This is definitely a keeper. We all loved it. Kevin had seconds and thirds and fourths and finished off the tenderloin at dinner that night. So much for leftovers on nights when he's hungry. :) I have another pork tenderloin in the freezer that I think I'll be making again in the near future.

P, B & J Pork Tenderloin

2 pound pork tenderloin
2 apples, peeled and cored, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup nut butter, homemade with crispy nuts is best
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup hot water

Butterfly the pork tenderloin lengthwise and fold out into one uniform piece of pork. Use a meat mallet to pound out the tenderloin a little.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place apples, cinnamon, lemon zest, and honey into a food processor (I used my stick blender processor attachment) and pulse until it looks like a chunky applesauce. Pour the apple mixture onto the tenderloin and spread evenly. Roll up lengthwise and place into a baking dish.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until internal temperature is 150 degrees. Let rest in the pan for 10 minutes.

Mix nut butter, garlic, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Add hot water until you reach your desired consistency.

Place pork on a serving platter and pour about half of the sauce over the tenderloin. Serve remaining sauce on the side.

Paleo Beef Chili

Chili is a perfect dinner for a cool, fall day like the ones we've been having lately.  It's especially good on a night of watching the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS series, or some good football games - Go State!  It's also a very easy meal to prepare.  Normally, I make a big batch in the crockpot, but on this particular day, I made it on the stovetop.  However, this would be perfect for the crockpot, as well. 

I have made paleo chili before, but this is the best one so far.  The bacon adds a wonderful flavor and the carob powder adds a uniqueness to it.  It is so delicious!  I used a recipe that a friend of mine posted on her crossfit facebook page and tweaked some things to make it my own (added butter and mushrooms, more onion, more broth, more spices, carob for cocoa, and used beef instead of bison).  I had about a cup of leftover roast beef that I diced up and threw in here, too... but I don't have it listed below since it won't be a normal thing ton include. 

Paleo Chili

2 Tablespoons grassfed butter
3-4 slices chopped, uncooked bacon
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound grassfed ground beef
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

In a large stainless steel saucepan, melt butter, then cook bacon for a few minutes over medium heat until some fat has been rendered.

Add onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook another few minutes until onions and mushrooms have softened.  Add garlic and cook a minute or two more. 

Next, add ground beef and brown it a bit.  You don't have to cook it through since it'll continue cooking, just brown it. 

Next, add the spices, broth, tomatoes, and carrots.  Stir.  Cover and simmer over low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Add vinegar and carob/cocoa powder.  Stir.  Cook another 20-30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with sliced avocado and enjoy! 

Note:  If you want to make this in a crockpot, you can still cook the bacon, onions, and mushrooms before tossing it all in the crock.  Or you can just toss everything in together (except the carob powder and vinegar) and let it cook on low all day.  Add the carob powder and vinegar about 30-60 minutes before serving.


This post is linked to: 
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food Whole Health

Philly Cheesesteak in a Bowl

Kevin and I love a good philly cheesesteak sandwich.  Carson does, too.  But since I’m not making much/anything with bread these days, this means no philly cheesesteak sandwiches.  That’s ok, though.  Because we found out that they’re actually just as tasty sans bread and served in a bowl.  I’ve made them several times.  Sometimes I’ll have cheese on them (primal), but usually I don't have cheese on mine to keep it paleo.  I'll take some out in a bowl for me and put cheese on the rest for Kevin and Carson.  Either way they are super tasty.  And very easy if you have some leftover beef.  That’s usually when I make these – when I have leftover steak or pot roast.  I’ll chop up the veggies ahead of time and this makes for a very quick work-night meal.  

Philly Cheesesteak in a Bowl

2 Tablespoons butter

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

8 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced

Leftover grassfed beef steak or roast works well, too

1/2 cup beef stock or broth

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon coconut aminos

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Good melting cheese

In a large, ovenproof skillet or saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  

Add peppers, onions, and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms are translucent and peppers and mushrooms are soft.  

Meanwhile, turn your oven broiler on low. 

Next add the leftover beef.  You can use raw beef if you want, too.  Saute for a minute or two.  

Then add the stock/broth, Worcestershire sauce, coconut aminos, and hot sauce.  Saute for a few minutes more. 

Now sprinkle some shredded cheese or lay some cheese slices atop the beef mixture.  Place in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Remove from broiler and enjoy! 


This post is linked to:
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food Whole Health
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager

Crispy Squash/Pumpkin Seeds

Fall to me always means fresh squash from the garden or farmers' markets.  I love squash.  Kevin doesn't like it pureed (it's a texture thing for him), but he likes it cubed and roasted.  Carson likes it some days, other days not so much.  But all three of us always love the seeds.  I save the seeds from any kind of fall squash or pumpkin.  The method of preparing them is always the same.  And they are all equally tasty.  So the next time you are cleaning out the seed cavity of a squash, set the seeds aside... they make a wonderful, healthy, paleo snack and are a great to addition to granola, trail mix, or baked goods.  So here's how you make them.

Crispy Squash/Pumpkin Seeds

any fall squash or pumpkin of your liking
4 cups water
2 Tablespoons salt

You'll start by cutting your squash in half and cleaning out the seed cavity. 

Place the seeds and stringy squash "guts" into a bowl.  Once you've got your squash baking in the oven, take the time to clean the seeds.  This can be time consuming, depending on the type of squash used, but it's worth it, trust me.  I often will clean them to the point of the second picture below, set them aside for a bit. Then work at cleaning them again to get all the squash goop off. 

Once you have your clean seeds, place them in a clean bowl and cover with warm water.  Add salt and stir it up a little.  Then cover with a plate or cloth and let it sit on your countertop overnight, for at least 7 or 8 hours, but preferably for 24 hours.  (Sorry I don't have pictures of these steps from here on out... I swear I took them, but they did not upload onto my computer...).  This soaking step is necessary to reduce the seeds' antinutrients and help make them more digestible. 

After the seeds have soaked, spread them out evenly onto a dehydrator tray or cookie sheet.  Dry them until crisp and dry.  Dehydrating the seeds helps to preserve the enzymes, which helps with digestion.

Now your seeds are ready to eat!  You can leave them plain, or spice them up.  They are great either way.  If you leave them plain, they'll be nice and crunchy with a salty flavor to them - yum!  I usually fill glass quart jars with just plain crispy seeds to use throughout the year. 


This post is linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Grain-Free Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager

Egg in a Basket (with Zucchini)

Have you ever heard of Egg in a Basket, or Hole in the Heads, or One-Eyed Jacks?  It usually refers to the idea of cutting a round hole in a slice of toast, placing it in a frypan, and cracking an egg in the center to cook.  I always called them Hole in the Heads, but I figured Egg in a Basket was a more appropriate reference.  Since we're not eating bread at our house these days, I decided to try them with zucchini and summer squash since we are getting so much of it from our garden.  It's a good use for those zucchini or squash that get ginormous overnight when you don't think they're quite ready to pick the day prior.  We really enjoyed these.  And you really can't have a simpler breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Zucchini Eggs in a Basket

1 large zucchini or summer squash
eggs
coconut oil or butter for frying
celtic sea salt

Grease your pan with coconut oil or butter.  Let it heat up. 

Slice your zucchini or summer squash into about 1/2"-3/4" slices.  Use a sharp knife to cut the seeds out of the middle, leaving a hole. 

Fry up both sides of the zucchini until tender.  Then crack an egg into the center.  Flip over after the egg has cooked on the first side.  Sprinkle with celtic sea salt, serve, and enjoy! 


This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Zucchini Boats

We've been fortunate to have another bumper crop of zucchini again this year. Although, is there ever a year where everyone doesn't have a bumper crop of zucchini? :) It seems like its the veggie plant that just keeps on giving. Good thing we like zucchini! I generally use a lot of zucchini to bake with this time of year, but since we are trying to eat mostly paleo or primal, I'm not doing much dessert baking with it. We've been using most of it in our dinners - either as the main dish or a side dish. Something we've made a few times this year and have made many times over in years past (but I've never posted them) - are zucchini boats.

I don't ever follow a recipe, per se. I just throw together a bunch of random items that I have on hand and stuff it into the zucchini boats. There are lots of ideas out there for different concoctions and we've made our own versions of most of them... cheeseburger zucchini boats, italian meatball zucchini boats, taco zucchini boats, pizza zucchini boats, greek zucchini boats, etc. You can stuff them with just about anything. The night that this particular picture was taken (sorry I didn't get a picture after they were cooked!), I just through together some ground beef, diced tomatoes, diced onion, and diced bell pepper. Then I sprinkled on a little raw colby cheese about half way through cooking. It was a great tasting, healthy, and very quick weeknight dinner.

The idea for any zucchini boat is the same. I like to use medium sized zucchinis. You'll want to scoop out the seeds, just so you have a small hollow area to stuff. I've even mixed the seeds/flesh into my stuffing mixture before so I'm not wasting anything. Then throw together whatever sounds good to you for stuffing the zucchini. Stuff the zucchini boats. Place them in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes at 375, until done. Super easy!

Here are some ideas that I have made and we have liked:

• ground beef, ketchup, mustard, relish, cheese (cheeseburger)
• meatballs, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese (italian meatball)
• ground beef, diced onion, diced bell pepper, minced garlic, pasta sauce, mozzarella and parmesan cheese
• ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa - then serve with sour cream, avocado/guacomole (taco)
• ground lamb, feta, diced onions, diced olives (greek)
• ground beef/sausage, mushrooms, banana peppers, pepperoni, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese (pizza)
• ground beef, sausage, shredded cabbage, diced onion, diced tomatoes, ketchup

This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Paleo Dolmades (a.k.a. grape leaves)

As I mentioned in my post for chicken souvlaki, we had a greek feast with some friends on Saturday.  I decided to make some dolmades/grape leaves to go along with our meal.  Some people think making dolmades is really labor intensive, but I don't think so.  Yes, they take some time to roll up each dolma, but it goes really quickly, in my opinion.  I prepped these the night before so they were ready to stick in the oven to cook before dinner on Saturday.  And I probably only spent about 20-30 minutes prepping them on Friday night... which I don't consider bad at all. 

I used my own pickled grape leaves for these, but you can pick up a jar at the store in the international section, also.  Normally, dolmades have rice in them, but since we are avoiding grains as much as possible, I decided to try making them without the rice.  They turned out great!  No one missed the rice at all and everyone commented about how delicious they were. 

Paleo Dolmades

1 jar grape leaves
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
3 Tablespoons dried dill
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth

Take the grape leaves out of the jar, rinse, and drain. 

Mix the ground beef, onions, dill, mint, tomatoes, salt, and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. 

Place one grape leaf on a flat surface.  Place a small amount of the meat mixture (about 2-3 Tablespoons, maybe?) in the center of the bottom part of the leaf. 

Fold the bottom pieces of the grape leaf up over the meat. 

Then fold in each side of the grape leaf.  Once the sides are folded in, start to roll it up.  You'll want to roll it pretty tightly.

Then place the rolled dolma into a casserole dish.  You'll want to pack in the dolmades very tightly so that they are held in place during the cooking and don't risk opening up. 

Once you have all your dolmades in your casserole dish, pour the chicken broth over top, just enough to cover.  I actually ended up switching mine to a different casserole dish so that it wasn't filled to the top edge and wouldn't risk boiling over in the oven.  You can do all of this ahead of time.  If you are prepping ahead, cover the dish and stick it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them. 

When you are ready to cook the dolmades, preheat your oven to 375.  Cover your casserole dish with its lid (or foil if you don't have a lid) and bake for an hour to an hour and a half.  I cooked mine for an hour and a half.  Remove from oven, let cool slightly, and serve!  I've had dolmades with a tomato based sauce over them, an egg based sauce, and tzatziki.  They are great with any of these!  I decided to serve mine on Saturday with tzatziki. 



This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
Primal Cave @ Primal Toad
Grain Free Real Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager