Little ol’ me in Woman’s World Magazine!!! And of course a recipe…

I am completely humbled, excited, and honored to say that Woman’s World Magazine contacted me a few months ago in regards to Paleo nutrition and they are running a story in their April 26th issue on the Paleo diet including an interview and photos of little ol’ me!!  Woman’s World first contacted Dr. Cordain who put them in touch with Robb Wolf who sent them my before and after pics, and there you go, I’m in a magazine.  So Freaking Crazy!!  So, make sure to check out the April 26th issue of Woman’s World, found in your local grocery isle….  What a trip life is!!  : )

Ok, so on to recipes.  Here is what we had for breakfast the other day.  It was not breakfast-y at all but why does breakfast have to be?

Un-breakfast Breakfast

Diced pork carnitas (from TJ’s)

1 giant bunch of red chard

1/2 a bag of frozen bell pepper and onion mix from TJ’s

1/2 a can of salsa verde from TJ’s

lots of olive oil

Chop and then saute greens in the olive oil with the bells and onions until the greens are soft.  Throw in the pork loin until warm and mix in salsa verde.  Oh, and the next day, I had some left over so I scrambled a couple of eggs with the left overs for more of a breakfast type breakfast.  Enjoy!

Spicy Speedy Stuffed Peppers and Pressure Cooked Artichokes

I love stuffed bell peppers and I often make them in the crock pot but this is another way I make them that is fast and relatively easy to do.  I also made artichokes in my pressure cooker – which I recommend for all of you busy paleo cooks our there, because a pressure cooker, I simply couldn’t live without.  It’s so nice to make sweet potatoes in 6 minutes, artichokes in 5, and butternut squash in 12…

Spicy Speedy Stuffed Peppers

1 container of mirepoix mix from trader Joe’s or 1 diced yellow onion, 5-6 diced carrots, and 6-8 diced celery stalks

1 lb of italian gluten free chicken sausage removed from their casing

1-2 lbs of grass fed ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes

5-6 bell peppers (I like the red and yellow ones the best for these but green is good too)

dried oregano, big bunch of chopped fresh basil or dried basil, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper to taste 

One or two big squirts of Sriracha hot sauce (if you want to have them not spicy, these are great without the hot sauce)

A lot of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Place one big soup pot filled with water and turn on high to bring to a boil.  While you are waiting for the water to boil, cover the bottom of another big soup pot with a lot of olive oil and over medium heat toss in the the onion, celery, and carrots.  Crumble in the sausage and ground beef and add the dried seasonings to the meat BEFORE it’s entirely cooked.  Mix well and let the meat and veggies cook over medium low heat stirring occasionally.  In the meantime, remove just the tops of the bell peppers, and rinse well to remove all the seeds.  By now your water should be boiling.  Place the bell peppers gently in the boiling water and submerge them for 5-6 minutes or until the bell peppers are just a little soft but NOT falling apart.  While the bell peppers are boiling, add the can of tomatoes to the meat mixture and bring to a simmer.  Pull the bell peppers out of the water with tongs and arrange in a large baking dish.  Fill each bell pepper with the meat mixture (don’t be shy, stuff em’ good!) and bake in your pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. 

Pressure Cooked Artichokes

Cut of the stem of your artichokes, leaving about 1/2 an inch

Cut of the top as well to remove the sharp ends of the leaves

Place stem side down in the bottom of the pressure cooker and add 1 cup water.  Turn heat on high and once it has been brought up to pressure, cook for 4-6 minutes depending on the size of your artichokes. 

Also pictured is “cauliflower rice” which is just steamed cauliflower roughly mashed and then seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and a little sea salt.

Enjoy!! 

Egg Cupcakes!

Who doesn’t want cupcakes for breakfast?  Really, if you had the option and you knew you wouldn’t end up on a sugar rushed carb crashed stomach turned bathroom fest, wouldn’t you go for it? 

Well, now you can have cupcakes for breakfast or at least little mini crust-less quiches that are shaped like cupcakes and like my good friend Natalie said,  (amazing athlete, trainer, and paleo cook extraordinaire who came up with these tasty breakfast treats) ”With a name like Egg Cupcakes, your kids will LOVE these for breakfast!”  

I suggest making these on the weekend so you have breakfast ready for at least the first few mornings of your busy week.  The ingredients are versatile so get creative but here’s one of my favorite combos.

Egg Cupcakes

10 -12 eggs whisked well

1 green onion

2 zucchini

3 big handfuls of spinach

1/2 a jar of roasted red and yellow peppers

6-8 slices of COOKED bacon

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and grease with olive oil two muffin pans. Whisk all your eggs in a big bowl. In a food processor throw in the green onion, zucchini, bacon, and peppers and process until finely chopped but NOT smooth (yuck…).  Add  this mixture to your eggs.  Throw your spinach into the processor and finely chop and also add to your eggs. Mix the egg mixture well and using a 1/4 measuring cup, fill the muffin pans (you’ll be able to make 18-20 cupcakes).  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle.  These are great to take on the go and I like mine with some sliced avocado and green salsa. 

Enjoy!

Recipes for a day in the life…

I got a little taste of what summer will be like with my two school age boys on spring break this past week.  The weather was warm, the kids were full of energy, and both were excited to be free of homework and the “daily routine”.  Here is a day of food from one of our busier days.

Breakfast was a Bacon Frittata:

8 strips of diced cooked bacon

1 carton of sliced mushrooms

1 bag of fresh spinach

1 dozen eggs

lots of olive oil

In a large skillet, saute mushrooms, spinach, and bacon in olive oil until the spinach cooks down.  Evenly spread the bacon and veggies over the bottom of the skillet.  Scramble the dozen eggs and pour over the bacon and veggie mixture.  Turn the heat down to low and cover for about 3-4 minutes.  Take the lid off and finish the frittata in the oven under the broiler until the eggs become firm.  Slice like a pizza and serve.  We ate our with sliced avocado and salsa.

Lunch was Protein Style Animal Style In N Out Burgers…. No need to say anymore than that.  : )

Dinner was Curried Chicken in the Crock Pot

3-4 lbs of free range organic chicken thighs

1 bag of baby carrots

1 can coconut milk

cinnamon

curry powder

ground turmeric

garlic powder

sea salt

Place chicken thighs in the crock pot and generously sprinkle on all the spices, mix well to make sure all the chicken pieces are well coated.  Pour in the coconut milk and add the bag of baby carrots on top.  Cook all day on low.  Serve with your favorite greens.  I have blogged a similar recipe using a whole chicken and cauliflower but it’s so good and easy I think it’s worth revisiting!!

Enjoy!

Tangy Salad Dressing/Marinade and yes… More Meatballs!!

The following recipe is a tangy tasty salad dressing but could also be great as a marinade for chicken or fish.  Also you will find another meatball recipe.  This one is so quick and easy and I even made a fast sauce that the kids really liked over their meatballs.

Sun Dried Tomato Salad Dressing

1/2 a jar of sun dried tomatoes

generous amount of olive oil (about 1/2 cup or more if making marinade)

1 big spoonful of capers

juice from 1/2 of a lemon

3-4 garlic cloves

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

sea salt and black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.  I put this over an organic spring lettuce mix salad with some broccoli slaw and 1/2 diced apple.

Meatballs in Minutes

2lbs grass fed ground beef

generous amount of the following: garlic powder, ground marjoram, black pepper, and fresh rosemary

sea salt to taste

Mix all ingredients with your hands.  Form golf ball size meatballs and place in a well oiled skillet over medium heat.  Brown on all sides, cover and steam for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle.  Serve alone or with the following sauce.

Sauce

1 can of tomato bisque soup from Trader Joe’s

1/4 cup organic heavy cream

drippings from meatball pan

Whisk all together in a pan and bring to a simmer.  Serve over meatballs if desired.

Also pictured is mashed yams – pressure cook yams for 7 minutes and mash with organic butter, 1/4 cup apple sauce, a dash of nutmeg and ginger, and tons of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Easy and Amazing Roast Chicken

This is a recipe for a whole roast chicken that I found on Epicurious that I revised to make even easier.  It seems to0 easy to even be good but this was sincerely the best roast chicken I have ever had.

Roast Chicken

1 free range/farm raised 4-5 lb chicken

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 450. Wash chicken and thoroughly dry the chicken inside the cavity and out with paper towels.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan and generously sprinkle the entire chicken with sea salt (inside the cavity as well).  The recipe on epicurious said to “rain” the salt down on the chicken, maybe that’s the secret…. I did not tress it, add any butter, thyme, or even pepper, just the salt, and after about an hour in the oven, the chicken was crispy golden brown on the outside and incredibly tender, juicy, flavorful and delicious on the inside!  The best parts of the chicken is what we could pick right off the bones – my two year old ate most of his dinner before we even got the chicken to the table…

I served the chicken with mashed cauliflower that I seasoned with garlic powder and black pepper as well as a fresh arugula and spring mix salad with diced apples, olive oil, and lemon juice. 

Enjoy!!

The Perfect Poached Egg

Sick of scrambled eggs – try poached!  I always assumed that poached eggs were for folks who had more culinary expertise and patience then little ol’ me.  Although I love to cook - I find more frustration then satisfaction when trying to make ANYTHING that is as lovely and delicate as a poached egg.  BUT – thanks to my dear friend Laura H., my mind has been forever changed about my prior notion of the impossible feat of producing the perfect poached egg.  I also must express my gratification to Laura H., who not only has taught me how to make the perfect poached egg but also adds love and light to my life and to the lives of my husband and children – thank you sweet Laura we love you!

Perfect Poached Egg

Bring a SMALL pot of water to a rapid boil and pour in a drop of apple cider vinegar.  Crack one egg, being careful to keep the yolk in tact, and slip the egg into the boiling water.  With a spatula, keep the water moving by gently sweeping the water above the egg.  After a minute or two use the spatula to lift the egg from the water to check to see if it’s done.  The perfect poached egg will have a cooked white and a bright yellow yolk.  Serve immediately!  My kiddos LOVE these eggs served in a bowl with a sprinkle of sea salt and some cracked black pepper.  My husband and I enjoyed poached eggs the other morning with fresh pork sausage patties and avocado slices…