Paying homage to Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde.

I have recently discovered that Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde makes just about anything rather delicious so this is my homage to the wonderfully inexpensive and tasty green concoction:

Salsa Verde over eggs:  Pour it over scrambled or over easy eggs and top with diced avocado.

Salsa Verde as a dressing:  Toss left over chicken with some salad greens, green onions, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and diced bell peppers.  Use the Salsa Verde for a refreshing taco salad-ish dressing.

Meat cooked in  Salsa Verde: I have made this several times, my two favorites have been Pork Loin and Chicken.

Pork Loin:

Place entire pork loin in the crock pot.  Sprinkle the loin with some sea salt.  Add two cans of diced green chilis and two jars of Salsa Verde. Cook all day on low.  Make lettuce tacos or serve over kale, chard, or whatever greens you might like.

Chicken:

Put a whole chicken in the crock pot.  Add 3 chopped carrots, 4 chopped celery stalks, and 1 sliced red onion.   Pour in two jars of salsa verde and one can of diced tomatoes.  Cook all day on low.

Salsa Verde for tacos: Brown 1 lb of grass fed beef, season with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, a little cayenne, and a little sea salt. Pour in a jar of Salsa Verde and bring to a simmer.  The possibilities of this mixture are endless: Lettuce tacos, taco salad, serve the meat over sliced purple cabbage, scramble the meat mixture with eggs, it’s all good!!!!

Don’t be afraid – it’s only a fish taco!

Breakfast today was leftover beef stew from last night, hard-boiled eggs, and avocado.  Lunch was salmon patties from Costco – heat for 3 min on each side in a skillet with olive oil.  I made “fish tacos” out of the patties with romaine lettuce leaves, diced tomatoes, broccoli slaw, a little mayo, and some hot sauce.  Rowan looks scared of the taco, but he chowed them down, despite his initial fears!  : )  For dinner I threw a bag of brussel sprouts in the microwave for 4 minutes, chopped them in quarters, chopped a package of bacon, and sauteed all together with already cooked chicken from TJ’s, vegetable blend, bell peppers and onions, pepper, a little sea salt, and a little chicken broth.

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Our Food 11/04

Monday morning I made Karina’s sweet potato hash.  I grated two sweet potatoes and cooked with crumbled pork sausage and butter until the sausage was brown and crisp and the potatoes were soft and starting to crisp up.  I seasoned it all with cinnamon and ground ginger.  Lunch that day was quick and easy: sliced ham, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, carrots and celery, and steamed broccoli. Breakfast yesterday and today was the leftover sweet potato hash.  Lunch today was coleslaw: shredded green cabbage, sliced turkey lunch meat, chopped apple, sunflower seeds, lemon juice (fresh squeezed by Rowan), a little mayo, olive oil, and ground black pepper.  We also had hard boiled eggs with tomatoes and avocado.  I made dinner in the Crockpot as usual… I used stew meat, a mix from Trader Joe’s of already chopped turnips, yams, and butternut squash, the chopped up carrot, onion, and celery mix from TJ’s, a can of tomato bisque soup, a little chicken broth, sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, a pinch of cayenne, and basil.  About 10 minutes to prep, cooked all day on low, yummy goodness for dinner

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Paleo Party for 10

It was a Paleo Party!  On Halloween evening we fed a party of 10 – 6 adults and 4 kids – an amazing paleo feast.  John grilled sirloin and hamburgers seasoned with sea salt, pepper, and a grill seasoning mix from Trader Joe’s (find with the rest of the spices across from the nuts).  He also grilled chicken legs seasoned with a little sea salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice, as well as bell peppers and eggplant basted with olive oil.  The salad was a lettuce mix from the farmers market, chopped apples, sundried tomatoes, slivered almonds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and topped with crumbled goat cheese.  I made a butternut squash “mash”.  I pressure cooked the squash for 12 minutes mashed it with organic butter, sea salt, cinnamon, and a pinch of ground ginger.  We also served cold shrimp with lemon and cocktail sauce.  Our not-so-paleo visiting family didn’t even look around for the missing french bread!  Mission accomplished. : )

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Happy Halloween!

This week has been crazy.  Two birthdays, Halloween, school parties, work, life… So, here is a little photo collage of how we survived – nutrition wise – even amongst the craziness.  We all pretty much lived on eggs cooked various ways (my deviled eggs are mayo, sea salt, pepper, dill, and red wine vinegar), chicken salad from Raleys, coleslaw made with cabbage, apples, and broccoli slaw, baby sweet potatoes from Traders that you cook right in the package, only takes 5 min in the microwave, tri-tip already cooked from Raleys (not sure about the quality or what they season it with, I felt kind of yucky after we ate it…) frozen green beans, and “all natural” hot dogs from Traders.  I’m happy for the weekend and we started this morning right with the last picture of eggs, bacon and raspberries.  Yum!  Happy Halloween!!

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Our Food 10/28

Breakfast was leftover meatballs with a little bit of leftover scrambled eggs and ham that the boys made while I was working this morning. Usually when I come home, breakfast is gone and I have to make my own. : ) Lunch was a fast shrimp stir fry: frozen shrimp from TJ’s, broccolli, carrots, artichoke hearts, zuchini, olive oil, butter, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and dill. 10 min to prep and cook. Dinner in the crockpot – chicken thighs and legs, rub with cumin, garlic powder, little bit of cinnamon, sea salt, and cayenne. Mix in celery, carrot, onion blend, can of diced green chilles, two jars of green salsa from TJ’s, cook all day on low, serve as lettuce tacos. Today Rowan turned 2 and I baked a gluten free cake using the gluten free brownie mix – added some apple sauce to the mix to make it more like cake – again from good ol’ Trader Joe’s.

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