But between my totally, completely, mind blowing-ly awesome Visalus Challenge (I've lost 10 pounds, thank you very much!!), keeping up with an active toddler, and trying to keep the rest of my life going, I spend just enough time at home to get 6-7 hours of sleep at night. That's about it! I get the chance to cook a few nights a week, thank goodness, and here's what I've cooked recently!
I made my Paleo Veggie Pasta, which is in my archive.
I also managed to cook up some
Mexican Beer Chicken
Ingredients:
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. coconut flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3"x3" sections (I was able to
slice mine in half short ways and have it be about perfect)
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3/4 C. light colored beer
Directions:
In bowl combine ingredients cumin through flour. Rub chicken on both sides with this spice mixture and set aside for 10-15 minutes.
Heat oil and butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until golden on both sides, about 5-6 minutes per side (you may have to do this in batches). Set aside on a clean plate as you finish.
Use paper towels to soak up any extra oil in the skillet. Return chicken to pan, and add garlic, jalapeno, and beer.
Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, checking every 5 minutes, and turning to coat chicken evenly in sauce. At the end, it should look like a glaze.
I served mine with mashed white beans. But this is good with sweet potato fries, Spanish rice, or sauteed veggies.
Summer Veggie Tian
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 medium yellow onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried thyme
to taste salt & pepper
1 C shredded Italian cheese
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).
While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.
Spray the inside of an 8×8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.
Paleo Biscuits and Gravy
Ingredients:
Biscuits:
6 large egg whites
1/4 C coconut flour
3/4 C blanched almond flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
dash of salt
Sausage:
1 lb. ground pork
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
Gravy:
Sausage recipe
1 Tbsp almond flour
1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
1 can coconut milk
2 tsp sage
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cayenne
1/2 C chicken stock (as needed)
Directions:
Biscuits:
In bowl, whisk egg whites until they are very frothy.
In separate bowl mix two flours and baking powder, and then with a knife cut in the coconut oil and salt. Your mixture will be crumbly.
Refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove flour mix from fridge, and gently fold in egg whites, stirring to combine.
Spoon batter onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden
Gravy:
Saute sausage in large skillet until completely cooked (sometimes I add a little bacon).
Remove sausage from pan, saving about 2 Tbsp of drippings in the pan.
Add almond flour and arrowroot powder to pan and whisk with fat over medium-low heat until a paste is formed.
Pour in about 1/4 of the coconut milk, the sage, paprika and cayenne. Increase to medium heat and stir often, making sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom.
Add remaining milk and bring to simmer.
Add sausage back in and continue to simmer, stirring often, until gravy reaches desired consistency. If gravy becomes to thick, thin with small amounts of stock.
Pour over biscuits.
Honestly...I don't know anyone who can make biscuits and gravy look "pretty" haha!
Went to my mama's house this Sunday for dinner, and I volunteered to make dinner there. Mom made a very nice Pesto over Zucchini and Mushrooms, and I made:
Goat Cheese Spinach Quinoa
Ingredients:
1/4 cup quinoa
3 tablespoons
olive oil
2 tablespoons
raw sunflower seeds
2 cloves
garlic, minced
1/2 cup
fresh spinach leaves
2 teaspoons
lemon juice
1/3 cup
grated goat gouda cheese
Directions:
Bring a pot
of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, and
cook until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a mesh
strainer, and rinse until cold; set aside.
Heat the
olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stir in the sunflower seeds,
and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the garlic, and
cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the cooled quinoa and spinach; cook and stir until the quinoa is
hot, and the spinach has wilted. Stir in the lemon juice, and all but a
pinch of the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted.
Serve sprinkled
with the remaining cheese.
Sadly, Tuesday morning I started to feel a cold coming on. Just in time for my hubby to leave on a business trip for 4 days, and leave me alone with our healthy, rambunctious 2 year old!! So I decided I needed plentiful spicy foods to "burn it out"!! And spicy foods can come in so many varieties!
So that night I went the Mexican spicy route with
Mini Pepper Nachos
courtesy of one of my fav blogs: Closet Cooking
Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup black beans
- 2/3 cup pico de gallo or your favourite salsa (I used my homemade salsa, which you can find in my
- archive)
- 1 medium avocado, diced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound mini peppers, halved and seeded
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup green onions or cilantro
Mix the black beans, pico de gallo and avocado and season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet, fill with the filling, sprinkle on the cheese and broil until the cheese has melted, about 2-4 minutes.
Serve garnished with green onions or cilantro.
Then last night I decided to go the spicy Indian route!!
Crockpot Indian Chola
Ingredients:
2 cups of chickpeas soaked overnight (this is about 1 1/2 cans if you're using canned)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, minced
2 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1-inch piece ginger, minced
1 14 oz can of coconut milk
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp curry powder
1.5 tsp mustard seeds (you can use ground mustard if you like, but only use half the amount)
2 tsp salt
Directions:
Blend all the ingredients but chickpeas in a food processor or a blender until liquid. Wash and drain chickpeas, place them in crockpot, pour the blended mixture over and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 4-5 (unless you have a nuclear crockpot like mine, in which case the Warm setting for 8-9 hours is sufficient. Low would cook it too much).
Serve warm with Naan.
A note on Naan...no it is not Paleo, and rarely gluten free. However, I have tried making my own of both versions, and they just don't taste as good as traditional naan....use at your discretion.
