EatPood

Dreamy!

Today my boss, Coach Rachael, gently prodded me to post something by pointing out that tomorrow is National Peanut Butter Day. Yes, it has been a while since I posted a recipe. Mea culpa, peeps!

Right now, I’m in the midst of Day Seven of my second Whole30. In the first six days, I’ve had no fewer than three food-related nightmares. In my dreams, I’ve eaten cake with pink frosting and a bite of a cookie. Plus I drank a glass of champagne. Terrifying ! Well, maybe not to everyone, but all of these things are verboten on the Whole30 – as is peanut butter. I dare not encourage you to cook with peanut butter because I fear it will lead to another nightmare for me!

I do, however, have an almond butter recommendation from the brilliant Everyday Paleo.

Thai “No Peanut” Sauce
½ cup almond butter
½ cup canned coconut milk
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
Juice from ½ a lime
½ tablespoon fish sauce
1 ½ teaspoons fresh grated ginger
½ teaspoon crushed garlic
Hot chili oil to taste (I used ground fresh chili paste because that’s what I had)

Whisk all ingredients together in a medium sized mixing bowl and serve as a dipping sauce.

As recommended by Everyday Paleo, we tried this over Thai beef stir fry. Click the link for instructions. We also had it with chicken from a Barefoot Contessa recipe that I love. I marinated our chicken in lemon juice and olive oil. I used this No Peanut sauce in place of the actual peanut sauce I used to make. It was great!

Food 911

In the fall, I started reading Nom Nom Paleo - a great Paleo resource. Nom Nom* is married to FitBomb. They’re a crossfitting, paleo-eating power couple. I especially like Nom Nom because she makes me laugh; she cusses like a sailor; and oh yeah – the food.

There are often references to "Emergency Protein" on Nom Nom Paleo. I’ve discerned that this isn’t a specific dish. It’s just a batch of yummy stuff Nom Nom keeps around so she and her family don’t eat a bunch of crap.

Today I’m giving you my take on Emergency Protein. Use it in stuffed peppers. Create a spaghetti squash casserole. Serve it over mashed cauliflower.  Eat it as is from a bowl (which I happen to be doing right now). My kids like it. Cliff likes it. I like it. The dog likes it. You get the picture.

Versatile Protein
2# grass fed ground beef
2T olive oil
4 carrots, diced small
4 stalks celery diced small
1 yellow onion, diced small
4 garlic cloves, minced
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2T tomato paste
1T herbes de provence
1/2 C chopped kalamata olives
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the carrots, celery and onion until they begin to soften.

Add the ground beef to the pan. While you brown the beef, break it up with a wooden spoon. Next add the garlic and the herbs. Mix well and cook for about 1 minute.

Make a well in the middle of the meat mixture, and add the tomato paste. Let it heat a little bit, and then mix it into the meat. Add the diced tomatoes and the olives. Mix well.

Lastly, add the vinegar, salt and pepper and stir.

*Girlfriend doesn’t disclose her name on the blog although Fit Bomb refers to her as M. I’m sure I could have figured out her name with my dogged Googling skills, but I decided that it really was none of my business. 

The Soup

I’m calling this "the soup" (or "the" soup) because it doesn’t have another name. Maybe one of you can come up with some clever moniker.  We will submit it to Sarah Fragoso at Everyday Paleo.  Of course, she'll love our inventive brilliance, and so she'll invite us to visit her in Chico.  We'll become BFFs and co-author several bestselling books.  It's going to be fabulous.  I can't wait.  Get to work already!

Back on earth... I like this recipe because I have these ingredients on hand pretty much all the time. I changed the recipe a little bit here and there. I’ve found it to be forgiving in that you can sub in different ingredients. The first time I made this I used Italian sausage and green beans. Then another time I didn’t have green beans so I used broccoli. Then, yet another time, I used chorizo.  It always works out.

Insert Fitting Name Here

2T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1# grass fed ground beef
1# pork sausage
2t garlic powder
2t dried basil
1T oregano
1t sea salt
3 dashes cayenne pepper
4 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 big handfuls green beans, cut into 1" pieces
4C chicken broth
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, and sauté until transparent. Add beef and sausage. Brown meat while breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon.

When the meat is brown, add the carrots and celery, and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and cayenne pepper.

Add the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Then add the green beans, and simmer about 15 minutes more until the beans are tender.

Eat Some Cake

I don't have time for a lot of song and dance today.  I'm far too busy and important to wow you with my literary stylings.  I know you're all heartbroken and such, but that's life in the not-so-big city. 

Here's your recipe, pals.  I haven't had real pineapple upside-down cake in a several hundred years so I can't compare.  I can tell you that this cake is super duper moist.  Also, this is a good way to make use of a pineapple that you've let hang around on the kitchen counter too long.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2 C blanched almond flour
3 eggs
1/4 C butter, melted
1/2 C honey
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
one fresh pineapple, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a food processor (for a smoother texture) mix the eggs, honey, cooled melted butter, and vanilla.  Stop the processor, and scrape down the edges.  Add the blanched almond flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix again, and scrape down the edges. Mix one final time.

Line the bottom of a 9 inch circular baking dish or spring form pan with parchment paper, and then grease the paper and pan with butter. Place the pineapple slices in the bottom of the dish.

Pour the batter over the pineapple slices. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Remove from oven, and cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes.  Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a butter knife.  Then invert the pan, and remove the cake from the pan onto a cooling rack or serving plate.

Serve.

Recipe from The Almond Flower.

Looking ahead toward Christmas

Before turning to food, let's just gush about the owners of our box for a minute, okay?  They are so amazing!  The new space is absolutely fantastic.  I'm in awe of their ability to make things happen, and I'm so grateful to know each and every one of them.  Thank you ladies, and Sr.

I wrote this blog entry about two weeks ago, but I didn't get it posted.  You see, I wanted to post some other things first and save this one for next week.  That didn't happen.  In any event, don't let me forget to tell you about:

"The" Soup:

Emergency Protein:

Gluten Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake:

Pressure Cooker Coq au Vin:

Christmas Cookies, Anyone?

Finally, before we get to the actual post...  A couple of people have asked whether I found any paleo-ish Christmas cookie recipes.  I've been snooping around, and I found several I'd like to try.  If you'd like to come over and do some experimental baking with me, post a comment.  I'll get in touch and organize a time that works best for everyone. 

The Recipe

With all that out of the way, here we go with the food and photos:

Right now, this very minute as I type my missive to you, I have a stew in the oven. This is the 3rd time I’ve made it. You cannot believe how easy and delicious it is. Plus, it has a certain I don’t know what (je ne sais quoi if you're fancy) but I’m calling it: Homey Elegance. I’m in love!

I made this dish for superfriends, the Paula Pauls, and also for some non-CrossFitting girlfriends. The girlfriends asked for the recipe so I’ll take that as an endorsement! I think this would make a lovely rustic-style Christmas dinner. The stew comes together very quickly, and then you put it the oven and walk away for a few hours. That’s my kind of cooking, friends.

I tweaked a recipe I found on Jamie Oliver's website to make it paleo friendly. Here it is…

Jools’s Favourite Beef Stew

For the stew:
olive oil
a knob of butter (my interpretation = 2T)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
a handful of fresh sage leaves
2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 2-inch pieces
cut into 2 inch pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
coconut flour, to dust the beef
2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
4 carrots, peeled and halved
1 butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced
optional: a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1¹⁄₄ cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock

For the gremolata:
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an oven safe pot with lid. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes.

Season the coconut flour with salt and pepper, and toss the meat in the seasoned coconut flour.

Add the meat to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato paste, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt.  At this point, I also add another knob of butter.  What can I say?  Butter is good.

Bring to a boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender.
This usually takes only 2 hours with the stew meat I get from Swift Level Farm - the meat is already cut into pieces, a real time saver. Jamie Oliver’s original recipe states that this could take 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 225°F and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.

To make the gremolata, in a small bowl mix together the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and finely chopped garlic.

Ladle the stew into bowls and then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of gremolata onto each serving.

To see the original version of this recipe, click here.

 

What are we eating(?) plus a recipe

Sometimes meal planning is a troublesome nuisance. I know it, baby, but for the past week or so, I’ve been cruising along without much problem. I thought I’d share a snapshot of what we’ve been eating, just in case you’re looking for inspiration. Also, there’s a recipe at the end because I’m nice like that.

Saturday 11/12 - Red pepper, bacon and feta stuffed chicken breasts with braised cabbage

Sunday 11/13 - Apple cider-braised pork shoulder with Brussels sprouts and apple sauce

Monday 11/14 - Oven baked chicken with roasted carrots

Tuesday 11/15 - Meatballs in Marinara and Salad

Wednesday 11/16 - Buffalo chicken tenders with sliced veggies and homemade ranch dressing

Thursday 11/17 – A cobb salad of sorts - spinach salad with hard boiled eggs, sandy creek farms turkey deli meat, bacon, avocado, green onions, orange peppers and homemade ranch dressing

Friday 11/18 - Dinner out at Bridge Road Bistro – I had a grassfed beef burger (no bun) with caramelized onions, bacon and mushrooms along with a Bistro Autumn Salad. Cliff had tuna tartar.

Saturday 11/19 – Apple Cider Braised pork shoulder with mashed sweet potatoes, applesauce and spinach salad with roasted beets, oranges and feta

Sunday 11/20 – pan roasted pork chops with cranberry red wine sauce, sautéed kale, mashed sweet potatoes and applesauce.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders
2# boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders
½ C Frank’s Red Hot (original)
½ C melted coconut oil or melted butter
2t garlic powder
1/2t cayenne pepper (or less if you don’t things too spicy)

Preheat oven to 400.

If you are using chicken breasts, slice them vertically into the size of chicken tenders. If you have tenders, ignore this paragraph.

Whisk sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.  Actually, I melted the oil in a very small sauce pan and then whisked the other ingredients directly into the sauce pan.  And, if you want to know my deepest, darkest secrets, next time I'm using pastured butter in place of the coconut oil. 

Place chicken in a gallon Ziploc bag and pour half of sauce over chicken. Pour the other half of the sauce into a bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken. You will toss the cooked chicken in this sauce after it cooks.

Seal bag and toss chicken in buffalo sauce.

Place chicken tenders on a broiler pan and bake at 400 for 25 minutes.  I used a baking sheet covered in foil. 

Remove the cooked chicken to the bowl with the remaining sauce. Toss the chicken in the sauce until it is well-coated.

Serve chicken with fresh sliced veggies and homemade ranch dressing.

Chicken recipe adapted from The Food Lovers' Primal Palate.

Cabbage and Info

Monday night we had our nutrition talk, and we conveyed a lot of general information in a short of amount of time. I was thinking that you might want more specifics. I’m not an expert, but I’ve been working on clean eating for almost three years now. I know where to get stuff. I order certain things to eat when I go out. I have a lot of meal ideas because I’m always cooking. With that, I’m always trolling websites, and I have several I would recommend. I am happy to share this info with you.

For instance, yesterday Caroline texted me and asked me whether she could get blanched almond flour at Kanawha City Kroger. I can say unequivocally that I’m fully qualified to direct you to the appropriate aisle at Kroger (Kanawha City, Ashton Place and maybe South Charleston). I really don’t mind. If you have a specific question about anything (CrossFit food related that is), post a comment. If you want, I’ll email you with my cell number so you can text me from Kroger too. If I don’t know the answer to one of your probing questions, I’ll find someone who does. I promise.

Here’s a little recipe for you. Cabbage, even organic cabbage, is inexpensive and a little goes a long way. I have a memory of loving buttered cabbage and noodles at my grandparents’ house when I was a girl. I wanted to recreate that without the noodles. Nom Nom Paleohelped me out. Thanks!

Stovetop Braised Cabbage

½ head green cabbage, sliced into noodle-ish strips
½ yellow onion, sliced
2 T pastured butter or ghee
2 carrots, julienned
Chicken broth
Splash of cider vinegar
Celtic sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter in a dutch oven. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Then toss in the carrots and sauté a few minutes more.

Add the cabbage and about 1/8 C chicken broth. Cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until the cabbage softens. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a splash of cider vinegar. I also added some more butter at the end because I wanted it more buttery, duh!

I know my carrots aren't julienned, technically, but they were thin enough.

Recipe adapted from Nom Nom Paleo.

Fall Flavor

Look at this handsome man!

On Sunday, we raked leaves together and baked pumpkin muffins. I don’t know where all his friends were hiding, but I’m sure glad I got to have him all to myself for a few hours.

These muffins have made two appearances at Chez Kinney (in the course of two days)! The first time I made them as mini muffins. I only baked them for 15 minutes, but I found them to be a little dry. On Sunday, Jack and I made a double batch. We used ½ C currants and 1/2 C craisins in place of the raisins. I like them better as full on muffins. 

We ended up with 2 dozen muffins that we have been sharing with friends.  But, that took 5 cups of almond flour, people, and this stuff doesn't grow on trees.  Well, okay, so maybe it does, if you live in California, which I don't, but I'm not bitter.  Sooooo, this recipe has inspired me to import another economy-sized bag of almond flour from Nuts Online. 

Regardless of current almond flour prices, you need to give these little buggers a try. Yum!

Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins

2 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey
4 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners (12 muffins).

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric beater to thoroughly combine all ingredients EXCEPT almond flour, walnuts, and raisins.

Stir in almond flour until well combined.

Stir in walnuts and raisins (or currants and craisins or dark chocolate chips...).

Spoon batter into muffin cups, using wet fingers to press down any bumps on the tops before baking. Makes 12 muffins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Recipe from Spark Recipes.

Can't get enough soup!

Whenever I make chicken, I freeze the carcass so I can use it to make soup, and this morning I woke up with that plan in mind. Also, there’s been some butternut squash on my counter staring me down for about a week. I knew I wanted to use those little guys too, being tired of them eyeballing me all the time. I did a quick internet search and found a recipe that inspired me.

It really is a little tedious to remove chicken meat from the carcass. But, I get a strange sense of satisfaction while I'm doing it (in an I-feel-like-Ma-Ingalls kind of way).  The important thing is that the broth tastes exponentially better than what you get from a can or a box - there's nothing strange about that, baby!

Here’s what I came up with…

Roasted Chicken and Butternut Squash Soup
2 chicken carcasses
water
butternut squash (about 3 pounds), peeled, seeded, and diced medium
1 small yellow onion, diced medium
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Fresh cilantro (optional)

Put the chicken carcasses (they can be frozen!) in a Dutch oven, and fill the post with enough water to cover the carcasses most of the way.

Bring the pot up to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Simmer for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

The meat will be falling off the bone at this point. Drain the broth through a colander into a large bowl and set aside.

Next, transfer the chicken carcasses into another large bowl, and allow them to cool. You can put them in the fridge to expedite the process.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a baking sheet, toss together the squash and onion, arranging them in a single layer.  Drizzle on the oil, and season with 1t celtic gray sea salt and 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper.

Roast until the squash is cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Transfer about half of the squash and onions back into your Dutch oven, and add 4 cups of your broth along with the cumin and coriander. Using an immersion blender or a potato masher, mash the vegetables that are in the pot. Then, transfer the remaining vegetables into the mixture. These will stay nice and chunky.

When the chicken is cool, remove the meat from the bone. If necessary, cut it into bite-sized pieces before adding it to the soup. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Stir in the lemon juice along with 2 additional cups of broth. Add the chicken pieces and heat the soup over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve topped with fresh cilantro, if desired.

Here’s a link to the real recipe from Martha Stewart.  You might like this if you don’t have chicken carcasses laying about.  But, if you decide to use chicken carcasses, you'll have about a quart of delicious broth left over.

Happy People

Sometimes I forget how easy it is to make my kids happy. Take breakfast for dinner. That makes them happy, especially if there’s bacon involved. Last week we had coconut flour pancakes, bacon and sliced fruit. You’d have thought I surprised them with a puppy. They were that happy! Well, at least the kids were. Cliff would NOT be happy if I brought home a puppy. But back to my story… the kids also get really excited whenever I make applesauce. Local apples are in season, and I’ve been busy getting saucy.  It’s easy and Paleo and better yet, it makes everyone happy. 

Applesauce
12 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced into about 8 slices each. I like to use a combination of soft and firm apples.
2 sticks cinnamon

Place apples and cinnamon in a large glass baking dish bowl with lid. I usually add about ¼ of water to the dish too.

 
Bake covered at 350° for 1½ hours.

Allow to cool slightly.

Crush apples with a potato masher until sauce is desired consistency.

 
 
I’m going to be honest here. I just peel and cut apples until my two quart baking dish is full. Then I throw the cinnamon sticks on and bake it. You can get a huge bag of flat cinnamon sticks at the International Market for $2.99. It’s worth the trip!

Recipe from Elana's Pantry.