EatPood

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.