EatPood

Crockpot Experiment

This past week Jack and I made meatballs and marinara sauce, something we’ve been eating, let’s say, frequently.  As we sat down to dinner, Jack told me, “I’m not really feeling the meatballs, Mom. We have them all the time.”   Turn back the clock six or seven months and he was saying, in a disgruntled tone, “We never eat the same meal twice.”  He was right, mind you.  I had more time to find new recipes.  To make a long, boring story even longer, but hopefully not more boring, I tried something new last week.  Jack didn’t even get to eat it because he was sick.  Oh well – those are the breaks! 

Here is the link to the recipe, but below is the way I made it.  I intend to do it differently the next time too.  I’ll add those notes at the end of the recipe.

One last thing before the recipe, in my last post, I proposed a veggie cooking experience which I would host at my house.  Maybe you didn't see it because it was at the end of the recipe?  Maybe no one is interested?  I thought I would take a chance and ask again.  Leave a comment if this sounds like something you'd like to try.   

Crockpot Mongolian Beef

2# grass-fed beef stew meat

½ t minced fresh ginger root or 1t ginger powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

¾ C coconut aminos

¾ C water

½ C unsweetened applesauce

¼ C honey

¼ C arrowroot powder

½ C grated carrots

3 green onions, chopped

Put the beef on a plate or in a large bowl and pat it dry. Lightly season it with salt and black pepper.  Then toss the beef with the arrowroot powder, making sure it is evenly coated.

Place the carrots, garlic and green onions into your crock pot.  Add the coconut aminos, water, applesauce, honey and stir to combine.

Next, add the stew meat to the crockpot on top of the other ingredients. 

Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours.  Serve over steamed broccoli.

Next time I make this, I will use all applesauce and no honey.  I don’t think you need the honey as the applesauce provides enough sweetness.  I also plan to use only 1/8 C arrowroot powder because ¼ C makes the gravy a little bit pasty.   

 

 

 

 

 

The Long Awaited Chinese BBQ Pork Recipe

I’m feeling so content this Sunday morning as I sit in my warm house drinking black coffee and watching big, fluffy snowflakes fall.  At this point, I’ve lived in WV longer than anywhere else.  But, even after some 20 years I still miss Lake Effect snow so much, and all the little snow squalls over the past couple of days have lifted my spirits. 

What does that have to do with anything?  Nothing. I just felt like waxing on about my love of snow. 

And now on to the food… I said I would post the Chinese pork bbq recipe if you praised me on Facebook.  I do need that affirmation as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to work, workout, run my kids around, act like I’m actually a nice person and test out new recipes.  

If you’re going to make this pork, be warned that it makes A LOT.  Maybe you can make it, slice it and freeze your leftovers for future meals.  I made it to use in Well Fed’s Pork Fried “Rice,” and I had about 2.5 pounds of pork left over.  Also, the recipe is time consuming.  Completely worth it, but time consuming.  With these caveats, I give you the Well Fed recipe for Char Siu.

Char Siu aka Chinese BBQ Pork

4 lbs boneless pork shoulder

For Marinade:

½ C coconut aminos

1 dried date

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (about 1.5 T)

¼ C unsweetened applesauce

1t rice vinegar

1T sunflower seed butter or almond butter (no sugar added)

4 t sesame oil

¼ t red pepper flakes

1.5 t powdered ginger

1 t Chinese five spice powder

¼ t ground black pepper

For BBQ Glaze:

¼ C  tomato paste

1/3 C unsweetened apple sauce

½ T rice vinegar

Cut the pork into 8 strips.  Cut the shoulder in half lengthwise.  Then lay each half on its cut side and slice lengthwise into 4, equal-sized strips. Trim off excess or hard fat.  Poke each of the strips 10-12 times with a fork. Then place the strips into a large zipper storage bag. 

Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor and process until combined. Measure ½ C of the marinade and set it aside to use in the BBQ glaze later.  Pour the rest of the marinade over the pork in the bag.  Squeeze out the excess air; seal the bag, and place in the fridge for 30 min to 4 hours.  Flip the bag every once in a while to be sure all sides of the meat are coated in the marinade. 

While the pork is marinating make the BBQ glaze.  In a small saucepan, combine the reserved marinade, tomato paste, apple sauce and rice vinegar.  Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce begins to thicken, about 4-6 minutes.  You should end up with about one cup of sauce.

Preheat the oven to 300. Cover a large rimmed baking sheet or pan with foil.  Set a wire rack on the pan and pour ¼ C water into the pan.

Remove the pork from the marinade and place on the rack.   Then cover the entire pan with foil, crimping the edges to form a seal. Roast the port for 20 minutes.  Then remove the foil and roast for additional 40-45 minutes. 

Increase the oven temperature to 500 and roast for 8-12 minutes more, until it’s evenly browned. Carefully remove the pork from the oven and brush the tops and side of the pieces with half the sauce. 

Return the pork to the oven for 6-8 minutes until the sauce is a deep shade of burgundy. Remove the pan from the oven and flip the pork.  Brush the other side with sauce and return to the oven for the final 6-8 minutes. 

Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Then cut cross-wise into ½ inch slices.

Eat it like this, or incorporate into fried cauliflower rice.  It's yummy!

One more thing – is anyone interested in getting together for a Whole30 veggie cooking experience?
I’ve been toying with this idea, but I don’t get to see a lot you anymore since I now frequent the 5:45 class. If I find that enough people are interested, I’ll coordinate the event.  Thanks!

 

A Lecture and a Recipe

First, know that I agree with Rachael about the importance of using quality ingredients - especially beef.  Cows are not supposed to eat grain, friends.  They were built to eat grasses.  That’s why
they more than one stomach.  Plus, eating grains hurts cows and makes them ill.  If you’ve ever seen or read about a CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation), you’re skeeved out when you peruse the cheap meat at the grocery store.  I am happy to facilitate the skeeve factor:  click here. 

In contrast, you can buy grass fed meat from farmers right here in West by God Virginia.  If you join Monroe Farm Market, you’ll meet these dedicated agrarians and feel connected to the food you eat.  They’ll learn to know you and what you like. They’ll be happy to see you when you pick up your order, and they’ll go out their way(s) to accommodate you. 

Second, here’s a recipe that has nothing to do with cows:  Thai Green Curry Chicken.  I found it on Everyday Paleo and made it for our Super Bowl feast last year.  For some reason, I’ve never shared it with you.  I don’t know why because it’s super easy/fast; it tastes really good; and in general, it kicks much ass!  My Jackie really likes it.  He once asked me to make it two days in a row. 

Thai Green Curry

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 carrots, chopped

1/2 a large head of green cabbage, shredded

3 cups crimini mushrooms

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon Thai curry paste and add more a little bit at a time tasting until you find the the right level of spiciness 

1-2 splashes of fish sauce or more to taste

1-2 splashes of coconut aminos or more to taste

Cilantro, chopped

In a large pot or Dutch oven, mix the the coconut milk and curry paste.  Slowly bring the mixture up to a gentle boil and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. While the coconut milk and curry are simmering, cut up the chicken and chop the veggies. Add the chicken, carrots, chicken broth, fish sauce, and coconut aminos to the coconut milk curry.  Mix well and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add the cabbage and mushrooms and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the cabbage is tender. Top with chopped cilantro.

I’ve made this without the cilantro as I don’t usually keep cilantro in the winter.  It tastes good.  I’ve also made it without mushrooms, because I’m the only one around here who likes mushrooms.  I like to top my bowl of curry with some sliced grape tomatoes. 

I hope you enjoy this light, but satisfying, one dish meal. 

Food for Friends

I haven’t had any time to post EatPood recipes because, in addition to my aforementioned job, I have been obsessively trolling the internets in search of various items. These include:  new CrossFit shoes, a ski jacket that is cute and meets all of my technical requirements, and a new summer vacation spot.  On top of that, I haven’t been making a lot of new stuff.  I’ve been relying on old standbys. 

However, I’m also riddled with guilt because Rachael is filling in for me in addition to doing all of her other jobs.  I’m sorry, Rachael.  I endeavor not to suck so much!   

This month I made some company food.  By that I mean food-that-I-can-eat-and-serve-to-friends-who-aren’t-participating-in-the-Whole30-but-they'll-still-like-it-and-won’t-think-I’m-weird.  Quite some time ago my sweet friend, Marjorie, made this dish as part of a delicious meal she served my family.  I loved it!  I’ve been thinking about it ever since so I finally decided to try it myself.  I used grouper because Joe’s didn’t have any bass the day I purchased my fish. It was an excellent substitution.

If you have leftovers, try the veggies for breakfast with a fried egg or two on top.    

LA Times Prosciutto Roasted Bass with Autumn Vegetables

3 cups diced butternut squash, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes (from about half of a peeled and seeded squash)
3 cups peeled and diced parsnips, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes (about 3 large parsnips)
2 cups peeled and diced carrots, cut into 1/2 -inch cubes (about 3 large)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 (8-ounce) skinless fish fillets, such as striped bass or halibut
6 thin slices prosciutto di Parma
8 tablespoons ghee
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
8 lemon wedges

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the squash, parsnips and carrots. Drizzle one-third cup of olive oil on the vegetables and season with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and one-half teaspoon of pepper. Toss to combine.

Spread the vegetables in a single layer on a large, rimmed baking sheet and roast them until they are barely tender, about 30 minutes, tossing halfway through for even cooking and coloring. Remove the pan from the oven and toss in the garlic, then roast until the vegetables are tender, an additional 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, line another baking pan with foil and place a baking or cooling rack on top of the foil. Lightly brush the fish fillets on both sides with olive oil and season each with one-fourth teaspoon of salt and one-eighth teaspoon of pepper. Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each fillet, forming a wide band around the center and overlapping the ends on the underside of each fillet. Arrange the fillets on a rack, at least 1 inch apart, and roast until the fish is opaque, is firm to the touch and begins to flake, about 10 to 15 minutes. Do not overcook.

While the vegetables and fish are roasting, melt the ghee over medium heat in a medium sauté pan. Add the rosemary sprigs and reduce the heat to low. Cook, shaking the pan gently, until the rosemary leaves are just crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the rosemary and stir in the lemon juice. Set it aside.

To serve, place the fish on a platter or on individual plates and spoon the rosemary ghee over the fillets. Surround the fish with the vegetables, garnish with lemon wedges and serve hot.

Easy!

Happy new year, everyone! If you’re like me, you’re recommitting to healthy eating habits.  I wish I could say I stayed on the wagon over the holidays, but that wouldn’t be true.  I won’t dwell because that’s all behind me now.  Cliff and I started our Whole30 on January 1.  I’m cooking like crazy again.  Last night for dinner, I roasted a chicken  (using olive oil instead of butter) and root veggies.  This morning we woke to the aroma of chicken broth in the crockpot, and right now, as I type, that broth is simmering away in The Soup. 

If you’re looking for something less bony than a whole chicken,if you don’t love making your own broth, if you want me to get to the point, stay with me!  I tried a new recipe last week.  It had to be fast and employ ingredients I had at my house.  Here's what I found:  Elana’s Baked Mustard Lime Chicken.

I had limes, Dijon mustard, chicken and something less than the two 2T chili powder Elana wanted me to use.  I didn’t have cilantro, but I didn’t worry about it.  All I had to do was whisk  together the mustard, lime juice and chili powder with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  There was no more labor involved .  How easy is that?  Oh!  I almost forgot the most important part.  It was tasty!

We ate our chicken with cauliflower rice and a green salad.  Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

The Thanksgiving Post

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  Will you partake in the typical American day of gluttony, will you engage in a bit of nutritional off-roading, or will you stay the course?  It’s good to have a plan. 

As I mentioned last week, I’m in the midst of a Whole30 which will continue through Thanksgiving. I need a plan to get through the holiday because we are traveling to Indiana to celebrate with my parents. They think I’m crazy, but my mom, at least indulges me a bit.  She has agreed to let me bring Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.  I plan to eat turkey and lots of veggies.  I’ll forego the pumpkin pie and Cool Whip this year.  Actually, I don’t think I could eat chemical-laced Cool Whip ever again even if I tried. 

Last night, I tried a new sweet potato dish – Sweet Potato and Apple Kugel.  I saw the recipe in the New York Times last Sunday. The only change I made was to swap out the butter and use ghee in its stead. You’ll see that the recipe has 2T of honey in it so I cheated on my Whole30 a little. 

I really liked this dish. Cliff gave it a passing grade, and Jack and Clara stated that it was not their favorite.  To my Whole30 taste buds, it was decadent.  It’s subltly sweet but also rich from all the basting with ghee.  I used the shredder blade on my food processor to make quick work of shredding the sweet potatoes and apples. Give it a try and let me know what you think, please.  Don't you know that I live for your comments and approval? 

Sweet Potato and Apple Kugel

4 eggs

Salt to taste

2 large sweet potatoes (1 3/4 to 2 pounds total), peeled and grated

2 slightly tart apples, like Gala or Braeburn, peeled, cored and grated

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons honey

3 to 4 tablespoons melted ghee, as needed

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Use ghee to grease a 2-quart baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with ½ teaspoon sea salt.   

Add the grated sweet potatoes and the apples. Pour the lime juice over the grated apples and
sweet potatoes, and then stir everything together. Combine the honey and 2 tablespoons of the melted ghee and stir together, then toss with the sweet potato mixture and combine well.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover the dish tightly with foil and place in the oven. Bake 45 minutes. Remove the foil and brush the top of the kugel with melted ghee. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or longer, brushing every 5 minutes with melted ghee. The kugel is ready when the edges are browned, the top is browned in spots and the mixture is set. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.  Can be made a day ahead, and then reheated in a warm oven.

 

Sandy and Squash

Forgive me for not setting out two weeks of meals in this post.  Superstorm Sandy threw me for a little bit of a loop.  We were out of our house for a few days, and the cooking came to a halt.  Then we enjoyed the debauchery of the Halloween party where I hit rock bottom, friends.  On Sunday, November 4, I started another Whole30.  This past week I cooked many of the same meals I posted in the past month or two.  I did make something new and different though, and this is my story.

I’m a big fan of fall flavors, especially squash.  I bought a few acorn squash and stared them down for a couple of days before deciding what to with them.  Since I had a couple pounds of grass fed ground beef defrosted, I settled on stuffed acorn squash.  I wanted to evoke a Thanksgiving feel for this meal so here’s how it went down…

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2 medium-sized acorn squash

2# grass fed ground beef

1 large or 2 small crisp apples, small dice

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 celery stalks, chopped

1/2C walnut halves, oven-roasted and roughly chopped

2t dried sage leaves (not rubbed)

1T Herbes de Provence

Ghee

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chicken broth

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 375.  Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds.  Place the squash into a Pyrex baking dish and put a scant tablespoon of ghee in each squash half.  Roast the squash halves in the oven for one hour.   

While the squash cooks, prepare the ingredients for the meat mixtures.  Brown the beef in a large
skillet.  Then add the onion and celery, and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Add the apples and sauté for a few minutes more, until they begin to soften.  Stir in the dried herbs and minced garlic.  Saute for one minute more.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.  If the mixture appears to dry, pour in ¼ to ½ cup chicken broth.

Let the mixture cool. Once it is cool, stir in the egg white. This will help bind the mixture so it doesn't tumble out of your squash half.

When the squash are cooked, remove them from the oven.  Fill the squash halves with the meat mixture.  Top each squash half with about 2 teaspoons ghee.  Return the pan to the oven, and bake for another 15 minutes.  

We ate our stuffed squash with a side of oven-roasted broccoli and bacon. 

It's all good in the Pood

I missed a week of pood posting, and now I’m so far behind!  I feel a tiny touch overwhelmed by it.  This time, I’ll give you the highlights of our last two weeks’ of dinners.

I’m cooking a whole chicken each week.  My peeps like a roasted chicken, and as a bonus, we get a batch of broth out of the deal. I’m making bone broth now.  The difference is you cook the broth longer with a small amount vinegar to extract the nutrients from the bones and marrow. You don’t taste the vinegar in the end. You don’t want to eat the meat that’s left when you do it this way.  Strain all the solids away and keep the broth.  I make mine in the pressure cooker usually, but you also can use your crockpot (see below and here for beef bone broth). 

A couple of weeks ago I used bone broth to make Egg Drop Soup.  I subbed out the cornstarch for arrow root powder.  I think you could even skip the thickening step and all would be well.  We put chicken in our bowls before ladling in the soup.  Yum!  This stuff was a huge hit around here with even with the smallest and pickiest Kinney.

I also tried a new crock pot chicken recipe - Mirepoix Crockpot Chicken.  (Remember when I told you
about mirepoix a long time ago?)  It's my new favorite recipe! The whole meal was easy as well as tasty.  In the morning before work and before I woke the kids for school, I got the chicken in the crock pot.  It took about 20 minutes prep time. 

When I got home from work, the house smelled so good!  For our sides, I oven-roasted a pan of Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and a pan of Cauliflower with Garlic and Bacon. 

Clara ate two servings of cauliflower so I consider it a huge success.   Also, after I removed the chicken from the crock pot for carving, I took my immersion blender and blended up all of the cooked celery, carrots, onions and cooking juices (or pot liquor if you like that term better).  It made a thick, flavorful gravy.  Thanks to Nom Nom Paleo for that idea!

After dinner, I put the chicken carcass back into the crockpot with one quartered onion and two tablespoons cider vinegar.  I filled the pot with water to cover the bones.  Then I set the crock pot on low and let it cook all night.  In the morning, I had a big pot of bone broth.

Clara loves bone broth. On Thursday, she asked me to make chicken soup with it.  I had some stuff I wanted to use up so I googled this:  chicken soup kale bacon sweet potato.  Dang if that didn’t work!  Several recipes came up, and I chose this one as my inspiration.  Check it out, and I’ll tell you how I deviated below.

I already had broth so I didn’t need to make it, and I didn’t use a whole chicken.  I seasoned 2.5# boneless breasts of chicken with olive oil, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and dried time and baked the chicken for 30 minutes at 375. After the chicken was baked and cool, I cut 2# of it into bite sized pieces.  I added that to the soup after it was finished simmering.

I used about 6 oz bacon. (3 slices – ha!).  I removed the bacon from the pot after I cooked it.  We sprinkled the crispy bacon bits on the top of our soup before we ate it. 

I also pumped up the veggies.  I used two carrots, two celery stalks, 1 large sweet potato and 1 whole bunch of kale. I didn’t have a fresh tomato so I added a 15 oz. can of diced tomato to the broth.  I used ¼ t ground nutmeg because I don’t keep whole nutmeg around. I did not use any parmesan cheese because.  Just because. Oh and I added fresh thyme to the broth because I have it. 

Here are some of the other things we had for dinner over the past two weeks:

Grilled Chicken Thighs (used in the Egg Drop Soup and Chicken Salad)

 

Cottage Pie

 

Chicken Salad

 

Thai Beef Lettuce Wraps with No-Peanut Sauce

 

The Soup

 

Grilled Beef Kabobs and Oven Roasted Acorn Squash

Another Week of Pood

Last week, for the first time ever, I saw some nutrition advice on television that is consistent with our little subculture.  It was on Bravo – home of the super fantastic Housewives franchise and my favorite show, Top Chef.   Top Chef All Star, Richard, provided the tip.   He said if you want to eat healthy, go to bed an hour earlier the night before.  You will feel better the next day and also be in a frame of mind to make better choices. Yay, Bravo!  (That sounds redundant.)    That’s some good advice!!!

On to the Pood report…

I didn't really want to cook my buns off last Sunday so I didn’t cook as much as the week before.  Nevertheless it was plenty o'cooking for me. 

Sunday’s cooking round up:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Beef Vegetable Soup

2# grilled chicken breasts

Czech Meatballs (from Well Fed) with Braised Cabbage and homemade mayo/Dijon dipping sauce.

Sunday

We had the meatballs and cabbage for dinner on Sunday night.  I’d been wanting to make these pork meatballs for a long time.  They did not disappoint.  Go and make them immediately.  I mean it!

Monday 

I wish I could remember…  Wait!  I totally can remember.  I heated up both pots of soup and the grilled chicken.  I also roasted 2 heads of broccoli.  The kids ate beef vegetable soup.  Cliff had side by side bowls of soup.  I had butternut squash soup and I threw in some chicken. 

Tuesday

I went out to dinner with some friends.  Cliff ate leftovers of some sort.  I did not concern myself with that information.  The kids tricked him into buying them Jimmy Johns.

Wednesday

In the morning before work, I put a spice rubbed whole chicken in the crockpot. Jack had a soccer game, and we didn’t get home until 8.  Quick like a bunny, I made a simple green salad, and by 8:16, we were eating dinner.  You can see that I also had a bowl of butternut squash soup to pump up my veggie quotient.

Thursday

I had planned to get a pot roast in the oven as soon as I got home from work, but my plan was foiled because our power was out.  Fortunately, power was restored around 6 pm, and then I had to come up with a new dinner scheme.  I decided to whip up some paleo chili.  Clara had been asking for chili so it seemed like a good idea.  Also, I had some ground beef already defrosted in the fridge, but only 1.5 pounds.  So... I threw a pound of hot Italian sausage in the microwave to defrost and got to work.  I’d like to say I created this recipe, but that’s not true.  I adapted a recipe from Paleo in PDX which was an adaptation of the Everyday Paleo chili recipe. 

I'm sharing it with you because it came out great!  I actually liked it better than the EP version.  Also, I think it was far superior to that pork and pumpkin chili recipe of yore – an overly labor intensive endeavor, if you ask me, and if you don’t, I’m telling you anyway. 

What's in the Pantry Paleo Chili

1.5# grassfed ground beef

1# hot Italian sausage

1 bunch kale, sliced into bite-sized pieces

2 small zucchini, diced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1t sea salt

1-2 T dried oregano ( I only had 1.  Need to go shopping)

2 T dried basil

3T chili powder

1T cumin

2C organic chicken broth

Use your discretion with the last two ingredients.  This chili was hot!  Next time, I won’t add
the cayenne or I’ll use unseasoned ground pork. 

½ - 1, 7.75 oz. can El Pato tomato sauce

1/8 t cayenne pepper

 

Heat 2T olive oil, coconut oil or ghee in a dutch oven.  Add the onions, kale, zucchini, and pepper.  Saute until vegetables begin to soften, 5-10 minutes.  Add the meat. 

Break the meat up with a wooden spoon as you cook it.  Add the spices and minced garlic and mix well.  Add the chicken broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce (if applicable). 

Simmer for 30 minutes. There are so many veggies in the chili that it’s truly a one-dish meal.  Enjoy!

Friday and Saturday

In case you’re wondering about our Friday and Saturday night dinners, I’ll tell you.  On Friday, we had chicken wings from Adelphia and sliced veggies.  Then I somehow talked Cliff into visiting Ike at Ellen’s while I lounged at home in my sweat pants.  Cliff came home with a quart of homemade, decidedly un-Paleo, pumpkin ice cream.  I’m blaming it all on Ike or Cliff!

On Saturday, our kids were at church sleeping in cardboard boxes learning about homelessness. Paradoxically, Cliff and I went out to dinner and gorged ourselves on
Wagyu beef, wine and a very decadent chocolate dessert. 

There you have it! 

Big changes in the EatPood kitchen!

I shut down my part-time, home-based law office and returned to work, full-time in an office setting in mid-September.  Out of necessity, I’ve had to adjust my cooking habits.  I tried having a rough outline of what I might like to cook throughout the week. I tried cooking a bunch of stuff over the weekend.  I like to cook – a lot.  However, I’ve discovered that I like to cook one meal at a time, not three or four. That, my friends, is what I call backbreaking labor (to be specific I feel it in the thoracic spine), and moreover, it’s precisely why I will stick with the practice of law. 

Anyway, here’s the low down on my cook-a-thon from last week.

Sunday

I had me some big plans.

I oven roasted 3 sweet potatoes and 2 eggplants.

I defrosted 2# of ground lamb, a 5# whole chicken (Gardner Farms), 2# of beef kabob meat (Swift Level), 1# pork sausage (Red Wing Farm), 2# boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Johnny’s), and 1# bacon (Johnny’s)

Chicken breasts – poached on the stove top for chicken salads later in the week.

Beef – pressure cooker beef stew from Mark’s Daily Apple.  Recipe tweaked as follows:  added a parsnip; used 2 C chicken broth and 1C red wine in place of beef broth.

Pork:  cooked it up with 2 small, diced green peppers, 1 diced yellow onion, 3 minced cloves of garlic, thyme, sage, sea salt and red pepper flakes. To that mixture, I added 1.5 of the previously baked sweet potatoes (after removing the skin and cutting the flesh into cubes).

Lamb – I made Curried Meatballs from Everyday Paleo.  The recipe calls for beef but I used lamb because I wanted to use lamb.  Also, I doubled the sauce recipe because my family is saucy. 

Sunday Dinner – Curried Meatballs, salad with red wine vinaigrette

Monday

For lunch, Cliff and I took meatballs, salad, and a crisp York apple (Morgan Orchards).  We pack our lunches for the next day as we’re cleaning up dinner. 

Dinner – Pressure Cooker Beef Stew and Brussels sprouts.  For the sprouts, I cooked up about a half pound of bacon lardons in my iron skillet. I removed the bacon to paper towel-lined plate to drain and also removed most of the grease from the pan.  Then I added the washed and trimmed sprouts to the pan and sautéed them in the remaining bacon grease.  When they were almost done, I poured in about ¼ C of balsamic vinegar and let that caramelize a bit.  Then I added ¼ C chicken broth and
let it cook down.  Finally, I added about ½ C chopped sundried tomatoes, the cooked bacon, salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. 



Tuesday

I had the pork sausage and sweet potato mixture (from Sunday) for lunch (and breakfast and then for breakfast the next day too!).

For dinner, I cooked up some more bacon lardons and hard boiled some eggs.  I made 2C mayonnaise in my food processor and used it to mix up a big batch of ranch dressing.  Then I diced up my poached chicken and assembled a chicken salad platter with romaine lettuce, chopped green onions, shredded carrots, chopped cucumbers, chopped yellow peppers,  4 chopped hard boiled eggs, the bacon and of course, the chicken.

I also made a batch of pumpkin muffins after dinner. 

Wednesday

I had chicken salad lunch with ranch dressing for lunch.

For dinner, I roasted the chicken.  I used this recipe but instead of using butter, I rubbed the chicken generously with olive oil.  This worked out because all we had that night was Jack’s soccer practice/Cliff’s coaching duties.  We ate dinner when the fellas got home at 7:30.  Our normal dinner time is 7:00 or 7:30 because we prioritize eating together as a family. 

In addition to the chicken, we had Cauliflower, Carrot and Parsnip Puree from NomNom Paleo left over Brussels Sprouts. 

Thursday

I had a hot lunch date with my main man.  We went to Ellen’s and got special salads
with double chicken and two dressings, hold the bread.  Then we went to the Peanut Shop and spent our life’s saving on dark chocolate covered almonds.  That was a poor choice for many reasons…

Leftovers for dinner!!! My favorite!  I put out left over chicken, beef stew, veggie puree, and Brussels sprouts, along with cut up fresh red and yellow peppers and carrots.  I also set out a plate of chopped romaine lettuce and our homemade ranch dressing and red wine vinaigrette for a salad option.  Finally, I had a pound of Joe’s smoked salmon so I put that out too. 

Friday

For my lunch, I packed a salad from the previous night’s fixings and topped it with a mess of smoked salmon.  I took that with some more of the left over ranch dressing.

Dinner – we got some crummy Mexican takeout.  I ate a bunch of corn chips which weren’t good enough to be worth it.  I should have just made hamburgers.  Lesson
learned!  

Tune in next week for more not-so-exciting news on Kinney family sustenance!