Creamed Spinach and Shrimp

The past few weeks I haven't been posting near as many recipes as in the past. I haven't been in a creative food space. I've mostly been cooking variations of favorite dishes that have been on this blog already. A few times in this crazy busy time of year, I just didn't slow down to take a photo and I don't like posting recipes without photos. This dinner was good enough to post, but I wouldn't call it a top favorite. It did feel like it was missing the rice or pasta, but even so, it was good and the entire family ate it up.
-Amanda

Creamed Spinach and Shrimp

1 bag of frozen spinach
1.5 cups of shrimp
1 cup heavy cream
parmesan cheese
1.5 cups finely chopped mushrooms
1/4 of an onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 pieces of bacon cooked & crumbled
pat of butter or bacon grease

In a large skillet, melt butter or bacon grease. Saute mushrooms and onions until well cooked. Add garlic and cook for a minute longer. Pour in cream and cook on medium high, stirring constantly until cream thickens. Thaw out spinach and squeeze excess water. Add to the creamed mushrooms. Salt and pepper and keep cooking spinach. Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turns pink. Grate some parmesan cheese in the dish.Taste seasoning and adjust. Sprinkle cooked bacon on top.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese. Say it with me. Yum. Seriously my favorite flavors all wrapped up in one yummy casserole. I think this may be my new potluck dish.
-Amanda

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac N' Cheese

3/4 pound of pasta
1 large chicken breast
3 pieces of bacon
8-10 button mushrooms
1 tbsp flour
1. 5 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8-1/4 onion
2 cups grated cheese
1/2 cup grated cheese for top
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder

Cook your noodles to package directions.
Butterfly open your chicken to make it thin so it'll cook quickly. Get a grill pan hot and grill chicken that has been salted and peppered. Set aside.
Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and put them in a medium size pot. Cook on medium heat stirring frequently. When bacon is about half cooked add chopped mushrooms. When bacon starts to get crispy, remove it and the mushrooms from the skillet and set aside.

Sprinkle flour over the bacon grease adding butter if you don't have enough grease to cook bacon. Whisk to remove all the lumps. Add milk and heavy cream. Add dill and garlic powder, salt and pepper. Keep on medium to medium high heat and whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. Add grated cheese and stir to blend the cheese in.

In a casserole dish put the cut up chicken and mushrooms. Drain pasta and add it to the casserole dish. Pour in cheese mixture and stir to get all the noodles cheesey. Sprinkle with bacon and extra cheese. Put under the broiler for 8-10 minutes until cheese gets bubbly and brown on top.

Squash Gratin

I don't think this is really a gratin. I think gratins have more cheese and maybe cream added, so I'm not sure what this is really, but it good!
-Amanda

Squash Gratin

1 large potato
1 yellow squash
1 zuchini
hanful of grape tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
plenty of salt and pepper
herbs if you like: rosemary, thyme, oregano whatever your favorite!

In a nice baking dish or pie plate, pour a bit of oil and rub it all around. Peel and slice your potato in very thin rounds. Make a layer of potato around the bottom. Sort of like a crust. Slice squash and zuchini in equal size rounds. Carefully place them artfully around your dish. Top with sliced tomatoes, the rest of the olive oil, the parmesan and seasonings. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes until top is nice golden brown and potatoes are cooked through.

Chocolate Ganache Coconut Pie

If you like coconut and chocolate you will love this pie. It takes like a Mounds candy bar, except oh, so much better. It's really as easy as pie to make. Haha. But you'll have to forgive me because this is a "cooks" recipe. I'm not a baker and I don't do well with measuring. So realize that this pie was NOT measured, just a guess here and a taste there. But it'd be really hard to mess up, so dive in and please, don't forget to lick the bowl. I used coconut oil in the recipe, simply because coconut oil is really, really good for you. If you don't want to use coconut oil, then just use a bit extra butter in the crust and omit it in the ganache. No harm done.
-Amanda

Chocolate Ganache Coconut Pie

Crust:
2 cups of UNsweetened coconut flakes
4 tbsp of butter*
2 tbsp of coconut oil
drizzle of honey to taste (use local, raw honey!)

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
honey

*I used salted butter because the salt adds a bit to balance the sweetness. If you use unsalted butter you might add a pinch of sea salt to the crust. I actually added a tiny pinch extra to the crust anyway.

Spread coconut flakes on a cookie sheet and place in the middle of your oven. Broil on high, watching VERY closely. Stir a few times until nicely toasted. While coconut flakes are toasting, in a medium size bowl melt the butter and coconut oil in the microwave. (You can use the stovetop and transfer to a bowl also.)

Add coconut flakes to butter and coconut oil and stir until well moistened. Drizzle in a  very small amount of honey and taste. You want the crust slightly sweet, but not too much!!

Press coconut flakes into an ungreased pie plate, pushing them up the sides. Then drizzle a thin layer of honey on top of the coconut flakes.

In the same bowl (as to reduce the amount of dirty dishes!) Heat the heavy cream until warm to the touch, but not boiling. (Or again, use a pot and transfer to the bowl.) Add in chocolate chips and stir. At first it'll look like milk chocolate. Keep stirring, suddenly it'll get darker and glossy looking. Add vanilla.

Pour chocolate into the crust and refrigerate for at least two hours. Enjoy! This pie was rich enough that we cut it into about 16 pieces and everyone was satisfied!

Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole

On the Thanksgiving Table, I'm not sure if you should put this sweet potato recipe with the savories or the sweets. If you are being honest, it really is a dessert. And it is oh so good. And to think, growing up, I hated sweet potato casserole. Truth is I thought it looked funny because it was orange, I don't think I actually tasted it. Hopefully my sweet potato casserole will have a nut topping on it by tomorrow. The nuts are so good, I keep pinching a few here and there. Definitely double the nut part of the recipe if you want any left over for your sweet potatoes!
-Amanda

Sweet Potato Casserole

3lbs of sweet potatoes - I happened to have grown my own, but I'm sure the supermarket variety would be just fine!
4 tbsp oil
4 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 beaten egg
about half a bag of marshmallows

Peel and chop sweet potatoes in big chunks. Toss in oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they are very fork tender. Place sweet potatoes in a baking dish. Add melted butter, brown sugar and vanilla. With a big fork, or a wire potato masher, mash potatoes in big chunks, keeping texture. Beat egg and stir it in to the potatoes, tempering the egg if the potatoes are still hot. Top with one layer of marshmallows. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until marshmallows start to brown. Sprinkle candied nuts on top and push into the marshmallows.

Chili-Candied Nut Topping

2 cups of pecans
1/4 cup honey
4 tpsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon

Melt butter in a skillet. Add honey, brown sugar, chili powder and cinnamon. Stir until mixed. Add pecans and stir to coat. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, but be careful not to burn the sugar. Pour out in a single layer on a silpat or parchment paper to cool completely. If making a day ahead once cool store in a zip bag or air tight container.

Originally posted on  11/26/09

Quinoa Burgers

I wish I could take credit for this recipe, because it is SO good. Maybe it is just something "different" and I'm in the mood for new foods right now. I found a photo of these burgers on Pinterest and clicked on the link which took me to Eating Well, Living Thin's blog. Not a real food blog, but most recipes can be turned back into real food. I ditched her suggestion for low-fat cottage cheese for whole milk cottage cheese and got rid of the sugar in the recipe completely. It was only 1/2 tsp and I don't use Splenda anymore. I can't believe how much of that stuff I used to consume. I read the other day that they were trying to invent a new type of rodent poison when they discovered Splenda. Yum. Blah! But I digress... these burgers were delicious, especially fried in lard rendered from a humanly raised pig.
-Amanda

Quinoa Burgers

2 heaping cups of cooked quinoa*
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 medium carrot, finely grated
1 clove garlic grated
3 eggs
4 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt
oil that is stable for frying, such as lard, peanut or coconut oil.

In a large bowl (I started out too small and had to go up a size which is always annoying!) combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, carrots, eggs, flour, cumin, salt & pepper and grated garlic.

Heat frying pan with about 1/4 cup of oil and dollup out the batter. It's pretty mushy. Let fry for about 5 minutes per side before flipping. Remove when golden brown. Homemade tzatziki sauce was a great topping!

*Basic Quinoa

1 cup of quinoa
2 cups of water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Melt butter in a pot. Add quinoa and stir toasting it a bit. Add water, bring to a boil, stir really well, cover, lower to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.

**Not to self, something crunchy would be good in the batter. Perhaps finely diced cucumber or celery??

Squash & Leek Soup with Feta & Bacon

Now that cooler weather is here, I was really wanting a hearty soup to make. I love roasted butternut squash with feta so I thought sprinkling it on top of the soup would be tasty and I was right. I love creamy soups but only if I can sprinkle in enough toppings to give texture to the soup. So I went a little crazy adding bacon, pine nuts and feta cheese!
-Amanda

Butternut Squash & Leek Soup with Feta & Bacon

1 large butternut squash
olive oil
2 leeks
3 cloves garlic
1 lb bacon
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp cumin
feta
pine nuts

Peel the butternut squash and cube it into large pieces. Rub with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 for 15 minutes, flip the pieces and continue roasting for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut up bacon into small pieces and cook in the bottom of a large soup pot. Remove bacon but leave the bacon grease in the pot when it is crispy.

Wash leeks really well and cut into small pieces. Cook them in the bacon grease along with the minced up garlic. Add nutmeg and cumin. Put the squash cubes in the pan and add your chicken stock. Using either an immersion blender or by pouring the soup in batches in a stand blender, puree until smooth. Add cream until the consistency you like. You can also add milk/water or more chicken stock if you like. Serve with toasted pine nuts, feta crumbles and reserved bacon.

Chicken Spinach Dip Served 3 Ways

 

Original Chicken Spinach Dip "Casserole"

 

Chicken Spinach Dip Frittata

 

Chicken Spinach Dip Pizza (half and half with a supreme pizza.)

This was so good! I'm trying to think of more casseroles that are low-carb, but it's hard because the carb is sort of what holds the casserole together. I don't think it really is a casserole without rice or noodles! Even so this was made like a casserole and it tasted great. I did make pasta on the side for my kids and hubby. The great thing is that the first night I ate it in a bowl by itself, the second night we had it as part of a fritatta and the third night we had it as a pizza. This was spread out over the week, not back to back. I even just served some of the leftovers over fried eggs one morning to jazz up my eggs. Basically this was very versatile and delicious!
-Amanda

Chicken Spinach Dip "Casserole"

1 pint of mushrooms
1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 yellow onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated mozzerella, fontina or other favorite cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 block of cream cheese, room temperature

In a big bowl, mash the cream cheese, heavy cream, cheese and cottage cheese (or ricotta.) Add in the frozen spinach and mix well. Meanwhile saute mushroom and onion in a large skillet in some olive oil or butter until nice and caramelized. After it's cooled down, add to the cheese mixture. Mix in the shredded chicken. Pour in a casserole and bake at 375 for 20 minutes until cheese gets browned and bubbly.

Salsa Seafood

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? I heard friends talking about it a while back and didn't really think too much of it. Then I got an invite and have become a Pinterest Addict. I love the inspiration it provides across the board. Whether from new dishes to try, new crafts, new ways to organize your house, inspirational quotes, humorous and beautiful photos, whatever your interest, Pinterest has it covered. All this to say, I came across an appetizer on there that was the inspiration for this dish. Following it's link back took me to some diet website, but since we don't do low-fat here on this blog, I glammed it up a bit... I mean, I want a dish that'll keep me full until breakfast, not have me searching the fridge for snack food at 10pm. Adding real, healthy fats to your diet, keeps you satisfied and keeps you away from sugary cravings. (Except chocolate... just kidding... sort of.)

(By the way, this made extra salsa, but I didn't really know how to scale back, and salsa is great on a lot of things, so it's okay to have extra in my book! It'll probably make an appearance on my eggs tomorrow.)
-Amanda

Salsa Seafood

Salsa
4 roma tomatoes
1/4 red onion
jalepeno (how ever much you want)
cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp avocado oil (or olive oil)
1/2 lime juice
salt

Cut tomatoes really small. I got rid of the juice from 3 of my tomatoes and left the juice of the last one. Mince up the garlic and the onion. Mix the tomatoes, garlic and onion in a small bowl. Add finely chopped jalapeno. Squeeze lime juice over top and the avocado oil. Stir, add salt as needed and refrigerate to let flavors marry.

Seafood

4 filets of fish, I used flounder. Cod or Orange Roughy would be good too.
1/2 lb of shrimp
lime juice
ground cumin
salt

Marinade the shrimp and fish in a few pinches of cumin, salt and lime juice for 15-20 minutes. Grill fish in a non-stick pan until it is firm and starts to flake off. Cook shrimp until plump and pink. Place on a plate, top with salsa, avocado and drizzle more avocado oil and lime juice on top.

Gyro Salad

I love gyro sandwiches and crave them every once in a while. I love lots of green flavors, but they are usually so strong that I only want them occasionally. Well, gyro meat is a creature all in itself and I don't think it'd be too easily recreated in the home kitchen, but I decided to use the main flavors of the dish and make a salad. I was going to make some soaked wheat pita bread, but well, I'm back on a low-carb kick today so I skipped the bread and just served up a salad. Okay, this looks complicated, but it literally took 15 minutes to cook! You can make the spice mixture ahead of time.
-Amanda

Gyro Salad

Meat:
1 lb of ground lamb (I got mine from Sloane Creek Farm.)
2 tbsp Greek Spice Mixture*
1/2 lemon

Spice Mixture*

1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder

Tzatziki Dressing:

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, strained to thicken
1/2 juice of a lemon
3/4 of a cucumber grated
1 tbsp fresh mint, minced
1 small garlic clove, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
salt

Salad:

Lettuce
feta cheese
cucumber
tomato
red onion
kalamative olives

Mix spices together. Use 2 tbsp and sprinkle on raw lamb meat. Squeeze in 1/2 a lemon. Mix well and let marinate in fridge for 1-2 hours. Saute in a pan on medium high heat until done. It was pretty greasy, so I just drained a bit of juice out when I scooped onto the salad.

While meat is cooking, mix up the tzatziki dressing and chop up vegetables for the salad.

Quick Brownies

Now, quickly made food often has lots of nasty chemicals and preservatives.  However, lately I have caught the train for brownies in a mug.  A quick chocolate fix with no nasty scary stuff.  I bet you could experiment with this and switch out the white sugar with a more wholesome unprocessed sugar.  This recipe is from Food & Whine, however the original recipe calls for 4 Tablespoons of sugar and I find that two is sufficient.    I also find that if you use whole wheat flour the end result tastes just as chocolaty and delicious.

-Jules

Brownie in a Mug
4 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar (I'd substitute palm sugar, which is less processed)
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. canola oil (I'd substitute out coconut oil for a Real Food recipe)
2 Tbsp. water
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Put everything in the mug and mix well.  Put it in the microwave for about a minute.  It should still be wettish looking.  Feel free to get creative.  I found peanut butter chips mixed in or peanut butte spread right on top before microwaving is especially yummy.  Get crazy Ya’ll!

Grain Free French Toast Muffins

Those that know me, know I don't bake. So why I decided to try and make up a muffin recipe all by myself is beyond me. And then to make the leap to making it grain free? Crazy I tell you. But it worked! I think next time I'll go for 20 minutes instead of 25, because they got a little too brown on the bottom, but the middle was light and fluffy, slightly sweet and hit the spot. I am right proud of myself if I do say so!
-Amanda

Grain Free French Toast Muffins

3/4 cup of almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
5-10 drops of stevia
1 tbsp palm sugar

Mix everything together in a big bowl EXCEPT the palm sugar. Scoop into paper lined muffin tins, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle a bit of palm sugar on the top of each muffin. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. While still hot, add a pat of butter to the top of each muffin to soak in. This made 8 muffins.

Please if you try this, let me know what you think and if you made any changes!

*I submitted this post to Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday!

Another Seafood Chowder

I had shrimp scampi on the menu for this week, but when I got to the store the shrimp wasn't too cheap but the wild caught haddock was on sale for $3 a pound! I got a bit of shrimp anyway, some haddock and then picked up some clams from the frozen section. This is a very simple seafood chowder. Mostly seafood, potatoes, cream, milk, spices and chicken stock. A bit of parsley for color. Here is a different recipe, I posted a while back.

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Tonight was Menu Planning night for the week. But instead of going to the grocery store after the girls were in bed, I took an opportunity to go before dinner. But I didn't have anything planned or prepped and I walked in the house with all the groceries with t-minus 30 minutes until our very prompt 5:30 dinner. I walked in, popped 4 potatoes in our convection oven, quickly put away the groceries with hubby and whipped together a fast cheesy bechamel sauce to make this fast and tasty dinner.
-Amanda

Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli stuffed Potatoes

4 baking potatoes
3 slices of bacon
2 tbsp flour
1.5 cups of milk
3-4 oz cheese
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup shredded leftover chicken

Bake your potatoes in a convection oven at 400 for 35 minutes (yeah, dinner was a bit late tonight.) Or you can microwave them. A regular oven you'd probably have to add another 10 minutes to the baking time.

Cut up bacon into thin strips and cook it in a small pot over medium high heat. Stir frequently until crispy. Remove the bacon but leave the grease. You need about 3 tbsp of grease, if you don't have enough add some butter or other oil. Sprinkle in flour and whisk for a few minutes. Add milk and continue to whisk until sauce starts to thicken. Add shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is melted and remove from heat. Steam broccoli in another pot or in the microwave. In a small bowl, add shredded chicken, broccoli and enough cheese sauce to coat. Reserve the rest of the cheese sauce to pour on top of potatoes. Cut potatoes open, dallop with butter and salt. Smoosh in cheesy chicken broccoli. Pour extra sauce on top and then sprinkle reserved bacon. Enjoy!

Easy Roast Chicken

Best ever Roast Chicken. Juicy and succulent. This is a free range chicken and they are known for being a bit more tough than the poor little chickens that don't get any exercise. But if you cook them low and slow, they are moist and perfect. I got this recipe from Nourished Kitchen, and I've made it several times. I never have slowed down to take a photo though because we all devour it so quickly! Since it takes a few hours to cook, your house smells heavenly. I don't take the time to truss up my chicken, so it doesn't look as fancy. This time I seasoned it with butter, orange and rosemary (and salt and pepper). In the past I've just done butter, salt and pepper and it's been super good too.
-Amanda

Easy Roast Chicken

1 Free Range Chicken
few tbsp of butter
salt and pepper
any other seasonings you want

Wash up your chicken and pat it dry. Smear butter all over and under the skin between the skin and breast meat. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and any other seasonings you want. I cook mine in a stonewear casserole pan with a lid, I think the stonewear keeps an even temperature. Eitherway, make sure you have a lid or at the minimum foil. Cover and cook for 3 hours at 275 degrees. Low and SLOW. Then uncover and cook at 375 for 30-45 minutes to get the browned affect. Delicious! 

What's for Dinner at my house: Coconut Lime Shrimp

This was a sort of strange dish I concocted. It did not get raving reviews from the family so I won't post the recipe. Everyone did eat it though, even while sort of complaining about it. I actually liked it and went back for seconds. Basically I sauted some shrimp, red bell pepper and garlic and set it aside. Then I mixed part of a can of coconut milk, lime juice, chicken stock, a bit of fish sauce and arrowroot and simmered until thick. Then I added chopped and steamed cauliflower and the shrimp back in. It looked like shrimp and grits, but had a coconut-lime flavor. Anyway, it's what we had for dinner, I guess they can't all be winners!
-Amanda

Grain Free BLT

 

For me, a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato) Sandwich is comfort food. Of course, since I usually don't like tomatoes, I'd normally just fix me a BL. But I do like cooked tomatoes, so today when making this sandwich, I took the time to grill some cherry tomatoes while the bacon was cooking. Using homemade "bread" and homemade mayo made with healthy fats makes this a pretty awesome, nutrient dense sandwich!  For the bread, I borrowed the Paleo Bread recipe from Elana's Pantry, but instead of cooking it up as a loaf, I made savory pancakes out of it. They came out so delicious!

-Amanda

Paleo (Grain Free) Pancake Bread

1 ½ cups almond flour
2 tablespoons coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxseed meal
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
5 eggs
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Mix the almond flower, coconut flower, flaxseed meal, salt and baking soda together. Melt coconut oil, if your oil is solid and whisk it together with the eggs, honey and apple cider vinegar in a second bowl. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry. Ladle about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter on a medium heat griddle. I found I need to smoosh the batter down a bit with my ladle and even finger tips, because it was pretty thick. When the first side sets, flip over and cook the second side. Let cool on a cooling rack and store in a zip bag in your fridge.

Fried "Rice"

I'm so funny about carbs lately. One day they are fine and the next I'm all about eliminating them. Overall, I'm definitely trying to reduce the amount of carbs, especially grains. The more I read about wheat the more concerned I get. The wheat we eat today is not the same wheat our great grandparents ate. It physically is a different plant not by natural selection, but by genetically modifying the plant to something a lot of people think is not truly digestible for humans. And as for other grains, like rice, I hear conflicting things about too! Only eat brown rice, wait! Too much phytic acid, white rice is actually better. But white rice is more processed, eat brown! And back and forth. Anyway, all this is to say, that I am trying to make more recipes that are grain free, and this is my latest addition.

Using a trick I've read about here and there on the internet I decided to try a "rice" replacement, you take cauliflower and pulse it in your food processor raw until it makes small rice sized pieces. Then you steam it and use it in place of rice. Everyone in the family ate this meal last night, it was really good! And I did not taste a strong cauliflower presence. While I'm not a huge fan of substituting an ingredient, using a whole food like this didn't bother me. The meal may or may not feel like Fried Rice to you, but it was still a good bowl of American-Asian flavored vegetables and ham!
-Amanda

Fried "Rice"

1 large head of cauliflower
1 tsp soy sauce
2 carrots
1 cup of peas
1/2 cup bean sprouts
5-6 button mushrooms
4-5 oz ham
2 eggs
2 green onions
2 tbsp lard
1 tbsp butter

sauce:

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 freshly grated garlic clove
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp arrowroot powder

Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until you get rice sized crumbles. I found doing 1/3-1/2 of the head at a time gets the best results. Place in a bowl and put a pat of butter and a 1 tsp soy sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat lard. Chop carrots to bite size pieces and start cooking them in the skillet on med-high heat. Add mushrooms, peas, bean sprouts and ham. Beat eggs with a tbsp of water and  pour them in a smaller non-stick skillet on high heat. You don't want them to scramble, but make more like an egg pancake. When it starts to brown, flip it over. Remove from heat to a cutting board and cut into strips. Reserve.

Mix together sauce in a small bowl with a whisk. Taste and adjust to your preferences. Add steamed cauliflower to vegetables and add the sauce. Pour sauce over vegetables and stir gently until thickens. Add eggs and mix together. Last add chopped green onions.

This post is linked using The Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania.

What's for Dinner Tonight: White Bean Chicken Chili

Friday night I made some homemade tortillas and reserved some for today. Sunday night I sat my beans out to soak. Monday I cooked the beans, put some in the refrigerator for this recipe and then I stored the rest away in the freezer for future meals. This afternoon I'm making a roasted salsa for tonight's meal and I'll ferment some for a Taco Salad meal later in the week. But for dinner tonight, with a bunch of thought and love put together, I'm making a White Bean and Chicken Chili.

Easy Cheese Bacon Chicken

File this recipe/idea under easy, fast and tasty! It was perfect for tonight where I didn't want to do anything super complicated. Took less than 10 minutes to assemble and then it cooked in the toaster oven for another 20 minutes, not even having to heat up the entire house with my big oven. Win/win!
-Amanda

Easy Cheesy Bacon Chicken

Chicken tenders (or chicken breasts cut into thin strips)
1 piece of bacon per chicken
1 slice of cheese (I used colby jack) per chicken
avocado

Salt and pepper each chicken breast. Wrap with bacon and place in a very hot skillet for about 3 minutes per side. If you are using an oven proof skillet, top each chicken with cheese and place in the oven to cook all the way through and cheese gets bubbly and browned at 350 for 20 minutes. I transferred my chicken to a small brownie pan (one layer of chicken) and cooked it in my toaster oven for the same heat and time. Serve with sliced avocado and homemade ranch dressing to dip!

Pork and Plantains

I found this recipe on The Mango Duck, and took the idea and ran with it. What I got was a super tasty dish, that was unlike any flavor profile I've cooked before in my kitchen! I love that!
-Amanda


Pork and Plantains

For the Pork Filling:
1 lb of pork (I used pork chops)
1 small onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 c orange juice
juice from a lime
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1/2 can of coconut milk

Cut the pork into tiny pieces. Place in a cast iron skillet or other heavy bottom skillet and cook on medium high heat until almost cooked through and remove to a bowl. Cut onion into same small pieces and add to the now empty skillet. Cook it and diced garlic until translucent. Add pork back to the skillet and then put in all of the dried herbs and seasonings. Go ahead and salt, but go lightly because the dish will reduce down and get stronger. Add orange juice, lime juice, coconut milk and chicken stock. Simmer for 30-45 on a med high to high heat to reduce the liquids down. Taste and adjust salt.

For the Plantains:

3 plantains
oil (I used lard)

Cut plantains in about 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Get oil hot and fry until golden brown. Place each fried plantain in a mini muffin tin and while it is still hot, smash down with a spoon or I used these sauce cups which fit perfectly in the mini muffin tin.

Fill each plantain cup up with the pork mixture and enjoy!

Lobster Pizza

Growing up in New England there are several foods that indicate summer is upon us…One of those foods is the LOBSTAH! Oh Lobster, how I love thee..
Now if you are ever lucky enough to have left over lobster, there are many things make with the left over deliciousness, such as the Lobster Roll or Lobster Bisque, or even Lobster Chowdah. However a lobster pizza is a great option, especially if you want to stretch a little left over lobster pretty far.

Lobster Pizza
Pizza Dough
1 Tablespoon of yeast
1 Cup of medium hot water (105-115 degrees F...hot to the touch, but not scalding)
1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 salt.
3Cups or more of flour

1 Tablespoon of yeast dissolved in 1 Cup of med-hot water, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. When it "proofs" (20 +- minutes), add 2C flour with a spoon then add, by kneading, 1C or more of flour.
Grease the bowl, turn dough in bowl, cover and let rise. Place in warmish room. Several hours later punch down the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin or with hands pressing into pan.

Let rise again then add the fixings.

Pizza Fixings
After the first amazing lobster dinner, or just with cooked lobsters, removed all meat from the shell, including the tail, claws, smaller claws and around the belly. Chop up the lobster into bite size chunks. Reserve tasty meat for later.
After the dough rises in the pan, spoon a thin layer of tomato sauce on dough and sprinkle on shredded cheese. For a nice rich blend of cheese, use mozzarella, cheddar and a little parmesan. Throw on some thinly sliced Vidalia onions. Cook pizza until 3/4 done, about 20 minutes at 425 F. Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle Lobster meat on pizza. Put the pizza in the oven for about 10 minutes more until the cheese is bubbly, crust is golden and lobster meat is hot.
Then gorge!
-Jules

Green Salsa Chicken

I made up a pretty terrific slow cooker meal today. Wanted something low carb so instead of serving this on tortillas, I served in in lettuce leafs. The other great thing was the girls loved helping make the salsa. They peeled all the garlic and tomatillos and they helped brush on the avocado oil. The salsa could be made up the day before without any problems making it a super simple crock pot meal the next day. And of course, you could stuff burritos or tacos with this juicy tender meat!

-Amanda

Green Salsa Chicken

Roasted Green Salsa
1 white or yellow onion
1-2 hot peppers of your choice, preferably green ones
8-10 tomatillos
4-5 cloves garlic
3-4 tablespoons of oil (I used avocado oil, but olive oil would work too.)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Peel garlic and tomatillos. Cut tomatillos in half. Cut onion in quarters. Cut pepper in half and discard stem and seeds. Toss everything with oil (or use a pastry brush and brush it on each vegetable.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes. Let cool complete, and then blend in your blender until you have a chunky consistency.

Shredded Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1/2 can of coconut milk
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
salsa recipe from above
salt to taste

Pour half the salsa in your crock pot. Place chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt. Pour in the rest of the salsa, the lime zest, lime juice and coconut milk. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take chicken out 30 minutes towards the end and shred. Place back in sauce and stir. Adjust salt as needed. Serve with cheese and lettuce for the photo above, otherwise use as a stuffing for tacos or burritos.

I just saw MAGIC

Time for a magic show I got to watch today. I am embarrassed to show you this photo. It is the inside of my refrigerator. Something spilled behind the drawer and it dried on. Who knows how long it was there. And then, I went to clean the drawer one day and I pulled it out and I saw the horror of this dark brown GOOP. And I scrubbed at it with 409 and it did not budge. I did not want to use anything too harsh, I mean, I didn't want the odors and chemicals around all my food. So I stuck the drawer back in the fridge and figured I'd think on it awhile. And time goes on. And I forgot about it. Until a few days ago when it was time to clean out the drawers again and I saw it. And then I saw a post on Crunchy Betty's website about oven cleaner. And I thought... if  it will work on ovens, surely it'll work on my refrigerator. So I mixed up a batch, crossed my fingers, and prepared myself for some elbow work.

Yeah, it is VERY ugly. Shudder!

And I sprinkled some baking soda like she (Crunchy Betty) said to do. But I'm not patient and did not leave it overnight. Maybe 5 minutes. And then I used the oven cleaner and MAGIC happened. There was no elbow grease. It was like wiping up a puddle of water. It just wiped up like... well MAGIC. I'm not even exaggerating here. I was so excited I wanted to clean the entire fridge except that I was too excited and had to take a second picture and come blog about it and then clean the rest of the fridge later. Which I now know I won't have to dread (except for moving all the food out, which is a pain) but the shelves and everything are gonna just wipe down like a breeze.

Magic Deep Cleaner
(for use on ovens and really sticky refrigerator messes. Please check out Crunchy Betty's website, she's got a wealth of info on there about natural beauty products and products for your home.)

1 tbsp borax
1/2 cup vinegar
1/8 cup dish soap (I used liquid castile)
1 cup boiling water

Mix all ingredients together and put in a spray bottle or a bowl. I didn't have an empty spray bottle so I put mine in a bowl and dipped my towel in it. Sprinkle the messiest parts with baking soda and then spray the Magic Spray and wipe up. Simple.

UPDATE: I have used this several times. I don't usually even bother with boiling the water. It works GREAT. It even removes soap scum without any hard scrubbing.
The after:

Yes, this was the same refrigerator!

-Amanda

Pea Salad

This is a recipe from my childhood. I do not know if it is a southern dish or a northern dish that traveled south. My memories of this dish are from when my Grandma Bettie made it. And, it was the ONLY way I would eat peas as a kid. No kidding. I normally would use a red apple for contrast but I was out of apples and my neighbor, being an awesome neighbor, lent me an apple and it was green, and so that was a perfect apple. Thank you Andrea! Oh, and I made this from a childhood memory so I don't know if it is the "right" way to make pea salad, but I'm pretty sure this was a popular dish in the 1970's. It should make a come back. It's good. Plus, it might get your kid to eat peas.
-Amanda

Pea Salad

1.5 cups frozen peas
1/2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper
1 apple
2-3 oz cheddar cheese, cubed
3 tbsp mayo (I make mine homemade)

In a small skillet, bring peas to a boil and cook for a few minutes. Drain, return to pot. Add butter, salt and pepper and allow peas to cool completely. Chop one apple, leaving the skin on. I try to cut it as close to pea size as possible. Do the same with the cheese. Mix the cooled peas, the apple and the cheese in a bowl with the mayo. Refrigerate and serve cold.

What's for Dinner at My House: Sausage, Potato & Coleslaw

Yes, this is a bit (okay, more than a bit) carb heavy for a girl who is supposedly going low carb. I keep waffling on that. One day I'm low-carb, one day I'm moderate carb and the next I'm just "grain-free" but not actually low carbs. That's how I can justify potatoes, which are like one of my favorite food groups. (Potatoes should be their own food group, should they not?) Now, the loaf of white french bread hiding under the (nitrate free) sausage, slathered in homemade mayo? Yeah, um... no excuses for that lovely crunchy carb on my plate. The main thing for me is to try as hard as possible to stick with real food ingredients.

The coleslaw is a bigger portion than it looks, it's called perspective. I did NOT have three times as much as potatoes as cabbage... or maybe I did. Anyway, it's what we had for dinner and it hit the spot. By the way a few twists to mention: the coleslaw I used up the rest of the homemade Caesar Salad dressing I made the other night. The other twist is that the potatoes are the Salt & Vinegar recipe I tried out from Noble Pig's blog and man are they GOOD.

So... what's for dinner at your house?
-Amanda

My version of Coconut ChickenCurry

So yesterday, I finished up making a batch of chicken stock, and with the chicken from that stock I made Chicken Tacos. There was enough meat for two more meals. Tonight I used part of it to make a Coconut Chicken Curry.
-Amanda

Coconut Chicken Curry

1/2 onion
1 small bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups fresh cut up pineapple
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lard/coconut oil
1 tbsp flour
1 can of coconut milk
2-3 tbsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cooked chicken

Saute diced onion and bell pepper in lard or coconut oil. When onion starts to soften (about 10 minutes) add garlic and pineapple. Then put about a tbsp of butter in the skillet followed by the flour. Stir the flour in until it coats the vegetables and fruit. Add coconut milk and stir until the sauce thickens a bit. Last put in the curry and chicken and cook until chicken is heated through.

Best Ever Chicken Tacos

Yesterday I had a big pot of homemade chicken stock simmering away, smelling up the entire house. I knew that some of the chicken that was making the stock was going to make chicken tacos for dinner. Sometime in the morning I cut up some tomatoes, peppers, onion and a few cloves of garlic, tossed them in some salt and pepper and olive oil and roasted them for 25 minutes at 425. Then I pulled them out to cool. At my kids naptime I pulled the chicken out of the stock and set it on a cutting board to cool. Just as they were waking up, I pulled off a big bowl of meat that will be enough meat to make 3 meals. Blending up the tomato mixture makes a delicious roasted tomato salsa/ sauce. With all this homemade salsa & slow cooked chicken I figured it'd be a shame to wrap it up in a cardboard (I mean, store bought) tortilla, so while the chicken was cooling, I quickly tossed the ingredients together to make homemade tortillas.
-Amanda

Chicken Taco Filling

1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese
2 cups slow cooked shredded chicken
3/4 cup salsa (see above for a quick homemade version)
salt to taste
oregano
ground cumin

Melt butter in a skillet and add flour. Whisk until the flour is coated and cooked a bit. Add milk and whisk all the lumps out. Add cheese and keep whisking until sauce thickens. Add chicken, salsa and seasonings. Just cook enough to warm the chicken through. I added a ladle of my homemade chicken stock just for the extra nutrients and simmered that until it thickened up again, but that is optional. Serve on warm tortillas with chopped lettuce, dollop of sour cream and extra salsa.

Leftover Breakfast!

Last nights leftovers made a great breakfast! There was a teeny tiny piece of steak and a good portion of the hash left. Topped with a fried egg and some of the poblano pesto, what a hearty steak and eggs breakfast, that took hardly any time to prepare!
-Amanda

Grilled Sirloin with Poblano Pesto Sauce

This dinner really hit the spot! Bold, juicy, spicy, earthy, salty and a bit sweet it hit all over the palate. Definitely worth trying out! I got the recipe/idea from watching 10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa D'Arabian on Food Network. I did not follow her pesto exactly, but took it as a launching pad for my own. One tip, taste the pesto sauce as you go, and adjust as needed. It isn't finished until it tastes good on the tasting spoon. It may need a bit more acid (lime juice) or perhaps it's too acidic and needs more olive oil... just adjust to your preferences! I served it with Sweet Potato and Beet Hash.

-Amanda

Grilled Steak with Poblano Pesto

Sirloin Steak
2 limes
salt and pepper

2 pablano peppers
3-4 tbsp fresh grated parmesan
small handful of pecans
1-2 cloves garlic
3-4 tbsp olive oil
lime juice from one lime
parsley or cilantro (I was going to add this and forgot!)
salt and pepper

Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper and the juice of one lime. Let come to room temperature. Grill about 3 minutes per side for a 1 inch steak. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Char the poblano peppers. On a gas stove you can put them directly on the burner. If you don't have a gas stove you can char them under a broiler turning every few minutes either way you go. When the skin is completely black all over, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let steam/cool down for 10 minutes or more. Peel the skin off under running water and then cut away the stem and scoop out the seeds. In a small food processor put the poblano peppers, nuts, parmesan, salt, pepper, a few tbsp of olive oil and half the lime. Pulse a few times, trying to leave it a bit chunky. Taste as you go, adding more olive oil or lime juice to balance the flavor. Chop some cilantro and add it last. Serve over hot sirloin steak.

This post was linked to The Healthy Home Economist: Monday Mania Blog Link Up.

Sweet Potato & Beet Hash

I was needing some inspiration because I've been stuck on the "what's for dinner" question. I've even been making menus but if you aren't excited about your menu, then cooking it isn't thrilling either. Luckily this morning I was watching Food Network and caught 10 Dollar Dinners. I like that show for Real Food, because most of the time, Melissa D'Arabian uses Real Food ingredients, and when she doesn't they are usually easy to sub out. To save money she is a bit carb heavy, but a lot of her dishes I either make less of the carb or just go without it and it is still great. Today she made this Sweet Potato and Beet Hash that looked intriguing to me. I've been trying to eat more beets because they are so good for you. So, sure the sweet potatoes have carbs, but they still have lots of good vitamins so, in moderation not a bad thing. Hubby and I really liked this side dish. One of my twins ate almost all of hers and my other girl ate a few bites without any complaints (but she filled up on steak, because she is my MEAT eater!) As for the recipe, I linked to her recipe, but when I made it, I just went off my memory of what she did. Here is my version.
-Amanda

Sweet Potato & Beet Hash

1 sweet potato
1 beet
1.5 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
3 pieces of nitrate free bacon
1/4 yellow or white onion
2-3 cloves garlic

Peel the sweet potato and the beet. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss in the olive oil, salt and pepper and place in one layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes, flipping halfway through.

In a skillet, cook bacon that has been cut into small pieces. As the bacon is cooking add very small diced onion. Saute on medium high heat until onion is carmelized and bacon is crispy. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute or two more. Add the sweet potatoes and beets to the bacon and onions and stir.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I made up this quick Sweet and Sour Chicken dish for my girls. I used a sweet and sour sauce recipe based off of Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist blog.  The girls loved it! I used a small skillet and only made up enough for their lunch. I should have double the batch because they licked their bowls and asked if they could have it for lunch again tomorrow.
-Amanda

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 chicken thigh (or breast)
1 tbsp arrowroot
2 tbsp coconut oil/lard
1 carrot
handful of peas
sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup (I used homemade)
1 tbsp of grade b maple syrup
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
1 tsp grated ginger (not in original recipe)

Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Place in a bowl and sprinkle arrowroot, salt and pepper and stir until well coated. Get oil hot in a skillet and then place the chicken in it, shaking off extra arrowroot powder. When browned on one side, flip over and cook the other side. When chicken is about halfway cooked, add vegetables and continue stirring. Add sauce and bring to a boil. The arrowroot powder will help thicken the sauce and have it cling to the vegetables and chicken.

New Cousins!

I just wanted everyone to know that I haven't abandoned the blog! I've spent the past week in College Station, Texas for the birth of my identical mirror twin cousins Darianne Mae and Daylynn Joy Hill. They were born on July 25th and spent six days in NICU. Now they are happily home with my Aunt Rebeca and Uncle Darrin. It was a fun but exhausting week as I helped Aunt R travel back and forth to the hospital to help her breastfeed those two babies. Now I'm back at home and the new Mom and Dad are doing great! My identical twin daughters, Madeline and Isabelle are super excited to have (second) cousins that are also twins!

Frittata

 Last nights dinner was a simple frittata. I love making things with spinach incorporated because my girls like spinach that way. If I give them a side dish of spinach they turn their noses up though. This was super easy to put together and tasted delicious. It was one of those dishes that will be hard to recreate since I used leftover potatoes from a chicken roast from a few nights ago. The potatoes had soaked up all the chicken juices and they were divine. You could sub in some boiled potatoes that are mashed with butter, but they wouldn't taste exactly the same.
-Amanda

Frittata

6 eggs
1 cup of diced ham
1 cup of cooked spinach, drained
4 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper
sprinkle of parmesan
2 cups of cooked diced potatoes
olive oil/butter


Preheat oven to 350. Fry the ham in your oven safe skillet in a bit of butter, bacon grease or olive oil. While that is frying, in a large bowl, whisk your eggs together. Add cream, salt and pepper. Add the cooked ham and cooked (drained) spinach. In the hot skillet, press down/smash your potatoes to form a crust. Let them brown for a few minutes and then remove the skillet from the heat. Pour egg mixture in the skillet. Slice your tomatoes and lay on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes until eggs set. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Rood Vegetable Slaw with Cinnamon and Maple Syrup Dressing

I wish I was creative enough to have come up with this side dish, but since I've hardly ever eaten most of the root vegetables in it, I needed a recipe to follow. I found a recipe on a Raw food site that sounded really good. Her version was a bit different (she cut the vegetables differently and served it on lettuce) But it gave me a jumping off place to start. She also had some different vegetable choices. Use what you can find and go with it! I served this with fried haddock and butter. I had a bit of batter left at the end so I tossed in a few zucchinis too.
-Amanda

Root Vegetable Slaw with Maple Syrup Dressing

2 carrots
1 beet
about half a cup worth of rutabega
about half a cup worth of daikon radish
handful of dried cranberries

Cinnamon and Maple Syrup Dressing:

1/2 cup oil of choice (I used olive and coconut)
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup grade B maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp dijon mustard (I got to use my homemade!)
1/4 tsp salt
water, if needed

I used a food processor to grate all of my root vegetables after washing and peeling each one of them. You could also use a mandolin to slice them if you want bigger pieces, use a hand grater or cut by hand if you really feel like your knife skills need that much work. I did wear gloves when handling the beet because I did not want red hands. Put all the vegetables in a large bowl along with the dried cranberries and toss well.

In a small bowl mix all the ingredients for the dressing. Taste and adjust as needed. I did not think mine needed the extra water that the original recipe called for, but I might have done less vegetables than she did. Pour over the vegetables and stir everything together. Let sit for a couple of hours in the refridgerator to let the flavors develop. This is really good!

Egg Rolls

Oh yum! I was totally craving egg rolls. The thing is whenever I order them they don't taste as good as I think they should. So, I decided to make my own. I did buy pre-made wonton wrappers, because I think that is probably out of my skill reach. But now that I think about it, I do have a pasta roller, and really, they are kind of like pasta... I wonder if they are made the same way? Something to ponder. In the meantime, egg rolls are sort of labor intensive even without making your own wrappers so I'm not sure that it is something I'll ever do. (Uh, oh... do I hear a challenge?) Since I wanted the egg rolls to be the star of the dinner instead of an app or a side, I kept the side dish pretty simple. Just a quick stir fry of sesame ginger carrots and broccoli. One neat trick was to use the rest of the egg that I needed to seal the wonton wrappers in the vegetable stir fry. When you are buying pasture raised eggs, you don't want to waste them!

I made two quick dipping sauces a simple sweet and sour and a soy-sesame. I use an organic, traditionally prepared soy sauce that has been fermented. Be wary of soy sauce that is made from GMO soy that was not fermented. Non-fermented soy sauce is very hard to digest. (Read more here: Dangers of Soy.)
-Amanda

Egg Rolls
(very approximates on the ingredients!)

package of won ton wrappers
1 lb of ground pork
3 cloves garlic
1 cup of finely shredded cabbage
1 cup of finely shredded carrots (I used my vegetable peeler all the way through the entire carrot, and then ran my knife over the shreds.)
2 scallions, cut fine
3/4 cup bean sprouts
handful of parsley
soy-sesame sauce (recipe below)
1 egg for wash
lard/coconut oil for frying

In a medium size skillet cook pork and grated garlic cloves. In a large bowl, mix the cabbage, carrot, bean sprouts, scallions and parsley together. Add cooled pork. Mix well. Pour sauce, mix and let sit for at least one hour. Lay out wonton squares. Put about 3 tbsp of pork mixture in the bottom of one corner (drain as much of the liquid as you can.) Fold over and roll to the middle. Wrap the left and right sides in. Brush the top corner with egg wash and finish the wrap. Set aside and roll all egg rolls. Fry in hot lard. I only had enough to half cover the egg rolls, so I had to roll them in the oil carefully until golden brown all around. (I had enough mixture to make 16 egg rolls)

Soy-Sesame Sauce:

1 tsp arrowroot
2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 cloves grated garlic
4 tsp honey

Whisk all ingredients together except for arrowroot. Remove half for dipping sauce. Whisk arrowroot into remaining sauce for egg rolls.

Easy Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/4 cup of apricot jam (no sugar added, all fruit)
1/8-1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar (taste as you go to your prefrence.)
1 garlic clove, grated
1 tsp grated ginger

Ginger-Sesame Carrots & Broccoli

3 carrots
1/2 head of broccoli
splash of soy sauce
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp ginger
leftover egg wash (optional)
sesame seeds
scallion
olive oil

Put olive oil in pan. Pour egg and let it cook like a pancake. Remove. Chop carrots and broccoli and saute in olive oil. Grate in some ginger, add a splash of soy sauce. Add in egg, scallion, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Apple & Bacon Salad

 

I'm trying to add a few more salads into the rotation because they are usually pretty quick to make and for summer, salads just seem right. This was a very hearty and tasty salad that was approved by everyone. John said he thought the avocados were a bit odd in it and I think my girls were just going to eat the bacon until I encouraged them to taste a bit more! I think some dehydrated cranberries would be good in this too!

-Amanda

Apple and Bacon Salad

1/2 head of lettuce

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

1 package of bacon

1 avocado

1 large apple, chopped

1 cup of slivered, freshly toasted almonds

1/2 a cucumber, sliced

1/4 purple onion

homemade honey mustard dressing (see below)

Cut bacon into bite size pieces and cook until crispy. Chop lettuce and spinach into bite size pieces. Wash and dry thoroughly. Add to a very large salad bowl. Add diced apple, avocado, toasted almonds, chopped cucumber, thinly sliced onion and drained bacon. Toss. Serve with honey mustard dressing. Made enough for two adult portions. 

Honey Mustard Dressing
(these are NOT exact amounts, I just eye balled it!!)

1 tsp mustard (I got to use my homemade mustard!)

2 tsp honey

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup avocado oil

1/4 cup olive oil (If you don't have avocado oil, just use olive oil)

1 grated garlic clove

salt and pepper

pinch of dried herb such as thyme, tarragon or oregano (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk honey and mustard together. Drizzle oils in slowly whisking continuously. Add rice wine vinegar, garlic and salt. If it is too thick and the flavor is good, add a bit of water. Otherwise adjust oil and vinegar until you get the acidity level that is good for you.