Making the best of things

The theme of the last few weeks has been "We'll make it work."

 Everything is going to hell at the office

We'll make it work

We do the math over and over and to our amazement, we're still stupid broke. 

We'll make it work

Or, the focus of today's post,

I get my menu all set for cooking group, only to find the store is out of pretty much everything I need.

We'll make it work.

Breakfast for dinner is what I promised the lovely participants of the New Columbia cooking group. Homemade breakfast sausage, leek and mushroom egg muffins, 

and a simple fruit salad with whipped cream.

Simple, easy, delicious.

Because work is so insane these days (commencement is in three weeks) I'd waited until a mere hour before cook time to pick up ingredients. Luckily, I thought to myself, this group takes place in the market of a little grocery store in North Portland. I figured I'd be all set.

ha.

A dismal selection of berries (there must have been a raid), no mushrooms, and no ground pork, actually no ground anything. Soooooo, off to our local friendly Fred Meyer.

Still no ground pork.

Okay not true, but no ground pork that didn't look questionable.... you know what I mean.

But they were having a sale on organic, pastured happy ground turkey.
#MakinItWork

I picked up the rest of my ingredients and raced back to the kitchen for class.

This kitchen is a pseudo industrial kitchen, the supplies are ever changing, and most things are GIANT size. So cooking a meal for five people is a comical adventure through big-land.

However, tonight's dilemma was kind of the opposite. I could not for the life of me find normal size muffin tins, just itty-itty bitty mini muffin tins.  So....we'll make... mini egg muffins! 

And apparently all the frying pans had taken a walk, so we cooked our sausage in giant stock pots.

Though we lacked proper cookware, the food turned out delicious. The mini egg muffins were perfectly bite size. We threw the leftovers in the fridge and they made an excellent snack or on-the-go breakfast in the morning.  Things always work out right?
Right.
Though making sausage in a soup pan sucks, use a frying pan. Get it together.


Homemade Breakfast Sausage (paleo, primal, 21DSD)

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey or pork
• 1 apple, granny smith or gala, diced into 1/4inch pieces
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp sage
• 1tsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• oil or butter for pan

Directions

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Work together, with your hands, to evenly distribute spices. Using your hands is really the easiest way. Form meat into small 2-3 inch patties that are no more than 1/2 inch thick.
Melt coconut oil or butter in a large fry pan over medium heat. Add patties to pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until done through. Finish with additional salt and pepper, if you like.


Leek and Mushroom Egg Muffins (vegetarian, paleo, primal, 21dsd)
Makes 12-16 large egg muffins or 24-36 mini muffins
Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 2 small leeks, ends trimmed, diced (include the greens!)
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup mushrooms (we used shitakes) diced
• 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F
Dice up all your veggies. You want them fairly small because they will distribute more evenly throughout the eggs.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the bejesus out of those eggs. You want them fluffy and happy. Happy eggs taste better. Fold in your leeks, garlic, mushrooms, cheese (if using), and spices.
Mix thoroughly to distribute.
Grease your muffin tin. Ladle egg batter into tin, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Place in preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the muffins pass the toothpick test.

Refrigerate any leftovers for up to a week!

Bacon Jalapeno Winter Squash Soup

Woah. Posting two days in a row! WHAT?!

I have good reason...

Last night we resumed our Village Gardens Cooking Collective at the Village Market store. I met with five eager community members to cook and share a delightful winter meal together. In spite of some serious language barriers, we produced a beautiful blood orange kale salad and lots of winter squash soup.

The soup was stupid good. So I'm sharing the recipe with you because I'm nice like that. And I wrote this recipe, so I'm feeling proud of it.

Bacon Jalapeno Winter Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 2-3lbs Winter squash (acorn, butternut, hubbard)
• 6 strips uncured bacon, cut into 1/2inch pieces (be sure to save the fat after cooking)
• 2 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
• 1 sweet onion, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk

 

Directions

·       Preheat oven to 400F. While oven is preheating, prep all ingredients.

·       In a large soup pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.

·       While bacon is cooking, halve and remove innards from squash. Cut into quarters.

·       When bacon is finished, remove and set aside. Carefully pour remaining fat into small bowl to use later in recipe.

·       Add two tablespoons of rendered bacon fat back to soup pot. Add sliced squash and stir well to coat.

·       Dump oiled squash onto a large rimmed baking sheet and place in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Cook until fork tender and browned on top.

·       Add remaining fat to soup pan and sauté the onions, jalapeno, and carrots over medium heat until onions are translucent and carrots begin to soften. Stir frequently so not to burn.

·       Add garlic and remaining spices, stir to coat and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.

·       Reduce heat to low and add diced apple and chicken stock and cover pot.

·       Remove squash from oven. Let stand for a few minutes to cool then carefully remove skins from squash.

·       Add squash to soup pot and bring to contents to a  boil 

·        Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer 10-15 minutes for flavors to meld and squash to get squishy.

·       Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth

·       Slowly pour in coconut milk or heavy cream and stir to incorporate.

·       Serve soup with crumbled bacon pieces on top!

January Recipe RoundUp

One of my 2014 goals is to be more adventurous in my cooking, so I've challenged myself to try one new recipe a week. Doesn't sound like a lot right?

Maybe not, but coming home after a long day the thought of cracking open the cook book or pulling something off the interwebs and HOPING it turns out well is not exactly the ideal evening for me these days.

Will it actually only take thirty minutes? 

Does it secretly require six hours of prep? 

Will this really be the best pork roast of my life?

Is this a Pinterest fail in the making?

There's still a cheesecake brownie incident I am trying to live down....

But in spite of some hesitations, I stuck to it and attempted some altogether delightful recipes this month.

To kick the month off, I made a Mexican Braised Beef in the slow cooker for our new year's goals party. This was a combination of my Mom's recipe advice and a solid recipe from The Kitchn. Follow her recipe, it'll surely be awesome. Or take my mom's advice and sub out the diced tomatoes for stewed tomatoes and create something MAGICAL. 

Mexican Braised Beef with roasted cauliflower and kale

Next up, I took some solid advice from PaleOMG and made her Almost Five Ingredient Spaghetti Pie. This was really, really good. Like really good. Like go make this right now. I added mushrooms, parsnips and extra sauce to mine because I can't leave anything alone.

Courtesy of PaleOMG (hers is prettier looking than mine)

I have to say this was almost a fail.  I fell victim to not reading the recipe all the way through first.... I'd assembled this delicious casserole, looked at the next step "Bake at 400 for about an hour." So, my own fault, but dinner was at 9 that night. Worth it.

Tonight, the Village Gardens Cooking Group starts up again and I'm preparing two new recipes. The first, a play on my favorite salad: kale, blood orange and avocado salad with a blood orange vinaigrette. I'm a big fan of raw kale salads and I'm excited to try out a new vinaigrette to mix things up! Hopefully my participants will be equally jazzed about the ease and awesomeness of making homemade salad dressing.

September's Cooking Group hard at work

We are also making a roasted jalapeno and bacon winter squash soup. Sounds tasty right? I hope so! The Food Works farm provided us with some beautiful delicata, acorn and pumpkin squash that we will roast to perfection for our soup! Love sourcing local produce!


My new recipe challenge continues and thanks to my lovely soon-to-be-sister-in-law, I am the proud new owner of Beyond Bacon: Paleo Recipes that Respect the Whole Hog. This book is brilliant and the recipe photos are just absolutely gorgeous. Go check it out! Your eyes and stomach will thank me.

Not your mother's green bean casserole

Fall has hit. I know I already dedicated a whole post to my excitement. But just in case you missed the memo. ITS HERE! Portland won't be dry again until next July.

With fall comes comfort food. As a kid this was usually in the form of my mother's clam chowder, chicken bake or the ultimate friday during lent tradition--- tuna noodle casserole.

Our family abstained from the cornflake topping or whatever you crazies would put on top. No our dish was warm and delicious and ultimately simple; literally three ingredients: bow tie pasta, canned tuna, Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.

We all grew up on Campbell's soup concentrates. I mean, tell me you can't hear the noise in your head of the mystery mix coming out of the can in one gelatinous slhhhlahhpp.

Now, call me snotty, call me informed, but I don't bake with campbell's soup anymore. And well we'll just blame my glutardness, but the noodle part of tuna noodle is right out.

So I'm just left with tuna, not as comforting.

But my lovely fiance grew up with a different mushroom soup casserole, a holiday favorite of many, but totally new to me: Green Bean Casserole.

Refusing to make the campbells soup/french onion version ( I know I'm so mean), I promised I'd make him a better version from scratch.

He scrunched up his nose as if to say "Yeah, good luck with that."

Well I finally delivered on that promise yesterday.
I made some awesomely tasty green bean casserole. (Sans, as of course was pointed out to me, the fried onions)

Ingredients

• 2 tbl bacon fat, divided.
• 1 pound mushrooms(crimini or white), sliced thinly
• 1 large leek, green stems removed, quartered and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 ounces heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 pound fresh green beans, stems removed, cut into 1 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large saucepan, warm 1 tbl bacon fat over medium heat. Add diced leek and mushroom, and saute for 5 minutes, until leeks soften and mushrooms start to release moisture. Add garlic to the mushrooms and increase heat, cooking for 3-4 more minutes. Add chicken stock, salt and pepper Scrape bottom of pan and mix to incorporate. Cook on high for 5-7 minutes, letting the liquid reduce. Add the heavy cream and reduce heat to medium.  Lightly dust the arrowroot powder over the dish and mix well to incorporate (you dont want lumps!). Let simmer and thicken for 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat.
While mushroom sauce is cooking, spread the remaining tbls of bacon fat on the bottom of a small casserole dish and layer cut green beans on top. Pour mushroom sauce over the top of green beans and cover dish with foil.
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes.


*Note, if dairy is on your no-no list, you could replace the cream with full fat coconut milk. The flavor profile will be slightly different. But it could be worth a shot!

Its the great pumpkin!

I love fall. LOVE IT. 

Portland is in a major monsoon right now and I am giddily staring out the window, soul quenched from the sideways rain and wind beating against our sadly single paned windows. My roommate, who hails from the sunshineyland of Los Angeles, is less than impressed with the blustery, wet.
But I've fully embraced the season. Fires roaring, tea kettle whistling and the smell cinnamon, ginger and cloves wafting through the air, life is good.

Along with fall comes the great pumpkin kick. Decorations, pies, pastries, curries, charlie brown tv specials and dont get me started on that crack of a sauce starbucks uses....

PaleOmg has not helped this obsession--- she's been on what seems to be an equally aggressive pumpkin kick. Favorite thing she's posted so far is her Paleo Pumpkin Granola.

Holy Ballz. This stuff was DELIGHTFUL. My house smelled like Christmas for hours. 

I loosely followed her recipe, based on what I had in my cupboards, replacing the dates with raisins, pecans with cashews, etc. etc. 

Pumpkining continued last night along with the rain storm. I made a batch of paleo Pumpkin Banana Spice Cookies while Shane and Ted zoned in front of batman cartoons (my life has gotten weirdly domestic). 

The cookies were okay, shockingly had the Shane stamp of approval--- "Can I eat these when I'm being good (ie eating healthy)." They were far more like bites of banana bread than what I was expecting. I think next time, I'd replace the banana and use all pumpkin. They are also vegan, which is pretty cool for all my veg folks. 

Next up on the pumpkin list this week is this awesome pumpkin pudding from Grass Fed Girl . Its not vegan (good ol' gelatin), but I'm excited to try it out and perhaps top it with some of PaleOmg's delicious pumpkin granola. 

Kombuchin' like kombitches

There has not been a dull moment since Britt and I have been reunited under the same roof.

If you missed the memo, her house burned down two weeks ago and she has relocated to a twin size air mattress in my living room. Living the dream here folks. Read about that and other crazy happenings in Danielle and Britt's lives on TwoEvilActors. 

Anyway. We have been doing awesome things like making badass music, cuddling with copious cats, and adventuring down Alberta, experiencing all Portland has to offer....

 Like beer cozies and sexy ladies

Tasty treats like Salt and Straw Ice Cream

Photo courtesy of Salt & Straw's FB

And of course..... fresh brewed KOMBUCHA on tap at Townshend Tea House

 

Yes. Those are growlers of Kombucha... 64 fluid ounces of fermented deliciousness. 

#tarotcards #Lifecolors #soportlandithurts

Our growlers have left our side, nary a moment since we purchased them. Portlandia, you are missing out on some great ideas here. In fact, I think Britt and I need our own reality tv show. Mr. Shakespeare* himself once said "This shit writes itself" Can't argue with that....



*he probably didn't say that, but Britt wore a shirt that said that... so I'm going with it. 

Anyway, whilst the rain beat down upon the earth, Britt and I swigged buch straight from the jug and made insightful revelations about our lives. Let me translate: It was raining, we were stuck inside, so we read tarot cards and drank too much kombucha. **

**we do this when its sunny too...



"Too much kombucha you say? No such thing!" Ah readers... unfortunately there is.... Drink a growler in 48 hours and see what that shit does to you... shit being the operative word. I'll spare the details.

Alas, three days later we were back in Townshend, refilling our growlers.

Please note the crazed look...

I should mention that while Kombucha is fermented, it is for all intents and purposes, non-alcoholic. It has TRACE amounts of alcohol in it, but I think you stand a better chance of getting buzzed off a tablespoon of Robitussin. Britt and I are just this crazy, naturally.

For those of you who aren't living an episode of Portlandia, Kombucha is a lightly carbonated or effervescent(bonus points for THAT word),  tart, fermented tea drink. Its packed with enzymes, aids in digestion and gut health, and contains glucosamines for joint health. And like lots of other fermented foods, it likes to power-punch that immune system into action.

While it is really fun to drink Kombucha out of a growler, a much more economical approach to buch-swigging, is to brew your own at home.

Its super, super simple, requires zero special equipment-- just the desire to brew and the ability to handle a SCOBY.

SCOBY, not to be confused with Scooby, is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Its this squishy mushroomy thing you put in the sweet tea to make it magically transform into Kombucha.
Sounds yummy right?

I have no idea who this woman is, but she is holding a SCOBY. 

Scooby

If you can handle the thought of that, then you are well on your way to home-brewing your own Buch!
Congratulations.
If you keep reading below, you'll have the instructions too... WOW. WHAT A DAY FOR YOU!

Ginger Apple Pancake

Last night, I had possibly the worst sleep ever. The newest animal to move in to the house isn't adjusting so well. Queso kitty paces the hallways, jumps off counters, smacks windows, all while YOWLING. His mournful cries echo throughout the house, preventing anyone from sleeping.

I cohabit with three cats. I don't even like cats... that much. 

Thanks to Sarah Kloucek for the drawing.

We go through various stages to cope with his cries. 

I start off nice --- calling for Queso to come cuddle. 

Doesn't work

Then Shane yells at him. 

Yowling continues

Then I yell at him. 

He pauses, we get hopeful.... then starts again

Then Shane throws pillows at him. 

 He shuts up. I fall asleep, but only for a moment

Then we both try the nice, concerned approach once more. 

He starts again,  

But by now we are out of pillows to throw, so I threaten to throw other cats at him.  

Its a cycle between nice, concerned, and furious--- 

this morning, I gave up and hauled my ass out of bed early. 

So I treated myself to fun breakfast. 

Ginger Apple Pancake. I use the word pancake loosely here.... But whatever I concocted is delicious, simple, breakfasty and best of all coconut-flour and almond-flour free.

This makes one giant pancake. I've only made it once (this morning) so I guess it could totally be a fluke of delicious and perhaps any attempts to recreate will be disastrous. eh. c'est la vie.
Update: Made again this morning, and it was delightful. YAY for repeating!!!
I would recommend making these one at a time and not doubling the recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 apple, sliced thin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp honey
1 tbls coconut oil
2 eggs
2 tbls sunbutter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
1 tbls unsweetened coconut flake (optional)
Crystallized ginger to top!

Let's Do it!
In a small egg pan (7 or 8 inch in diameter), heat coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add apples, spices and honey. Stir to coat apples evenly. Let cook for 4-5 minutes, until apples begin to soften. Meanwhile, in a small bowl beat eggs with a fork until fluffy. Add sunbutter to eggs and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in coconut flake if using.

Pour egg mixture into the pan covering the apples. Turn heat down to medium and let cook. You'll have to keep an eye on this, as cook times will vary, mine took about 5 minutes on the first side.

 The pancake will start to bubble (like normal pancakes!) and this is a good indication that its about time to flip, but you should wait just another minute to make sure the bottom is browning and solid.

Ready? You'll need a large flat spatula to carefully flip the pancake over. The egg isn't as strong of a binder as glue-y gluten.

Once flipped, cover the pan with a lid and let cook another five minutes, until cooked through.
Top with crystallized ginger!

Easter candy

The Easter Bunny didn't make a conventional visit to the hodge house this year. The bunny is respecting that we are cutting back on sugar intake and instead of bringing treats, the bunny brought a beautiful sunny day (and allowed us to make a car payment and buy a bed) oh to be grown ups.

I cooked a ham for the first time ever and it turned out fabulously. The Domestic Man shared a fabulous honey and citrus ham glaze recipe that left my house smelling amazing and tummies full and happy.

After dinner, we were left wanting something sweet.... I mean... its easter where are my robin's eggs, jelly beans, chocolate rabbit??? I've been focusing on eliminating that way of thinking, associating food with emotion or eating something because its tradition. I like to make concious decisions of what I consume.

But I consciously decidedly that I wanted some effing chocolate.

Instead of rummaging through the treat door for some packaged, crap filled...crap... I decided to make my own crap candy. I like to know what I'm eating.

Thus chocolate sunbutter stars were born

Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut oil melted
1/4 cup coconut oil, solid
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsweetened sunbutter (I use homemade--its infintely cheaper than store bought)
1/4 cup (or less) honey


In a food processor, combine solid coconut oil, cocoa powder, sunbutter, and honey. Blend until smooth and even. Pour in melted coconut oil and stir just to combine. Don't overmix or it may separate.

Spoon mixture into silicone candy mold. I got mine at ikea, though I'm fairly certain it was intended as a disfunctional ice cube tray. You can also spoon into mini muffin liners.

Place in freezer for about ten minutes or until firm, then carefully pop out of mold. Store in fridge or freezer.

Enjoy!

Birthday!

Last week was my big 2-5! 

Old right?

I chose to celebrate by making dinner for a small group of delightful people, because we are all decidedly broke, eating at restaurants is difficult for glutards and well I love to cook.

With the help of my fabulous sous chef, Suz, I managed to throw together a delightful meal:

Steak

Roasted beets and sweet potatoes with pistachio butter

Braised Kale

Dessert: Coconut macaroons

NOM.

Unfortunately, I made my guests wait till 8pm (European style right?) to eat, so food was inhaled before proper documentation could be taken. (read: I dont have photos)

But this was one of the most cohesive and successful meals I have ever thrown together so I highly recommend checking out the links below

This Steak Marinade was so tasty. I let the meat marinate for about 2 hours while I prepped and chopped everything else. I used Coconut Aminos instead of soy-sauce, to make it paleoriffic.

The big surprise of the evening was for sure the roasted beet dish, borrowed from my friends at Whole9. I added sweet potatoes and used coconut oil instead of olive oil. It really isn't the prettiest dish, but the pistachio butter is absolutely incredible. 

And finally because I am doing this fabulous 21 Day Sugar Detox I was really at a loss for what to make for dessert... I am not a fan of zee coconut flour and didn't want to jump head first into the dried fruit world (I was allowing myself a little leniency with the sugar, because... come on its my BIRTHDAY!) 

But I stumbled upon this Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Macaroon Recipe and fell in love! Its super super simple and comes together very quickly. They bake MUCH faster than the recipe indicates. Mine were done after 15-20 minutes, so keep an eye on them. 

Instead of using their chocolate drizzle, I used some of my homemade chocolate coconut butter (sugar-free, paleo, 21DSD friendly, vegan, you name it friendly) 

Chocolate Coconut Butter

Ingredients

3 cups unsweetened shredded/flake coconut

1/2 tsp salt

3-4 tbls melted coconut oil

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder

In your food processor combine coconut, salt and 2 tbls of melted coconut oil. Blend on high until mixture starts to liquify. Slowly add remaining coconut oil. Continue to blend until smooth. This process takes anywhere from 5-8 minutes. You may need to pause and scrape down the sides. Add the cocoa powder to the food processor and blend for another minute. This mixture should be VERY liquidy. Pour into glass jar and store at room temperature. It will harden (to a solid state) as it comes to room temperature. 

To use on macaroons, drizzle liquid on top of cookies with a fork. Let sit to harden a bit. 

nom. 

Om nom Cauliflower!

To me.... Cauliflower is a slightly disappointing cousin of broccoli...
Paleo promises of this magical veggie being a fabulous rice substitution or the base of a gluten-free pizza crust have produced some truly terrible dinners....

The Suzz, however, introduced me to Buffalo Cauliflower.  This ridiculously firey treat was the kick-start to my change of heart.... Unfortunately, out of the kindness of Suzzane's heart, we tried to make a paleo version of this (almond flour and water blegh) and it turned out to be kind of hot mess (badum psh hah). Cover anything in enough hot sauce and its still pretty tasty....

So I took it upon myself to give cauliflower a second chance.... Inspired by a gluten-free baked onion ring recipe, the original buffalo cauliflower and random ingredients in my cupboard, I managed to make something truly awesome. Cheesy, spicy, cripsy, and delicious... cauliflower...

Because this really was a make-up as I go kind of recipe, all proportions are estimates.


Ingredients:

• 1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce (franks, tapatio, etc) 

Preheat oven to 425F.
Lightly oil a large baking sheet. 
In a small bowl, whisk together egg and almond milk until throuroughly combined. In another small bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

Dip individual florets in the egg wash and then into the spice mixture, being sure to thoroughly cover the cauliflower. Place on oiled baking sheet.

Bake for twenty minutes, until sesame seeds start to brown. Remove from oven and pour hot sauce, to your liking, over each floret. Return to oven for 5-7 more minutes. The outsides should be crunchy and delicious.

N'oatmeal

I miss oatmeal. 

like woah. 

Nothing starts the day off quite like a giant bowl of hot mus. 

Primal Britain has a recipe for Paleo Porridge that FastPaleo.com introduced to me...

I have been fairly skeptical of "paleo"izing breakfast options. Sure I've had some tasty paleo- "pancakes" but they aren't pancakes. They are in the shape of pancakes, I am eating them at breakfast, I could pour maple syrup on them, but it is still not in fact a pancake.
Don't get me started on waffles....

But Primal Britain's recipe is in fact delicious and reminds me somewhat of the instant oatmeal I'd eat as a kid (or a college student). Anyone else remember eating banana nut oatmeal growing up? Somehow those geniuses at Quaker infused a packet of powdery business with the bananaiest of flavor without actually harming any bananas in the making.

This recipe is similar... but better... and I'm sorry, real bananas are used.
 I created my own version this morning and it really is quite tasty, consistency is perfect and its packed with good fats and protein.

Liz's N'Oatmeal

Serves 1

1 small, ripe banana

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup almonds

1/4 cashews

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup egg white protein powder (optional)

Put all ingredients in food processor, except  egg white powder, and blitz until desired consistency is reached. Don't over blend, it'll get too mushy.

Pour food processor contents into a small sauce pan and warm over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. Remove from heat and slowly sift in egg white powder stirring well to fully incorporate.

Serve with dried cherries or raisins on top. 

nom nom.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedily deedily.

Coconut butter is the latest obsession to hit the hodge house. With my roommate and I back on the paleo bandwagon, treat time is needing more and more creativity.

I saw a recipe for coconut butter a while ago and was admittedly super curious.  On a success trip, after my sunbutter recipe, I decided to give it a go.

See its stupidly easy. So I can't even really call it a recipe....

Get yourself some unsweetened coconut flakes. Blend the shit out of it in a vitamix or food processor (about ten minutes). You're done when it has the consistency of... you guessed it.... butter. 

But what the hell do you do with coconut butter, now that you've endured the whirrrrrr of the blender for ten plus minutes?

I let it sit in my fridge for two weeks.

And then today. I was inspired!

Coconut butter stuffed dates.

How could I go wrong with this idea?

So I snagged the tub of coconutty goodness out of the fridge, nuked it for a few minutes to soften it up, split some dried dates down the middle and then globbed a spoonful of coconut butter in the middle of said date And then reveled in coconut heaven. Obviously I had to share with my roommate. And of course, she had the idea to make it twenty times better.

"Paleo chocolate sauce?!?!" you ask yourself. Why yes, New Seasons sells this delcious concoction with unsweetened pear and pineapple juice and cocoa powder. Thus chocolate sauce.

So if youre feeling extra awesome, drizzle a little paleo chocolate sauce on top. Not feelin' saucy? Dust a little cocoa powder on top!

NOM.

tuscan kale and sausage soup

I threw together this tasty soup the other night, when I wasn't feelin' so hot. It's super easy, so I don't feel like I can take too much credit for its tastiness. But here ya go.

Ingredients 

• 2 tbl olive oil
• 1 large red onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 lb hot Italian sausage
• 3 small sweet potatoes, diced
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 6 cups chicken stock 
• 1 large bunch kale, chopped (5-6 cups)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium in a large soup pot. Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent. Add sausage. Cook over medium until browned. Add sweet potatoes, baby carrots and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are folk tender. Reduce heat and add kale. Cover and let stand for five minutes or so for kale to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

I'm in the middle of a crazy move, so all of my spices (sans salt and pepper) are buried deep in boxes. GEt creative with spices and such as you like it.

ch-ch-ch-chili!

That glorious chill of late fall is finally here.

My neighbor relentlessly sweeps brown, green, and red leafy intruders falling from the massive oak as they build a crunchy carpet over our shared backyard. His work is never ending, and seemingly pointless, the tree has only begun to shed. So I guiltlessly, stomp my feet through the autumnal piles as I clamor up to my tiny attic apartment.

I precariously balance my overly full grocery bags on the rail as I fumble for my keys. Door clicks and I barely open it and am tackled by two wiggling balls of fur.  My bags rip and soon enough onions, sweet potatoes and and carrots are rolling around my kitchen floor.

overwhelmed by love. I can't actually stay mad. 

My two little furry sous chefs inspect the produce rolling about the floor and are decidedly uninterested. 

Just as soon as they are overly excited, they are crawling back into their respective snoozy spots to sleep.

sigh. animals. 

To celebrate this delightful fall weather, I have decided that I  NEED to make chili. I saw PaleoGirl's recipe for Bison and Sweet Potato chili and I was admittedly intrigued. But I am broke broke, so  grass fed bison is just not in the books. But I take her recipe as a starting point and make my own delicious concoction, like I do.

Sweet Potato Kale Chili

So I give you Sweet Potato Kale Chili. 

I just got back from a four day stint in Hollywood where we pretty much ate out everyday. So as you can imagine, I am dying for REAL FOOD, namely dark leafy green. This chili hits the spot. Packed with hot green chilies, ribbons of kale and spicy ground beef, I am a happy camper (and continue to be, because this batch will feed an army for weeks).


Ingredients

• 3lbs grass fed ground beef
• 2 red sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 tbls coconut oil
• 2 yellow onions
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 8oz organic tomato paste
• 3 tbls cumin
• 2 tbls chili powder
• 2 tsp cayenne
• 15oz can tomato sauce
• 8 oz diced green chilies, hot
• 32 oz crushed tomatoes ( I used some my sister canned, so the seasoning varied)
• 1 bunch kale, cut into thin ribbons
• 1 tsp salt (more to taste)

Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium heat until thoroughly cooked. I use this time to prep all my veggies.
In a large soup pot, melt coconut oil over medium heat. Add diced sweet potato and cook on high for about five minutes, stirring frequently.

Check on yo' bouef. If its done, remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Pour drippings into pot with sweet potatoes. (If its not done... carefully drain some of the drippings into sweet potato pot anyway and continue to cook)

Reduce heat under sweet potatoes, add onions and cover the pot. Let cook until potatoes are fork tender.

Add remaining, garlic, seasonings, and tomato paste. Stir to coat and let cook for one to two minutes. Add in all remaining ingredients, except kale. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Fold in kale, it will wilt and be delicious. Let flavors meld for roughly ten minutes, add seasoning to taste.

Serve with diced avocado and cheese if you go that route. :)

Paleo chocolate meringues

Yesterday was the most delightful blustery fall day. 

Despite some early morning tidying, manfriend and I lazed about the apartment and cuddled with El Pancho and Moe the Dog. 

The cold, rainy days always put me in the mood to fill my house with baked goods (and subsequently, my kitchen with dishes).

Since banishing gluten from my kitchen last January, any attempt to create something that remotely resembles a delicious baked good, has been decidedly disappointing.  Let me tell you--- there is no good replacement for flour in tasty treats like muffins or cakes. Sorry bout it. 

However.  I needed to bake and I needed some chocolate. But I'm in the middle of this pesky challenge, so no cheating! 

I was perusing Dessert Stalker and came across a few meringue cookies recipes. They looked mildly promising, so I pulled together my own little recipe. 

I give chocolate meringue kisses. Totally Paleo, totally only 4 calories a cookie.  

Yes I am that good. 

Ingredients

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 single serve packets Stevia (I like stevia because its natural, and not scary chemical. If you are of the sugar eating kind, sub a 1/4 cup granulated sugar here)
• 3 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder.

Preheat the oven to 300F and cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In your fabulous KitchenAid mixer, beat on high, the egg whites, cream of tarter, and salt and until the mixture starts to form soft peaks. Add in the stevia or sugar and continue to beat on high, until stiff peaks form. You can tell its ready when you lift the whisk out of the mixture and the meringue doesn't fall. On low, stir in the cocoa powder until fully incorporated. 

Drop tablespoon size drops onto the parchment paper. 

Bake for 24-30 minutes at 300F or until dried out. 

Serve with delicious cocoa :)

Bacon Pumpkin Pancakes (Anxious for fall)

I stumbled upon Paleo Parents Pumpkin and Bacon Silver Dollar Pancakes the other day when I was bored    working really hard and simultaneously jonesing for fall. Pumpkin? Bacon? Two things I enjoy. Why not combine them?

This morning was the laziest of Sundays, so seemingly perfect for a lil baking adventure. 

unfortunately it is hotter than hell outside (broke 100F today) so I am still kicking myself for turning on the firey gas range in my 500 sqft apt. I really was just trying to channel fall by filling my apartment with autumnal scents of ginger, pumpkin, and coriander. Sadly I just made it feel like a fucking sauna. 

Admittedly, I did not do the best job on these lil pancakes. Although delightfully savory they were a bit crumbly. I assume this is due to my halving the recipe and screwing the up the wet-dry ratio. 

Still delicious, I paired them with some sautéed collards and tasty grapefruit wedges. 

I altered Paleo Parent's recipe---- I nixed the maple syrup, mostly because I didn't have any. And I added a 1 tsp each of ginger and cinnamon. Also I added in the reserved bacon fat in the mix, just to fully incorporate the bacony flavor.

Pretty tasty.

Paleo meets Vegetarian.

It seems that the fates have spited me by sending me a vegetarian man-friend mere months after I abandoned my vegan ways.... My grain and legume free diet clashes with his pizza-loving belly.
Compromise and creative cooking have been high on the priority list lately, because really I can't afford to go out all the time and I love to cook (but preferably not two meals)!

So I spent a few hours one afternoon thumbing through all my yummy vegan cook books ( I miss you old friends.) for recipes that the veg and the dino can both enjoy.

The Veganomicon and Appetite for Reduction provided some great inspiration for happy tummies!

Last night's creation: Zucchini Pasta with tomato sauce, topped with Grilled Portobello Mushrooms (and a loaf of bread if you happen to be akin to that sort of thing....)

Super simple, healthy and I got the tasty seal of approval from the man who consumes more coca-cola and papa johns than I thought possible.

I'd love to share photos, but it was too tasty to wait for a photo shoot.... but here is the recipe.....


Zucchini Pasta with grilled Portos

Portobellos (adapted from Isa's Appetite for Reduction)

• 2 large portobello mushroom caps, destemmed (keep the stems, dice and add them to the sauce!)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tbls tamari
• 3 tbls balsamic vinegar
• 2-3 tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp liquid smoke

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients. Place mushrooms, gill side up, in a small pyrex pan. Pour marinade over shrooms and let sit for 15-20 minutes. (while these guys are doin their thang, you should start the zucchini process)

Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add caps, gill side down, into pan. Pour any remaining marinade over the shrooms. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip over. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until center is tender. Remove from pan and cut into strips.

Pasta Ingredients 

• 4 large zucchini
• salt, pepper
• 1 tbl olive oil
• 2 qts water

Using a mandolin or a spiralizer thing (oh you faaaancy), slice your zucchini into long, thin noodley strips. You don't want to use the very core of the zucchini because the squash doesn't hold up well. So slice thinly on one side until you start to see the seeds. Flip to the next side, slice again until you hit seeds. Repeat on all four sides.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Add zucchini strips and blanch for TWO MINUTES (no more or you'll end up with mush). Dump into colander and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking. Return noodles to pot and toss with salt, pepper and oil. Set aside.


 
Saucey Sauce

So I super cheated and used a jar of Newman's Own Sockarooni spaghetti sauce. BUT my mother did teach me something: jarred spaghetti sauce is never good left alone. So. If you want my cheater recipe, see below.

1 jar sockarooni sauce
1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbls olive oil

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add garlic and onion, saute until onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and turn up heat. Brown mushrooms and onions (5-7 minutes). Add jar of sauce. Bring to boil and then let simmer until the rest of dinner is ready.


Assembly?
Grab bowl. Scoop zucchini into bowl. Pour on saucey sauce. Add portos on top. Eat and enjoy.

Egg Foo YUMMMMMMMMM

Most DELICIOUS breakfast adventure from a few weekends ago was my own rendition of NomNom Paleo's Egg Foo Young-ish. I packed mine with carrots, onion, and chard (and of course some bacon) This blog has gotten so weird.... This falls into the treat category of paleo land... coconut flour is pretty high on the calorie chart....

This is a relatively easy weekend morning adventure.  The recipe makes several egg pancakes, that reheat fabulously. Serve with a little salsa and avocado on top and perhaps some sweet potatoes on the side :) And coffee. Lots of coffee.

Egg Foo Yummmm (Liz style)

Makes enough for you, your friend and your friend's boyfriend. Plus leftovers.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 1/3 cup Coconut Flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt (more to taste)
• 2 tbl. coconut oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 3-4 leaves chard, destemmed and chopped.
• 8 strips Turkey Bacon (trader Joes has uncured, nitrate free happy bacon); chopped

Heat 1 tbl coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat until melted (won't take long, coconut oil is magical). Saute onions, carrots and chopped bacon until bacon is cooked through and veggies start to soften. Add in chard and continue to cook until bright green and wilted.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl beat the living hell out of the eggs. Whisk in coconut flour, baking soda, and spices until thoroughly combined.

Check on your veggie mixture....
Done yet?

not quite?

Try again in a few.... make some coffee in the meantime...

done now?

Good. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.... Use this time to enjoy the coffee you just brewed.

Pour veggies into into egg batter and gently stir to thoroughly incorporate.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Scoop a 1/4 cup of batter and pour into heated pan.  You may have to push down into a pancake shape, depending on the consistency of your batter. Cook for approximately 2 minutes before flipping and cooking for an additional 2min on the other side. Let cool for a hot minute and then eat up!

fashionably late... for work...

I've been neglecting my poor tiny kitchen lately.

Boot camp + Work + Rehearsal = limited cooking adventures

actually limited everything... sleep especially.

ah vell.

All part of the fun right?!

Anyway yesterday morning, whilst poaching eggs and sauteing kale, the ever-blackening pile of bananas in the fruit bowl caught my eye. I needed to do something with the mushy mess before the fruit flies found my stash. Vegan-Liz would make some sort of awesome banana chocolate chip bread cake concoction. Nom. Unfortunately, I am glutarded-Liz these days.
Eying the clock... 7:45 a.m.,  of course a half hour is plenty of time to throw together a recipe, eat breakfast, get dressed, walk the dog, brush my lashes comb my teeth etc etc etc. Yes. I am wonder woman....
Or just chronically five minutes late for work, running in looking like I've been hit by a bus. But I'm smiling!

Based loosely on Make it Paleo's banana bread, I give you.... Banana Coconut Muffins!

Wooo!

Exciting. I know.



Banana Coconut Muffins

Makes 12 delicious breakfast treats (about 150 calories per muffin, not too shabby!)

Ingredients

• 5-6 black bananas, mashed
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 coconut flour
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly oil muffin tin.

In a large bowl, beat the bejesus out of those eggs. Add mashed bananas and mix. Sift in coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir well to combine thoroughly. Slowly mix in coconut oil. Fold in the coconut flakes. the batter should be pretty thick. If it isn't, you screwed up. may as well throw it all out. worthless.

just kidding.

kind of.

Pour batter into tins. These don't rise a lot, so don't worry about overfilling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until you really have to leave for work. Let cool and enjoy!