Stuffed Peppers

The thing I love about food is that what we really like about foods isn’t always just the taste, it’s the texture of a particular food we long for, especially when nature doesn’t create a paleo food with that same texture. Fortunately, nature gave us spaghetti squash so that takes care of that, but what about rice?

Cauliflower is the answer and it does it’s job quite well. Just pulverize in a food processor and voila you’ve got rice!

I used my rice this time in a mixture with ground turkey and other spices to fill up some bright peppers.

 

You need:

1 pound ground turkey

5 Bell peppers, 1 chopped, the others with tops cut off and hollowed out

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small head cauliflower

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 can diced tomatoes

salt to taste

for the sauce:

3 large tomatillos, quartered

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 jalapeños

1/2 can diced tomatoes

juice from one lime

salt to taste

 

pre heat oven to 350.

Brown and cook the turkey with a pinch of salt.

In a sauce pan, fill it with water and place in the tomatillos and jalapeños. Boil for 10 minutes.

In another pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and peppers in the olive oil until the onion is translucent.

Pulverize the cauliflower in a food processor and add it to the sauté pan. Add in the meat, tomatoes, and seasonings and stir. let cook 5 minutes stirring occasionally to meld flavors.

When the tomatillos and jalapeños are done boiling, strain them and place them in the food processor. Add cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and salt. Blend on high until the mixture becomes salsa like.

Add 1/4 cup of the sauce to the meat and veggie mixture and combine thoroughly.

Place the peppers that have been prepped into a Pyrex baking dish. Pour a bit of the sauce into the bottom of each pepper, then fill as full as possible with the meat mixture. Any left over can be placed outside the peppers. top off the peppers with a bit of the sauce.

Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until peppers are soft.

These can be made ahead of time and cooked later. Great for an easy oven pop in when you get home from work.

Grain Free Zucchini Friti

Have you ever had those lovely breaded and fried cuts of zucchini at a restaurant? Yum! Well I am bringing the restaurant to your house, and taking the bread out of it.

These were delish with some sugar free marinara sauce on for dipping! ( Yes pasta sauce often has sugar in it. Look at labels before you buy)

Note: After looking at the ONE picture I took of these before we devoured them all, I am wishing I would have made them more presentable… oh well. Eat up!

You need:

1 Zucchini squash

1 cup blanched almond flour

2 eggs

1 tbsp water

Salt to taste

OR

2 tsp Cavanders Greek seasoning

Frying oil ( I use a mixture of olive and coconut)

 

1) Cover a large skillet with oil to about an inch. Heat the oil to 350.

2) Cut the zucchini into thin fry-like strips about 2-3 in long.

3) In a small bowel, whisk the eggs and water till smooth

4) In a small bowel , combine almond flour and seasoning, mix well

5) Dredge the zucchini in the egg a few at a time and then dredge in the almond flour mixture. Do this until all are covered.

6) Place the zucchini in the skillet. Watch at all times. Turn the zucchini after 2-3 minutes or until the one side is golden brown. Cook on the other side until it is golden brown. You can do this in several turns of zucchini if you have a lot.

7) When zucchini are done, take out and place on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

8) serve as is or with warm sugar free marinara sauce. I like Delallo.. $3.99 at sprouts!

Turkey Loaf

 

Don’t be fooled by the picture, it’s not bread it’s meat. This turkey loaf is an adaptation from Elana’s Cookbook, the Gluten Free almond Flour Cookbook. It turned out really good! I made a few slight changes and put it in a 5X3 inch loaf pan instead of forming a loaf.

What you need:

1 pound ground turkey

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar free marinara sauce ( I used Delallo)

1/2 cup blanched almond flour

1 tsp sea salt

1tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 tbsp fresh thyme

 

Heat the oven to 400.

Combine turkey, oil, onion, garlic, zucchini, eggs, and marinara in a large bowl.

Combine almond flour, salt, pepper, cilantro, and thyme in a small bowl.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with hands until thoroughly combined.

Spray the loaf pan with oil and place the mixture in it.

Cook for 60-90 minutes or until the top is browned and the loaf is cooked all the way through.

Serve with extra marinara sauce on the side.

Garlic and Herb Brussels Sprouts

 

This was my first time ever eating Brussels sprouts and they are delicious! They remind me of baby cabbages. Enjoy these as a side with just about anything!

What you need:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

Chefs Shake seasoning to taste

 

Soak the Brussels sprouts in water for 10 minutes prior to prepping to wash dirt and things out of them.

Cut off the ends of the sprouts and cut them in half.

Bring the chicken broth to boil in a large skillet and add the  sprouts. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until the are tender.

Discard the liquid and then add the oil, garlic, and seasoning. Stir and sauté for 3-5 minutes.

Veggie Frittata

 

Sometimes eggs for breakfast get a little boring. But it’s super easy to spice them up with some delicious veggies! This morning I made a wonderful veggie frittata and it satisfied Diego and my urge to go out to breakfast. Who says home cooking isn’t the best!? The best part about a veggie frittata is that you can use any sorts of veggies you like. Diego was craving Asian style veggies that conveniently were frozen so it was a breeze to sauté the veggies with

no prep and then add the eggs. I highly recommend it. I served the frittata with nitrate and chemical free breakfast sausage and strawberries. YUM!

 

What you need

5 eggs

1/4 cup water

1 package of frozen veggies of your choice

OR ( my favorite combo)

1/2 onion, minced

1 bell pepper

1 cup broccoli

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan with a lid. Place your choice of veggies in the sauté pan ( if frozen just dump em all in, if not, start with the onions and peppers first and sauté till translucent, then add the broccoli and cook for 3 min).

In the meantime, whisk the eggs in a bowl with the water until light and fluffy. Add the last of the olive oil to the pan and stir around a bit to make sure the pan is covered ( this will make the getting the frittata our easier).Pour the eggs into the pan and lower the heat to low.  Sprinkle the cilantro on the top of the eggs. Cover the pan immediately and let the frittata cook about 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through. Be careful about opening the lid as this will let the heat out and make the cooking time longer.

The heat should be low so as to not burn the bottom of the frittata.

Roasted Chicken with Paleo Cranberry Orange Sausage Stuffing

In my quest for a Paleo  T-Day I stumbled upon Boulder Sausages Cranberry Orange Breakfast sausage and I thought to myself, I bet that would be great in stuffing!!!! This stuffing is all paleo and is just enough sweet.  The stuffing was enough to fill the chicken and fill the outside of the 13X9 baking dish and probably would be enough just to fill the inside of a turkey. You could also use the regular breakfast sausage as well.

You need:

1 small whole Chicken

1 tbps olive oil

1/2 lb Cranberry Orange Breakfast Sausage

1 large onion, minced

1 cup Celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 Medium golden Delicious apple, chopped.

1 cup chopped cauliflower

1 cup Cranberries, fresh

1.5 cups orange juice

1 tbsp fresh sage chopped

1 sprig thyme

1 tbsp Chef’s shake seasoning

salt to taste

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash chicken and pat dry with a paper towel. Place in a 13X9 glass baking dish.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and cook the sausage breaking it up into small bits.

In the meantime, cook cranberries and 1/2 cup orange juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, let the cranberries cook and become sweeter with the OJ. When the cranberries have become soft, drain the cranberry orange water and save for marinating and basting the chicken. Save cranberries for stuffing.

In  a small bowl, mix the cranberry orange juice, 1/2 cup orange juice, sage ,thyme, and chef’s shake.

When the sausage has cooked add in the onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté until onions are translucent. Add in the apples  and cauliflower to the pan and coat them about 1 minute. Transfer into a large bowl and add in cranberries. 

Add last 1/2 cup of OJ to the pan to scrape up the browned bits and add to the stuffing. Fold everything gently together.

Pour the marinade over the chicken and under the skin. Shake extra seasoning over the chicken it you wish. Stuff the chicken with the stuffing and pour the rest outside the chicken or place in a separate baking dish if you don’t want it mixed up with the chicken juices.

Bake for 1. 5 hours or until the chicken reached 180 degrees F. You may wish to place a piece of foil on the chicken after an hour to keep the moisture in.

I ate mine with Panetta, apple spinach salad. Yum!

Homemade Chicken Soup

 

I’ve been thinking about making chicken soup for a while now and I have been waiting  to make it on just the right cold and snowy day. This is super easy, but it does take some  time, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

You Need:

1 small whole chicken, skinned

2 quarts organic low sodium chicken broth

1 large onion

5 stalks celery

1 cup baby carrots, chopped

3 garlic cloves

3 sprigs thyme

3 sage leaves

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs rosemary

1 large leek, chopped

1.5 cup zucchini, shredded

juice from one lemon

In a large stock pot, place the chicken and chicken stock and enough water to just cover the chicken. Heat to a boil. Put in the onion, 2 celery stalks chopped, .5 cup carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, rosemary, sage in the pot and cover and lower heat to low and simmer for 1.5 hours.

Take the chicken out of the pot and place on a cutting board. Let the stock sit with the heat off and skim off the fat. A quick tip: I put the pot in my fridge for 20 minutes to let it cool and speed up the separation process. Then I was able to skim off the fat and see it easier.

Remove chicken from the bones however works best for you and place back into the soup. Place the remaining veggies, except the zucchini in the pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer covered for 10 minutes and then add zucchini, simmer for 2 minutes and then serve!