Coconuty Strawberries

To call this a "recipe" wouldn't exactly be accurate, it's more of a quick throw-together snack or "dessert". Everyone in the house likes it, and it's perfect for that after dinner but before bed snack that seems to be almost nightly for the girls. 

All you need is some fresh strawberries, washed and sliced and plated. My slices are pretty big. Then you can either use coconut butter (homemade or store bought, both work) or coconut manna. Chisel some out of the jar, maybe 1/2 a cup or less and warm it up so that it's melty, but don't burn it. I usually put it in a little prep cup and microwave for 30 seconds. Then just sorta drizzle the coconut butter/manna onto the strawberries. If you let it sit for a moment before digging in, the coconut butter/manna will have re-hardened after being in contact w/ the cool strawberries. It makes them sorta like white chocolate covered strawberries but way better (especially cuz I hate white chocolate).

It's a near perfect snack. The berries give a hint of sweetness and the coconut butter/manna is very satiating. I look forward to having some whenever we have strawberries in the house, like now when they are coming into season! 

Killer Meatloaf

I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've prepared meatloaf for my family, at least up until now. Now, not only do I have a freezer full of beef, but I also have what my family likes to call a "killer" meatloaf recipe.

For clarification, the Maurer family definition of "killer": a meal that is beyond good; a ranking of 6 stars out of 5; a recipe that everyone gobbles up joyfully.

This recipe came about as a combination of two other meatloaf recipes that I'd come across. One was from one of my all-time favorite paleo blogs, EverydayPaleo. The other was a recipe that Deb posted in the forums over at EPLifeFit. Both had some great ideas so I took what we thought we'd like, scaled down to size for our family, and this is what I got! Thanks ladies for the foundation of two great recipes  that I could build on!

Before Baking

"Killer" Meatloaf

12 oz package of pork sausage (however spicy you like it, we get mild Italian)
1.5 # ground beef (our half cow is packaged in 1.5# for the ground beef, so this is convenient for us)
2 eggs
tomato paste to taste. (I use half to full 6oz can)
1/2 red onion, diced fine
couple handfuls of smashed up pork rinds
seasoning to taste: garlic powder, sea salt, dry basil, red pepper flakes
bacon, 1/2 to 1 package

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients by hand in a large bowl.
Form into a loaf in a large glass pan. I used a 9x13 pyrex.
Weave bacon over the top of the meatloaf. Depending on how much bacon you like and how well you weave it, you'll use anywhere from 1/2 to 1 full package.
Bake 1 hour and check temp. Needs to be 170 in middle, continue cooking til done. Mine takes about 1.5 hours. I like to broil it for about 5 minutes at the end to crisp up the bacon a little more.

The after baking deliciousness.

Please let me know if you try it and what you think! :)

"Paleo" Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

The last few years before I discovered the eveeels of grain, wheat, dairy, sugar and processed junk, our family's favorite Christmastime goodie was a truffle. Inside it was a concoction of sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, chocolate chips and flour. On the outside was semisweet chocolate. They were delicious and oh so rich. This year I had a special request from my eldest to make them and I knew I had to come up with a compromise.

And so, "Paleo-ish" Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles" were born.

I knew from making that cookie dough ice cream last month that I could whip up my fav paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe and cut out the eggs and baking soda.

We then formed the dough into balls. At this point I knew I should've used mini-chocolate chips, but I'd used the darkest choc kind I could find. I think the mini kind would've made better balls. Maybe they make mini dark chocolate ones?

Kera got in on the dough ball forming action.

The dough balls went into the frig (actually the garage which is acting as a freezer these days) to set.

The next day I melted some dark chocolate chips (about 2 cups), added a couple tablespoons of palm shortening to make it a ganache and then dipped the dough balls. One at a time they went into the chocolate and afterwards I set them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. After they'd all been dipped, the sheet went back out into the garage for the chocolate to set.

And this is what they looked like after the chocolate had set! Not really round, but super tasty!

And they aren't nearly as rich as the ones we've made in the past.

It's a nice balance of cookie dough and chocolate.

You still only want one cuz they are pretty sweet, but they definitely fit the bill for a once-a-year kind of treat!

A recap in recipe format: 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Method:

1. Make your favorite paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe but don't put in the eggs or baking soda.

2. Form dough into balls. Chill til set, overnight works.

3. Melt 2 cups dark chocolate. Mix in 2 tbsp palm shortening.

4. Dip cookie dough balls into chocolate and set onto parchment covered cookie sheet.

5. Let set, overnight again works great.

6. Store in airtight container in frig, freezer or cold garage.

7. Enjoy!

Good Eats

Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?

This was the delicious chili I made for Halloween dinner. I adore crock pot recipes especially when I'm entertaining. It took a few minutes to throw together at midday, but then it was on its own. It turned out wonderfully. I served it on spaghetti squash, which really added to it. The only time I've missed beans is in chili because I grew up with beans in my chili. I've tried one other paleo chili recipe, but this one is definitely my favorite. It even warmed up excellently as leftovers, too! :-) I found this recipe over at Antihousewife.com but I'm not really sure how I even stumbled upon her blog. All I know is I've had that chili recipe in my "to try" pile and I'm glad I finally got around to it!

We followed the yummy chili with some trick-or-treating. It was freezing outside with a wind, so we didn't go for very long. We came back home and ate cake for my Dad's birthday. I made him his favorite apple cake, and I think it was the second time in the past 6 months that I used normal flour & sugar for a recipe! I took the opportunity to try a new recipe for apple cake, as well, though: Cinnamon Apple Cake topped with fresh whipped cream. It was great! But then, Elana's recipes are always great.

A side note on Halloween and all it's candy: I didn't get all weird with my kids and candy so I have let them eat their candy, a couple pieces each day only after a meal. Eventually I'll throw it away or hide it, but for now I'm letting them enjoy it. Why? Because they are kids and life should be fun and they like it. I don't really buy candy any other part of the year and so it's a special treat for them. Our paleo lifestyle is of the 80/20 variety and this would be right in that 20%.

Okay, back to the yummy food. I whipped up both the Pulled Pork, as well as the Barbecue Sauce, from the Make it Paleo cookbook. Which, did not disappoint! Both were wonderful, with everyone in the family liking it! Whoot, there goes another recipe for my rotation. :-)

I included a couple of the girls' lunches mainly because I think the flower-shaped pieces of meat and cheese are just too stinkn' cute. I used Stainless Steel Vegetable Cutters that I ordered from Amazon. They make their lunches look so cute!

The last time I was at Costco, I picked up some Chicken Andouille sausage (nitrite, gluten free), and so I did a quick search for recipes using it for some ideas. I found this one for "Kale Salad with Warm Andouille Sausage Dressing." It sounded wonderful, so I whipped it together for a side dish to go with dinner.

And then the next morning I ate the rest with a couple fried eggs as suggested in the recipe. SO good!! 

This new recipe came from "Paleo Comfort Foods", and used some of the andouille sausage too. Jambalaya with riced cauliflower! It was so good and had some kick but wasn't too spicy for the kids, although I did skip adding the Tabasco sauce. It was super tasty, even as leftovers. And fairly easy, too, I think I had it on the table in about 30 minutes after swim lessons.

Another great recipe from "Make it Paleo". This was Hot Pepper Hummus, using zucchini as a base instead of chickpeas. I made it for my first book club meeting (more on that later) and it was a hit. I served it with veggies and some gluten-free chips for a treat. I could've eaten the whole bowl!

This wasn't a planned recipe for me, but I had some time on Saturday, and some extra tomatoes, so I threw it together. "Egg Houses" from Everyday Paleo. I only made three, and Lindsay sort of ate one, she didn't like the flavor of cooked tomato, so she fished out the egg and I ate the other 2 because I really liked them. Her loss, my gain! :-)

I love egg nog season. One of my favorite indulgences before going paleo were egg nog latte's. I just love the flavor of strong coffee with egg nog. But have you ever looked at the ingredients on a carton of the stuff? Even the "organic" stuff isn't that great! So, I was inspired to find a recipe for egg nog that was "as paleo as possible". I did what any self-respecting cook does when they need recipe help, I googled it! And came across a variety of ideas, but decided to try this one, first. I did the coconut version and decided to use a little of real sugar instead of experimenting with honey. I didn't want to waste the coconut milk and creamer. It turned out excellent!!

I put just a splash in my coffee, sprinkled some nutmeg on top, and was in heaven! Just enough egg nog flavor in my coffee to make me happy but not too much.

I like that recipe, but I don't like using sugar, so while I sipped on my egg nog coffee, I kept searching for a recipe that used honey as sweetener. I figure why should I do all the experimenting if someone else already has?! I may have found it here, and I'll for sure let you know when I try it. 

Here's what's up for this week of eating and cooking:

Sunday: (Tonight) Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. I bought some buns for the kids and Erik, but I'll stick to eating it plain. And we'll have salad.
Monday: Salmon Cakes
Tuesday: Whole Chicken in the Crockpot; Mashed Potatoes and Gravy with Lemon Bars from Elana's Almond Flour cookbook. (All Lindsay's requests)

Wednesday: Leftovers and will make broth out of the chicken carcass

Thursday: Albondigas Soup (Everyday Paleo)

Friday: Slow Cooker Ribs, Roasted Squash (both from NomNomPaleo)

Saturday: Leftovers or dinner out with the girls

Sunday: Taco Night

Others:

Coconut Nested Eggs (Make it Paleo)

Eggs with Lox & Capers (Make it Pale0)

Homemade Sausage (from Joyfulabode.com)

Dried Apples

Egg Nests

I finally got my act in gear and made these wonderful morsels this morning. And not only that, but I kept track of what I used so that I could share this "recipe" with you, my dear readers. Aren't you special?

Why yes, yes you are, because these things are so good, you'll want to eat the whole batch in one sitting.

"Egg Nests"

Approximately 1/2 gram of carb per muffin

Ingredients: 

1 (3oz) package of pancetta

3 large mushrooms

3 green onions

1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice

8 to 10 large eggs

Directions:

1. Chop mushrooms and green onions.

2. Preheat oven to 375.

3. Line the muffin tin--each hole with one slice of pancetta (or proscuitto or bacon).

4. Sprinkle green onions and mushrooms into the pancetta "bowl".

5. Sprinkle a little cheese on top. (I used mozzerrella)

6. Scramble eggs in a medium bowl and add salt and pepper to taste. Then pour a little into each muffin tin. 8 eggs was enough for a dozen, but you could use more if you like more egg in each muffin.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes or until egg is cooked.

8. Eat warm but saves well for leftovers, too.

9. Enjoy!

Stuff I Cooked

This past week I did a lot of cooking, and made quite a few new recipes. Although I love trying new recipes, it's pretty disappointing when I put all that work into something that Erik and/or the girls don't rave about. I had quite a few things this week that I liked but they didn't and it discouraged me. So, I think I'm going to stick to a majority of well-tested and liked meals with just one or two experiments each week. 

Although, I just ordered a new cookbook, and will probably have a slew of new recipes to try very soon! :-)

Anyways, back to what I made this past week:

I think I mentioned the spicy shrimp tacos in my last menu post, here's a picture of them.

Spicy Shrimp

I have a bunch of pork in my freezer and found this recipe for slow cooked pork carnitas, which seemed perfect. I love a good slow cooker recipe. It was pretty easy and made for some yummy meat. Everyone liked it, so it will probably go in my regular rotation for whenever I have pork ribs to use up!

Pork Carnitas

Then there was the night of almost 100% new recipes. I spent hours in the kitchen that night and was exhausted when it was said and done.

First was the Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore (try saying that ten times fast!). It used boneless/skinless thighs which I get for a pretty good price at Costco, and the slowcooker, so I was sure it would be a success. It smelled wonderful all day cooking, but unfortunately no one in this family liked it but me. I thought it tasted great, but because it makes  a large amount, I probably won't make it again cuz I was eating it everyday the rest of the week for lunch to use it up. The Roasted Broccoli & Bacon was a hit--everyone loved it and that says something because usually the girls don't like the texture of roasted broccoli. The Creamy Ranch was tasty--I liked it and the rest of them were ok with it, but not enough for it to replace store bought ranch for them. Boo. I'll try it again with a little less dill and see if they like it better that way. I found it really awesome on top of a green salad with beet relish. Delicious!

 Chicken Cacciatore, Roasted Broccoli & Bacon, peppers with Creamy Ranch Dressing

Bread. Again. This time I tried a different recipe from the very talented Elana's Pantry. It worked out great and was pretty tasty, but the girls both prefer the recipe I made last week.

Paleo Bread

I thought it was pretty tasty with my mother-in-law's strawberry jam spread on it. :-)

The most time consuming recipe I did was for Homemade Nutella. The recipe calls for blanched/shelled hazelnuts, which I couldn't find. So I bought them with shells and had to blanch them myself. That is a very tedious task that I would love to never repeat. The flavor of this after I was done processing it was delicious. Unfortunately, I think I did something wrong because once it cooled off, it was not a spreadable consistency. It'll get eaten, I'm sure, but more as a warmed up fruit dip than a spread. 

Nutella

I hadn't planned on making pumpkin bread this past week, but had this recipe in the hopper and needed something to bring to a baby shower and to a friend for her birthday, so I whipped up a few batches of this super easy recipe. It's amazing to me that there is absolutely no flour of any sort in this recipe and yet it works. The pumpkin isn't too overwhelmingly pumpkin, but it tastes wonderful with some butter smeared on top. I threw in some dark chocolate chips for a twist. Everything is better with chocolate chips, right?

Primal Pumpkin Bread

I didn't get to the "Egg Nests" but hopefully this next week. One recipe I did try that I totally forgot to take pictures of was the zucchini pizza crust. It was interesting. It tasted good but did not have the consistency of regular ol' pizza crust. I think next time I'd use a bit more zucchini and broil it afterwards instead of baking longer. It's pretty cheesy, so if you're not doing dairy it's not an option for you. I served it to a dinner guest and she said it was good, so that's good I guess! :-) I'll probably try it again because it did give me the pizza taste that I've been missing. And what a great way to use all that zucchini that you get in the fall!

I'll be working on the menu for the week today, so that'll probably get up too. One thing I'm excited about is that we ordered another 1/4 beef this past week and we'll get it in a week or so. I'd seen quite a few paleo recipe using beef tongue lately and so I was really brave and asked for the tongue from the cow this time. I will definitely be blogging about that adventure in the near future! :-)

Your turn! 

Try any new recipes lately? 

Or have you ever spent a ton of time on a experimental recipe only to have your family hate it? 

What is the most adventurous thing you've ever cooked?