When I first saw this recipe I knew there was NO WAY this would be bad. Really easy to make, really easy to eat. Paleo and vegan friendly, gluten and dairy free..low fat? No, but all you need is a little slice, oh and it goes good with wine.
Food
Simple Roast Chicken
Ridiculously simple. I don’t even truss the bird, you can if you want.
2-3 lb chicken
1/4 cup softened butter
2 garlic cloves minced
Fresh herbs, thyme, rosemary, sage- whatev’s
Preheat oven to 450.
Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.
Season the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper.
Mix the garlic and herbs into the butter and slather the goodness all over and under the skin of the bird.
Season generously with salt.
Cook at 450 for 20 minutes then lower the temp to 400 and continue to cook for 45 minutes.
Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing.
See, simple.
.
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Pizza and Pumpkins
Friday evening Kaili was invited over to a friends house to pick a pumpkin. My friend has a serious green thumb and I feel like a bad human being when I go to her house because her backyard is like a little farm and I can’t even grow tomatoes in a container.
Saturday I found myself with leftover blue cheese and Pears from our Farm Fresh delivery. I knew that I wanted to put them on a pizza with some arugula because I heart arugula . Sprouts didn’t have any pre-made pizza dough, are they done with that? So I was forced to make my own. I used this Martha Stewart recipe that only required an hour rise time, perfect.
Preheat oven to 450.
Once the dough was rolled out i brushed garlic + olive oil onto the dough and baked it for a few minutes. Then I threw on some mozzarella, crumbled blue cheese, roasted pears and red onions and baked for 10 minutes, toss on some arugula and return to oven for a few more minutes.
I would actually recommend using gorgonzola instead of blue. The cheese was so strong that it overpowered the other flavors.
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Brigadeiro Recipe With Healthy Stuff Thrown In
I woke up this morning and it dawned on me that we should have gotten our Farm Fresh To You delivery, it was like Christmas morning, well if I were a vegan.
I signed us up for the farm delivery last week and have been anticipating our box of goodies.
I was impressed with what we got. The same items I would choose to buy at Sprouts, all organic and delivered to my doorstep while I sleep. I see nothing wrong here. The other nice thing is that our delivery day is Wednesday so it’s perfect for my weekend meals.
Now that we got all the healthy stuff out of the way, let’s talk about candy. Brigadeiro ” { Portuguese for Brigadier; also known in some southern Brazilian states as negrinho, literally “blackie”} is a popular candy served at birthday parties in Brazil. Since my mom spent some of her youth in Brazil she made these for me throughout my childhood. Actually now that I think about it she probably made them for herself but knew I would like them.
Who better to turn to when you need a recipe then your mom right? Well unless your mom can’t cook.
These are like balls of delicious chocolate caramels and SO easy to make! This is my mom’s recipe from Brazil, the only substitution is Cocoa powder for Nestle chocolate powder.
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp Cocoa powder
2 Tbsp Karo syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 tsp salt
Cook in small pan until mixture rolls off bottom { about 10 minutes}
Pour onto buttered plate until cool enough to handle.
Roll into small balls and dip in sugar. Store in airtight container in cool place.
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Bahia-Style Shrimp in Coconut Sauce
Remember when I used to cook? Like really cook, every night? Ya, me too. Now I slack off and make something simple for myself during the week, it usually involves a rotisserie chicken and lettuce or something to throw on the grill. K will get a super gourmet meal of pasta or quesadillas.
I do get a chance to make a few real meals on the weekends when Shane is home. To get motivated I need the extra hands to keep K busy and the extra mouth to help eat it.
That is why our dinner theme parties are so fun. It gives me a chance to make a dish or two that I probably wouldn’t make on a day that ends in Y.
This months theme was South American cuisine and I went with Brazil. I made a popular candy that they eat called Brigadeiros {recipe to come} and some shrimp in a coconut sauce. This dish was pretty easy and I will make it again, it was muito bom!
I followed the recipe exact but before adding the shrimp I decided the sauce was a little bland. I added more coconut milk, the rest of the tomato sauce and a tad more salt. I was impressed with the heat the habanero let off, but I would throw in 2 next time.
Bahia-Style Shrimp in Coconut Sauce
2 pounds large shrimp, shelled and deveined, tails left on { I took them off}
3 garlic cloves, minced
Juice of 1 lime
Kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons corn oil { I used EEVO }
1 small onion, minced
6 scallions, white and light green parts, minced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, mince
1/2 medium green bell pepper, minced
6 plum tomatoes, minced
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 Scotch bonnet or habanero chile, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon minced cilantro leaves and stems
Lime wedges, for serving
In a large bowl, toss the shrimp with the garlic, lime juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Let marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.
In a large skillet, heat the Annatto Oil until shimmering. Add the onion, scallions and red and green bell peppers and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the minced tomatoes and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to moderately low and add the tomato sauce, coconut milk, chile and 1 teaspoon of salt. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by one-fourth, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to moderately high. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until they’re pink and opaque, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and discard the chile. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve with lime wedges.
Serve with white rice.
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Paleo Pizza #2
This pizza has an eggplant base crust. I will be honest when I first saw the recipe I hemmed and hawed and tried really hard to keep the negative thoughts to myself. I reminded myself It was Father’s day and this is what he wanted, so don’t be a bitch.
This crust was pretty easy to make, peel an eggplant, grate it, squeeze out the liquid and mix in a few more ingredients…done. I followed this recipe for the measurements and ingredients but when it came to cooking it I more or less followed the cauliflower crust recipe. The two crust recipes were so different in cooking temperature and time but I was pretty sure they didn’t need to be and I was right. I cooked the eggplant crust on a slightly higher heat for a shorter amount of time and it was fine. I did however flip the crust over in the middle of cooking like the original recipe suggested, didn’t want to get too crazy.
I was highly surprised by how good this was as a crust. As Shane said, “you wouldn’t want to make bread sticks out of this”. Alone is has a slightly bitter flavor so use this for a pizza with strong flavors. I put caramelized onions, goat cheese, arugula, prosciutto, tomatoes and basil and it was delish. The sweetness of the onions is amazing with goat cheese…just saying.
Eggplant Crust
1 eggplant, peeled and grated
1/4 cup Almond meal
1/4 cup Flax seed meal
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Grate eggplant with a cheese grater, discarding the skin.
Place grated eggplant in a clean dish towel, and squeeze over a sink to remove excess liquid.
Pour grated eggplant into a large mixing bowl.
Add in the flax meal and almond meal.
Whisk egg in a smaller bowl and add to batter.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix until ingredients are evenly combined.
Pour out batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Smooth batter out with hands into a thin layer about 1/8 inch thick.
Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown, then remove the crust from oven.
Lightly grease another piece of parchment paper with olive oil, and place on top of crust. Carefully flip the crust and then slowly peel off the parchment paper from the bottom side.
Brush the flipped side lightly with olive oil. { I used garlic infused olive oil }
Return to oven and cook 8-10 minutes until golden brown and edges are crisp.
Now you can add your topping and pop back into the oven until cheese in melted 7-10 minutes.
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The Pad Thai That Wasn’t Pad Thai
My husband wanted to try this dish after he saw it on this site. I was fearful, not for his cooking…ok well kind of for his cooking but also for all the different components that went into this dish. I was nervous for him, his cooking skills don’t get much practice and I wasn’t sure he would know where anything was in our kitchen. Oh and the fact that it’s made with spaghetti squash instead of noodles…oh boy!
It took some hunting around to find the coconut aminos, Ok not really hunting around, we found it at the second store we hit. I have never heard of it or tasted it and I was wary of the stuff. We found some at Whole Foods and I was shocked when it tasted like soy sauce. It’s hard to replicate Thai or Chinese without certain staples, soy sauce being one of them. That was when I thought there might be hope for this dish.
He prepped everything ahead of time so it was all ready to throw together when the time came. Oh wait, I made the egg, I did something.
Let’s get one thing straight, this isn’t pad thai and it didn’t taste like pad thai. It’s a lot like the story of Little red riding hood, she knew that the wolf dressed up in her grandmas clothing wasn’t her grandma for all the telling signs, however she kept getting closer and closer asking questions until she was almost eaten. That is what this dish is, a squash dressed up as a noodle dish. You know what it isn’t but you are intrigued enough to try it out..and then you find out the truth, maybe something you knew all along.
Turns out after all his hard work in the kitchen he didn’t even like it, but I did. I was impressed! Both with him pulling this dish off and with how good it was. He said ” I won’t be making this again.” So there ya have it. Moral of this recipe is…..I have no idea, but it is yummy so have someone else make it. It must taste better that way!
Ingredients
1 batch Sunshine sauce
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons coconut aminos
2 teaspoons plus 1 teaspoon coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup snap peas, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 cups cooked spaghetti squash
6-8 ounces grilled chicken thighs, diced
Crack the eggs into a small bowl, and use a fork to scramble them with the coconut aminos. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons coconut oil to the skillet, and when it’s melted, pour in the eggs and let them spread like a pancake. Reduce the heat to medium and cover with a lid, letting the eggs cook until they’re set and beginning to brown on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes. Flip and lightly brown the other side. Remove the eggs from the pan and cut into strips with a sharp knife.
Using the same pan, increase heat to medium-high and add 1 teaspoon coconut oil to the pan. Sauté the onion and snap peas, stirring with a wooden spoon, until they’re crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the spaghetti squash, chicken, and cooked egg to the pan and, stirring with a wooden spoon, cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.
Add the Sunshine Sauce to the pan and stir-fry until everything is well-blended and hot. Divide among two plates, sprinkle with garnishes, and dig in.
*Recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl
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Rainbow Cake
When planning Kaili’s birthday party I came across a picture of a 6 layer rainbow cake. I knew at that moment I had to attempt my hand at it and that is why she had a rainbow party.
I was totally going to use Martha Stewart’s recipe but as the day got closer and I realized how much crap I was actually going to have to make, I decided to make it easier on myself and I followed this recipe.
I took matters into my own hands when it came to the frosting. I decided that coconut cream cheese frosting had to happen. If you haven’t had spoonfuls of coconut cream cheese frosting first thing in the morning than you are failing at life. It pairs perfectly with coffee, just saying.
I baked all six layers of the cake the day before the party, wrapped tightly in in plastic wrap and threw them in the fridge. I also went ahead and made the frosting. The kitchen was already a disaster, might as well add it. I used this recipe but doubled it.
All of the layers baked perfectly flat except one, I just cut off the funky top and it was good as new. Oh make sure to use gel food coloring, the color is MUCH more vibrant. There are no measurements for the colors just eyeball it, but remember when making orange you need a lot more yellow than red.
I was really impressed with how straight the cake was once all the layers were stacked. The cake was super moist so frosting it was kind of a pain in my ass but it all worked out better than I imagined.
The cake got rave reviews and I don’t think anyone could tell it was from a mix, the frosting is SO good that it doesn’t even matter.
The 2 on top was a last minute decision. I quickly traced the number two onto some cardboard, cut it out and laid it gently on top of the cake and dumped the sprinkles on. Super easy.
I also baked up chocolate cupcakes with regular cream cheese frosting. I wanted a back up dessert in case the cake didn’t make it, plus everyone loves cupcakes!
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Philly Cheese Steak Wrap
I have never been to Philadelphia so I have never had a proper Philly cheese steak. What I have had throughout the years has left me unimpressed with the whole idea of them. When I asked the hubs what he wanted for dinner he said “you know what sounds good? A Philly cheese steak.” Umm, hmm, OK. I wasn’t terribly thrilled with the idea but he actually told me what he wanted which is a once a month occurrence so I went with it. Then I was even less excited about it once I started browsing recipes. Yes, I needed to search recipes, don’t judge. I knew it wasn’t a complicated thing to make but I didn’t want a big sandwich and I didn’t want some bland meat topped with bland cheese. Sue me!
I came across Bobby Flay’s Philly cheese steak recipe on Food Network and thought, now that sounds good. It would be even better wrapped in a tortilla. Bingo, this is a winner winner chicken dinner.
I switched out rib eyes for the loin strip and used bell peppers and a poblano. The aged provolone cheese sauce is amazing, eat by the spoonful amazing, but it’s very rich. I am ashamed to admit I have never had aged provolone, it is so good. It’s sharp and robust flavor is enough to stand on it’s own and I don’t think it’s necessary to make it into a sauce. So the next day when I had this for lunch I made a quesadilla for K with the cheese sauce and just grated some of the aged provolone into my wrap. Same great flavor but less calories. The sauce would be good as a fondue served with apples or pears, but for this dish, the cheese can stand alone.
This is sort of a pain the ass the make because Bobby made it more complicated then it needed to be, but he put out a good one here, so I guess I can’t argue with his madness.
Once all the components were cooked I piled them on a whole wheat tortilla and wrapped it up.
excuse me, my mouth is full.
Next time {because there will be a next time} I will wrap them all up like cute little burritos, lay them on a baking sheet and bake for a few minutes. Kind of like Philly Cheese steak meets baked burrito? Hmm, will have to come up with a name for them.
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Tropical Rice
Every time I buy a pineapple and cut it up so it can be easily accessed I seem to be the only person who ends up eating it. I love it but there is only so much I can eat and I don’t know if it’s just me but after I eat it, my tastebuds seem to change. Then everything else I eat afterwards tastes off. SOooo I needed to do something with the leftovers. After asking my awesome FB friends I decided on adding some pineapple to coconut rice. I love coconut rice, well I love anything coconut but that is a whole other story. I never thought to put pineapple in my rice but now I may never not put it in my rice. It was that good.
Kaili was helping scoop rice, doing her own thang.
I found this recipe and kind of followed but not exactly.
Ingredients
2 cups jasmine rice
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup diced pineapple * see note
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
* I threw a cup of pineapple in my magic bullet and blended it until it was not quite pureed.
In a medium pot heat sesame oil over medium heat, add the rice and sautee until lightly toasted.
Add the rest of the ingredients, stir to blend and bring to boil on high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat to low, cover with tight fiting lid and let cook for 20 minutes. Turn off head and do not open lid. Let sit for 10 minutes.
With a fork, fluff up the rice and check to make sure there is enough salt for your liking. Top with green onion.
The Art of Thyming 