Breakfast casserole method

I like to make a breakfast casserole at least once a week. Pretty much a giant fritatta. We can eat it for a couple days and the babies love to eat them for lunch or dinner. They are a great use up of any meats or veggies you already have. I love to put one diced sweet potato and diced onion in almost every one I make. Some of my favorite ingredient options include: sweet potato, onion, spinach, mushrooms, zucchini, kale, bell peppers, tomatoes, bacon, hot links, sausage, (you could do chicken but I'm still not a chicken for breakfast person, maybe one day). I always add some spice to it. Salt and pepper are a must. I also like sage, chili flakes and rosemary depending on the veggie/meat combo.

Here's the basic method with the ingredients I happened to use today but mix it up to what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato peeled and diced
1 onion diced
2 hot link sausages
1/2 tsp dried sage
8 eggs beaten (When serving this, I like to cut it into 8 slices -Yeah I'm crazy like that and it helps me with serving sizes)
S and P

1. Preheat oven to 350. Saute diced veggie, meats and spices until veggies are just soft and meat is slightly browned. It will all cook a little more in the oven.
2. Grease a 13 x 9 casserole with coconut oil.
3. Place veggie/meat mixture in the greased pan.
4. Pour beaten eggs on top and mix around until everything is evenly distributed and mixed well.
5. Bake in oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until eggs are set.

Tastes great room temp and reheats well. Do it do it!!!

Whole 30 Round 2

Happy New Year!!!!!!
We are back at it today! We are going to complete a Whole 30. We are both looking forward to it as we strayed pretty far off plan when we were on vacation in Mexico. Those tortillas were dangerous! If you don't know what Whole 30 is, you should really read the book, It starts with Food. It is an informative, good read and it explains everything. We are basically following a Paleo diet plus no sugar or sweetener of any kind. We eat vegetables, fruits, eggs...lots of eggs...yummm....organic meats and wild caught seafood. We buy almost everything organic and prefer to buy at the farmers market. Costco has some great products now to make clean eating a bit easier. Here is our menu for the first week. I'm going to post links to recipes and post some of my own. I hope this helps you. It really helps me to have a plan written down.

Part or our Costco haul. Organic eggs, beef and chicken. Aidells chicken apple sausage, wild caught canned tuna that is incredible, lettuce, red bell peppers, mushrooms, almond butter, a BIG jar of green chilie!

DAY 1
Dinner: Spaghetti squash and Bolognese sauce. Notes: Make 4 quarts of sauce and freeze.

Lunch: Make veggie soup (I did onions, leeks, carrots, potatoes, 1 can diced tomatoes, kale, garlic, herbs de provance, s and p, a few quarts of chicken stock)

Breakfast: Poached eggs, peppers, and chicken sausage

DAY2
Dinner Perfect Roast Chicken Recipe     Notes: Make overnight broth with chicken bones
I use Ina's recipe. Its the best! I usually place thick slices of lemons under the bird and it gives everything such great flavor. I also leave out the fennel...its growing on me but we're not there yet.

Lunch: Veggie soup

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with hot dogs, apple

DAY 3
Dinner: Chicken "tortilla" soup

Lunch: Leftover soup

Breakfast: Mushroom, pepper, onion scramble

DAY 4
Dinner: Cauliflower purée with Pot Roast and roasted butternut squash

Lunch: Tuna lettuce wraps

Breakfast: Gordon's Scrambled eggs with tomatoes
Video of method   This method literally changed our lives. I thought I knew how to make them before...I was very wrong.

DAY 5
Dinner: Asian Chicken lettuce wraps

Lunch: Tuna salad

Breakfast: Butternut squash cubes, fried eggs, sausage


DAY 6
Dinner:Green Chilie Chorizo Cauliflower Casserole recipe from Juli of Paleomg and everything she makes is amazing. This is one recipe I havent tried yet. Im excited!

Lunch: Leftover chicken wraps or tuna wraps

Breakfast: Spinach, bacon, sweet potato and egg casserole (There are great recipes for egg casseroles on www.paleomg.com .)

DAY 7
Dinner: Mini beef sliders with guacamole and veggies on sweet pot buns.

Lunch: Leftover casserole

Breakfast: Leftover egg casserole

A few things, yes there are leftovers in there. I have twins and making big batches of food is a must. They will eat everything we eat so we usually make a lot and they are wild, active children so I have to try and save time where I can. I know dinner is fist and breakfast last, but I plan by dinners then work lunch and breakfast around it so there you go. Good luck on any New Year goals or resolutions you may have set. Happy New Year!

A little heat and a little sweet

Have you seen boyhood? If not, you must. It's so incredible. The film was made over 10? years and you'd think it would be choppy or broken into periods and it's not. It's so seamless and the acting is wonderful!

And now to dinner... I'm trying to follow the motto "cook what you have" I had chicken thighs and cauliflower. I went through different ideas curry or grilled chicken and roasted cauliflower but neither sounded good. Then I remembered the celery root I had in the fridge and that I had seen on some amazing blog to use that in a cauli purée and the meal started to take shape.

Enter...Spicy Chicken Thigh Ragu over Cauli-Celery Root Purée

This purée or mash or whatever you want to call it was the best one yet. The celery root tastes like all the best features of celery, crisp and fresh. I don't really like celery too much. It gets to mushy in soup and I've never really liked it in stir frys but the root is a whole different game. And I used way less water to steam the cauli and celery root so the purée wasn't as wet as it usually is.

The chicken thigh ragu was rich, spicy  and savory. It was perfect of top of the kind of sweet purée. Made great leftovers and would be great with an egg on top for breakfast. (What isn't good with an egg on top?)

Cauliflower Celery Root Purée

1 medium head of cauliflower broken in florets
1 celery root or celeriac bulb peeled and chopped in 1 in cubes
1/3 cup of full fat Coconut Milk
3 tablespoons Kerrygold butter (Use Ghee for Whole 30)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste (I used salted butter so I didn't add any salt...mmmmm....salted butter)

In a large pot, combine celery root, cauliflower and about an inch of water. bring to a boil and cover. Cook until tender. Keep an eye on it as you don't want the pan to burn but you do want the water to dry out completely once the food is tender enough. (You can always drain it but this method made the puree really thick. Next, place the veggies in you blender or food processor. Add the butter, coconut milk and spices. Puree until creamy. Add more coconut milk if needed. Add salt if needed.

Spicy Chicken Thigh Ragu

Avocado Oil
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 carrots, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper , diced (I used half of each because that's what I had)
5 cloves garlic, minced
8 green olives, chopped
1/4 cup red wine (Use broth if you'd like)
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp red chilie flakes
Salt and Pepper

1.  Heat a skillet over Med-High (more high than medium). Add some oil to the pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on the outside. It doesn't need to be cooked through just browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. If needed, add more oil to the pan. Saute the carrots, onion, peppers for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute.
3. Deglaze the pan with wine or broth scraping up all of the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
4. Add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red chilie flakes. I added way more chilie because we like it hot. Don't overdo it though, you can always add more later.
5. Add the chicken back to the pan with all of the juices that are on the plate.
6. Let this simmer for 30 minutes until it thickens. Taste it and add more spices if needed.
7. Serve the ragu over the puree and smile because its going to be good!

I'm baaaccckkkkk......

To say it's been a while would be an understatement. In the past three years since I was posting here, life has changed dramatically! I'm no longer teaching fifth grade, I'm teaching my 14 month old twins how to be little humans. It is the best job I could ever hope for and I am blessed beyond belief to be able to stay at home with them. Needless to say I have been a cooking fool. The twins eat everything and a lot of it. So I've found myself in the kitchen more than ever. That led to some great new recipes and some bad habits of "sampling" the babies food wayyyy too often and not taking time for my health. I have been reading books and articles and watching documentaries on food and the food industry and honestly it's all bullshit. (I am also part sailor...I'm trying to quit I promise!) I'm disgusted with what I'm learning. I seem to learn more everyday. This led to going mostly organic when the Babies were born. Recently, my husband and I gave up all grains, legumes, all forms of sugar and dairy. We started with the idea of completing a Whole 30 but I am not ready to give up my wine yet. Did I mention I have 14 month old twins???!!! I am sure I will complete one at some point because I really enjoyed the book It Starts With Food which is about the program. So we are paleo and it is going really well. We've tried calorie counting, vegetarian, gluten free, and weight watchers before and it was such a challenge. Having strict rules really helps me to set boundaries when I'm out to eat or shopping. I am loving the challenge of cooking with whole, organic delicious foods. We feel better and it eliminates the "sampling" I used to do and some of the other unhealthy relationships we had with food. Our health and food lifestyle is a work in progress but I finally feel like I found something I believe in and can stick with. I will be posting some delicious recipes soon. So stay tuned for some future yum!

Cranberry and goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts

Here is a recipe from a while back that I never got to post. As I have been out of cooking commission for a week now with a slipped disc in my back, I figured I would "back blog" get it??? Back blog?   ;)

I adapted this recipe from one found in Food Network Magazine, Sept. issue. I added dried cranberries to the filling and onions and garlic to the sauce.

For the chicken:
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
10oz crimini mushrooms
1 clove chopped garlic
1 tbs. Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper (S and P)
6oz goat cheese, softened
2 tbs. EVOO
1/4 c. chopped Italian parsley
1/2 c dried cranberries

For the sauce:
11/2 c. shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. white wine (Not cooking wine, a wine you would drink)
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1 tbs. cold unsalted butter
S and P

Directions:

1. Prepare the chicken: Lay the chicken breasts on a piece of plastic wrap, place another piece on top of chicken and pound it using a mallet, heavy pan, or rolling pin until the chicken is about 1/4in. thick.



  2. Clean and cut off any dry/tough spots on the crimini mushrooms. Chop finely or use a food processor to make the mushrooms finely chopped.
3. Saute the mushrooms and garlic in 1 tbsp. EVOO over med-high heat. Saute until the mushrooms have released their juices and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 mins.

4. Combine the goat cheese, cooked mushrooms, cranberries, S and P.
 
 5. Put one fifth of the mixture on the end of each chicken breast. Roll up the chicken breasts burrito style and tie with butchers twine.Season the roll ups with S and P.

 
 6. Saute the chicken over med-high heat, turning every few minutes to ensure even cooking.Total cooking time is about 12-15 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before removing the twine and slicing.

7. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce. Saute the shiitake mushrooms and onions until softened, about 7 minutes.

8. Add flour to the sauce and cook for 2 more minutes. De glaze the pan with the white wine while stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add the chicken stock and dried cranberries and simmer for about 5 minutes at a low bubble until thickened. Add S and P to taste.

9. Slice the roll-ups into 4 to 5 pieces on an angle. Top with the mushroom cranberry sauce and enjoy! I served it with the gazpacho quinoa salad.

It was delicious and would be nice during the holidays or cool weather with mashed potatoes.

PS.-I forgot to add the parsley. I would have put half in the cheese mixture and half as a garnish.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Still going strong with eating fruits and veggies, limitied dairy, and no meats or gluten. Feeling better than ever!

We have been using Quinoa as our "cheat" food when we feel like we just need something "carb like" in our diet. The best part, it's a great source of protein. I had over some friends the other night and wanted to offer them something new and diet friendly. I made these Greek Style Quinoa Stuffed Peppers. They were great! I used red peppers instead of green because that is my favorite. You could use any color of pepper you like. An assortment is always beautiful. I made four large peppers but there is enough mixture to probably make five regular sized peppers. I took a before pic but forgot to get during and after pics. Ill add them next time I make the dish! Enjoy!

Greek Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa cooked according to package directions and cooled
4 red bell peppers, similar size and shape
1tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 med zuchinni, diced
6-8 kalamata olives, chopped
2 tbsp. Feta cheese
salt and pepper
1tsp dried oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers. Save the tops. Remove ribs and seeds from inside. You may need to trim a little off of the bottom to make the pepper stable.
3. Dice the tops of the bell peppers and saute in oil, with the onions and garlic for 4-5 minutes or until soft.
4. Add the oregano, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until the zucchini are slightly softened and the tomatoes are releasing their juices.
5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked and cooled Quinoa, cooked vegetable mixture, olives, and feta in a bowl. Add salt and pepper if needed.
6. Spoon the mixture into the four peppers.
7. Place in a baking dish and add 2 tbsp. water to the pan to keep the peppers moist. Cover with foil. 
8. Bake for 35-45 mins until the peppers are tender.

We served it with a huge greek salad with feta, olives, cucumber, tomatoes, jicima, and a homemade dressing. For dessert we had a fruit salad with cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, some shredded coconut, and lime juice.

It was delicious and healthy!! Win-Win!!!

Fruits and veggies take over the world!!!

We decided to do a 4 day fruit and vegetable only meal plan. We would have done the 5 day but I was in Sedona and Jeff's birthday was Saturday, so we took the day off. We whined a bit about our carb and cheese cravings, but it really wasn't that bad. We had a combination of fresh made juices, smoothies, soups, salads, and some other meals. All home made, all made with only fruits and veggies (plus a few extras like dressing and spices). The recipes were really good. There was only one juice that I didn't like. (It smelt like dirt and tasted like grass.)

Some of our bounty!

WOW! Veggie town USA! <3

We are following the 5 day Reboot express from jointhereboot.com. Buying the fruits and veggies seemed like it would be really expensive and a lot of work but we went to Sprouts and Wal-Mart and got everything for the 4 days for like $75 total. Thanks, Jeff, for all the shopping help!

Our new juicer!

Here are some of the recipes from the first two days. It was a lot of food! I could barely finish it all.

Meal Plan: Day 1

Breakfast

Cherry Cinnamon Apple Bake
This dish is delicious warm or cool.
Double the recipe for an extra serving.
1 cup Cherries (cut and discard pit)
2 Apples cored and chopped
3 Tbsp. raisins (choose golden variety for a twist)
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
Spray baking dish with expeller pressed canola oil
Place into oven safe baking dish and cover
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until apples are soft
Cool and enjoy!
Calories: 249
Protein: 2 g
Fiber: 9 g

Mid-Morning Juice-Loved this juice so much. It really freaked my students out though!

Green Juice
6 leaves Kale
2 cups Spinach
1/2 Cucumber
4 stalks Celery
2 Apples
1” Ginger root
Calories: 180
Protein: 12 g
Fiber: 1 g

Lunch

Arugula Spinach Salad + Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing
2 cups Arugula
1 cup Spinach
1/3 Avocado
1/2 cup thinly sliced red Onion
1/2 cup chopped Tomato (heirloom in the summer)
1/2 cup Jicama

Mustard Vinaigrette-   I had to have this with honey or it was too acidic.
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Grain mustard
2/3 cups Cold Pressed Olive Oil
Sea Salt & fresh ground Pepper to taste
Puree the vinegar and mustard in a blender. With the blender running, slowly pour in the olive oil. Season to taste with the salt and pepper. Keeps up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
For Honey Mustard Vinaigrette: Add 3/4 Tbsp. Raw Honey
Makes 8-9 servings
Salad and 2 Tbsp. Mustard Dressing:
Calories: 278
Protein: 3.5 g
Fiber: 9 g

Raw Carrot Ginger Soup-Sooooo good!!
Makes 2, 1 1/2 cup servings – save 1 for dinner
3 cups Carrot Juice
1 ripe Avocado
2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp. Ginger, minced
1/4 tsp. ground Cayenne Pepper
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 cup Coconut Meat, optional
2 Tbsp. Avocado or Olive Oil, for garnish
2 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro, chopped, for garnish
Puree the first seven ingredients in a blender until completely smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Garnish the soup with a drizzle of oil and the chopped cilantro.
Per Serving:
Calories: 234 kcal
Protein: 2 g
Fiber: 7 g

Dinner

Reboot Green Salad
Make it big! Any greens you like such as romaine hearts, baby romaine, baby spinach, baby arugula, add any veggie you like: cucumber, carrot, celery, pepper, tomato, fennel, radish, sprouts (not bean sprouts), onion, fresh herbs. Avocado may also be added for more substance.
Dress with Ginger Honey Soy Dressing
Salad and 2 Tbsp. Dressing:
Calories: 278
Protein: 3.5 g
Fiber: 9 g

Steamed Snow Peas, Broccoli and Green Beans with Ginger Honey Soy Dressing
1/3 lb. Snow Peas, ends trimmed
1/3 lb. Green Beans, ends trimmed
1 head Broccoli, cut into florets
Heat a pot with boiling salted water and cover with a steamer basket. Add the vegetables and steam about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked but still green and crisp. Drizzle with the Ginger Honey Soy Dressing.
Steamed Veggies and Dressing:
Calories: 203
Protein: 3 g
Fiber: 4 g

Ginger Honey Soy Dressing-Freaking amazing!
2 Tbsp. Minced Fresh Ginger
2 Tbsp. Minced Fresh Garlic
2 Tbsp. Raw Honey
4 Tbsp. Nama Shoyu or Tamari
4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Puree the first four ingredients in a blender. With the blender running, slowly add the oil until the dressing is emulsified. Keep up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

Meal Plan: Day 2

First thing in the morning

Herbal tea or hot water with lemon

Breakfast

Blackberry Kiwi Blend
1/4 large Pineapple, core removed and roughly cubed
1 cup Blackberries
1 Kiwi Fruit
1 Banana
1/2 Comice Pear
1/2 cup Coconut Water
30 Mint leaves

We pre chopped most fruits and added banana and berries in the am.

1 Tbsp. Flax seed oil, optional
Add all ingredients to blender and liquify.
Calories: 458
Protein: 6 g
Fiber: 18 g

SOOOOOO yummy!

Mid-Morning Juice-This is the one juice that I couldn't drink. Maybe too many beets and radishes for me.

V28
3 large Red Beets
2 medium Carrots
2 stalks Celery
4 Plum Tomatoes
4 cups Parsley, leaves and stems, roughly chopped and packed into the measuring cup
1 Jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed
12 Red Radishes
Calories: 340
Protein: 17 g
Fiber: 2 g

Lunch

Carrot-Dill Salad
3 cups Greens (spinach, arugula, romaine, red leaf, etc.)
Shredded Carrot, Fennel, Radish, Cabbage, Celery Salad with Fresh Dill, Lemon
1/2 of an Avocado
Add Ginger honey soy dressing
Salad and 2 Tbsp. Dressing:
Calories: 278
Protein: 3.5 g
Fiber: 9 g

Dinner

Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage
1 medium Acorn Squash
3/4 tsp. plus 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Black Pepper
6 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus extra for brushing
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 large Portobello Mushroom, chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
2 tsp. Fresh Sage, finely chopped
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes, optional
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim off each end of the squash. Stand the squash upright and halve lengthwise. Scoop out the pulp and the seeds and discard. Brush each squash half with olive oil, and then sprinkle with 3/4 tsp. salt and the black pepper. Arrange cut sides down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast the squash until the flesh is tender and the edges are golden brown, approximately 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip the squash halves over and set aside.
While the squash roasts, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute 2 minutes, or until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the mushrooms, sage, 1/4 tsp. salt and the red pepper flakes if using, and saute until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Fill the roasted squash halves with the mushroom mixture and bake again for another 10 minutes.
Makes 4 servings
Per serving:
Calories: 254
Protein: 2 g
Fiber: 2.5 g
Green Vegetable Soup (save a serving for snack Day 3)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Leeks, white and light green parts, thinly sliced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 head Broccoli, trimmed to small florets
2 medium Zucchini, cut into half moons
1 head Spinach, roughly chopped
4 leaves Basil
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground Pepper
6 cups water
3 Tbsp. fresh Basil, chopped
In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the leeks and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, zucchini, spinach, basil, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add the water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped basil.

Both dishes were good. I added fresh thyme to both and some nutmeg to the squash.

We are going to do it again this week but maybe add in a little protein like fish and beans. I felt better last week than I have in a while. Jeff and I both felt like our heads were more clear, we had a ton more energy, and just felt overall "good".


I'll Post more soon. Still also planning on posting many other recipes of my own making. :)