Wow three weeks already! Time is sure going by fast. I think I am getting the hang of this now. No epic fails this week so that is a great thing. I tried a lot of new stuff this week so I hope you enjoy and find ideas to try!
Healthy Homemade Vanilla Coffee Creamer by Organize Yourself Skinny. I absolutely love my coffee creamers and probably miss them more than anything else, but alas it has Soy. 😪 I have tried a couple homemade creamers and they aren’t quite sweet enough but this one is really good. On days when I need a little extra, I just add a bit of sugar. I left out the cinnamon but if you don’t need to I’m sure it would be good.
Spaghetti with Quinoa Gluten Free noodles. Full disclosure, this Spaghetti sauce was left overs we pulled from the freezer and contained white mushrooms and garlic. I do plan to make a batch with shallots and baby bellas for substitutions but this was a quick dinner night. My husband makes the absolute best spaghetti there is. I keep trying to replicate it but I can never get it to taste the same. So it is officially his job to make this 😁. Using 1 pound ground beef and a little spicy Italian sausage, brown with 1 onion, minced garlic (we use 2-3 Tbsp but use to your own liking), and 4 cups sliced mushrooms, with 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning. Bloom 1/2 can of tomato paste with mixture. Add in 2 cans of Italian stewed tomatoes that have been blended smooth. You can leave them chunky if you prefer but I like mine a smooth texture. 2 big cans of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup dry red wine and 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Simmer for at least 2 hours but the longer the better, stirring often to avoid burning the bottom. I have several GF noodles but started with the Ancient Harvest Quinoa linguine. Honestly, tasting this alone was not good but once I mixed it in with the sauce it was actually pretty good. Made with quinoa and corn flour it has a little gritty cornmeal texture to it. We accompany our spaghetti with a homemade hot pickled vegi mix that we call Peppers. I will not be sharing this family recipe 😇 however you can find similar jars in the condiment aisle at the store. Try it, it will change your life!
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars These are so easy with only 3 ingredients and so yummy! When you need a little pick me up or something a little sweet, these are perfect. I keep them in the fridge or they get a little soft.
Easy Lentil Potato Soup by Cooking LSL. This was my first experience with lentils. I had never had them before. I subbed out the garlic for shallots and instead of using just water I used Vegetable broth, to give it more flavor. In all honesty this one tastes “healthy” 😄. I added in a dollop of Coconut Sour Cream and it was good.
Meal #1: Grilled Pork Chop with Salad. I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, and Traeger Pork and Poultry rub and then grilled on the Traeger. My salad is my basic go to ingredients of cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese shavings. I was out of broccoli so that is missing. I dressed it with Balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.
Meal #2: With left over pork I made a nice salad for lunch. Chopped it up into small pieces and added in cucumbers, carrots, and sliced peperoncinis. Dressed again with the balsamic and lemon juice mix.
Some times you just need to have a little cereal. I love cereal for dessert. KIX is made of ground corn so it is a way cheaper option than some of those “Natural” cereals out there. Gotta make compromises; you buy the $11 mayo, you get the cheaper cereal.
This week’s Tacos, as promised, Fish. I had 1 fillet of tilapia left in the freezer so I added some cod pieces too. Any white fish would work with this. I season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Pan fry in cocnut oil for 3 min a side. Corn Tortillas, I heat in a pan with a little coconut oil to make pliable. I also think corn tortillas taste better when you put a little heat to them. These particular tacos I topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, diced shallots, coconut sour cream, lime and Cholula sauce. Fish tacos are great topped with shredded cabbage, and radish as well. What I love most about tacos is they are so customizable with what you have in the fridge.
Paleo Bacon Cheeseburger Soup by Unbound Wellness. It calls for cooked bacon chopped, this is something I make on demand and do not keep stocked. So I started the recipe with chopping up raw bacon and then cooking it in the Dutch oven I’m going to make the soup in. I prefer to chop the bacon first then cook instead of cooking the strips and then chopping. It is less messy to cut up raw and you don’t have to cook it in batches, you can fit all the chopped bits in at once. When the bacon bits are cooked, I remove and set aside. I drained the bacon greese but reserved 2 Tbsp, I used this instead of the avocado oil in the recipe. It’s not as healthy but adds good bacon-ey flavor. I didn’t have fresh parsley so I added 2 tsp of dried in with my ground beef. I used russet potatoes and subbed shallots for the garlic. I did not have enough vegetable broth to substitute so I did use Chicken broth, 😬. Since I can’t have Yeast, I left out the Nutritional Yeast and added 2 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese. (I love cheese, by the way😉.) This turned out really good. As you will see throughout the winter, I love soups and usually make at least twice a week.
This lovely beauty came from EatFit food truck at the Prairie Pavillion Street Eats in Hayden. Its the Loaded Poke Macro Bowl. Marinated raw ahi tuna, cucumbers, pickled cabbage, radish, edamame, avocado, scallions, and rice. I am pretty sure the sauce that came with it had soy in it but I will be honest, I put it on anyway. It was sooo good! Like a deconstructed sushi roll, I was in heaven.
Slow Cooker Rice Beans and Rice by Add a Pinch. I didn’t have dried beans so I used 2 cans of Kidney beans instead. For the sausage, I used Beef Kielbasa, I like mine cut into half moons. Shallots instead of garlic and I left out the green pepper. Since I didn’t use dry beans, I cut the water down to 3 cups but it was still a little too much, next time I would only use like 1½ cups. I also like the flavor that the bean liquid gives so I poured the whole cans in, no draining and rinsing. This dish ended up being a little bland so I added a whole lot of Creole Seasoning and it did the trick. Next time I would increase the chili powder, add in a poblano pepper, and definitely Creole or Cajun seasoning.
