Taco Salad with Avocado Cream

A while back and I wanted something that would be satisfying to my want of something not so healthy, but doesn't do too much damage to my food plan. A co-worker mentioned a avocado garlic dressing that she had made for dinner and it inspired me to go looking for a recipe for something like it and I found a what inspired our dinner.

Avocado Cream Dressing
1 Lg or 2 small ripe Avocados
2 Tblsp Lemon Juice
1 handful of cilantro, mince fine
1 Garlic Clove, minced (I use a garlic press)
1/4 c. Olive Oil
Water
a generious pinch of salt (to your taste)

Mix avocado, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic and oil using a stick blender or in a small blender, add water a tablespoon full at a time until desired consistency (I like mine pretty thick so I can spoon it onto things). Add salt a little at a time and taste to get the flavor that suits you.



Taco Salad
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 c. Yellow Onion, medium dice
Cumin
Chili Powder
Turmeric
Salt & Pepper
Chopped Romaine Lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Sliced Olives
Grated Cheese
Sour Cream
Whatever you like on your salad

Brown ground beef, onion and salt and pepper (you may need a little oil depending on how lean your meat is, I like 80/20) in a medium heavy skillet. Add equal  parts cumin,  chili powder and turmeric until it reaches the desired flavor you enjoy.

For us, we have the remaining ingredients prepped and in separate bowls so each person can built their own salads. I start with a generous pile of lettuce, a good spoonful of the taco meat, and then pile on the other toppings and a good amount of the Avocado Cream to top it off. And if I'm feeling the need for a little cheat, I can add a few corn chips on the side. 

Roll ups in the Park

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to hang out at Laurelhurst Park in Portland and watch some improv Shakespeare. It was a fun mix of traditional Shakespeare and silliness as they interacted with the audience, including a referee with a whistle. 

  

  

The plan was to pack a picnic and eat while we were at the park, but once we got there we found ourselves packed into a small area, four adults, one dog and a toddler, which proved to not be overly accommodating to fixing a meal. This led to a round of snacking on random items we had  brought along but never getting around to fixing the roll ups I packed as our main entree. With a restless toddler, we found ourselves abandoning the play, walking around the lake and moving to the playground, but all it all it was still a nice afternoon away from the house and the stress we have been dealing with over the last month or so.

Hanging around the house later in evening we decided to pull out the roll up makings that traveled to the park and back and have some dinner. So check out this simple idea that would have been a great picnic fare under different conditions.


Roll ups in the Park (or the living room)
The thought process behind the roll ups came from playing with my food as usual. I took the crepe recipe I posted a while back for pigs in a blanket    
http://coralsgrocerybag.blogspot.com/2014/06/pigs-n-blanket.html and omitted the sweetener and cinnamon and replaced it with a dried herb mix for a dill dip/dressing, you can use any fresh or dried herb mix that fits your fillings.  

I packed leaf lettuce leaves and a herb roasted chicken breast lunch meat I picked up at small local market in our area. 

Layer a crepe with lettuce and chicken, and simply roll up carefully as to not tear the crepes. You could spread your crepes with flavored cream cheese or a spicy mustard,  layer your favorite cheese with the meat of our choice. it's totally up to you, use the savory crepe as you base and have some fun. Who says you always need bread for a picnic!

Creamy Tomato Beef Stroganoff

Around 15 years ago I did a stent as a bookkeeper for the Old Spaghetti Factory corporate offices. I did the books for five of the locations here in the Northwest. I had the three Oregon locations and two in Washington which allowed me a closer contact with my location general managers and the opportunity to visit the locations regularly than the other staff bookkeepers in the office. Needless to say I also had the opportunity to eat plenty of the food as well. My office was upstairs from the main restaurant on the river in downtown Portland and in the many visit to the main dinning room I got hooked on one of their dishes that is still a favorite on the menu even today. 

My downfall was their Factory Favorites Chicken Fettuccine, but it was always with a twist. I would order the Chicken Fet with half alfredo sauce and half their chunky tomato marinara. When it arrived at the table I would mix the two sauces together into a rich creamy sauce the coated the pasta with a rich silkiness that I still love, but the carbs in the pasta and the flour in the sauce doesn't love me.

So with my love for this combination, I got to thinking about how I would create a sauce that was just as enjoyable but healthier and in the guidelines of my eating plan that I try to follow, and this what I came up with. 

Creamy Tomato Beef Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef

1 32oz jar of sugar free marinara sauce

1 8oz package full fat cream cheese

1/2 Large head of cabbage, thin sliced into ribbons

1 lg onion, thin sliced

salt & Pepper

Grated Parmesan Cheese for garnishment

Brown ground beef in large skillet or roasting pan. In a separate pan sweat the cabbage and onions in olive oil, with a good pinch of salt and pepper until translucent. 

Once meat is browned add cream cheese and stir around until softened and starting to coat the meat, add jar of sauce and continue to stir until heated through and cream cheese in incorporated into the thickened sauce. Pour over cabbage mix and toss. Serve up with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and enjoy.

 

 

Bacon, Spinach & Mushroom Egg Cups and Greek Chicken Salad

Well as usual, as I've been whizzing along at warp speed, life has thrown me another curve ball. On Sunday June 22nd we got the call that my husband's mom had been taken to the hospital and was dehydrated and quit ill. On Monday we were told that it was cancer and they thought six months, with in the next 24  hours that time line was reduced to a month, so Bob hopped a train on Wednesday the 25th and headed for Seattle. He was there to assist with transferring mom back to her home and the set up of hospice to assist with her care.

I made a one day round trip on Saturday the 28th with our two sons to basically get some time with her, not knowing how things were going to play out and have the chance to say our goodbyes. When I headed up I wasn't sure if Bob was coming home with us or if he was going to continue to say up there to assist with her care. As it turned out, his younger sister from Florida arrived and would be staying to help his older sister so he took his leave to come home for a few days.

That turned out to be very few, while he was at work on Monday June 30th he got a call saying that mom was going down hill fast, so he left work early and headed back up, after arriving at her house at 11pm she ended up passing away at the age of 91 at 2am Tuesday morning July 1st. He spent the week there with his sisters making all the arrangement for her services that were held on Saturday July 5th before his sister had to return to Florida. I drove up on Friday the forth and returned on Sunday. Our boys made one day round trips for the service and Bob finally came home on Monday the 7th after helping with some final details.

Friday the 11th we took care of some issues here at home and headed back to Seattle again to begin the process of cleaning out the house.  We put in an aggressive day and a half of work on the house before crawling back into our truck and made our way home.

Needless to say, during that three weeks of craziness I threw all eating standards to the wind. We ate on the fly, we ate random meals while home alone, in Seattle and on the road.  I ate odds and ends alone at home and while putting in allot of extra hours trying to stay on track at the office while taking extra days off for travel I ate at the restaurant frequently too, it was just plain hard on my system. 

With everyone home for the next few weeks its time to detox the system and find some balance in our eating and life. So with that in mind, here are a couple of my meal items for the week.

Bacon, Spinach & Mushroom Egg Cups
1 dozen Eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 c. Shape cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 lb bacon
1/2 to 1 c frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze the liquid out in a towel
1 lb sliced mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (is should still be warm from baking the bacon)
While the spinach is thawing in  the sink, I lay all the bacon out on a baking sheet (with tall sides to catch the grease), place in a 400 degree oven  and bake until crispy, about 20 min depending on the thickness of your slices. Remove from baking pan to paper towels to drain. I save my grease drippings for other cooking. Once the bacon is cool, it should crumble easily.
With the bacon in the oven I brown the mushrooms in butter in a big fry pan, they must be browned in small batches, not crowding them in the pan or they will steam (this tip comes from Julia). With everything cooked off or prepped, mix together in a large bowl. Whisk up the eggs and milk (I use a stick blender, it will breakdown the whites) and pour over the other ingredients and stir together. Ladle into silicone muffin pans (I use a Jumbo muffin) and bake for 30-35 minutes. They will be fluffy and over the top, but as they cool they will shrink back. They store easily in an air tight container in the frig and can be warmed in the microwave or toaster oven. We take one of the jumbo or two of the standard muffins for a simple quick breakfast on the go.

Greek Chicken Salad
1 lg English Cucumber, quartered lengthwise, cut sticks in 1/4" slices
2 lg Tomatoes (4 Roma's will do too), rough chopped 
1 c. Feta Cheese, crumbled
1 sm can sliced Black Olives (or what ever olive you prefer)
1 Bell Pepper, diced small
1/2 lb diced cooked chicken meat or turkey breast
Greek Dressing (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/greek-salad-recipe.print.html)
(I played around with the dressing, made a double batch, used mayo in place the oil to make a creamy dressing and I think maybe next time I will try it with cream cheese to make it thicker)

Now comes the best part, toss it all in a large bowl and mix it up. Eat now or store it up for later.

 

 

So there you have it, my breakfasts and lunches for the week, 

and here's to getting back on track!

Hamburger Stew with Cheesy Grits

Finding myself feeling very grateful to have this week behind me and a couple of days ahead to enjoy. Had a couple of late nights working, nights of errand running and finally a night to kick back and catch up on some our recordings on the DVR. 

With a week of random eating I was ready to make something homemade and on the comfort food side of things. 

As I flipped through the cupboards I came across a partial box of grits and that set me to  thinking. Grabbed a pound of hamburger from the freezer and went to work. 

Hamburger Stew
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 Yellow onion, minced
1 can Diced Tomatoes with Green Chili's
Chili powder
Cumin
Tumeric
Salt & Pepper

In a large skillet brown ground beef, onion and seasonings to taste and cook stirring regularly until onions are cooked through. Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

While stew simmers make a batch of grits according to the packaging, adding 1-2 cups grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar) after grits begin to thicken.

Ladle a good scoop of grits into your favorite bowl and spoon stew over the top, and add a dollop of sour cream. For me I enjoy stirring it all together as I eat the rich cheesy goodness. 


I know I've become the queen of one bowl suppers that are hardy and filling.  We raised four kids on a tight budget and simple meals with just a few ingredients and only take a short time to prepare are at the heart of my cooking.

A night off

It's only Tuesday and it feels like I've put in a full week already. Worked at home yesterday which has it's benefits, like warm fuzzy dogs sleeping on my feet while I work. But I found myself working until after 8pm last night. Needless to say, a quick bite out handled dinner and back to work I went.

Today I had a full day at the office with the executive staff hanging around keeping me on my toes doing extra projects for them on top of trying to get my own work done. So tonight I just wanted to get out of the house and have an enjoyable evening and not think about all the stresses that seem to be over taking my day to day life. So we grabbed one of the dogs and off we went to the local evening farmers market.

Tonight included a simple German sausage on a stick with spicy mustard and wandering around the market just enjoying the fresh air.  To top off the night we had the opportunity to visit with a bunch of old friends from a church we used to attend, and had time to catch up with everyone and a chance to make plans to get together at a later date.

I didn't take the camera, I didn't plan, I just enjoyed time with friends and we even treated ourselves to some ice cream from the local pharmacy that sells it as a fund raiser for the local kids in the community.

It's okay to sometimes just take a night off.

Pigs-N-Blanket

My oldest son and daughter in law have be traveling this no carb road with me for a while now, and they are diligent in finding recipes and trying out new things which is great to have someone to bounce things off of and to try recipes with. A while back they came across a recipe for what was called pancakes, but they are thin and delicate much more like a crepe and absolutely wonderful.

When I headed for the freezer last night to pull some meat for dinner tonight, I spotted a beef roast but that will take a few days to thaw (its resting the frig), but I also found a package of pork link sausages that made for a perfect start for breakfast for dinner tonight.

So with my package of sausage cooked off, and a batch of crepes, we had a fun batch of Pigs-N-Blanket. And my poor husband who is along for this ride managed to eat two full plates of them!

Grain Free Crepes

8 oz Cream Cheese - softened
8 Eggs
3 packet Stevia
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix all the ingredient with a stick blender or in a standard blender. Heat griddle and keep greased with each batch of crepes cooked (I use a spray coconut oil or butter & a brush).
Using a 1 oz ladle make each crepe, they cook super quick, when they start to dry around the edges give them a careful flip and they will be ready in just another minute.
I had a time flipping them the first time I made them, if you make them too large they want to split with the impact on the griddle. So keeping them small they are easy to produce. 

We used our favorite pork sausage with a bit of sugar free syrup to create our dinner, find your own favorite way to use these fun little crepes. I'm thinking next time I'm thinking skip the cinnamon and sweetener and make them savory with some herbs. I can see them rolled up with meat and cheese as great way to have something for lunch or a snack!

Grilled Chicken & Fried "Rice"

After several months of crazy I'm trying to get my meals and eating habits back in line with the Keto (Low carb, no grain, no starch, no sugar) way of eating and start feeling better. It seams like the more my schedule overloads, the worse I feel and less likely I will follow any kind of proper eating habits.

Part of me returning to you here online started with a book I downloaded to my Kindle on organizing your home and life. I had found a blurb with a section on organizing my kitchen, which I'm always up for a better way of doing things, so I downloaded the entire book.  The book started with it's first chapter on organizing your priorities, which for me the top of the list included getting back to cooking proper meals and spending time here sharing it with you.

With this refocus on different parts of my life, I've decided that my blog will be about sharing what doing, what I'm cooking and not bog myself down with finding what to eat in advance of the week, that way of planning has proven to not fit my life. 

This week started with a trip to the grocery store Saturday night for the basics we needed for the week. Sunday we hit our favorite small market that has organic meat we needed for this weeks egg cups and while there we spotted a good buy on bone in chicken thighs. From there we wandered across the street to the farmers market and picked up some yummy beef brisket for lunch an some plants for my garden beds.

Monday at work I ran in snag after snag with payroll, I found myself stuck at the office until 6pm and then with an hour train ride home it was too late to thinking about cooking, so dinner ended up being a 1/2 cup cottage cheese and a slice of cheddar while I worked on a project on the couch and watch a bit of television. So I decided this morning I would make sure to be out of the office on time and have time to fix something worth while.

With the mindset of cooking a good dinner I took those chicken thighs I bought on Saturday I tossed them in a ziplock with home made barbecue sauce I had on hand and tossed them back in the frig before headed off  to work.

So here's the recipe for my home made barbecue sauce for a website I frequent.
Carolina BBQ Sauce: http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/carolina-bbq-sauce-and-agave-facts/  This mustard based sauce and is far from a traditional bbq sauce, but I've grown to love this sauce and I don't take the sugar hit that comes with traditional or store bought sauces.

Once I arrived home today cranked up my stove top grill pan, oiled it good and place the chicken skin side down on the hot grill pan and started in on an experiment with cauliflower. Once the chicken had a good carmelization on it, turn it over an let it finish cooking, I placed a lid over the top that doesn't fit tight, you don't want it to steam the chicken, but you want to hold in some of the heat so it cooks clear though without drying out.

For a sidedish to go with the chicken I spent some time nosing around on Pinterest I found a recipe for a cauliflower couscous which set off an experiment that turned out to be something pretty yummy.

I decided to take the idea of the couscous (http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-cauliflower-couscous-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-203344?crlt.pid=camp.7yazCHPemZsL#recipe) and try the idea of making it into a fried "rice". So following the recipe to prepare the cauliflower, I chopped up half a yellow onion and sauteed it half a stick of butter until softened. I added the cauliflower to the pan and continued to stir and allowed it to start to brown in the pan. I did need to add the remaining 1/2 a stick of butter as it continued to brown. I thinly sliced a couple of green onions and chopped up some celantro I tossed with the brown "rice". At this point remove from the heat and season with gluten free Tamiri sauce to taste and serve.

So this is my restart, I loved being back in the kitchen doing something fun tonight, and now I need  to go pull something from the freezer for tomorrow and get back to one of my other projects. 
One thing that has not changed is my attitude - Never stop playing with your food!

Gathering

Well after my recent vanishing act, I'm found with a little time and a great yearning to put my thoughts down on the page again. In the past few months I've survived the year end closing at work, records sales, which means more paperwork for me, overtime, a stent of panic/anxiety attacks and some time of just running myself into the ground and needing to recover.

Today I'm home for a short stretch of time with nothing pressing (at least nothing I want do, such as vacuum or start some laundry, or pay bills, something constructive). I have a husband who has been down ill the last few days and he is crashed over on the other couch with the Great Pyrenees curled up at his feet (she was curled up next to me a bit ago, but I was crowding her), the Golden Retriever is stretched out on  the floor and the Husky has claimed one of the chairs (mind you there is a dog bed on the floor that is vacant). So at this point, I  have a couch  to myself, there is no TV blaring, no music playing, just the hum of the air cleaner and the little space heater that keeps the chill off. As I sit here, I find myself replaying a conversation we had earlier this morning that for whatever reason I just felt that this what where I need to restart my Blog.

This morning we enjoy a breakfast at one of our favorite haunts on the North side of Portland, and by chance, my husband left his tablet in the car (he thought it was at home) and we just sat and talked. It was funny to sit a talk about how much the electronics in our lives have taken over so much of our time and focus. How we go into a meeting with a device in hand, using the excuse that it's so I can keep track of my work emails, but what we are not doing is being present in the meeting. How much of what was said did we not hear? How offended do we make people when we sit down with them and we are only half focused on the actual conversation, instead are we focused on a email, a Facebook post, a joke or funny video?

Thanks to all these electronic gadgets we have been blessed with, we are now connected to all sorts of things that distract us. I feel like we are loosing the art of conversation, the ability to sit down and actually listen to what is being said, to be able to respond accordingly and to be a part of something. If we are not juggling emails, Facebook streams, Twitter feeds, text messages and who know what else, we feel like we are going to  miss out on something. But I believe what  we are missing out on, is connecting, face to face with others. To share a meal or just a conversation that is not interrupted with beeps and rings and "I just got to check this" moments when you might just miss out on something that is right in front of you.

As I sit here, I even think about how intrusive text messages have become, how they have over ridden a simple phone call, if you don't want to get bogged down in a long conversation you send a text, set your phone down to start something else expecting a simple reply back. But then you get a reply that requires a text back, and then it happens again and realistically it could been settled in a couple of minutes of conversation without the starting and stopping of something to keep responding to that repeated text notice going off.  I will admit, I'm guilty of this process myself, thinking it will be quicker, but in the end it had disrupted more time starting and stopping what usually is work.

So for me, my goal is to use electronics less and talk and listen more. 

We have a wedding shower to attend and it will be a pot luck meal which means time around the tables eating and visiting with others, to be present with the people at the table. 
Find time to put the electronics away, and just be.

I'm taking my Kale Salad for a crew with me, and if you need a healthy yummy dish to take to a gathering this is a great option.

Kale Salad for a crowd
Salad
3      Med bunches of curly kale
1      Small bunch green onions
3      Carrots
1      Bunch Radishes
2      Bell peppers (I prefer red, yellow or orange)
1/2  Lb Bacon
1      C. Toasted nuts or sunflower seeds

Dressing
1      C.  Olive Oil
1/2  C.  Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4  C.  Sugar or equivalent of alternative sweetener
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all you dressing ingredients in a mason jar, tightly secure lid and shake until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate til ready to serve.

I start with browning the bacon off in a cast iron skillet until crispy and then drain it on paper towels, set aside to cool.

Tearing the kale from the course stems and tossing it into my food processor, using my standard chopping blade in the food processor, I pulse it several times until the kale is chopped into small bite size pieces. Using my largest stainless steal bowl I begin building the salad, dumping the greens in as process each batch. With three bunches of kale this take several batches. Once that is complete before changing out the blade of the food process I toss in the cooks bacon and pulse it a few times to make bacon crumbles, add them to the greens.

Switch to a large grater blade in the food process, grate the washed and scrubbed carrots and radishes, add to the greens and bacon. 

Finally its time to pull out a knife and the cutting board and slice the green onions on the diagonal and small dice the bell peppers. Again add to the bowl.

Being this salad is being used the next day, it is ready for a toss, covered and put in the frig for the night. Dress the salad in the morning, using enough dressing to lightly coat everything, and sprinkle the toasted nuts or seeds over the top and you are ready to go.

This is a salad I love to make early in the week (in a smaller batch) and take it to work with cooked chicken & sliced avocados, or it just as easily sides up to a piece of cooked meat at dinner. It will keep well in  the frig for several days, so leftover are great.



So next time you sit down with a group of people or even just a close friend or loved one, make an effort to put down the device, be present in the moment. In the Bible, there are many accounts of Christ gathered around the table, you never know what you might learn when you gather.

New tools in the kitchen

With the decision to weekly make egg cups for my husband, we found the not so nice issue that came with that task, and that has been eggs that aggressively stick to my standard muffin tins. So we took the next step in the challenge and tried paper liners and the stubborn egg have stuck to those too. But this week has been a triumph in the challenge with sticking eggs. 
As a result I began the tasks of researching different silicone products on the market, which my first thought was a product called Flexipan (which I already own several pieces), which is made by the people who make the Silpats, but they come with a healthy price tag (some over $100). This past week I had a chance to speak with our pastry chef at work regarding this issue and asked her if she had a source of the Flexipans that might not be as expensive as my retail sources, which triggered a discussion regarding other products on the market. After a looking at several product options she headed to the kitchen and came back with one of her personal pans which turned out to be a cheap (around $10-$20) home silicone jumbo muffin tray and told me to give it a try and see what I thought. 
With my test pan in hand I headed for the kitchen today to find myself over joyed with the results, after letting the muffins cool for ten minutes I flipped the pan over onto a rack and they fell out of the pan effortlessly, and with a quick wipe with a soapy dish cloth the pan was clean again. So needless to say, I've been on Amazon.com and have ordered a couple of pans in different sizes that will be here before the week is out and I will be making egg cups that are stress free! my solution has been found.

Just out of the oven

The flip after 10 minutes cool time

The freshly washed pan

Packing up for storage in the frig for the week.

Steak Bites & Kale Salad

This morning I went out to get food for the dogs and as I walked past our freezer, I figured I better get out some meat for dinner, or I would be left scrounging around for something to eat after a long day at work.  I found a package of sirloin steaks which are not my favorites, but they were the first package I grabbed. 

Steak Bites

With my protein selected, now the question is what to do with it. One of my favorite Happy Hour goodies at our restaurant is steak bites. So with that in mind, I took my steaks and cubed them into cubes approximately 1 to 1.5 inches. Tossed them with salt & pepper and caramelized them in a hot oiled cast iron fry pan, turning to brown on all sides. Depending on how much you are cooking off, you may need to cook several batches in order to cook them quick enough and over cook the meat. At work they serve the bites with a horseradish sauce which I was really in the mood for, but my quickie stop at the grocery store found that all bottled, shelf safe horseradish sauce had either high fructose corn syrup or sugar and an assortment of unknown items in them, nor did that store have any fresh horseradish to allow me to make my own. So I settle on a roasted garlic aioli that I already had in the frig.

Kale Salad

As a side to go with our steak, I knew it was time for some hearty greens, so I put to use the kale, yellow bell pepper, green onions and radishes I had on hand and came up with a yummy salad. After removing the stems from the kale, I tossed the kale into the food processor with the chopping blade and pulsed until it was finely chopped (this took several batches to get all of it prepared). I thin sliced a full bunch of green onions, diced a bell pepper, and tossed the washed and trimmed radishes in to the food processor and finely chopped as well. In a large bowl I tossed all vegetables together with what is now becoming my favorite dressing and we were ready to eat (now that dinner is over, toasted sunflower seeds or other nuts would have been good in this salad too.)

Dressing for salad is thanks to Maria: http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/super-salad-dressing-and-mct-oils/  

Egg Cups - making things easy

With laundry load number two in the dryer and load number three in the washer, Les Miserables running on the TV, I jumped into the kitchen to get our meals prepped for the week ahead. 

We have a bit of leftovers from the weekend that will take care of a few of the lunches, but breakfast needs to be covered. When we first started this eating adventure, we tested the idea of egg cups which turned out to be pretty good. Last week due to a time crunch we went with plain boiled eggs, so when I asked my husband what he wanted for breakfast, he asked for the egg cups again. So I figured it time to share the egg cups with you.

Egg Cups
These like everything else I cook this is something you can modify the heck out of it. So for this batch we picked the following.

1/2 lb breakfast sausage (you can pick you meat of choice, bacon, ham, whatever)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 c. frozen spinach, thawed, and squeezed in a towel to get rid of the excess moisture.
1 c. Grated cheese (we used Colby & a white cheddar with horseradish)
Salt & Pepper
12 eggs
splash of milk (Option)
Coconut oil for greasing muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Grease  (12) muffin tins, or line with wax liners

Brown off meat and onions, drain on paper towel. Mix drained spinach, cheese, cooked meat & onions, and salt & pepper, place in muffin tins.

Mix eggs & milk with a stick blender is best, it breaks up the stringy w
hites so they are easy to ladle over the meat mixture in the muffin tins, leaving  room at the top, they rise when cooking.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from tin. I put ours in a sealed container and they keep nicely in the frig for the week.



As for modifications, I see a batch with sauteed mushrooms and bacon in our future, maybe some chopped Kale, shape cheddar....hmmm, options, options, options!


Now its time to get back to that laundry project....oops.

"Spaghetti" Comfort food Paleo Style

Well it's year end for bookkeeper and accountants, piles of report, new reports to start, updates to be made, books to balance, file cabinets to purge, and overtime to put it, and right now I'm in the thick of it. 

So what do I crave, but starchy comfort foods that can be made quickly, so with in mind I decided to combine a couple of my favorites into a healthy combination I can feel good about eating and feel the need for something something hearty.

Spaghetti My Way
1 lb, ground beef, Italian sausage (chicken or pork) or any combination
1 Jar of your favorite sugar free spaghetti sauce
3/4 Head cabbage, sliced thin ribbons
1 Lg Yellow onion, sliced 
Salt & Pepper
Parmesan Cheese - grated for garnish

 In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, toss cabbage & onions in olive oil, season well with salt and pepper. Continue to turn over with thongs until cooked down and onions are translucent.

While cabbage mixture cooks, brown meat in a second skillet or stock pot. Add jarred sauce to meat and heat thoroughly.

  

Serve meat sauce over cabbage and garnish with cheese.