Liver

Last month, I bought a 10 lb. box of local pastured lamb.  All different cuts of delicious lamb.  I was so excited when I came home and unloaded my box.  I spread out all of my meat to decide what cut to prepare first.  To my surprise, there was a lamb liver included.

To my knowledge, I have never had liver.  But I know that it is healthy.  Liver is full of vitamins and minerals, and organ meats are said to be very healing and nourishing.

So I decided that today was the day.  I didn’t tell the kids outright that we were having liver, not that they would have even known what liver was.  I told them we were having lamb…..which technically was true.

I followed a recipe that someone on my Facebook page recommended to me.  Because once you add bacon, how bad can it be?  I served it with their favorite carrots (roasted with coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and french fries.  Yep, I gave ’em straight up white potatoes.  It was like a mental bribe to get them to eat.

So the liver was cooked and served with cut up bacon, onions, and portobellos.  I thought it was okay.  If I cut the liver up small and made sure to get bacon and onions in with each bite, I didn’t notice it at all.  My husband felt the same.  Luigi gobbled it up, no questions asked, which was no surprise–that kid is a carnivore extraordinaire.

But Mario has such a sensitive palate.  I made it a point not to draw any attention to the liver, but noticed that he was making a face when eating it.  Finally, he said sadly, “mom, I don’t think I like the lamb.  Can I just eat my other food?”.  I picked all of the pieces of liver out and set them to the side on his plate and left the bacon, onions and mushrooms in another pile.

Much to my surprise, he picked up a piece of liver and said, “Let me just try the lamb and see if this is really the part I don’t like”.  I was stunned when he said, “Hey, this is the part I LIKED!!“.

So my pickiest child gobbled up all of the liver and left the bacon, onion and mushrooms on his plate.  (I think it was the mushrooms that were grossing him out.)

I would have never predicted 4 clean plates on a night when I made liver.  So I had to share that testimony.  Don’t ever assume that you know what your kids will and won’t eat.  And don’t project your preconceived notions onto them.  No kid is born thinking liver is gross, but if they grow up hearing you talk about how gross it is, then guess what?  They’re not going to touch it.

I am so proud of my son for wanting to “confirm” which ingredient was bothering him!  Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought to ask him to do that.  When liver is involved, it’s easy to assume that’s the culprit.

Will I ever make liver again?  Probably.  And I might even tell my kids that’s what it is……next time.

Waffles (Paleo, SCD)

Waffles were one of the first grain-free baked goods I had to nail down when we changed our diet.  My kiddos love waffles and I loved the convenience of being able to pop them in the toaster first thing in the morning.  For almost a year, this was the recipe I used when making waffles.  These waffles are delicious and they freeze well.  But recently I wanted to tweak the recipe to add in some coconut flour and decrease the amount of almond flour.  Not just for health reasons, but also to make them more affordable to eat.  My kids can’t tell any difference in the recipes!

You will notice that my recipe makes a lot of waffles (the exact number will depend on your waffle maker).  I figure if you’re going to go to the trouble to get out your waffle maker you may as well make enough to freeze and keep some on hand for another day.  We have this waffle maker, and this recipe makes 8 waffles in our waffle maker.  The waffles are so large that I cut them in half before freezing them for my kids.  With that in mind, I consider this recipe to be one that makes 16 servings.

Waffles (16 servings)

1 cup almond flour

1/3 cup coconut flour

5 eggs

1 cup of coconut or almond milk (I also use my 24-hour yogurt)

3 TBSP honey

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

coconut oil

Combine all ingredients.  Heat up your waffle iron and when it is ready, brush coconut oil onto the waffle iron with a pastry brush.  Add batter and cook according to your waffle iron specifications.  Enjoy immediately!

If you plan to freeze any waffles, allow them to cool completely and then place them in a freezer bag and freeze.  You can reheat them in a toaster.

Korean-Inspired Fried Cauli-Rice (Paleo, SCD)

As some of you may know, my younger son was born and spent the first 2 years of his life in South Korea.  When we were in the process of his adoption, we began experimenting with Korean food, and found that we love it!  When we started our dietary shift last summer, we didn’t eat Korean food for awhile.  Rice was no longer an option and neither was soy sauce.  Even the gluten-free tamari wasn’t considered “safe”.  Lately, I’ve been doing more experimenting and testing to see what ingredients our family can “handle”.  For instance, I have found that no one has any kind of obvious negative reactions when I use the gluten-free tamari.  (I do still tend to use coconut aminos for the most part, but some Korean dishes like bulgogi are just so much more flavorful with the GF tamari.)  Unfortunately, using the traditional japchae noodles (made of sweet potato starch) greatly upsets Mario’s stomach.  This was a real bummer, because japchae is one of our favorite Korean dishes.

Recently, I got up the nerve to try to prepare cauli-rice.  Confession–this was my first time even buying cauliflower!  I know–craziness.  I thought that we would all stomach it the best if I made it into a fried rice and I remembered a recipe from the Urban Poser’s blog for fried cauli-rice.  When I went to look at it, I thought it sounded good, but I decided to make ours with a Korean flair.  I chose all the veggies I would normally use for japchae and seasoned them accordingly.  As for the final product–the kids went nuts for it.  They thought it WAS japchae.  Luigi took leftovers in his lunchbox for 3 days straight and Mario asked me to make it again very soon.  I made it again tonight and made it a point to measure out all of my ingredients so I could share the recipe.  So here it is!

Korean Cauli-Fried Rice (makes 5-6 servings)

1 head of cauliflower

1 8 oz package of mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

3 medium carrots, grated

2 cups of baby spinach

1 tsp. minced garlic

4 TBSP coconut aminos (separated)–Soy sauce or Gluten-free tamari may also be used, but your dish will not be completely paleo.

1/2 TBSP honey

1 TBSP sesame oil

2 eggs

1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds

coconut oil

To “rice” your cauliflower, you will put it through the grating attachment on a food processor.  Do NOT cook it before hand.  You could grate it by hand, but I suspect that would be maddening.  Here are before and after pics:

Before

After

You will need 2 pans for this recipe.  I used my cast iron skillet for the veggies and a large flat-bottomed wok for the rice.  If you don’t have enough pans, you can cook your veggies first, and then set them aside and then cook your rice.

Begin by sauteeing your onions and garlic in coconut oil (approximately 2 TBSP).  Once the onions begin to soften and turn translucent, add the mushrooms to the pan.  When the mushrooms are about halfway cooked through, stir in 2 TBSP coconut aminos and 1/2 TBSP of honey.  Continue stirring.  When the mushrooms are done, add the grated carrots and the spinach.  Continue cooking and stirring until the spinach is wilted.  Remove from heat.  Drizzle veggies with 1 TBSP of sesame oil (do not leave the sesame oil out–it is very important to the taste of the dish).  Let sit.

In your flat-bottomed wok, heat up more coconut oil.  When the coconut oil is hot, add your cauliflower.  You want to spread it out nicely so that it all gets toasty and “fried”.  Add more oil if necessary, and stir/redistribute the rice every minute or so.  I let it cook for probably around 10 minutes.  I like for the rice to just begin to brown.  After the rice has cooked for about 5-7 minutes, stir in 2 TBSP of coconut aminos.  When the rice is almost cooked to your liking, crack 2 eggs into the pan and scramble them in to the rice.

When the rice is complete, remove it from the heat and stir in all of the veggies.

This was my first batch. I didn’t have spinach in this batch, but I did have scallions.

Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.  We had ours with grilled flank steak and cucumber kimchi.

Enjoy!

Chewy Almond Cookies (Paleo, SCD)

Have you ever had an almond bear claw?  Those were one of my most favorite treats back in the day.  This is the cookie version of an almond bear claw, and frankly, it blows the bear claw out of the water.  My husband, who supposedly doesn’t like nuts, is currently inhaling these as he watches basketball.  He asked me twice if this was an original recipe and then told me it was my best work yet.

Okay, now I’m worried that I’m overselling them.

But I don’t think I am–they are really tasty.

Chewy Almond Cookies (makes about 20)

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. almond extract

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

for topping:  about 1/4 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix honey, coconut oil, and almond extract in a mixing bowl.  Once combined, add in almond flour, salt and baking soda.  Your dough will look something like this:

Scoop out dough 1-2 TBSP at a time (depending on how big you want your cookie).  Roll dough into balls and place onto a silicone baking sheet or a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Using the flat bottom of a glass, or even your hand, slightly flatten out the balls of dough.  You want them to be about 1/2 inch thick.  They will not rise or spread as they bake.

Then top each one with some slivered almonds, pressing them in slightly so that they stay in place after they are baked.  Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes (keep an eye on them because almond flour tends to burn more easily than wheat flour).  I let them cool for a few minutes on the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Side note:  I brushed mine with an egg yolk + about a teaspoon of water.  I was going for a pretty/shiny appearance, but it didn’t make much difference at all–maybe I should have used an egg white instead.  Regardless, this is not a necessary step, but I wanted to tell you because my cookies have a bit of a yellow sheen.

Enjoy!

 

Adventures in Veggies

We all find ourselves falling into food ruts.  Eating the same thing, day in and day out.  I find myself falling into a rut with vegetables most often.  My kids will always gobble up bell peppers, cucumbers and carrots so I keep them on hand at all times.  Green beans and peas are tolerated, so I keep those on hand in the freezer.  Spinach is pretty good.  Other than that, sometimes it feels like too much effort, when I know there might not be a lot of payoff (the kids turn their noses up).  But when I stay in the rut, I deprive us all of diversity, of the possibility of finding new foods that we love.  So this week, I set out to try some new veggies.  Or in some cases, try the same old veggies in new ways.

My first goal was to make some cucumber kimchi.  I am not a huge fan of cabbage, but I do love Korean food, and I know that fermented foods are a fabulous addition to a healthy diet.  Also, my Korean-born son loves kimchi, but the traditional cabbage kimchi I can get at our local Korean market is way too spicy for his Americanized taste buds.  I used this easy recipe, and it turned out great!  He and I enjoyed some with dinner last night and I even had some with my breakfast this morning!

Another goal I had was to eat more cruciferous veggies, which include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts.  These are my least favorite veggies, so I wasn’t too excited about this.  I decided that my best bet was to try to camouflage them.  Some people view the paleo side dish of cauli-rice as a great way to imitate rice, but for me it was actually a way to trick my family into eating cauliflower.  I remembered this recipe for Vietnamese fried cauli-rice from the Urban Poser, and it gave me the idea to create a Korean-inspired fried rice.  It turned out fabulously and I will share the recipe soon once I make it again and write down all of my ingredients and amounts.

Last night, I decided to give kale a try.  I had just purchased some local hickory smoked bacon and I cut two strips of that into small pieces and when it was just about finished cooking in the skillet, I added a chopped shallot.  Once the shallot was cooked through, I added the kale and cooked until soft.  My younger son and I both enjoyed it very much.  My husband and older son tolerated it.  But every last bit of it was eaten, so I call that a victory!

Next up is going to be eggplant.  Costco had some lovely baby eggplant and I bought a pack of 4.  Right when I got home, I wondered what in the world I was going to do with 4 eggplant?!?  So I chopped one up right then and roasted it for myself for lunch.  I topped it with pesto and goat cheese, because I could eat a shoe if it had pesto and goat cheese on it.  And I actually quite enjoyed it!

Tonight, I am going to try this recipe, which uses eggplant and lamb.  As always, when I serve new things to my kids at dinner, I try to include side dishes that I know they love.  It makes the new dishes seem much less scary and overwhelming.

So far, I’ve been very impressed with all of these new veggies.  And my family has been very receptive, which makes trying new things much more fun!

What veggies do you need to eat more of?  Did this post give you any ideas or inspiration?

Banana Pumpkin Chai Muffins (Paleo, SCD, Nut-free)

Lately, I’ve been taking a break from nuts.  Not that there is anything wrong with nuts, but they were definitely becoming one of my main food groups.  When really, they should only be used as occasional treats.  In a grain-free lifestyle, nuts are an easy fallback.  And if you’re like me, it’s easy to get carried away with them.  While nuts aren’t nearly as inflammatory as  grains or legumes, in large quantities, they can cause issues.  For instance, last month, my neck and arm pain returned with a vengeance.  I evaluated my diet and had to admit, I was going crazy on the nuts.  So I cut them out and within a few days, the pain had disappeared.  That’s not to say my neck isn’t still way out of whack, but the pain it is causing me is greatly relieved.  So all that to say, if you have transitioned to a paleo diet for health reasons (or even weight loss goals) and you are still not seeing the results you were looking for, you may want to look at your nut intake.  I haven’t given nuts up for good–not by a long shot!  But I am taking a break for a few weeks and will be more aware of how I incorporate them into mine (and my family’s) diet from now on.

So with nut-free eating in mind, and a bowl full of quickly ripening bananas, this recipe was born.  Every time I make a new kind of muffin, my kids swear that it is their new favorite!!  And they have been ravenous for this one.

Banana Pumpkin Chai Muffins (makes 8 or 9–I forget!)

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 tsp chai spice

Combine mashed banana, pumpkin puree, honey, vanilla and eggs.  Blend well.  Then add in all dry ingredients and blend well.

Add batter to muffin cups and bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes (I noticed that the baking time was very dependent on the pan used.  My light metal pan took nearly 10 minutes longer to bake these muffins than the dark metal pan, so be aware that baking times may vary.).  Once cooled, store these muffins in the fridge.

My goal is to enjoy these (and all paleo baked goods) as part of a balanced diet.

Customizable Paleo and SCD Candy Bars

Okay, first let’s address the elephant in the room.  There is nothing Paleo about candy bars.  There, I said it.

This is not a recipe that you want to make every day and eat it all for breakfast, and then brag to your friends that you are hard-core Paleo.  These are free of all grains and refined sugars (unless you opt to use the Enjoy Life chocolate chips), but let’s face it, that doesn’t mean you should make a meal out of chocolate and coconut.

However, sometimes you are stuck on a special diet.  It could be for weight loss or medical issues or even life-threatening allergies.  And doggone it, everybody wants and needs to indulge sometimes!!  This recipe is for those times.  These are decadent and rich and amazing, and the good news is that once you consider the amount of nutrient dense coconut they contain…..you could do a lot worse for an indulgence.

Another great thing about this recipe is how customizable it is.  It is kind of like the coconut version of my monster coo0kie.

Customizable Paleo Candy Bars (makes approximately 16 squares)

please skip to the end for a customizable SCD candy bar….

3/4 cup coconut cream concentrate, melted

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 TBSP pure vanilla extract

2 TBSP honey

1/4 cup coconut chips (for topping)

Ingredients for 1 batch of homemade chocolate:

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP cocoa powder

Mix your first 4 ingredients together (coconut cream concentrate, vanilla, honey and coconut oil), and pour into a glass 8×8 pan, lined with wax paper.

Then make your chocolate by melting the coconut oil and honey in a small sauce pan.  Whisk in cocoa powder and voila!  You have chocolate.  Now pour this chocolate on top of your coconut mixture.  I tried to blend it and make it pretty and swirly, but I was afraid if I overdid it, it would all just turn light brown.

Then sprinkle with coconut chips.

Place your dish into the refrigerator or freezer.  Leave for approximately 30 minutes- 1 hour or until it is solid.

Remove the wax paper from the dish:

and cut into squares!

Another variation of this would be to make the coconut layer exactly the same as listed above, but instead of making homemade chocolate, you could add 1/4 cup of Enjoy Life chocolate chips.  Then top with 1/4 cup coconut chips.  So yummy!!!  Store in the refrigerator!!

Customizable SCD Candy Bar (makes 16 squares)

3/4 cup coconut cream concentrate, melted

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 TBSP. pure vanilla extract

3 TBSP. honey

1/4 cup coconut chips

(add any other nuts, seeds, or dried fruits that you think would be delicious–I plan to add dried cherries the next time I make the SCD version!!)

Mix your first 4 ingredients together (coconut cream concentrate, vanilla, honey and coconut oil), and pour into a glass 8×8 pan, lined with wax paper.  Then sprinkle the coconut chips on top.  Leave in the refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes-1 hour or until solid.  Cut into squares.  Store in the refrigerator!

The question is…..which version will you make first?

Frosty Pina Colada Bites (Paleo, Nut-Free, SCD, Sugar-Free)

This recipe is dedicated to summer…..and to those of you who don’t have an ice cream maker, but still want in on some guilt-free, ice-cold, Paleo goodness.

I feel like this recipe would work for almost anyone.  It is dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and grain-free.  It has no added sugars whatsoever.  But it tastes decadent.  Heck, it’s even pretty!

Oh, and did I mention that there are only 3 ingredients?  And the flavor varieties are endless?  What the WHAT?!?!

So shut up, you say, give us the flippin’ recipe.  Okay, okay.

Frosty Pina Colada Bites

Traditional Pina Colada 

1/2 cup coconut cream concentrate/coconut manna/coconut butter

1 8 oz can of pineapple, drained (make sure it is in pineapple juice, not syrup).  8 oz of fresh pineapple would work fine as well.

1/2 ripe banana

Orange Pina Colada (my favorite!)

1/2 cup coconut cream concentrate/coconut manna/coconut butter

2 single serving cups–probably about 3/4 cup–of mandarin oranges, drained (make sure it is in juice, not syrup)

1/2 ripe banana

Strawberry Pina Colada 

1/2 cup coconut cream concentrate/coconut manna/coconut butter

1 cup of strawberries (if frozen, thaw completely)

1/2 ripe banana

Melt/soften your coconut cream concentrate by placing the jar in a bowl of hot water.  If you have a dehydrator, you can put it in the dehydrator on a low temperature.  Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.  (The strawberry recipe was much thicker because the strawberries aren’t as juicy.  You may want to add a teaspoon or two of water).  The mixture should be just a bit thicker than muffin batter.  Transfer mixture into silicone molds or liners in a mini muffin pan.  Place in the freezer for around 30 minutes.  You will store them in the freezer and you can pop them right in your mouth for a frosty snack.  Note that you could also store them in the fridge.  They won’t be hard in the fridge, but more of a gooey, marshmallow-y texture.  See which you prefer!  If you try other flavors, I would love to know what you try and how they turn out.  Enjoy!

Snickerdoodle Blondies (Paleo, SCD)

Last night I teased on Facebook that I had a recipe for snickerdoodle blondies, and I predicted that everyone probably already had the ingredients in their cupboard.  That’s how basic these little yummies are.   These blondies are inspired by a recipe in the book “Breaking the Vicious Cycle“, which is considered the SCD bible.  That recipe is simply for Peanut Butter Blondies and it was the first time I had ever even heard of using peanut or almond butter for baking–that was a fun revelation!!

It reminded me of another recipe I used to make for my boys that they loved.  This snickerdoodle blondie recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie has some unexpected ingredients (chickpeas!!), but my kids used to gobble them up!!!   Now that we’ve omitted legumes from our diet, those blondies aren’t an option any more, but I think these new ones are even yummier.  So without further ado…..

Snickerdoodle Blondies (makes 9)

1 cup almond butter (may also use all-natural peanut butter if you aren’t Paleo.  I prefer almond butter because it is more of a mild flavor and doesn’t taste quite so nutty.)

1/2 cup honey

1 egg

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 TBSP. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325.  Using a hand mixer, blend all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  Batter will be thick!  Pour it into a greased 8×8 glass baking dish.  Bake for 20-30 minutes.  The blondies get really puffy while they bake:

and then when they begin to cool, they start to deflate towards the middle.  This is normal.

My husband worked late last night and I left these on the counter for him with a note telling him to try them.  I woke up to this note:

So I’m thinking he liked them.

So tell me, do you have the ingredients on hand?  And if so, when are you going to try them?

Satisfying Everyone (Without Becoming a Short Order Cook)

Today, I was thinking about what to make for dinner.  As I perused my fridge and freezer, I got a great idea that sounded delicious to me.  The only problem is, I knew that I was the only person in our family who would really like it.  In the past, I would have just told myself to forget it.  As you parents know, making dinner is hard enough without making multiple meals for multiple people.  Or even worse, putting a lot of time into something that you find delicious, only to have the rest of your family complain about it.

Please understand that I do think it is important to have your family try new foods.  Or even new ways of eating foods that they already enjoy.  But sometimes you just know that your efforts are going to be in vain.  For instance I know my kids hate casseroles–all those foods mixed up together, it just doesn’t always fly.  But what if I know that they like 75% of the ingredients that are in a particular casserole? I could reserve some of the cooked meat and veggies from the casserole and serve those to the kids separately, but make the casserole for the grown ups.  See what I mean?

The difference for me lately is that now I am a little more creative in the kitchen.  I also have a lot more ingredients on hand, which allows me to put together a few variations on any dish.  So tonight, I made myself that dinner I was dreaming of.  And with very minimal effort, I made sure that everyone had a dinner they were happy with.  Here’s what I did…..

First of all, what sounded good to me was a portobello mushroom stuffed with chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, bell peppers, prosciutto, and smoked provolone.  But I knew that wasn’t going to fly with the rest of the family.

So I cooked some chicken breasts on the stovetop.  Just seasoned them with salt, pepper and garlic powder and cooked them on both sides in ghee while the oven was preheating.  While they cooked, I prepared the portobello by scraping out the gills and rubbing it with olive oil.  Then I cut up some raw veggies to serve with dinner (I set aside some diced bell peppers for my meal).

I took one cooked chicken breast for myself and diced it up and mixed it with all of the other ingredients I wanted to add to my portobello, then tossed it in the oven at 400.  Then I topped 2 other chicken breasts with prosciutto and smoked provolone because I knew my husband and youngest son would like that.  I topped the last chicken breast with pesto for my oldest son.  Easy as that!

Everybody got a meal that they enjoyed and my effort was very minimal.  Obviously this doesn’t work with every single meal, but if you think ahead, you can handle it.  I think we can all agree my meal was the most beautiful and delicious.  But it tasted even better knowing that everyone was happy.