We head over to the farmers market every Saturday morning. I drool over all the green - every kind of lettuce, kale, broccoli, green onions, herbs. I come home with a ton of beautiful green things that need to be used fairly quickly. So, this has become our Saturday night (and lasts us through Sunday) meal.
Eat Your Greens! Frittata
3 potatoes, diced
1 large onion, chopped
several tablespoons butter (or fat of choice)
lots of salt and pepper (I also used Herbamere, a season all salt)
10-12 eggs, whisked
1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional, I used goat cheddar)
loads of local produce from the market, cleaned and chopped. I used broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, and kale.
Melt butter in a large, oven-proof skillet over med-low heat. Add the potatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Cook until about halfway done. Add broccoli. Cook everything until just almost soft. Add zucchini and squash, cook another 2 minutes. Add kale and cook until wilted. Whisk your eggs, optional cheese, and more salt/pepper. Smooth out all your veggies to cover the skillet evenly. Pour eggs evenly over vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 minutes. Heat oven to 350. Finish cooking the frittata in the oven for another 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are set.
Salmon is full of healthy omega-3 fats, vitamins and minerals. But, due to supply and demand, the quality of salmon has gone down. Make sure you look for wild alaskan salmon. You don't want to buy farmed fish - they are unhealthy and usually pumped with food colorings.
If you aren't use to eating much fish, start with salmon. It has a mild taste and cooks up wonderfully. This is a simple dinner that we enjoy weekly. It can be served as a family friendly meal or an elegant dinner for two. If you're having trouble getting your kids to eat salmon, just tell them it's what the Berenstain Bears eat...works every time.
Salmon with Roasted Winter Vegetables
2 large salmon filets ghee or butter lemon salt/pepper
7 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 4 red potatoes, scrubbed and sliced 15 brussels sprouts, root cut off, outer layer peeled and washed olive oil salt/pepper thyme
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the potatoes together with a few glugs of olive oil, salt/pepper, and several shakes of dried thyme. Put in a 9x13 pan. Cook for 20 minutes. Mix. Cook for another 15 minutes. While they are cooking for the 15 minutes, prepare your salmon.
Lay the filets in a buttered/oiled baking dish. Roll you lemon on the counter with your hand, to get the juices flowing. Slice open, and squeeze juice over filets. Cover each with salt and pepper. Dab with ghee or butter.
When the 15 minutes are up, take our your potatoes and add the brussels sprouts. Mix well. Put the vegetables and the salmon into the oven. Cook another 15 minutes.
Breakfast (or lunch, or dinner) tomorrow: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat up the leftover vegetables (and salmon, if you have any leftover) in a pan covered with ghee/butter/coconut oil. Whisk 8 large eggs together with some salt and pepper. Pour eggs into the pan with vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 5-8 minutes. Finish cooking in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked through.
Sorry the picture has such bad lighting....we eat breakfast early, really early. Like, before the sun comes up, early.
My family loves soup, and I'm glad they do. It's healthy, easy and cheap. I usually make a big pot of it every Sunday and we eat it well into the upcoming week. I don't follow any type of recipe. I just use what I have, and it always turns out great.
Winter Garden Soup
1 large onion 5 carrots, peeled and sliced 5 celery stalks, washed and diced 1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut 2 heads broccoli, cleaned and cut 1 28oz can diced tomatoes 2 small zucchini (I found some itty bitty local, organic ones at my health food store. They are out of season, so only use these if they are organic and you know the source.) 5 leaves kale, washed and shredded leftover chicken meat 5 small red potatoes, cleaned and diced 8-10 cups homemade chicken or beef stock several dashes of basil and oregano salt/pepper to taste
Saute the onion in butter or ghee for a few minutes. Add carrots and celery, saute a few minutes more. Add everything else to pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover and let it simmer for 45 minutes.
**The cute husband enjoying his soup is optional, but really adds something to the meal. I highly recommend one.
Seth loves muffins, I love potatoes. I use them in anything I can - soups, frittatas, side dishes, etc. The humble potato can be dressed up as a meal in and of itself. We are dairy free right now, but these would be a-mazing with some melted cheese on top.
Twice Baked Potatoes with Tuna This is one of those "its 5:00 and I haven't been to the grocery store in a week" dinners.
4 large russet potatoes 1 can tuna 3/4 cup frozen corn 3/4 cup broccoli (can be frozen) 3/4 cup frozen spinach ghee (or fat of choice) for sautéing salt/pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Scrub potatoes clean, dry them with a towel, and pierce holes all around with a knife. Wrap them in foil and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour. About 10 minutes before the potatoes are ready, heat up a medium skillet with your ghee. Saute the broccoli, spinach and corn long enough for it to heat through. Add in tuna and salt/pepper. Put everything into a large bowl. Throw in some extra ghee or butter in the bowl, for good measure.
Take potatoes out of the oven and throw away foil. Let them cool to the touch and then scoop out the middle with a spoon. Put the insides into the bowl with the veggies/tuna. Mix together. Fill each potato with mixture. This is where you could add cheese, if tolerated. Put everything back in the oven for 10 minutes. Serve.
Lunch tomorrow: My husband was out of town the night I made this dinner, so I had extras. I diced up the potato, hard boiled some eggs, and mixed it all together with some mayo. Yum!
As we transition into a more GAPS friendly way of eating, I am trying to introduce a lot more soup into our routine. I've started making a big 2:00pm lunch on Sundays and then follow it up with a soup for dinner. We aren't very hungry, so we save lots of it and have it through the week. It's truly amazing what a little homemade chicken broth can do for you. It certainly makes me smile when I watch Ella gulp down bowls of vegetable soup, look up, and proudly ask for more.
Nourishing Vegetable Soup Isn't it fantastic how you can mix the most random vegetables together with some salt/herbs/broth and it becomes something good enough to serve company?
1/2 stick butter (yeah, I said a half stick) 2 leeks, chopped and cleaned well 4 large carrots, sliced 4 potatoes, diced (I used the tiny fingerling potatoes and just sliced them) 1 cup frozen peas 1 cup frozen green beans 3/4 cup frozen spinach 2 cups shredded cabbage 1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup wild rice (substitute chopped up cauliflower for GAPS) 1 tsp dried thyme 1 bay leaf salt/pepper to taste 10 cups homemade chicken broth
Saute the leeks in the butter for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and saute a few minutes more. Add everything else. Bring to a boil, simmer for 45 minutes or more.
Enjoy!
**Be on the lookout for an awesome giveaway coming soon**
Mexican food has always been my cuisine of choice. It use to be soft white tortillas loaded with cheese....now it's soaked beans, avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, and meat. But, it's just as good. I spent spring break during my sophomore year of college on a humanitarian trip in Mexico. We stayed with local families from our church - and ate all three meals with them. It was heaven. Beans and eggs for breakfast? Pure genius.
Huevos Rancheros I served this for dinner, but it would be a fabulous brunch on a lazy Saturday morning.
Serves 4, easily doubled
4 corn tortillas 4 eggs 1 cup salsa 1 cup black beans shredded lettuce avocado, diced
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lay tortillas flat on a cookie sheet. Spray with coconut oil (or spread on some ghee) and sprinkle with sea salt. Put them in the oven and let them warm up while you cook the eggs. Dump salsa and beans into a large skillet, stir and let it warm up for a minute or two. Make 4 holes in the salsa and crack the eggs into them. Turn the heat down to medium/low. Cover and cook until the eggs are done - about 5 minutes. Take out the tortillas from the oven and put them on each plate. Scoop the eggs/salsa/beans on top of each tortilla. Top with lettuce and avocado.
Right before our eyes the beautiful fall reds and oranges quickly got swept away in the wind...and in entered the quiet chill of winter. It seems that we were just enjoying long nights filled with music, fresh fruit, and summer breeze. Now, we have retreated indoors. We are enjoying the cozy Christmas tree, our precious books, and thick socks. Rather than go crazy, I'm making myself busy inside. My mornings are full of nesting. Laundry, dishes, fluffing pillows, putting 8,794 children's books back on the shelves - all the little things that make this house our home. My afternoons are filled with homeschool lessons and baking. Seth loves to get in the kitchen with me. I've noticed, since the weather changed, he wants to bake something every afternoon. I'm ok with that. We warm up the kitchen and enjoy the fruits of our labor by the Christmas tree.
Food is such a big part of our lives. Here are a few recipes that we have warmed ourselves with this season.
Super Immunity Warm Smoothie a warming drink to be enjoyed anytime during the day
Saute 2 bananas in a large spoonful of coconut oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Continue cooking until the bananas are brown and gooey. Meanwhile, gently heat up 2-4 cups (depends on how much smoothie you want) of milk (we've used raw cow and almond). Put cooked bananas, milk, and 1-2 tbsp coco powder in the blender. Blend and enjoy in a mug.
Supper Immunity Warm Oats reap the benefits of coconut oil in your morning oats
Combine and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until oats and banana is soft.
Broccoli and Leek Quinoa a simple, satisfying lunch
1 head broccoli, chopped small 2 leeks, green tops removed, sliced, and cleaned thoroughly 1 cup quinoa 2 cups chicken broth butter, salt, pepper
Rinse and soak quinoa overnight. When you're ready to cook, drain and rinse quinoa again. Cook in chicken broth. While quinoa is cooking, saute broccoli and leeks in butter with salt and pepper. You can add any spices you like here, but I keep mine basic. Cook veggies until soft. Combine quinoa and veggies. Serve.
Potato and Spinach Frittata a crowd-pleasing dinner or brunch
5 or 6 smallish potatoes, whatever variety you prefer (red is always a favorite for us) 1 medium onion, diced 5 -6 eggs (I always start with 5 and usually end up scrambling up one more to cover the potatoes) handful frozen spinach butter salt, pepper, herbamere (or your favorite season all salt)
Slice potatoes thin, about 1/8th of an inch. Thin potatoes are the key. If they are too thick it will take too long for them to cook, and everything will get too mushy. Saute the potatoes and onion in butter. You need to be generous with the butter, because you want it to coat the pan later too. Add the salt, pepper and herbamere. If you want, some dried parsley would be a nice touch. Keep a close eye on the potatoes so that they don't burn or stick to the pan. Keep the heat low, and keep stirring. Once the potatoes are soft (10-15 minutes), add the spinach. Put a cover over you skillet and let the spinach soften. In the meantime, whip your eggs with some salt/pepper. Arrange potatoes evenly in your skillet. Add your eggs to the skillet and move it around, so that they eggs fill all the gaps. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Transfer your skillet to the oven to finish cooking. Cook another 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked through in the middle. Cut into slices and serve alongside a leafy salad.
Enjoy the warmth of your food, your homes and your families. At this busy time of year, may we stop and truly contemplate what it means to give. I hope we can all share and feel of that perfect Christ-like love this month.
It feels like we've been out of commission for a while now. Which means I haven't been to the grocery store in almost a week and a half. There is almost no fresh produce left. We all started to get our appetites back last night, and I wanted to cook something that was warm, filling, and healthy.
Normally I would make this with fresh chopped tomatoes, avocados, etc. But, sometimes you gotta eat what you got, right?
Get Better Burrito Bowls
1 can refried beans brown rice (I cook mine in chicken broth, for added nutrition) 2 chicken breasts 1 cup salsa lettuce tortilla chips cheese, optional salad dressing, optional (french is good)
Throw the chicken and salsa in the crockpot on high for about 3 hours. After it's done cooking, shred. About an hour before you're chicken is done, start cooking your brown rice. Heat up your refried beans. Start layering. Make sure you drip the extra salsa into the bowls for extra flavor.
Everybody loved this, and it was so simple. This will be going on my list (alongside salmon cakes) for a easy, cheap, everything on hand kinda meal.
Cook the meat and onion together. While it's cooking throw everything else in the crockpot.
1 28 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 28 oz can organic baked beans 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup frozen corn 1/2-1 cup frozen spinach salt, pepper several shakes of chili powder and oregano - We like our chili really mild, you can always throw in more spices or a can of green chilies if you need to.
Add the meat/onion mixture. Stir it up. Cook on low 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.
I served this over brown rice. It would be great with some crushed tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, etc.
I think next time I might throw a few carrots in the food processor and cook them with the meat. I'll make it a game. I'll call it "how many vegetables can I sneak in the chili before someone notices". Is it sad that I get excited about something like that? Welcome to motherhood.
These salmon cakes are our go-to dinner if it's 5:00 and nothing is cooking yet. This dinner is perfect for a beautiful fall evening, when all you want to do is play outside in the leaves, not cook dinner.
Salmon Cakes
1 can salmon 1 egg 1 tbsp mayo pinch salt or herbamere pinch dill
Mix together until well blended. Cook on a hot griddle covered with butter or coconut oil, just like pancakes. Let each side cook for 2-3 minutes.
Serve With:
If you're really running short on time, serve this with a salad with veggies.
If you've got more time, roast a few vegetables and cook a pot of brown rice.
1 large eggplant 1 large zucchini 1 large yellow summer squash 1/2 yellow onion 1 tsp Italian seasoning, optional 3 garlic cloves, minched 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes 2 tbsp olive oil salt/pepper
Chop all veggies into bite-size chunks. Throw everything in the crockpot and mix it together. Cook on low for 5-7 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.
Night 1: Serve ratatouille over brown rice pasta with a big side salad.
Night 2: Cook a chicken in the crockpot during the day. Serve next to the leftover ratatouille and pasta.
Night 3: Ratatouille pizza. Make your pizza crust (I use this one), top with pasta sauce, ratatouille and some cheese if you want. Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 375. Serve with salad.
Filling: 1 lb ground turkey small onion 1-2 cups black beans, soaked and cooked 1 cup corn seasonal veggies of your choice - I used zucchini and squash 2 tbsp tomato paste 1 1/2 tsp chili powder 3/4 tsp cumin salt/pepper
Saute turkey and onion for about 5 minutes. When the meat is almost done, add the zucchini. Add everything else and cook until everything has come together and looks fabulous.
Layer a buttered 9x13 with tortillas (whatever you can handle....sprouted wheat, corn, brown rice). Cover the tortillas with the entire meat/veggie mixture. Add another layer of tortillas. Top with cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 until everything is warmed through. Garnish with avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.
We had leftover grilled chicken from the burritos and decided to make this fantastic pizza. Honestly, it's one of the best I've ever had - gluten free or not!
Grilled Chicken and Broccoli Pizza
1 grilled chicken breast, chopped 1 head of broccoli, chopped 1/2 onion, diced 3/4 cup pizza sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand) Handful of cheese
Crust: 2 cups almond flour 2 eggs 2 tbsp olive oil dash of garlic powder dash of oregano
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients for the crust together. Roll it out on a pizza pan. Bake for 6 minutes, or until it just barely starts to brown.
While the crust is cooking, saute your onion and broccoli in a dab of butter with salt. I cooked this on low heat for a good 10 -15 minutes. It was perfectly soft and caramelized. For the last minute or two, I added the chicken to warm it up.
Take crust out the oven and cover with pizza sauce. Top with chicken and veggies. Top with cheese. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until cheese is melted.
We are gluten-free and are trying to get more protein/less grains in our diet. I tried making egg tortillas and it worked perfectly!
Grilled Chicken and Corn Burrito Bake
6-7 Roma tomatoes 1 onion 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cumin 2-3 chicken breasts 8 eggs 3 ears of corn handful of shredded cheese
Send your husband outside to grill the chicken, corn and tomatoes.
While he's outside feeling manly, you stay inside and cook up your onion. Chop it up and cook it with the spices and a dab of butter until it's soft and starting to brown.
Puree the onion and the grilled tomatoes together to make your sauce.
While the chicken is finishing, start your tortillas. Crack two eggs and whisk until well blended. Heat a skillet over medium low, cover it in butter, and drop your eggs in the middle. It will naturally flatten out into a circle shape. Let it cook on the bottom. Once the top edges start to cook through you can flip it over and cook the other side for just a minute.
Cut up your grilled chicken and cut the corn off the cob. Mix your sauce, chicken and corn together. Fill each tortilla with some mixture and roll it up.
Top with cheese if you want. Bake for 10 minutes at 325 degrees, or until cheese is melted.
Cut up your bacon and start frying it. When it's almost done, throw in your cauliflower. Do not drain the bacon grease. We all know that's the best part. Cook this for a while until the bacon is done and the cauliflower is soft and caramelized.
Put this in a bowl and cover it to keep it warm. Then fry up your eggs. Serve eggs on top of hash.
Serve with a salad. I used lettuce, peas, celery, and raw sunflower seeds.
Watch all the boys in your house hyperventilate over the dinner table.
