Ham and Egg Cups

Clara here.
I am 33 years old and this is my first time posting to a blog!  Happy to give it a go.  I very much enjoy cooking paleo meals.  My paleo journey started two years ago when I discovered a sensitivity to gluten and dairy.  It has evolved from a vegetarian into a mostly paleo way of life.  I believe in REAL FOOD.
I'll start with a simple and delicious breakfast recipe.  There are a lot of versions of this floating around.  Here is mine:

Ham and Egg Cups
makes 12

12 slices of deli ham (preferably high quality, nitrite/nitrate free)
9 eggs (preferably cage free, omega-enriched)
a handful of spinach, chopped
3 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
olive or coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with olive oil or coconut oil.  Place a piece of ham in each cup.  Whisk eggs in large bowl and add spinach and sundried tomatoes.  Evenly disperse the egg mixture into the 10 ham cups.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Top with chopped basil and enjoy!
We also had smoothies.  Just blended berries.  Delicious.

Weekly meal planning

Meal planning is something that I am passionate about. I value having healthy meals for me and my husband. We both work full time (yes, this is an excuse), and try to work out (another excuse), which can leave not alot of time to make healthy meals. We try to eat paleo most of the time. This is just a post on what a typical week of meal planning looks like in the Grenell house.
1. When I have time during the week to look at cookbooks or online blogs, I email myself the recipes that I want to make in the future.
2. On Sundays, I take the time to plan for the week. I try to incorporate a variety of proteins, so 1-2 beef meals, 1-2 fish meals, and 2-3 chicken or pork meals. Josh and I are fairly simple people, so the recipes we make are basically a protein, and a vegetable. We cook with olive oil as a fat source.
3. I make a few meals ahead of time in large Tupperware containers if I am on a stretch of days. That way, in the mornings, I can throw the food in the crockpot, and I have dinner when I am done with the gym. If they are not crockpot meals, it is something that I can easily heat up when I get home from the gym and have supper within 30 minutes of getting home.
4. A couple recipes that are easy to make ahead of time that are on the blog: picadillo, jambalaya, chili (beef chili, or the Colorado green chili), shredded Mexican chicken, just to name a few. The Clothes Make the Girl has a great blog about meal planning too- I really like her meatball recipes. Those are nice to have on hand for snacks as well as meals. In the evening, if I heat up a meal, I can cook some frozen broccoli or make cauliflower rice or a salad in just a few minutes.
5. I like to grocery shop just 1 time per week if I can manage- its easier, cheaper, and fits in my schedule. I can gather what I need for recipes, and get staples like meat, eggs, milk, bacon, and fresh and frozen veggies, in one shopping trip. Sams Club is wonderful for buying big bags of frozen meat and frozen veggies- we get salmon, chicken, cubed pork for chili, pork chops occasionally, eggs, bacon, fruit, and milk. I do hesitate to go there on the weekends, but if I do go its early! Also, we try to get 1/4 cow- grass fed preferred, to have beef on hand in our big freezer. That is a really convenient way to have roasts, steaks, and hamburger meat on hand.
6. The nice thing about making meals ahead of time, is that this is often more food than the 2 of us can eat for 1 meal, so we usually have leftovers for the next day's lunch. So, get some smaller tupperware for those meals.
7. Snacks- We sometimes will make some veggie side dishes: Spinach and artichokes, cooked carrots, or pack some nuts, lara bars, hard boiled eggs in little tupperwares for middle of the day snacks, or post-workout nutrition. So, get some even smaller tupperware this stuff. Alot of these recipes make for great post-workout nutrition, so don't be afraid to eat some chicken while others are drinking protein shakes.

Hopefully that helps. I will post more ideas as I can think of them!

Chicken drummies and artichokes

3-4 pounds chicken drumsticks
2 Tablespoons of seasoning- see mix below:
olive oil
12 oz artichoke hearts (I used about 1/3 -1/2 jar of the California style marinated artichoke hearts available at Sam's Club that come packed in olive oil and other italian seasonings- delicious!!)
1 large vidalia onion, cut into large chunks
5 carrots, peeled, and cut into large chunks
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Seasoning:

In a food processor or a Magic Bullet, combine 4 bay leaves, and small pinches of garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, basil, oregano, dill weed, black pepper,  and sea salt. Grind up so the bay leaf is ground up. Goal is to get about 2 Tablespoons of seasoning.

In a bowl or large plastic bag, coat chicken drumsticks in seasoning, wrap in plastic wrap, and allow to sit in the fridge for around 8 hours, or overnight.

In a large frying pan, cook chicken in olive oil until browned all over.

Remove chicken and place in glass casserole dish. I had to use 2 of them. Hooray for leftovers!

In same frying pan, cook onions, garlic, carrots, and artichoke hearts. I like using the Sam's Club artichoke hearts because they have enough olive oil in them to saute the rest of the veggies in with no extra oil needed.

When all the veggies are slightly browned, add them to the chicken in the casserole pan. Pour chicken broth and balsamic vinegar over.

Cook in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Enjoy!

Butternut squash and sausage paleo lasagna

Kinda like lasagna. Delicious!! thank you health-bent.com. Check out their site for other great recipes!

1 lb hot Italian sausage
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 15 oz can pizza sauce- sugar free.
1/2 c roasted red peppers
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
couples leaves of fresh basil, or a generous squirt of Gourmet Garden's Basil (Its often cold in Minnesota, so you have to get creative if you want herbs... http://www.gourmetgarden.com/us/product/view/Basil)
1 small butternut squash, or the prepackaged cubed butternut squash if you are short on time

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
2. Meat mixture: In a saute pan crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions & garlic.
3. Squash: If using a whole butternut squash, cut the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Split it into 1/4′s. What I mean by that is, right where the squash starts to turn bulbous, cut it in 1/2, width-wise. Split those two halves in half, lengthwise. This will make it much easier to cut into planks. Pull out the seeds. Don’t be anal about getting out all the strings, as you won’t even notice those when they’re cooked. Slice the squash into the aforementioned planks. I have also read that if you are short on time, you can buy the precut, cubed bag squash, available at Target, Walmart, Sam's Club and Trader Joes... http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-flyer/article.asp?article_id=301

4. Sauce: Puree the pizza sauce, red peppers, olive oil and basil in a food processor or with a blender or immersion blender

5. Assembly: In a 13x9 baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up…trying to reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.Bake for 45 minutes. You’re looking for a bubbly pan with a crispy, browned top. Right out of the oven, the lasagna may by liquidy, let it set for a good half hour before cutting into it, as it will solidify

Kabobs

Many thanks to Clara Yori for coming over and cooking with me! I love trying out new paleo recipes with you!! We decided to try 2 kinds of kabobs this evening for a Thai-Hawaiian fusion!?!

This made about 24 kabobs total. We served them with grilled asparagus. Enough for 4 hungry people and 1 lunch for the next day.

__________________________________

Kabob 1: Hawaiian Chicken Skewers

1 cup Pineapple, diced

1 Tbsp Cilantro, minced

1 Tbsp Ginger Root, minced

1 tsp Salt

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 cloves Garlic, minced

3 cups Pineapple, cut into chunks

1 whole Lemon, juice

Combine diced pineapple, olive oil, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl.Puree mixture in a blender or food processor.Pour back into the small mixing bowl, and stir in the minced cilantro, set aside to use as glaze during grilling. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.Skewer pieces of chicken and pineapple on metal or pre-soaked bamboo skewers.Grill skewers for 12–15 minutes, turning every 4–5 minutes.Brush the chicken with the pineapple glaze periodically while grilling.

_______________________________________________________

Kabob #2: Red thai curry beef kabobs:

1 Tbsp Red Curry Paste

1 whole onion, chopped into large chunks

12 large button mushrooms

1/4 cup Coconut Milk

1/4 tsp Salt

2 whole green Bell Peppers, seeded and chopped

2 rib steaks, cut into large chunks

Whisk the coconut milk, curry paste, and salt together in a small bowl for the curry sauce. Place beef in container to marinate, and pour curry sauce over beef.Marinate beef in the refrigerator for up to an hour.Cut onion and green pepper into chunks.Preheat grill on medium-high heat.Skewer the meat, mushrooms, peppers and onions using metal (or wood) skewers.If you use wood, soak the skewers for an hour prior to grilling. Cook skewers, turning 1/4 turn every 5 minutes until evenly cooked.

Shredded Mexican Chicken

This one is simple and delicious!

1.5-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken - I used about 3 large chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp chili powder (more if you like some heat - I went with more!)
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
sea salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with forks about 1/2 hour before serving. Serve and enjoy!

Colorado Green Chili

Colorado Green Chili

Ingredients:
2 lbs. cubed pork
3 Tbsp. coconut flour
1 tbsp. minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/4 tsp
pepper
2 cups diced fresh tomatoes (you can substitute 1 14
oz can)
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
1 cup water
2 ½ cups diced green chiles (about 20 chiles)
2 cups diced onion.
Salt & pepper to taste.

Instructions:Brown pork in skillet with garlic and pepper. Add flour and brown as well. In crock pot, mix pork, garlic, tomatoes, water, green chiles and onion. Simmer for at least 2 hours. Water can be added to thin down and flour can be added to thicken.(You can also cook it in a large pot on the stove at low heat.)Hint: Let simmer at least an hour before tasting and modifying by adding chiles, more tomatoes, garlic, etc.This is a very meaty, very slightly thickened chili – thin for Colorado style chili. If you like really thick chili, use 4-5 tbsp. coconut flour rather than 3 and/or reduce the water.Makes approximately 3 quarts. Serves 8-10