Pulled Pork Egg Rolls

So one of the things that Roy and I really missed about living paleo were eggrolls.  So this is a splurge, as they are NOT 100% paleo.  We do use the standard grocery store egg roll wrappers.  We do bake these instead of deep frying, and we use paleo friendly ingredients.  So... what's a little splurge?  well, when they taste this good, it's worth the extra squats.

Ingredients:
1 pkg Nasoya® Egg Roll Wraps (we only used 10, as I made a small batch)
2 cups of Honey Pulled Pork (see earlier recipe)
1 tsp minced ginger
2 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1/4 lb bean sprouts (optional, but very tasty)
1/2 cup carrot, shredded
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp coconut aminos

partchment paper for baking cut the size of the baking sheet.
Olive oil for brushing over the top of the rolls, before baking.
Optional Sauce for dipping

Preparation Method: Stir-fry ginger in skillet over high heat until the aroma is strong, 2-3 minutes. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots and green onions; cook 2 minutes. Stir in coconut aminos. Let mixture cool and add in the Honey Pulled pork. Use 2 tbsp filling for each egg roll. Fold bottom corner over filling, then fold in side corners. Brush top corner with water and roll up wrap tightly to enclose filling, sealing roll with top flap.

Heat oven to 400° F. Place rolls on a baking sheet coated with parchment paper. Lightly brush the tops with olive oil and bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.

Luck of the Irish

 On one day of the year, we all get to claim a little bit of Irish in us all. It happens to be one of my favorite "holiday" meals in the whole year.  For those of you who have not had Corned Beef and Cabbage.... bad, bad!  It is amazing.  And tasty.  And tender.  And amazing.  Yeah I know I said that already, but that is how much I love corned beef, and really you should too.  We love it so much, that I had to buy a couple to keep in the freezer... since we WILL be having this again. 

Now when it comes to making this dish there are hundreds of ways to make it.  seriously. but the key, in my opinion, is slow and steady wins the taste.  So since the kitchen was closed this morning, due to a church obligation, I popped all the in the crockpot and called it done.

Ingredients:
•4 - 6 carrots, cut into chunks
•2 medium onions, wedged
•1 cabbage, wedged
•2-3 lb. corned beef brisket with seasoning packet
• Enough water to COVER all ingredients

Preparation:
1. In your crockpot, combine carrots, onions, and cabbage.
2. Rinse corned beef under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place the meat in the crockpot and sprinkle with contents of seasoning mix. I put half on top and half below, so that the meat juices would seep into the veggies, but also so that if the liquid got too low, the veggies would protect it.
4. Pour water over brisket. 
5. Cover crockpot and cook on high setting for 5-6 hours or on low for 8-9 hours. This all depends on when you want to eat.  We were having a late lunch, so 2pm was perfect. 

6.  When the house smells amazing and the brisket is finished cooking, remove it from the crockpot and place on a plate or cutting board to rest for about 10 minutes.  When cutting be sure to cut corned beef across grain into thin slices.
7.  Remove vegetables from slow cooker with slotted spoon and serve with corned beef.

Most of all ENJOY!

MooShoo Beef in the Crockpot

Some things are delish.  Others are just plain great, especially after not having Chinese/Asian inspired foods in a while.  When I read this on PaleoTable.com, I was very excited and wouldn't wait to try it out.  I learned some things along the way, and I would definitely change just a few things, like add more cabbage, because it's wonderful!

Taken directly from PaleoTable.com's CrockPot Moo Shoo Beef Recipe

Ingredients:

• beef chuck roast - 2 pounds
• sea salt - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper - to taste
• cabbage, red or green - 1/2 head, cored and sliced thin on a mandoline or with a sharp knife (here is where I would use 3/4 head of cabbage)
• fresh ginger root - 2 Tbsp, finely chopped
• garlic cloves - 3, minced
• paleo hoisin sauce - 1 cup
• apple cider vinegar - 1/4 cup
• green onions - 4, white and green parts thinly sliced
• sesame seeds, optional - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1. Season roast with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of your crock pot dish.
2. Sprinkle cabbage over the top, then evenly distribute ginger and garlic.
3. Drizzle hoisin sauce and vinegar over the top.
4. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
5. One hour before meat is done, add half of the green onions.
6. To serve, transfer roast from the crock pot to a cutting board. Cut into bite-sized pieces, discarding any visible chunks of fat. Add meat back to crock pot and stir together crock pot contents.
7. To serve, divide evenly among shallow bowls. Drizzle with additional hoisin sauce and sprinkle with remaining green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.

This could be served over Riced-Cauliflower.  OR like with some steamed Kale, that was I sliced into thin slices after separating from the stems. I steamed it in about 1/4 cup chicken broth and from fresh ginger for a little bit of added flavor.  Sensational.

Chocolate swirled raspberry muffins

These were a bit of an experiment using a recipe I found for raspberry chocolate chip muffins from the Freckled Italian. I had some white chocolate chips sitting around and figured I would use them up, but there weren't enough to fully fill the recipe requirements, so I topped off with semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Hence the muffins came out looking swirled, AND incredibly delicious. 

Ingredients:

Makes six jumbo muffins 

(would have made 12 regular sized).

--

6 eggs

4 tablespoons coconut oil (melted)

1 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

--

A 6 ounce container of fresh raspberries, washed and chopped (I used frozen, and they were perfect)

1/2 cup of Chocolate Chips (1/4 cup white chocolate; 1/4 cup semi-sweet)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt the coconut oil in a bowl and add flour first, then eggs, and then all other ingredients.

3. Mix the batter together and spoon into greased muffin tins (grease those pans... they will stick.  Next time I make these, I am lining the bottom of the pans with parchment rounds).

4. Bake for 35 minutes for Jumbos, 25 minutes for regular sized muffin tin.

Happy Pi Day - Taco Pie

So this recipe comes from the Paleo Diet Lifestyle.  Roy loved this the first time we cooked it up.  So it stands repeating. We love the adaptability of it.  Cause the toppings are limitless.  Tonight, we topped with a little bit of Cheddar cheese, homemade salsa and Jalapenos from my mom's kitchen. 

Directly from PaleoDietLifestyle.com

Taco Pie Recipe

Serves 4

Pie Crust Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour;
• 1/4 cup butter, or clarified butter, melted;
• 1 tsp salt;

Pie Filling Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef;
• 1 tbsp Paleo cooking fat;
• 1/2 onion, chopped;
• 1/2 cup homemade barbecue sauce;
• 1/3 c ketchup
• 1/3 c honey
• 2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 3Tbs Mustard of your choice (I used Honey Mustard, because that is what I had)
• 1 cup lettuce, chopped;
• 1 red belle pepper, sliced;
• 1 avocado, chopped;
• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste;

Pie Crust Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, butter and salt. Blend until a doughy texture takes shape.
2. Transfer the dough into a 9 inch pie dish and press it out evenly into the dish so that the complete surface is covered.

Pie Filling Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. In a large skillet over a medium-high heat, melt the cooking fat and sauté the onions in the cooking fat until they become slightly translucent.
3. Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until the beef has cooked through.
4. Mix the barbecue sauce in with the beef and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 2 more minutes and then remove from the heat.
5. Pour the beef into the pie crust and place in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes.



Served up with salsa and jalapenos.

6. Prior to serving, cover the surface of the pie with chopped lettuce, red bell pepper and avocado.

Bacon and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Rule # 2: When in doubt, stuff it with bacon....  yes, this is a general rule that I live by and if it didn't taste so good, I might have to change the rule. But for now, we'll roll with it.  This recipe was inspired and adapted from PaleOMG.com - Simple Bacon and Spinach Stuffed Chicken.  I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe --- mostly because I don't read directions really well. 

Simple Bacon and Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  35 mins

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

• 2 LARGE chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise and pounded flat
• 5 strips of bacon (+ 20 cut in half for covering at the end)
• 4-5 cups fresh spinach
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions for perfection:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the chicken length-wise in half, think about it as though you're going to make two thinner breasts out of the 1 super thick one. Then placed plastic wrap on top of the chicken and pounded it until it was flat. 
3. Then place a large skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add the five strips of bacon and cook on both sides until crispy, then place bacon on a paper towel to soak up the excess fat. When cooled, dice up the bacon.
5. Pour out the excess fat from the bacon, leaving behind about 3 tablespoons in the pan.
6. While the pan is still over medium-high, toss in the garlic cloves
7. Add the spinach and a dash or two of salt and pepper.
8. Cover and let steam until spinach has begun to wilt. When the spinach has wilted, remove the pan from heat and add in diced bacon. Mix with spinach until well combined.
9. Place mixture into the middle of your flattened chicken, fold chicken over to make a little “pocket” and use a half strip of bacon to keep it closed (and moist) while cooking.
10. Place stuffed chicken breasts back into the pan used to cook bacon and spinach put in oven to bake for 20-25 minutes or until there is no longer pink in the chicken. The time will range depending on how thin you pound the chicken. It may take a bit longer.
11. While the chicken is baking, make a side dish to go along.  Julie from Paleomg.com suggests brussel sprouts, which she has a TON of great recipes for, but i didn't have any.  So I made sweet potatoes, rinsed and cooked in tinfoil, right along side of the chicken.  I actually threw them in as the oven was preheating, to give them a bit of a head start. If you do this, be sure to use SMALL ones, because they cook faster.
12. Enjoy!  seriously.

Cafe closed

The Cafe is closed tonight...

New recipe will be posted soon....

Teaser: there is a pork shoulder in the crockpot with my own combination of spices and seasonings.

Souffle Berry Omelets

Souffle Berry Omelets

This morning I served up delicious Souffle Berry Omelets adapted from Amazing Paleolithic Cookbook.  It was super light and extremely tasty  A little bit of work, on a day when you're trying to get of the door, but well worth it.

Ingredients: 
1 cup sliced mixed berries (used half cup of blackberries and half cup of frozen raspberries)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 large eggs, separated
1 large egg white
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 TB sliced almonds
Directions:
1. In a small bowl combine berries with lemon juice. Stir gently and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla until pale yellow. In another medium  bowl beat all 3 egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites into yolks.
3. Lightly coat a nonstick skillet with coconut oil and place over medium heat. Pour in eggs, spread evenly in pan, cover, reduce heat to very low, and cook until golden on bottom and set on top, 3 to 4 minutes. (this makes enough for two omelet shells in a small fry pan, but be sure to remember that both together are 1 serving....)
4. Sprinkle the almonds down the middle of the omelet and place the fruit mixture on top. Use a spatula to carefully fold in half. Continue to cook covered for 1 minute and then transfer to a plate and serve immediately.


White Hot Kitchen; Lisa Stewart; Jeremy L. (2012-12-25). The Amazing Paleolithic Cookbook: Over 120 Gluten Free Recipes To Satisfy Your Primal Cravings (Paleo Recipes Made Easy) (Kindle Locations 232-243).  . Kindle Edition.

Chicken salad with grapes

This meal was a nice quick way to end a long day.  It was adapted from PaleoTable.com's Chicken Salad with Grapes.  The biscuits were left from Friday's rotisserie chicken, roasted root vegetables and paleo biscuits, from SimplylivingHealthy.org when Shy was up with my kiddos.

Ingredients:

• cooked chicken (e.g., rotisserie, leftovers - I also used half a chicken breast left from Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken ) - about 2 & 1/2 cups worth
• red grapes - 1 cup, halved or quartered
• celery - 1 cup, cleaned and sliced thin
• hazelnuts, pecans, or your favorite nut - 1/2 cup, roasted and chopped
• Olive oil mayonnaise - 1 cup (although I think I used 3/4 cup)
• sea salt - 1/2 tsp
• freshly ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Enjoy!