Delicious Recipes from the Web

Wow, it has been quite some time since my last blog post. A lot has happened in my life since then (mainly the birth of my sweet, beautiful, hilarious, precious son!) I haven't stopped cooking it's just that posting hasn't been a priority of mine.

I'm not sure how often I plan to post in the future but lately I've been making lots of good recipes from other blogs and websites and I felt I needed to share them with you!

MEAT (MAIN DISHES):

Tacos Al Pastor
After making this a few weekends ago, the recipe has been spreading among my friends who are doing the Whole 30 (sub chicken stock/broth for the beer, which is how I made it)!  It is such an easy, healthy, flavorful recipe, and is particularly good with these toppings (in my opinion): diced fresh pineapple, cilantro, raw red onion, and sliced avocado.  A few girlfriends and I made this into salads, piling the meat and those toppings on lettuce.  Rem ate his on corn tortillas.  Both ways= delicious.  And on the side we made sweet fried plantains.  (Find nearly black plantains.  Slice into 1/2 inch slices on the diagonal.  Saute in coconut oil, salt, and pepper until soft).
This pork ends up very saucy!  You can serve the sauce on your salad or tacos, but if you still have a higher sauce to pork ratio than you'd like, portion out your pork and sauce into containers for leftovers, and with whatever sauce you still  have left in the crock pot, make rice!  You'll need to make sure that for every 1 c of uncooked, white rice you add there is DOUBLE that amount of liquid in the crock pot.  You can measure or just eyeball it.  Add the uncooked rice to the liquid and turn the crockpot on HIGH for 2 hours.  2 hours later, you will have some seriously flavorful rice!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
I've tried other chicken tikka masala recipes, and they have all been good, but this one was the best yet.  Minimal work for maximum results.  I used coconut milk, not cream, and I doubled the recipe.  I froze a good amount of it, and it reheated well several weeks later!

Paleo Cincinnati Chili
After boiling the beef, I drained it, threw it in the crock pot along with all the other ingredients, and cooked on low for about 4 hours.  (I had never boiled beef like this before, but discovered it is a great method for giving your beef a very fine texture.  However, you could certainly just brown the beef instead if you don't want the fine texture!)  And by "I", I mean my awesome cousin and sister who made this while I fed my son!  We ate this with zucchini noodles, roasted spaghetti squash, raw onion, and shredded grass fed Dublin Irish Cheddar.  Yum!  This is a great Whole 30 recipe! (minus the cheese)

Oven Roasted Chicken Shawarma
After baking the chicken, I broiled it for 8 minutes.  It gave the chicken a delicious crispier texture! The chicken was so flavorful and moist... definitely a keeper.

 
SIDE DISHES:

Indian Rice and Lentils
On an Indian kick the other week, I was looking for spiced rice recipes and found this hidden gem.  Some notes: I used ghee instead of oil, 1/2 T cinnamon instead of a cinnamon stick, and 1/4 tsp cloves instead of whole cloves.  I used 6 cups of water instead of 4 1/3 and just put everything in my rice cooker.  At first I was disappointed because it seemed rather "mushy" but it was actually kind of amazing that way.  So, if you use 6 cups of water your rice and lentils will be more of a rice/lentil mash.  But if you want a little more texture to the rice and lentils, you might try using the recommended 4 1/3 c of water.  Either way the ghee and the spice mixture in this make it top notch.

Warm Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Asian Citrus Dressing
If you like Brussels sprouts, you definitely have to try these.  If you don't, you might be converted after tasting this recipe.  I cut the sprouts by hand and it took some time but wasn't that difficult.  I also had to use 2 pans in order to spread the sprouts out enough to roast them.

Roasted Spiced Carrots
I love roasted carrots no matter what kind of seasoning is on them, but this seasoning was definitely something special.  But honestly, I think it was the addition of lemon juice at the end that made these really unique.  If you're getting bored of your typical veggie side dishes, try these carrots!  You won't be disappointed.

Baked Sweet Potatoes
Every time I try to bake sweet potatoes I get frustrated because they seem to take much longer than I think they will.  Well this recipe sets you up for success by giving you a perfect guideline for how long to roast your potatoes, and also gives you a seriously soft, sweet final product.  But be aware, it also gives you caramelized potato juices on your oven rack.  But I'm hoping that just burns off next time I cook,  (I made these yesterday, so I don't know yet how that will turn out).  Regardless, this was a very easy way to make some great baked sweet potatoes.

BREAKFAST:

Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pancakes
Rem loves pancakes.  I have tried making many paleo/gluten free versions and to me, they've all just been ok.  But these taste like actual pancakes.  They are so good.  A few tips: make them small (1/4 c of batter per pancake).  They will cook evenly and more thoroughly this way, giving them typical pancake texture.  Also, use real buttermilk, not milk/coconut milk and lemon juice/apple cider.  Kroger and Giant Eagle carry a local brand of buttermilk that's good.  There just really isn't a substitute for actual buttermilk (I'm sensing a theme... ACTUAL buttermilk= ACTUAL pancakes).  OK one more thing: the first time I made these I didn't have brown rice flour.  I used 1/3 c white rice flour, 1/3 c sweet rice flour, and 1/3 c potato starch.  I think I liked this version just ever so slightly more than the all brown rice flour version.  Experiment for yourself and see what you think!  Both ways are great.  I also recommend adding blueberries for a flavor variation.

Winter Fruit Salad
A few weeks ago I made this salad for a brunch with my sisters and cousins, alongside the blueberry muffins (below) and an egg casserole with homemade sausage using this seasoning (sub 2 lb. ground pork for the pork butt and use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar- this seasoning is GOOD, you have to try it), butternut squash, roasted red peppers, onion, and spinach.  But I digress- I made the yummy fruit salad with a few substitutions.  I used all apples (instead of pears) and added 1/3 c orange juice to the mixture.  I'm not sure I used the ratios of fruit called for in the recipe- it really doesn't matter though, just put in what you like!  But I would definitely include the oranges, kiwi, apple, and banana.  They have such different textures that I think all are necessary.  And I wasn't sure how I would feel about the mint, but it made the fruit salad almost addicting.  I kept eating it trying to figure out why exactly it was so delicious... Yeh, this recipe is definitely a keeper for a special brunch/breakfast.  

Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins
Yum!  Sweet but not too sweet with lots of blueberry goodness.

DESSERT:

The Best Fudgy Brownies
All I have to say is: under bake these, cut them into small pieces (1/4 inch x 1/4 inch) and freeze them.  Eat one every night before you go to bed.  You will always go to bed happy.  The end.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
This is not a low fat dessert.  This is not a dessert to eat if you are trying to lose weight.  But with the right ingredients, this is definitely a WHOLESOME dessert- and THAT is something to feel good about!  To make it as wholesome as possible, use: organic cream cheese, grass fed heavy cream, grass fed milk, grass fed butter, coconut sugar (for brown sugar), honey (for sugar) and organic blueberries.  This ice cream is right up there with any you would get from a Jeni's, Whit's, Graeter's, etc.  You might want to make it for a special occasion, otherwise you will find yourself eating all of it because you can't stop.  Is that a bad thing?  You decide!
One change I made: instead of graham crackers, make a graham cracker CRUST and crumble that into the ice cream.  Trust me, just do it.  Crush up 1 sleeve of graham crackers.  Mix with 2 T coconut sugar and 8 T butter.  Smush it all together, spread it on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1/4 inch thick.  Bake at 350 for 10 min.  Let it cool for 5 minutes then use a spatula to break it up into randomly sized pieces.  After it has cooled, you can layer it into the ice cream in place of the graham crackers.

Chocolate, Banana, and Graham Cracker Icebox Cake
After you've made the blueberry cheesecake ice cream, you will have leftover heavy cream and graham crackers and you will wonder what to do with them.  Well wonder no more!  As with the ice cream, make sure you have someone to share this with.  Wholesome with the right ingredients, but not light.

Write a comment if you decide to try any of these recipes and let me know what you think!  I would also love it if you shared any of YOUR recent favorite recipes from around the web!  Happy cooking!