...whatcha gonna do with all that Pork?!

So I made Sheena's fabulous pulled pork and it lasted a week! I was able to eat it for lunch and dinner, but it got kind of boring. I just made another batch and have found a few different ways to use it. Last night I made baked sweet potatoes stuffed with shredded pork, and by baked if mean microwaved. The combo was delicious and was super easy to throw together!

Shopping List

Sweet Potatoes 

Pulled Pork

Cost ~ $4 if you already have the pulled pork made!

Directions

Bake sweet potatoes in oven or cook in microwave until soft. Slice down the middles and mash the insides down and to the side. Then stuff with your shredded pork!

Other Meal Ideas!

Pulled Pork Breakfast Blanket

Make a plain egg omelet. Fold the omelet up and top with a tomato slice, pulled pork and cilantro!

Cucumber Pork Sliders

Slice up a cucumber and top with avocado, pork and

hot sauce!

Reference: http://paleopot.com/2013/01/paleo-smoky-pulled-pork/

Garlic Thyme Chuck Roast

The cost of grass fed beef can definitely scare anyone who is transitioning from conventional beef.  Roasts are a great way to introduce grass fed beef into your diet.  They are less expensive than other cuts and taste delicious when slow cooked.  This recipe has tons of flavor and is just plain delicious comfort food.

I'll also post more information tonight on how you can get your hands on some high quality and affordable grass fed beef.

Ingredients:
Grass-fed chuck roast, about 3-4 pounds
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil (or any fat source you have on hand – bacon fat, coconut oil, etc.)
1 onions, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
3 medium-large carrots, cut roughly into 1 inch pieces
2 cups beef stock or chicken broth
1 cup medium-bodied red wine (if you don’t want to use wine, just sub more stock, I prefer the wine,
      but not if you are doing Whole30)
2 Tbl dried thyme

Rub roast with garlic first, then sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and thyme.  Press the spices into the meat.

Heat oil on low to medium heat, add the meat and brown on all sides, remove meat and set aside.

In the same pan, add onions & carrots.  Saute for a few minutes, and then pour over meat in slow cooker or dutch oven.

In a bowl, stir together wine and broth. Pour into slow cooker

Cook on low for 8 hours in slow cooker or 2-3 hours in oven at 350 degrees.

Broccoli & Beef Stir Fry With Fried Cauliflower Rice

Broccoli Beef:

1 lb. beef round strips for stir fry (I like to cut these into bite size pieces before cooking) 

Broccoli flowerets (about 2 cups)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Marinade:

1 T lemon juice

2 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 tsp. toasted flax seeds

1/4 tsp. sea salt (optional)

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Stir fry sauce:

1/4 C chicken broth

2 tsp. toasted flax seeds

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp. arrowroot powder

olive oil

Directions:

Marinate meat for at least 20 minutes. Heat oil in wok or saute pan, and add garlic. Add beef and cook until browned. Remove Beef to side dish. Add sauce and broccoli to pan. Cook until broccoli is tender crisp. Add beef back to the pan and mix well.

Side with Fried Cauliflower Rice

Enjoy!!

Vegan Ratatouille

 
I have not had a chance to try out this recipe, but it looks pretty good! Hopefully I will get it made in the next couple of days. If any of you try it let us know how it is!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Check out http://www.vegiehead.com/vegan-paleo-recipes.html for more vegan friendly recipes!
 
Shopping List
 
-3 tbs olive oil
-1 large onion, chopped
-1 can chopped tomatoes
-1 red pepper, diced
-1 green pepper, diced
-1/2 head broccoli
-1 eggplant, diced
-1 zucchini, diced
-2 tbsp tomato paste
-1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley


Non-Vegan: Add your choice of meat or shrimp

 Directions
 
 
-Saute onion for 4 minutes over a medium heat
-Add peppers, eggplant, broccoli and zucchini and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring regularly
-Add tomatoes, paste, basil, garlic and parsley and cook over a medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes until eggplant is soft
 
 
 Optional: Serve with cauliflower rice: http://sccfrecipes.blogspot.com/2013/10/cauliflower-rice-two-ways.html
 
 

Coconut-Chipotle Chicken Stew

This is a new favorite in our house.  Made this for the first time this week and it was a hit.  I love love love spicy food, but my kids.  Not so much.  I'm slowly working on building up their heat tolerance, but I have to be careful or they will refuse to eat it.  I cut the adobo sauce in half and it was perfect for them.  For me I added some Valentina hot sauce to my dish.  Add the full tablespoon of adobo sauce if you like some good heat.  I also did the slow cooker method.  Drop all the ingredients in, in the morning and boom!  Delicious smelling home and dinner ready when you return.  Anyway, I made minimal adaptations to this recipe that I got from Satisfying Eats.  Her picture of this stew is way better than mine, but I wanted to prove to you all that I really did make this.  Ha!  I also doubled the recipe below.  We love leftovers for lunch!

Serves 4-6

2 tbsp coconut oil
2 lbs chicken boneless & skin-less chicken thighs
2 bell peppers, cut up into 1” chunks
1 sweet onion, cut in 1” chunks
15 oz diced tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 individual chipotle in adobo, chopped, plus 1/2 tbsp sauce (less if you don’t want as much heat)

Additional Toppings:  Avocado, more lime juice, chopped cilantro and more coconut milk. 

Directions

Stove Method

1.  Season liberally chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Add oil to dutch oven or large pot and bring to medium-high heat. Add seasoned chicken thighs and brown on each side for 5 minutes. ( You are not trying to cook chicken thighs all the way.)

2.  Add onions and bell pepper.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.  Add tomatoes, lime juice, coconut milk, garlic and Chipotles in Adobo. Stir.

4.  Reduce heat to med-low. Cover and cook for 1 hour on top of stove or finish off in oven for 1 hour at 300 degrees F. After turning oven off, you can let it stay for a few more hours until we were ready to eat. 


Slow Cooker Method

1.  Place chicken thighs in bottom of crock pot.  You can place coconut oil on bottom of crock pot if desired. Season liberally with salt & pepper.

2.  Add onions, garlic and bell pepper to slow cooker.

3.  In a small bowl, blend tomatoes, lime juice and coconut milk and chipotles in Adobo. Stir and pour into slow cooker.

4.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or 2-4 hours on high. 

Serve in bowls and squeeze just a bit of lime over dish and add chopped cilantro and avocado and pour about 1 tbsp of coconut milk over top of each serving.

Butternut Squash Strips

I am a huge fan of yams and sweet potato fries. With less calories, carbs, and sugar than yams, butternut squash is a healthier option and tastes amazing too. Needless to say, this is one of my new favorite recipes :)

Ingredients:

Butternut Squash

 

Coconut oil or olive oil(I use coconut)

 
Sea salt and pepper
 
Cumin (optional)
 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

With a sharp knife, cut off the ends of the squash and then cut in half.

 

Cut halves in half.

Using a spoon, remove seeds from each quarter.

 

With a sharp peeler, peel each quarter. Go over every surface more than once to make sure all the peel is removed.

Cut each quarter into strips

 

Put pieces in a bowl and toss with melted coconut oil, salt and pepper. I add a few dashes of cumin too.

Spread on cookie sheet and cook for about 45 minutes. They cook best if they are widely spaced. Place them far apart and use multiple cooking sheets if needed. Switch pans on oven shelves half way through cooking time.

***Cooking time depends on oven and what size you cut the fries so check often. They won't get very crispy, but you want them slightly brown.

Paleo Nutrition for Vegetarians and Vegans

Paleo for Vegetarians

 

For more information check out the link below:

 

http://www.whole9life.com/2012/03/paleo-nutrition-for-vegetarians/