Piccadillo

This is another family favorite, Piccadillo. It is a Cuban dish packed with a delicious flare of flavor. It is salty, tart, sweet and totally satisfying.  Your mouth will wake up and say, "THANK YOU!" I have made this dish through the years with ground chicken or beef. This time I had a big chunk of beef brisket in my freezer and needed to zap it up with some sort of excitement. My menu for the week had Piccadillo on it but I thought, "Hmmmm wonder what Piccadillo would taste like with the brisket slow cooked." Then...Voila! YUM happened. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. This recipe is in the cookbook I made for my kids. I have made some modifications since it was printed. Here is the updated version. If you are slow cooking a brisket see the notes in (    ). If the sauce is too salty, cut back on the capers, olives and add a bit more water. 

Picadillo    

2 Tbls olive oil
(juice of 1/2 lemon) 

2 lb ground chicken or beef (2-3 lb beef or pork brisket)

1 can tomato paste 

2-3 Tbls capers 

3/4 - 1 cup sliced green olives

1 large onion chopped

2-3 cloves garlic minced 

1 green pepper chopped

1 bay leaf (optional)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (2 tsp Dijon mustard and 2 tsp coconut amino's or soy sauce)

1/2 cup dry red wine (1 cup red wine)

1/2 cup water (2 cups water)

1/2 cup of raisins (10 pitted dates chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste (only for browning meat)

Parsley or Cilantro/Coriander

Piccadillo ground beef or chicken directions: In a large skillet over medium heat add olive oil and sauté, garlic, onion, green pepper and bay leaf for about 5 minutes. Add the ground meat and brown. Turn heat down to medium low. Add the tomato paste, wine, capers, Worcestershire sauce (or substitute), green peppers and water. Bring to a slight boil, and reduce temperature again to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minute. If the liquid is absorbed, add more water 1/4 cup at a time. After the 30 minutes, remove the lid, add the sliced olives and the raisins and cook, uncovered, in a slow simmer for another 10 minutes. This is great with rice but for a substitute serve with cauli-rice.

Piccadillo slow cook crock pot beef or pork brisket directions: 
In a large skillet over medium/high heat add olive oil. Slice brisket into 2 inch slices. lay slices of meat in fry pan and coat meat on both sides with olive oil, pepper, and a smidge of salt. Brown on each side about 5 min. Add lemon juice, garlic and onions while meat is browning. Turn crock pot on high and add water, wine, tomato paste, dijon, and coconut amino's. When meat is browned, place in crock pot with liquid covering. Scoop out the garlic and onions and mix in with the meat and liquid mixture. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. Add capers and green peppers and turn on low for 4 hours. Check meat to make sure it falls apart. Add sliced olives. Make rice or cauli-rice. Serve in a bowl cauli-rice, meat goodness, and garnish with raisins or dates and parsley or cilantro. I cooked this meat a bit longer about a total of 8 hours.

Gluten Free and Paleo friendly meal. Enjoy!
Substitute rice and soy sauce

Gluten Free Mac-n-Cheese Mama Bear Style!

So, my Grandma Lee made the BEST Mac-n-Cheese ever! Whenever we get together as a family, after traveling the globe, two meals are a must: Corned Beef and Cabbage (we usually celebrate St. Paddy's day in July for birthday dinner) and Mac-n-Cheese. It is made with all the comforts of belly-loving, comfort, and soul-soothing ingredients. Grandma Lee used elbow style noodles, cheese (LOTS), and a simple egg, milk, salt, and pepper mixture. Easy-squeezy!

I modified this recipe yesterday. Marty and I have been feeling a bit nostalgic and missing our kids. We are all over the globe currently in this space of life. So Mama Bear thought of revamping this meal to make it Gluten Free and Paleo. It does have cheese in it, so if you have dairy allergies, feel free to use your substitute instead of cheese.

So here we go kiddos! Some home cookin LOVE from your Mama Bear!

Gluten Free Mac-n-Cheese Mama-Bear Style
(serving for 2) 

Ingredients:
1-2 Tbls olive oil
1 cup Broccoli including stem (chopped in small pieces)
1 cup Cauliflower including stem (chopped in small pieces)
1 cup Fennel bulb (chopped in small pieces)
2 pinches of sea salt
2 pinches of pepper
1/2 - 1 cup cubed cheese of your choice
1 egg
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup Coconut milk
Dash of red pepper flakes
3 slices of bacon chopped up and fried (yummy bacon bits)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet

Pour 1-2 Tbls of olive oil on veggies

Sprinkle salt and Pepper on top

Mix together and then spread out veggies on sheet. Bake for 15 min. Check and stir around veggies. Bake another 10-15 min or until tender.

In a small bowl add egg and coconut milk.

Add chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.

Beat egg mixture and add in red pepper flakes.

Add veggie mixture and cheese cubes to baking dish.

Pour egg mixture over veggies and cheese. Fold ingredients together.

Top with bacon bits.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 min. Take cover off and bake an additional 10-15 min.

Remove from oven and let set for 5 min.

Gluten Free friendly meal. Enjoy!

Paleo Lasagna

Here is a Paleo version of the "traditional" lasagna. What is it about lasagna? "Without noodles?" you may say and think you will be deprived of that heavy-hearty-thick-amazing wide noodle dish. I hope this dish twists your taste buds and wakes them up to enjoy these new flavors. If you don't like eggplant (Marty wasn't a fan. Well that is old news!) just give it a try! This meal isn't missing any flavors. The nice thing about Lasagna is each time you make it, it is an experiment. Have fun! 

Paleo Lasagna

2 Tbls olive oil

1.5-2lbs ground beef

1/2 lb Italian sausage or ground pork (if it's pork- add 1 Tbls herb mix, dash salt/pepper and mix)

small onion diced

3 cloves garlic minced

salt (I eyeball this)

pepper (as peppery as you like)

1-2 Tbls mixed herbs

1 large eggplant sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 zucchini sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 small head and stocks broccoli cut up in chunks

2 cups fresh spinach

6-8 mushrooms sliced (depends on how much you like mushrooms!)

1 small can tomato paste or about 1/4 cup 

6 roma tomatoes chopped and blended in food processor (or use 1 can of diced tomatoes) 

In a fry pan heat 1 Tbls olive oil. Add ground beef and pork and start to brown. Add onion, mushroom slices, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper. Fold into the meat and brown completely.

Add tomato paste, tomato sauce and broccoli. Let simmer and hang out a bit. While that is cooking, prep the eggplant and zucchini wheels.

In a casserole pan add to bottom 1 Tbls olive oil and spread all over. Add one layer of meat mixture, a layer of eggplant/zucchini, and then a layer of spinach. Repeat with a final layer of meat on top.

Cover and bake for about 30 min. Check and turn pan and cook an additional 15 min. Check and see if eggplant and zucchini are tender. Uncover and cook for about 10 more minutes. Remove lasagna from oven and let rest for 5-10 min. 

Serve with tomato slices, olives - drizzled with olive oil and a dash of coarse sea salt. 

Enjoy!

Gluten free and Paleo friendly meal

*If you are not dairy intolerant and want to add a bit of cheese, this would be wonderful with some feta cheese sprinkled on top.

You can have a special treat - Especially on your Birthday!

Birthday Boy was a Happy Camper!

Paleo Pudding with Cashew butter balls and coconut whip cream

2 avocados
2-3 Tbls dark chocolate coco powder
1-2 Tbls honey (adjust to your sweetness. I add less and then add more.)

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Scoop out avocado into a food processor. Add honey and chocolate. Spin until all ingredients are smooth and creamy. Stop and scrape sides and spin again.
Pour pudding in a dish. Add a couple of cashew butter balls on top (this is actually cashew butter that I had made up in the fridge. I took a baby amount out and rolled it into a ball). Put in in fridge until dessert time! For coconut whoopin cream, leave a can of coconut milk in the fridge over night. Top pudding with this delicious goodness last minute. I was so excited I put it in the freezer to keep cold. Ummm, I forgot and it actually turned into coconut ice cream. So there is another option for you! LOL Anyway, open top and scoop out the thick cream that is on the top portion of can. Put in a bowl and mix with blender until whipping action starts to form. You may add a little more of the coconut milk if needed.

Enjoy licking the bowls for each of these tasty treats. Marty was very happy to do that. Of course he is the Birthday boy so it's a must! Enjoy!

Gluten free and Paleo friendly meal 

Tapenade adjustment...

The version of Tapenade I made in my previous link Lets get to basics is creamy goodness. This weekend however, magic happened.

This time I took the olives for a spin with new friends! I like this version even better. Bare with me, I eyeball this in my food processor. This is a good guess. Adjust the flavors to suit your tasty buds.

Tapenade

2 cup combined black and green sliced olives
2-4 Tbls olive oil
1/2 Tbls rinsed and drained capers
1 clove chopped garlic
1-2 Tbls leaves of fresh parsley

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. Stop and scrape edges and blend again. Scoop into a cute little dish and spread on tomatoes, carrots, zucchini slices or whatever sounds good to you! Enjoy!

Gluten free and Paleo friendly meal

Shown in photo: Deviled dijon dill eggs, fresh carrots, tomatoes, tapenade, cashew coconut dark chocolate balls and dark chocolate dipped/filled strawberries.

It's about the Journey...

Wow! I can't believe we wrapped up the Whole 30. It has been really great! I highly recommend giving it a try.  It will radically change your thought process about healthy choices. It's not about the food, it's about the journey. All in all it was very liberating.

Now it is time, as The Whole 30 peeps put it, to Ride your own bike - Take off the training wheels.
As we begin this next phase, I've got to tell you, my desires to run back to eat all the things that have been subtracted from my daily diet are really not screaming at me, "Eat me, eat me! Drink me, drink me!" Since finishing the Whole 30 we did however enjoy some wine, had some feta cheese, delicious hard cheese, and some dark chocolate and coconut dipped fruit. These have been simple pleasures and enjoyed with friends. We could have gone crazy and run down to the store to pick up a bag of chips, some cookies and ice cream but nope! Didn't happen. Wheeew! Good news there! Instead, I think I am hooked on Marty's homemade sweet potato chips and to curb his sweet tooth, I make cashew, coconut flakes and dark chocolate haystack balls. Healthful choices that do require time to prepare and make, but by doing that, it makes us appreciate the end product.

Marty and I will continue to eat healthful but will now amp up our fitness. The next 30 days we are planning to work out 3 times a week focusing on cardio and core. Why tell you all about this? Well, maybe the accountability for ourselves. As the Whole 30 peeps say, "Say it out loud!?" That is hard to do sometimes because I think, like most of us, when something is said verbally, you put yourself out there. It's a vulnerable place to be. But like I said before "It's not about the food, it's about the journey." Breaking patterns, overcoming our weaknesses, gaining strength physically and mentally, being of clear mind and opening up creativity, sleeping fully, hydrating throughout the day, replacing a few items in cupboards, fridge and counter not only cleans your kitchen, it will clean your body, mind and spirit.

Last week was Marty's Birthday. His request for dinner was homemade pizza. He has grown to love my eggplant pizza crust inspired by Lexis Clean Kitchen. I made this for the first time a couple of months ago and mastered a new mix this go around for Marty's B-day.

This crust is not the typical "bready-doughy" crust that we are used to. It is a lighter yet very filling crust. Just 2 slices and your belly is full and smiling. Here is my version of this crust.

Eggplant Crust (perfect for 2 people)
1 large eggplant, pealed and grated
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil for greasing the parchment paper
1/4 cup ground cashews (blend until just before it starts to turn into cashew butter)
2 tbsp coconut flour
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 organic egg
1 tsp dried herb mix
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Prepare the crust

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Peel and grate eggplant into a bowl- let sit for 10 minutes while preparing topping ingredients.
• Squeeze the shredded eggplant. Purple juice will appear. Place squeezed eggplant in a paper towel or cheese cloth to remove any more excess juices.
• In a big bowl place the squeezed eggplant (it doesn't look like a lot. Don't worry), combine the rest of the crust ingredients and mix well.
• Cover baking sheet with parchment paper and pour 1 Tbls olive oil and spread the area where crust will be baking.
• Plop the dough in the center of cookie sheet and press out to desired shape. I usually spread it out till 1/4 inch thickness.
• Pop in oven and bake about 15 minutes. Edges will start to get a little browned.
• Pull cookie sheet out of of the oven to flip crust. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of crust and carefully flip it onto the new piece of paper.
• Bake on the other side for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the edges of crust.
• Remove cookie sheet from oven and top crust with whatever toppings your little heart desires.
• Crank the oven heat up a bit and place your masterpiece in the oven for about 5 minutes.
• Let cool for 3-4 min and then cut and serve.

Toppings on pizza in photo
Olive oil, cooked chicken breast cut into bite size chunks, artichoke hearts, sliced mushrooms, green and black sliced olives, chopped fresh spinach and home made pesto sauce. Spread a bit of olive oil on crust and then layer toppings. In a sauce pan heat up pesto and 1/4 cup coconut milk. When it is warmed up sprinkle 1 tsp of arrowroot powder and mix well. Bring to a calm boil. Mixture should start to thicken. Drizzle creamy pesto sauce over top of toppings. Pop in oven to heat through. Garnish with sliced tomatoes.

Side note: You don't have to mix the coconut milk and pesto. Marty wanted to experiment with these two ingredients. It tasted pretty darn great!

Enjoy whatever topping and sauce you want on this crust. Have fun and enjoy!

Think next time we will try a red herb sauce with tiny sausage balls, basil leaf and sun dried tomatoes. Hmmm, my mouth is watering already!

Gluten free and Paleo friendly meal

Blended Cauliflower = Delicious Hummus

The inner "granola" in me loves to bring hummus dip to a gathering or have it ready for dippin in my fridge. Blended garbanzo bean earthy dip. It is so good, I can't help it! In the morning, I like to spread the dip on some toast and layer it with tomato and cucumber with a dash of salt and pepper. Yes, that is what I call a breakfast! My friends always look at me funny when I spread it on in the morning while they are spreading butter, peanut butter or jam on their toast. LOL!

This recipe was sparked by my oldest daughter Megan. As I mentioned in a previous post, she too is doing the Whole 30 this past month. She told me she was making cauliflower hummus and sweet potato chips. Hmmmmm...now that sounds very interesting! I have missed hummus since we came back from the States. You can get garbanzo beans here but we started the Whole 30 (no legumes) shortly after we got back from winter holiday. HUMMUS! That sounds so good! I asked her where she found the recipe and she directed me to her Pinterest. Found it! I scoped out the ingredients and found out what I needed to adjust. I did't have any tahini so I made up some cashew butter and used that instead. YUM! Mixed with the cumin, it added just the right amount of warm cozy earthy flavor that hummus is famous for. Marty is the sweet potato chips and fries maker in the family so while I was giving this cauliflower hummus experiment a try, he was busy prepping the sweet potatoes.

Cauliflower Hummus

1 head of clean shopped cauliflower
2 Tbls cashew butter
4-6 Tbls olive oil
2-3 cloves chopped garlic (depends on how much you like your garlic)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to make it a bit sweet add a couple chopped sundried tomatoes instead)
2 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lemon

On a baking pan lay out chopped cauliflower. Pour 2 Tbls over cauliflower and toss. Pop the pan in the oven on 400 degrees and let bake for about 5 min. Check cauliflower and stir it around. Bake for another 5 min. You want the cauliflower to be slightly roasted.

While the cauliflower is baking, mix together in a bowl 1 Tbls olive oil, cashew butter, red pepper flakes, chopped garlic, cumin, pepper, salt, and lemon juice.

When cauliflower is done put 1/2 of the mixture in the processor (I have a baby size one) and pour 1/2 of the liquid mixture. Mix on high for a bit. Stop and scrape edges. Add 1/2 Tbls of olive oil and blend again till smooth.

Pour mixture in a bowl and do the same for the other half of cauliflower. Stir together both creamed mixtures in a big bowl. Return 1/2 of the mixture back to the food processor blend again. Repeat with the other 1/2. This will blend everything together nicely.

Serve in a bowl and store the rest in a sealed container in the fridge. Eat this goodness in the next couple of days. Hummus never used to last more than 3 days in our house so I don't think this new version will go to waste. Enjoy!








Gluten free and Paleo friendly snack

Inspired by: http://livinggrainlessly.com/2013/05/27/cauliflower-hummus/

So tonight is all about Chicken!

Just about every morning I have coffee/tea with our youngest daughter Katie. She is in WA State and we are on the other side of the world in North Africa. Technology is amazing! It is a ritual we have had for the 4 years since being overseas. We giggle, share, problem solve and just down-right enjoy our coffee/tea time together.

This morning's conversation had to do with a sore knee from running, a math question for dad and what to do about making chicken. My daughter said, "Mom you need to post some chicken recipes! I need ideas on how to cook it so it isn't so darn dry." I said, "OK let me see what I can drum up for ya!"
How about this one?

Mushroom Lemon Chicken 

3 skinless boneless chicken breasts

3 Tbls olive oil

2 clove garlic minced

1 cup of mushrooms sliced (or 1/2 cup *mushroom broth)

1 medium lemon or 4 baby lemons, thinly sliced (yummy to eat in this recipe)

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp oregano or mixed herbs

1 cup chicken broth

1 Tbls arrowroot powder (for thickening)

1 can whole artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (OR 1/2 of sliced fennel bulb and small head of chopped broccoli)

Garnish - sundried tomatoes and chopped fresh parsley or cilantro.

Directions:

Salt and pepper each side of chicken. 

Cut chicken into bite size squares.

In a large fry pan, heat the olive oil. Add chicken to the pan and cook 3-4 min and then flip. Cook through till no longer pink. 

Remove chicken and keep warm.

 In the same pan if you don't have artichoke hearts, saute the broccoli and fennel for 3-4 minutes so the broccoli is bright and the fennel is beginning to get tender. Remove from heat and set aside. (If you are using artichokes, skip this step and add them at the end with the chicken to heat through)

In same pan, add garlic, lemon and mushrooms (or broth). Cook until tender, 3-5 minutes. If using mushroom broth, cook for 2 min. 

Sprinkle in the arrowroot powder, pepper and oregano. 

Stir for about 1 min to make a rue.

Add broth, and bring to a boil, stirring until mixture thickens. 

Add artichokes or fennel/broccoli and return chicken to pan. Stir and simmer about 2-3 minutes until heated through.

Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and garnish if desired.

For Paleo: Serve over steamed zucchini noodles.

For Gluten free: Serve over cooked Asian rice noodles or GF noodles.

*mushroom broth: saute mushrooms in 1-2 Tbls olive oil. cook until mushrooms are soft and tender. cool and blend in a blender until smooth and creamy. Pour into small containers and save in freezer to pop in recipes.

Gluten free and Paleo friendly meal