Paleo-ish Pancakes

Today, I was craving pancakes or muffins or something. I decided to try to make my good old crepe recipe with alternate ingredients. They tasted really good to me.

CREPES or PANCAKES

2 extremely large eggs (about 3 large eggs)
1-1/8 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup Glutino flour
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
Pinch of salt
Butter for pan

Mix everything together in the blender. Grease pan with butter. Cook on medium to medium-low heat.

Eating Paleo

I belong to a great gym. I haven't been to a CrossFit gym but I know it's similar. However, I think we run a lot more than a typical CrossFit experience. I like and hate running all at the same time. Anyway, last week we started a challenge. We have to work out 3.5 times per week, eat mostly Paleo, and participate in daily challenges.

I swore I would never "go Paleo." It seems gimmicky and I didn't want to give up bread. However, my awesome teammate is counting on me to make an attempt, and my coach is giving me lots of encouragement. So I am trying. Usually, I start really strong and quickly taper off. This time I have gotten stronger as I have gone along. (The German Chocolate Cheesecake in the fridge probably downgraded my early attempts.)

Yesterday was the long-anticipated cheat meal. We had to post a picture on Friday of how we were going to cheat. I decided I wanted bread and ice cream. We had a lovely dinner & went downtown for good ice cream.

Guess what?! My stomach sorta disliked white bread but it detests ice cream. I was awake all night in agony. And now I know. I can handle Greek yogurt & a little bit of buttermilk in the homemade ranch dressing (2 tablespoons) but my body really doesn't love dairy.

Here's what's on my dinner menu for this week:

Sunday: Turkey Meatloaf, Roasted Cauliflower, side salad

Monday: Rotisserie chicken

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Italian Pork Roast, zucchini noodles, side salad

Wednesday: (portable) Chicken, Apple, & Bacon Salad with homemade dressing

Thursday: Cafe Rio Chicken Salad, Guacamole Salad, Mexican rice (Rotel + rice + chicken broth)

Friday: Grilled Pork Tenderloin, roasted carrots, quinoa stuffing

Saturday: Date night (cheat meal?). Pizza for the kids.

Sunday: Hawaiian haystacks

Quinoa Stuffing

Adapted from Steven Raichlen's Big Flavor Cookbook

2 cups quinoa

1 firm apple, peeled & finely diced

1 tsp lemon juice

2 ears fresh corn (1 c kernels)

1-1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped (1 cup)

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbsp)

4-5 c water or chicken stock

1 each small green, red, & yellow bell peppers, seeded, cored, & cut into small dice

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs (sage, thyme, basil, oregano, parsely, &/or chives)

2 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

Salt & pepper

Rinse quinoa.

Toss apple with lemon juice to prevent browning. Cut corn off of cobs. Heat oil in large saucepan & saute onio, celery & garlic for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until soft but not brown. Stir in qunioa with 4 cups water & bring to a boil. Cook for (however long it takes). Add peppers, apple & corn & continue simmering, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until quinoa is cooked. Just before serving stir in herbs, cheese, salt & pepper.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

• Pork butt roast or pork shoulder roast ($1.78 per pound at Sam's Club)
• 1 bottle cheap, runny BBQ sauce
• 1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce or your favorite
• Buns
• Homemade coleslaw (Pretty Good Times Six Coleslaw)

Put meat in crock pot with 1 cup water and the cheap BBQ sauce. Cook on low overnight. In the morning, drain meat and sauce through metal strainer. Return to crock pot. Shred with forks. Layer meat with BBQ sauce. Serve on buns with extra sauce and homemade coleslaw.

Baked Beans Two Ways

Really Involved but Totally Worth It Baked Beans

The BBQ Bible

4 oz. bacon, cut into 1/4-inch slivers

2 cups finely chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

2 cans (15 oz) Great Northern or kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup EACH firmly packed brown sugar, molasses, barbecue sauce, & ketchup

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon EACH dry mustard, prepared mustard, & cider vinegar

1 to 2 cups diced smoked or barbecued pork, ham, or brisket (optional)

Salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Cook bacon in heavy pot on medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat. Add onion, garlic & ginger; saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat & stir in everything else. Bake 30" at 350.

Simply Terrific Baked Beans

2 cans baked beans

Bacon bits

Sautéed onions (optional)

Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce

Drain extra juice from baked beans. Add a few handfuls bacon bits, onions, and drizzle BBQ sauce. Stir gently. Bake 30" at 350.

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits

We love, love, love Happy Cow Buttermilk and use it almost weekly in buttermilk pancakes. We also use buttermilk for Lemonade Layer Cake and for Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits. On Sunday evening we had the missionaries over before Elder Barker went home. Ryan was given the task of making biscuits and completed them beautifully! We ate them too fast to catch a picture though.

All-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup cold buttermilk, shaken
1 cold extra-large egg
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk

Preheat oven to 425.
Place 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer with paddle attachment. With mixer on low, add butter & mix until butter is size of peas. [The trick to layers of flaky biscuits is keeping the butter & other ingredients cold.]
Combine buttermilk and egg in small glass measuring cup and beat lightly with a fork. With mixer still on low, quickly add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and mix only until moistened. In small bowl, mix cheese with small handful of flour and, with mixer still on low, add the cheese to the dough. Mix only until roughly combined.
Dump out onto well-floured board and knead lightly about six times. [Remember, cold butter makes flaky biscuits.] Roll dough into a rectangle 5x10 inches. With sharp floured knife, cut dough lengthwise in half and then across in quarters making 8 rough rectangles. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops are browned and biscuits are cooked through. Serve hot or warm.

Easy Homemade Ciabatta

Perfectly crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside homemade ciabatta bread.

Ingredients:

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons SAF yeast

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

1-3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water (115F)

2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl

Instructions: I did not follow the instructions. Haha.

Follow bread machine instructions. For mine, this means putting wet ingredients in first, then dry with the yeast last. Mix on dough setting. 

Oil a large bowl, then plop dough into bowl. Flip the dough over (effectively oiling the top of the loaf). Cover bowl in oiled plastic wrap & cover with a towel. Place in a warm spot & allow to rise for two hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, then sprinkle with flour. Flour hands & then shape the loaf. The directions said 12 inches long & 4 inches wide. I just plopped mine down in my deep dish stoneware pizza pan & called it good. Bake 35-40 minutes, until the bread is lightly golden. Place on a cooling rack & allow it to cool down for 20-30 minutes. Slice for sandwiches. I copied Panera Bread and sliced the bread into six pizza slices (60 degrees of the circle) and then filled the center with chicken salad. YUM!!

Turkey Meatloaf

I have not been a big fan of meatloaf. However, the stuff we had today was fabulous.

2 cups onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1+ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon thyme

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup chicken stock (from a box)

1 teaspoon tomato powder (from food storage - could use 1 tablespoon tomato paste)

1 pound ground turkey

1 pound mild Italian sausage

1 cup plain dry bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup each Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce , Trader Joe's Carolina Sauce (mustard-based)

Preheat oven to 325.

In medium saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, & thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, & tomato powder & mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature. I allowed the mixture to bubble for a few minutes, still on low heat.

Combine ground turkey, ground sausage, bread crumbs, eggs, & onion mixture in bowl. Mix well & shape into a loaf on an ungreased sheet pan, or in 9x13-inch pan. Spread barbecue sauces equally on the top. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until thermometer registers 160* F.

Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

Heavily inspired by the Barefoot Contessa's recipe on the food network.