Shrimp n "Grits"

I know what you are thinking. How can you eat grits while eating paleo? Aren't grits corn and isn't corn technically a grain so it is therefore not paleo? You are right! Grits are not paleo, but cauliflower is! Using cauliflower, you can make a great grits substitute!


To make cauliflower grits you will need just the florets of 1 head of fresh, raw cauliflower and a food processor. First process the cauliflower in the food processor using the grater attachment. Then process it in the food processor angain using the blade attachment until it resembles grits. Fill a medium sauce pan with about 1/2 inch of water. Add the "grits" cover and bring to a boil until they soften a little and warm through. Add 1 -2 TBS butter to create a creamier grits and season with salt and pepper, if desired.






Shrimp and "Grits"

1 recipe cauliflower grits.
3 chorizo links, casings removed and sliced thin or cubed
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat for about 2 minutes. Add onion and cook 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Add tomatoes and heat through. Serve over cauliflower grits.

I served this with bacon wrapped asparagus. (YUM!)

Sausage and Brussels Sprouts Bake with Honey Mustard Sauce

Here is a recipe that I adapted to be more paleo. Even my 6 year old (the picky one) asked me to make again! It is almost a one dish meal, and super easy to make! I opted for almond milk over coconut milk since the flavor is milder. However, if I knew my kids weren't goign to like the sauce (even though I should have known better) I would have used coconut milk.

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts, quartered
2 onions, sliced into rings
2 lbs sweet Italian Sausage or Brats (any flavor)
Himalayan pink sea salt, to taste

for the honey mustard sauce:

1/2 C almond or coconut milk
1/4 C brown mustard
1 TBS Raw, unfiltered and preferably local honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (I prefer Bragg)

Heat oven to 450 degrees (F)

Remove casings from the sausages by making a slit lengthwise in the casing and peeling it off the sausage. Slice sausages into 1/2-1 inch pieces.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, brown sausages until almost cooked through and browned on the outside.
Remove sausages to a baking dish trying to keep the fat from the sausage in the pan.

NOTE: If you are not using pastured sausage, discard the fat and add 1 TBS olive oil. Otherwise, keep the sausage fat in the pan and add the sliced onion. Cook until translucent and edges start to brown.
Add the onion to the baking dish, making sure you scrape the fat and as much of the brown bits from the pan into the baking dish. Add the quartered Brussels sprouts. Sprinkle with salt and mix well.
Bake for 20 minutes. Stir and then bake another 10 minutes.

While the sausage is cooking, combine mustard, honey, vinegar and milk in a small sauce pan. Simmer on low so the flavors combine and the sauce heats through. About 5-10 minutes.

Serve sauce on the side or on top of the sausage. My kids did not like the sauce (which I anticipated) so I put it on the side for them. The sauce is a little thin so you might want to put it in a small bowl so they can dip. My kids liked the meal without the sauce.

Honey BBQ Spare Ribs (in the pressure cooker) with bacon mashed turnips

Here is the dinner I made last night. I made the ribs in my pressure cooker, but I think if you plan a little better, this recipe would work in a slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours. You can also make the turnips ahead of time and re-heat them.





Honey BBQ Sauce:

2 6oz. cans tomato paste
1/3 C white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 C water
4 TBS Honey
1 TBS brown mustard (or Dijon mustard)
1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set in refrigerator overnight so flavors blend.

3 lbs pastured pork ribs

Add 1/2 C water to pressure cooker.

Brush BBQ sauce on ribs, generously. Mix remaining sauce and water in pressure cooker. Place ribs in pressure cooker and cook on high for 20 minutes. Quick release the pressure and serve with turnips.




Bacon Mashed Turnips:




2 pounds turnips
2 TBS Butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 pound nitrate free bacon, diced.
2 TBS bacon fat



Peel and cube turnips and cook in boiling water in a large saucepan until very tender.











While turnips are cooking, cook bacon in a large skillet until crisp. Drain and save 2 TBS bacon grease, strained.



Drain turnips and mash with the butter add garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.




Add bacon fat back to the skillet along with the bacon and the turnips. Heat through and serve.

Grain-free Tacos - No they weren't on a lettuce leaf!

I know, I know, I teased you with my shrimp and Grit(less) recipe idea, but I haven't made it yet, though I should have you know that I have bought all the ingredients for it. However, I am now probably going to wait until Friday to make it since it is Friday during Lent. Needless to say the shrimp went into the freezer.
However, tonight I'd like to share with you a recipe that was a pretty big hit (however, not so much with my 6 year old, but he never likes anything...)
I made soft tacos using no grains and no corn!

I first made the taco filling with 2 lbs grass fed beef and 4 TBS of homemade taco seasoning, but you could use any all natural/organic one that you would like. I also used a can of diced tomatoes, undrained and added that to the meat in stead of salsa. (I was out of organic tomatoes, so I had to use a can of conventional ones):





First I browned the meat. When it was almost cooked through, I added the tomatoes and the spices.











Then I followed the crepe recipe from the TACA Facebook page

The recipe says to process the eggs in a food processor, but didn't say for how long. I processed mine until the eggs got foamy. Then poured them into a hot buttered skillet. Since they cooked pretty quickly by the time I tried to spread them out with a spoon (even using 2 hands), when I flipped the crepe, I pressed down on them with the spatula in order to flatten them. This seemed to work pretty well and I ended up with very thin crepes.

I followed the advice of the TACA recipe and I ran the taco meat mixture through the food processor. The thought of doing this, at first made me ill since i wasn't sure what kind of consistency it would become. However, after making the crepes, I realized the crepes were way too delicate to hold the taco meat. Once it was processed, however, the meat took on a finer texture and was able to be held by the crepe without a problem.
The result was great tasting tacos that tasted almost like "real" soft tacos!

My next project will be to see if the crepes freeze well... that would open up all new possibilities! (Including taking them camping...)

Stay tuned...

I really love Shrimp and Grits. I know, to people not living in the Southern US, this probably sounds gross, but trust me, it is really good. Unfortunately, being paleo, I can no longer eat corn or dairy (since many shrimp and grits recipes are creamy and/or cheesy). The other day while looking through some magazines, I spotted a recipe for Shrimp and Grits that I really think I can convert to a paleo dish. I have an idea for a grits substitute that would be paleo. I am hoping to try this recipe out on my guinea pigs... er family sometime this week. Hopefully by Tuesday. If it is good, I will post the recipe. :D If not, I will update anyway with a warning not to try this at home. Please check back Monday or Tuesday.

:)

Meatless Dinner-A frittata of sorts

Fridays during Lent have been proving very difficult for me. I am not too fond of fish and can no longer eat pasta for a quick meal (even gluten free pasta is off limits). Tonight was a particularly confusing night. We took the boys out after school and we ended up home a little too close to dinner time. I hadn't gone to the store today to buy fish and really had no clue what to make. I decided on gluten free pasta for the boys as a treat. They are not quite Paleo (yet) but usually eat Paleo dinners. So it was pasta and butter sauce for the boys with fruit. But that left the adults. What to make?
Rummaging through the fridge, I had a zucchini, and onion and a red pepper. I grabbed about a half dozen eggs and I went to work om a frittata of sorts/.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 1 red pepper
1 medium onion
1 zucchini
6 eggs
1tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
3T grass fed butter

Dice onion and pepper. Slice Zucchini into 1/4 inch think slices. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat (on my electric range, that was a "5" on the dial). When butter is melted, add onion and saute until it is translucent add the peppers. Cook for 2-5 minutes. Add Zucchini and cook an additional 2-5 minutes. While vegetables are cooking,lightly scramble eggs.
Spread out the vegetable mixture so that it is nearly flat and covering the entire bottom of the skillet. Pour eggs over top and cook on medium low (I set mine range dial to "4"). I try to gently lift the sides of the egg while it is cooking and tilt the pan so the uncooked egg runs to the bottom of the pan so it will cook. When the bottom of the egg is just about set, cover the pan and reduce the heat (again, on my stove I reduced it to a "3"). Carefully watch the frittata and make sure they are not burning. You will need to gently lift the side of the frittata to check the bottom. Do this carefully so as to keep the frittata in one piece. Continue to cook until the egg is set to your liking. Cut the frittata in half (I find it is easier to get it out of the pan this way, but if you can get it out in one piece, then go for it.) And serve. This served my husband and I. He was impressed with the dish. :)