Roasted Lemony Brussels Sprouts

I LOVE Brussels Sprouts!

I remember my mom making them when I was a kid and my brother and sister turned their noses up and would not eat them.  Oh well, more for me!
I was NOT a picky eater at all...I would eat just about anything put in front of me...Yes, I was every mother's dream!
They remind me of mini cabbages or brains!

This is a very simple and delicious way to make Brussels Sprouts..Oh and did I say yummy?  They are...I promise!

First wash and drain well....Cut off the ends and discard the old leaves.

Chop your onion, shallot and garlic and Saute in 1 tablespoon Grass Fed Butter and one tablespoon bacon grease (about 5 minutes)

Add Brussels Sprouts to a large bowl with sauteed onions, shallots, garlic  and toss with 2 tablespoons **bacon grease, salt and pepper.

***Tip** I keep my bacon grease in a small Ball jar in the fridge.
After cooking my bacon in the oven...I use a small metal strainer over the top of the ball jar.  Easy peasy!
This lovely grease is also good for greasing pans of all kinds and anything Cast Iron.

Place on a greased baking sheet like so..

Roast at 375 degrees for 30 minutes...
You need to turn them about every 10 minutes or so.

Take them out of the oven and remove from the baking sheet with a spatula and squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over them, toss and serve!

Enjoy!


Ingredients

1 lb Fresh Organic Brussels Sprouts
2 cloves Organic Garlic
1 Organic Shallot
1 tablespoon Grass Fed Butter (I use Kerrygold)
1 tablespoon uncured Bacon grease ( I use Trader Joe's)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 organic lemon

Juice of the day: Kicked Up Mean Green

Do you like SPICY?? 
If so you will LOVE this juice recipe!   :)

I make juice every day and use pretty much the same ingredients...Sometimes it's gets boring.
My fridge is a little empty but I wanted my daily juice so I thought I would use everything I had left in the fridge.
All my produce is Organic.

Enjoy!

Ingredients-

1/4 jalapeño (seeded)
5 Kale leaves 
2 Fiji apples
1 thumb size piece ginger 
1 large orange/gold beet
4 carrots 
Small piece of grapefruit 
1 small lemon
1 small bunch Cilantro

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Trust me you won't be slow to say "YUM!"


I have made Beef Stew hundreds of times.
I usually use something different each time depending on what I have on hand.   Sometimes I use red wine, sometimes beer...Yes, you heard me right I said beer!
Sometimes I use potatoes, other times Brussels sprouts..I mess around with the spices here and there..
There is no big secret to this recipe, it is relatively simple and easy...
Although I have to say I have never used Bone Broth before and since I made my first batches last week I wanted to try it out.  Now I'm sure some of you are wondering "What the heck is "Bone Broth"....

Bone broth is basically home made stock very similar to what you can buy in the store minus all the crap chemicals fillers and whatever else they throw in to keep it on the shelf for extended periods of time.  What makes the bone broth so superior to anything you can buy in the store is the nutritional value and the taste..
Boiling bones for 24 hours or more and you are getting all the nutrients from the bones and the taste is fabulous compared to anything store bought.  Believe me, I know it does not sound very enticing!   The first time I heard about bone broth I thought it sounded kind of gross.

If you don't have the time or the inclination to make your own broth, by all means use the store bought stuff.

Chop the onions, shallots and celery carrots and garlic.

Cut the beef into 1 inch cubes, trim any excess fat or gristle..heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil and 1 tablespoon grass fed butter(for color and flavor) to the pan and brown the beef in a large skillet on medium to high heat making sure the meat is not crowded...brown on all sides and dump it in the Crock Pot.

For Beef stew you can use a variety of different meat cuts  (beef chuck or beef round)
This time I am using "Stew Meat" from Trader Joe's.  I would have preferred Grass fed beef but at the moment I don't have access to a supply.  Trader Joe's  will have to do for now until I get the group together for the next Cow pool.

Next, De-glaze the skillet (any liquid will work)

FYI****Deglazing is a fancy and intimidating word that means to pour some cold liquid into a very hot pan to get up all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Those brown bits are where all the flavors are, and it is called “fond.”

Fond is French for “bottom,” so let’s stick to calling it fond!

After deglazing the pan, add 1 tablespoon of grass fed butter to the pan and saute the chopped onions, shallot, garlic and celery  on medium to high heat about 5 minutes...(You can also do the same with the carrots and parsnips I did not this time.)

Add the carrots, parsnips, onions, shallot and celery to the Crock Pot and add all of your spices;

2 bay leaves, Thyme, peppercorns, salt , smoked paprika, Herbs De Provence, turmeric.
Add 2 cups of bone broth or stock to the crock Pot and 1 tablespoon Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.  I always throw an additional tablespoon of Grass Fed Butter into the Crock Pot for good measure.

Turn the Crock Pot on Low and cook for 6-8 hours or until the beef is tender.

Serve with a big salad and some crusty bread..

Yummy!

Ingredients

2 lbs Beef Stew Meat

2  cups Beef or Chicken Bone Broth or Beef Stock

2-3 tablespoons grass fed butter (I use Kerrygold)

1   tablespoon Coconut oil 

1   tablespoon Braggs Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

1   large onion (chopped)

4   medium Organic carrots (chopped)

1   Organic Shallot (minced)

2   cloves Organic garlic (minced)

1   stalk of Organic celery (chopped)

3   Organic parsnips (chopped)

2   Organic Bay leaves

1/2 tsp  Herbs De Provence

1/2 tsp Organic Turmeric

6   whole Tellicherry Peppercorns

A few sprigs of fresh Thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Serves about 4 people

Eating well while traveling...

Can you really eat well while traveling?
That depends.   I think it is all about choices, you can choose to eat really bad or you can choose the best of the worst you have to choose from.
Does that make sense?

But, you also have to know what you are doing when out of your food element and away from the safety of your own refrigerator.
I am very accustomed to making good and healthy food choices out of habit.
When I am out to eat or in a restaurant with many other people I don't get to call the shots or pick the Organic restaurant...So I do my best to make the healthiest choice on the menu.  Let me tell you, it's not so easy sometimes.
So when I find myself in the buffet line in Las Vegas, what the heck do I eat??

Can I have a bite of something I would not normally eat?  Absolutely!  Do I feel guilty afterward?  Not really...okay maybe a little...
I shared this yummy sorbet with my husband at our Anniversary lunch...It was delicious and so worth it!

As I peruse the buffet offerings in deep concentration, my mind starts to wander... "Ugh, I wonder what kind of ingredients they use, "I hope there are no GMO's!", "Who prepared this food, were they wearing gloves?"...I can go on and on about what goes through my OCD mind..Oy vey!  I have to shut this off or at least turn the volume down or I won't eat at all..

The first thing I do is look at everything they have to offer on the buffet, ask a few questions and then I decide what I will choose.   I choose veggies, meat that does not have sauce (if possible), fish or seafood as long as it's not Tilapia or any other farm raised crud and lots of spinach salad and fruit....no bread and no desserts, no pasta...

Here are some lovely Macaroons I did not eat!

I don't eat processed food at home so I won't eat it here either, that is a no-brainer...For health reasons I am Gluten and Dairy Free...I won't bore you with the details but I also have major food sensitivity issues so this limits my choices further...
Here is what I picked..

It's true... I march to the own beat of my own food drum, I turn down Birthday Cake all the time.  I don't explain myself anymore, I don't waste my breath.. Most people who know me know I eat this way.  One thing I will never turn down is Wine..or a nice Jalapeno Margarita from Javier's!  Not exactly on the clean eating list now is it? Never said I was perfect!  By the way, this margarita was to die for and I only had one.

So you see...even on vacation I know I should lead by example.   After all, I have this blog about eating well so what kind of hypocrite would I be if I stuffed my face at the Paris buffet with reckless abandon?!
I know for a fact there are people glancing over at my plate to see my food choices...."Hmmm, I wonder what Mrs. Eatwello is having?"   Haha.. It's really fine with me if they look, because I look at their choices too, so there!

So yes, I preach a little about eating well, so what...you know you like it!
Most days, I practice what I preach.  I think when you do that, people pay attention.

Peace.

Sandy V.

Crispy Crockpot Carnitas

This is the easiest tastiest crock pot meal you will ever put in your mouth!
Seriously, I'm not kidding.  I made this for my husband the first time and he loved it!  Then, I tested it out on a large group of guinea pigs (AKA...dear friends) and they raved about it.  My friend Randy has been begging me for the recipe for a month!

I know have been neglecting my duties but I have been so busy enjoying myself with out of town guests visiting from France...Can you say "overindulgence" It has been one big dinner party since they arrived!  Oh my goodness, I don't want to face the scale..
But I digress.

Back to the Pork...I really like Pork for a few reasons;
It's lean, inexpensive, and there is not much you can do to screw it up!
I buy pork from Costco for $1.99 lb....It comes in a 4 pack..bargain right?!

Another great thing about this recipe is I can do a lot with the leftovers.
The leftover pork is great on a salad the next day, or you can make my next recipe
"Mock Tamale Pie"  Recipe to follow in due time I promise.

First, remove the pork shoulder from the package and rise and pat dry and set aside.
Next mix all your spices together in a bowl.

It should look like this...
Rub the spices together and rub the seasoning mixture into the pork, put it in the Crock Pot and your done..

TIP**I usually prepare this first thing in the morning so it can cook all day and it comes out very crispy..

After rubbing the spices all over the Pork, place it in the Crock pot on HIGH..
I usually let it cook for at least 8-10 hours for maximum crispiness..

**DON'T FORGET to pour off the juices when they start building up...this is my secret to the crispiness....save the juice for when you serve it.

When it is done it should look like this..

As you can tell I already picked some of it off to taste it, I promise my hands were clean.  I served this for my guests with some Coconut Jasmine Brown Rice and a green salad on the side...I used the liquid that was poured off to serve over the top. Trust me, anything you choose to do with this recipe, I promise it is yummylicious..

Ingredients-        
  
2 lb Pork shoulder
1/ tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp smoked Paprika (not in picture)
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt (not in picture)
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1 1/2 tsp Fresh ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric


This recipe serves about 4-5 people.
                                            

Enjoy!

Sandy V.

Quinoa & Beef Stuffed Peppers

I posted this photo on my Facebook page last week with the promise of the recipe to follow...Now that I am finally feeling human again, here it is!


I used Tricolor Organic Quinoa from Trader Joe's..
4 cups of filtered water, chicken or vegetable broth will work..

**TIP**  I always soak my Quinoa in  water for a few hours, it gets rid of any bitterness.


Since I did not have any chicken stock or vegetable stock, I improvised (like Mama taught me) I used filtered water with a big dollop of bacon grease.
Add  1 tablespoon grass fed butter to the cooked Quinoa

Next brown the beef with the onions and garlic and drain

Add the quinoa, beef and tomato sauce, salt/pepper, oregano, crushed red pepper to bowl and mix well.

I used a organic canned tomato sauce with green chiles, I thought it added interesting flavor that I would not normally think to put together.
On a side note, I think I mentioned I am moving away from using any canned products due to the safety issues (BPA's)  you will still see me using these cans in some of my recipes until they are used up.

Cut and seed your peppers like this, or you can also cut in half if you prefer.

I skipped this step but you may want to par boil the peppers face down for about 5 minutes to lessen the cooking time.

Stuff the peppers and they are ready for the oven!

I cooked for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Keep in mind if you par boil prior to stuffing you can reduce cooking time to 1 hour.

The recipe is enough to stuff at least 4 good size peppers, maybe even 6

Serve with a side salad and some fruit and you have a tasty and healthy meal!

Ingredients-

2 cups cooked Organic Quinoa

4 cups Chicken or Vegetable stock

3/4 lb Grass Fed Beef (browned)

1 medium size organic onion (chopped)

3 cloves organic garlic  (minced)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 tablespoon Pink Himalayan salt (you can use less if you prefer)

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 teaspoon organic Oregano

14 oz. Organic Tomato sauce with green chiles

1 tablespoon grass fed butter (I use Kerrygold)

Bon Apetit!

Juice of the day: Green Goddess

I have been down for the count for the last few days, 4 to be exact.
I caught a nasty virus from someone (I won't mention any names), and I have been miserable and most importantly-non productive which I can't stand!
The house is a mess, we have no groceries, and sadly I have not been in the kitchen for days..
Today is a beautiful day so I threw on a baseball hat, sunglasses, jeans and a sweatshirt and off I went to the Farmer's Market because most of all I really need some pastured eggs...but also fresh produce and FRUIT!

Enough of that,  I missed juicing for 2 days so I was ready to come up with something new...



Juice of the Day-Green Goddess (yes that's me..lol)

4  Kale leaves
4  Celery stalks
1  Orange Beet
1   lemon
1   green apple
1   pear
1   half of a pinkie size piece of ginger
3   carrots
3   small Persian cucumbers

1   small bunch Arugula

Enjoy!

Sandy V.