3 Bean Goodness :)

With warmer weather on it's way

I thought I'd share a new family favorite.

It's great for bar-b ques or to take along on a picnic :)

This is so tastey and it just gets better

the longer it "sits".

You can make it ahead of time

and it's super fast and delish!

Three Bean Salad

1 - 15oz can Organic cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 15oz can Organic kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 15oz can Organic garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 - stalks organic celery chopped fine

1/2 - red onion chopped fine

1 - cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped fine

1 - Tblsp fresh rosemary chopped fine

1/3 - cup Braggs apple cider vinegar

1/3 - cup Coconut Crystals 

1/4 - cup Extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 -tsp sea salt

1/2 -tsp ground black pepper

I dump all 3 cans of beans into a colander and rinse them thoroughly  Transfer them to a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to allow the beans to soak in the flavors. 

Plenty More In The Kitchen

A big part of this last year for me

has been taking some of our family favorite

recipes and "tweaking" them into something we can actually eat.

"Plenty More In The Kitchen" is one of those recipes.

It can be found in the book Fix it and Forget it, 

Recipes for Entertaining.

The original recipe has corn, elbow macaroni and canned beef broth,

all of which we can't have.

So I replaced those naughty offenders

 and the outcome was pretty darned tasty.....

if I do say so myself :)

You're probably wondering what that amazing looking bread 

is doing on a gluten free recipe blog....

well I'll get to that in a minute.

Plenty More In The Kitchen

(for the slow cooker)

2 lbs grass fed ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1 tblsp oil

26 oz jar organic spaghetti sauce (check ingredients for your sensitivities)

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp chili powder

2 tblsp coconut crystals (or brown sugar)

2 15 oz cans cut green beans (drained)

4 cups water

2 tblsp Lea and Perrins Worcester sauce (yes...it's gluten free)

2 - 3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

Brown the beef and onion in oil. Combine all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Turn to low and cook 4 more hours. This makes 12 - 16 servings, so there's "plenty more in the kitchen".

OK....you're wondering about these bread rolls.

 Well, I bought the "Better Batter" all purpose g/f flour mix

 and the recipe is on the side of the box. 

Easy Italian Bread Rolls. 

Only 4 ingredients 

and they are so close to what you remember regular bread to be.

 Pretty amazing. 

Unfortunately I can't eat them because they contain Tapioca,

 but they were a welcome treat for my hubby. 

I cut the remaining rolls in 1/2 and then put them into the freezer. 

That way I could pull one out at a time,

pre-cut because frozen rolls would be impossible to cut. 

Worked great! 

Just popped them into the oven to re-heat them 

and spread a bit of Earth's Balance coconut spread 

(looks and tastes like butter)

 on them and we were good to go!

Eggplant Pizza Casserole

*WARNING* -May be habit forming

Ok, so I'll admit. 

I don't know much about eggplant.

When the hubs and I were at Sprouts last week

I wanted to buy an eggplant to broaden our veggie horizons.

I found an amazing recipe on Pinterest

(you can find the original recipe HERE)

and I wanted to try it out.

Neither one of us knew how 

to pick a good eggplant.

So the hubs asked 2 different guys in the produce dept

and neither one had the answer.

So my brilliant hubby pulled out his iPhone

and found the answer on eHow.

So apparently they should be dark purple

very shiny and give to gentle pressure.

When they become dull, they are no longer good.

So, now on to my modified version of this fantastic recipe!

If you make it once,

you'll make it again :)

Eggplant Pizza Casserole

2 - med eggplants

1 lb - Organic grass fed ground beef 

1 - 13.66oz can Organic Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk

2 - 15.5 oz jars Pizza Sauce (check ingredients - I buy Fresh & Easy brand)

3 Tbs - minced chives

3 Tbs - minced parsley

1 Tbs - dried thyme

1 - 2 tsp potato starch or arrowroot starch*

Olive oil

Brown the ground beef in a pan, drain fat and add salt to taste. Set aside. Slice eggplant into 1/4" thick discs. (I like them thin but you could go thicker) Brush both sides with olive oil and brown them in a hot pan. Set aside. Simmer the coconut milk over medium high heat in a small saucepan until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. *(If not thick enough, add 1 - 2 tsp starch to thicken) Add chives, parsley and thyme. Next take your browned eggplant and place a single layer in the bottom of a 9" by 11" pan sprayed with olive oil. Spoon some of the pizza sauce over the eggplant and a layer of ground beef. Repeat until you have used up all the eggplant, sauce and beef. (about 3 layers) Pour the herb cream sauce over the top and bake at 375 for 25 - 30 minutes. Let it rest a few minutes before serving. This is seriously so delish!!! I couldn't wait for lunch the next day to eat the left-overs! Then I doubled the recipe and made it again for Sunday lunch after church. Everyone loved it! 

Enchilada Style Stuffed Peppers

Since changing my way of eating I've been craving Mexican food.

Mexican and Italian.....*sigh*

Being gluten free and corn free and dairy free

has pretty much taken my favs out of the picture.

But these stuffed peppers have given me

a little bit of what I miss.

Enchilada Style Stuffed Peppers

4 bell peppers (any color - I prefer yellow or red, but he hubs likes green)
1 lb grass fed ground beef
1/2 medium onion - diced
1 roma tomato diced
1 - 15oz can organic black beans, drained & rinsed
1 - 4 oz can diced green chilies (don't drain)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 - 28oz can enchilada sauce

Cut peppers in half, stem to tip and remove seeds. Brown ground beef together with onions. With grass fed ground beef I never have to drain any fat. (pretty cool) Microwave the peppers for 3 minutes to soften. You can skip that part if you prefer your peppers more crisp. Mix remaining ingredients, except for the enchilada sauce in a bowl. Pour enchilada sauce into a 9" x 13" baking pan. I line mine with aluminum foil to make clean up easier. Place peppers in the pan and divide the meat filling equally into the peppers. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes. Spoon some of the enchilada sauce over the peppers. YUM

I serve this with guacamole and I add cheese to the tops of the ones my hubby is going to eat.....lucky duck :)

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

If you would have told me a year ago that my favorite snack

would be raw cauliflower and roasted red pepper hummus

I would have doubled over laughing!

Guess what?

I love this stuff!!!

Give it a whirl....

you might just love it too!

Of course you can eat it with flat bread or pita chips,

but I'm watching my carbs and the crunch of the 

raw cauliflower satisfies my need for crunchy goodness :)

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 - 15oz can Organic Garbanzo beans - drained

1 tsp sea salt

1/3 cup tahini

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves shallots or garlic

1/3 jar roasted red bell peppers (about 1 whole roasted pepper)

Place all ingredients into your food processor and blend until smooth.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

I like to keep this in the fridge to snack on during the week.

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Hubby's Favorite Pork Carnitas

There are very few things that make my hubby happier

than coming home to find pork carnitas

simmering in the slow cooker.

I mean he would happiliy eat this every single night.

and maybe even throw in a few lunches too!

I'm not kidding...

The boy loves him some yummy pork :)

Pork Carnitas

2 - 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tblsp olive oil

1 yellow onion quartered

4 cloves of garlic, minced (or shallots)

1 orange, halved

1/4 cup Coconut oil

Mix salt, oregano and cumin with olive oil and rub all over the pork. Place 1/2 onions and garlic in the bottom of slow cooker and place pork on top. Add remaining onions and garlic. Squeeze the juice of the orange over the pork and add the 2 halves of the orange to the slow cooker. Cover and cook 8 - 10 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

Remove pork from slow cooker and cool slightly. Pull apart with a fork and in a large frying pan melt the coconut oil over high heat. Press the shredded pork with a spatula and fry until crispy. Flip over and repeat on both sides. Serve over rice. I add black beans and quacamole....YUM!

Is it possible to be addicted to Green Smoothies?

When my daughter told me last week that she was making

and drinking green smoothies,

I'll admit that I thought she was crazy.

I mean the thought of drinking

green leafy vegetables and fruit

was the last thing on my list of yummy treats.

But after hearing about how she had tons of energy

after drinking green smoothies

I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Guess what?

I'm addicted!!!

Here's my recipe,

hope you like it!

Green Smoothie

1 cup So Delicious Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk beverage

1 cup organic baby spinach

1 cup organic frozen peaches

1/2 small organic banana (cut into chunks)

1/2 dropper Vanilla Cream Stevia liguid

Place spinach leaves in your blender first and then add remaining ingredients. Blend on high speed until thick and creamy and spinach is pretty much pulverized. In my Ninja this only takes a minute or so. Pour into a glass and enjoy! The cool part, for me anyways, is that this mixture stays creamy and doesn't seperate so I don't feel like I have to race to finish it. It tastes like a yummy peach and banana smoothie. You don't really taste the spinach at all. There's just a bright freshness to it. I'm totally addicted. You could switch out the fruits and or try kale instead of spinach to suit your taste.