Slow Cooker Burrito Style Chili

I love Mexican food. 

It's my weakness.

What I miss most are the tortilla chips and 

the soft flour tortillas.

This chili gives me the Mexican burrito flavors

without the tortilla,

but it's really yummy 

especially when you add some avocado

and a few plantain chips to replace the tortilla chips.

Slow Cooker Burrito Style Chili 

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tblsp coconut oil

1 organic green bell pepper (chopped)

1 organic yellow onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 - 14oz cans organic pinto beans (drained)

2 - 14oz cans organic black beans (drained)

4oz can sliced black olives (drained)

4 oz can diced green chilies 

2 - 15oz organic diced tomatoes

2 tblsp arrowroot or potato starch (optional)

Saute onions, bell pepper and garlic in large skillet with coconut oil until peppers are soft and onions are translucent. Remove from pan and add to slow cooker. In the same pan brown the ground beef with the chili powder, cumin and salt. When browned, add to slow cooker. Add remaining items to slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 8 -10 hours. If you prefer a thicker chili, add 2 tblsp of arrowroot starch to 1/3 cup of water until dissolved and add to slow cooker and stir until thickened.

Enjoy!!!

Bacon, Roasted Red Peppers, and Spinach Quiche

For Easter, again this year

the family gathered at our house after Church.

I wanted to have food prep done on Saturday.

I made some quiches and baked them

so that all I needed to do on Sunday was re-heat them.

On Sunday I made a nice salad and "Viola", lunch was served :)

The photo above is before they were baked.

This recipe is gluten free/ dairy free/ grain free

and Paleo friendly.

 I also made a "regular" quiche 

with white potato crust and swiss cheese

in the mix, but oddly enough 

the healthier versions were the favorites

even with the family members with no food sensitivities. 

Gotta love it when that happens!

Bacon, Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach Quiche 

6 - cage free organic eggs

1 - package Applegate Farms no nitrate bacon

1 - large organic red bell pepper diced

1/2 - can Thai Kitchen organic coconut milk

1 cup - organic baby spinach

1 tsp - sea salt (or to taste)

2 cups - shredded organic white sweet potatoes ( I used my food processor to shred them)

2 tblsp - organic coconut oil, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place shredded potatoes into a bowl and pour melted coconut oil over them and toss to coat. Press into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie plate. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. In the meantime, cut bacon into bite sized pieces. Brown in a skillet until crispy. Remove bacon and brown the diced red peppers in the bacon fat until soft. When the potato crust is done baking, remove from the oven and add the spinach, roasted peppers and bacon. In a blender, add eggs, coconut milk and salt and blend until well combined. Pour egg mixture over the top and return to the oven. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. You can make this ahead of time and reheat, covered with aluminum foil for 30 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Black Bean, Jicama, Red Peppers, Avocado & Lime-Cilantro Dressing

My absolute favorite food is Mexican.

But with my "no dairy" and "no corn" issues,

I can't really go out for Mexican food anymore.

So this wonderful salad gives me that taste 

that I'm missing without cheese or corn.

Black Bean Salad

2 15oz cans organic black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 large or 1 small jicama, diced into small cubes 

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbls minced shallots

2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbls organic sugar or coconut crystals

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

6 tbls fresh lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 Haas avocados, diced

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Just before serving, mix in diced avocados. 

Faux Entemann's Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

*WARNING - this is not a neccessarily "healthy" dessert *

I don't think I've mentioned it before,

but my hubby is now gluten free for health reasons of his own.

He can have dairy and sugar

so I try to bake things he loves 

even if  I can't eat them.

This is one of those recipes.

Sometimes we sit together and reminisce

the things we used to enjoy eating.....

He mentioned the cream cheese and jam coffee cake

that we used to buy that was made by Entemanns.

So I decided as a surprise for him

I'd try to re-create it, gluten free style.

This is what I came up with :)

And according to my hubby and my son,

Entemann's ain't got nuthin' on this baby! :)

"Faux" Entemann's

For the "cheesecake" topping:

1 - 8oz block cream cheese, softened

1/4 - cup organic sugar

1 - large cage free organic egg

For the strussel topping:

2 - Tblsp butter

6 - Tblsp organic sugar

1 - Tblsp coconut flour

For the jam swirl:

1/4 to 1/2 cup jam of choice - depending on taste

For the cake:

1/4 -tsp baking soda

1/4 -tsp sea salt

4 - large cage free organic eggs

1/3 - cup canned organic coconut milk

1/2 - cup grade B maple syrup

1 - tsp g/f vanilla extract

1/2 - cup coconut flour

Using a hand held mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth and set aside. 

Next, start on the cake. Mix first 6 cake ingredients (except the coconut flour) with a wisk until smooth and well incorporated. Then add the coconut flour and continue to wisk until a smooth batter forms. Pour into a 9 x 9 square cake pan, sprayed with coconut oil or olive oil. 

Drop tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter. Using the back of your spoon, smooth the cream cheese mixture. It won't be perfectly smooth or cover the entire top of the cake and that is just fine.

Heat the jam either in the microwave or stovetop until it can be poured and then pour it over the top of the cheesecake mixture.

Prepare the strussel topping. In a small bowl using a pastry blender or fork, mix the butter, sugar and coconut flour until crumbly. Sprinkle it over the top of the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Allow to cool and then place in the refrigerator for a few hours to set the cream cheese. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy :)

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!