Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew

Baby it’s cold outside…. And that calls for crockpot time!

Not the prettiest of pics but what did you expect stew to look like? It’s orange & it’s yummy.

Chicken & Sweet Potato Stew (adapted from the cookbook that came with my crockpot)

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
• 2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled & cubed
• 2 medium carrots, peeled & cut into ½ “ pieces
• 1 – 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp celery
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
2. Dinner is done.

Thanksgiving Recap & a Recipe Roundup

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that I love to love.  I enjoyed every single bite.  No guilt, just indulgence.  We go to my boyfriend’s parents house every year.  They have allllll the fixins and everyone brings something.  And knowing I was going to indulge, I wanted to make sure I had a big side of veggies to put on my plate.  I also wanted to make sure I had something to snack on before the big meal.  And I wanted a sweet treat at the end of the meal but knew I wouldn’t be able to stuff a whole slice of pie down my gullet after all that yummy food.

So here’s what I brought:

spinach artichoke dip (adapted from my vitamix cookbook)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup mayo
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 slice lemon, peeled & seeded
• 1 large package of fresh spinach
• a pinch of salt & pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• ¼ cup shredded parmesan
• ½ cup canned artichokes, drained

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except artichoke hearts in vita-mix
2. Turn it on (variable 1, increase to 4)
3. Blend, blend, blend (took me a while to get all that spinach in there and blended up)
4. Add artichokes and blend a little more
5. Usually I put it in the oven on 350* for 20-25 min, but this year I brought a cute little mini warmer.  Poured that in there and gave it about 20 min to warm up, stirring every now and then.
6. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan on top and tortilla chips to dip.
7. Enjoy!

No pic – it was green and not very photo-worthy.

guacamole – my boyfriend’s special secret recipe  also green and not very photo-worthy.

roasted veg - the great thing about this recipe is that I cooked it in the morning and dumped it all in the crockpot to take over.  Plugged that bad boy in and set it on warm.  When it was time to put it on the table, I just took porcelain container over to the table and drizzled some balsamic on top and sprinkled it with shredded parmesan.  Voila!  Easiest dish to bring for Thanksgiving ever.

pumpkin cheesecake truffles – totally not primal or paleo or even gluten-free but VERY tasty

My plate was full of spinach salad and roasted veg, a big serving of turkey (mmm…dark meat), and a little bit of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy.  And a dreamy buttered roll.  I didn’t finish it all (my plate that is, you can be damn sure I ate every bite of anything I describe as “dreamy“).  And I enjoyed every bite.  And most of all I was grateful to have a wonderful family to celebrate with.

What did you have for Thanksgiving?

Banana “Ice Cream”

Here’s a quick, easy treat that is ice-cold and dairy-free.  I know it has been posted up and down on pinterest, but here it is all the same – Banana “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

• Banana
• Nutella or almond butter or strawberries or whatever your heart desires

Directions:

1. Blend
2. Freeze
3. Enjoy your guilt-free dairy-free “ice cream”!

I like to keep some bananas frozen on standby to blend whenever I feel like a treat.   And apparently there’s a device out there called a yonanas that does exactly this.  I’m not really sure how it differs from my vitamix other than taking up precious storage space.  Still want one.

Pesto Meatloaf

What’s more stick-to-your-ribs-comfort-fall-food than meatloaf?  It’s one of those meals that I actually really love but never make…until now.

I kind of combined 2 recipes (this one and this one) to create one ultimate meatloaf!

Pesto Meatloaf served w/ mashed sweet potatoes and broccoli slaw & mushrooms.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1T garlic
• 1lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup pesto (I used my vitamix pesto recipe)
• ½ cup sundried tomatoes (I meant to include these but forgot in this photo…)
• 2 T parmesan
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup marinara
• 2 tsp balsamic

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Sauté onion until it starts to brown.
3. Add garlic, lower the heat and sauté for a couple more minutes.
4. Combine your meat, sautéed onion/garlic, pesto, sundried tomatoes, parmesan, salt, almond flour, and egg.  Best to use your hands!
5. Last time I used a deep glass pyrex dish, but next time, I will shape my meat mixture into a loaf-like shape and put it on a sprayed rack on top of a cookie sheet so that the fat drips off into the pan.  But either way will work.
6. Bake for 30 min.
7. Stir together your marinara sauce and balsamic vinegar.
8. Brush – or spoon – it on top of your meatloaf when the first 30 min are up.
9. Continue to bake for another 30 min and brush on some more of that yummy marinara/balsamic sauce on top a few more times.
10. Slice that bad boy up and enjoy!

Well Hello Alisonreinvented Friends!

I’ve been a little slack with my blogging…sometimes I get overwhelmed with even the little things.  Does that ever happen to you?  I keep coming up with ideas to write about and then I get bogged down with thoughts like How often should I be blogging?  How many recipes should I post vs anything else?  Who am I to share these recipes?  I’m no expert! Is anyone even reading this besides my mom? (hi Mom!)

But I want you to know I’m back and I have a plan.  I admire the bloggers out there who go at it every day or even every few days – there are even some blogs that I check every day in the hopes of a new post b/c I love them so much!  But to be honest, for me to write twice a week stresses me out and when I get stressed out, I don’t write at all…apparently for months at a time *ahem*.  And I’d like to keep writing, if only for me…and my mom.

So the plan is to write once/week.  No set day, but by Friday of every week a new blog should be up.  I have so many ideas of what to write about that I’ve sketched it out and I have something for every week through August 2013 (WHAT?!? How did that happen??).  And by then, I’ll figure out what to do with the rest of the year.  I’ll include some lists (ooooh boy do I love me a list!) – like favorite products, other blogs, and even some of the failed recipes.  I have accumulated so many cookbooks, that I think I’ll start to review each of them until I run out and then I’ll think of something else to review

So that’s where I’m at.  I hope you will continue to check in, try some new recipes, maybe learn a few things, and most of all enjoy.  And as always, let me know what YOU would like to read about!

Vegetarians Beware…I Made MEATZA!

My hands-down favorite food of all time is pizza.  I like fancy-pants pizza – you know, the kind with the thin crust and crazy toppings (have you ever tried clam & bacon?  I’m not even joking – it’s delish).  I’ve even tried the gluten-free crust pizza….it was meh.  But what I really love is the totally basic take and bake pepperoni classic.  I love it.  It’s a go-to dinner when we have the kids b/c it’s easy and they love it and there’s leftovers for lunch (or breakfast).

I’ve tried stopping at one piece and it never works.  Inevitably, I eat 3 more, plus cutting tiny corners off here and there just to have “one more bite”.  Every. Single. Time.  I feel sick to my stomach and wonder why I did that to myself.

I tried the cauliflower pizza.  It looked like pizza, tasted like pizza…I didn’t even miss the crust!  Unfortunately cauliflower and I are not friends, if you know what I mean.

So…how can I shovel all of my favorite toppings (mainly pepperoni) into my mouth?

Enter MEATZA!  Check this out – looks like pizza, tastes like pizza, still don’t miss the crust!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 an egg (I know that sounds weird, I needed to bind it somehow and I thought a whole egg would be too much….next time I will just make 1 lb beef + 1 egg, and have 2 pieces of meatza…so much easier)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp italian herbs
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used an italian mix)
• 1/4 cup marinara
• pepperoni or whatever toppings YOU like on your meatza.

Directions:

1. heat oven to 350*
2. mix the meat, egg, spices by hand in a bowl
3. press out into a greased pan (I used a 7X5X1.5 pyrex)
4. cook for 15 min
5. take out and pour out the excess liquid then top with your marinara, cheese, and other toppings.
6. cook for another 15 min
7. enjoy!

I served it with roasted veggies (red onion, eggplant, summer squash, zucchini, broccoli) – I just tossed in olive oil and salt & pepper and cooked at 350* for 45 min, mixing it all up at the halfway point so nothing burned too bad on one side.  I topped it with a drizzle of homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

It was so yummy I had it the next night – using homemade pesto  (instead of the vinaigrette) & pesto chicken burger, topped with more cheese.  No pic, it wasn’t pretty…but it was SUPER yummy.

I used 1 Tbsp for my veggie pesto mix and froze the rest in a ice tray – which makes 1 Tbsp servings to use whenever you are in the mood for some yummy pesto.

Clearly these recipes include a lot of cheese.  So perhaps this is more “primal” more than paleo.  I’m ok with it b/c I don’t eat a whole lot of cheese in general.  If you don’t do cheese, just skip it.  Meatza is yummy any way you top it!

Mmmmm…Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I was planning on making these chocolate chip cookies from Primal Palate….but then saw this recipe from my bff Holly at Holly Would If She Could.  BTW, she does not know she is my bff, but I think it’s a realistic assumption were we to ever meet.  If you don’t read her blog, you should.  I don’t think she’s ever posted anything that I haven’t loved.  And that includes the crossfit posts – I don’t even do crossfit!  (I know, *gasp*)  But I’m always learning and loving and laughing with her over on her blog.

But back to the cookies.  I did exactly as she said, so I’m not going to repeat the recipe here.  The only thing I changed was that I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.  Just sounded better to me when I bought them.  And oh. my. gaw.  Check out the results:

I mean – those are some regular ol’ chocolate chip cookies!  And tasted like it too!  I’m all for eating the real deal just as much as I like paleofying recipes.  And this one worked.

PS – they did NOT work when I shoved them in a ziploc at the bottom of my purse for my flight to Phoenix.  They were just a crumbly mess by the time I landed.  I think that would happen with regular chocolate chip cookies too.  My bad for not putting them in tupperware.  Duly noted for next time. 

Heroin Chicken & Sweet Potato Stackers

I mentioned the Ambien chicken a couple weeks ago – it’s a staple at our house.  However, I no longer eat it because it requires Stove Top.  Well, I found a recipe called Heroin Chicken on Mark’s Daily Apple and tried it out last week and I think my bf will be happy to replace Ambien with Heroin – ha!  That sounds horrible…but it’s actually quite tasty and much healthier.  Who would’ve thought that Heroin anything would be the healthier choice?!

Heroin Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken – breasts, thighs, drumsticks, however you like it, however much you need of it.  (This recipe is for 4 lbs of chicken, I eyeballed it for 1 chicken breast.  Also you can add/subtract any kind of spices you like!)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1/2 tbsp oregano
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. melt one stick of butter (I used about 1 Tbsp for my 1 chicken breast and it was more than enough)
2. take your chicken and dip it in the butter then roll them in the cheese/spice mix.  I shook mine in a ziploc baggie – shake & bake baby, shake & bake!
3. place onto greased pan.
4. bake @ 375 for 50 minutes (or less depending on your cut of chicken).

Also on my plate are Sweet Potato Gratin Stackers from the book Sweet Potato Power  They kinda look like salami slices in my picture above…but trust me, they are like gooey stacks of potatoes au gratin!

I started to write out the recipe for that and I always link my recipes to the originals I find online.  Well, I can’t find this one online so I’m not sure I can repost it.  I’m relatively new to this whole blogging thing and I would never want to infringe on an author’s intellectual property (although maybe I already have by posting all of these other recipes??)  I don’t know!  I just know that I don’t see a recipe online from the source I used that matches the recipe I made.  So I will just have to highly recommend and urge you to go out and buy Sweet Potato Power by Ashley Tudor.  The book itself has so much information and a ton of delicious recipes.  Like Sweet Potato Gratin Stackers.   And then make yourself some Sweet Potato bars for dessert why don’t you!  They were another hit over here.  Sweet potatoes for dessert?! Who knew!

Serve it all up with a salad and/or some green beans (and lotsa butter in my case!) or your favorite veg and dig in!

I Want To Make ALL Of This

You know what I like to do in my spare time?  Troll for paleo recipes.

Every day at about 2pm or 3pm my bf and I have this conversation:

me: what do you want for dinner?

him: I don’t know.  What do you want for dinner?

me: I don’t know.  Do you want chicken, beef, pork, or fish?

him: chicken sounds good

me: ok.  I can make this or this?  Or how about this?

and then I go to the store.

I seem to only have a couple options for each category.  And I want to expand my repetoire.

I want to make ALL of this

online:

• asian short ribs by PaleOMG
• pumpkin muffins by Holly Would If She Could – this or something like it, don’t really care about the frosting as much as I have a shit load of canned pumpkin for some reason so therefore I think pumpkin muffins are in order.
•  heroin chicken from Marks Daily Apple – I like this b/c of the name and also it looks yummy.  One of my bf’s favorite dishes is what we like to call “ambien chicken” but requires stove top so I no longer eat it.  Maybe this is something that can replace it?
• spicy avocado slaw by PaleOMG – I’m not a huge fan of turkey unless it’s on thanksgiving or sliced deli-style.  What I’m really interested in is the spicy avocado slaw!
• blackened shrimp on kale w/ mashed swt pot and andouille cream by Paleo Just Do It  
• sweet & sexy wings by PaleOMG  can anyone guess what my new favorite blog is??
• sausage & apple stuffed acorn squash
• chocolate chip cookies by Primal Palate
• butter chicken from Marks Daily Apple
•  thai honey peanut chicken by Tasty Kitchen
• slow cooker bacon wrapped apple bbq chicken by Six Sisters Stuff
• tropical chopped salad by The Clothes Make The Girl 
• rogan josh from The Clothes Make The Girl
• scotch eggs from The Clothes Make The Girl - hmm….with or without the pork rinds….decisions, decisions.

From Sweet Potato Power:

• sweet potato linguine w/ sage & brown butter sauce
• sweet potato frittata
• chard w/ sweet potato, pine nuts, prosciutto
• sweet potato mash
• sweet potato gratin stackers
• on the go sweet potato quiche
• sweet potato bars
• brownie bites
• chocolate sweet potato truffles

From Primal Blueprint:

• broccoli w/ almond dressing
• scallops w/ almonds & bacon

From Paleo Comfort Foods:

• chicken wings
• biscuits
• fried chicken

I’ll be sure to post all of the yummy results!!  Soooooo…..what recipes have you been stalking lately??

Blueberry Muffins

So I had some leftover bananas and some leftover blueberries…what to do, what to do?

I saw this recipe online that led me to this recipe which is the one I followed.  I halved it (it’s hard to half 3 eggs, so I just used 2) and instead of making bars, I made muffins.  I got 11 muffins out of the halved recipe.  Cook time was only 25 min.  And the result was delish!  Grain-free and sugar/sweetener-free!

If I’ve figured out the calories correctly they are approximately 95 cal/muffin.  Enjoy!