Breakfast Outside the Box

Tossed Salad with Eggs and Bacon Bits

Hub planted lettuce in containers this year rather than in
the raised beds.  So far we're having a wonderful crop that
is keeping our dinner menu plans satisfied.

I'm happy to have a partner who likes to grow our own food.  We had our first salad from the garden last night with my Paleo Meat Balls and Red Sauce and it was so good that and when I woke up this morning wondering what I would put on my breakfast plate this is what I thought of first.  Home grown lettuce!  Yum!  Thank you, Dear!

The salad was dressed with Michelle's citrus vinaigrette from her cool new cooking app, and the eggs were dusted with Sunny Paris Seasonings from Penzys Spices.  I sauteed the nitrate, nitrite free bacon lardons by first cutting 2 strips into 1/4 inch pieces.  After they were crispy I drained them on a paper towel. Once the salad was assembled and the eggs were cooked in extra virgin olive oil, I sprinkled the bacon bits all over the eggs and salad.  

Not a single person paid me a cent to promote any of the above delicious things, except, well, maybe the Hub.

Crock Pot Leg of Lamb Dinner

Main course; Leg of Lamb with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

In another month it will be time for the fair and the 4H auction.  Every year Hub buys granddaughter's lamb at the auction.  So, we're busy using up the last of the lamb from last spring and preparing delicious dinners to make more room in our freezer.  The leg of lamb is considered the best part of the lamb and so this is a very special meal.

This dinner was prepared by researching some of the Paleo sites and gathering information and understanding about the flavors and cooking techniques of lamb. We also gleaned more of an understanding about why lamb is considered to be so healthy.  Omega 3 that's why!  It's an essential fatty acid for human growth and development. The source of Omega 3 is the green leaves of plants. When sheep eat their natural diet, lamb becomes a great source of Omega 3. Grain is not a rich source of Omega 3, so standard, grain-finishing practices cause the Omega 3 level to decrease dramatically.

I found a good looking recipe for crock pot leg of lamb with roasted potatoes at a cooking blog, Dinner with Julie.  I added sweet potatoes to the potato recipe so the Paleo person (me) could enjoy them without guilt. 

Ingredients:

• Zest and juice from 1 lemon 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Cracked pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup homemade beef stock

Directions:

• Make a paste by chopping and scraping the ingredients (all but the broth) together on a cutting board, then smear the rub all around the outside of the roast.  See photos below.  
• Place the rubbed roast into a crock pot; set the timer for 8 hours on low heat.  Add 1/2 cup homemade beef stock and squeeze the juice from the lemon over the top of the meat.
• Slow cook the meat for 8 hours at low temperature.  Let cool for 1/2 hour while the rest of the dinner is being taken up.
• Reserve the juices and place them on the table to pour over the meat.  That's the best part!  I should have named it Leg of Lamb Au Jus!

3 pound leg of lamb, bone removed, meat rolled.
Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Chopped zest, rosemary, and garlic.  Add seasonings.

Turn into paste by adding the olive oil and
scrapping the ingredients together.

Rub the past all around the outside.

Place fat side up in the slow cooker.
If you look real close you can see my beef stock Popsicle on the right.
Pour the juice of the lemon over it all.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Don't forget the "JUS".  That's what makes it good.

Spring lamb with roasted potatoes and asparagus
with Hollandaise sauce.  Mmmmmm. 

Strawberry Lemon Coconut Cream Parfaits from Gourmande in the Kitchen.

Lamb Shoulder Chops for Two

Hub and I enjoyed a delicious dinner tonight.  It was pretty on our plate and he remarked we should take time out for a photo before we tasted it.  This is my first try with dinner in a pressure cooker and I am so surprised at the ease of it all.  We had a late lunch and neither of us were very hungry but knew we should eat.  I had not done any planning so I decided it would be a good night to try a meal in the pressure cooker.  I defrosted a couple of lamb shoulder chops and while they were defrosting I started reading about how long to cook them in the pressure cooker.  The dish was amazing.  If we had been really hungry we would have had a side dish of cauliflower faux mashed potatoes and mashed potatoes for the Hub.  As it was we kept the broth liquidy like soup.  It was very satisfying.

Ingredients:

• 2 lamb shoulder chops
• 1 tablespoon bacon fat or fat of your choosing
• 1 to 2 carrots
• 1/2 white onion
• 4 cloves garlic diced
• 1/2 bunch kale
• 1 cup home made beef stock
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 1 8 oz. can stewed tomatoes

Directions:

• Heat the fat in the pressure cooker until shimmering and hot.  Brown the chops on both sides.  Once nicely browned remove them to a plate temporarily.
• De-glaze the pan with the wine.
• Return the chops to the pan and add all of the rest of the ingredients.
• Lock down the lid, set the pressure to high and cook over medium high heat until the pressure climbs to high.  (A little orange button pops up at this point.)  Immediately turn the heat down to the lowest setting with the pressure still maintained. 
• Cook at this setting for 10 minutes, then remove the cooker from the heat.  I released the pressure slowly, opened the pot and voila!  <--That's something my mom would have said at a time like this and she's the one who bugged me all my adult life to get a pressure cooker, so I had to say it!
• OK, here's the one I bought.  It was with Nom Nom Paleo's recommendation while using her cool cooking app that I've been having so much fun with this month.

The chops came from this sweet lamb who was
lovingly raised by Hub's (also sweet) grand daughter.

A Paleo Review and a Cool Coconut Video

I've been learning about Asian cooking from a gal who has a winsome personality (she's a silly girl) and is a passionate paleo person.  In the past 4 days I've been cooking from her cookbook app on my ipad.  I downloaded it from her site, Nom Nom Paleo.

My favorite recipe so far is her wonderful Asian Cauliflower Fried "Rice".  It's better than the real thing, I promise.  You MUST try this recipe.  I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

This morning I want to share this awesome video with you.  I found it on her Forky Friday post last night.  Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE coconut.  Just in case you need a quick reference for making coconut milk, here is one of my posts, Mary Opens a Coconut, along with some of the huge health benefits from consuming coconut on a regular basis.

By the way, I cook mostly with coconut oil now.  It's so good for us and can be purchased now at Costco in the huge 78 ounce size.  (Yes, I did say 78 ounces!)

Here is the promised video.

A Couple New Thoughts About Rutabaga

I know I have already posted a recipe for rutabaga hash browns. I'm writing more about this super food because I've learned a couple new things and this morning I took some new photos.  So, here's a new post about an old recipe.

I love eggs, bacon and hash browns.  (Don't even miss the toast or muffins anymore.)  So on cheat day before church we go to this wonderful restaurant, Morning Thunder, and I have my potato hash browns with eggs and bacon and fruit.  But during the week I substitute the rutabaga for the potato.  And let me tell you I have come to love the rutabaga.

Here's the thing.  When I first started cooking with rutabaga I bought the big ones.  I thought, WOW, I could feed a family of 4 on this thing.  But since then I have discovered that if I buy a small, firm rutabaga I will be rewarded with a very sweet mild flavor that I have come to look forward to with my bacon and eggs.  And here's the second thing I want to share with you.  I have learned to season the onions.

What's that all about?  I don't know.  I just know that when I cooked a Julia Child recipe she instructed me to do it and I also noticed my mentor, Eileen from Paleo Simplified, has the same instructions in her recipes.  Season the onions.  So I have learned to do it and the result is a dish that is more delicately flavored.  The Celtic sea salt gently enhances the flavor and the taste of the unsalted food still comes through.  Just trust me and try it.  You will know what I'm saying if you do.

So with that I'm going to re-post the old recipe.  Here it goes!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or 2 slices bacon
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 small, shredded rutabaga
1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

Directions:

• Saute the bacon until crispy.  Remove from pan but keep the renderings, or use 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a wiped clean pan.
• Add the sliced onions and saute until golden brown; about a minute.  
• Add the sea salt to the onions and mix well.  (If you use bacon instead of olive oil, cut back on the salt)
• Add the rutabaga and toss gently into the onions.   Continue to saute, pressing down with your spatula as they cook, until golden and tender; 5 to 10 minutes.

I used 1/2 of the small rutabaga.
I'll use the rest of it in the soup I'm making for lunch.

This morning I used olive oil instead of the bacon renderings.

This recipe serves just one.

Here's to your good health!

How to Hard Boil Fresh Laid Easter Eggs

I thought it would be nice to repost an article I wrote last summer.  I've been coloring eggs today and we are both pleased with the way they look since our chickens are all laying brown eggs and I had never tried dying any egg other than white until today.  The brown backgrounds bring out a nice depth of color.  It was fun to work with just 3 colors, pink, blue and yellow and then mix my own colors after that.  

Here is a link to my page on hardboiling freshly laid eggs.

We want to wish you all a blessed Easter!

What's in YOUR Fritatta?

Ingredients for a yummy fritatta I dreamed up this morning
based on the food charts given by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.

I started the Whole 30 this week with the Hartwigs.  I've had their book for a while and I am really liking the way it is written.  It fortifies what I've been taught by Eileen at Paleo Simplified.   They make it easy to grasp the Paleo way of living by writing in a clear, no nonsense manner and they're witty into the bargain.  Sooooo....

• I want to declare I've started the whole 30.
• I want to share some of the fun things I've been creating using their food charts.  They have a real unique way of helping you put together foods that are healthy, good choices, and tasty; not to mention easy to prepare once you figure out their charts.  I'll share some recipes after I return from a short trip.
• I'd like to ask for your prayer.  I'm leaving in the morning for the bay area to spend time with a close friend who lost her husband to misothelioma right before Thanksgiving.  I have another close friend whose husband is in the dying process with lung cancer who lives close by, so we'll spend time with her too.  And as is often the way with the Lord these trails have come in threes because I've lost a dear cousin to cancer this week too and I'm waiting to learn when her memorial will be.  I can only discern now that God wants me to learn about multiple grief, because I'm struggling with a myriad of painful emotions.

I'll want to keep on my Paleo plan while I travel the next few days so I'm bringing a lot of my food with me.  I've been to Costco to buy the meats that work, and I've packed my spices and hard-to-find bottles and home-made jars of goodies.  I'll bring my food processor.  I will have no excuse not to stay on track.  I've even downloaded the Hartwig's book to my iPad so I can give the hardbound version to my friend.  I'm sure she'll be interested once she sees how much fun it is.

Thank you for listening.  I hope my photo peaks your interest in the delicious fritatta I had this morning and a dinner last night that my unbelieving (in Paleo that is) husband liked so much he wanted seconds but was too full of firsts to do it.  I confess I put his one dish mixture over pasta, so that helped him to accept it.  But it was easy for me to serve us both that way. 

Please pray for a safe sojourn.  It's raining.  I'll write more when I get back, God willing.