Easy Thai Beef

Tonight is the second time I have made this dish.  It was cooked and eaten in under an hour.  The first time I made it as is and this time I only had a regular onion (instead of a red one) and I added some broccoli.  Both times I eliminated the peppers (I just don't like them) and served it in uncooked cabbage leaves (you could steam them if you prefer).  My husband and the baby both loved it as much as I did, I hope you do too!

I am LOVING this!

this was one banana, a perfect single serving

with organic chocolate syrup...not as yummy

One ingredient ice cream.  So easy, so delicious.  More delicious then you would think.  When you first start the food processor you don't think it's actually going to look like the picture, and then all of the sudden it does.  The one change I recommend is that I think you need to freeze the bananas longer than two hours.  I added some chocolate syrup on top thinking it would be even more fabulous, but no, it was actually much better on it's own.  It's gluten free, grain free, dairy free, egg free and sugar free.  But definitely not taste free and very much like eating ice cream.  Enjoy!

Lamb Curry

So this is a dish we make pretty much once a week,  I guess that makes it a staple in this house.  It's fast, easy, delicious and I pretty much always have all of the ingredients on hand.  I buy my ground lamb here, and usually stock up on four or five 1lb packages when I do.  If you don't like lamb you can use any other ground meat in this recipe.  But I find the flavors of this dish just perfect.
I start with this recipe, only I substitute ghee or coconut oil for the vegetable oil and use some garam masala (a blend of spices you can find in most Indian specialty stores, also in the international section of Wegmans) in place of some of the curry powder.  I skip the broth and it still works fine, probably because I am not putting it over rice or sopping up the sauce with some bread.  I feel the sweet potato and peas provide plenty of "carb" for this dish, no need for any more.  Enjoy!

Worth the work

I apologize for my slacking...I am working on figuring out how I can video my cooking therefore eliminating one step (the blogging after wards.)  As most of my clients know, I am already pushing the clock in the evenings between cooking & cleaning, bath and bed for the toddler, client emails and prepping everything for the next day.  Although I help others to balance their lives as my job, I am still working on my own balance, every day.  The last two weeks included some delicious lamb burgers (made into a delicious salad for the next two days of lunches) and yummy taco salad!  I will post those recipes, but tonight I share the recipe that was made in our house two times in under 24 hours.  She is amazing!  Gluten free, grain-free in fact and she uses no soy or refined sugars.  I am always recommending her website for recipes, especially those looking to bake allergen free, but this recipe was for dinner.  The only changes I made were that instead of the chilis, I used a little red pepper flakes.  And I did not have arrowroot powder, so I used kudzu root starch which is a sea vegetable and another healthful alternative to corn starch as a thickener.  It is a lot of prep; cutting the chicken, napa cabbage, six cloves of garlic, ginger and more...but it was soooo worth it and again, I wound up making it a second time less than 24 hours later.  That time I doubled the amount of the chicken, so there would be leftovers for everyone.  Oh, and we used chicken thighs instead of breast...much more tender and delicious.  If you get your chicken from a farm where they are raised right, the dark meat is where all the flavor and nutrition is!
Make sure you leave a comment for those who give it a try- and like most Chinese food (which this is a spin off of a Chinese dish) it was even delicious cold the next day!

My "go to" easy meals...

...always seem to start with poached chicken breast these days.  Simply because it's easy, I don't have to turn on my oven or really even pay that much attention as I am cooking them (which is good because my eyes are on my ever-discovering, ever-wandering around every drawer and cabinet, toddler!)
So I have promised many of you that I'd post how I poach chicken, and perhaps a few ideas of what to do afterward...so here goes.

I take two boneless skinless FOA chicken breasts, rinse, place them in a large saute pan and cover with water.  I will also add some leftover white wine (if it happens to be open in the fridge and needs finishing), lemon juice, garlic (unless I am really crunched for time, then it's organic garlic powder), herbs de Provence, perhaps a bay leaf or two, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover and turn off the heat.  Set a timer for about 10 minutes (this is trial and error based on number of breasts, thickness, etc...)  I then remove the chicken and set on a plate to rest about 5-10 minutes.  Once cooled, I cut it up into pieces for my little one to toss with some salad or cooked veggies with sea salt and EVOO.  For me and my husband, I typically make chicken salad to put over greens.  As of recent I am not using mayo (because of an egg white intolerance) and I have come up with some delicious alternatives.  Today I was about to rush out the door, telling myself I would just pick up lunch at the Wine Kitchen but then that little voice said to me "walk your talk!"  I knew I had one last chicken breast in the fridge and plenty of things to complete a quick meal.  So I took five, yes only five, minutes and made myself a delicious lunch.  I chopped the chicken into bite-sized cubes, coarsely chopped some pecans and dried cherries, sprinkled some sunflower seeds, cut up apple, all tossed with a good balsamic vinegar, sea salt, fresh pepper and good EVOO.  In another bowl I threw some pre-washed organic spring mix.  When it was time for lunch I tossed the chicken mixture with the greens, added a little more sea salt and EVOO and WOW!  It was delicious, I just finished and had to write this post.  So quick, so last minute, so random and sooooooo yummy!
Don't make the excuse of no time to cook or prepare your own foods...you just have to make a plan, shop for the right ingredients to have on hand and start!

Greens, grains and squash- it sounds delicious!

I did not make this up, nor did I make it yet. But I can't wait to and I thought I'd share.

Let me know if anyone tries it first.

Roasted Delicata Squash with Quinoa Salad Recipe - Michael Symon | Food & Wine

***Update!
I made it.  It was in fact delicious.  A few changes, I didn't have delicata squash, so I used acorn squash.  I love delicata squash and you can even eat the skin, but acorn is also one of my favorites and worked perfectly with the flavors of this dish.  I also didn't have any fresh parsley, didn't miss it.  And lastly, I tossed the arugula with a little EVOO and sea salt before plating the dish.  It was wonderful!

Unchartered Territory

I remembered to defrost something last night (a first for this week...it's been a crazy one since getting back to work after all the snow!)  And because I have little experience cooking pork tenderloin, I decided to actually use a recipe.  Well, my husband recommended I use a recipe (thanks honey, I get the hint.)  I did not plan/shop well before the week began so I found a recipe that I already had all the ingredients for.  A second dish in less than a week that includes cooked apples and onions, oh well, they do work really well together and it sure saves money on ingredients.  I had exactly two apples left!  So it's in the oven as I type and I will be done with the dishes before the timer goes off.  It was fast, easy and smells delicious (I'll have to update once I actually taste the dish.)
So here is the recipe.  For those who have never seared meat or cooked pork tenderloin, neither had I and voila!  I did it and so can you.
Enjoy!

***update
The pork was cooked perfectly, a gentle pink in the middle and not dry at all (as some pork dishes can be.)  My husband, the baby and I all enjoyed it.  Highly recommended!

Monday Night Chicken

Chicken with Onions & Apples
Fast, easy, completely made up (I'll do my best to recreate) and delicious!
You'll need the following...
2 boneless/skinless split chicken breasts, sliced into strips (whatever size you like)
1 can coconut milk
1-2 onions (depending on how much you are cooking, I'd say 1 onion per 2 people)
1-2 apples (peeled, cored and diced)
garam masala * or can simply use the spices that follow
cinnamon
corriander
cayanne
cumin
sea salt
ghee or coconut oil
Directions:
Coat chicken pieces in garam masala or a combination of spices
Heat oil in large pot on medium to medium/low heat (I used a Le Creuset cast iron oval french oven)
Cook onion and apples until tender (around 5-10 minutes) adding a few more spinkles of spices and salt.
Remove mixture from pot.
Add a little more oil/ghee to pot if necessary and add chicken, cook a few minutes until mostly done.
Add back in the onions and apples and 1 can of coconut milk.
Cook on medium to medium/low until chicken pieces are cooked through and sauce reduces and thickens a bit.
Serve alone or over some brown basmati rice.
I wish I had taken a picture but alas, it was gone to quickly!
The baby, my husband and I all enjoyed for dinner that evening and lunch the following day.  I didn't even heat it up!

Steak and Eggs

Well, Korean steak and eggs to be precise.  My husband made a delicious and different dinner on this snowed in Saturday night.  I know this blog is about easy dinners I made, but I must share his recipe.  It looked easy enough from my seat in the kitchen. 
Ingredients:
2 chopped scallions
2 chopped shallots
coconut oil
2 cups cooked brown rice (ensure the rice is dry before you stir fry)
1 1/2- 2 cups Kim Chee chopped fine
2 Tbsp mirin
1 flank or skirt steak (ours was a grass-fed flank from Fields of Athenry)
Ghee or lard (we used pork lard we picked up from a farm market)
course sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1 egg per person
butter or ghee
Directions:
Rub steak with sea salt, pepper and set aside. 
For the rice...
Saute scallions and shallots in coconut oil.  Add cooked rice, stir for a minute or two.  Then add Kim Chee and again, stir for a minute or two.  Finally add mirin and scrape down the rice sticking to the pan.
In a hot cast iron skillet heat oil or lard and add steak.  Cook until desired doneness and let rest before slicing.  Be sure to slice across the grain of the steak. 
In the hot skillet drop a bit of butter and fry an egg right on top of sizzling butter.
Plate the rice, then the sliced steak and top with the fried egg.  Sprinkle a little sea salt on top and viola, a warm and filling meal for a cold wintery night.

Lentil Soup

Here is a wonderful and hearty soup that has sustained the whole family (baby included) for the past three days (and two nights.)  Great for the winter weather this soup includes protein (from the lentils) and plenty of nutrients from the vegetables and the turkey stock.

Ingredients:
1 c. red or green lentils
4-5 c. water, broth or a combination
(I used 2 cups homemade Turkey stock, frozen from my Thanksgiving turkey and 2 or so cups of water)
1 5" (spprox.) strip of Kombu (it's a seaweed, find at your local health food store, Whole Foods or MOM's)
a variety of chopped vegetables, use what you like.
I used...
celery (a few spears)
onions (1 large)
garlic (2-3 cloves, finely minced)
carrots (2-3)
parsnips (1-2)
brown button mushrooms (1 pint)
1 zucchini
chopped lucinda kale
1 can of organic diced tomatoes (I used the juice as well)
a splash of apple cider vinegar
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
cumin (1-2 tsp.)
a dash of cayenne (or to taste)
1-2 bay leaves
Any other fresh/dried herbs you enjoy

Cook lentils in water/broth according to directions with a strip of Kombu in the pot as well.
Add vegetables and cook until they are done to your liking.
Remove strip of kombu and bay leaves.
I like to add a swirl of EVOO and some coarse sea salt  upon serving.
Enjoy!