This Week's Eats!

Once again, I've been riding the blog roller coaster.  5 posts in a week then 1 then 5 and then a week of nothing.  I've got to get better at spreading these things out and being more consistent.

Anywho, I'm here now and I'm linking up with Jessica Lynn to share with you what we'll be eating this week.  I am a magazine junkie and Cooking Light and Food Network Magazine are two of my favorites.  Until Pinterest came around, I almost exclusively cooked out of those two sources (and The Pioneer Woman's blog).  Since I discovered Pinterest, my magazines show up, I tear through them, eagerly dog ear marking pages with inspiring recipes then the get put on the shelf, forgotten.  This week I decided I'm not going to let all that inspiration go to waste, so everything I'm cooking this week comes from either Cooking Light or Food Network Magazine.

Here's what we're eating this week:

Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings {We love my go to recipe but want to try something different.  On a completely random note, that was one of my 1st recipe posts, I think it's about time I go back and redo it with some legit photos!}

Monday: Grilled Steak (for the husband) and veggeis {ok, so there is no recipe for this one, it was the husbands request}

Tuesday: Coconut Curry Halibut with Stir-Fried Veggies

Wednesday: Ramen {so excited to try this one, I hope my expectations aren't too high}

Thursday: Trying a new restaurant, still haven't decided which one.

Friday: Four Citrus-Herb Chicken and salad with a Warm Tomato Dressing

Saturday: We'll cook based on what we find at the farmers market that day.

Speaking of farmers market, we tried out a new one in Little Italy this weekend based on some recommendations from coworkers and friends and loved it.  It has a gorgeous view of the ocean and a great selection so we plan to make it our Saturday morning thing.

While we were there this past Saturday I had my grocery list for the week with me which included carrots for two different meals.  Jason wanted to try some of the fun, colorful carrots we always see but never try so we picked some up.

I used them in the chicken and dumplings recipe above that we had for dinner tonight....

and look what happened!  They turned the entire dish a lilac/grey color.

Luckily it tasted much better than it looked!  We both prefer the slight spice of the other recipe I use but agreed this one was also delicious!

I'd love to see what you are cooking this week!

Flavor of the Week {Paleo Biscuits & Gravy}

Last week I shared a photo last week on Instagram that got a lot of people excited.

Biscuits and gravy on the Paleo diet? Yep, it's true!

Here's how I did it:

Paleo Biscuits:

• 6 egg whites
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1//2 tablespoons cold ghee

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in cold ghee with a pastry blender (or a fork will do) until the mixture is crumbly.  Place the bowl in the refrigerator.  In a medium bowl whisk egg whites until they are very frothy (you want all froth and no runny egg left).  Remove the bowl from the fridge and fold the egg whites into the chilled flour mixture until well combined.  Scoop about 1/4 cup of dough onto the baking sheet and form into the shape of biscuits.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  Serve warm or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 Now, the biscuits were good (they made great bacon & egg sandwiches), but the real winner of this post was the sausage gravy!

Simple Sausage Gravy:

• 1lb of your favorite sausage
• 2 tsp arrow root flour (this is a corn starch like substitute)
• 1 tsp coconut flour
• 1 can coconut milk
• salt & pepper to taste ( I like lots of pepper in my sausage gravy)

In a skillet, brown the sausage then sprinkle on the arrow root flour and coconut flour and mix.  Add the coconut milk, salt & pepper and stir to combine.  Cook over medium-low heat for 5-10 minutes until the sauce becomes thick.

This is by far our new favorite paleo recipe(s)!  Enjoy!

This Week's Eats

Even after the major fail I had on Friday, we're back to eating paleo.  This is the last week we planned to stick to it super strict but we are discussing extending our efforts to some degree.  Maybe switching over to a clean eating plan more so than strict paleo.  We'll see.  Here's what we're eating this week:

Monday: Grilled meat (Steak for Jason, chicken for me) & Ratatouille
Tuesday: Thai Curry Soup (was on the menu last week but we wanted something else so this got the boot)
Wednesday: Chicken Tortilla Soup (in the CrockPot)
Thursday: Orange Chicken Stir-fry
Friday: Chicken Cacciatore
Saturday: Stuffed Eggplant
Sunday:  ANNIVERSARY DINNER

This is a mostly routine/unexciting week for us until Sunday when we'll celebrate our 6 year wedding anniversary.  We're still trying to decide what to do for our anniversary.  All these great restaurants in San Diego get together for San Diego Restaurant Week (SDRW) a couple times a year.  We celebrated my 31st birthday at their kick off party in September and the 10th annual SDRW starts on our anniversary this year.  All of the participating restaurants have preset menus for discounted prices, we just have to choose one!  Anyone in SD have a recommendation?

I'm linking up with Jessica again this week to share my meal plan.  Head over to see what everyone's cooking this week!

Flavor of the Week {Veggie Packed Tomato Sauce}

We gave ourselves a bit of a free pass when we came back to America to eat all the things we'd missed  and just never stopped.  Step 2 of getting my ish together is getting our food consumption under control.  We're getting back on the paleo bandwagon, at least for now.  I spent the past few days prepping so we would be sure to have no excuses.  The first thing I made was our favorite tomato sauce from our last paleo kick.  I made it my own and thought I'd share it with you since it's so uber delicious!

 Ingredients:
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, finely diced
39 ounces crushed tomatoes (1 – 25 ounce can plus 1-14 ounce can)
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 cup fresh spinach
1 – 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 baked sweet potato
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
2-3 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1-2 tablespoons honey
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Steam the zucchini and squash until they're soft.  When the zucchini and squash are soft, add them, the spinach, diced tomatoes, sweet potato, basil and thyme to a large food processor (mine is 11 quarts and I still separated it into to batches) and blend until mostly smooth and set it aside.

 

Sauté the onions and garlic in the olive oil in a large stock pot.  When the onions are soft, add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.

  Then add the squash mixture and stir to combine.  Add the honey to cut some of the acidity of the tomatoes.

Season with salt and pepper and viola!  This is great over zucchini noodles, regular pasta, and just about anything else you can think of.  It makes a ton, enough for 3 two people servings, at least.  I like to eat some immediately and freeze some for later.

Flavor of the Week {Chicken Salsa Enchiladas}

I've been fighting this awful headache/earache/face pain for 2 weeks now.  It seems to linger in the background all day then, just after dinner, BAM, it hits me with it's best shot and usually takes me out.  This means instead of blogging, I've been lying in bed hiding in the dark.  I finally caved and went to the doc and was sent home with no real diagnosis but a bag full of meds so I'm hoping to be back at it this week.

Last week I shared a recipe for Southwest Lettuce Wraps that left you with half a can of black beans and half a can of corn so I recommended making chicken salsa.  I snacked on the salsa for a few days then turned it into a super yummy "enchilada" recipe.  I know zilcho about Mexican food so there is a good possibility there is absolutely nothing authentic about this "enchilada" recipe but it was delicious and that's all that really matters, right?

Ingredients:

• 2 and 1/2 cups Chicken Salsa (recipe here) 
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese + a handful to sprinkle on top 
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 6 large or 12 small tortilla shells 
• 1 can enchilada sauce (choose your own spice level) 

Mix together the salsa, 1/2 cup Mexican cheese and the sour cream.  Fill the tortillas with equal amounts of the filling and roll.  Pour a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of a baking dish (an 8x8 fit my 6 large tortillas nicely) and add the rolls.  Pour more of the sauce on top, I only used about half of the can all together.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes then add the extra cheese on top and bake for another 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Flavor of the Week {Southwest Lettuce Wraps}

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is all the leftover turkey.  It all goes into meals for my post Thanksgiving week menu.  Turkey pot pies and turkey chili always make the list and this year I had enough leftovers to add southwest turkey lettuce wraps, my favorite "chicken" salsa made with turkey which I also turned into enchiladas, and Thai curry soup.  Yes, I intentionally purchased a bird that was significantly larger than what we needed for Thanksgiving alone just for the leftovers.

Over the next couple weeks I'm going to share some of these awesome recipes with you.

First up, the SW lettuce wraps.  Most of us eat the full, traditional Thanksgiving meal more than once during the week of Thanksgiving.  After all that delicious but very heavy food, this is the perfect light lunch to counteract that.  This is also very quick to prepare which is a nice break after spending days in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving.

Southwest Lettuce Wraps {adapted from Skinny Tastes}

Ingredients:

 

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 red bell peppers diced
• 3 scallions thinly slicked
• 1 cup leftover turkey breast, diced small
• 1/2 can whole cornel corn
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tbsp diced jarred jalapeno peppers
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 8 large lettuce leaves
• avocado cream sauce {recipe below} 

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the red bell pepper and scallions to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes until tender. Add the diced turkey, corn, black beans, jalapeno peppers, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan. Cook for another 3 to 4 minutes then spoon onto large lettuce leaves and top with cheese and avocado cream sauce.

 

Avocado Cream Sauce:

Ingredients

 

• 1/3 cup low-fat milk
• 1 small jalapeno, seeds removed (leave them in if you want it spicy
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbsp chopped scallion
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

 

Blend all ingredients in a blender and adjust seasonings to your liking.


PS. If you're wondering what to do with the other half of the bell pepper, beans and corn, make a half portion of my chicken salsa!  You can even use some more of the Thanksgiving turkey in place of the chicken!

Flavor of the Week {Thai Coconut Curry Soup}

I haven't shared a recipe on here in a long time but since the most exciting things going on around here lately all happen in the kitchen, I figured it was about time to share some magic with you.  I've been on a huge Thai kick lately and cannot get enough Pad Thai/Thai curry/Tom Kha soup.  I rarely finish all the food on my plate and almost never go back for seconds but this Thai Coconut Curry Soup sent me back to the stove for more.

Original recipe from Key Ingredient

I left out anything and everything that mentioned cilantro because my hubby and I both have an aversion to cilantro.  We both think it tastes like soap.  I used to think that the employees at Chipotle didn't rinse their spoons very well before serving me rice, then I learned that it was the cilantro that made my burrito taste like soap, not their lack of sanitary skills.  Apparently it may be a genetic thing, either way, we HATE it!  If you like it, feel free to use it as a garnish.

Ingredients

2	14 ounce cans coconut milk
2-3 TBSP	green Thai curry paste
2 cups	cooked chicken (I used a roasted chicken)
2	cups chicken broth
1	carrot, shredded
½	red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 TBSP	lemon grass paste **
2 TBSP	fish sauce
2 TBSP	Soy sauce
2	limes zest and juice
1 inch	Piece of ginger
	a handful bean sprouts
8oz	rice noodles
2 or 3	green onions, thinly sliced

**Feel free to use 2 stalks of fresh lemon grass if you have it (add it with the veggies and just remove it before serving).  Our plant isn't fully matured yet and it's hit or miss if I can find it at the supermarket so I just tend to use the paste because I can keep it on hand.

Directions

Scoop the thick coconut cream from the top of just one of the cans into a large stockpot set over a medium-high heat. Melt the cream, add 2 TBSP curry paste and stir for a few minutes until the mixture begins to sizzle. Add the chicken and cook about 5 minutes. Add the coconut juice from the first can and all the contents of the second can along with the chicken broth, carrot, bell pepper, lemon grass, fish sauce and lime zest and juice. Grate the ginger into the broth with a Microplane grater or standard box grater. Simmer for 20 minutes or so. Stir in the bean sprouts. Add the rice noodles, gently pushing them beneath the surface of the broth. Turn off the heat and let stand until the noodles soften, about 5 minutes. Rice noodles don’t need to simmer like pasta to cook; they simply need to rehydrated in the hot liquid. Taste and season with a touch more salt (or soy sauce) as needed. This is where I added the extra table spoon of curry paste.  Ladle into large bowls and garnish with the green onions.

My only issue with this soup is that when I went back for seconds, the noodles had soaked up ALL of the liquid.  This definitely needs to be consumed immediately after making it, which sucks because the left overs were supposed to be Jason's dinner at school the next night.   It was still one of the best tasting and easiest things I've made in a while and I will definitely make it again.  Also, it can very easily be made paleo (sub coconut aminos for soy sauce  and be sure to use paleo friendly fish sauce and curry paste).

Itadakimasu!