Recipe: Paleo/Primal Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers...

Happy unofficial start of Fall! I looooooove Fall. Sweater weather, fire pits, hard ciders, regular ciders, crunchy leaves, mums, everything. Lucky for us, we were rewarded with cooler weather starting on Labor Day. Obviously helpful for running, this was also a big help since we needed to have our windows open. Why?

We built a table!

Yup. I finally have a dining table. And it's basically my dream table. Except it cost me about $150 at Home Depot instead of costing $1700 at Crate and Barrel like I always believed it would. We followed the instructions found at ana-white.com, here.

It was definitely a two-day project, in part because some of the glued and stained portions took a while to dry, and in part because we had to make a few trips to HD, but it was much easier than I thought. And now, I have a dining table!! The husband and I can actually sit and enjoy a meal and conversation rather than eating on the couch, ignoring each other, while the dog stares and begs.

Our table ready to host its first meal!

So, what better to do with a new table? A new meal! I took some rough inspiration and came up with this (very easy) recipe for Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers. If you're a cheese eater, use cheese. If not, don't. 

Paleo Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast
• 2 Green bell peppers
• 2 Cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/2 white or yellow onion
• garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
• 1/2 Cup hot sauce (I use Chalula)
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 Cup almond milk
• 1/2 Cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Put chicken breast in crockpot. Pour broth over, and add water as needed until chicken is just covered. Add a few dashes of garlic powder. Chop onion into large chunks and add to crockpot. Cook chicken for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

After cooked, pour out broth and use two forks to shred chicken. 

Preheat oven to 350.

In pot over low heat, melt butter, add hot sauce and milk. Stir until melted and well blended. Add chicken and onions to pot, stir to coat. (1/2 Cup hot sauce will make a mild-to-medium spice. Adjust accordingly when making buffalo sauce.)

Remove core and seeds from green peppers, slice in half and lay halves in a casserole dish. Scoop buffalo coated chicken into each pepper half. Fill until slightly mounded. 

If adding cheese, remove peppers after 25 minutes, cover with cheese and bake and additional 5. If you're not using cheese, just bake for 30 minutes. 

Let cool, enjoy.

Recipe: Grapefruit Sangria! (Paleo-ish)

I have not solved the mysterious failure-to-run bug. In fact, I spent the last two days laying on my couch with some sort of head cold. Which obviously doesn't help the situation at all. 

Ah well, let's focus on fun stuff. Monday night was girls' night. We hopped on match.com, updated a friend's profile, and sent lots of winks on her behalf. Yes, we are wild.  The food for the evening? Well, as host, I can tell you it wasn't wild, but it was delicious! We enjoyed my Paleo Sausage Mushroom balls (recipe here), a yummy tomato, mozzarella, basil, red onion and balsamic salad (am I the only person who can NEVER spell mozzarella properly??), and, my new creation, Grapefruit Sangria! (promptly pronounced delicious and blogable by my friends).

I call it Paleo-ish because of course, alcohol goes in the grey area. And it contains vodka, which is grey as well... but! you can find vodka that is not grain-distilled, AND, you have to enjoy life, right?? What is good about this... NO simple syrup, NO sugar. So whatevs... leave out the vodka. I don't care if  you miss out. 

Grapefruit Sangria

Ingredients

• 3 Cups grapefruit juice 
• 1 Cup vodka
• 1 bottle Riesling (use one that isn't super-sweet)
• 1/2 Grapefruit
• 1 orange
• 1 peach

Mix liquid ingredients together. Chop fruits to desired size and add to pitcher. Let rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours so the flavors blend together. Enjoy!

Recipe: Paleo Beef and Broccoli

Seems like a lot of CrossFit peeps are starting up Paleo challenges. I keep seeing it pop up in my Twitter feed, and it dawned on me that I have a fantastically easy, and delicious recipe to share! Why I've never shared this before, I don't know. It was almost Paleo right from the start...

I call it Pepper Steak because that's what my mom called it. But it tastes like Beef with Broccoli, or some other delicious Chinese food dish, just without the creepy stuff that sneaks into the sauces. You could serve this with some riced cauliflower, fruit, salad, whatever...  yum!

Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients

• 1 lb round steak
• 1/4 Cup oil (use coconut or olive)
• 1/2 Cup chopped onion
• 1 green pepper cut into bite sized slices
• 1-2 Cups chopped broccoli
• 1 Cup beef broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• Red Pepper flakes to taste
• 1 Tbsp wheat free soy sauce or coconut aminos
• 1-2 tsp arrowroot powder
• 1 clove garlic or equivalent garlic powder

Directions

Cut steak into thin slices approximately two inches long. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic, allow to cook a few minutes. Add meat and cook, turning as needed, until browned.

Add onion, green pepper, broccoli, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. I usually use about 2 tsp worth, but adjust this according to your desired level of spiciness, or leave out all together.  Cook over medium heat, stirring, until vegetables are just tender. 

Blend broth and soy or aminos. Stir in arrowroot. Pour over mixture in skillet. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat, stirring constantly until sauce reached desired thickness.   (If you're like me and occasionally make your sauce too thick (arrowroot can be tricky), don't panic, just stir together a little more broth and sauce, and add it in).

Recipe: Paleo Beef Stroganoff

Comfort food. Those certain meals that just make you happy. They take you back to childhood. They always make your tummy happy. They are pretty much NEVER paleo-approved.

I love, love, love beef stroganoff. Numerous elementary school projects show my adorable childish handwriting on an "about me" list announcing my favorite food to be beef stroganoff.  Our version wasn't the cheapest, but certainly wasn't the fanciest. The two main ingredients were sour cream and Cream of Mushroom soup.

When I went wheat-free, and about 90% paleo, I started reading labels, well, the rare labels because we try hard to avoid packaged foods. And when I picked up the can of Campbell's condense Cream of Mushroom soup, my heart sank. All kinds of crap, and definitely wheat. I tried making stroganoff with the few gluten-free Cream of Mushroom soups I could find, but nothing tasted quite right. So tonight, I decided to experiment.

This turned out so well, the hubs deemed it better than the original, and 100% blog-worthy. And, oops, we enjoyed it so much, we didn't get a picture until it was half-eaten!  Remember, we are dairy-consuming paleo-ites.   Without further ado...

Ingredients

• 2/3 C. Beef Stock
• 1/3 C. Almond milk
• 2 Tbsp Almond flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 4 oz. mushrooms, diced
• 16 oz. sour cream (I used Horizon organic)
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika

• At least 1 pound steak (round or skirt)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• Large pinch or dash Garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a small bowl, combine beef stock and almond milk. Add almond flour and mix in until dissolved. Add salt and onion powder and mix well. Stir in diced mushrooms. Set aside.

Cut steak into thin strips, no more than one inch wide (should be thin and essentially bite-sized). Place the butter or olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and steak. Season with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until steak is browned. 

Drain meat.  Add your mushroom 'soup' mixture, sour cream, and paprika. Stir until sour cream has mixed in. 

Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. For a thicker sauce, uncover for the last 15 minutes, and allow to stand for 5-10 minutes after done cooking. 

If desired, this can be served with a pasta substitute.

Enjoy!!

Maybe next time, we'll take a picture *before* we eat it. Doubtful.

Recipe: Paleo Sausage Mushroom Balls...

First, Jenn (aka The Wife), is awesome. She's a fellow military spouse, has an adorable kiddo, and whips up some awesome recipes. A while back, she shared a recipe for Sausage Mushroom Bites, and they were delicious!!  Check out the original recipe here and check out the rest of her blog while you're at it!

However... her sausage bites are designed to sit in little phylo dough cups. Not so wheat-free or paleo. So, I took the lead from her recipe and came up with this little gem...  can't lie, when I popped the first one in my mouth, I actually said, "Oh holy shit." I know, pardon my potty mouth.  I served these to a friend during the Super Bowl and she agreed they were awesome.

Remember, we are dairy consuming Paleo-ites.. I always recommend Cabot cheese... which are naturally gluten and lactose free! This can easily be made without the cheese.

 Not the best picture, but they taste better than they look!

Sausage Mushroom Balls

Ingredients
1 pound (package) ground sausage
1/4 Cup almond flour
4 oz. white mushrooms, finely diced
1 Cup shredded sharp cheddar
(You could also use 1/4 Cup finely chopped spinach, or sub it for the cheddar)

Preheat oven to 375.

Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix well. (Go ahead, get those hands dirty!). Scoop out portions and roll into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 18 minutes or until done.

Makes roughly 30 balls.