Race Week and Biscuits & Gravy

It’s officially race week for the Sprouts-PHX Mesa Half Marathon and I am excited to race my third half marathon this weekend. It has been a crazy last few weeks with a household of sick kiddos and husband. I think we finally are on the mend and I am praying I do NOT get it! So I have increased my bone broth and L-glutamine intake.

Speaking of bone broth…Do you incorporate it to your everyday life? Bone broth is rich in minerals and aids in boosting the immune system and supports digestion. It is great during this time of year when sickness tends to go around. Bone broth also supports joints and for this athletic momma and it is exactly what I need. You can read more about the benefits of bone broth on Chris Kresser Benefits of Bone Broth here.

One of Rob’s favorite meals is biscuits & gravy, and lately it has been sounding good. Back in the day we would pick up those no good for you country gravy packets. Well not anymore! A mixture of coconut milk and bone broth makes a creamy gravy that is simply delicious! I hope you enjoy and comment below if you make it.

BISCUITS & GRAVY

Ingredients 

• 1.5lbs of ground turkey (I get the organic ground turkey from Costco)
• 1 can of full fat coconut milk (shake before using)
• 8oz bone broth
• 3tbsp of tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
• 1tsp Ground fennel seed
• 1tsp Ground sage
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
• Cracked Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• Olive Oil
• Immersion Blender

1. Season your Ground Turkey with fennel, sage, salt, and pepper. Cook until turkey is done. Strain and set aside.
2. With leftover grease add a little more olive oil to pan until have about 1tbsp of oil. Add 3Tbsp of tapioca starch to pan and whisk. Should make dry and some gel like substance. Add a little bone broth and continue whisking until gel forms.
3. Slowly add in coconut milk about 1/4 cup at a time. Continue to whisk and mix until all the coconut milk is added. Then slowly add in the remainder of the bone broth while whisking. The gravy should now be a little thick. You may have some gel clumps still and that is ok. Add in few dashes sage and fennel. Add in the cayenne pepper and salt/pepper to taste.
4. Pour gravy into a bowl and use an immersion blender to blend. This will take care of any gel like clumps you may left and leave you with a creamy smooth gravy!
5. Add cooked Turkey to gravy mixture and mix until combined.
6. Serve warm over biscuits (I like making Namaste Foods Drop Biscuits)

If you want to try making your own bone broth I recommend using Against All Grain Bone Broth Recipe. We use her recipe often to make bone broth, but when I run out I sometimes pick up Pacific Foods Organic Bone Broth.

Super Bowl – Protein Style

It is an early morning rise for my hubs as he fires up the Traeger. Seriously one of the best gifts we have gotten! We have honestly made so much on it. Two organic chickens at a time from Costco, Pork butt, chicken breast, gluten-free pizza, ribs, party wings, and the list can go on and on. Today our protein will consist of baby back ribs, party wings, and junior franks. All of these will come from my Costco run.

First we will be making Rob’s Famous Ribs. They are fall off the bone good! We soak the ribs overnight in Organic Unfiltered Apple Juice (I get mine from Trader Joe’s).

We then use Paleo Spirit’s Dry Rib Rub. I am all about making our own seasoning instead of a store bought combo. Rob had an idea of what he wanted so when he found this recipe for dry rib rub it was a hit. You can find the dry rib rub here. Again super easy to toss together.

In the morning we transfer the ribs into a clean pan, and pour the left over apple juice from the pan into another heat safe dish. We rub the ribs down generously with the dry rub and massage the rub in too. Pre-heat the Traeger and set the temp for 225 degrees. Arrange the  ribs bone side down and place the left over apple juice pan in the corner. We cook them for about 5 hours. At hour 4 we spread some Annie’s Organic Sweet and Spicy BBQ sauce on top and let them finish cooking the last hour. Wrap in parchment paper and let rest. If need to transport them, wrapping in parchment paper is the way to go too.

We will also be doing up some party wings.  I like to keep my wing seasoning simple, but tasty. I toss my party wings in a tablespoon or two of Avocado Oil. I season them with himalayan salt and cracked pepper. That is it my friends! I then will serve them with a side of Frank’s Red Hot for those that would like a sauce with theirs. Otherwise, they are just as good with the simple seasoning. Today though I used some of the leftover rib rub with these wings. They turned out delicious!

Lastly will be Teton Waters Ranch (TWR) uncured beef junior franks. You can’t go wrong with TWR. I have loved everything I have tried from them so far! I will throw these in a crock pot and call it good to go! They go great with some mustard on the side. Just the way I like them! I will also serve them with side dishes of organic ketchup and Annie’s  organic sweet and spicy BBQ sauce for those that would prefer to eat them a different way. I try to keep my ingredients I use or offer to be fairly clean.  Remembering it is a party and not an everyday lifestyle way of eating.

I will also be making up Wellness Mama’s Broccoli Slaw to go along with these dishes. I am made a double batch for the crew. The great thing about this, is you can make it the night before. It allows the dressing to soak in. Plus it also makes great leftovers the following days! I use her recipe with homemade mayo and omit the honey. I did use homemade mayo for this even though I used store bought for my Chicken Salad. 99% of the time I make my own, but with cooking all day and already making a batch of mayo, I was tapped out! Honestly this was the first time I bought mayo in over 4 years. It will not be an always occurrence, but came in handy!

Makings of a great Super Bowl evening! I hope your evening was one of great laughter too.

Chicken Salad

It is Super Bowl weekend and I am looking forward to cheering on the Atlantic Falcons! I will also be spending my Sunday morning up at the mountains for a trail run. It will then be time to prep for our Super Bowl party. We will be watching the game, playing cards, and enjoying this beautiful Arizona weather.

We have a lot on our super bowl menu this year. I will be sharing some of my recipes with you all over the next few days. I am starting us out with making chicken salad to snack on. It is great with celery, on lettuce leaves, or even with some rice crackers. I made a big batch because one I already have a big family and two we are have guest coming!!

Trail Mamma’s Chicken Salad

• 2lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast (organic if can)
• Minced Onion
• 1 1/4 cup chopped Celery
• 1 cup of quartered Grapes
• Walnuts – couple handfuls to your liking  *Optional
• 10 TBSP Mayonnaise or more if needed
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Garlic
• Salt/Pepper

1. Cook chicken with minced onion, garlic, salt and pepper. When chicken is cooked through set aside to cool. I even make my chicken the night before. Then shred the chicken.

2. Cut up the celery and grapes and set aside with the walnuts

3. In a big bowl mix the chicken and mayonnaise untiled combined. Add in a himalayan salt, ground pepper, ground oregano, thyme, and garlic powder until your liking. For me it is usually a few shakes of each. Add in the celery and mix. Fold in the walnut pieces if you  are adding. I only use a couple handfuls of walnuts and break up the pieces with my hands. Finally add in the grapes and give one last stir.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as we do. Makes for great snacks and quick lunches throughout the week too!

Hello Autumn- Bring on the Chili

Finally  my favorite time of year has arrived – Autumn! I love everything about this season from the weather to the holidays. Oh and you cannot forget FOOTBALL. Along with football comes my delicious crockpot chili. For me I can eat a bowl of chili and a side salad all week long.

Seriously Rob and I are totally on par. As I was sitting here writing the title of this blog post, Rob pops into the room to say this:

Rob – “You know what sounds so good right now?”

Me- “No dear, what?”

Rob – “A bowl of Chili”

Me – “Are you serious, I am totally blogging about my chili recipe right now”

So you know what will be going on the menu for the upcoming week 🙂

The best part about this chili is I can ground up the meat and then throw everything in the crockpot to simmer the rest of the day until dinner. My kiddos call this “hot” chili. Although not too extremely hot, it is pretty delicious with a kick!

Crockpot Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 8 garlic cloves
• 4lbs of meat ( I use grassfed beef or organic ground turkey)
• 2- 6oz cans of tomato paste
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2- 8oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes
• 4tbsp chili powder
• 4tbsp of cumin
• 1tbsp grade b maple syrup (optional)
• 1 bottle of hard cider
• 1/8-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper depending on your liking
• basil
• oregano
• salt
• ground pepper
• 2 cans of black beans (optional)-drain and rinse
• Mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

1. In skillet add either oil or butter and chopped onion. Cooked onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add ground meat and cook until browned. While meat is cooking sprinkle in basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
2. Blend fire-roasted tomatoes in blender and pulse a few times ( you may skip this step and just add to the crockpot. I prefer my tomatoes more pureed)
3. In crockpot pour in hard cider, and mix in the tomato paste
4. Add in fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce, and maple syrup. Mix until combined
5. Add in chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle in more oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix until incorporated.
6. Add in cooked ground meat.
7. Set temperature to low and cook for 5-6 hours, or until heated through.

There are several ways you can add chili to the menu during the week. Here are some of my favorite ways. Although, my favorite way is to serve it in a bowl with crushed plantain chips on top!

Baked Potato and Chili

Chili Dog Style

Halloween Style – Chili, goat gouda cheese, and hotdog cut up like and octopus.

Now go enjoy a bowl of chili because I know I will!

** edited 2/20/18 To add in black beans and mushrooms. Loving them in my chili. I currently omit the maple syrup in my chili now too.

Gluten-Free Mac N Cheese

I decided to throw in a pasta meal this past weekend as my husband was running an international triathlon, and I wanted to add in some extra carbs. I typically get organic brown rice pasta from Trader Joe’s from time to time. This visit to the store I came across this new pasta they have. It is organic brown rice and quinoa pasta. Let me tell you, it was delicious. Such a hit that even all my kiddos ate it up. Which is huge as my youngest two are typically not pasta fans since they were not introduced to it until they were well past 3 years old. We are just starting to add in some different foods to our daily diets and see how we do with them; Gluten-Free pasta is one of them.

I made a really easy Mac and cheese, that I am sharing with you all today. We served it along with buffalo chicken. You can certainly make it into a cheesy tuna casserole too, or whatever else you come up with! 

Ingredients:

1. Package of Organic Brown Rice and Quinoa Pasta
2. 1/4 cup of coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk or whole milk)
3. 1/2 cup of Bulgarian Yogurt ( I used White Mountain)
4. Approx. 2 cups of Raw Milk Cheese (or goat gouda)

Directions

1. Boil pasta according to package instructions. I used himalayan salt in my water while it boiled. Added the pasta and stir continuously until was done. I cooked it for 7 minutes and drained.
2. In same pan over med-med low heat add in 1/4 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup of Bulgarian Yogurt and stir until combined. Slowly add a little bit of shredded cheese at at time until melted and combined. Continue until all the cheese is combined.
   

   

   3. Remove from heat and add pasta back in to pan and stir to combine with sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic.

4. Dish up and Enjoy!

 

Tuna Salad

Wow it has been awhile since I have posted. I have been compiling my blog post, but haven’t blocked out the time to post them. With the school year in full force, it has been crazier then what I expected. Dropping kiddos off at two different schools and then taking my youngest back four days a week in the afternoon for speech/language class has me on my toes. Plus Rob and I both training for triathlons coming up makes it hectic right now, but I am loving every minute of it. So I am trying to dedicate more time to my blogging!

With things keeping me busy I need something I can easily grab quickly and eat on the go if needed. There are times I am working out right up until I have to go pick up the youngest  two in the morning. I don’t like to wait until I get back home before I get something into my body to eat after working out. So lately it has been tuna salad. I eat it with plantain chips, apples, celery, or cucumbers. It is refreshing and hits the spot every time!

I make my own mayo that you can find here. Feel free to substitute with a healthy store bought one too.

TUNA SALAD

Ingredients:

• 3 cans of tuna ( I like Wild Albacore Tuna that I get from Costco)
• Chop fresh onion or a handful of shakes of dried chopped onion
• 1 tsp of ground fennel ( I use whole seed and ground in a pepper shaker)
• Himalayan salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1 cup of mayo

Directions:

1. Empty tuna into bowl and break up with a fork
2. Add seasonings and mix in
3. Add the mayo and mix until combined

Serve with apples, plantain chips, celery sticks, or put make a cucumber sandwich.

Enjoy!

 

Cast Iron Chicken Dinner

Having a cast iron is a must in my house. I have three 12inch cast iron skillets and two 6.5inch cast iron skillets. I have cooked several dishes in them, baked desserts, and even take them camping with us! Bonus, they are super easy to clean with just hot water.

Tonight it’s Chicken Dinner. Quick and easy meal to throw together and make. I used bone-in chicken thighs and coated them with Kerrygold Butter, mustard, salt/pepper, and sage seasoning. Make sure you get under the skin too. You can certainly season them however you like. Couple of ways I have done them are: avocado oil, salt, and pepper. Butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. Be creative!

Place chicken thighs in cast iron skillet, and cook in oven. I used 2 cast irons and made 8 chicken thighs. Cook at 425 degrees until chicken temps at 165 degrees (approx 45-50 minutes). I also cooked my cauliflower pop at the same time. Set those aside to rest.

Next I microwaved my sweet potatoes and russet potatoes in my Pampered Chef round cover baker for approx. 6 minutes. Remember to poke your potatoes before cooking. I miss my double oven because I would have otherwise cooked my potatoes in the oven at the same time as well.

While the chicken was cooking in the oven, fired up the grill and made grilled veggies and chicken wings since I was already meal prepping for the week. Otherwise you could do this whole meal on the grill too!

I lightly drizzle avocado oil on top of the raw zucchini, carrot, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in grill veggie rack. Grill up until zucchini is done. About 3 minutes and stir. Then cook for about 2 more minutes. I like my veggies a little crunch still, if you don’t then cook them a little longer.

You can easily warm up leftovers in the cast iron on the stove or oven the next day.

Enjoy this delicious wholesome dish.

Weekly Menu for May 21-27

It is that time again to plan for weekly meals and grocery shop. Right now my meal plans are running Saturday thru Friday with the following Saturday being my grocery shopping day and meal prep. It worked out perfect for me this week!

I have been dedicating myself to a new goal of waking up early (5am) and getting my workout in and daily prayer. So far it has been a great goal for me. I am enjoying my workouts with the hubby as well as some time to spend in prayer before the day gets busy. I love the feeling of accomplishment and the ability to dive into my day. It has helped with my sleep quality too. The weekends are no different. I was up and ready to go. I did my menu planning the day before so I just had to plug in my groceries into my Wunderlist App and away I went. If you haven’t check out this app yet you really should!

I took one of my older daughters with me this morning. She was a great helper. I really enjoy getting my kiddos involved in planning, shopping, preparing of our food. We rocked it; 3 stores in 2 1/2 hours! Really shorter than that since Trader Joes is at about 30 minutes in just driving one way. Van full of great clean, wholesome food! Oh and plus couldn’t forget the Traeger pellets so we can smoke the brisket we picked up.  

We unloaded the van when we got home, grabbed a quick snack and got to work. Here is our menu for the week.

My older girls were in charge of preparing and making all snacks. This menu that included Mini Banana Muffins, Jello (Against All Grain), Sunbutter Balls, and Chocolate Avocado Pudding (Delighted Momma). I included the links for the recipes I use.

There you have it, happy menu planning or feel free to use mine! I am ready to get this week start. Remember keep it simple…Keep it clean.

Sio Pao-Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour

It has been a busy week of preparing for end of the school year in my household. So I took some time off from blogging these past couple days to take care of some family things. Kids sure are ready for their short summer break to begin, and the older 3 kiddos first kid triathlon to take place! Today I am sharing a family recipe for a traditional Filipino dish called Sio Pao. A family favorite we sure have missed eating.

Sio Pao is a traditional steam bun filled with pork adobo. Although you can choose any number of filling you would like. We have done chicken and also a breakfast bacon/eggs Sio Pao. We haven’t been able to enjoy them for many years since we changed our eating habits to be gluten-free/paleo. Thanks to Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour, we can now enjoy our family’s favorite recipe!

I can say my hubby is one happy man to be able to finally enjoy one of his family’s recipes he had growing up!

I can say this recipe gave me many headaches trying to figure out the right amount of moisture needed when replacing flour with the cassava flour. I can say though it turned out great and taste just like I remember. I am excited to share the recipe with you today!

Sio Pao- Gluten-free/Nut-free/Paleo

Ingredients:

Dough

1. 3/4 cup lukewarm water
2. 1 tbsp raw unfiltered honey
3. 1 tsp dry active yeast
4. 1 1/2 tbsp lard or organic palm shortening
5. 2 1/4 cups Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour
6. 1/4 cup coconut sugar
7. 1 tsp baking powder
8. 1/4 tsp himalayan salt

Pork Adobo

1. 2lbs pork shoulder
2. 4 garlic cloves-minced
3. 1 onion
4. 5 bay leaves
5. 1/2 cup coconut aminos
6. cracked pepper and himalayan salt to taste

Make the dough first.

Whisk honey and lukewarm water until combined. Then add yeast and mix until dissolved. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Whisk 1 egg and set aside.

Combine Cassava flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut lard or palm shortening ( do not use oil it will not work) into flour mixture.

Mix yeast mixture and egg with dry ingredients. 

Knead dough until smooth; about 5-10 minutes.

If dough is still too dry add 1/4 tsp of filtered water at a time and continue to knead. Add a little at a time until  you have smooth texture. (I added in a total of 3/4 tsp water).  Form dough into ball.

Oil a large bowl and and put the ball of dough inside. Cover with cheese cloth and set aside for 1 hour. Dough will slightly rise but not very much.

Divide dough into 12-16 balls. flatten each ball out by hand. Add about 1 tbsp of filling of your choice. If you have kiddos this is a great time to have them help too!

Fold up and pinch off. Cut 2 inch square parchment papers with holes on the bottom. Arrange each Sio Pao on top of a pice of parchment paper.

Arrange Sio Pao with parchment paper in steamer. 

Place cheese cloth over steamer and place lid on top. This will prevent condensation from the lid leaking onto the Sio Pao. Steam for 20-25 minutes. Until dough is “springy”

Arrange on wire rack to let cool. Serve warm. Place extras in fridge and steam again to eat, or place leftovers in freezer until later date.

 

Pork Adobo

You can make the Pork Adobo as the dough is resting for an hour. Cut up pork shoulder into cubes. Place cubed pork shoulder and all remaining ingredients into deep pan. 

Cover and let simmer for approx. 1 hour until pork is fork tender (easily pulls apart with fork).

Let cool and then use as filling for Sio Pao with sliced hard boiled eggs. See how I make my hard boiled eggs here. You can also serve this over cauliflower rice for a complete meal!

Pizza Casserole

I remember one of the greatest most helpful things people did for me when on bedrest and after having the twins was dinners. It really helped me out and made things a little easier on me. One of my kiddos favorite dishes brought over from my older sister was Pizza Casserole. It is easy to make and can be also done as a freezer meal. I had an idea how she made it but called her up to get more specifics. I also was going to make it with rice noodles (bonus she said she has made it that way too and turned out well). With rice noodles you want to be certain not to over cook them. I make mine until they are just about done since it will still go into the oven to finish off. If you like more of saucy pizza you can increase the pizza sauce amount.

We enjoyed this casserole for lunch with a side salad. I used the leftovers today for school lunch. I love that my kiddos are not picky about having certain food being hot or cold! I am sharing how I made the recipe below.

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients

• 16oz bag of rice noodles or Brown Rice and Quinoa Pasta ( I get mine from Trader Joe’s)
• 2-2.5lbs of ground turkey ( can also use beef)
• Pepperoni
• 2- 15oz cans of pizza sauce ( I use this brand)
• Goat Gouda Cheese- or Raw Milk Cheese (I shred myself and get from Trader Joe’s)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Basil
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Garlic powder

Oil a 9×13 pan and set aside. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

* next time I will double the meat and sauce and split into 2 dishes using the same amount of rice noodles. I personally like more meat sauce compared to the noddles.

Grab your meat and noodles.

Cook your pasta until just done. I cooked for approx. 7 minutes.  Drain and rinse.

As the pasta was cooking, I also cooked the ground turkey. Add a little avocado oil to the pan and add the turkey. I sprinkled in the seasonings. You can also use Italian seasoning, but I didn’t have any on hand. Sorry I didn’t measure, just eye balled it.

Once the meat is done cooking add in the pizza sauce to the cooked meat.

Grease the pan and add some sauce mix to the bottom. Then layer noodles, meat mixture, pepperoni, and cheese. Repeat layers. 

Bake in oven at 350 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let cool. Dish out onto plates and serve! I served mine also with a side salad.

Kiddos took the leftovers today in their lunchbots for school lunch. Served with strawberries and broccoli slaw. 

Enjoy a great twist on making pizza. Yum!

*I did edit this post 4/2017 to make changes to double the meat and sauce in recipe as I stated above!