Pork Roast - Crockpot

Here's another of my favorites! I actually got the recipe from Mean Greens cafeteria here on campus, back before they turned vegan.

Ingredients:

• 2# pork butt shoulder (how strange swine anatomy seems!)
• 1t kosher salt
• 1t black pepper
• 1t cumin
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 4T cider vinegar
• Juice from one orange
• 2t cane sugar

Directions:

1. Mix the salt, pepper, and cumin together. 
2. Rub the dry mix on the pork.
3. Put the pork in the crockpot.
4. Mix the liquids and sugar together. Stir well. 
5. Pour them over the pork. 
6. Cook on low 8 hours. 
7. Shred the pork. 

This is amazingly delicious! I usually make rosemary-roasted root vegetables to go with it. I've also topped the shredded pork with salsa verde. Yum. :)

Breakfast

I used to rely on cold cereal (or oatmeal) with blueberries and soy milk for breakfast, and I loved it! The hardest part about switching to a Paleo diet was giving up my normal breakfast. Since I despise eggs, and I can't stomach eating dinner for breakfast, I was stumped about what to eat in the mornings. For a week or so, I ate a couple slices of ham with a handful of nuts each morning. That got old (and salty!) very quickly.

Then I came up with this recipe, and now I eat it nearly every day for breakfast.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 1T coconut oil
• 2 Aidell's chicken apple sausage, sliced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1/4" - 1/2" cubes 
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and diced into 1/4" - 1/2" cubes
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup diced onion (I use frozen diced onions for the convenience)
• 1/2 cup green beans (I use frozen cut green beans)
• 1/2 cup chopped kale (optional - I add this maybe once/week)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 dash cumin (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the diced sweet potato and diced parsnip in a microwave safe dish with 1T water. Cover loosely and microwave to 3-4 minutes, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add the onions and bell pepper. Saute.
4. Add the sausage. Saute.
5. When the sweet potatoes and parsnip are done, drain the water and add them to the skillet.
6. Add the green beans. Cook for 2 minutes.
7. Add the kale. Cook, stirring frequently, until the kale wilts.
8. Add salt, pepper, and cumin. Stir. Eat.

Tuscan Minestrone

This is adapted from Reader's Digest's "Just One Pot" cookbook (2007), p. 22. I made it last week, and Gus loved it! He said it was one of the tastiest things I'd ever cooked.

Ingredients:

• 1t olive oil
• 3 or 4 Jennie-O "Lean sweet Italian turkey sausages", cut into 1/2" slices 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup sliced green beans
• 3 leaves fresh sage, coarsely chopped
• 1 T fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 4-6 cups water (enough to nearly cover the ingredients in the pot)
• 1 cup coarsely chopped kale

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large stock pot.
2. Brown the sausage slices. 
3. Add the remaining ingredients except for the kale.
4. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over low heat for 90 minutes.
5. Add the kale. Cook for 30 minutes more.

Beef and Potato Stew

I made this yesterday, and it was pretty good!

Ingredients:

• 2T coconut or olive oil
• 1.5# beef stew meat, cut into cubes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced 
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 regular potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup beef broth broth or vegetable broth or water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1t tarragon flakes
• 1t basil flakes
• 1t rosemary, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 1T of the oil over medium-high heat in a large stock pot
2. Add the beef and brown it. Remove beef from the pot.
3. Add the other 1T of the oil to the pot. Let it melt.
4. Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, and celery to the pot and saute for a couple minutes. 
5. Add the spices (except the bay leaf). Cook for a minute or so, stirring regularly.
6. Add the sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf. Mix.
7. Return the beef to the pot. Stir everything gently.
8. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover (with the lid ajar) and simmer for 1-2 hours ('til potatoes are tender).

Chicken Curry - Crockpot

I've made this one several times, as it's so quick and easy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 1 can coconut milk (shake it well before you open it)
• 1T Thai green curry paste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 or 4 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1" chunks
• Some green beans, cut into 1" lengths

Directions:

1. Put the chicken breasts, onion, and carrots in the crock pot.
2. Combine the coconut milk and curry paste in a bowl and mix well. Pour this mixture over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Half an hour before the end, add the green beans.
4. Eat.

Alternatively, don't put the onions and carrots in the pot at the beginning. Instead, slice the carrots thinly and when the chicken is nearly done, saute the carrots and onion in coconut oil along with green beans, garlic, and lime juice. Dump the cooked chicken over the vegetable saute.

You could also serve this over basmati rice, though that's not Paleo.

Chicken Bacon Stew - Crockpot

I came up with this recipe a couple weeks ago and have made it twice now. I just finished eating some of the leftovers for lunch, and it was good enough to inspire me to share the recipe! It's basically chicken, bacon, and veggies in a crock pot. :) Prep time took about 10 minutes in the morning, and it was so nice to come home to a waiting and ready dinner! Here are the details:

Ingredients:

• 6 strips of nitrate/nitrite-free bacon, cut into small pieces
• 1.5 cups of pearl onions (I used frozen pearl onions - so convenient!)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme flakes
• 2 whole bay leaves
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 6 carrots, scrubbed and chopped into 1"-long chunks
• 1 pound (or more) chicken breasts (I used boneless, skinless frozen chicken)

Directions:

• Put the bacon in a skillet. Heat over medium-high heat and saute for a few minutes (stirring often) until the bacon starts to crisp.
• Add the garlic and pearl onions to the pan. Stir. Saute for a minute or so.
• Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, and spices. Stir and cook for a few minutes until it's nice and saucy.
• Dump the carrots in the crock pot and top with the chicken breasts.
• Pour the hot, bacony mixture over the top of the chicken.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
• Shred the chicken, discard the bay leaves, and enjoy!