Christmas Kid Party Kababs!

I have twins in first grade and was asked to contribute specific items for the holiday party... 24 paper plates?  No problem!  24 fruit kabobs.....sigh.  There are tons of super cute ideas on the net that are easier...but somehow I got snowmen on the brain and they just had to be.  I am NOT a food photographer, and I could have tried a little harder to make the picture cuter, but I still have a dozen of these bad boys to go, and they are supposed to be at school TOMORROW, not Wednesday like I thought.

I didn't have a melon baller, so I used a tablespoon for the big sections and a teaspoon for the head... 1/2 a grape for the hat brim, and another grape for the top of the hat.  Raisin bits made up the eyes and buttons.  (cut in long halves, pre-poke the hole beforehand with an extra skewer.)  And little slivers of carrots for the nose!  I had all kinds of ideas with apples, apple bits, watermelon mittens even... but these were what I ended up with tonight.  They did keep getting cuter and cuter...I'm sure some super pinter-person will do them up even nicer and get great pics.

Whole 30 Chicken Pot Pie!!

No kidding! 

Pot Pie is one of those recipes where there are endless attempts to "paleotize" the crust or the rich, gravy like filling... And some look beautiful, but that doesn't fly when you're on a Whole30.  Well, I am wrapping up the end of the first week of a whole30, so they didn't work for me.  And I have leftover chicken...

What I came up with is a little more involved than I usually do, but I wanted a rich base to hold it all together, and I didn't want to use any nuts or thickeners at all.  So it's not a pie... but it's the flavor of the pot pie I love, not the crust, so really- do we need it? Paleotized or not?  I think not, and I also think it turned out absolutely delish.

Paleo Pot Pie

2 cups bone broth
a few split pigs feet - optional?
1 heaping teaspoon lard

1-2 T of oil of choice (coconut or rendered fat is what I tend to use)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup diced sweet potatoes

3+ cups chopped leftover chicken (or whatever you have on hand)

1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sage
S&P to taste

First:  Simmer the two cups of stock until reduced to 3/4 cup or so.... I wanted it RICH, so I added a split pig's foot and my carrot and onion trimmings and simmered it covered until the liquid was reduced to somewhere between 3/4 and 1 cup.
Strain out the solids and bring it back to a simmer.  (make sure its hot)  Then remove from heat and whisk in a heaping tablespoon of cold fat.... I was aiming for the richness obtained when this is done with butter, without the butter... eh, maybe it was just adding a little good fat, whatever, the final dish worked...so I'll stick with this.

Next:  In a large frying pan... brown the chopped onion in oil... then add all the other chopped veggies and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften.

Then: stir in the chopped leftover chicken and stir in.  Add thyme, sage, S&P and stir.
Stir in the reduced cup of stock and adjust for taste.  (I also added a smidge of marjoram)
Pour into a greased pie pan and press it in nice and snug.
Cover with foil.

Bake in 350F oven for about an hour... let set for a few minutes and then be amazed.

(If you don't want to mess with reducing stock...I guess you could cook a little bit of sweet potato or turnip or something in about a cup of broth or stock, smush it up, and use that instead...)

Beef and Butternut Soup

Photo credit to Angie!  :o)

I should call this post "Basic Soup 101" because most of my soup endeavors start off about the same.  One chopped onion, 1 pound ground beef, 1 can chopped tomatoes, 1 can tomato paste, and as much stock as you can fit in the pot.  After that, anything goes.  Today I finished off some mushrooms and carrots, added some spices, set it to simmer in my favorite cast iron skillet, and headed to Costco....where I found pre-diced butternut squash!  I added half the package to the pot when I got home and simmered a little more until the squash was tender.  I saved a serving for Angie to try, and smashed the rest of the squash before I served it to my kids.  They think they don't like pumpkin or things that look like pumpkin.... HA.  

Basic soup:

1 onion, chopped

1 lb. ground beef

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

Beef stock - 4 cups approx.

S&P+other spices

Brown onion and ground beef in a few T of your oil of choice... (I use fat rendered from making bone stock....can't beat it!) I also use pretty lean ground beef-- if you use fattier beef you may not need oil, drain excess if needed.

ADD OTHER VEGGIES!

Today, I added chopped carrots and mushrooms, pepper, and about a teaspoon of mixed italian blended spices.

Add chopped tomatoes and paste

Stir to mix well and add broth or stock.  I just aim to fill the pot... for me and my stock pot that's about 4 cups.  

Simmer on low until done.  Or until you come back from the store and add:

2 cups diced butternut squash

...in which case, simmer until squash is tender.  

Salt to taste and enjoy!  

Veggie Pork Soup

Nothing warms me up in winter like a delicious soup. And with busy evenings full of cross country skiing, girl scouts, and swimming nothing beats walking in the door and having a hot meal ready to eat. My idea for this soup came from a recipe I saw for sage pork chops. The seasonings go well with the ground pork and vegetables and taste even better the next day. Make extra for packed lunches; my girls ate it all week!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup cabbage, chopped
• 1 cup roasted winter squash or sweet potato, cubed
• 4-6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 1/2 tsp sage
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Fry ground pork until cooked through.
3. Add the meat and all remaining ingredients to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. Serve hot.

French Dijon Chicken and Green Beans

Since learning of the paleo lifestyle, I have been a fan of Melissa Joulwan at www.theclothesmakethegirl.com. I am an even bigger fan since getting my hands on her cookbook, Well Fed. She presents two ideas in her book that have been just as valuable to me as the recipes themselves. First, she talks about a weekly cookup: spending time every weekend preparing food for the week. This has become a Sunday morning ritual in my house. Each of us picks out a dinner recipe to make through the week, set a timer, and spend the next hour laughing and having fun in the kitchen. The girls are responsible for cutting veggies for packed lunches and the dinner recipes we selected while I roast and fry up meats and prep some of the more complicated items. Her second concept is then using these prepped meats and vegetables to create super quick meals by simply heating and adding seasoning or a sauce.

I'd love to take credit for this creamy delicious dish, but Melissa's "Hot Plate" ideas inspired my 10-year old Sunshine to create this recipe all on her own.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 1 T coconut oil
• 3 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 4 cups fresh green beans, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup baby tomatoes
• 1/4 cup spicy dijon mustard (check ingredients to ensure it's paleo-friendly)
• 1/3 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 tsp tarragon
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
2. Stir chicken into the hot oil. If chicken is pre-cooked, continue to the next step. Otherwise, stir fry chicken until cooked through.
3. Add green beans, carrots, and tomatoes. Fry 3-5 minutes. 
4. While veggies are cooking, mix remaining ingredients together to make a sauce.
5. Pour sauce over chicken and veggies. Mix well.
6. Cook until vegetables reach a desired softness. (We prefer them still crunchy!)
7. Serve immediately.