Last year on Black Friday I purchased myself a cast iron Dutch oven.  Mine is a beautiful teal because I like colorful cookware. I had previously purchased a cheap, non-stick dutch oven from Kroger because I needed one for a recipe. Well I loved using it so I’ve been wanting to upgrade to a cast iron version plus I am always on the lookout for more recipes. Thanks to Google, I discovered Everyday Dutch Oven and it’s plethora of recipes!  Just the other day I was cleaning out my fridge and noticed I had a jar of pesto so I decided to try the Pesto Chicken Breast.  I love the smell of pesto. Even my picky son could not wait for dinner. I will have to say though that while the dish was tasty it also had to be one of the un-prettiest dishes I have ever made.    So no pictures unfortunately.  I did have some leftovers which are pretty darn tasty in some scrambled eggs!

Pesto Chicken Breasts
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tub or jar of prepared pesto sauce (I use Artisian Fresh Pesto from Sam’s Club)
3-4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs
3-4 Tbsp melted butter
1. Lightly oil your dutch oven.
2. Place chicken breasts in bottom of dutch oven.
3. Spread chicken with pesto sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Melt butter and mix with bread crumbs.
5. Sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs over chicken and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Last time this year my husband returned home from a six month deployment.  He had missed out of my paleo experiment but I was able to introduce him to some of the recipes I discovered while he was gone.   Well one day I was at Dorothy Lane Market and they had butternut squash on sale.  I decided to pick one up even though I had no planned recipe in mind.   Well we all know that I fell in love with the Skirt Steak with Chive Butter I found from The Food Lovers Kitchen website.  I decided I was going to make that for the husband and I wanted a butternut squash side dish.  I found one in a catalog for spices that sounded easy to prepare.  I made it, we loved it, and here it is for all of you:

ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time:  30 minutes
Serves 4
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch chunks
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 – 1/2 tsp salt, optional – to tast
1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 TBS balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400. Arrange the squash in a single layer in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat. Roast at 400 until soft and the edges begin to brown, usually about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg for final 10 minutes of cooking. Remove from the oven and toss with salt and balsamic vinegar.

Nutritional Info:
Serving Size 3/4 cup (152g)
Calories 80
Calories from fat 60
Total fat 6g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 125mg
Carbohydrate 5g
Dietary Fiber 2g
Sugars 4g
Protein 2g

Oh and before I forget!  One kitchen gadget that makes my life a little bit easier is the Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer. I used put anything that needed to be coated in olive oil in a bowl and dumped in more than the required amount of oil to coat it. With the Misto, I can spray ingredients like cubed butternut squash easily. I love it because I use less oil and I can fill the non-aerosol, BPA free can with high quality, organic olive oil.

Skirt Steak with Chive Butter with Pear and Walnut Salad

This is another recipe flashback from my venture into paleo cooking.  I can’t say I was successful at being 100% paleo but I found a lot of recipes I really enjoyed.  People who NEED to eat paleo for medical reasons have my complete and utter respect because it is not easy!  I have found that a lot of my Go-To recipes are not doable.  My friend and I are trying to follow the 30 Day Intro to Paleo Meal Plan from The Food Lovers Kitchen.  It has not been easy for either of us but we are learning some incredible skills along the way along with some amazing recipes and techniques.

I have previously made the Skirt Steak with Chive Butter and quelle surprise!  3/4 of my picky kids ate it.  I loved it – so simple yet flavorful.  Unfortunately I have been unable to find skirt steak anywhere for over a week now!  I had to substitute Top Round which isn’t as good but it works. I guess.  I’m not a meat snob but I can tell I prefer skirt steak over top round.  Does that make me a meat snob?

Chive Butter Ingredients

• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 lb Skirt Steak
• 1 Tbsp Chives, chopped
• 3 Tbsp Butter, Unsalted, room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat grill to high heat.
2. Rinse skirt steak under cold water, and pat dry with a paper towel.
3. Cut skirt steak into 3 pieces of equal length.
4. Sprinkle each side generously with sea salt.
5. Grill for 3 minutes per side.
6. Remove from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
7. While steak is resting, whisk butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and chives with a fork.
8. Slice steak against the grain.
9. Top with chive butter and serve.

The first time I made this, I made the Pear and Walnut Salad to accompany it.  If you are interested in trying out the Paleo lifestyle, I totally recommend the 30 Day Intro e-book.
 
Pear & Walnut Salad Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Dried Cherries
• 2 Bosc Pear, very ripe
• 3/4 cup Walnuts, Organic
• 5 cup Spring Mix Salad Greens, mixed spring greens

Directions

1. Cut pears into chunks, chop walnuts, and slice cherries in half.
2. Toss with spring greens.
3. Serve with Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Raspberry Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp Spicy Brown Mustard
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 Tbsp Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

1. Pour vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil into a jar.
2. Shake vigorously until all ingredients are evenly combined.
3. Toss lightly with your choice of salad.

Beef and Bok Choy Stir Fry

This time last year I was trying to live more paleo to help support my friend who is hoping a paleo diet might alleviate the pain associated with her endometriosis.  This was a recipe I made. I found it at RealSimple.com and I really enjoyed it.  The flavors were delicious, it was very easy to make, and my kids enjoyed it.  I made it with a brown rice/wild rice mix instead of the long-grain white rice. 


Beef and Bok Choy Stir-Fry
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1  cup  long-grain white rice
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  pound  flank steak, thinly sliced
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4  heads baby bok choy, quartered
• 1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons  rice vinegar
• 1  tablespoon  grated fresh ginger
• 1  tablespoon  brown sugar

Directions

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the steak with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
3. Cook the steak, turning often, until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
4. Wipe out the skillet. Add the bok choy and ¼ cup water and simmer, covered, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and sugar. Add to the bok choy in the skillet and bring to a boil.
6. Add the steak and any accumulated juices and cook, tossing, until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve over the rice.

Sweet Potato Bread

During our first year here in Ohio, we experimented growing sweet potatoes. Actually what happened is I bought a sweet potato plant, stuck it in the garden, it overtook a large portion of said garden, and then we dug up a TON of sweet potatoes. That was 2011. Just last week I FINALLY used up the last of the sweet potato puree I made and froze back in 11/11 according to the bag.

This is just a small amount of our harvest.

I decided I wanted to make some sweet potato bread and muffins. I don't know why. I just wanted some homemade sweet bread goodness! Plus who doesn't want to make something that uses cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar? As you can imagine my house smelled heavenly while these babies were baking.

So to christen my new blog I'm going to share the recipe I used. Please note that I skipped the first two steps because I already had my sweet potato puree.

Sweet Potato Bread
Makes 3 mini loaves or 24 muffins

¾ cup Butter, softened
2¼ cups Firmly packed Brown Sugar
1½ cups Sweet potato Puree
2 Eggs
2½ cups Flour
¾ tsp Salt
¾ tsp Ground Nutmeg
¾ tsp Ground Ginger
1½ tsp Baking soda
1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
3/8 tsp ground cloves
½ cup Water

1. Scrub one large sweet potato, peel and cut into 2-inch long pieces, place in a small saucepan, and
cover with water. You can also use canned sweet potatoes.

2. Cook 25 minutes and puree in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

4. Butter and flour bread pan or line muffin tin with muffin papers.

5.With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; stir in sweet potato puree
and egg.

6. Sift together flour, salt, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves. Stir half of the dry
ingredients into creamed mixture; stir in water, then stir in remaining dry ingredients.

7. Bake until dry on top and a skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Muffins take around 25 minutes to bake, bread will take 45 minutes, depending on the oven and pan size.Serve warm

Then sit back and enjoy! All four of my kids LOVE these muffins and that is bigger than a two thumbs
up rating. ;)

Nothing better than a warm muffin and cup of hot coffee on a cool autumn morning!

Pan Roasted Chicken With Lemon Garlic Green Beans

Another dinner, another new recipe!  This time I decided to try Real Simple’s Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans. So far I have not been disappointed by the recipes I have found on the Real Simple website and their Month of Dinners menu plan is one of my favorite features. I was very pleased with the simplicity of this recipe and how it came out. I was nervous at first because the reviews were pretty divided. The chicken came out very moist, the veggies were nice and tender, and overall the dish was very flavorful. I loved the way the green beans turned out and would make them as a standalone side dish. I did have to make some modifications based on what I had on hand and the recipe is as follows:

Pan Roasted Chicken with Lemon Garlic Green Beans
Serves 4

Ingredients
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 large orange, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 pound trimmed green beans
8 small red potatoes, quartered
4 lbs bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (I used 2 breasts and 4 legs)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Coat a large baking dish or cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the orange slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish or skillet.
3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper; add the green beans and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, remove the green beans and arrange them on top of the orange slices.
4. Add the potatoes to the same olive-oil mixture and toss to coat. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, arrange the potatoes along the inside edge of the dish or skillet on top of the green beans.
5. Place the chicken in the same bowl with the olive-oil mixture and coat thoroughly. Place the chicken, skin-side up, in the dish or skillet. Pour any of the remaining olive-oil mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper.
6. Roast for 1 hour or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove the chicken from the dish or skillet. Place the beans and potatoes back in oven for 10 minutes more or until the potatoes are tender. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates; divide the green beans and potatoes equally. Serve warm.

I am a horrible food photographer and my photo did not come out well at all so here is a photo from the Real Simple website. Surprisingly enough, my dish did look a lot like this!

Homemade Carrot Cake : My Go-To Birthday Cake for 50% of my kids

My journey in to watching what my kids ate, reading labels, and “going crazy over food” as my teenager likes to put it began two years ago after my oldest son was diagnosed with Asperger’s.  I will admit that when I first started dabbling in “clean eating” I truly thought all that entailed was avoiding artificial dyes, flavors, and preservatives and making everything from scratch.  Over the last two years I have come to learn that “clean eating” means so much more than that – avoiding not only artificial dyes, flavors, and preservatives, but also unnecessary filler additives like carrageenan.  I think one of the best clean eating rules I have read went like this:


When reading the ingredient label, if you don’t know what an ingredient is, or if you have never heard of it, there is a good chance that it is a chemical or processed ingredient.

I’ll admit that it is really hard sometimes. I tossed out things like Hamburger Helper a long time ago and there are crazy hectic nights when I wish I had some of those time saving dinners until I realize all the crap they are filled with.

Back to the originally purpose of this post: CARROT CAKE! When it came time for birthdays, I wanted to make a carrot cake from scratch. I sat down and thought back to all the carrot cakes I had ever had and what I loved about each one. Then I went to the computer and tried to find a recipe that incorporated all of those things: a moist cake filled with carrots, pineapple, and raisins, with lots of spices, and a cream cheese frosting. Yes. I love me some cream cheese! Well I couldn’t find one recipe that incorporated it all. So then I started just combining elements from various recipes and came up with this one.

Is it clean? Cleaner than a box of Betty Crocker! Is it paleo? Heavens to Betsy not even close.  As of now I try and use as many organic ingredients as possible.  This cake is not sugar free, it’s not grain free, it’s not dairy free… But it is like heaven in your mouth!

Homemade Carrot Cake : My Go-To Birthday Cake
Yields: 9-inch two-layer round cake
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Sift and mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the following:
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Form a well in the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients. Then add,
2 cups shredded carrot
1/2 cup golden raisins (soaked in pineapple juice)
8 oz crushed pineapple.
Divide the mixture between two 9 inch cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. Let cool and frost.

FROSTING
3 packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick + 3 TBS unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in the extracts. Slowly add in the powdered sugar.

Slow Cooker Shredded Honey BBQ Chicken

One of my favorite things to do is figure out what to make for dinner when I have no idea what I want to make.  I pick a few random ingredients and/or requirements (“quick”), toss them in a search engine, and hit ENTER.

The other day I think I searched for +quick +chicken and crockpot.  Pretty generic this time I’ll admit.  It did give me a recipe that sounded promising and I ended up altering just a bit.  Overall it was a hit and what that means is that 75% of the kids ate it and liked it.

Slow Cooker Shredded Honey BBQ Chicken

1.5lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 1/2 TBSP tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1 1/4 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP oil
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 TBSP ground ginger


Directions
1. Place chicken in the slow cooker
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, whisk until blended, and pour over chicken.
3. Cook 6 hours on low.
4. Shred chicken with two forks, mix thoroughly with the sauce, and cook 20 minutes more.
I would have taken a photo but I was too hungry to get my camera. I had just spent over an hour in a car with a dead battery.