Sausage Stuffed Chicken
Sausage stuffed Chicken by Ashley
I
found this recipe on Mark's Daily Apple a long time ago and enhanced it
a little. This is great for breakfast with a nice little side salad or
even better for lunch and dinner. It's a little messy when you have to
wrap the chicken, but it's so worth it, I don't really see how you can
mess this one up. Hope y'all enjoy.
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
4 chicken breasts
2 nitrate free sausages with casings removed, I used italian sausage but use whatever you like
1/2 a green apple chopped into bite size pieces
8 slices of bacon
Black Pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a pan over medium heat, saute the sausage and green apple for about 6-7 minutes or until fully cooked but slightly pink.
3.
Cover each chicken breast with plastic wrap and grab either a beer
bottle, wine bottle or meat tenderizer and pound the chicken until
evenly thin
4. Sprinkle the inside of the chicken breast with a little bit of black pepper
5. Spoon equal amounts of ground pork on to one side of each breast, then fold the other side over the top.
Healthier Italian Stuffed Peppers
Healthier Italian Stuffed Peppers - by Ashley
Doogie and Cori came over the other day and brought stuffed peppers with them for dinner and ever since then, I've been craving stuffed peppers. I thought to myself, "Hmmm, what if I took my meatball recipe J$ posted last week and stuffed the meat into peppers and baked them??" Well, that's what I did. It couldn't be more easy. Take the recipe last week (Quick and Easy Meatballs) and instead of rolling them out, stuffed them into halved peppers and bake. Easy and quick. Hope you all enjoy a different twist on meatballs.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.
Ingredients
4 bell peppers, whatever color you like
Pecorino Cheese
1 jar pasta sauce, read the label and choose something without sugar
Olive oil
(All ingredients for the Quick and Easy Meatballs)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Half and clean four bell peppers. Once you combine all of the ingredients for the Quick and Easy Meatballs, spoon the raw meat mixture into the peppers and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle the top of the peppers with some pecorino cheese and olive oil. Take some pasta sauce and spoon into the baking vessel about 1/2 an inch up and place the peppers on top of the sauce. Any remainder sauce not used, warm on low on the stove top to spoon over the peppers once finished.
Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for one hour.
Quick and Easy Meatballs
Quick and Easy Meatballs - by Ashley
I make meatballs at least every other week, their quick, easy, tasty and simple to transport for lunch or when I’m traveling. One gadget that I bought that makes meatballs so much easier to make is a cookie scoop. It keeps my hands clean and shaves off at least 10 minutes of rolling time which makes me want to make meatballs more often. I also used a processor to make these but if you do not have one, just cut everything by hand.
Ingredients
1 lb of grass fed ground beef
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Handful of mushrooms
Handful of fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 red onion
3 tablespoons of slivered raw almonds
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Beat egg in a large bowl, add in ground beef, sea salt and black pepper. In a food processor, combine the rest of the ingredients and pulse until everything is mixed together. Be careful not to turn the ingredients into mush. Combine all ingredients in the food processor into the large bowl holding the ground beef and mix everything by hand. Scoop out the meatballs using the cookie scoop or roll by hands and place on a baking sheet. I like to line my baking sheet with aluminum foil and use a rack top so that the fat drips to the bottom, but you can simply use a baking sheet.
Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Once the time is up, take one out and cut in half to be sure they are fully cooked.
Eat the meatballs with some tomato sauce, with some homemade pesto, rolled up in lettuce wraps or however you would like to enjoy them.
Homemade Curry Paste and a Quick Almond Butter Curry
Homemade Curry Paste and a Quick Almond Butter Curry - by Ashley
This week I'm posting a homemade curry paste that can be used in numerous ways as well as a almond butter curry where the paste is used. But, the paste can really be used in any thai curry you would like to make. I've said numerous times, I love ethnic food as for me, when I make it at homes using ingredients I know, it's naturally healthy and adds a great complexity of flavor. Hope you all give it a try.
Curry Paste
2 garlic cloves
1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and chopped into smaller pieces
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 fresh green chili's (I used thai bird)
2 tablespoons of slivered almonds
Small bunch of fresh cilantro
**2 teaspoons of toasted cumin seeds
**2 teaspoons of toasted coriander seeds
Put a frying pan on a medium heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan, lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove the pan from the heat. Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine, or put them into a food processor and whiz to a powder. Then add all of the other ingredients into either the pestle and mortar or the food processor and smash/mix everything together until it forms a nice paste.
Almond Butter Curry
2 lbs of protein of your choice, I used chicken breasts but you can use ground chicken, ground beef, steak, fish, etc (cut into bite size pieces)
1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
All of the curry paste in the previous recipes
2 large tablespoons of almond butter
1/2 a white onion chopped
1 large yellow pepper cut into strips
1 small can of water chestnuts sliced
1 can of baby corn
**Any other vegetable you would like to add
Heat a large frying pan to medium-high heat and add in a tablespoon of coconut oil. Add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the onion begins to caramelize and then add in all of the other veggies and cook for another 3 minutes. Add in the coconut milk, almond butter and curry paste and turn the heat up to high and bring to a light boil, then drop the temperature to medium low and add in the protein and cook for an additional 7 minutes.
Enjoy
The Poached Egg
The Poached Egg - by Ashley
Us crossfitters require a lot of protein and a great way to get a healthy amount of protein is the egg. It’s cheap, it’s simple and it’s pretty quick to cook up. One of my food obsessions is egg yolk on top of everything. Steamed asparagus with some sea salt and fresh chives, Root Vegetable hash (check out the WCCF recipes), hanger steak, steamed spinach with sesame seeds, bacon and sausage……I mean I can go on and on and on. Yolk, when prepared correctly, could beat out chocolate if you ask me. It’s smooth, silky, a little bit of luxury at the minimal cost and it’s damn healthy for us.
This isn’t so much a recipe, but just some notes on how to poach the perfect egg. I always inquire with Alton Brown prior to trying something new and I find his technique perfect, so check it out and get creative with some yolk.
What you need:
Saucepan with a lid
Cold Water
Fresh lemon juice
Timer
Thermometer – yep go get one
Always use the freshest eggs possible. If you cannot see the difference between the thick white and thin white of the raw egg, then the yolks will possible break when being cooked.
If you are using a non stick pan, only use an inch of water, no more
If not using a standard pan, poach in a deep saucepan containing at least 3 inches of water
Always deliver the eggs to the pot in a small bowl, custard cup or very large spoon. At all costs avoid cracking the eggs directly into the pot of water
Always add acid to the poaching liquid with either one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice or vinegar. I usually use 1 cap full per cup of water
Bring liquid to a simmer, add eggs and remove from heat and cover
How long? In one write up, Alton says he likes his yolk barely runny (lame), so he says 4 eggs for 7-8 minutes, but I say watch this video instead. He uses a thermometer and changes his rule on this. I would advise using a thermometer if you have one, your eggs will come out perfect each time. http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/poached-egg-tips/69090.html
Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and lay out on paper towel. Trim the sides to remove the rough edges and serve. Poached eggs can be refrigerated in ice water for up to 8 hours, and then reheated in hot water. Do not re-boil.
Cabbage and Chicken Stir Fry
Cabbage and Chicken Stir Fry by Ashley
I love making stir fry, it's a great way to eat a lot of vegetables and it always holds up well for leftovers. This combination of ingredients works really well together, the almonds and sesame seeds add a nice crunch to the vegetables and chicken and it's just good. Hope you all enjoy.
1lb of chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces
1 small carton of mushrooms cut in half
2 cups of chopped fresh or frozen broccoli
3 green onions chopped
3 inch piece of ginger, skin removed and diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1/2 a head of purple cabbage, core removed and thinly sliced
2 stalks of celery chopped
1/2 a cup of sliced or slivered almonds - raw and unsalted
3 tablespoons of sesame seeds
3 tablespoons of coconut oil or sesame oil
Handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
In a large pan, turn the heat up to a medium high and add in two tablespoons of fat. When I made this I used 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and one tablespoon of sesame oil, but use what you have. Add in the chicken and cook for three minutes, add in the mushrooms and broccoli and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Add in the cabbage, celery, garlic, ginger and green onions and last tablespoon of fat and mix everything together. Cook for 4 minutes, add in the almonds and sesame seeds. Before you serve, top the stir fry with a healthy amount of cilantro and enjoy.
Cauliflower Pizza
Cauliflower Pizza by Ashley
Happy New Year everyone. It's a new year and I know a lot of you are eager to start it out by eating better and by starting to cook for yourself, it's the first step in the right direction. This year, I'm going to try very hard to step up the amount of healthy recipes posted on our WCCF site and wanted to start the new year with one that I have been making for a few months now that is simple and really tasty. It's a play on pizza using cauliflower as the crust. Though, I'll be honest, the crust is not as crispy as the thin crust we have all sampled through out our lifetimes, but it's really good and I highly recommend playing around with the timing of how long the crust is cooked to come out to your liking. As well, you can do any combination of toppings and change it up a bit. I've also made the crust and kept it as a bread supplement and added in some salami and mustard and rolled it up as a faux sandwich and it's great. Hope you all enjoy.
1 cauliflower head riced
1 egg, beat
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 garlic cloves grated
Olive Oil
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. To bake the crust, you want to use a baking sheet, flip it over and add a piece of parchment paper on the flat side.
To rice the cauliflower head, cut in the cauliflower in half and remove the core. You can actually do this two different ways, by either using a food processor or a cheese grater. Cut up the cauliflower into even pieces and either add them into the processor and run it, but watch closely as you do not want the cauliflower to turn into mush, or start grating using a cheese grater.
Take 1 cup of the riced cauliflower and add it into a big bowl and add the egg, salt, pepper, garlic and mix with a spoon. Dump the cauliflower onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and press evenly using your hands. You want this to be as thin as possible to get the best results. Sprinkle the top of the crust with olive oil and then place in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or to your liking, and remove from oven. Take a spatula and run it under the crust to unstick it from the parchment paper. Now it's topping time! Whatever you decide to add on top of the crust, make sure it's fully cooked so it doesn't water log the crust. I decided to use a little tomato paste broken down with a touch of water, some meatballs and some jalepeno pepper slices. Once you have the toppings on, pop the crust back into the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes.
Some other good ideas for toppings:
Capicola and artichokes
For spring/summer - Fresh tomato, basil and garlic
Pepperoni and Tomato
Sausage, Mushrooms and Green Peppers
Sausage and sunny side up egg
Hope you all enjoy!
**Note - You will have about 3-4 cups of riced cauliflower after ricing the entire head. Put this in a container and it will keep for up to one week, which means, more pizza!
Pot Roast
Pot Roast by Ashley
Pot Roast, hands down is my favorite meal. The warm sauce that accompanies the meat and vegetable is so good that I can drink it plain. It's so filling and so good, especially during these up coming cold months, there is nothing more perfect to eat on a Sunday night. The following recipe is really easy and cheap, just takes a little bit of time but is worth every minute. Hope you all enjoy.
3 lbs of chuck roast
1 large white onion cut into large pieces
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Beef or veal stock - 3 cups
2 bay leaves
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into big pieces
1 small container of mushrooms
1 small bundle of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
2 tablespoons of fat
Preheat oven to 350
Dry off the chuck roast with paper towel and season with salt and pepper on all sides. Let the cut of meat come to room temperature prior to cooking. Heat a large dutch oven to medium/high heat and add in fat of choice. Place the chuck roast on one side into the pan, let sear for three minutes, flip and cook for another three minutes, remove the meat and place on a plate. Drop heat to medium, add in onion and garlic and stir everything to cover evenly in the beef fat. Let cook for 5 minutes. Add the chuck roast on top of the onions. Combine the wine, worcestershire and stock in a small bowl and mix everything together, pour on top of the chuck roast. Add in bay leave and thyme and add enough water so the meat is covered up 3/4 of the way. Add to oven and let cook for 90 minutes. Add in cut up carrots and mushrooms after 90 minutes, mix sauce and cook for 120 minutes. At this time, remove the pot from the oven and taste the sauce. If it needs more salt, then add for your taste but be careful to not add too much. Take two forks and shred the meat. It should come apart effortlessly. If there is some force needed, then add the pot back to the oven for another 20 minutes and check again.
Serve over some mashed cauliflower or mashed winter vegetables. Great for leftovers and will taste better each day it sits.
Best Roasted Nuts Ever
The Best Roasted Nuts Ever by Ashley
Since we should all be reading labels of the food we consume, you probably have noticed that roasted nuts that you pick up from the local grocery store whether it's Trader Jos's, Jewel or even Whole Foods, are all roasted with either canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil which is not good for our bodies. These oils omega 3:6 ratio is way off which will effect your health eventually. Don't take my word for it, do some research and see what is out there. Many are just loaded with sugar and extra sodium, which is not what we want to add to our bodies in large quantities. Roasting your own raw nuts can actually be a lot of fun. There are so many flavor combinations that are out there to try and you can control what you choose to put into your own mix. The following recipe is one I just sort of threw together and it tastes really good. The lime zest gives it an extra zing that you will not find in pre-purchased roasted nuts. Give it a try, it's relatively easy, pretty much the same price as buying pre-roasted and flavored nuts and will be a great snack.
1 bag (16 oz) of raw nuts - Trader Joe's sells a bag called Fancy Raw Mixed Nuts that is on sale for 6.99
1 large tablespoon of coconut oil
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 a teaspoon of chili powder
The zest of one lime
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spread the raw nuts on a baking sheet and once the oven is heated, place the nuts in. After 10 minutes, shake the pan and flip the nuts over, cook for another 5 minutes. Remove nuts and place into a big bowl. Add in the coconut oil and stir until the nuts are evenly coated. Add in all the spices, mix, then add in the lime zest and mix. Pour the coated nuts back on the baking sheet and let sit out until cool. I usually package these in a tupperware container or a zip lock bag, either work great once the nuts are cool. Enjoy.
Paleo Pumpkin, Sausage and Sage Soup
Paleo Pumpkin, Sausage and Sage Soup by Ashley
A lot of what I make lately is based on the local CSA I belong to and what vegetables I get for the week. This past week I was given a pumpkin and I was excited to try my own version of a pumpkin soup with sausage. I've seen this recipe made by several different restaurants and chefs and it's usually the same ingredients but it's always really good. You don't even need to buy a pumpkin, you can use canned pumpkin instead and it will be just as good. Hope you all give it a try and enjoy.
4 mild italian pork sausage links, raw
2 spicy italian pork sausage links, raw
1/2 a yellow onion chopped
4 fresh sage leaves chopped
1 15 oz can of pumpkin, make sure you do not buy pumpkin pie filling but 100% real pumpkin in a can or you can use two small pie pumpkins, skin removed, cleaned and seeds removed, chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of sea salt
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
4 cups of organic chicken broth, check ingredients make sure it's low in sodium
1 cup of water
Heat a large pot or dutch oven on medium heat. Remove the casings from the sausages by cutting a slit in each sausage and squeezing the pork out and add to the hot pot. Stir the meat around until it's fully cooked, about 7 minutes, then remove all of the sausage and place to the side. Add the onion and sage leaves and stir all the ingredients together in the pork fat and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add in the canned pumpkin or chopped up fresh pumpkin, all of the spices, sea salt and coconut oil and mix everything together and lower the heat to medium low. Cook everything for 12 minutes or until you can easily insert a fork into one of the pieces of pumpkin. If you are using fresh pumpkin, at this point you want to add all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend everything until smooth, then add back into the pot. Then add in the chicken broth and water and take a whisk and make sure everything is blended well. Bring everything to a boil and then lower to the lowest setting on your stove. Add the sausage back in and cook for another 20 minutes, then serve.