Primal Shepherd's Pie + Long distance date night tip

In a long distance relationship, you have to come up with little things to keep the romance alive.  Our little "thing" that we came up with is Skype cooking date nights!  Every Friday (unless one of us has something scheduled), we choose a recipe (we usually try to pick something primal or paleo), and we Skype with each other while we both make the same dish.  It's the best of all worlds, really - we get to spend quality time with each other, and at the end of it all, we get a great meal!

On Thursday, Tommy decided that we should make primal shepherd's pie, with sweet potato mash.  I looked around everywhere and couldn't find a recipe.  I called my mom and asked for her regular mashed potato recipe, and then continued from there.  My recipe is listed below - I think Tom added a few extra spices to his (rosemary & cinnamon)

For the sweet potato mash:
2 sweet potatoes
1-2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper
1/4 cup (or less) of milk of your choosing (unsweetened/unflavoured almond or coconut, or regular milk)

For the meat:
1 lb. ground beef
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 cup peas & carrots (I just use frozen, but if you prefer fresh, go for it)
Spices to taste (I used salt, pepper & garlic powder)

Optional:
shredded cheddar cheese (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

Method:
1. Begin by washing, peeling and cubing your sweet potatoes.  Add them to a sauce pot filled with water. Bring the water to a boil, and boil until sweet potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes ought to do the trick).

2. While the potatoes are boiling, stir fry your meat.  Cook until it's done, then drain it & set aside in a dish.  At this point, you can probably set your oven to preheat to 350.

3. Strain the sweet potatoes and add to either a large bowl & hand mash, or a kitchenaid mixer bowl.  Add 1-2 TBSP butter, salt & pepper to taste.  Mix on low.  Add milk a drop at a time until you get the right consistency - be careful not to add too much at once, like I did!  Continue mixing until the consistency looks right.

4. Clean the frying pan.  Add olive oil, and your chopped onion.  Stir fry until soft.  Add your peas & carrots until cooked.  Add the meat back to the pan.  Add spices of your choosing (I went with salt, pepper & a bit of garlic powder).

5. In an oven-safe dish, add a layer of the meat-veggie mixture.  Then (Tommy's secret ingredient time!) add a thin layer of cheese.  Add the rest of your mixture.  Then top with the sweet potatoes, and add more cheese on top if desired.

6. Add the dish to a preheated oven, and cook for about 15-20 minutes (cheese should be melted, and the top a little browned)

Serve & enjoy!

Primal Cheesy Chicken Roll-Ups

There's a recipe going around the paleo/primal boards on pinterest that looks delicious - but until you click on it, there's no indication that it's actually not paleo.  It calls for both breadcrumbs and flour.  And while it does look delicious - the description that is attached to it on pinterest is completely wrong.  I've taken it upon myself to create a recipe based on the description that is running rampant.  

Cheesy Chicken Roll Ups (aka Chicken Kiev wannabe)

Ingredients:
- 5 chicken breasts (butterfly cut, if possible)
- 1 small white onion
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1tbsp garlic
- salt & pepper
- mozzarella (about 85 grams)
- butter

Method:
preheat oven to 400

Saute 1 small onion (about 125g) in butter until soft.
Remove from heat, add parsley (fresh, if you have it available - I used dry) and garlic (either 1 clove, minced, or 1 tbsp powder).

If using whole chicken breast, pound with a meat mallet until flat.  If using butterflied chicken breast skip to next step.

Place some butter in your baking dish, and melt in the preheated oven.
In the meantime, sprinkle salt and pepper on your flattened chicken, then spread some of the onion mixture on top.  Place a small rectangle of mozzarella (about 2" by 0.5" sticks) in the centre of the chicken, roll it up and secure with a toothpick.  Repeat for all rolls.

Using the same pan that you used to saute the onion, add a little bit more butter, and brown each roll lightly.  (I prefer to work with one chicken roll at a time, however this is more time consuming - if you're more talented than me, work with more than one at a time).  Continue until the outside of the chicken is brown - the inside will still be pink.  This infuses some of the flavour into the chicken and gives it a nice colour.
(NB: the chicken is still raw at this point - do not consume!!)

Place the browned chicken into your oven-safe dish that already has butter at the bottom.  Cook in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 min or until chicken is no longer pink and heated to 190 degrees.  Do not overcook or chicken will become dry.

Serve with your choice of veggie side-dish (I had snap peas, sauteed in more butter and garlic!)

Leave me a note if you decide to try this - let me know how it turns out for you!

Primal Broccoli-Chicken-Cheddar Casserole

I get home from work around 6:30pm.  I have a quick skype session with my lovely fiance... and then I realize that I'm starving.  Sometimes that ends with me continuing to skype, and forgetting about dinner (not a good idea - I usually get grumpy), sometimes, it's whatever leftovers I have in the house... but other nights, like Tuesday night, inspiration strikes.

One of my favourite non-primal go-to meals was Campbell's Chicken Broccoli Divan casserole - but these days, something like that is strictly OFF the menu (I don't even keep canned soup in the house anymore!).  I wanted to make something similar, but using ingredients that were nutrient-rich and REAL.  

I based the primal version of this recipe off of This post at JoyfulAbode.com.  It was a great starting point, but I found that recipe difficult to follow because of the lack of measurements, plus there were a few ingredients that I did not want to include in my version, and she used what seemed like a million pots and pans.

So here it is - my Primal Broccoli-Chicken-Cheddar Casserole!

Serves 2 (Or one for dinner + leftovers for lunch tomorrow!)

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast (cubed)

2 heads of broccoli, chopped into florets

1/4 cup red onion

approx 3 tbsp butter

approx 2 tbsp arrowroot

1/4 cup chicken stock

2 tbsp kefir

1 tbsp Greek yogurt

1/4 - 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)

garlic powder

onion flakes

chilli powder

honey dijon mustard

salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350, and then start by cooking your main ingredients.  I steamed my broccoli in one pot, and then sauteed my onions (with about 1tbsp olive oil) in a frying pan.  When the onions were softened, I added my cubed chicken and cooked it through completely.

2. Drain the broccoli and add to a large bowl.  Set aside.  Remove the steamer, empty the water and give the pot a quick rinse/wash.  Use this pot to create your sauce.  Start by melting the butter.  Once melted add your arrowroot (because there were no measurements on the initial recipe, I started with about 1.5 tbsp arrowroot, and then added more to thicken it up a bit more.  Keep an eye on it, and adjust to suit.  Add the chicken stock.  Adjust the heat to low, and begin adding your kefir & yogurt slowly.  Whisk constantly.  Add in your cheese & continue to stir (if desired, reserve some of your cheese for topping later).  Cook until the sauce is thick & creamy.  

3.  Add your chicken to the broccoli in the large bowl.  Sprinkle with your spices (I did equal shakes of each - probably about 1.5 tsp), squeeze in your honey dijon mustard (adjust based on how much you like mustard!), and add a few shakes of salt & pepper.  Add your cream sauce to the bowl & mix together well.

4. Place the mixture in an oven-safe baking dish (I used a 9-inch foil pan).  Top with shredded cheese (bacon would probably also taste good here - but I was too lazy to fry some up just for this dish).  Bake for about 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted & the chicken & broccoli are warmed... Serve & Enjoy!

I can definitely say that I will be making this one again!! This was pretty quick - about an hour from start to finish, AND, I was able to clean my kitchen & do my dishes while I was waiting for it to be done baking.  Perfect for an after-work dinner!

Primal Pork Chilli

I like to take advantage of sales at the grocery store whenever I can, because if you're eating primally, you'll know it can get rather expensive!  So, when I found minced pork on sale for $2, I picked it up without knowing what I would do with it.  And so, I came up with this next recipe - Primal Pork Chilli.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
450g minced pork
1 can tomatoes, OR tomato sauce if you prefer
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin

(adjust spices as desired)

Optional:
Cheese
Greek Yogurt (or Homemade Tzaziki)

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, and add the chopped red onion.  Sauté until softened.
2. Add the minced pork, and continue cooking until browned.
3. Add your tomatoes (or sauce - I used some homemade sauce that I had), and your green pepper (feel free to add other vegetables - carrot, zucchini, hot peppers would all work well), and then add your spices.  (I always just shake right into the pan, so my measurements above are estimates - but pretty close).
4. Allow the tomato to simmer down and all the spices to blend (probably about 20 minutes or so).  Give it a taste before you take it off the stove - make sure the spices are as you like it.
5. Serve, topping with cheese and Greek yogurt/tzaziki if desired.

Sweet Fauxtato Skins!

So, I found this recipe floating around Pinterest, so I used it as a base, and decided to run with it!  Here's my somewhat primalized, but totally delicious version of the "Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds"

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• sea salt to taste
• 3 slices bacon
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheese
• green onions (optional)
• Greek Yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Slice your sweet potato into 1/2 inch slices (this is ONE large sweet potato on the tray - it was huge.  Adjust measurements accordingly if your sweet potato wasn't quite this big.  I also sliced up a few wedge/fry shapes).  Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with olive oil or add add additional melted butter to the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking (not sure if this is necessary, but I did it, and they didn't stick, so I'll recommend it!).  Brush both sides of the sweet potatoes with butter, and pop in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften/brown.

3. While the potatoes are cooking, take three slices of bacon and slice into small pieces.  Fry up your bacon, and then set it aside.  You can shred your cheese now too.

4. Flip your potatoes over and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.  They should be browned and slightly crispy.  If you have variances in thickness, some potatoes may be softer or crisper than others, but they're all good - just make sure if they're really thinly sliced, that you don't bake them TOO long.

5. When the potatoes are done, top with your shreded cheese, and then bacon.  (I actually did a little bit of cheese, then bacon, then the rest of the cheese, so that the bacon melted right in).  If you have onions (I didn't!), add them now too.  Pop them back into the oven for about 2 minutes, just for the cheese to melt. 

6. Serve! 
I liked mine with plain Greek yogurt for dipping.

The entire recipe took about 45 min from start to finish... but that may just be because I suck at slicing sweet potatoes!
Let me know if you try it!

P.S. The ones that were sliced like fries and brushed with butter came out PERFECT as sweet potato fries too!  Not mushy and full of flavour.

Chilli con pollo

Last night we made this recipe from a low-fat cookbook we own.  I altered it slightly, and it was almost perfect.  The only other change I would make is to add about a teaspoon of salt next time.

Chilli con pollo
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• about 1/4 of a red onion
• 500 grams minced chicken
• spices to taste (I used chilli powder, chipotle pepper, cumin and garlic powder)
• 2 cups chopped tomato (tin or other preserves)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tin kidney beans
• 1/2 chopped red peppers

Serve with:

• light sour cream
• light marble cheese
• garlic bread or tortilla chips

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan.  Add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes or until soft.  Increase heat & add chicken.  Cook for about 6-8 minutes or until the chicken is browned - break up any lumps with a wooden spoon.

2. Add the spices and cook for 1 minute.   Add the tomato, tomato paste and water, and stir well.

3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the brown sugar, kidney beans & red peppers and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon into bowls & top with cheese and sour cream.  Serve with garlic bread or tortilla chips.

Bon apetit! 

Romance Yourself

Blue Cheese Pasta

Big handful of dry whole-wheat pasta

¼ cup of blue cheese (or more) I used extra creamy Rosenborg

¼ cup of heavy cream

Pepper to season

Boil water and toss the pasta in and cook until al dente.

2. Put the cream and cheese together in a cause pan and on a med heat melt together. Toss the drained pasta into sauce and get it all nice and covered.

Meat Balls

1/3^rd of a pack of meat.

1 tablespoon of flour

1 tablespoon of herbs du province

¼ cup of red wine

Minced garlic

2 teaspoons of coconut oil

Mix all the ingredients together and roll the meat into small balls. On hot pan melt the coconut oil and fry the meatballs so they are crispy and brown on all sides.

I served it with homemade pickled red onions (very sweet and tangy) and a nice big glass of Cabernet Sauvignon by Jean Leon with it. For desert mini brownies and caramel ice cream on a bed of toasted pecans. I will put up the how to for the red onion and toasted pecans soon. This is a great love yourself or love somebody meal. Super easy to make but looks really fancy when you are done. In fact I would say it takes about the same effort as a box of Mac and Cheese. I am also sure that you could make this with other kinds of cheese.