August 29th, 2016

Freezer Breakfast Burritos, Step by Step guide

My kids love breakfast burritos but to make on a school morning can be time consuming! We need fast simple real food breakfast in our house. So I decided to freeze this house hold favorite! Here we go! 

Diced those potatoes and onions in fairly small pieces. This helps them to cook faster. Preheat a large skillet on medium and add breakfast sausage, breakup and cook. Once almost cooked add the onions and potatoes. Cook till potatoes are slightly tender. 

It will look a bit like the above when ready to add the eggs. A tip to help speed the cooking time. Cover the pan once the potatoes are in. This will use steam to help with the cooking process

Once the potatoes are cooked, whisk the eggs and add to mixture. Cook till the eggs are cooked but still glossy not wet but shiny! This will help the eggs to stay moist and not dry out! Now that the mix is done it is time to assemble. 

Here is the SET UP. Bottom layer is foil, next is parchment paper then the Whole Wheat Tortilla. 

1/3 cup Egg mixture then 1/8 cup of shredded cheese. 

Time to wrap!! Fold in the sides. 

You will take the bottom edge of the wrap and pull up and tuck it in. Making sure to tuck in all the ingredients. then folding over to finish the wrap. 

Next step is to wrap in parchment paper. Same way you wrapped the tortilla. You will do the same with the next layer of foil.

This is the finished product! I used larger tortillas and smaller ones as well. It made 10 total!!! Put this puppies in a freezer bag, toss in freezer and pull out the night before to thaw. The next morning you can use a toaster oven to reheat or the good ole oven as well. 

August 28th, 2016

Kristine's Bone Broth

Ingredients:

• Whole Chicken 
• 2-3 Whole Carrots 
• 2-3 Celery Stalks with greens tops
• 2 Large Onion
• 5 Garlic Cloves mashed
• Sea Salt
• Pepper
• Thyme 2 twigs
• Rosemary 2 twigs
• 1 TBSP Vinegar
• Filtered Water
• 2 Bay leafs
• All extra veggies or greens

Instructions:

In an Instant pot place whole chicken along with seasoning with 2 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Pepper, Thyme, chopped Rosemary. Also add carrots, onions, celery  (coursed chunked) to the pot. Put TWO of the garlic cloves in and save the others for the second stage. Add a 1/4 cup of filtered water and put on the lid of the pot and hit the chicken button and let it go! SIDE NOTE: If you do not have a instant pot you can use a crockpot the process just takes longer.

After the chicken is cook, take out of the pot and let cool on a cutting board. Once it is cooled pick off the meat and place the bones, cartilage and other items in the pot. Once all the carcass is in the pot fill with filtered water. Then proceed to add extra garlic, the rest of Salt and Pepper, Bay leaf, Vinegar and any extra ripening veggies you have on hand. This could be the ends of carrots, greens, beets, green beans. You get the point. 

Once everything is in the pot, put on the lid and do a manuel cook for 120 minutes. Once it is done and depressurized you will let cool a bit, then strain out the carcass keeping the broth. You will then place the bowl of bone broth in the refrigerator over night. This will bring the fat to the top of broth and you can skim. Then you are ready to use or freeze!!

August 18th, 2016

Asian Chop Salad: 

Dressing:

• 1 c Olive Oil
• 1/3 c Rice Vinegar
• 1 inch nob of fresh ginger diced
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 2 tsp Sea Salt
• 2 tbsp Raw Honey

Blend all the above in blender or (my favorite) a hand emulsion blender

Salad:

• 2 bags of Packaged Coleslaw mix
• 1 c green onions, diced
• 1/2 sesame seeds
• 1/2 sliced almonds

Put all in large bowl and mix with dressing and you are ready to EAT!

Aug 12th, 2016

Basic Teriyaki Sauce:

• 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
• 6 cloves of garlic, pressed or mashed
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1 c. organic soy or GF tamari

Add grated ginger root, pressed garlic and all the rest of ingredients into a mixing bowl. Whisk together or use a handle emulsion blender to combine. Store in mason jar and refrigerate to use through the week. Use this sauce for marinade, stir fry, Asian noodle and more.  

Head over to my Video Page to see my live demo on the Brine Technique 

August 1st, 2016

Ingredients:

• 1 1.2 pound Flank Steak
• 1 Cup Tamari Sauce
• 1/4 cup Coconut aminos ( or rice wine vinegar)
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
• 6 pressed cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp Cayenne powder
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 3 stalks of green onions
• 1 tsp of grated ginger

Directions:

Using a very sharp knife. Thinly slice the beef against the grain. into strips. Mix rest of ingredients in large bowl then add beef. marinate for 2 hrs or overnight. Then take the strips and fold or onto a skewer. Grill for 3 minutes on each side or can bake in 400 degree oven for 6 minutes. Cook longer if you wish to be more well done. 

Serve with a side of rice or Asian inspired salad. This is a huge hit with my kids! They get to eat off sticks. I mean ...seriously!

July 29th, 2016

Perfectly Brine Pulled Pork

Ingredients: 

• 1 (4-7 pound) whole pork shoulder (bone-in with a layer of fat on the bottom)

DRY RUB

• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

BRINE SOLUTION

• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 quarts cold water
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons dry rub mix

Directions:

FOR THE DRY RUB

1. Mix well and store in an air tight container.

FOR THE BRINE SOLUTION

1. Add salt to cold water and stir very well until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar, dry rub, and bay leaves and stir well to combine.

PORK SHOULDER PREPARATION

1. Place in a large container, pour in the brine solution until the shoulder is completely covered. Cover the container and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 to a max of 24 hours. I use a Doubled up Ziplock
2. Remove pork shoulder from brine solution, pat dry with paper towels, place in baking pan that is bigger than the shoulder by at least a inch in length and width and at least 3 inches deep. Sprinkle dry rub onto the surface of the shoulder and massage in such that it adheres to the surface. Coat all sides. Make sure the fat layer on the shoulder is facing up before cooking! Place baking pan uncovered in a 225 degree F oven on the middle rack. Insert a probe thermometer into the center or thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone. Monitor the temperature throughout cooking (a digital thermometer with an alarm function is the easiest way to do this). Do not remove from the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches 200 degrees.
3. When the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, shut off the oven and let the roast cool for a couple of hours before removing from the oven. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. When the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove from oven. Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Pull apart with two forks, it will pull apart very easily. Serve for friends and family!
4. ADDITIONAL COOK TECHNIQUE You can also make in the crockpot, I cook for at least 10 hrs on lowest setting. This is my preferred technique. 

July 12, 2016

Quick Breakfast Hash

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups of your Potato of choice with small dice
• 1 package of Mushrooms diced
• 1/4 of a large Onion diced
• 1 Zucchini medium diced
• 2 large hand fulls of baby Spinach
• Egg, as prepared to liking
• 2 tbsp of real butter
• coconut oil as needed to keep moist

Directions:

Place butter in a medium heated pan ( I love my cast iron) then add onion and potato. Cook down for about 10 min. Then add mushrooms and more oil as needed to keep from sticking to pan. Then when potatoes are pretty much done add the zucchini and spinach. Cook about 5 minutes more. The veggies are ready when they are bright green! In a separate pan or griddle cook eggs then plate on top of hash! Serves about 5-6. 

Additionally: Feel free to add or take away veggies you like or dislike. Play with your food! Add some broccoli, sausage, peppers, etc. The more the veggies the better. 

July 11th, 2016

Turkey Asian Wraps

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 c diced white mushrooms
• 1 c finely diced carrots
• 1 c finely diced bok choy
• 3 garlic cloves
• Cook all the above with 3 tbsp Coconut Oil

Sauce:

• 1/3 c tamari
• 1/8 c rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Mix with whisk or hand blender then add to meat mixture once it is cooked. Put in lettuce cups or on cooked whole grain brown rice. ENJOY! 

Whole Bowl Lunch

Ingredients:

• ●       1 cup cooked Whole Grain ( brown rice, quinoa)

  ●       1 cup cooked protein of choice (Salmon, Chicken, Beans)

  ●       1 -2 cup veggies of choice ( mushrooms, broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts, spinach)

  ●       1 clove garlic pressed

  ●       Salt and pepper to taste or use your favorite favors

  ●       1 tbsp coconut oil for cooking veggies

  ●       2tbsp quality Olive oil 

Directions:

In a sauce pan, heat the coconut oil. Press the garlic into pan cook for one minute thendd all the veggies except any green leafy veggie (they cook fast, so go in last), cook a few minutes, then add your protein of choice to heat through, cook another 3ish minutes.  Add the cooked whole grain cook till heated through, add seasoning of choice.  At the end I drizzle oil over the dish and toss!  DONE 

Mix it UP:

1. Make a bigger batch, place in individual containers for lunch on the go through the week.
2. Play with what veggies and proteins you have on hand
3.  Go southwest, add chili, cumin, or your favorite taco seasoning. Plus add in some avocado!! 

Check out my You Tube video on building your whole bowl!!