Quiche muffins

My two-year-old son loves muffins. It has more to do with their shape and size than their contents (or so experimental results have suggested).

I adapted this recipe I found online for our Paleo needs. And by "our" needs, I mean those of my husband and son, as I am allergic to eggs. (MAJOR bummer.)

Ingredients
12 eggs
1 C organic heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp beef gelatin
2/3 chopped kale (2-3 C of kale prior to chopping)
2/3 pound ground pork sausage, cooked
Garlic and onion powders to taste
Salt to taste
1-2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (for muffin pans)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Grease the muffin pans with coconut oil (melted), or other fat.
3. Spoon a bit of sausage into each muffin cup.  This batch yields twenty-four mini muffins AND fifteen normal-sized muffins.
4. Whip eggs and whipping cream together
5. Add spices and kale, mix well
6. Add the gelatin, and mix well
7. Pour into muffin cups, filling each one two-thirds full
8. Bake mini-muffins for 25-35 minutes, and normal-sized muffins for 35-45 minutes
9. Let cool on racks before serving
10. Store in the fridge, or freeze them for later! (They freeze perfectly!)

A brief note that my muffins deflate as they cool. I think adding some starch could resolve this issue. I intend to add some mashed, steamed cauliflower or parsnips next time.

My two-year-old son's breakfast -- either three normal-sized muffins, or nine mini-muffins as shown here. He also had a side of soup.

Normal-sized muffins

Mini-muffins

2013 Garden: Some planting

I planted seeds, indoors, back on March 31st. Here's a photo of how they have progressed in the past six weeks.

Cherry tomato, sweet pepper, chili pepper, basil, and luffa gourd seedlings.

The weather finally gave me a break, and with my baby in a bouncer and toddler at his sandbox (or sometimes digging in my garden), I managed to get to work. Bits of progress over three different days yielded some success.

On May 7th I was able to pull the new weeds from the section I had weeded previously, turn the soil again, and get to planting! I planted one row of Swiss chard, nearly two rows of spinach, and a small section of kale. I had no idea that my packet of kale would contain so few seeds-- "Now I know, and knowing is half the battle...G.I. Joe!" I also managed to pull the weeds from the other half of the raised bed!

My husband doubled my garden this year by moving the fence to encase a larger area, but we don't plan on adding more raised beds until the fall.

Hence, I decided to dig up spots to permit more planting than what my existing, raised bed can accommodate. I took a shovel and dug holes around about half of the garden's perimeter, along the fence line. I removed the grass, shook out the soil, and decided I'd need a bit of topsoil and manure to prep these spots for planting.

My husband picked up topsoil and manure and dumped the bags near my garden. I finally found time on May 11th to prep the newly-dug spaces, then planted seeds for pumpkin, cantaloupe, green beans, and cucumbers.

I turned the soil in the unplanted portion of the raised bed, and planted seeds for carrots and broccoli (one packet of seeds, each), leaving space in the garden for some chili peppers and sweet peppers that are growing indoors.

Prepped.

Planted.

Of course it got down into the twenties Sunday evening/Monday morning -- I had contemplated waiting until the following weekend to plant, but instead decided to monopolize on some free time, as my husband was caring for the boys. I hope that the melon and pumpkin seeds weren't damaged. Time will tell.

As for the tomatoes and basil that I am growing indoors, I plan to transplant them to large pots that I will keep in the garden. I also intend to purchase herb plants at a sale next weekend, and a few more tomato plant varieties in a month or so from the farmer's market -- all to live in pots in my garden area.

Oh, and a rhubarb plant, given to me last fall by my manager, has come up nicely!  I planted it outside of my garden last year (near the fence), as rhubarb has few pests to worry about, and takes up quite a bit of space.

I'm looking forward to harvesting strawberries from my patch to accompany the rhubarb in a delectable pie ;). I also enjoy eating rhubarb, raw, by the stalk -- it's tart bite makes my mouth water!! As long as I keep up with the daily watering routine, I should get a fine yield of berries. I intend to freeze some, and can a little jam, too!

The greens (chard, kale and spinach) were visible on May 14th!

Salmon cakes

When I read, "It Starts With Food," I was pleased to see a variety of recipes in the appendices. The salmon cakes stuck out, as they contain protein, fat and veggies - an all-inclusive meal! As usual, I modified it a bit per what I had on hand (i.e. the recipe calls for dill, and I didn't have any at the time, so simply omitted it).

*The recipe below is a double recipe - simply cut everything in half if you wish. I like doubling it so that I can freeze a few servings for later.

Ingredients
2 14.75 ounce cans of bone-in wild-caught salmon (28+ ounces total)
2 C canned or roasted sweet potato (I used 1/2 C roasted sweet potato and 1 1/2 C canned pumpkin)
1 C almond meal
2 eggs, whisked (or two tbsp flax meal in 6 tbsp water, let stand 5 minutes)
1/2 C kale, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, diced
2 tsp parsley, dried
1 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
1-2 tbsp coconut oil or clarified butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. Flake salmon into large mixing bowl, removing all bones (if you are using bone-in salmon, that is)
3. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix well with wooden spoon or hands
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush the paper with coconut oil or butter
5. Using a 1/4 C measuring cup, scoop up the mixture, and dump out onto the parchment (that way you get metered, nicely-shaped patties.
6. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from oven and flip. Bake 10 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Check those puppies out! The batch I made yielded sixteen, 1/4 C-sized salmon cakes (enough for four adult-sized servings plus two kid-sized servings).

Storage

Store in a sealed container in the fridge, or freeze for later. If you freeze them, defrost in fridge prior to reheating.

Quick jam: strawberry

My son is on a produce strike, and this includes fruits. It's insane, as he used to eat berries as if they were going out of style. At one point I couldn't even keep berries in the house. And now - nothing. He won't eat anything. BUT, he loves jam. Only problem is that most everything I can find in the stores has added sugar or pectin, etc. So, I decided to make my own. I recalled a recipe in "OMG. That's Paleo?" for cherry jam, which called for coconut oil, cherries and honey. So I omitted the honey, used strawberries instead, and made my own strawberry jam!

Ingredients
1 pound strawberries (quartered, stems removed)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Melt coconut oil in saucepan
2. Add the strawberries, and stir periodically to keep from burning 
3. Cook and stir 20-30 minutes
4. Place in an 8-ounce jar or other sealed container, and store in the fridge

The strawberries begin to cook down quickly - I snapped this photo after about one minute of cooking!

Bright-colored jam! No sugar added. Beautiful. Fragrant. DELICIOUS!!

Applesauce jello

I saw the blog post on Primally Inspired for a jello recipe and was super happy! A nice treat with a bit of protein and amino acids, yet not heavy on honey. I made it once with true cranberry juice (no sugar added = super tart), per the recipe (i.e. two cups of fruit juice, two tablespoons gelatin, one tablespoon honey), plus added a few cherries, and it was delicious!

However, I don't want to add honey to my foods, certainly not on a regular basis. So I decided to try the jello recipe with applesauce as the liquid, sans honey.

Ingredients
2 C applesauce, hot out of the crock pot, or out of a jar and warmed
2 tbsp beef gelatin
3-4 tbsp cold water

Instructions

1. Set out an 8x8 baking dish
2. Mix gelatin in with the cold water, and mix with a fork until combined (it will be really thick)
3. Scoop the hot applesauce into a mixing bowl and quickly add the gelatin/water mixture, mixing fervently to ensure that it dissolves evenly throughout
4. Place in fridge for a few hours until it sets up
5. Cut, serve and enjoy! It's delicious!

The texture is very homogenous - it's like a semi-solid bar of applesauce. I really love it!!

This is what it looks for going in to the fridge, and coming out when solid!

Lazy-ass applesauce

I buy produce from door to door organics on a weekly basis, except in the summer when my garden is producing. One of my latest favorites is their ten-pound box of imperfect apples for $6.99 - what a steal! This week I bought two boxes (ahem, twenty pounds of apples)! I picked the worst twenty apples (which weren't really even that bad, perhaps one to two bruises each, and/or a mark or two) of the two boxes to use for applesauce. I have about forty apples remaining, and will make at least one more batch of applesauce, perhaps two.

I have two wee guys at home, and hence don't have time to hang out with a double broiler all day making applesauce. When I bought a ten pound box of apples a few weeks ago, I asked some ladies from a parenting forum to share the quickest way to make applesauce. One person replied with a crock pot recipe, and I was sold!

Ingredients
20 apples, minus bruises, cores and nibbles (be sure to remove all seeds)
1/2-1 C water
2 tbsp cinnamon

The carnage. I use that nifty little gadget there to core and slice the apples in one step. I leave the skins on, because it provides a nice color for the applesauce (pinkish). My mother-in-law strains her applesauce to remove the skins once it is finished cooking, but I don't mind the skins in my applesauce, and hence I leave them in. Feel free to strain as a last step if you wish, or peel prior to coring/slicing if you prefer.

Instructions

1. Add enough water to the crock pot that you have about a quarter-inch of water (to protect the apples from burning until they start to produce liquid)
2. Add those apples (minus cores and bruises, of course)
3. Add cinnamon (I used about 2 tablespoons - use as much or as little as you wish - you can always add more at serving time)
4. Put the lid on, cook on low for 6-8 hours. I stir them periodically (once every hour or two, if I'm around)

The finished product

Storage

I keep some in a pint or quart sized canning jar in the fridge, and also freeze some (in individual six-ounce-glass containers). I pull the frozen ones into the fridge the night before consuming - the applesauce freezes wonderfully!

Greens nuts and ham

The crux of the Whole30 approach to Paleo eating is to balance each meal in terms of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This balance constitutes one to two palm-sized portions of protein, one to two tablespoons of fat (depending on the fat source it could be more), and two-thirds of the plate occupied by vegetables. If having fruit, one closed-palm portion is the way to go.

In an effort to enjoy an all-inclusive easy-to-cook meal (that is, inclusive of all sources, but without having to make foods individually), I concocted this: greens, nuts, and ham.

Serves two!

Ingredients
1 thick slice of ham (3/4 to 1 pound), cubed
1-2 bunches of kale (or any greens)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 C cashews*, crushed (I crush them by clenching them tightly in my fist)
1-2 tbsp coconut oil (or other fat)
1 apple, cored and sliced

One bunch of kale (raw), de-stemmed and torn into pieces

3/4 pound of ham, cubed

Instructions

1. Heat coconut oil in wok or frying pan over medium-high heat
2. Toss in the cubed ham. Cook for five minutes, then add garlic and stir. Let cook a few more minutes.
3. Add the kale
4. Stir occasionally until the kale wilts
5. Add the nuts last, stir and cook for three to five more minutes

Ta-da!!!  I didn't cook the apples, but you could throw them in along with the nuts if you like. I just placed half an apple worth of slices on each plate next to main course.  (And as you may be able to infer, that seemingly huge pile of kale became rather small once wilted - this photo shows approximately half of what was shown in the picture of the raw kale).

*You can use any nut you wish - just remember that peanuts are NOT nuts, they are legumes. The last two times I made this, I used walnuts and they tasted great!

Vegan potential: Just replace the ham with cubed tofu. Main difference is that you'll have to cook the tofu much longer than the ham, if you like it prepared firmly. Of course, soy is a no-no in Paleo land, but if you're a non-Paleo vegan, this meal's for you!