Paleo Meat Crust Quiche from paleomg.com

A couple of weeks ago our CrossFit gym had a paleo potluck at my house.  Everyone brought a paleo dish and a copy of the recipe.  We all taste tested everything and then everyone received a copy of all the recipes.  It was a huge success and I plan on posting a recipe a week from the foods we tasted at the potluck.  What I love about a lot of the recipes that everyone brought is that they can be made specific to the recipe or with what you have on hand in your pantry.

Penny brought a Meat Crust Quiche that was wonderful.  The recipe comes from PaleOmg.com.  If you haven't visited this website, you must go!  Go now!  She has an extensive collection of recipes and currently has a cookbook out.  I think another one is on the way.  And she is funny too.  I love reading her posts!  This quiche is a great breakfast option...but I admit I enjoyed it for dinner too!

Meat Crust Quiche 

• 1 pound breakfast pork sausage (I used lean turkey sausage)
• 1 small sweet potato, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups fresh spinach (I was out of this - so sad)
• 4 eggs, whisked (I don't know if I have a really big pie plate but I ended up having to use an additional 2 eggs to cover everything)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat (or other kind - I just used olive oil)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Make your meat into a crust by pressing the uncooked meat into the pan and up the rim of the sides.

 

3. Place the pan on a baking sheet (in case of spills) and cook it for 18-20 until meat presses back at you when you poke it.

4. While the crust is baking, place 2 tablespoons of fat into a saucepan (I just used olive oil) and add the garlic.

5. Add the chopped onions and sweet potatoes to the pan and mix with the garlic.  Once the onions are translucent, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top and cover to help steam the potatoes and to cook quicker.

6. Once the potatoes are tender, toss in the spinach and cover once more to help the spinach wilt.

7. After a minute or two, remove the mixture from the pan and let cool.

8. When the mixture is cooled, add in the eggs, garlic powder, ground paprika and a bit more salt.  Mix well.

9. After the crust is done baking, remove the excess oil that may be left behind.  I used a spatula to press against the meat while I tipped it sideways to drain the grease.  The meat will shrink up.  Here is a picture of the cooked meat.

10. Pour the egg mixture on top (I had to whisk 2 more eggs to get it to cover the meat and veggies) and place in the oven.  Cook for 25 minutes or when the middle will push back at you.

 

    

 

  

         

Crockpot Mexican Pot Roast

I love crockpot meals!  So much easier coming home to a meal already done.....healthy.....and Paleo.  Perfect!  This is a twist on a roast that is supposed to be browned in a skillet before placed in a crockpot and it called for packaged taco seasoning.  Browning a roast at 6:00 am?  "I ain't got time for that!"  Plus, I don't use packaged taco seasoning.  I figured I could adapt it to my liking and it was a great flavor change to your typical roast.

Crockpot Mexican Pot Roast

• 2 to 4 lb chuck roast
• 1 cup of hot sauce
• 2 cans of green chilis
• 1 onion
• cumin
• cayenne pepper
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• chili powder
• paprika

1. I start off by inserting a crockpot liner into my crockpot for easy clean up.  Quarter your onion and put the four pieces in the bottom of your crockpot.

2. I did not measure any of my spices!  I opened my roast and sprinkled each side of my roast with all of the seasonings listed.  I would watch the cayenne pepper if this is going to be a family meal though.  You don't want it too hot for the kids.  I think smoked paprika would be even better but I didn't have any.  Place the roast on top of your quartered onions.

3. Pour the 2 cans of green chilis on top of the roast along with the cup of hot sauce.

4. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Mine cooked longer and was still awesome.  By the time I put it in that morning and then get home from CrossFit at 6:00, it's been a cookin' for about 12 hours :)  It has a really good flavor and I enjoyed eating off the ends that had a lot of seasoning on them.

Here is my finished product!

 

 

     

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes using Cauliflower

In my brave attempt to try new vegetables, I decided to give the cauliflower mashed potatoes a try.  I'm glad I did!  They were pretty close to the real thing and would have been even better with butter and cheese - I avoided that.  I served these with the buffalo chicken bites and it made for a great dinner.  Especially when you scoop up some potatoes and some buffalo chicken in one bite.  I just freaked out a few of y'all I know - the ones who cannot let their food touch each other :)

Faux Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic  

1. Chop up the head of cauliflower into chunks.  I placed these into my Pampered Chef bowl that has a top on it.  Pour 1/4 cup of water into the bowl and put the lid on it.  Cook in the microwave for 15 minutes.  This lid does not fit tight but allows the cauliflower to steam as it cooks.

2. When the cauliflower is done, drain it and try to press out as much water as you can.  Transfer it to a bowl and add the 3 cloves of garlic.  Mash together and serve.  You can season with salt and pepper if you would like!

3. Here was my finished product!

 

 

 

Buffalo Chicken Bites

Winner, Winner - Chicken Dinner!

I found another great recipe off of www.paleomg.com for buffalo chicken mini meatloaf.  I decided to make them into balls so that they might cook faster and I might not eat as much :)!  I had also been wanting to try the faux mashed potatoes using steamed cauliflower.  It turned out to be an awesome meal!  I stayed away from the diary.....the cauliflower did taste like mashed potatoes and I'm sure would have been even better with a slab of butter and some cheese on it.  Oh well, it was still good!

Buffalo Chicken Bites

(this is paleomg.com's recipe for meatloaf - I just formed them into balls)

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 3-4 tablespoons hot sauce (I used Franks Red Hot Sauce)
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• salt and pepper to taste  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place all ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to mix thoroughly.

2. Form mixture into 1 inch balls and bake for 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven and sprinkle some additional Frank's Red Hot Sauce on top of each ball.  Return to the oven and cook for 5 more minutes.

Take out and serve with faux mashed potatoes.  See the next post for the potato recipe.

      

Paleo Breakfast Cookies

Here is a great cookie recipe that is actually called a breakfast cookie.  I've eaten them for dessert....I just can't bring myself to eat a cookie for breakfast.  It just seems wrong :)

Paleo Breakfast Cookies

• 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie in a can)
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup almond flour/meal
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup paleo chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.  Combine all wet ingredients together.

2. Mix well and add the dry ingredients.

3. Scoop batter to whatever size cookie you would like and flatten them out to the desired thickness since these do not spread on their own.  Bake approximately 10-15 minutes according to thickness.  My first batch I cooked for 15 minutes and they were not done enough.  My second batch was 20 minutes and it was too done.  So pick a number in between those! :)  These are really good chilled so I keep mine in the fridge.

 

 

    

Paleo Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits

Have you visited PaleOMG?

I came across a website/blog that I love.  I read about her in the CrossFit magazine and her website is www.paleomg.com. What I love about her is that she is really creative in her Paleo cooking but also enjoys nonPaleo food when she wants.  Isn't that the balance we are all looking for?  She had this recipe listed as a Thanksgiving side dish but since it was a biscuit, I thought I could make them and use them as buns on my hamburger sliders.  They were great.  I even had a leftover one the next night just plain.  I'm sure it would be great with a big ol' slab of butter on it too, but I didn't go there.

Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits

from paleOMG.com

• 2 large sweet potatoes (equivalent to 2 cups mashed)
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 6-8 strips of bacon, diced
• leftover rendered fat from bacon OR 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3/4 tablespoons chives, thinly diced
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 415 degrees.

2. Poke holes in your sweet potatoes with a fork.  Her original recipe called for 1 large sweet potato, but from the looks of mine I knew it would not make 2 cups of mashed potatoes.  I could two of them and I had the perfect amount. 

3. Wrap in foil and cook for one hour or until soft.

4.  When the sweet potato is almost done cooking, place your diced bacon into a skillet and brown until crispy.  You can use the left over fat from the bacon for your rendered fat in your biscuits.  I did not use this - I used the melted coconut oil instead.

5. When your potatoes are done, peel and place in a bowl and mash.

6. Then add in your eggs and mix well.  Add your bacon fat or coconut oil and mix well.

7. Add your dry ingredients: coconut flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.

8. Finally add your bacon and chives.  Mix thoroughly.

9. Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used nonstick foil) and use a large spoon to drop your biscuits on the sheet, shaping them as needed.  Place in oven and bake for 27 minutes.

We enjoyed these on our lean meat, hamburger sliders.  They were very good.  Anything to substitute for bread is worth a shot for me.  Here is a picture of our dinner!  YUMMY!

 

 

  

   

        

Paleo No-Bake Cow Patty Cookies

I love cow patties!

Growing up my grandmother and I would make these no-bake cookies we called cow patties.  Obviously they got their name because they look like a pile of poo.  But they tasted so good.  They were made of oatmeal, chocolate and a few other ingredients.  I was excited when I found a recipe on Pinterest for a similar cookie.  These were SO easy and SO good.  I only had shredded coconut which is shredded really fine.  Next time I'll be sure to get the flaked coconut because I think the bigger pieces would give the cookies a better texture.

Paleo No-Bake Cow Patties

• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup Paleo chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Heat chocolate chips, oil, honey and almond butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Melt the chocolate chips and almond butter until they are a smooth consistency.

 

2. Turn off heat and add cinnamon, nuts and coconut.  Be sure to coat everything in the chocolate.

3. Drop a spoonful on a parchment (I used non stick foil) lined cookie sheet.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until hardened.  I used my melon scoop to measure out my cookies.

 

This is the best Paleo dessert so far!