Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms
I love pizza, who doesn’t really? Soft warm crust, sweet and tangy tomato sauce, gooey cheese and spicy pepperoni… Yum. Sometimes Michael and I cheat and go out for pizza on gluten free crust, which is amazing, but not ideal. A couple of weeks ago, before the move, I was trying to come up with a way to make homemade pizza without a bready crust and it hit me. Stuffed mushrooms!! Yup, that’s right, everything you love about pizza stuffed into a portebello and baked. Holy cow, this recipe turned out good! It does involve cheese, but it could be easily left out for those of you who don’t do any dairy.
Stuffed Portebello Pizza
6 portebellos
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion diced
1 green pepper diced
Nitrate free pepperoni
Organic mozzerella cheese
1 can organic pizza sauce
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
Cook the ground beef until fully browned and add the pizza sauce. Bring to a simmer and prepare the other ingredients. I like to scrape out the ‘fluffy’ undersides of the mushrooms, but you don’t have to. Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, salt, & pepper. Fill with the meat sauce and layer with veggies, pepperoni, and cheese. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Enjoy!
Casserole Heaven
Before we started living Paleo, I used to make these huge casseroles every Sunday for dinner so we’d have lunches for the week. The leftovers kept well, and tasted great re-heated. One of my favorites was a mexican lasagna that had layered tortillas, beans, meat, and cheese. Three out of four of those items are a no no, so that meal has been nixed for a while now. Recently, I came across a meat pie recipe that I thought would be a perfect Paleo casserole! It turned out really well, and the leftovers were awesome. This recipe is definitely going in our rotation.
Hamburger Pie
1.5 lbs grass-fed ground beef
2 lbs turnips, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp grass-fed butter
2 tbsp grass-fed cream
1 onion, diced
1 package frozen green beans
2 cans Italian style stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 teaspoon gluten free worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground red pepper
1 tsp paprika
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 375. In a large pot, boil the turnips until they are soft. While the turnips are boiling brown the meat with the onion. When the meat is browned add the tomatoes, tomatoe paste, worcestershire sauce, red pepper, and paprika. Mix well and simmer until the green beans are heated. Pour the meat mixture into a large casserole dish and set aside. When the turnips are soft, discard all cooking water, and add the cream and butter. Mash and mix well until a mashed potatoe consistancy is reached. Pour the turnip mixture on top of the meat and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the turnips start to get a little color. Enjoy!
Weeknight Eats
Lately I’ve been trying to find recipes that don’t take as much prep and involvement for our weeknight dinners. You’d think this would be an easy task, but wow, it’s not. In my quest for easy fast paleo recipes, I happened upon a new site, FastPaleo.com. It’s a blog of sorts where any person can upload their paleo recipes to share. Ingenious! Why didn’t I think of this? I am a software engineer and all… oh well, enough with missed opportunities and onto the recipe we tried for dinner tonight.
Mexican Bell Stuffed Peppers (Original Recipe found here)
1.5lbs grass fed ground beef
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground red pepper
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
6 bell peppers
1 handful fresh cilantro
1 can diced tomatoes w/green chilis
1 can tomato paste
A spoonful of grass-fed sour cream (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 350. Brown the meat, adding the diced onion, cilantro, and spices once the meat starts to let off its juices. While the meat mixture is cooking, cut off the tops of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Dice the leftover pepper tops and add to the meat mixture. Once the meat is cooked through and the veggies are soft start stuffing the peppers. Bake for 30 minutes.
While your peppers are baking, cut up the avocado and blend with a hand mixer. I like to add a spoonful of sour cream to give it that really creamy texture. Add whatever spices you’d like to the spread (we add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro). Serve the peppers with a dollop of avocado spread.
Breakfast! Is what’s for dinner..
The stomach flu really takes a toll on your cooking habits. Last Sunday night I came down with a very nasty virus, which soon spread to Michael. It wrecked havoc on our appetite and kept me from the grocery store for quite a while. Luckily, we’ve been starting to feel a lot better so we’re trying to get back into our cooking routine. Since I still haven’t created a menu or made it to the store, tonight we opened our fridge and accepted the challenge in front of us. I felt a little bit like I was on an episode of Chopped, given the 3 following ingredients: a pound of ground beef, an avocado, and eggs. Of course, this magic combination screamed BREAKFAST, and oh what a wonderful breakfast for dinner it was! I decided to cook the ground beef with a mexican kick, top it with an egg, and finish it off with a dollop of avocado goodness. Here’s how to re-create our Chopped episode…
Huevos Rancheros w/ Avocado Cream
4 eggs
1lb grass fed ground beef
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 roma tomatos, diced
1tsp red chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
2 cloves crushed garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 avocado
1 tbsp grass fed sour cream
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
Huevos Rancheros:
Cook the meat with the vegtables until all the meat is cooked through. Add all the spices and simmer until most of the liquid in the skillet is gone. Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside. Cook the eggs in the remaining beef fat until desired consistancy is reached.
Avocado Cream:
Using a hand mixer, beat the avocado, sour cream, and spices until fluffy.
Serve each egg sitting on top of a spoonful of meat and a dollop of avocado cream.
A Taste of Childhood
The other day I had a craving for something I haven’t had in a very long time. When I was little, my mom always made a fridge dump goulash that was so very good. She would throw loads of veggies, cheeses, and noodles into a big pot, and it always seemed to turn out delicious. Tonight I tried to make a Paleo version and I think it turned out pretty well!
Paleo Fridge Dump Goulash
2 lbs grass fed ground beef
3 sm. Zucchini cut into bite size pieces (noodles)
1 diced onion
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 diced yellow pepper
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced green chilies & tomatoes
1 tbsp. chili powder
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp. red chili powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
In a large stock pot brown the meat with the onions, peppers, and mushrooms. If there’s a lot of fat from the meat, drain off most of it. Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, seasoning, and zucchini. Cook until the zucchini is to your desired tenderness. Leave out the red pepper and pepper flakes if you don’t like spicy.
Next time we make this, I think we’re going to add taco type seasoning. Then we’ll eat it wrapped lettuce leaves with some salsa and avocado. (Yum)
