Garden bonuses

Came back from my trip to some surprises!  Didn't think my eggplant was really growing but I managed to get a few.  :)

Garlic fried chicken, beet greens and mashed kohlrabi

Crockpot roast chicken

Before

 After

With farmer's market carrots and onions, and roasted beets from the garden! :)  Unfortunately, I forgot to broil it for a few minutes to give it a nice brown on top.

Bun-less burger with sautéed greens

Topped with avocado, tomatoes, mushrooms, sprouts and shredded cheese.  If you like condiments, ranch dressing is perfect.

A "Junk Food" Breakfast

All those years of being taught what's healthy for you?  Throw that out the window.  I indulged in what I now consider an "unhealthy" breakfast comprised almost entirely of carbs.

Toast with homemade coconut butter (which is delicious) and fruit.  Conventional wisdom says this is healthy and good for you.  Paleo and other low-carb philosophies say, this is crap.

But every now and then, this is just what I feel like eating.  And that's okay.  This bread also wasn't gluten-free, which is bad too.  But for whatever reason, this company's bread doesn't make me react funny (most affordable at Costco).

Of course, that all being said, this is still healthier than eating a packet of Pop-Tarts, which I did do back in the day.  It's amazing how my views have changed since learning about paleo and low-carb.  Sugar (in most forms) is the enemy, not fat.

Breakfast Leftovers

Last night's leftovers on top of an egg.  Leftovers = awesome.

Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Sautéed Greens

Homemade roasted tomatoes and kale greens from my garden.

Cream cheese pancakes with bananas

Who knew pancakes made from only cream cheese and eggs could be so delicious?  This particular batch I think I might have added whey protein powder too, which helped hold it together better.

"Roasted" chicken with onions, apples and sweet potatos and roasted squash

This may be my first ever roasted whole chicken.  Actually, I "roasted" this in the crockpot and then broiled it in the oven for a few minutes.  The meat came out nicely done.  I was in a hurry though, so I cooked it on high.  If I had planned it better, I could have cooked it on low for a little longer and the meat probably would have been more tender.  Regardless, it wasn't overcooked/dry and it was delicious!  This was a pretty impromptu recipe I went with, basically cooking what we had at the house.  I was pretty proud of myself.  ;)

Roasted squash (winter squash of some type) that my sis-in-law had left at our house since Christmas.  B almost threw it out (what?!) and I put it to good use.  Roasted winter squash is YUM.  I want to roast kabocha squash, where the skin is actually edible.

A serving of our dinner.  :)

Grain-free waffle with scrambled eggs and salsa

I've been making waffles like crazy (got a waffle iron for Christmas!), trying to find the perfect grain-free recipe.  I have yet to get it right.  :(  They are still good though.

Grain-free waffle with yogurt and fruit

Grain-free waffle topped with plain yogurt, fruit and molasses.  Yum!  :)

Grain-free waffle with fried eggs and sausages

Grain-free waffle topped with fried eggs, smoked mozzarella and salsa.  We're working on a lot of sausages from a Costco sized purchase.  ;)

Pork chops with apples over cabbage and veggie fries

This was kind of an impromptu recipe made with what I had in the kitchen.  We've had some old Napa cabbage, carrots, parsnips and apples in the fridge.  Those are what became dinner.

Chinese chicken soup with ginseng

This soup has chicken, dried longans (龍眼), goji berries (杞子), apricot kernels (南北杏), Solomon's seal rhizome (玉竹) and ginseng (花旗參).

I have to say, I grew up drinking a lot of chicken and ginseng soup from my mom.  I hated them, especially the ginseng.  Now, even the smell of the dried ginseng straight from the jar is awesome to me.  B thinks it smells moldy.  Not so.  It has a subtle taste in the soup and the soup is oh so delicious.

Spaghetti squash omelette with cream cheese pancakes

Omelette stuffed with cooked spaghetti squash - this is pretty filling and deceptively more nutritious.

Fried egg with roasted tomatoes and sausage

Featuring roasted tomatoes from my garden last year.  Another quick weekday breakfast.

Hot wings, veggie fries and grilled cheese waffle

A "meh" attempt at a grilled cheese sandwich.  Not so great.  But, homemade hot wings = awesome!  Veggie fries made from leftover veggies from our roast = yummy and easy!

Waffle with squash butter

Grain-free waffle topped with squash butter (yum).  I've only just discovered the delicacy of fruit/veggie butters.  I'm totally making more.

Almond butter pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage

Grain-free bi-bim-bap?! Featuring deer meat.

Made with cauliflower "rice" ...not bad!

A stack of grain-free almond butter pancakes

Almond butter and eggs.  :)

Grain-free fried chicken, kale and mashed sweet potato

I guess it looks a lot better than it tasted.  It tasted good but it was most certainly not crispy fried chicken.

Zucchini pasta

It's been awesome since I picked up this julienne peeler.  It makes my zucchini pasta look a lot more like pasta!  Even better, on my wishlist is the Paderno World Cuisine Spiral Slicer.  :D :D :D

Grain-free hot cereal

Made with unsweetened, shredded coconut and ground flax seed.

Scrambled eggs, sausage and waffle

Grain-free coconut flour waffles

Looks so wonderful.  But the texture/moisture of coconut flour waffles leaves something to be desired.  May have to experiment with a recipe that has more eggs or other liquid.