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More times than not, whenever we go to a restaurant and I see something with artichokes on the menu, I end up getting it.  I love artichokes, almost as much as I love bacon.  They both seem to just make everything good. Anyway I was so happy to get a new recipe from a friend that includes artichokes.  I could tell I was going to like it before I even made it. I made a few modifications but this was awesome. It was so good that I ate it for breakfast one morning and lunch the day after that.

Here is what you need for this lovely Chicken Artichoke dish:

• 1 – 1 1/2 lb chicken breast, cut into bite sized pices
• 1 can artichoke hearts (in water)
• 1 large (or small) pack of mushrooms
• 1 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1 cup chicken broth (8 oz)
• 1/3 cup sherry
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 tbsp butter or ghee
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• salt pepper
• scallions and or capers (optional)

Start by putting 2 tbsp butter (or ghee) in pan with your chicken pieces and then cook until they just start to turn brown.  Then transfer the chicken to a glass dish, add paprika, salt and pepper, and then set aside.

Next, in same pan, add in 1 tbsp butter and saute mushrooms. While that is cooking, get out a large bowl and mix the chicken broth, arrowroot and sherry.  Add to the mushrooms and let simmer 5-10 minutes (until it thickens) while stirring continuously.

I like to chop my finely before cooking with my ulu knife and it only takes an extra minute…

Then pour the mushroom mixture over the chicken (in your oven safe dish) and cook on 375 for about 45 minutes (depending on the size chunks of your chicken).  Lastly add in the artichoke hearts, cook for 20 more minutes, add lemon juice, serve immediately and enjoy!

Oh and we made one of our old standard salads and I think it complemented the chicken really well. We used spinach, fresh mushrooms, canned hearts of palm (I just use the round pieces and break them up) and of course, bacon.  Then just mix some EVOO, balsamic vinegar, and some celtic salt in a small bowl and pour over your salad. That’s it!

Hope y’all like it!

Have a fun and safe Halloween tomorrow!!

So I learned about a way to make paleo pretzels, where the kids could roll and play with the dough.  And it actually worked!  It was really cool, and as you can see, and we all had a lot of fun!  While they were good, unfortunately, because they weren’t very crunchy, I think my kiddos were expecting something different.  As I’ve said before, it’s all about the marketing!!  I think I would call them bread sticks next time.

Tate kept saying he wanted his dark brown but luckily he still liked them.  I thought they were really pretty good but Alice didn’t love them.  I guess if you add some salt and butter to anything it’s going to be good!  If you want something carb-y and salty, it does satisfy that craving for sure!  And I think if you dipped them in marinara or just added some cinnamon (not with the marinara of course), you could have a whole different snack.

Here’s what you need for your pretzels/bread sticks:

• 3 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp. celtic salt salt
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon water
• Coarse salt
• cinnamon and coconut palm sugar (optional)

Now it’s time to play!  Get out a cookie sheet and cover and some parchment paper. Start by taking a hunk of dough about the size of a golf ball,and roll the dough under your hands into a long skinny pencil about the length of a pencil and then twist it carefully into the shape of your choice.

Place the “bread” in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Beat the remaining egg and add 1 teaspoon water.

Remove the pretzels from the oven. Turn the oven up to 400°F.

Turn all of the pretzels over and you will see the bottom is nicely browned.  Lightly brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Return to the oven for 5 minutes.  Then, melt 1 tbsp of butter and brush that on top as well.  Then you could also  add your cinnamon and coconut palm sugar if desired.

So proud…

She might not love these, but she had a ball making them.  Oh well, just means more for me and Tate!

I look forward to making these again using different variations. Get creative with them and have fun!

Mmmm, warm buttery bread sticks, pretzels, whatever you want to call them. Regardless, they were made with love…

I love strong spices like garlic and ginger.  But I also love what these two things can do, especially for our kids this time of year when runny noses are all around.  Both garlic and ginger are known for being a natural remedy for colds and the flu.  There was even an interesting NY Times article discussing why garlic is so beneficial to us.  Click here to see the details from that post . In the article, they even said “People have known about health benefits for centuries” and “Greeks would feed garlic to their athletes before they competed in the Olympic games.”  Pretty cool.

So, the other night, we made a Thai dinner that we’ll call Ginger Garlic Steak and it was really good!  I loved it, Alice loved it, and Tate said he “liked it pretty good”.  The flavors might have been a little strong for his liking so if you have picky eater you could use a little less garlic and/or ginger.

Here is what you need:

• 1 1/2 lb grass fed stew or fajita meat
• 1 can coconut milk (Trader Joe’s light)
• 1 chunk fresh ginger (I used probably about 1 tbsp plus some)
• 6-7 fresh garlic cloves (I used a pack of the pre-pealed from TJ’s)
• 2 fresh onions
• 1 tbsp chili sauce (Whole Foods, Publix)
• 1 lemon, juice
• 1 teaspoon tumeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• cabbage (I used the TJ’s precut bag)
• chili pepper or spice (optional)

Blend together coconut milk, ginger (peel), garlic (about 7 cloves) 2 onions or 2 packs, chili sauce, and lemon juice. Blend well. I don’t have  a fancy vitamix so mine came out looking a little like grits once I poured it over the meat but we were fine with the consistency.

Peel the ginger and then just drop it in the blender. I keep my ginger in the freezer so it lasts longer.

Brown meat slightly, pour in the sauce, and add in the rest of the ingredients. Bring this to a boil and then cook on low for 1 1/2 -2 hours uncovered (so the sauce can thicken). Lastly, add in cabbage (soaks in flavor well and had noodle-like feel), broccoli or whatever your family prefers and cook for an extra 20-30 minutes on low, let the flavors soak in, and enjoy!

I took a pic of the spices before stirred, well, just cause it looked kind of cool, as far as food pictures go.

You know I’m all about making extra for leftovers but for this, I’m not sure I’d make lots of leftovers just because the veggies will get a little soggy. But Scott had it for leftovers when he got back in town though and said it was “great!”.

Oh and by the way, I was really excited to see that Trader Joe’s now has kale chips  for $3.99; about half the price as the ones at Whole Foods.  What  a great portable snack!  I have to remind myself just because it’s half the price, doesn’t mean I can eat twice as much. These are addictive…

Lastly, please ignore any improper grammar, misspellings, etc.   I know it’s never great, but with work being so busy this time of year, it might be worse than normal. But I still want to share; I am just having to do it a little faster.  I do have two more yummy recipes friend’s have shared with me lately, that I have already cooked, so will post those soon, hopefully!

I know, I know, corny title.

Anyway, I’m sorry it’s been a week since I’ve posted but with my busy time of year with my photography business and well, getting to come to the beach…

I’ve been taking a little break.

But, before we left, it was nice and cool in Hotlanta (finally!).   I love cooking big pots of stews, meats, and soups this time of year! And between the cool and football season, I felt like I had to start the season off with a big ‘ole pot of chili.

If you live in Atlanta and are familiar with Souper Jenny, she has a fabulous cookbook for turkey chili. I did something similar sans the beans and sugar and a few minor tweeks.  Many people ask what I do in place of and well, it’s easy, I just add in more meat or veggies!  I used sweet peppers like the recipe called for this time, but next time, I really want to try sweet potatoes instead.  They are about the same consistency of beans so I think they would not only be really satisfying, also super tasty.

And for those of you wondering why I don’t put legumes in my oh-so-sensitive-body, here’s one explanation from Mark Sisson’s Blog.

Okay, so for this chili, here is what you need:

• 1 lb grass fed ground beef
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 large cans diced tomatoes
• 1 large sausage
• 2 onions
• sweet peppers
• 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp celtic sea salt (or to taste – I like more)
• 2 tbsp chili pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• and any additional seasoning you might like such as cumin or more spice

Since we were heading out of town, I wanted to make this quickly so I used pre-cut onions (2 packs) and tri-colored sweet peppers (1 pack).

Start by pouring some evoo (or butter or ghee) in a pot and add onions and peppers. Cook until just brown (but don’t over cook them) and set aside.

Next, chop up your sausage and cook.

Then cook your ground meat until brown.  Next, add in the sausage, onions and pepper, and everything else. Stir together and cook on low for about an hour so the flavors can really soak in.  Add some avocado, greek yogurt or cheese, and enjoy, for the week.

Happy Fall!