Sweet and Salty Trail Mix

Disclaimer: So this is neither sugar or dairy free but it's gluten free and it's still yummy!

I recently took a short trip to LA and realized that I would be spending must of my time indoors at a convention per se.  What better snacks to bring then the ones you can make?!

I made several but I thought I would start with this one since Big Wong and the girls really liked it.  As well as my friends who I hung out with that weekend.

This trail mix is super easy and tasty.  Definitely a party in your mouth, you got sweet, savory, creamy, coconuty...it's just plain nutty how easy and quick it was to whip this up.

Ingredients:

No Rhyme or reason as to why I chose the following nuts, these were what I had in my nut bin...Yes a nut bin...I don't have enough to fill a drawer but a bin, definitely.

• 1 and 1/2 cup of raw Almonds
• 1 cup of Pistachios (I got mine from Costco so there were salted and shelled.  So Convenient, I once made Baklava and had to shell them one by one...my fingers were sore for a day!)
• 1/2 cup of raw Pepitas
• 1/2 cup raw Sunflower Seeds
• 1/2 cup of dried cranberries (you can also add whatever dried berries you have, I wanted cherries but I was out, I think tart and sweet would have complimented the chocolate)

Ultimately, how much you want to add of this creamy goodness is up to you, but I think a handful is plenty (if you are gluten and/or dairy intolerant, look for gluten and/or dairy free chips):

• Handful of dark chocolate chips
• Handful of white chocolate chips 
• 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (use 3 and save one for later)
• 4 tablespoons of dark coconut sugar 
• Trader Joe's Roasted Coconut Chips

Optional

• 6 cranks of sea salt with a grinder top

OR

I used 6 full twists (12 total) of each of the following:

• Trader Joe's Thyme, Lemon & Bay Seal Salt
• Trader Joe's Edible Flowers Sea Salt

I know it probably doesn't make sense but I had it and I thought why not?! It doesn't really have a citrus or floral note in the trail mix but the is a slight saltiness other than the salted pistachios.

I used a skillet just because it was on my stove...you can really use any type of pan for this.  But if you have a skillet, why not show it some love. Plus I love how it stays evenly coated with the oil. :)

Melt 3 tablespoons of Coconut Oil. Add 1.5 cups of the almonds, make sure to coat them evenly with oil.  Cook on medium to low heat for several minutes (mine took about 5 minutes and on low because we have a professional grade stove, most home stoves can be set to medium, test it out and see).  This will give them a nice toast...a nice golden brown color though I know it will seem hard to distinguish with the oil, you will be able to tell as they darken.

Remember to stir occasionally as to NOT burn the almonds.

Since the almonds are much bigger, I started with the almonds first then added the rest once I felt the almonds were where I wanted them.  Add the pepitas, sunflower seeds, pistachios.  You may hear a little popping from the smaller nuts.  It's ok, it's not going to pop like popped corn.  Continue to occasionally stir to avoid burning.

Add the cranberries when the nuts look evenly coated in the coconut oil.

 

 Melt the last tablespoon of coconut oil directly onto the skillet and sprinkle the 4 tablespoons of sugar over all the nuts.  Stir to ensure a nice even coat.  You will notice the sugar will create a nice caramelization around the pepitas and sunflower seeds. I really liked the added crunch. 

Once it's evenly coated, pour onto a baking dish or pan to cool.

 When cooled, add the coconut chips, dark and white chocolate. 

Hope you love it as much as Big O.  Above is his bag that he took to work...

Enjoy!

XOXO

Fennel, Leek and Squash Soup

We have tons of veggies in the fridge since eating more whole foods, it's been easier to combine them into our dishes without much objection from the kids.  I was apprehensive at first when Izzy could easily identify them and say NO! We tried everything to coax her into eating more veggies.  She used to love all kinds of veggies and when Olive came along and started on soft foods...well that all changed.  Izzy boycotted veggies...ALL veggies.  It was "baby food" as she put it.  Sigh.

This morning, I opened the fridge to see what we had leftover to eat.  There was a lot of chicken, some eggs and lots of fresh veggies.  Hmmmm, what can I make today that will warm our bodies and not be a repeat of every meal for the last few days?  I dug around and found a ziplock bag full of the centers of zuchinnis and yellow squash leftover from all the veggie noddles I have been making.  So it was decided, I would make a simple, quick and filling pureed soup!

Ingredients (2.5 servings):

1 fennel bulb
1 trimmed leek 
~3 medium zuchinni
~1 yellow squash
a pinch of salt
1.5 tsp of chicken bouillon
2 cups of water

I wished I had taken pics but to be quite honest, I didn't want to spend too much time thinking about it.  Instead I wanted to eat it already! LOL

Prep veggies by slicing the fennel bulb and leek.  Peel the zucchinis and yellow squash and cut into halves length wise and repeat. These can be kept long since all the veggies will be pureed.

With a sauteed pan, add a tbsp of coconut oil (or oil of choice) on medium high and saute the fennel and a pinch of salt (this helps draw out the liquid from the fennel and quickly softens), cook till they are lightly browned (1-2 minutes).  Add leek and squashes and cook till the leeks are slightly soften...doing this will allow the leeks to give off their fragrance. 

Add a 1.5 tsp of chicken bouillon and 2 cups of water.  Simmer for at least 10 minutes till all the veggies, most importantly the fennel has soften completely.

Add the veggies and liquid to a food proceesor or blender.  Puree till smooth.

Top with croutons, cheese, green onions, etc.  Olive really liked the Raw Milk Cheddar and green onions. Enjoy!

XOXO 

Crock Pot Bone Broth

I have never made a bone broth.  Don't get me wrong, I have made plenty of Chinese soups that use beef and pork bone but never a broth just from the bone purely to store and drink...like hot chocolate. LOL

I used this recipe as a basis.  As nomnompaleo.com noted, you can easily substitute pork or chicken bones in place of beef and the results are all good.  She also gave a great tip! I should definitely befriend my local butcher as he may even give me a big bag of bones for pennies! I really hope my butcher charges me pennies for a bag of fatty deliciousness; BONE MARROW! My mother told me that she used to make us soups with bone marrow all the time...I have fond memories of the tubes of marrow! She said back in the day, butchers gave it away or threw it away...she joked that now we have to pay for it like we're buying meat cause of all the foodies and innovative ways to cook!

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots, chopped medium
• 2 celery stalks, chopped medium
• 1 large leek (original recipe called for medium onion but I did not have one to spare)
• 7 garlic cloves, smashed
• ~ 4 lb of beef and marrow bones
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 6 pieces of  Wai San (click to see image.  It is the white one in the photo.  Here is more info on why it's so great to use! My mom wrote on my bag, good for skin)
• 1 oz Goji Berries (click to see image and here's more info)
• water 
• Kosher salt  (I only added salt to the ready to drink individual servings)

Too be quite honest, I should have used more Wai San and Goji Berries for the amount of water I used...but it was my first time making it and I didn't want to over power it. Though what am I saying?! LOL for a 3 quart pot of soup I use the same amount and my slow cooker is 7 quarts!

I cooked it for 8 hours and while I prepped my vegetables, I heated my crock pot for 30 minutes.  So I set it on low for 8.5 hours.

This is what my beef and marrow bones looked like.

I added my veggies to a 7-quart (or at last a 6-quart) slow cooker along with my bones.

Then add enough water to cover the bones (make sure all bones are covered...and since my crock pot was heating up, I had to use another container/bowl to add water to the pot.

Add the bay leaves, apple cider vinegar, wai san, and goji berries.

I also decided to resemble my bones so that all the marrow bones were at the surface as to not melt completely into the broth when cooking.  You'll see why!

Again I set it for 8 hours (with an additional 30 minutes to heat the pot prior to adding the ingredients but the original calls for 8-10 hours of cook time)

When it’s done, pour the broth through a strainer and discard the solids OR do what I did and make more broth!

We did not drink the broth when it was hot...because of this layer of fatty oil floating on top of the soup.  We let it cool and refrigerated it till it solidified.

In the mean time, I got ready to make a second batch with the same bones minus the marrow (look down below and you will see what I did with them).

Again, I returned all the solids back into the pot and added more water, 6 pieces of Wai San, 1 oz of Goji berries and 2 Tbsp of Apple Cider.  Again, no salt...I like the natural flavoring of the beef bones along with the light sweetness of the goji berries.  Salt can always be added to the individual servings to taste.

So what did Day One look like after being refrigerated?  Ta Da!

  

Really easy to remove

 Look at this gelatinous beaut!

This is ready to be microwaved and sipped like hot chocolate. 30 to 60 seconds then add salt to taste.

Day two in the morning looked like...

 All the brown looking strips are the Wai San...and the goji berries sweeten the soup as previously mentioned without overpowering the soup. Also by not adding salt into the broth allowed for each individual to adjust the saltiness.  For me personally. I only really need a light pinch.  I enjoy the different notes in the soup...like how people sip coffee and taste the roast...

After I drained the second batch, it was easy to distinguish what survived two 8 hour hot tub baths. LOL Most of the fat melted into the broth and the tendons were very visible.

Baby Wong and Big Wong went to town on the tendon with a sprinkle of freshly ground sea salt.
 

 Look at how much less fatty oil is floating above the broth!

A couple of hours in the fridge and it's ready to be used or you can freeze for future use (see below for what I do to freeze).

 This is the fat from day one (left) and the fat from day two (right) Much different also because day one had marrow as well.

Also look at how much darker the day two broth is!  Maybe all the goji berries?!

I did not throw away the solids, instead I added them back tot the crock pot and added water to cover, 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar, 6 pieces of Wai San and 1 oz of Goji Berries.  I thought why waste perfectly good bones when I can used them for one more batch!  So batch three is in the fridge as I type this. 

 This is what the bones look like after Day three...no meat, no fat, no tendon.  BONE DRY. :)

OK so what did I do with all the broth?!

I weighed out 8 oz bags (cause most recipes usually call for a cup of broth) and threw them all into a larger zip lock bag to prevent any kind of explosion in the freezer as it freezes...only takes a little pressure to open these puppies up and it'll be a headache to clean!

FINALLY....Drum roll please! What did I do with the marrow?

Remember when I said to stack them at the top above the other bones...well this is why!  I strategically set the marrow bones on top and removed them for consumption after the first cooking period.   Since we'll be straining the solids from the liquid...why waste beautiful marrow!

Sprinkle a little sea salt and enjoy!!!

 
Hope you enjoy this as much as the family did...You get bone broth, marrow, and tendon all in one dish!

Enjoy! XOXO

Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I love this recipe! It's easy and quick...I can eat it almost immdiately...I can eat it straight out of the fridge.  I can also reheat and eat it again...though it may not have that candy like chewy outside like when you first cook it but your tummy won't know the difference! I hope you like this as much as we do!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes (I just buy the bag from Trader Joe's)
• 1/4 cup olive or other oil (4 Tbsp)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 Tbsp spice (I used Mrs. Dash) or spice combination of your choice.

Method

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and then half again. Cut each into 1 inch quarter cuts. If some pieces are smaller, leave them as halves.

Put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl and add the oil. Mix well to combine. Sprinkle with salt and spices of your choice. Use your hands to mix well, so all pieces are coated with oil and spices.

Spread the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper; even though oil should keep them from sticking to the pan, it's just easy cleanup.  Good tip by another blogger: If you are trying to cut fat, reduce the oil to 2 Tbsp and use a non-stick coating on the baking sheet.

 Bake for a total of 30 to 35 minutes at 450°F.  Take it out and turn the oven up to 500°F.  Then cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.

I do this double cook process because at 450°F it is still tender and the outside is still a little soft but semi carmelized.  When you return it to the oven at 500°F (be sure not to pick at it while you wait.  Big Wong likes to eat them before they go back and I usually have a huge hole!) it will caramelize the outside.  It will be nice and chewy with a soft center without risking a burn if you were too just cook it at 500°F the entire time of 30 to 35 minutes.

 Some say to cook halfway and take them out of the oven and turn them...I honestly don't have time for that when I have other thing cooking or kids to feed.  Hahah truth be told, I am just too lazy and busy to take it out and turn every single one of the.  For fried foods, def...cause of the oil as it sits on the pan...Like Parmesan Chicken!

 

See above...was my first attempt at 500°F for 35 minutes. See the dark edges...and the inside was almost dried out.

This beauty is cooking it in two different temps. 450°F for 30 to 35 minutes. Then 500°F for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Enjoy! XOXO

Oven-Braised Boneless Short Ribs Beef Stew

I must say, I am really loving my Paleo lifestyle since stumbling upon Michelle Tam's website: http://nomnompaleo.com/

Her dishes are always delicious yet I have yet to master following a recipe to a tee.  I would fail if I attended Culinary school.  I normally follow rules almost always to my demise but with cooking...well when I follow the recipe almost always something goes wrong! Go figure! LOL
 
Nonetheless, I am always looking for new beef recipes especially since the Big Wong loves beef.

So today as I sat in my car after dropping Izzy off, I came across this:

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/2727452571/oven-braised-beef-stew-with-carrot-parsnip-and

PERFECT! I remembering seeing parsnips at Trader Joe's the other day and thought it would be a great gateway dish for my family to get acquainted with parsnips.  Sadly they were out...and I had to think how I could adapt this recipe so that my family would eat it.

Her recipe called for chuck roast but she mentioned she loved using boneless short ribs and my family loves short ribs so that was the first change.  The next was (already stated) the parsnip absence...and sadly the Kale as well. I must state, I bought it but it was more for my consumption than theirs. Lastly besides also changing the required amount of ingredients, I changed the mushroom type. :)  LOL I really deviated from the recipe thus I changed the title and could not just link my pictures to her dish...it's almost not fair to her creativity and inspiration and to my "Wong Family Friendly" dish! :p

This is what I used for 1 adult and 2 toddlers...and enough for a neighbor with leftovers!

• 3 lb boneless short ribs (I purchased about a little under 5 lb, I have another dish for the leftover!)
• 3 large leeks, white parts only (split down the middle and sliced crosswise)
• 4 shallots, peeled and trimmed
• 4 tablespoons, divided of coconut oil, or oil of choice
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 6 ounces King Osyster mushrooms, washed and quartered
• 2 celery stalks, cut into medium sized pieces
• 4 large carrots, cut into fourths
• 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

I preheated my oven to 300 F.  I removed my middle rack since I need the lower rack to fit the dutch/french oven.

I prepped my veggies and mushrooms as directed.  

  Yes I know, a little over 3 lb!  I was too lazy to cut take out the 0.08 difference.  I cut the boneless short rib into 1 inch strips.  Initially I cut the strips in half as well but there is usually fat running right through the middle, which will separate in the cooking process.  So it saved me a step.  Seasoned them with salt and pepper and set aside.

In my french over, I sautéed my leeks and shallots over medium heat with 1 tablespoons of coconut oil. (I don't have a large cast iron skillet as the recipe called for so there was a lot of transferring).  I seasoned them with a pinch of salt and pepper and as they were softening, I added the garlic and lightly brown. 

 Then, I transferred them to a dish so I could cook the other ingredients. 

Next, I sautéed my mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.  Lightly brown the mushrooms and add the celery and carrots with another pinch of salt and pepper.  You may be wondering why I decided on another kind of mushroom.  Well I personally love all kinds of mushrooms...but the family does not. Esp when I had used cremini in the past, they picked it out...not sure why.  Anyway, I decided on the King Oyster because it's very dense and meaty and holds up really really well in stew.  The family thought it was potatoes because the stem cut into fours looked like chopped potatoes. Also it doesn't have that mushroomy taste...A little less earthy. :)

 Then, I transferred them to a dish so I could cook the star of the dish.

I heated a tablespoons of coconut oil (for each batch) over medium high heat and seared the beef cubes in 2 batches so the pan wasn’t overcrowded and the beef would brown properly (I should have done it in 4 batches as Michelle recommended but I had 5 other dishes to make today so I was sort of rushing!  Also if you overcrowd meat, it will steam instead of brown).

After I was done searing the beef, I added the cup of chicken broth to release the meaty browned bits, and poured in the rest of the cooked ingredients.  Added the cider vinegar, bay leaves and thyme sprigs and mixed the contents in the the French oven. 

I learned a great tip!  Covered your French oven with a piece of Parchment paper and then put the lid on.  I believe it's to keep the lid from producing steam condensation but beware when you take it out of the oven.  You may get too excited like me and lift the lid and paper!  It was like a steam bath on my hand! HOT doesn't even begin to explain it!

I used Michelle's photo to demo her tip since I forgot to take one of my red one! Photo from http://nomnompaleo.com/

I popped the stew in the oven for 2.5 hours or until the meat is nice and tender.

As Michelle mentioned, since during the cooking process, you will be adding salt and pepper that I actually did not have to add any more salt or pepper after the stew was done.

 Voila! A Wong Family approved beef stew!

So what did I do with the rest of the boneless short ribs?  I made a Korean marinade, added the meat, dated it and threw it into the freezer! So on the days that we have to run around and are low on leftovers, I can pull out the frozen ribs and defrost in the fridge.  It will marinade in the process...as it marinated as it freezed as well! 

Enjoy! XOXO

SUPER EASY!!! Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)

Add PB and sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.  Then add the egg until it is well blended.

Form 1 1/2 inch balls and and place onto ungreased baking sheets one inch apart.  Makes about 24* cookies.   (I placed a sheet of parchment paper on the sheet to prevent any sticking and easy removal when cooling).  Use a fork and pressed criss-cross patterns to resemble traditional PB cookies.

Bake for 10 minutes and remove.  Pull the parchment paper with cookies off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack.  It will cool within minutes and you can enjoy them even sooner!  Do let them cool though so they can firm up.

As I was baking my cookies, I decided to surf the net.  Then I stumbled onto

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/flourless-peanut-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html

Though I did not use vanilla extract, I did like her salt idea. So I grinded sea salt and sprinkled onto the finished cookies.

*If you want the cookies to be larger, make the balls bigger and them flatten them to the desired size.  The dough will not really flatten and spread out like traditional cookies in the oven.  It will almost hold the exact shape it was prior to cooking.

Now get some lactose free milk! :) Yummy!

Try it and tell me what you think! :)

Chicken Adobo for kids

I was looking through my Facebook updates when this caught my eye.

http://www.facebook.com/KalaheoInn/posts/132720263549246

I thought, why not make this for the kids.  So the mommy in my got started and I began to look at other Chicken Adobo recipes to see if there are any kid friendly ones since this dish is normally on the tangy side and toddlers may find it a little tart.  I really did not find any. :(

So I used the recipe from Kalaheo Inn as a basis (if you want the original, click on the link above) and tweaked a little here and there.  Since Izzy was home sick and Olive was up, I really did not have time to watch the flame for long.  So I opted for a 2 cook method, thus I was able to skip the "let it marinade for a few hours" before cooking by using a slow cooker.

Ingredients: 
3 lb. chicken thighs (If you don't have a scale, ~6 to 7 thighs)

1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 bulb of garlic (Roughly chop 3/4 of the garlic cloves.  Keep the remainder 1/4 as whole cloves)
1 teaspoon peppercorns, crushed
3 bay leaf, crushed

Procedure:

• Washed the thighs and pat dried.  Set aside to dry more.

• Mix the marinade: vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorn and bay leaves. 

  
In a saucepan:   

In a saucepan, added 2 tbsp of oil and pan fry both sides for about 30 secs each. Just enough to brown it.  Remove.  

With the residual oil, cook the chopped garlic on medium heat just to bring out the aroma and brown them a little. 

Return the chicken to the pan and pour on the marinade. Bring to a boil then remove and place the chicken and sauce in the Slow Cooker.*

In a Slow Cooker:

Add lightly smashed garlic cloves, 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 tbsp of honey (this helps with the tartness for the kiddies).

REVISION: Cook on low for 6 hours.   This will allow the flavors to simmer into the chicken and you have your hands free for a few hours! Yippee!  

~~~~NOW COOK SOME RICE! ;p~~~

When it's done, you can use sauce which is still fairly thinned out which is perfect for the rice and chicken!  

Or you can strain the sauce and then reduce in a saucepan for a thicker version.  Don't forget to add back the strained chunks of garlic back into the sauce.  If you want it even thicker, you can use a little cornstarch and mix well with a little water, this will prevent any chunks of gumminess when the cornstarch powder is added directly to the sauce.  Pour and stir for a few minutes till desired thickness.     

*If you do not have a slow cooker, continue with the directions {below}.

{Cover, lower heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove cover and simmer 15 more minutes or until liquid evaporates and chicken is lightly browned. Makes six servings}.  If you want there to be some sauce then add a cup of water when simmering.

Hope this was fairly easy to follow.  I am still working on the writing portion! LOL I am too long winded for straight to the point recipes! Eeek!