Primal Chow Chicken Soup

Before I write about the recipe, I need to get something off my chest. I was reading an article about how the most fattening restaurant is NOT Mcd's. Although it tried to be thorough about the percentage of calories, fats, sodium, etc. It never mentioned one important factor: ingredients! You can't compare a nice sit-down meal of venison, with sweet-potatoes with real butter versus a fast meal of made up food from a fast food joint such as Mcd's! The calories first of all, might be higher, but every calorie is not the same! For example: An apple has 116 calories. A low/no sugar cookie made with Splenda from this site, has only 57 calories! What would a person, who is following a low-calorie diet, do? Go for the cookie of course, and think they are doing splendid. Nope! Wrong! You might think you are doing great in counting the calories you intake, but the calories you are taking in place of natural foods are EMPTY calories. No nutritional value whatsoever! Reason why I fumed at the article. It's full of holes! Enough of my rant. Here is my recipe for the soup.

Today the forecast in our little city was windy and cold. A bit of snow in the forecast for the mountains close by, but I don't think we will see any in the valley. Our next door neighbor, State of California, has already issued a severe drought advisory. It looks grim, and I can only imagine that this coming summer it will be a brutal one. So today for this crazy weather, I decided to do a Chicken soup. Sara Fragoso has an amazing recipe for a crock pot rotisserie chicken. I prepared earlier in the day the chicken in the crock pot, and later in the evening just shredded the chicken, blended the onions with the amazing chicken broth. The recipe calls for a whole onion, sliced and scattered at the bottom of the crock pot before plopping in the chicken. It's amazing and very cheap! It makes about 4 cups of chicken stock.

Ingredients for the soup:

Add 6 more cups of chicken broth
3 carrots, diced
1 celery, diced
6 small red potatoes, diced
3 Tbl of fresh ginger
2 cups of spinach, diced
6 cloves of minced garlic
One rotisserie chicken, shredded
3 Tbl of dried dill
1 Tbl of lemon juice

Pour all the broth in a pot, and bring it to a boil. Add all the ingredients. Cook until carrots and potatoes are tender.

Chow down and enjoy!

Quote of the day:

"I trust a pig more than a man. If trust is ever broken, at least you have bacon!"

Primal Chow Breaded Pork Chops with Mushroom Soup

I know! Breaded pork chops.... AGAIN! I love breaded pork chops. They are very versatile. You can use Marinara sauce, peppercorn sauce (one of my favorite!), or with caramelized apples. They are also very easy to do. I used my old recipe, but changed a few things.

Ingredients:

4 thick pork chops
garlic powder
arrowroot powder
sea salt
parsley flakes
pepper
1 free-range eggs, beaten
1 cup of coconut flour
4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Mix garlic powder, sea salt, parsley flakes, pepper, and coconut flour in a deep bowl. Set aside. In another plate have the arrowroot powder/flour readily available to use. Coat the chops in arrowroot first, then dip them in the beaten eggs, and lastly coat them in the coconut mixture. Fry them in olive oil 3 minutes per sides. Transfer the chops to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

While these are baking in the oven, prepare the mushroom soup. I got the inspiration for this soup from this site. I made a few changes though. Instead of heavy cream I used full fat coconut milk. Also, after adding the broth, I mixed everything in a blender. Transferred the mushroom soup back into the pan and mixed in the rest of the ingredients as the recipe instructed.

When the chops are ready, uncover them and pour the mushroom soup over them and bake for an additional 15 or 20 minutes.

Chow down and enjoy!

Primal Chow Banana Pancakes

It was a very hectic day. Our youngest one woke me up around 3 am. I am a light sleeper. Any light or noise and I am awake. I couldn't be mad at him. He was looking for Jolly, one of our cats. I could not fall back to sleep, so decided to read another chapter of A Song of Ice and Fire. I can't put this book down! I am half way through already, and the new season of GOT will start in April. Plenty of time to finish all the books, and discuss with my other half what they changed from the book.

Around 6 am, I was falling asleep again. I woke up to my other half, who just arrived home from work. I was so elated when he said he will take care of breakfast and will let the chickens out from their pen. THANK YOU! Around 9, I got up. Made sure the chickens had more water. Cleaned their coop. Out the door before 9:45 because the middle specimen had karate. Thankfully, my other half took our youngest one earlier. During this time, I received the best news. Our hog order is ready, and he will be in town around 1:30! Unfortunately, our middle specimen wanted to stay longer for another class. That's ok, I will have time.... or so I thought.

For some time we have belonged to a local credit union, instead of a national big bank. I love it! The downside? They are not open during the weekends... or so I thought. I had to get cash to pay the farmer for our order, and I asked my other half frantically "Do we have extra checks?" Nope! He did inform me that this particular credit union is open on Saturdays. So out the door I go, and drove hurriedly to the bank. It was 11:50 when I arrived, and it said on the door they are open till noon on Saturdays. My luck was horrid! They closed early. Alrighty then... Plan B it is! I was able to withdraw the max of $400, but I still needed $225. Off I go to several stores. First Costco! I had to pick up some items, so why not kill two birds with one stone. It was PACKED!!! I had been to Costco on a Saturday before, and today it was worse somehow. No problem... I will pick up only movie tickets and cash. Well, the max at Costco? $60 Really!?! No problem. I had to go to Target for another item anyway. The max at Target? $40 I just laughed in disbelief! No problem. I went down the road to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck). I have been in the mood for liverwurst anyway, and they are the only ones that carry my favorite brand. Went to the checkout, asked what the max to withdraw was: $100! Awesome! All of a sudden I had to buy alcohol. I told her to ring me up again for the chocolate and wine! It was about 1:20 pm when I had all the money. Called the farmer and told him I will be running a bit late. Arrived at the drop off, which is about 25 miles out of town. While waiting, I took out my book and started reading again.

All of a sudden I noticed it was getting darker. What the??? It was almost 4! I had the urge to go to the restroom, and fortunately there was a casino next to the parking lot. When I came back to my car, I saw the most beautiful sight ever: my farmer! This lady comes out from the car next to me and greets me with "Oh, you were here all this time, and I was next to you!" Oh, ok. I introduced myself, and of course! She was the farmer's wife! Damn it, we could have chatted for over 2 hours! We exchanged greetings, and there it was..... three huge boxes! ALL for me! Shoulder, Steaks, ribs, chops, sausages, ham, sliced ham, and the best of the best damn bacon on this side of the country! A whole pasture raised pig, plus 30 lbs of bacon! He was kind enough in providing 5 extra pounds of bacon for free. I love this farmer!

After saying our goodbyes, and wishing them well, I hurried home to stock our almost empty freezer. It took me almost an hour to organize everything. We also buy a half cow every six months. Yes, from a local farmer as well!

All of a sudden I thought: what the hell can I do for dinner? I wanted to do ribs so bad. I made an amazing BBQ sauce some days ago, and used it for pork chops. HUGE mistake! The sauce was amazing, but using it for chops? I learned my lesson. My other half liked it, so I was happy to see it didn't go to waste. Back to dinner. Ribs take forever! I also had two loads of laundry to do. Fine. breakfast for dinner! My other half has plenty for several nights. Remember the Mushroom Gravy Slow Cooked Rump Roast the other night? Well he took the leftovers. Told the kids I am doing bacon and banana pancakes. Only heard a "YAAAAAY!" from the living room, and our middle specimen added "Great idea mom!"

DELICIOUS!

The recipe is very simple! One banana and two eggs. Mix everything in a blender. Cook with a bit of grease (butter, coconut oil, or lard). Flip. Roll them. There is no maple syrup necessary, as the banana is sweet enough. I doubled the recipe. Each kid ate 5 pancakes, and two slices of bacon. 

Our oldest and myself ate over easy eggs with salsa. Mixed veggies of green beans, corn, peas, carrots cooked in bacon grease and mixed with leftover potatoes. Two slices of bacon on the side as well. Chow down and enjoy!

Tomorrow? RIBS!

Thanks for taking the time to read. 

I will leave you with this gem:

"There is no time. We made it up!" HA!

Primal Chow Cooked Rump Roast

Today was cleaning day! As in cleaning the chicken coop. As I mentioned in my other post, we decided to raise chickens. It was the best decision ever! It's a lot of work in the beginning. We bought 12 (a mix of Ameraucana, Reds and Leghorns), received 2 for free (Buff Silkies) and 3 (1 Buff Silkie, and the other two I have no idea what they are) were given to us by a friend. We lost one of the ones given to us by a friend. His name was Derby, a Buff Silkie. We found him headless in the yard. We also guessed we interrupted a hawk in the process of eating his dinner. Very gruesome, but that's nature! Our chickens were very upset we didn't leave poor Derby for them to eat. Yes! Chickens are cannibals. They eat their own. They eat anything. Well, they are considered omnivores, but the word cannibal got your attention. Right? Therefore when you see eggs with a label proudly stating "Our chickens are fed a vegetarian diet". Keep shopping! They are likely fed a very unhealthy diet of grains and soy, only.

Before dipping into the idea of raising chickens, I read everything I can get my hands on about the subject. One person at this site expressed it perfectly: "Raising chickens is more work than a cat, but less than a dog." Cleaning is my least favorite chore in raising chickens, but their leavings are a great and beneficial addition for our compost. Last fall, I was wondering how to heat the coop. I read in the same site that you can leave their leavings and it will heat their coop. I was doubtful and worried about the stench. Fall came and went. I went for it, and it's true! Not only did it heat the coop, but it also did not stink. As the nights grew colder, the coop stayed comfortably warm for the chickens. We are in January now, and unfortunately our winter has been mild. Temps hovering during the day around 50 or 55 F. No snow in sight either. Therefore decided to clean the coop today, and prepare it for spring. We might get a few cold snaps, but I doubt we will get more snow. I use sand for their coop. Why? It's easier to clean, and their feet stay very clean. It was a mess, but easy to clean.

Yes, it was caked to the floor!

It took me about 45 minutes to clean it. Also, because it did not have any straw, I can dump it in the compost and in no time it will mix well with everything else. Straw takes forever! 

Not bad!

Add new sand and as you can see the hens were very happy!

Using sand has it's benefits. You clean the coop as you would clean a kitty litter, and I did not see an infestation of mites. 

Because I had to clean the coop, I decided to use the crock pot for our dinner tonight. We had a rump roast out, and just added whatever was in hand. I used this recipe. PaleoOMG is amazing! Our house smells amazing, and I cannot wait to eat it. With a side of cauliflower rice and dinner is done! 

Thanks for reading!

Quote of the day:

"I am going to write a letter to George R.R. Martin, and ask him to also include a recipe book with all the meals mentioned in Song of Ice and Fire series. The food is PAF, besides the bread of course!"

Primal Chow Crab Bisque

Whoa, it's been awhile! So many things have occurred in our family since my last post. We are the owners of 16 chickens, and maybe we will add to our crazy list beekeeping this year. HUGE maybe! The eggs from our hens are amazing and taste buttery! They are free range chickens, but we do supplement their feed during the winter. Unfortunately, my other half has not said "Yes! That's a brilliant idea!" in raising bugs in our basement. The type of feeding we used to use was GMO free, and soy free. Not cheap exactly. So... another brilliant idea came to mind: Make my own chicken feed! I found a wonderful mixture, and because we shop from Azure Standard every month, the items are relatively cheap. It's cheaper than the kind we used to buy at least. Only the best for our hens!

My wonderful family forced me to try skiing.... again! All of our kids are avid skiers, just like my other half. I had to relent and try it. Therefore, I sucked up all my courage. What happened? I crashed the first day! Hurt my ankle, and screamed to everyone in sight: I hate skiing! Looked at the stupid hill, and all of a sudden had this burn in my belly telling me "Tame this HILL!" So I did. Had to rest my ankle first. I rested for two days, and took some more full day lessons. Eventually, tamed the stupid hill, but I also had the courage to get on another hill. Was able to take a picture with my other half and our three specimens. The same hill we skied 14 years ago! Now? I just need to remember this courage for school, and we are on a roll!

Had the pleasure and honor to work at an organic farm that belongs to a friend. He has been a farmer for over 25 years, and I had begged him to take me as an apprentice. He said one day "Do you still want to work for me?" Hell yeah! Bought myself some neat overalls, because my yoga pants were being abused daily. I saw mother nature in action everyday, and loved every minute of it. It was dirty, hard work, but utterly amazing!

We are still living a Paleo lifestyle, but during our skiing trip we fell off the wagon. I got very ill. I also wonder if this is the cause of my pain in my left knee. The knee I had repaired many moons ago from a torn ACL. Will I grunt and moan? Nope! I hitched a ride on the Paleo wagon again. My knee is getting better, but it still aches a bit. I do however feel better from my other ailments. Such as headaches, brain fogginess, and stomach upsets. Just to name a few.

I also decided not to follow facebook for one year. A sabbatical of sorts from gossip, and just trying not to get upset when someone complains of health issues, but still eats the SAD way. Why get upset at things that is not in your control? I still log on some days, because people send me private messages to say hello or wondering why I have not been Food Police today (I have tamed down that role). So.... for this year I want to focus on the positives in our lives. How? Writing each day one recipe and include a quote, conversation or just something funny I heard that day.

What did I cook today?

Crab bisque! 

The recipe I use is this one, but I had to change one ingredient for our taste. It's phenomenal!

Ingredients:

4 cups of chicken broth

7 oz of tomato paste

1 can of coconut milk

1 Tbsp of ghee or butter

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

16 oz of crab meat. Costco sells the real stuff!

14 1/2 oz diced tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Instructions:

You mix broth and tomato paste, let it come to a boil. Then turn down to simmer.

In a skillet, melt the butter or ghee and saute the onions. Add the garlic until soft, and add the crab meat.

Add salt, pepper, and tomatoes and let it simmer.

Add crab mixture to the broth, and add the coconut milk.

Let it simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Chow down and enjoy!

Conversation today: 

Me: "What in the world are you watching?"
Our 7 year old: "What? It's science!"

This conversation happened while he was watching this!

Primal Chow Oatmeal

The days are changing already in our Biggest Little City, which means fall is just around the corner. In Northern Nevada you never know what you get. So, I had to prepare myself with some delicious quick morning breakfasts recipes for the kids. I asked them what they miss the most, and their response was overwhelmingly: Oatmeal! I found one recipe, and tried it for them. It was just not good. You see, when you cook banana, the taste is very strong and not appetizing. For some it might be delicious, but just not for us. So.... I started to add other ingredients and the kids loved it!

Ingredients:

8 Tbl almond flour
1/2 cup of apple sauce (no sugar added)
2 Tbl of raw honey
2 Tsp of cinnamon 
1 Tbl of flax meal
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond milk, hemp milk or coconut milk (Now! Be aware, depending on what you use the flavor will change. We drink hemp milk, and that is what I used. The flavor was earthier, but still delicious.)

Instructions:

Mix everything in a small saucepan. Gradually heat it up until bubbly, constantly stirring so it does not stick to the bottom. Chow down and enjoy!

(Serves 2)

Our Autistic son looked with skepticism, and I don't blame him. The other oatmeal was not as good as this one.

See! ;- )

Primal Chow grilled tri-tip roast!

It's summer, it's hot, and we love to grill! I found a great recipe for tri-tip, and I just had to give it a try for outdoor grilling. Unfortunately I can't remember where. It's a real keeper!

Ingredients:

1/3 Cup of fresh lime juice
A handful of fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 Tbl of coconut aminos
1/4 cup tequila
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
2-3 lbs grass-fed beef, tri-tip roast

Place all ingredients, except the roast, in a food processor. Process until well blended. Place roast in a deep dish, cover with marinade and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.*

Preheat grill. Allow roast to come to room temperature in the marinade before cooking. Remove roast from dish and place on the hot grill. Sear both sides to preferred liking, we prefer medium rare.

Now how to serve it? Lettuce! Spread some homemade guacamole add the meat and whatever salsa you would like to use (preferably homemade). Chow down and enjoy!
* We marinaded the meat for 24 hours. 

We served this dish with a side of cauliflower rice (I use Sarah Fragoso's recipe) and veggies.

Sarah Fragoso Cauliflower rice:

 

½ red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs fresh basil
1 head cauliflower
1 Egg
2 Tbs coconut flour
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste
3 Tbs coconut oil

 In a large mixing bowl, add minced onions, garlic, and basil. Place the steamed cauliflower in a bowl as well, and add the egg, coconut flour, salt, and pepper. Using a potato masher, mash the cauliflower down to the consistency of rice. Mix all of the ingredients well. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cauliflower rice and sauté for 7-10 minutes or until the onions are tender.

A sincere apology for the bad picture. I already had 3 glasses by the time I took this picture. Oooops!