Greens. Southern Style.

Greens. Southern Style.

Printable Recipe

 

 

 

To me, growing up in the south meant that there was usually greens and cornbread on every menu in town. It's surprising how that has somewhat gone away now but I guess people just forget what makes a good and healthy meal.

My mother's garden is so much more vibrant than mine. She keeps reminding me "It's been 5 or 6 years that I've been planting and harvesting and working on my soil." Compared to her green bean harvest, I only have about 15 beans and I planted a day before her! Oh well.. my soil sucks and I know it but hey, my eggplants and peppers are abundantly producing so go me.

Back to her garden. She was kind enough to let me have a bag full of fresh cut mustard greens the other day and wanted me to try a recipe she found online and of course I gratuitously accepted her garden veggies and went home and cook them. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than baby mustard greens cooked fresh. Tender and delicious.

 

Thanks, mom.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound mustard greens, washed and de-veined

1/4 diced white onion

1tsp minced garlic

2 pieces of bacon

1/4cup chicken stock

1tsp olive oil (or coconut oil)

S&P (salt and pepper) to taste

Pinch of red pepper flakes

 

 

Directions:

In a large skillet, pre-heat olive oil over medium low and add the bacon. Cook until crisp and remove from pan, drain on a paper towel and crumble. Set to the side.
While the bacon is draining, add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes then add the garlic. Once the onions are soft, add the greens, chicken stock and 3/4 bacon pieces (1/4 will go on top as a crunchy garnish). Stir until the greens have wilted. Once the greens have wilted, cover and reduce heat to low and cook 30-45 minutes until soft. Garnish with remaining bacon pieces and serve hot!

 

 

Let me tell you something.. I never was a big fan of greens until the past few years and this is by far the best tasting recipe. Give it a shot.. and if you eat cornbread, smother it in butter and indulge!

Pie. Sweet, Glorious Pie.

Pie. Sweet, Glorious Pie.
Printable Recipe

 

What's the one thing you miss since you've been on the paleo ride? Me? I miss desserts. I tell you what, I used to be a candy/cake/cookies/brownies/pie crazed woman. I used to pick out the red and purple skittles and eat those in bed. Once those flavors were gone, I would eat the green - then yellow - then orange. Sometimes my husband would look at me like "What the heck are you doing? How do you eat that garbage." But as sweet as he is, he smiled and continued watching tv with me. I love that man :)
 

 

 

I've made several pies that have been very tasty. Check out my paleo strawberry pie here! My sister recently made a paleo pumpkin pie and it was out of this world amazing! I hope you post your recipe soon so I can link up with you .. ahem, ahem. I'll be making a pumpkin pie soon and we'll see who's is better. Pumpkin pie and October/November just go hand in hand.

 

Well, I recently made a non-paleo sweet potato pie that is my mother's recipe. I don't know where she got it from or if it is a secret family recipe but I'll share with you my paleo version of it here. I have a non-paleo blog that I'll share the sugar-laden recipe to.. I'm not giving you that blog website unless you ask. Nicely. I don't want to be the bad influence, okay?

 

Let's move on to this pie. It's light and airy and is simply sweet. It has a little maple syrup for the sweetener along with the natural sugars from the sweet potatoes. This pie is so quick to throw together and it tastes great. I live for simplicity.

 

Ingredients:

Makes 1 pie crust and 1 pie filling

 

Pie Crust Recipe:

2cups almond flour

3Tbsp liquid egg whites or 1 egg yolk

pinch of salt

1/4cup ghee or unsalted butter

 

 



 

Sweet Potato Pie Filling:

2oz. butter, softened

1cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

3/4cup pure maple syrup

1/4cup almond milk or coconut milk

1tsp vanilla

2eggs, beaten (poor eggs.. why are they always so abused?)

1tsp cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add all of the pie crust ingredients together and pour into a lightly greased pie pan. Gently press down on the bottom and along the sides of the pie plate. Set aside.
In another large bowl, add the butter, sweet potatoes, maple syrup and milk and beat until well blended. Add the vanilla, eggs and cinnamon and mix well. Pour into the pie pan and bake approximately 60 minutes or until the middle has set.

  

I always ask my kids to try my recipes because if they like it, I know you will, too. They both scarfed it down quickly and gave me a thumbs up. If you try this recipe, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about it!

Oh, and don't feel guilty if you splurge on this treat. You're special and you deserve to bake a pie and eat it too!

 

~Angela

Lightly Fried Potatoes

Lightly Fried Potatoes
Printable Recipe

 

Shall I touch on the topic of white potatoes; how, to some, they are a nightshade (an irritant)? My family is not affected by any type of potatoes, thankfully. We rarely eat potatoes anymore in this house, but when we do, I have to make sure they taste good.

Okay, so back to white potatoes and how they're not really paleo-friendly. In my world, I cut out everything that could have been a problem for my gut. Zero grains, sugars, processed foods and white/red/whatever potatoes. I slowly added them back into my normal diet to see if I had any gut or elevated glucose problems, and I didn't. I didn't notice anything out of the norm and was happy with my diagnosis. I do know that white potatoes are very starchy and aren't too healthy but they do have electrolytes and vitamins so I can't count them out altogether.

If I had to choose between a white and sweet potato, the sweet potato would win. Hands down. Any vegetable with a vibrant color would win out over something so drab and plain.

Anyway, here is a simple recipe if you consume white potatoes. If not, use a sweet potato or yam or zucchini! This recipe is pretty alternative to your needs so go with what you have and enjoy your foods. Sometimes foods are meant to be fried.

Amen.

Ingredients:
Serves 4
1/4cup olive oil or coconut oil (oil of your choice)
3 medium sized potatoes; white, red, purple, orange.. whatever floats your boat
S&P (Salt and Pepper to taste)

Directions:
In a medium skillet, add the cooking oil and heat on medium-high. If you don't like the skin on the potatoes, peel them first and then rinse any remaining grime off.

Slice the potatoes into thin pieces, keeping them as uniform as possible for even cooking. Add a handful at a time to the heated skillet and turn every minute until lightly golden brown. About 6-8 minutes total depending on how you've cut them. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yes, even sweet potatoes taste great with salt and pepper!

 

Tip: Sprinkle cinnamon and salt on the sweet potatoes for a different taste.

If your stomach cannot handle a white/red potato, please give this a shot with a sweet potato or zucchini or squash of choice. The possibilities really are endless.

Enjoy!
~Angela


Perfect Red Potatoes, Two Ways

Perfect Red Potatoes, Two Ways

 

 

There are a lot of people who don't eat white potatoes because it may be a problem for them with the starch and glucose and what-not. There's a long post about potatoes here that you can read if you'd like. It's from Mark's Daily Apple and I happen to like some of the stuff he's written. Although he's primal, it seems that he agrees that a large part of our population can not internally handle tubers (potatoes).

I love potatoes and we eat red potatoes about twice a week. I can handle it and it seems that my boys handle it well, too. Only time will tell for them as they're little ones but when they get older, they can decide to continue eating potatoes or eliminate them from their diet.

So, for any of you red-potato-eating-folks, here's a double whammy recipe for you:
1) Baked red potatoes

and

2) Skillet fried red potatoes

 

Paleo Baked Red Potatoes:
Printable Recipe
One small bag of red potatoes washed and cut into quarters

Salt and pepper to taste, approximately 1tsp salt and 1/2tsp pepper
2Tbsp olive oil, or oil of choice
1Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
1Tbsp fresh parsley, minced

 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400degrees.
Wash and cut red potatoes into quarters and place on a baking sheet. Coat generously with oil of choice and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake approximately (according to the size of the cut pieces) 25-35 minutes flipping the potatoes once half-way through the baking process.
When finished, sprinkle with rosemary and parsley and eat these delicious potatoes.

 

Paleo Pan-Fried Red Potatoes
Printable Recipe

Use remaining ingredients from the above recipe, which are the cooked red potatoes. In a cast iron skillet, heat 2Tbsp olive oil (or bacon fat, or any fat of choice) until the pan starts steaming. When it's hot, place the potatoes in the skillet and cook 15-20 minutes until browned on all sides. Stir and flip potatoes every minute or so. Keep your eye on this as it could burn easily.

Sprinkle with fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or parsley. Eat with whatever condiment of choice you'd like (we prefer ketchup!) or sprinkle with cheese and melt then add some chili or sour cream. Yummy in my tummy!

The first recipe is great for a lunch or dinner while the second recipe is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Please enjoy and let me know how you like these two recipes.

~Angela