Showing posts with label crock pot recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crock pot recipes. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Today's Paleo-ized bfast & dinner

This morning I planned to make my breakfast and prep dinner at the same time.  I am continuing to practice my Crock Pot skills.  I'll tell you the truth, I still have a ways to go... but at least I'm trying.

For breakfast, I decided on sweet potato hash and eggs with 1/2 of an avocado.  The sweet potato is quite easy to put together although you will have to use your forearm muscles to grate the sweet potato.  I tend to buy two or three sweet potatoes at a time and will grate all of them at one time just to have it all prepped.  I have found that it lasts just fine in the refrigerator (in an air tight container) for a week or two. 

 I put about 1 1/2 - 2 cups grated sweet potato in a bowl, add some green onion and then plop in an egg to 'bind' it all together.  You can also add a splash of vanilla extract and cinnamon for a nice sweet treat.  Before I mix it all together, I warm up my cast iron skillet with a spoonful of coconut oil on medium-high heat.  I then just use my hand, but of course you can use a spoon or spatula, to mix it up.  I find it is just as easy to use my hand and then add it to the warmed cast iron.  I forgot to take a picture of the final product but trust me, you will not be disappointed with this meal.  I tend to make a large portion and put half away for dinner that night or breakfast the next morning.


Now, on to dinner!  I went with the crock pot pork chops again.  They were so tasty the last time that I just had to make them again.  I had thawed the pork chops in the fridge the night before so they were easy to work with.  I used 3 pieces of turkey bacon per each chop.  I layer the bacon just slightly and only use one tooth pick to hold it all together.    Turn on the broil setting of your oven.  When ready, place your chops in a baking dish and cook the bacon (crisps the bacon a bit which is what is intended) for about 15-20 minutes in the oven.  Eye the bacon to determine if it is crisped enough.  You don't want it to be blackened but you also don't want it too soft because they it gets soggy in the crock pot... and I just find that nasty.  I added 1 cup of beef broth (because that's the only broth I had in stock right now) and then some pineapple juice to the bottom of the crock pot.  Place the two broiled chops into the crock pot and smoother with pineapple (you can do rings, chunks or shredded).  I leave my crock pot on warm when I leave for work as I don't work a job that I can guarantee just an 8 hour day.  On this day, I ended up being gone for about 10 hours and the warmed crock pot worked just perfectly.  B loved the chops... however, when I cut into it I had one of  my meat-disgust moments and decided not to eat it.  I have done so much better about eating meat but I still run into those moments where, no matter how good it looks, I'm just not in the mood. 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Paleo Turkey bacon pork chops

I am trying to learn how to effectively use a crock pot.  I'll be quite honest, it's not my gift.  I have tried and tried and I tend to find that most recipes are not that great.  However, the rumor is that crock pots should be awesome... so I keep trying!  And this is what happened:

Crock pot pork chops, wrapped in turkey bacon, with garlic and spicy mustard.  I found the general idea from... where else??... PINTEREST.  I tend to lean more towards veggies then meats and have been that way for a long time.  One of the things that I determined was that if I were going to faithfully do Paleo, I was going to need to try to eat more meats.  Now, that being said, I think you can be successful eating Paleo and being a vegetarian.  I however, being married to a man who doesn't really cook and doesn't really eat veggies... needed to try to find common ground.  So far, we have been happy meeting each other half way.  He is probably eating far more veggies than ever before and I am eating more meat than before. 

The original recipe calls for:  3 boneless, skinless pork chops
- 6 pieces of bacon
- 1 T dijon mustard
- 1/2 T red chili paste (or red chili flakes work, too)
- 1 20 oz. can pineapple (or one pineapple cut up, if you're one of those ambitious people who cuts up their own pineapple.)

What I did:
3 boneless, skinless pork chops
As many pieces of turkey bacon as I needed to make sure the chops were covered (about 2 a piece)
Spicy mustard
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
Minced Garlic
1 cup of organic chicken stock & the juice from 1-20 oz can of shredded pineapple
Large spoonful of shredded pineapple on top of each pork chop

Moral of the story: Brian called me the next day after lunch and told me they were absolutely delicious!  That made my day.  I had 1/2 of one pork chop for dinner that night and took the other 1/2 for lunch the next day.  I tend to find that with all the recipes I make for just the 2 of us that there are always leftovers.  So be aware.  Good luck and enjoy!