Balsamic Carrot Bacon Jam

I’m currently having a love affair with bacon jam. I made Brittany Angell's Bacon Jam two weeks ago and proceeded to eat it for a week. I felt kind of guilty about it, since it contains two whole packages of bacon.

I decided I wasn’t ready to break up with bacon jam. Instead, I came up with my own lightened version. I subbed carrots for one of the packages of bacon (trust me, it works), left out the maple syrup and added some balsamic vinegar.

IT IS STILL AMAZING! And not as bad for you. Win win.

Tonight we made bacon jam buffalo cheeseburgers, roasted onion potatoes and roasted broccoli. So yummy. I seasoned the ground buffalo with salt, pepper, and a little gluten free soy sauce. Tommy had half a buffalo patty, some potatoes and maybe a bite of the broccoli. Tommy probably could have the bacon jam, but we haven’t trialed whiskey, balsamic vinegar or cayenne pepper yet. Oh well, more for Ben and me. 

Balsamic Carrot Bacon Jam

12 oz bacon

1 onion, sliced

4 carrots, peeled and diced

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup whiskey

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Cook bacon in a medium saucepot until crispy. Remove bacon from pan and reserve 1 Tbsp bacon grease.

2. Add carrots and onions. Cover and cook on medium low for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Remove lid, add brown sugar and cook until caramelized.

4. Deglaze the pan with the whiskey. Add the cooked bacon and remaining ingredients to the pan.

5. Cover and cook on low for 30 – 60 minutes stirring occasionally

6. Puree in a food processor until smooth. 

Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

Tonight we made Teriyaki Chicken Bowls. This was a simple and delicious meal. It's definitely joining our regular rotation. I cooked everything other than the millet in the crock pot. Unlike Turkey Pepper Stir Fry, the teriyaki chicken tastes delicious over the cooked millet. And the edamame is a nice change from green peas (especially since Tommy can't eat those anymore). 

Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

1.25 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup frozen shelled edamame 

1. Optional: line crock pot with crock pot liner. Add chicken thighs.
2. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on high for three hours.
4. Add green onions and edamame to the crock pot. Stir to combine.
5. Cover and cook on low for one hour.
6. Serve over Cooked Millet

Pantry Pizza Night

Friends of ours got married this last weekend, and my mom came into town to watch Tommy. It was a very fun but very busy weekend. I haven't gone to the grocery store in a few days and our fridge is looking pretty empty. 

Last night I made my fish tacos and I had some leftover mango salsa. I didn't have any red bell peppers yesterday, so the mango salsa was just mangoes, yellow onion, green onions and lime juice. And we still had some leftover pork from the pork pot roast. So tonight we had pantry pizza. 

I made a pizza sauce from items I had in the pantry and topped it with pork, mango salsa, vegan mozzarella, and olives. It's my take on a Hawaiian Pizza. 

The vegan mozzarella wasn't all that bad. This is the first time I've used this cheese substitute and it was easy to shred. It sort of melted too. And it's the only cheese type food I've found that doesn't contain something Tommy's allergic to.

It was delicious, pretty quick, and best of all I didn't have to go to the store. I think this is our best pizza yet.

Pantry Pizza Sauce

6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp dry minced onions
1 tsp dry minced garlic
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp dried basil

Combine all ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. This made enough to for two pizzas.

Crock Pot Liners (Pork Pot Roast)

One of my favorite products is the Reynolds Crock Pot Liners. They’re heat safe plastic bags that you put in your crock pot before you add all your ingredients. It makes cleanup super easy. And according to the Reynolds website they’re BPA free.

I love cooking roasts in the crock pot, but I used to dread the cleanup. The watery/fatty liquid leftover after cooking a roast was too watery to go in the trash and too fatty to go down the drain. Sometimes in the winter I would leave the crock pot outside so the fat would harden. But then you have one or two day old nasty crock pot mess. 

But now with the crock pot liners, I just tie them up and put them in the trash. It’s a sad day when I forget to use a liner. The liners do sort of leave a white stain on the black crock pot, but it's a small price to pay for the easy cleanup.

Before the Cooking

Throw the Yucky Baked on Grease Away

After. It's Almost Clean Enough to Not Need Washing. Almost.

FYI, this is not a paid endorsement. I just really love this product.

Tonight we had pork pot roast. It was easy, delicious and made the house smell good all day. I served it with some Tommy safe rolls and we all gobbled it up. I love the crock pot.

Pork Pot Roast

2 lbs. boneless, lean pork roast

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp dried rosemary

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks

2 medium onions, diced

3 carrots, peeled and sliced

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1. Place pork roast in slow cooker.

2. Sprinkle with garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary.

3. Add remaining ingredients.

4. Cover. Cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 7-8 hours.

Poblano Pepper Vent (Turkey Pepper Stir Fry with Cooked Millet)

One of my favorite go-to meals is turkey pepper stir fry. It’s easy to prepare and doesn't have many ingredients. We usually eat this several times a month.

For some reason all the grocery stores here label poblano peppers as “pasilla peppers.” I have no idea how this trend started. Pasilla peppers are dried chilaca peppers. Poblano peppers are fresh, and even in the dried form they’re called ancho chiles. The other day a cashier apologized to me because now instead of saying "pasilla peppers", the poblanos ring in as something completely different. I told her that's ok, pasilla peppers was incorrect too. She looked at me like I was a nutcase. 

This is a pasilla pepper. 

This is a poblano pepper. 

We love this stir fry over white rice, but since Tommy’s allergic to rice, he gets the stir fry over cooked millet. Cooked millet tastes a lot like brown rice. It has sort of a nutty flavor and lots of fiber. I think the flavor is kind of overpowering for the stir fry, but it's a good substitute if you don't want to have rice or are looking for something to get your intestines flowing. And it's cheaper than quinoa.

If you've never heard of millet before, don't worry, I hadn't either. It's an ancient gluten free grain that's now mostly eaten by livestock and people in Africa. And Tommy.

Turkey Pepper Stir Fry

20 oz ground turkey
2 large heads of broccoli, or 3 small ones

2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced

2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced

2 poblano peppers, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided

Chili garlic sauce (optional)

1. Steam the broccoli in a large skillet. When the broccoli is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl.

2. Add the ground turkey to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat. When the turkey is almost cooked, add one tablespoon of soy sauce. When the turkey is cooked, add it to the large bowl.

3. Add one tablespoon of canola oil and turn the heat to medium. Add all the peppers. Cook until softened but not browned. When the peppers are almost done, add one tablespoon of soy sauce.

4. Add the broccoli and turkey back into the pan, add one more tablespoon of soy sauce and stir. Cook until the turkey and broccoli are warmed.

5. Serve over white rice or millet with chili garlic sauce.

Cooked Millet

½ cup hulled millet

2 cups water

1. Add the millet to a medium saucepan. Run your fingers through the millet to look for little rocks.

2. Toast the millet over medium heat stirring frequently for approximately 2 minutes, or until it starts to smell toasted. Be careful not to burn the millet.

3. Add the water and cover. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Do not open the lid and do not stir while it’s simmering.

Breakfast Waffle Sandwiches with Bacon Jam

This morning we made Brittany Angell’s Breakfast Waffle Sandwiches with Bacon Jam (http://realsustenance.com/breakfast-waffle-sandwich-with-bacon-jam-gluten-free-paleo/). OMG they are amazing! I made the bacon jam two days ago. Yesterday we had the bacon jam on some baguette with a tomato herb goat cheese. This morning I made the Breakfast Waffle Sandwiches.

It’s all the delicious aspects of a full waffle, bacon, and egg breakfast but much easier to make once you have the bacon jam.

Tommy just had plain waffles dipped in maple syrup, but he was happy as a clam. And sticky like you wouldn't believe. When Tommy was done, he started to bring his syrup covered hands up to his head. I said, “No Tommy, don’t touch your head!” So which he replied, “Head!” and touched his head with both hands with a big smile on his face. Ah, yes, that is your head. Good job. 

Ben learned the hard way that these sandwiches are filling. They look like they would be pretty small, but all the whole grains make it very hearty.

Overall it was a completely satisfying new take on breakfast for us. I highly recommend the recipe. And Brittany Angell has several recipes for waffles so just chose the one that meets your needs. I don’t think we’d want to eat this every weekend, but we’ll definitely make it again.

The Infamous Fruit Ketchup (Coconut Chicken Nugget Dinner)

I saw on one of my favorite websites, Brittany Angell’s Real Sustenance (www.realsustenance.com), that she had a recipe for baked chicken nuggets that used coconut as the breading. I thought that sounded delicious. And since chicken nuggets are just begging for a dipping sauce, I thought it’d be the perfect time to try making my own ketchup.

I LOVE the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It has so many interesting recipes. They have a couple different recipes for ketchup, and one of them was a fruit ketchup. It seemed to be a pretty straight forward recipe and I would only need to modify it a little. He had previously had all of the ingredients I used except honey. And he had only had ground mustard twice. (We were trialing mustard with a German potato salad, but Tommy doesn't really care for white potatoes so he wouldn't really eat it.)

I spent one whole afternoon making the ketchup. I had to peel and dice all the fruits, cook the mixture, run it through a food mill and then reduce the juices. Then I canned the ketchup. 

The whole process took about four hours. I felt so proud that I had made my own ketchup for Tommy that wasn’t filled with any mystery spices or “natural flavors.” And it was delicious.

When I was finally done canning the ketchup and thoroughly exhausted because I had gotten up early that day, I was really ready to take a break. But right then, as if on cue, Tommy woke up from his nap. By the time Ben got home from work I was getting pretty crabby.  But I was still feeling like a domestic goddess for making and canning my own ketchup.

For dinner I made the coconut popcorn chicken from Brittany Angell’s Real Sustenance, Roasted Mixed Potatoes, and Garlic Roasted Broccoli. I cooked all three dishes in the same oven and everything was ready AT THE SAME TIME. I was pretty proud of that. I felt like I had totally rocked making dinner.

Tommy loved the ketchup. He was dipping his chicken nuggets like a pro. About ten minutes into dinner I noticed a little hive on Tommy’s cheek. Sometimes he gets a random hive here and there and we usually attribute those to our dog. As he kept eating, a few more hives appeared. It then became pretty clear that Tommy was allergic to something in the ketchup. So it looks like either honey or mustard will be added to the allergy list.

It was so defeating. I had spent all afternoon making that stupid ketchup. I really thought I was making one that would be safe for Tommy. And after all that work, he can’t eat it after all.

On the plus side dinner was DELICIOUS! The ketchup had a nice sweet and spicy flavor. I imagine the taste will only continue to improve the longer it sits on the shelf. The chicken nuggets were nice and crispy, and the broccoli and potatoes really rounded out the meal. Best of all the whole dinner only took me like an hour. Not including making the ketchup…

I’m not abandoning the plan to make a Tommy safe ketchup. But next time I think I’ll just use cane sugar and leave out the mustard.

Coconut Chicken Nugget Dinner

Game Plan:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F

2. Peel and chop the potatoes.

3. Combine the potatoes, oil, salt, pepper and rosemary in a roasting pan.

4. Put the potatoes in the oven and start a timer for 40 min.

5. Wash and cut the broccoli.

6. Toss the broccoli with the oil and garlic on a baking sheet

7. Place broccoli in oven when timer reads 30 min.

8. Combine coconut flakes, salt and pepper in a gallon sized bag.

9. Cut chicken into nugget sized pieces.

10. Add chicken to the bag and shake to evenly coat the chicken pieces.

11. Place chicken nuggets in oven when timer reads 20 min.

Mixed Roasted Potatoes

2 large sweet potatoes

3 small russet potatoes

2 Tbsp canola oil

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Peel and chop all the potatoes into approximately one inch cubes. Combine all the ingredients in a 9” x 13” baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring twice during the cooking.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

2 large or 3 small heads of broccoli

2 Tbsp canola oil

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp ground black pepper

¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Wash the broccoli and peel the stalks. Chop the broccoli into florets and slice the stalks. Toss all the ingredients together on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through the baking. 

Coconut Popcorn Chicken (recipe by Brittany Angell)

http://realsustenance.com/popcorn-chicken-grainnutegg-free/

I used 1.25 lb chicken tenders cut into approximately inch long pieces and only 1 cup of coconut flakes. And I tossed the chicken, coconut and salt and pepper in a gallon sized bag instead of a bowl. This made it easier and less messy to coat all the chicken pieces. Since I used chicken tenders instead of chicken thighs and baked them at a higher temperature, they only needed 20 min.

Infamous Fruit Ketchup

Makes about five 8 oz jars

4 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed

4 cups chopped pitted peeled peaches

2 cups chopped cored peeled apples

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 cup honey

½ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine tomatoes, peaches, and apples. Over medium low heat, using a spatula or large spoon, mash the fruit until the juices flow. Add onion and garlic. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover, and boil gently until fruit is heated through and onions are transparent. About 15 minutes.

2. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Working in batches, run the mixture through a food mill or sieve placed over the saucepan to extract all the juice. Measure out five cups and discard the solids.

3. Add the honey, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, about 45 minutes. It will be thinner than commercial ketchup.

4. Meanwhile, prepare canner, lids and jars.

5. Ladle hot ketchup into hot jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until finger-tight.

6. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Add 10 minutes additional time if boiling around 4500 ft altitude. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool for 12-24 hours and store.