EASY Sweet Potatoes

We LOVE sweet potatoes.  Like, with a passion. 

They are great in almost every form… sweet potato fries, baked sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes, sweet potato cookies, sweet potato hash, sweet potato pies… I could go on!

However, most of the time I find that sweet potatoes take some effort.  Most of the time they have to be washed, peeled, and then diced/chopped/julienned/speared, etc.  Sometimes I just don’t feel like spending that much time on one vegetable!

Last night I tried something new, and it definitely tops the list as the easiest way to prepare sweet potatoes.

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Easy Sweet Potatoes

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Chop each potato into three equal parts (or 4 if you have a large sweet potato)… you don’t even need to peel them!

Place the potatoes in a pressure cooker with about 1 inch of water.

Seal the cooker, and heat on HIGH until the regulator begins to rock.

Reduce heat to medium, and set a timer for 15 minutes and walk away!

Place the pressure cooker in a sink full of cold water to release pressure.

When the pressure releases, remove the potatoes, top with a generous portion of grass-fed butter, and a little salt.

DELICIOUS and EASY in 15 minutes!

Recipe Challenge: Puerto Rican Beef

A few weeks ago, I decided to start a weekly “Recipe Challenge” on my Facebook page.  Basically, I asked my fans to recommend a favorite recipe… or just one that they are too afraid to try!  As long as it was Paleo-friendly, and available either online or in one of the cookbooks I already own, I would commit to making the first recommendation!

This week I got a recommendation from Laura McGrath. She challenged me to make Puerto Rican Beef from Everyday Paleo.  For some reason, I was not expecting it to taste as amazing as it did!  We were actually pretty blown away by the amazing flavor.  If this was a taste of Puerto Rico, then I REALLY need to visit there!

Take a look at the process…  it was surprisingly easy!

Recipe Here

You begin by browning 1 lb. of grass-fed ground beef in 3 TBS. of Olive Oil

While the beef is browning, chop 1/2 of each: red pepper, green pepper, yellow/orange pepper…

…and 1 white onion.

Once the beef is almost ready, add the peppers and onions.

I LOVE recipes that have you add several different spices.  These are ones I don’t use regularly, so I was really excited to try a new combination.

Combine 1/2 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp dried oregano, pinch of saffron threads (optional), and sea salt and black pepper to taste.  Add to beef mixture.

Slice the tough stems off 1 bunch of kale.

Add to the beef mixture: kale and 1/2 cup of pimento-filled green olives (I did not have any on hand, so I omitted this ingredient).

Meanwhile, cook 3 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker for around 15 minutes.  I set my cooker in the sink to help it cool off and release pressure more quickly.

I LOVE sweet potatoes.  This was our last sweet potato dish before we start The 21-Day Sugar Detox (tomorrow).

Next, mash the potatoes with a potato masher, or with a hand mixer.

To plate, serve the beef/pepper mixture over mashed potatoes, and top with sliced avocado.

This recipe has a really unique sweet-ish flavor that really surprised my taste buds.  I loved it.

So yummy!  We will definitely be making this recipe again!

Thanks for the recommendation, Laura McGrath!

Food Diary: Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Tonight I tried a new recipe… Curried Sweet Potato Soup.  It was actually more of a side dish.  The main course included HUGE, juicy, grass-fed NY strip steaks.

The soup was really yummy to me.  Dustin did not love it.

I have not cooked much with curry, so I was excited to give it a try with something new.  It gave the sweet potatoes a really delicious flavor.  And I thought the cilantro on top was a GREAT idea.  I never would have thought of these flavor combinations, but they totally worked!

The recipe comes from a cookbook my sister gave me for Christmas: Cooking with Trader Joe’s.  Thanks Katie!

Food Diary: Pressure Cooker YUMMIES!

One of my favorite ways to cook quick Paleo meals is to use my pressure cooker.  This invention truly amazes me…  to learn more about what a pressure cooker does, click here.  For a video demonstration on how to use a pressure cooker (featuring Robb Wolf!), click here.

There are so many fantastic things to make with a pressure cooker.  My favorite so far is Beef Stew.  If you have beef for stewing, chicken stock, and some vegetables, you can make beef stew in less than 30 minutes.

Last night I made a variation of my Fall Beef Stew.  Instead of mushrooms and yellow squash, I added a bunch of chopped kale, and it was fantastic!

Here is the basic template for Pressure Cooker Beef Stew:

1. In the bottom of the pressure cooker, saute 1 chopped onion in coconut oil (beef stew just IS NOT beef stew without the perfect flavoring of onions).

2. Add beef and brown.

3. Add any vegetables that would normally take a LONG time to cook (root vegetables like carrots, etc), and cover with chicken stock.

4. Seal pressure cooker, wait for the regulator to rock, and set a timer for 20 minutes.

5. During that 20 minutes, cook (boil, saute, etc) any other vegetables you wish to add.  I boiled sweet potatoes in chicken stock until soft.

6. Once the 20 minutes have passed, place the pressure cooker in a sink 1/2 full of cold water.  When the pressure monitor releases, remove the lid.

7. Add any vegetables and seasonings that you like (last night I added kale and stirred until it was a little wilted/soft).

8. Enjoy!

Here are a few of my other favorite pressure cooker yummies… I’ll be adding more soon!

Pureed Turnips

Savory Beets

Spicy Beef Stew

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Butternut Squash

My Favorite Paleo Snacks

I have recently started moving away from pre-packaged snacks (like Larabars, beef jerky, trail mix, etc.). After taking a close look at several recent grocery store receipts, I discovered that the most expensive category was that of snack food items.  These items are definitely not “necessities” in my diet, so I have decided to really cut down on them.  I still keep a Larabar in my purse for “hunger emergencies,” but I am not consuming one each day like I was before.
Since Dustin and I are “snackers,” I had to find some replacements for the convenient pre-packaged items I used to pack in our lunch bags.  Here are a few of my favorites…

Garden Fresh Meatballs - I love this recipe from Sarah Fragoso.  She has taken lots of excellent meat and vegetables, and combined them in a bite-sized little package.  I make a double recipe of these, and keep a bag in my freezer.  They are delicious, and very filling!  They are great re-heated, but I enjoy them lukewarm too.

Egg Cupcakes - These are another protein-packed treat.  Egg Cupcakes have some of the same ingredients as the meatballs, but you can switch it up based on your favorite vegetables  (for example, try adding shredded carrots or chopped green peppers instead of spinach, etc.).  My Mom made these for our breakfast when we visited my parents over the weekend, and she used sausage instead of bacon.  They were delicious!

This recipe also came from Sarah Fragoso.

Paleo Comfort Foods also has an excellent version.

These are not as delicious from the freezer as they are fresh, but they are definitely good cold or lukewarm!

Sweet Potato Wedges - These have become one of my favorite on-the-go snacks for busy days.  When I am using tons of energy, the carbs help me re-fuel and keep going!  Aside from that, they are absolutely delicious.  Just peel your sweet potatoes, slice them into wedges, and toss in coconut oil (about 1 TBS per potato), cinnamon, sea salt, and a dash of chili powder.  Bake on a foil-lined pan, in a 375-degree oven, for appx. 30 minutes.  I like mine crispy around the edges, so sometimes I will give them a few more minutes.

I keep these in a plastic container when I’m on-the-go  so I can eat them in the car without taking my hand in and out of a plastic bag.

A few other non-packages snack items for us have been baby carrots, almonds, apples, bananas with almond butter, coconut flakes, etc.

Happy Snacking!

Food Diary: Savory Fall Bake

I love FALL!  I have been super-inspired by the wonderful weather to make several fall dishes, including  some amazing Beef Stew, and lots of pumpkin recipes.

This recipe is just a combination of some of my favorite “Fall ingredients.”  And really- what could be better than sweet potatoes, apples, and bacon?

This bake could be a main dish if you include the chicken, or a side dish without it.  Either way, it’s savory and delicious!  And it makes the kitchen smell amazing too!

Here’s the recipe:

Savory Fall Bake

Ingredients:

1/2 white onion, diced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 apples (I used Pink Lady apples), diced

2 chicken breasts, diced

salt and pepper to taste

2 TBS cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut oil

8 strips bacon

Directions:

In a large glass baking dish, layer the onion, sweet potatoes, apples, and chicken.  Salt and pepper the chicken, then sprinkle the contents with cinnamon.  Melt the coconut oil and pour over the top.  Top the dish with the bacon (this allows the flavor of the bacon to drip down into the rest of the ingredients- yum!).

Cover with aluminum foil, and bake in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil, and bake for another 15 minutes.

This is a perfect Fall-weather meal!  Enjoy!

Food Diary: It’s Friday!

It has been a busy week.  Today I came home feeling completely exhausted, starving (I didn’t pack enough snacks today), and ready to lie down.  I decided that I needed to whip something together somewhat quickly, both to keep from collapsing into a dead-sleep on the kitchen floor, and to keep my stomach from eating itself.

One of the things I love about Paleo is that you can have a big and hearty meal ready in minutes.  Here’s a look at how we grubbed this evening…

Brussels and Bacon: I started cooking the brussel sprouts first.  Now don’t wrinkle your nose… if you don’t like brussel sprouts, you probably haven’t had them like this.  I love Sarah Fragoso’s recipe, so I make it often.  Prep takes about 7 minutes, then you just throw it in the oven.  All you have to do is cook up 6 strips of bacon while you steam a pound of brussel sprouts for about 5 minutes.  Cut the brussels into quarters, and toss them in a big bowl with bacon, bacon grease, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder.  Then dump it all in a glass baking dish, and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes: While the brussels were cooking, I peeled 3 taters, quartered them, and placed them in the pressure-cooker for 12 minutes (I LOVE MY PRESSURE COOKER!).  When they finished cooking, I added about 1/2 a can of full-fat coconut milk, and about a tablespoon of cinnamon, then creamed with a hand mixer.

Pan-Cooked, Grass-Fed NY Strip with Mushrooms: Finally I got started on the steaks.  I just cooked them, with the mushrooms, in the bacon skillet with a little salt and pepper for about 6 minutes on each side.

Everything was ready at about the same time (love it when that happens!), it was all delicious, and I was only in the kitchen for about 35 minutes.  Yay!

I’ve had a number of people ask me to also mention what we have for breakfast and lunch (which honestly cracks me up).  I probably won’t be posting pictures of these meals on a regular basis, but okay!  Today for breakfast we had Paleo Apple “Muffins,” and coffee.  For lunch we had leftover Garden Meatballs and big salads with deli turkey and loads of diced vegetables.

It’s been a yummy day.