Kung Pao Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 2-4 carrots
• 1-2 stalks of celery
• 1 Tbs Garlic
• 0.5 - 1 Tbs Sriracha sauce
• 2 Tbs Soy sauce
• 1 - 2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
• Handful of unsalted peanuts
• Cooking oil, as needed

Directions:

1. Chop chicken into small chunks
2. Finely chop all veggies
3. Brown chicken, when brown add garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 additional minutes
4. Remove chicken from wok
5. Saute veggies to desired doneness, adding oil as needed
6. Once veggies are done, add chicken back, then add peanuts, then add sauces
7. Stir thoroughly and cook for additional 3-5 minutes

Thoughts About The Dish:

We liked this dish a lot. Jeffrey found it to be the best Kung Pao Chicken he has had since moving back to Oklahoma. It was delicious. We used 1 full tablespoon of sriracha sauce, which seemed a bit much to Becky, so trying a bit less than a full tablespoon would be good. 

Sweet Potato Gratin

This recipe comes from the ABC's The Chew


The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 2 Sweet Potatoes
• 1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese (plus some extra to sprinkle on top)
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1 Jalapeno - Minced
• Pepper - To Taste
• 1 Garlic Cloves - Minced
• 1/3 Cup Scallions -  Chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch slices.
3. Bring heavy cream to a simmer.  Add scallions, garlic, jalapeno, and 1/3 cup parmesan.
4. Add a layer of potatoes to a pan.  Pour some of the cream mixture over the potatoes.  Continue layering until all the potatoes and cream have been used.
5. Top potatoes with a bit of extra parmesan.
6. Cover pan and bake for 40 minutes.  Uncover for the last 10 minutes.

Thoughts About The Dish:

We liked this dish, but not enough to make it an all-the-time feature of our menu. We will be making it again, but it will probably be a little while. When we do make it again, we will probably keep most or all of the jalapeno seeds in the mixture, and/or add another jalapeno. As it was, the cream and sweetness of the sweet potato over shadowed any taste of spiciness in the dish.

The other thing  worth noting here is that if you, like us, are big fans of au gratin potatoes, it will pay to keep in mind that this is a dish from sweet potatoes (that's why it's paleo!), and sweet potatoes have a very different flavor than normal potatoes - they are MUCH sweeter, so this dish will have a lot of different flavors than your typical gratin. It is still tasty, but it's different than you may initially expect when you think of a gratin.

Turkey Parmesan Meatballs

This recipe comes from the Wellsphere Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Ground Turkey
• 2 Tbsp. Marinara Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan - Grated
• 3 Tbsp. Parsley
• 3 Tbsp. Garlic - Minced
• 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
• Pepper - To Taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine  ground turkey, 2 Tbs. marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and black pepper.
3. Form into equal-sized meatballs.  Bake for 30 minutes, on middle rack in an 8 x 11 glass baking dish.

Thoughts About The Dish:

Note: we used mozzarella instead of parmesan, and used extra marinara sauce. The result  here wasn't as big a hit in our house as some dishes have been. One complaint was that the texture of the ground turkey didn't seem quite right for meatballs. Another thought we all shared was that the overall taste would probably have been improved by browning the meatballs before baking. We specifically wanted to try them without browning, and the conclusion we came away with is that browning is worthwhile!

Almond Butter

This recipe comes from the Je Suis Alimentageuse Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups unsalted almonds

Directions:

1. In a food processor, blitz the almonds until it turns into a runny paste. Be patient! You may need to scrape down the sides a bit but it will turn into beautiful almond butter if you keep on processing it.
2. Transfer to a clean container and keep stored in the fridge. It should stay good for about 2-3 weeks.

Thoughts About The Dish:

This recipe was a hit. It provides a tasty alternative to the sugar-based peanut butters that you can buy in the store. However, there are a few major differences that you should keep in mind to avoid disappointment:

1. Peanut butter normally has a pretty high amount of sugar in it. So an alternative (like almond butter) is not going to taste the same as a store-bought peanut butter, as it will never have the same sweetness. This can make it even better as a balance with sweet fruits (like the right kind of apples).
2. The use of unsalted almonds is going to produce a butter that is less salty than most peanut butters. In our household, we tend to prefer low-salt dishes. If you regularly salt your food, you will probably want to mix in some salt with this dish, to get it to match your taste preferences.
3. The resulting butter from using almonds is on the dry side. If you prefer moister, gooey peanut butter, you might want to mix in a small amount of oil. You could also follow our line of thinking and try a different nut -- this seems like it would be awesome with cashews!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast - Shredded
• 4 oz Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese - Shredded
• 4 Pieces Bacon
• ~13 Jalapenos or Mini Sweet Peppers - Halved

Directions:

1. Bake chicken breast until done.  Transfer to stand mixer.  Shred chicken breast with paddle attachment on low for about 15 seconds.  Turn up speed to medium for about 15 seconds or until chicken is shredded.
2. Preheat oven to 375F.
3. Mix together cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon and shredded chicken.
4. Spoon chicken mixture into each pepper.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.

Thoughts About The Dish:

This was tasty! The one thing that everyone commented on is that there was a lot of variation in the spiciness of the jalapenos. This led to some peppers that were right on the line of being too spicy, and others that were almost as mild as a bell pepper. In the mini sweet peppers, the sweetness was evident, and made for a good change of pace when mixed in between jalapenos.

Some changes that might lead to improvement include:

1. Chopping up the jalapenos and mixing them into the chicken mixture. This would provide a more uniform spiciness, but would also mean that more sweet peppers were required to house the mixture that the jalapenos would have handled.
2. Sauteing onions and mixing them into the mixture. If also following change #1, the jalapenos could be sauteed with the onions. 

Creamy Chicken Scampi

This recipe comes from the Peace, Love and Low Carb Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken Breast - Cut into tenders sized pieces
• 2 Tbs. garlic - Minced
• 3 Tbs. Butter - Divided
• 1 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Grated
• 6 oz. Mixed Bell Peppers - Sliced (I used a bag of frozen sliced bell peppers)
• 1 Onion - Diced
• 1 tsp.  Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes 
• Pepper - To Taste

Directions:

1.  In a large saute pan, over medium-high heat, pan-sear chicken in 2 Tbs. butter.  Sear on both sides until a nice golden brown - 3-4 minutes each side.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  (Chicken will not be fully cooked at this stage.)
2. Using the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add remaining 1 Tbs. butter, and  sliced onion.  Saute onions until transparent, about 3-4 minutes.  
3. Add the garlic and brown with the onions. About 1-2 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the garlic as it will turn very bitter.
4. De-glaze the pan with chicken stock.  Using a rubber spatula, scrape off and mix in any stuck on pieces of chicken and garlic.  Add Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to low to simmer.  Let simmer 2-3 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream and allow to simmer 5-10 minutes to allow sauce to begin thickening.  Mix in Parmesan cheese and pepper to taste.
6. Mix peppers into sauce and add chicken back to the pan.  Finish cooking chicken in the sauce on low.  Let simmer for 10 minutes.

Thoughts About The Dish:

After making this dish several times, it is a clear favorite.  Substituting the heavy cream with milk is still tasty but a bit disappointing by comparison.  The dish works great as an entree with a side of vegetables.  It also works well over top of spaghetti squash however the flavor is less intense this way.

Chicken Bacon Crock Pot Chowder

This recipe comes from the Peace, Love and Low Carb Blog

The recipe with the modifications that I made is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 12 oz. Turkey Bacon (1 package)
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Cups Chicken Stock - Divided
• 3 Tbs. Butter - Divided
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 2 Ribs Celery
• 1/2 Large Onion
• 1 tsp. Parsley
• 1 tsp. Pepper
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Thyme

Directions:

1. Turn crock pot on low setting
2. Chop all of your veggies.  Add the veggies, 2 Tbs. butter, 1 cup of chicken stock, pepper to the crock pot, cover and allow the vegetables to sweat for about an hour
3. Chop up your bacon and cook it until it is nice and crispy - Set aside
4. At the same time, pan sear your chicken breasts in the remaining 1 Tbs of butter until they are a nice caramel brown color on both sides (They will not be fully cooked at this stage)
5. Remove the chicken from pan.  Cut into cubes.  De-glaze the chicken pan with the remaining 1 cup of chicken stock. 
6. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, cream cheese and seasonings to the crock pot.  Stir until well combined.  
7. Add the chicken and the bacon to the crock pot.  Cover and let cook for 6-8 hours. 

Thoughts About The Dish:

This was tasty and good, with a cheesy flavor that combined with the bacon to almost seem reminiscent of a cheese steak sandwich. That said, it could have gotten by with half the bacon and would probably have been tastier with 2 or 3 times as much pepper.

There are two directions you could take with modifying this dish:

• Keeping the same flavor: Without changing things too much, you might enjoy adding more celery and/or onion (as both break down very well in the crock pot). Other options for additions include peas (not for the whole cooking time), diced tomatoes (not for the whole cooking time), and possibly green peppers. If you're a mushroom fan, they would go great here too!
• Embrace the Mexican: This dish would lend itself well to developing into a Mexican flavor by adding green peppers, jalapenos, diced tomatoes (not for the whole cooking time), green chiles (not for the whole time), and Mexican spices (perhaps cumin).