Healthy Gyros

My love of Greek food, especially Gyros has always run deep ever since my mom introduced me to my first Gyro way back when I was a kid. It used to be our thing, we were the only ones who really enjoyed them in our family of seven; we would go to a local family owned place down in the cities where I grew up & it would be a time I would look forward to, eating delicious food with the great company of my mom. I have really been trying to eat healthy & as organic a possible. As well as eating the least bread & bad carbs as I can while substituting it all for good nutritious food, without it lacking in flavor or quality. So with no further adieu… here is the recipe(I was able to use all organic ingredients, I know that you may not be able to, but I wanted to make sure I at least stated that; not to come off as sounding as if I'm better than others but merely because I truly believe organic is the way to go, however I do know that not all places have organic or it may be to expensive for some as well.):

Ingredients:

10 Stalks of Swiss Chard

1 lb. of Ground Lamb, or Lamb cut into 2in. by 1in. slices.

4 Tomatoes

1 Onion or a bunch of Green Onion

1 Container of Tzatziki Sauce

1 Tablespoon Cumin

1 Tablespoon Rosemary

1 Tablespoon Basil

1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

1 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 Teaspoon of dried Dill

1 Container of Greek Olives

1 Package of Feta

(Two tablespoons of coconut oil is a wonderful addition to cook the meat with)

Directions:

Take the ground lamb meat, cumin, rosemary, basil, crushed red pepper, ground black pepper & dill and mix them all together throughly.

 Cook it in a skillet pan until meat is no longer red. Chop the steams of the Swiss Chard off, and wash leaves throughly. I use the steams in my salads, they are also  great stir fried with other veggies, or even tossed with a little coconut oil & sea salt than bake them in the oven until crispy. 

After you have throughly cleaned your swiss chard, dice up your onions and cut your tomatoes into slices. 

Than spread some Tzatziki sauce on the underside of the Swiss Chard leaves, put a couple spoonfuls of Lamb meat on it.

 than top it off with the tomatoes, onion, greek olives & feta

than wrap the swiss chard up like a wrap. You can also add some spinach leaves for added flavor & nutrients. Enjoy!

Basil Bites

I am one who loves the simple things, a nice day, a good tune, delicious farm fresh food, a good book & a nice bike ride or run.. All of which happened today for that I am thankful.. I decided to try a little combination of food that I bought at the Health Market I work at. I have thought about calling them Basil bites, before you think Gross, basil really? Try it! 

All you will need is some cherry tomatoes or any kind of tomatoes really, some good cheese(splurge a little, I promise that it's worth it), and some fresh un-dried basil. 

I used tomatoes that are called Golden Nuggets,

Fresh Basil both of which were just picked today from a local farm only a thirty miles away from my house. 

I also bought Raw, Garlic Chive Cheddar Cheese which is from Wisconsin. 

I picked out the largest basil leaves, and than sliced the tomatoes into two pieces, and cut the cheese into small cubes. 

After laying the basil leaves upside down(it should look like the bottom of a boat), I placed one of the cheese cubed on the bottom of the basil, putting a slice of the tomato on top of the cheese & topping that with another piece of basil so that it would look as if it was a wrap. 

Than I baked them at 350 degrees until the cheese melted(about 5 minutes), perfect time to cut up a organic watermelon or any other kind of fruit, maybe now you will know what I had as fruit for dinner! Ha. 

They may look a little funky but I guarantee the taste makes up for their looks! 

After it gets done baking you will want it to sit for 30 seconds to cool off a bit. Enjoy, I must warn you, it is delicious!!!

The Best Iced Coffee

I don't know about you, but I love a good cup of coffee, especially iced coffee in the summer time. I found a wonderful little video on how to make the iced coffee quickly & simply. I will post it below, along with some pictures of my own from when I brewed it today & let me tell you it's better than starbucks! Never thought I would say that but it is so good! I had to make another batch right after I tasted it. Also, you'll see that I posted some pictures of my mug with one of the cutest coffee cozies on it. My friend Kylie makes them by hand and they are very affordable!
Check her little shop out at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SandburrCrochetCo

Here is the website for the iced coffee:
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2014/06/27/morning-video-buzz-how-make-cold-brew-iced-coffee

 The mason jar on the right is filled with the coffee grinds and now iced coffee that I was slowly pouring over a coffee filter in the mason jar on the left.

It was easier for me to pour the iced coffee into a measuring cup before pouring it into the strainer I made out of the coffee filter and a rubber band.

This is the fresh, organic cream that I had on hand that I poured into the bottom of my mug before filling with iced coffee.

                    The gorgeous iced coffee that it produced.

Filled and ready for on the go for my busy day. Yes this is the coffee cozy I was talking about that you can purchase on etsy, one of my closest friends makes them in IL and ships them anywhere in the world, they come in a variety of colors and designs & yes I have many of them! :)

Chicken Taco Salad With Fresh Peach/Mango Salsa

It's been a busy few months since my last post, so I thought I would share a recipe that is easy to make, extremely healthy, refreshing and delicious beyond words. I have been busy with working at a Health food store, being surrounded by good, healthy and organic food has been so wonderful for me, I also have started volunteering at the farm I was volunteering at for the last couple of years(Kragnes Family Farms), I started getting my organic half share last week & love it. I will be sharing hopefully at least two recipes a week from now on. I hope you enjoy these great meals as much as I love making them and coming up with the simple recipes.

I had a friend & her son over the other night for dinner, she brought the chicken, I used what I had left from my share & some fun things I found at the local grocery store. Here is the recipes:

Chicken Taco Salad:

Ingredients:
- 3 Thawed Chicken Breasts
- Dried Rosemary
- Dried Basil
- Sea Salt
- Garlic
- Crushed Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Small Bunch of Cilantro
- 1 Bunch of Chives or a small Onion
- 1 Head of Lettuce, I used Arugula
- 1 Small Package of Mushrooms
- 1 Red Pepper
- Fresh Mint
- Fresh Dill
- Fresh Spinach

Directions:
- Take the thawed chicken breasts & place them on a non-stick pan, sprinkle the rosemary, basil, sea salt, garlic & crushed cayenne pepper to your tasting over the chicken, and bake at 375 degrees until the chicken is completely cooked through.

- Dice up remaining ingredients & separate them in different containers.

- Once the chicken is done, let it set for a couple minutes to cool off before dicing it up.
- Mix ingredients over a bed of lettuce or arugula & enjoy!
 **Radishes & sliced nuts add awesome flavoring to your tacos as well.
**You can take the chicken out if you prefer a vegan kind of meal. :)

Peach/Mango Salsa Recipe:

Ingredients:
- 1 Peach
- 1 Mango
- Tomato
- Cilantro
- Basil
- Fresh Dill
- Cayenne Pepper
- Dried Rosemary
- Garlic
- Sea Salt
- Chives
- 1 Tbsp. of Lemon Juice
- 1 Tbsp. Lime Juice

Directions:
Dice up the peach, mango, cilantro, garlic in a medium sized bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to your taste preference and enjoy with chips, over the chicken taco salad, or even just straight out of the bowl. It's a fast favorite and perfect for summer!

Paleo Sweet Potato Alfredo with Caramelized Brussels Sprouts & Bacon

I have been craving a fettuchine alfredo for weeks, but doing Paleo foods instead of grains, dairy & processed foods has made me think outside of the box.. I try to cook things that aren't just the Paleo way but tastier than the regular food so that I not just enjoy eating it but would rather have it Paleo style than the processed junk. It took a few times to get the correct amount of measurements and right ingredients to make it taste delicious... Here is the reciepe: 

Alfredo Sauce: 

Ingredients: 

- Juice from Half a Lemon

- 3/4 lb. Chopped Califlower

- 1 Sliced Onion

- 1 Cup Coconut Milk

- 1/2 Cup Chicken Stock

- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt

- 2 Cloves of Garlic Minced

- 1 Tablespoon Basil

Directions: 

- Before making the Alfredo sauce I make fry a 1/2 lb. of bacon and use 1/4 of the grease from the bacon to sautée the califlower and garlic in.

- Set aside another 1/4 of the grease to caramelize the Brussels Sprouts(you can just leave it in the pan on low so it doesn't become a solid form).

- Combine the juice from the lemon, coconut milk, chicken stock, onion,  sea salt & Basil in a food processor. 

- After the califlower and garlic are sautéed I combine it with the ingredients in the food processor and make sure it is in liquid form. 

- Than transfer to a deep pan to warm on medium heat, than turn down to low once it's simmering. Continue to stir so it doesn't stick in the pan.

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts: 

Ingredients: 

- 1 pound Brussels Sprouts

- 1/4 Cup Bacon Grease

- 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

- 1 Teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

- Heat the grease on a low-medium heat, mix the Brussels Sprouts, sea salt & pepper together & make sure all of the Brussels Sprouts are evenly coated. 

- Stirring occasionally so all sides are able to be evenly cooked, simmer until soft. 

- Set aside on low heat.

Sweet Potato Noodles 

Ingredients:

- 2 Sweet Potatoes

- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

Directions:

- Heat a pan of water to boiling point. 

- Wash and peel the sweet potatoes.

- You can either grate the sweet potatoes using a cheese grater or you can use a sprializer to make the sweet potatoes into long sprialed noodles. 

- Put the sweet potatoes in the boiling water and cook them until they are soft.

- Drain the water off of the sweet potatoes and than combine them with the white sauce, Brussels Sprouts & crumble bacon on top. 

Enjoy!! 

Homemade Paleo Spaghetti & Elk Meatballs

It sure is a cold, blustery day up here today. Where a warm, hearty & delicious pasta sounds soooo good. I decided to make some Spaghetti and Meatballs to fill my craving and what better way to do it than to not just have it homemade but made Paleo friendly as well. Im so thankful that I still have organic produce and many tomatoes still canned from this last year's share from Kragnes Family Farm, it makes being able to make many things just as great as if it was still summer and the shares would come weekly with the endless options of recipes, all of my measurements are used for herbs that I use are dried from the farm this last season as well.. 

For the Spaghetti Sauce:

Ingredients:

- 1 1/4 cups Diced Onion(about 2 large onions)

- 4 Minced Cloves of Garlic

- 5 pounds Tomatoes (diced or cut up enough depending on how chunky you want your sauce to be)

- 3 Tablespoons Rosemary

- 3 Tablespoons Basil

- 3 Tablespoons Sage

- 1 Tablespoon Caynanne Pepper(more or less depending on your preferred spice level)

- 1 Tablespoon Fennel

- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

- 1 Tablespoon Oregeno

Directions:

- Dice the onion and garlic up.

- Warm the Coconut Oil in a medium skillet

- Sauté the onion for 8 minutes, make sure to stir often so that it is evenly coated with the coconut oil.

- Add Garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes, stirring often. 

- If onions start to brown, turn the lead on low.

- Move the sautéed onion and garlic into either a deep skillet or into a deep pot, than add the rest of the tomatoes.

-Stir in the tomatoes really well, add the remaining ingredients & mix thoroughly. 

- Simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally and make sure you realize that if you do not have it in a deep pot that it will most likely splatter… so be careful..

- Adjust the heat if you need to so that it won't burn on the bottom of the pan, continue to simmer for 45 minutes or until it is all cooked throughly. 

- Serve over noodles right away or you can freeze/can it.

Zucchini Noodles

I simply took Zucchini and shredded it with a cheese grater, sautéed it in a couple tablespoons of coconut oil and than add the spaghetti sauce. 

Elk Meatballs: 

I took some Elk meat(Thanks Uncle Ken), and combined rosemary, basil, dill, spearmint and sea salt with a little touch of black pepper in it, rolled it into ball like shapes and cooked it in coconut oil in a pan. On a side note my Zucchini Noodles and Elk Meatballs had been made prior to making this so I just heated it all up in a pan.. 

And the final product, a slightly different picture from above: 

ENJOY! :)

Paleo Bacon Wrapped Chicken with a Homemade Honey Mustard Glaze

Ingredients:

- 1 Large Package of Chicken Breasts
- 2 Tbsp. Ground Pepper
- 3 Cloves Garlic Crushed
- 2 Packages of Bacon
- 1/3 Cup Raw Honey
- 1/2 Cup prepared Ground Mustard
- 3 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
- Dash of Cayenne Pepper(optional)

Directions:

( I have also marinated the chicken in the honey mustard glaze overnight and it turned out so delicious!)

- Preheat oven to 400F. Sprinkle Chicken breasts lightly with ground pepper and crushed garlic.
- Slice Chiken strips to about 1 1/2 inches thick and wrap in bacon.
- Place each on a wire rack and place rack over a baking pan wrapped in aluminum foil to catch drippings.
- Mix the raw honey, mustard, vinegar and cayenne pepper in a small mixing bowl until combined well.
- Baste the top of the chicken strips with the honey mustard mixture and place in the oven for about 12-15 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Turn over every few minutes so the bacon and chicken are evenly cooked.
- Remove from oven and serve.