Crockpot Shredded Peperoncini Beef

Ever had a week so jam packed that it feels like you go to work to relax?  Me too. 

Every.single.week. 

Being on a restrictive diet complicates things so much.  No longer can I grab take out and skip cooking.

But what about when you don't have time to cook, but you want to eat more than a Larabar?

You cook with your crockpot!

I love my crockpot so much.  It frees up so much of my time.  Who doesn't love coming home to a hot dinner waiting on the counter?

It's so hard to find recipes for the crockpot that don't involve cream of something soup or a bunch of packaged mixes.   When you have dietary restrictions like I do, you have to stay away from most prepared foods. Not to mention those soups and mixes are terrible for you, full of nasty ingredients like MSG.

In 2008, when Stephanie O'Dea started her 365 days of crockpotting blog, I was excited!  I found her early into her adventure, and was excited to see recipes that weren't full of the soups and packets, but actual real recipes.  Her family eats GF, too, so I knew it would be a little bit healthier than most recipes I typically see. 

When I started eating GF, I already knew a little bit about eating GF, thanks to her blog.  It made it seem less overwhelming and I eased right into the new lifestyle.  Now that I'm even more restrictive, I can still find some recipes that I can eat! 

This recipe is great because it takes about a minute to prepare before you leave for work.  And if you are like me, that one minute is a huge deal.  It's 2 ingredients, and the leftovers can be used multiple ways.  I usually use a 4-5lb roast and 2 pints of homemade pickled peppers. i usually just serve it alone with a couple veggie sides or a big salad.  Thank you, crockpot 365, for such an awesome recipe!

 Shredded Peperoncini Beef

1 chuck roast, about 2 lbs
1 16 oz jar of peperoncinis

Place roast in the crockpot.  Leave the fat on the roast while it cooks.  You will discard the fat after it cooks.  If you trim off the fat now, the meat will dry out in the crockpot.  Add entire jar of peperoncinis, including liquid.  Put lid on crockpot.  Turn on low.  Set timer for 8-10 hours.  When you are ready to serve, shred the meat, discarding the fat, and peppers, if desired.  Add some of the juices to keep the meat moist. 

 

Pre-cooking.  I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture when it was done.  My peperoncinis are red and green because they are home grown and home canned.  The peppers actually turn red at full maturity...and are way spicier too!

Dairy-Free Pesto

I've always been a picky eater since I was little.  When I was 3 or 4 years old, I supposedly told my Grandma "I CAN'T like liver."  I remember nights sitting at the dinner table for hours because I refused to eat my dinner.  Mom would wrap it up and try to get me to eat it the next day.  I would go on a hunger strike until it was deemed inedible.  

Beef stew 

Chicken and Dumplings

Peas 

Asparagus 

Brussels Sprouts

Canned peaches in sugar syrup 

Sloppy Joes  

***GAG***

I would have rather eaten dirt. 

I also had this weird thing about foods touching.  It wasn't like I couldn't eat spaghetti and meat sauce.  I just didn't like two foods that shouldn't be together touch.  For example, when I was about 7, I was served a plate with a Sloppy Joe and canned peaches.

Together on the same plate.  

Nothing separating those two items.

The sugar syrup from the peaches flash flooded my plate and drowned my Sloppy Joe.  It made the bun soggy, and the Sloppy Joe had a sickeningly sweet canned peach taste to it.  I was grossed out.  I politely feigned a stomach ache and went hungry. 

Partly as a joke (but mostly not), my mom now keeps a plastic divided child's plate in the cupboard for me when I come over for dinner.

 

Amazingly, one thing that I actually did like as a kid were sauces.  They made food more delicious.  And they made icky food semi-tolerable.

One of my favorites was a "mock hollandaise" sauce that we ate on green veggies. A little bit of mustard stirred into some mayo.  Man, did I smother that on asparagus, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.   And gravy...I could eat that on EVERYTHING.

Now that I'm older and my taste is more refined (or it's dead taste buds from getting "old"), I find myself liking things that I didn't as a kid.  I love grilled or roasted asparagus.  I will eat peas if they are in risotto.  I still don't like canned peaches or Sloppy Joes, and I still don't like my food to touch when it's not meant to touch (Sorry for all the extra dishes)

I still love sauces and try to make them often.  I feel like they add so much to food. A piece of fried chicken is delicious, but add a rich tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on top and you have chicken parmigina. Chicken and mushrooms are good, but add some sweet wine, butter and stock and you have Chicken Marsala. 

Even the names sound more appetizing.  

I've heard that you can tell a person is a good cook if they can make a good sauce.  I've made it my personal cooking goal to become good at making sauces, stocks, and soups.

Pesto is one of my favorite sauces I've learned how to make.  I love it so much that I planted 10 basil plants in my garden this summer.  I love to make it all summer long, freeze it in ice cube trays, and then use it all winter long when Basil is out of season.

When I found out I couldn't eat dairy, at least for now, I was so bummed because so many sauces are dairy based.  Most of them have butter, cheese, or cream in them.  Pesto has a generous amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in it, giving the sauce a salty, sharp, nutty flavor.  But lucky for me, one of my friends who eats a Paleo diet, informed me that she made a dairy free pesto and it was great!  She just took her regular recipe, left out the cheese, and it was perfect.

I pruned back my herbs this past weekend and had so much basil.  I knew it was time to make a big batch of pesto! 

I started out by toasting some raw almonds briefly in the skillet.  Just a couple minutes because you don't want them to burn.  You could also use walnuts or the traditional pine nuts, but all I had in the pantry was almonds.  

 

I washed my basil, discarded the stems, keeping only the leaves, and put the leaves in the food processor with the almonds, and a few cloves of fermented garlic cloves.

I pulsed the food processor a few times until it was chopped up into fine pieces. 

After everything was chopped up, I turned the food processor to the "on" position and very slowly began adding in the olive oil.  Drizzled it in very slowly until the mixture reached a "sauce" consistency. 

Finally, season to taste with salt and pepper.

You can use it immediately in your favorite recipe, freeze in ice cube trays (store in a container or ziploc so they don't absorb the freezer smells), or store for a few days in the fridge.  When I store it in the fridge, I like to pour a thin layer of olive oil over the top to prevent it from drying out and turning brown. 

Dairy Free Basil Pesto
 
2 packed cups fresh basil leaves
+/- 1/2  cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3-1/2 cup toasted nuts (pine nuts, almonds, walnuts)
3 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the basil, garlic and nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is chopped.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil until it reaches desired consistency.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Use immediately, store in a sealed container in the fridge for about 7-10 days, or freeze. 

Changing traditions

Every July, Dave and I make our way to Chevys Fresh Mex, so he can indulge in their fresh Watermelon Margaritas.  I'm the DD and indulge on chips, salsa, and steak fajitas while he drinks watermelon margarita after watermelon margarita after watermelon margarita. 

Source

While Chevy's isn't nearly as good as our local Mexican places, I do love getting the fajitas...the sizzling platter of meat on a pile of grilled veggies, surrounded by all the tasty "fixins"....that dollop of sweet corn tamalito served on a dried corn husk....the piles of soft, fresh flour tortillas to use as a vehicle to get all that deliciousness in your mouth...

Chevy's summertime watermelon margarita trips were pre-food allergy diagnosis.

Now that it's July, and watermelon margaritas are back in season, I can't join my hubby in our summer Chevy's date.  I'm allergic to wheat, soy, cumin, coriander, and a bunch of other things that are typically in Chevy's food.  While they do have a limited GF menu, I still have all the other allergies and just can't eat there, at least for now.  It makes me really disappointed to not be able to continue our summer tradition this year.  Hopefully, by next summer, my stomach will be tolerating many of those foods again and I'll be able to join him.

But for now, I cook at home, using ingredients that I know won't make me sick.But I still wanted our Chevys date.  What should I do?  I don't want to eat myself sick, but it's hard to not do things you love to do...

I remembered a few years ago, Chevy's put out a cookbook of some of there most popular items.  I did a quick search and saw that Chevy's was also kind enough to share many of their famous recipes online.  I found the recipe for their famous steak fajita marinade called "Aqua Negra" or "Black Water." I decided we were going to have our own at-home edition of Chevy's steak fajitas that would be safe for me to eat.

When you have food allergies and sensitivities, any time you make a new recipe, you need to look over the ingredient list and see if everything is safe for you to eat.  If there are things that aren't safe, then you need to ask yourself if there are safe versions of that item you could swap with, if there is something similar you could use instead, or if you could just leave the item out without ruining the recipe.

For example, if you want to make a quiche, but are allergic to wheat, you can use a gluten-free crust.  If you are allergic to cow's milk and the recipe calls for cheese, you could use goat, sheep or soy cheese, or just leave it out.  But if you are allergic to eggs, you may want to rethink making that recipe, and find something that would be easier to make with your restrictions.

The recipe called for soy sauce.  I'm allergic to both wheat and soy.  Most soy sauces have wheat in them, and all of them obviously have soy.  My friend who eats a Paleo style diet introduced me to a product called coconut aminos.  It's a wheat and soy free soy sauce alternative.  It's actually really good and tastes way less salty than regular soy sauce.  I've recently re-introduced cumin into my diet and haven't had any negative reaction, so I'm using that sparingly in my diet from now on.  I revamped their recipe and made a safe one for me to enjoy!

First, I thawed out my meat. Safely. In the fridge.  Please don't thaw your meat on the counter and get food poisoning.  And never in the microwave, because it makes it rubbery and gross.  

I buy my beef in bulk from a local ranch.  It comes individually wrapped and labeled.  It can be frozen for up to a year.  Much better prices than buying it on an "as-needed" basis at the grocery store. 

Next, I mixed up my marinade in a Ziploc bag.  I don't mix it in a separate bowl.  Why dirty another dish?  I think that the bags are much better for marinating than in a container becuase you use less marinade yet the marinade is always touching the meat.  

Meat marinating for 48 hours

I added my meat, squeezed out as much air as I could, sealed the bag, and squished everything around. Then I let it sit in the fridge for 2 days. Every 12 hours, I turned the bag over and squished things around to make sure the meat was soaking up all those yummy flavors! 


The night you are ready to eat the fajitas, start by prepping all your fixing.  The meat will grill up in no time.

all the "fixins"

fresh sliced heirloom tomato

 Then grill up your meat to a medium rare. 

Any more, and it will get overcooked, tough, and dry.   

 

Grilled carne asada

Now it's time to assemble all your ingredients and eat!  

Que aproveche!!!

Fajitas!

 Carne Asada Fajitas

1.5 lbs organic, grass-fed carne asada

1/2 cup coconut aminos
1 cup crushed pineapple in 100% juice
1 tablespoons ground cumin
3 cloves minced garlic
1 lime freshly squeezed

Your favorite "fixins":  shredded lettuce,  chopped tomatoes, beans, rice, salsa, crema/sour cream, guacamole/sliced avocados, shredded cheese, salsa, cilantro, diced onions, tortillas, etc...

Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag.  Add carne asada. seal, taking out as much air as possible.  Lay flat in the fridge, turning every few hours.  Marinate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.  

Remove carne asada from marinade.  Discard marinade.   Cook carne asada on a hot grill until medium rare, about a minute or two on each side, depending on the thickness of your meat.  Chop carne asada into strips or bite size chunks.  Serve hot. 

 

We grilled up a tray full of sliced onions and bell peppers, a tub of fresh pineapple spears from Costco, and slices of fresh yellow squash.  We wrapped everything up in a gluten free corn tortilla that had been softened in coconut oil.  You could definitely serve this without the tortillas or put on top of a salad!  

It was delicious.  It was the next best thing to going to Chevys. 

Actually, it was probably way better for us. 

Except....

I forgot to make the watermelon margaritas for Dave. 

The watermelon is still sitting on the counter.   

Oops! 

Next time.

I felt so bad, I took him to happy hour after work today
so he could have his watermelon margarita.  I stuck to a Sprite
and cooked us dinner at home.

  

Kalua Pork...the crockpot edition

For anyone who has ever been to Hawaii, or knows anything about Hawaii, you know that they are known for a few foods:  Spam, Pineapple, and Kalua Pig.  

Yes, those are SPAM flavored macadamia nuts. 

Spam.  Side note...go see Spamalot.  We went and saw it this spring in San Francisco and it was magical.  I've seen several musicals, and this has to be my second favorite one I've ever seen.

You can buy spam at the grocery store, but you probably don't because it's terrible for you.

I hope you buy pineapple every chance you get, because it's delicious and really good for you.

Kalua pig.  If you are lucky enough to live near an authentic Hawaiian restaurant, you may be able to get it there.  I don't think any of us have the ability to roast a whole pig in an underground pit covered in banana leaves.

Dave and I at the Luau

My aunt and her family go to Hawaii about once a year.  She always talks about how good the food is there.  Like the pineapple shrimps (yes, shrimps) from the hole-in-the-wall place they like to visit.  We finally had the opportunity to go in November 2010, and I fell in love with the Island of Oahu.   Honolulu was decent, (it was like SF with warmer weather...I love SF, but I can go there anytime), but I really loved the other parts of the island that were less over-run with tourists.  I could definitely see myself visiting there many more times, maybe even take up temporary residency for a year or two and learn to slow down and live on Island Time.

The famous pineapple shrimps from
Fatty's Chinese Kitchen
International Marketplace - Honolulu

Luau Food - Yum yum yum!

One food that I have fallen in love with is kalua pig.  What is better than smoked pig? It's just so amazing, I started to try to find recipes to make it at home.  As I did some research, I found that people have been making an at home version of kalua pig by taking a pork shoulder/butt, covering it in the traditional Hawaiian Sea Salt, adding some liquid smoke for flavor, wrapping it in banana leaves and then foil, and slow roasting it in the oven for several hours.  

If you can slow roast something in the oven, that says to me that you can slow roast it in the crockpot.  I did a quick google search and found dozens, if not hundred of recipes for making pork in the crockpot!

I love my crockpot.  It doesn't heat up the house, and it uses way less energy than running an oven for hours.  Not to mention, it has dinner ready for me after work on the days where I'm too tired to ten get dinner from a drive-thru.  

The thing I love the most about this recipe, is that it helps me sleep later in the morning.  You actually start it the night before you want to eat it.  That appeals to this girl who hates waking up early, and would rather have 5 extra minutes of sleep than take 5 minutes to start the crockpot for dinner.  

 Around 9 or 10PM, gather your ingredients.

 1 Pork shoulder/butt, about 6-7lbs

Red Hawaiian Sea Salt

Liquid Smoke 

Place the pork in the crockpot fat side up.  

DO NOT TRIM OFF ANY OF THE FAT.  RESIST everything that Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, Jenny Craig, and every other diet you have done for the past 20 years has told you. It will keep the pork moist as it cooks.  You will discard the fat AFTER it cooks, not before.  If you trim off the fat now, you will end up with very tough, shoe leather like pork, and that's not even appetizing to the dogs.

Add 2-3 tbl of liquid smoke.  Then sprinkle the roast with 

2-3 tbl of Red Hawaiian Sea Salt, covering the entire top of the pork. 

Now, set your crockpot for 20 hours.  

Yes, you read that correctly, 20 hours. 

Now for the hardest part of all.  

Put the lid on and walk away. 

Just like Christmas, there is no peeking!  Leave that lid on for all 20 hours.

Wake up the next morning to the smells of something akin to bacon wafting throughout your house.  

Resist the urge to cut off a chunk to eat on your way out the door, it's not ready yet.  It will be tough.  Go to work, and spend your day dreaming about a luau.  Because that's what your dinner is going to taste like tonight!

Then when your 20 hours is up, remove the pork from the crockpot to a large bowl or dish.  Reserve the juices.  Grab two forks and start to shed up that meat.  Remove any hunks of fat.  Add back some of the juices to keep the meat moist. 

Then you will have a nice, beautiful bowl full of mouthwatering "kalua" pig.  

I like to serve it plain, on a bed of shredded cabbage with a side of rice, just like at a luau.  Turn on some Iz, close your eyes, and pretend you are in Paradise.

Unless you are feeding 14 people, you will probably have a ton of leftovers.  That's awesome!  Because now it can be made into dozens of different recipes.  Oh and did I mention, it freezes great?  Just pop a couple cups into a freezer ziplock and pull out for your next amazing meal.  I wouldn't freeze it longer than 2-3 months or else it will get freezer burned.

Some of the things I have made with the leftovers:

Taco/Burrito Filling - crisp up in a frying pan with some diced ortega chilies and taco seasoning.  Serve with mango salsa. 

Enchilada Filling - Mix with Green Enchilada sauce, spoon not a tortilla, roll up, top with cheese and more sauce, bake until hot and melty. 

BBQ pulled pork - Mix with your favorite BBQ sauce.  Serve hot on it's own or on make it into sliders using King Hawaiian rolls with a small scoop of coleslaw on top. 

Omelet - Add pork with your favorite omelet fillings

Nachos - Top a pile of chips with your favorite kind of cheese, add pork, green onions, and pineapple salsa

Breakfast scramble - Fry up potatoes, veggies, and pork.  Add eggs and scramble.  Top with some cheese and your favorite hot sauce. 

Soup - I actually haven't made this, but my coworker did.  We had a pulled pork taco bar potluck one time.  She took leftover pork, mexican rice, refried beans, salsa, and a bunch of other things, threw it all in the crockpot and make it into a delicious soup.  (Note to self:  get that "recipe")

Words to the Wise: I have found out that if you use a smaller, leaner piece of pastured pork instead of say a giant fatty roast from Costco, the pork will dry out, it won't create any of those yummy juices that keep it moist, and it will burn.  While I always advocate to use organic meats that were raised locally and humanely, I can't say that this is the best option for the recipe.  I would work with your local farmer to make sure you get a large, fatty piece of meat, or buy one from a store you feel comfortable with. If you do use a leaner cut of meat, I would add water to the crockpot, or else it will dry out and burn.  


Shared at Full Plate Thursday's

Grain-Free Summer Fruit Crisp

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." ~Erma Bombeck

Ah, the 4th of July.  A day for celebrating our country with BBQ's, alcohol, and explosives.  A day off of work to spend with your friends and family surrounded by piles of food.  A day spent hopefully near a body of water - a lake, a swimming pool, a slip-n-slide - to help you manage the summer heat.  

When you have food allergies, and you are going to a BBQ, instant panic sets in.  What will I be able to eat?  What if I eat something that makes me sick?  Should I just pack all my own food?  Will I offend the host if I don't eat any of their food?

As I get further along my journey, I have become more pro-active about making sure I will be able to eat when I go somewhere.  I am learning to speak up at a restaurant to ensure I don't accidentally eat something I shouldn't.  I am carrying snacks in my purse in case we are out later than anticipated and I need a quick bite to eat.  I am bringing my own food to BBQs so I can guarantee that there is something I will be able to eat.  

A couple days before the 4th, I asked my in-laws what was on the menu:  cheese burgers, chili dogs, spinach dip, broccoli salad, potato salad, cake, peach cobbler.  All the family 4th favorites.  Nothing I can eat.  

I had to get creative.  Nothing is worse than feeling like the odd man out.  I'm watching you eat your cake while I eat an apple.  Sure, it's a million times better for me, and it's not going to make me sick, but I really miss having cake with everyone else.  

I searched and searched.  I came up with a menu for the day that will be 100% things that I can eat, but will also be foods like everyone else is eating, and yummy enough to share.  

Roasted corn and jalapeño salsa

Late July Organic Chips, Summertime Blues and Sea Salt by the Sea Shore

Grass-fed hamburger patties

Applegate Organic All beef hot dogs

Quinoa "pasta" salad

Grain-Free Fruit crisp

It was going to be a yummy 4th of July for me.  There would be no surviving on a lara bar for me today!  And best of all, there would be no stomach aches and no food hangovers!  

I have a dear friend that has started eating a "Paleo" based diet.  She eats nothing processed, no grains, no dairy, no soy, no legumes, no sugar.  Nothing but lean meats, fish, nuts, fruits, and veggies.  Eating just like someone in the "Paleo" era, or a Caveman, would eat.  She has lost tons of weight, has become super active, and feels amazing.  She is so inspirational to me!

Lately, I get much of my cooking inspiration from paleo style recipes.  With the exception of eggs and a few other minor things, I can eat many paleo recipes, unaltered.  Even though I don't eat this way exclusively, I try to focus most of my meals around this food lifestyle.  I feel so much better during the day if I skip the carbs and fill up on proteins that will fuel my body hours after the carbs have burned off.  

Paleo desserts?   

Who knew there was such a thing?!?!?!  

I love peach cobbler so much, but can't eat that soft, buttery, sweet, cake-like biscuit on top.  Crisps and crumbles are also my favorite, but they are full of oats, flours, and butters.  More stuff I can't eat.  

Enter the grain free crisp.  

I found this amazing sounding grain-free apple crisp at Stacy's Paleo Kitchen.  I read the recipe, and my mouth was already watering.  

A quick call to mom.

"Can you make apple crisp with other fruits, like peaches and berries?  Can they be fresh? Frozen?"

"Yes." 

"Yes." 

"Yes."  

And a bit of advise. 

"Make sure to add some extra thickener to the fruit if you don't use other fruits besides apples or else it may get too runny." 

I went in the kitchen, grabbed out all my favorite fruits, fresh and frozen, and went to work.  I'm a really bad baker because I don't usually measure anything.  I just dump, sprinkle, and pour 'till it looks and tastes right.  Which is probably why I'm so bad at baking where measurements really matter.  This recipe is really forgiving because it will work even if you just use a big spoonful instead of exactly 2tbl of coconut oil! 

Grain Free Fruit Crisp 

4-6 cups mixed fruit, washed, peeled, seeded, cored, etc(apples, plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, raspberries, etc)
1-2 tbl cornstarch  or arrowroot powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl raw honey
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 - 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl coconut oil
1/3  cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350*.

Place fruit in a medium sized glass baking dish.  An 8x8 square, large pie pan, or a casserole dish. I never measure the fruit, just keep adding until the dish is full.

Sprinkle fruit with arrowroot powder, cinnamon, and honey and stir gently to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix together, almond flour, coconut, pecans, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt.

Top the fruit with the crumble mixture and bake until the top is browned and the fruit starts to bubble, approximately 45 minutes.  Serve warm.

This post was shared on whole food fridays.

Freebird

Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd: The worlds most overplayed, over-requested song. 

Fourth of July morning.

It came on the radio just like it always does.

"I'm as free as a bird"

I started thinking of my friend's beautiful memorial tattoo to her sweet sister. The picture of the painting she put on fb (sorry I borrowed it w/o asking). 

A tribute to her sister.

 A free bird. 

Freedom from the cage of Batten disease that held her body captive for so long.

"to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord" by KW

Sobs.

I tried.  I couldn't turn off the song.

"'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, 

And this bird you cannot change. "

The last half of the song comes on. That amazing guitar solo.  One day I'm gonna learn to play guitar like that.  

In my mind, I can see her clapping and laughing and dancing to that music.

Often, I struggle with deep thoughts like if there is a heaven and what happens after we die. I like to think it does because it's such a comforting thought.  If it does, I know you are there, and I'm hoping you are hanging out with my dad. He'll take good care of you cuz he was such a good dad to us kids, just like your dad was to you and still is to your siblings.  I'm sure he's already got you running a marathon with him. He loved running. He used to make me ride my bike with him when he ran, even though I complained incessantly.  What I wouldn't give for one more chance to do that.   I hope you haven't forgotten to give him that hug Mrs. A. asked you to give him from all of us.  I promise as soon as I'm feeling better, I'll run a race for both of you.  Thank you for all you taught me and always reminding me by example to have always have a smile on my face, no matter how bad I think it is.

Miss you sweet girl.