Fruit and Nut Bars

Kind Bars are awesome. They're a perfect snack when you just need a little something. Not a lot of preservatives, not a lot of junk, just yumminess. The problem is that they're not readily available (you usually have to go to a specialty health food store to find them) and they're expensive (probably because you have to go to a specialty health food store to find them). I would treat myself to one every once in a while, but largely I just avoided them. It's the same thing with LaraBars (though you can usually find those in a few more places). 

I bought one last weekend when I was at Whole Paycheck because I was starving and wasn't going to be home for lunch for a couple of hours. I realized that they were pretty simple. I figured I could probably make the same thing at home for quite a bit less money. 

Naturally I did my research, got some ideas for a recipe, and went to work. So, so good. Unfortunately, my BF can't eat them because they're chuck full of nuts, but I'll work on finding a recipe he can eat (or all cashews is an option). In the meantime, I make Rice Krispie Treats and caramels for him. :) 

These are really flexible. You can use any mixture of nuts (toasted or raw) and dried fruit. You can be flexible with the sweetener, too. This batch I made completely from brown rice sugar. They turned out fairly crispy (and I prefer chewier bars) so I think next time I'll do half brown rice syrup and half honey. Just know, you're only limited by your imagination. 

I forget to take a lot of pictures, but I remembered to get one here. Tell me you don't want to eat this. Like, right now. 

Ingredients: 

2/3 cup peanuts 

1/3 cup cashews

1/3 cup almonds 

1/3 cup chopped dried fruit (I used Craisins, apricots and flaked coconut)

1/4 cup Rice Krispies (or other crisp rice cereal) 

1/4 cup sweetener of choice (I used brown rice syrup)

1/8 tsp sea salt (omit if nuts are already salted) 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil, then coat with cooking spray. Set aside. 

Coarsely chop nuts (you don't have to chop the peanuts if you don't want to). Or, put nuts in a zip top baggie and hit them with a rolling pin until they're broken up. In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well, making sure everything is evenly coated. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. 

Cut a piece of foil that will fit inside the pan. Spray with cooking spray, and use it to press the nut mixture into the pan. Press very firmly all around, making sure everything sticks together. 

Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and set pan on a cooling rack. Let cool for about 15 minutes, or until still warm and pliable, but not too hot. Hold the edges of the foil and transfer bars from pan to a cutting board. G-e-n-t-l-y peel back the sides of the foil, but do not attempt to move the bars. Cut into bars (I made 8), then let cool completely before attempting to pull bars off the foil. Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap. Store in airtight container in a cool, dry area. 

Smothered Potato Cakes

Uh oh! Here's one of those "hot" words - you know, words to avoid when eating out if you're trying to lose or maintain weight. "Smothered" usually means high-fat, high-calorie and low-nutrient. Not here. Here, smothered just means delicious.

This was another one of those "what in the heck am I going to make for dinner" nights. The groceries were getting low, which means there weren't a ton of options. I had russet potatoes, brown rice, some leftover cooked chicken, and a few other things. I was really craving some zucchini fritters, but of course we didn't have zucchini. I thought maybe I could do potato fritters instead.

I also had some leftover chicken from another recipe that turned out far less than desirable (needless to say I haven't posted it). The problem was that the chicken was incredibly dry. I didn't want to waste it, so I thought putting it in a gravy would help revive it.

This actually turned out pretty good. There were no leftovers. Enough said. (Toot! Toot! Yes, that was me tooting my own horn.)

Ingredients:
8 medium russet potatoes, peeled
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Sea salt & ground black pepper
1/4 cup flour of choice (I used sweet white sorghum - if you use coconut flour you'll need a lot less)
2 cups chicken broth
2 T. dehydrated onion flakes
1 bay leaf
5 drops liquid smoke
2 T. full fat coconut milk
1-2 T. arrowroot powder
Cold water
3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

Directions:
Shred potatoes in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, you can use the large holes in a cheese grater. But, it will take you much, much longer.

Put shredded potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle generously with sea salt, tossing to coat evenly. Walk away for ten minutes.

The potatoes will oxidize and turn pink (or some variation of pink). Don't worry. They will return to potato color when you cook them. Squeeze all of the moisture out of the potatoes. Squeeze like you mean it. If you have some cheesecloth, it makes this process much simpler.

Put potato shreds into a dry mixing bowl. Add cumin and black pepper, tossing to coat. Add eggs and flour, mixing well with a wooden spoon. If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour. It should be wet enough to stick together, but not so wet you can still wring moisture out. Too wet - they'll fall apart. Too dry - tastes yucky and floury.

Preheat your biggest skillet over medium-high heat. Melt a little coconut or olive oil in the pan. Form potato cakes by pressing potato mixture firmly into a 1/3 cup measuring cup. Tap it out into your hand, flatten slightly, and set in hot oil. Use a fork to press it out evenly. Let cook 4-5 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Flip, and cook another 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.

Important: Do not fiddle with the cakes while they're cooking or they will fall apart. Be patient, and only lift the corner of the cake with a spatula when you think they're almost finished. Remember to add additional oil between batches.

While potatoes are cooking, prepare the gravy. In a large saucepan, combine broth, coconut milk, onion flakes, bay leaf, liquid smoke and salt & pepper. Whisk together, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let simmer about 5 minutes, allowing the bay leaf to release its flavors and the onion flakes to absorb moisture. Combine arrowroot and just enough cold water to mix it, then whisk into the gravy. When desired thickness is reached, stir in chopped chicken and continue simmering until chicken is heated through.

Remove the bay leaf and serve chicken gravy over potato cakes.

Butternut Squash Soup

My boyfriend has told me more than once, "Soup is not a meal." Because he doesn't care for it (and neither do teenage boys, apparently), I don't make soup very often. This came about on a night when I had to get food ready fast, and there wasn't much in the refrigerator in terms of leftovers. My man ate some leftover Spaghetti Cake, and I started rooting around to see what I could throw together. Some of his favorite recipes have come from just throwing stuff together to see what happens. That's a pretty big compliment. :)

I had some leftover sauce from the Spaghetti Cake, so I used that as the base. Toss in some chicken, chopped fresh spinach, a little coconut milk... OMYum! It was so delicious. It make enough for two meals, so it was dinner that night and lunch a couple of days later. I couldn't believe how well this turned out.

Note: when refrigerated, this soup thickens up quite a bit. Don't worry, though, it'll thin right out again as soon as it's heated.

Ingredients:
2 cups Butternut Squash Sauce (see recipe here)
1 cooked chicken breast, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
2 T. full fat coconut milk
Hot water
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except hot water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add hot water, a few tablespoons at a time, until soup reaches desired consistency.

Serve immediately.

Spaghetti Cake

I've been wanting to try this recipe ever since I came across it. Unfortunately, the amount of inactive prep time is nothing short of astronomical, so I had to wait for the stars to align properly giving me enough time at home to complete the recipe. The original recipe was called "Five Ingredient Pizza Pie" or something like that. My youngest told me, "This doesn't really taste like pizza. I don't think that's a very good name for it." I replied, "Okay, fair enough, what would you name it?" Without missing a beat he said, "Spaghetti cake." And so, Spaghetti Cake is born.

I know my son loved it because he had seconds instead of going for a bowl of his post-dinner cereal, but my BF didn't love it. He said it was really good, had good flavor and good texture, but it was not something he would crave. Personally, I thought the flavors were quite a bit better the next day, so maybe the sausage should marinate a little longer.

This is another one of those "doesn't have to be this complicated if you can eat tomatoes, pork and garlic" recipes. So, if you want to just substitute some sausage for the turkey mix and some pasta sauce for the butternut squash, feel free. It'll cut down on a bit of the prep work.

For the 'sausage':
1 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp dried cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder

Combine all ingredients, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Refrigerate about 30 minutes (or more) to let the flavors blend.

For the sauce:
1 cups cubed, cooked butternut squash
1/2 roasted red bell pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. honey
2 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth, adding a little additional water if necessary.

For the pie:
1 large spaghetti squash
Drizzle olive oil
Sea salt & ground black pepper
1 recipe turkey sausage (see above)
1 sweet onion, diced
1 recipe butternut squash sauce (see above)
5 eggs, whisked
16 turkey pepperoni slices

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim ends from squash, halve lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Put squash in baking dish, cut side up, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until squash is tender.

While squash is baking, saute the onion in a drizzle of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. I let it go until it's caramelized, but let it cook at least until tender. Add turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink. Set aside to cool slightly.

When squash is finished, let cool just enough to handle. Shred squash into a large bowl. Add turkey sausage mixture, salt & pepper, butternut squash sauce (or pasta sauce) and stir well to combine. Fold in whisked eggs until eggs are no longer visible.

Grease a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray or coconut oil. Spread half of squash mixture evenly in pan. Arrange pepperoni slices in a single layer, then top with remaining squash mixture. Bake (still at 400 degrees) for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the center does not "give" under light pressure. Let cool about 5 minutes before slicing.

Variations: Use any pizza toppings you like: vegetables, pepperoni, ham, pineapple, whatever you like. You could even sprinkle a little low-fat cheese in the middle if you'd like.

Shrimp & White Bean Soup

You know the day... the kind where all you want to do is get home, pull on some fuzzy socks, and veg out on the couch. On top of all that, you end up running around like a crazy person after work, which is keeping you from your fuzzy socks, and by the time you get home you don't feel like eating much less cooking.

Yes, that is the type of day that inspired this dish. The "I-don't-know-what-to-make-for-dinner" was complicated by "I-don't-want-to-eat-dinner." My boyfriend and I spent almost two hours after I got off work running to different stores looking for firewood that should have been laced with gold but wasn't, fighting traffic, and meeting dead end after dead end. We got home, he didn't say more than three words to me, and we just sat on the couch playing games on our phones. By 8:00 he was passed out on the couch and I was finally starting to feel hungry.

Needless to say, I wasn't about to spend an hour cooking. I dug through the cupboards and refrigerator looking for something that might come together. I had white beans and shrimp. I did a Google search for those ingredients and came up with squat. I mean, there were a few recipes, but nothing that would come together in less than an hour.

Lime, chili and coconut go well with shrimp, so I thought I might be able to pull something off. It turned out better than I could have hoped. He didn't want to eat at all, so that left more for me for lunch!

Ingredients:
1 can Great Northern beans
1/2 pkg frozen cocktail shrimp (about a cup)
1-2 T. chili powder
1/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk
1-2 tsp lime juice (I used bottled, but use fresh if you have it)
10 drops liquid smoke
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions:
Drain beans, reserving liquid (do not rinse). Thaw shrimp in a wire mesh strainer under hot running water. Combine all ingredients (except reserved bean water) in a medium saucepan, stirring well. If you desire a thinner soup, add additional coconut milk or bean water. Check for taste, adding more seasonings if desired. Serve hot.

Makes 2-3 servings.

Turkey Sausage Patties

Ever heard of a Whole30? I hadn't either. It seems to be pretty popular with the New Year's Resolutionists, though. Several of my favorite cooking websites and blogs are all the buzz with a Whole30 right now. Basically it's 30 days of squeaky clean eating. Lots of vegetables, lots of lean protein, lots of water, and some fruits thrown in here and there. Zero added sugar (even natural sugar like agave and maple syrup), zero grains, zero dairy, and zero alcohol. 

You lost me at zero added sugar. I enjoy cooking with honey and maple syrup. I like to eat fruit, and while fruits are allowed, they're fairly restricted. You doubly lost me at zero alcohol. Now, I'm not a huge drinker or anything like that, but a beer while watching the football game or a glass of wine in front of the fireplace are my ideal way to wind down. 

But I was still looking in to it anyway. Proponents of the program claim you feel amazing, lose weight, sleep better, and have tons more energy during the day after completing a Whole30. After I read through the program I realized I wasn't willing to give up my coffee creamer, my alcohol or my added sugars. But I also realized that quite a few of the meals I make are Whole30 compliant. Not all of them, of course, but it made me realize that I cook pretty clean, most of the time. 

Check out what I'm having for lunch: 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Butternut Squash, Turkey Sausage Patties, and some shredded zucchini noodles. So delicious, and ironically it's just shy of Whole30 compliant (I used olive oil and cooking spray, but you could easily substitute coconut oil).  Seriously, this is so much tastier than a burger or sandwich or anything like that. And these sausage patties? Oh-em-gee, so tasty. You simply must try them. 

Side note: I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. Sure, it's a great way to wipe the slate clean, start over and make some positive changes in your life. My problem with them is that we tend put too much emphasis on the clean slate and not enough emphasis on why we're making the changes we're making. Jillian Michaels says, "You can tolerate any 'how' if you focus on the 'why.'" I think, for many, the 'how' is too connected to the fact that it's a new year and the why isn't established solidly enough. So if you decide to make a New Year's Resolution, I encourage you to first figure out why you're doing it, then lay down a clear cut how. Make some small goals leading up to your big goal. Identify anything that might come up to stop you and figure out how you're going to get past it. Once you have all this, a resolution will be much easier. 

So let's get cooking! 

Ingredients: 

1 lb. ground turkey

1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 tsp dried cumin

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder 

Sea salt & ground black pepper

Directions: 

Combine turkey and seasonings in a mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon (or your hands) to mix the seasonings completely in to the meat. Let sit in the refrigerator for a little while to allow seasonings to blend. Mine only sat about 10 minutes, but they were so much tastier the next day, I would recommend letting the meat sit longer, even overnight. 

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray (or heat some coconut or olive oil). Form meat into patties with your hands, making them fairly thin so they cook evenly, about 1/2 inch thick or less. Put them into the hot skillet and cook about five minutes. Flip and cook about 5 minutes longer, or until meat is starting to brown and juices run clear. 

Serve immediately. Makes 6 patties. 

Serve as desired. I served them atop the zucchini noodles (sauteed in coconut oil with a little salt & pepper), with a side of roasted butternut squash. 

Real Food Oatmeal Cookies

I feel like I've been on a junk food bender lately and I'm really looking for a way to sort of de-toxify myself. I eat really healthy meals, but I've been struggling with the snacking. I've read that sugar and cheese are two of the most addicting foods people eat in excess. It wasn't hard for me to give up cheese, but sugar? That's a tough one.

I came across this recipe the other night. I'm not sure where it came from, but someone who seems to think Facebook and Pinterest are synonymous posted it. I mean, seriously, this person had so much crap posted on their page... Anyway, I digress. The thing that interested me the most about the recipe was that there was no added sugar. Even the healthiest cookie recipes I've seen have added sugar in one form or another, whether it's honey, agave, or even stevia.

BTW, have you ever tried stevia? It's supposed to be really good for you because it's plant derived and has zero sugar. I tried it when I first started boot camp a couple of years ago. I'm telling you, it's the grossest thing ever. Granted, I only tried it in my coffee. But as my wise bestie says, "Ewww!"

I love that these cookies are completely natural and made from real ingredients. When I first started making these I thought, there's no way they're going to hold together. There's no eggs! But they did, and they're tasty. Perfect amount of sweet.

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup milk of choice
2 cups oats
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together mashed bananas, applesauce and milk in a large bowl. Stir in oats, raisins, vanilla and cinnamon.

Drop mixture by spoonfulls onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until just starting to brown around the edges.

Let cool completely on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Sweet & Savory Hashbrown Casserole

I'll be honest, when I first started thinking about this recipe, I was a little unsure how the flavors would come together. I have really wanted to make a hash brown casserole with sweet potatoes, but I couldn't quite figure out what flavors would come together best. The sweet potatoes (yams actually) can have a very overpowering flavor. Stuff that comes out of my own head is at one end of the spectrum or the other: it's either really good or highly disastrous.

I decided that something more mild, like lemon and artichokes, would probably go best. I also thought something creamy. So, I just started throwing some stuff together to see how it would come out. I got compliments on the meal, so I'm going to call it a success. By the way, it tastes great with a white wine. Just sayin'. Then again, what doesn't taste great with a glass of white wine?

Ingredients:
2 whole yams
2 T. coconut oil (or olive oil) 
1 sweet onion
1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried sage
Sea salt to taste 
2 cups soy milk (or milk of choice)
1 cup hot water
3 chicken bullion cubes
2 T. lemon juice 
2 T. Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 T. nutritional yeast (optional, but adds a deeper flavor)
1/2 tsp paprika 
Sea salt & ground black pepper to taste
1 T. arrowroot powder
Cold water 
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

Wash and peel yams. Shred using a food processor (quick) or the large holes in a cheese grater (slower). Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add yams and saute until soft. Arrange in baking dish, creating an even layer. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until just starting to brown.

Dice sweet onion. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with a little cooking spray, olive oil or coconut oil (your choice, but I use cooking spray to reduce the fat and calories). When tender and starting to caramelize, add ground turkey. Stir in rosemary, sage and a little sprinkle of sea salt. Cook until ground turkey is no longer pink. Keep warm over very low heat.

For the sauce, heat soy milk over medium heat, whisking frequently. Combine bullion and hot water, whisking well to combine. Add lemon juice to the hot water. Pour water mixture slowly into the milk, whisking rapidly to avoid curdling the milk.Stir in Bragg's, nutritional yeast, paprika, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Check for taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Combine arrowroot and just a little cold water. Whisk into sauce, a little at a time, and continue simmering until desired consistency is reached. You want it fairly thick but not pasty. 

When yams are finished cooking, remove from oven. Spread turkey mixture evenly over yams, then top with artichokes. Even though they're artichoke quarters, they aren't even, so I cut some of the bigger ones in half. Use a ladle to spoon the sauce evenly over the dish. Sprinkle with a little more paprika, if desired.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake casserole for 20 minutes, or until the edges are hot and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.

Seafood Artichoke Dip

Artichoke dip is easily one of my favorite treats. The traditional artichoke dip is loaded with sour cream, cheese and mayonnaise. It's delicious, but so horribly bad for you! Then, when I found out dairy was out of the question, that pretty much eliminated this dip as an option.

I'm learning all the amazing things you can do with cashews. I've made cheesecake, dessert bars, and creamy sauces, all of which have turned out great. I figured if you could do all this with cashews, why couldn't you make a dip from them?

This was going to be a huge case of trial and error. I was trying to re-create the flavors of a traditional artichoke dip, which I knew would be tough due to the cheese and sour cream being such a big factor. I was so pleased with the results! My son, who I've mentioned is a culinary student, was also highly impressed.

This recipe has a lot of healthy stuff in it, but you still don't want to overdo it. The coconut milk and cashews are quite calorie dense, so if you eat too much of it, you're not doing yourself any favors. As with everything, take it in moderation. You can serve it with chips, but it's even better with cut up vegetables - bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots, etc.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained, finely chopped and brine reserved
2-4 T. full-fat coconut milk
2 T. lemon juice 
3 squirts Bragg's Liquid Aminos
5 dashes liquid smoke 
Sea salt & ground black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder 
1 T. nutritional yeast
1/4 to 1/2 cup imitation crab, finely chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray. 

Process cashews in a blender on low speed until they reach a fine powder. Stop to scrape sides and corners of blender as needed. Add coconut milk, lemon juice, Liquid aminos, liquid smoke, salt, pepper, onion powder and nutritional yeast. Process on high speed until very smooth, stopping frequently to scrape the sides. Add additional coconut milk and brine if necessary. You want it thick, but not pasty.

Pour sauce into a bowl. Stir in artichokes and imitation crab. Check seasonings and adjust if necessary. Pour into baking dish and spread it out uniformly.

Bake for 5 to 10 minutes, or until just heated through, stirring once or twice while baking. The cashews in the sauce will cause it to thicken as it gets warmer, so don't let it go too long. If it does get too thick, just add a little more coconut milk.

Serve immediately with chips, pita slices or vegetables.

Buffalo Stuffed Mushrooms

Happy new year everyone! This is such a great time of year, a chance to hit the proverbial reset button and start over with a clean slate. While there's nothing exactly magical about January 1, the idea of a clean slate can be very refreshing. I personally don't believe in New Years' Resolutions, but there are a lot of people who do, and if that works for you, resolve away my friends!

Last night was a little crazy and hectic. I got off work earlier than usual, which allowed me time to make several new recipes. I'd done a little web surfing to find some fun appetizers I could make, but I already had an idea of what I wanted to do and couldn't really find any recipes that matched. I've tweaked enough recipes that I'm starting to learn what works.

Stuffed mushrooms are a lot of work, but they're totally worth it. The most laborious part is prepping them. Make sure you get mushrooms big enough to hold plenty of the delicious filling. :) I buy mine in the bulk from the produce section rather than from those cellophane wrapped packages because I can be picky and pull out the biggest ones. When I went shopping this time there weren't a ton of big ones, but I didn't end up with any really small ones, either. All in all, this recipe went over well.

You will notice here that I list olive oil and not a specific amount. I keep my olive oil in a plastic squeeze bottle with a small opening - a ketchup picnic bottle to be exact. I just drizzle the oil in until the sauce reaches the consistency I want. It's probably in the neighborhood of 1/4 to 1/3 cup for the recipe, but just drizzle it in until it's thick enough. 

Ingredients:
24 baby portabello mushrooms (you can use white, but the baby bellas are tastier)
1 lb ground turkey
2 T. dried onion flakes
1 T. chili powder
3 egg yolks (reserve whites for another recipe)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 T. lemon juice
Salt & black pepper
Olive oil
50-70 dashes Frank's Red Hot
5 dashes liquid smoke
1 T. chili powder
1 squirt Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray, and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove stems from mushrooms. Use a spoon to scoop out the gills (the little brown frilly things on the inside). Wipe caps of mushrooms with a wet paper towel to remove any dirt. Arrange mushroom caps stem side up on baking sheet.

Crumble turkey in a large skillet over medium heat. Add dried onion flakes and cook until no longer pink. Stir in 1 tablespoon chili powder. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the sauce, combine egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the beaker of an immersion blender. Process for 30 seconds or so until mixture becomes frothy. With the immersion blender running, start drizzling olive oil, a few drops at a time to start, until mixture starts to thicken. Continue blending and adding olive oil until a thick (but not too thick) consistency is reached.

Use a rubber spatula to remove sauce from beaker and into a small mixing bowl. Add Frank's, liquid smoke, 1 tablespoon chili powder and Bragg's. Whisk well, adjusting seasonings if necessary. Pour sauce into turkey and stir well.

Stuff mushroom caps with turkey mixture. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are just starting to brown and they are heated through. Let cool slightly before serving.

Pot Roast with Gravy

Running out of groceries just blows, and not in a pleasant way like a spring breeze (get your mind out of the gutter!). It had been a while since I'd stocked up on staples, so it seemed like I was out of just about everything. Without thinking, I thawed out a beef roast, planning to make my Mocha Crusted Pot Roast for dinner.

Then I realized, "I'm out of chili powder and smoked paprika." Well, no worries, I could still make do. Then I realized I was also about of beef bullion. Rats. Well, I can use... I started rummaging through the cupboards and knew it was going to get real tricky, real quick. I can only use my crock pot on the weekends because I'm gone for damn near 12 hours every day at work, and anything I try to crock will shrivel up and die before I get home. I haven't yet mastered the oven pot roast yet. Moral of the story, the roast had to get made and couldn't wait for me to go grocery shopping in a day or two.

I threw a bunch of stuff together hoping for the best. Turns out, it worked! Now, the coconut oil may seem a little odd to you. Don't fret. You won't get any residual coconut taste, even if your coconut oil has a coconutty taste to it normally. The other flavors will overpower it and you won't even notice. Cross my heart. If you're still freaked out, you could substitute butter or ghee.

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast, 2-3 pounds
1 1/2 red onions, thinly sliced (I used my mandolin)
3/4 cup hot water
1 chicken bullion cube
15 dashes liquid smoke
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning (this has some garlic in it, but it didn't seem to bother me)
Onion powder
Ground black pepper
4 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp arrowroot powder
Cold water

Directions:
Arrange half of onion slices in the bottom of your crock pot. Rinse roast and pat dry. Mix together hot water and bullion, then whisk in the liquid smoke (this is the closest I could get it to beef bullion, so feel free to just use beef if you have it and add a few drops of liquid smoke for a deep flavor).

Sprinkle Montreal Steak Seasoning, onion powder and black pepper over all sides of the roast. You don't need an exact measurement, just sprinkle until it's lightly covered on all sides. Rub the seasonings slightly into the meat with your fingertips. Set roast on top of onions and put remaining onions on top. Pour bullion mixture into the pot, drizzling just a little on top of the roast, taking care not to totally wash the seasonings away.

Top roast with coconut oil (or butter) in little dabs, portioning it out across the roast. Set on high temperature for about an hour or until the pot is completely hot. Reduce heat to low and cook for 4-6 hours or until roast is tender.

When finished, remove roast from pot and scoop out onion slices with a slotted spoon. Pour liquid into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine arrowroot and just enough cold water to mix it well. Slowly whisk into sauce. Check for taste and add a little salt if necessary. Serve gravy over sliced roast.