Frosted Pumpkin Spice Loaf

Well, here I am, back on the scene!

   We have been in California the last 12 days so that's why my posts have been lacking. I'm sure you all were on the edge of your seats! I was tempted to talk about going on the trip, but broadcasting that your house is empty is frowned upon!

   We had a blast. My mom and dad go to Palm Springs every winter and we like to follow them there, invite ourselves in and eat all their food. And they love it! This was Kort's first time but Grey has been 5 times! Spending so much time in a hotel can be challenging with younger kids. We stay in a house with my parents, but then we drove to San Diego, from there to L.A. and Anaheim.

  Grey was so obsessed with going to Disney, we never heard the end of it! Because the kids are so small we would of never planned a trip just to there. But since we were right there we decided to go for it! After paying roughly 5 million dollars to get in, we hit the ground running! If you've been before, did you find it a bit overwhelming? It was hotter than hell and if you know me, you'll know my kids and I are "powder's". Complexion of a snowman. I took both the kids on the carousel by myself, thinking it was a short line. Wrong. As I discovered there is no such thing. Once we turned the millionth corner and got out of the shade it was almost game over for the powder's and I. I swear we almost perished in that line. A lady was pushing her way to the front to "get with her husband" and then let herself through a closed-off rope to get to the front. I almost took her hostage. We made it to the god damn horses and Grey picked his fav. While helping him on I almost lost Kort's horse to an adult couple on there with no kids. What the....I made them go away and be creepy on the other side. After standing in the sun for an hour we enjoyed all 25 seconds of that ride!! :)

   Being that Kort is only 19 months, saying that he was a terrorist there is an understatement. Things went downhill after the carousel incident. All Grey wanted was to see the superhero thing. It was over at 5 and we were cutting it close. Back in line we go. This one was short for real, and it started in 10 minutes. How bad could that be? Don't ever ask yourself that. Kort went through a fantastic series of back arches, head bunts, running away and glass shattering screaming. I was livin' the dream. I couldn't bare to break Grey's heart by leaving, so we stuck it out and tolerated the death stares from everyone! It was worth it because he got chosen by Thor to be in the show and it was awesome!

 There is only one way to make toddler stop screaming in public and buy yourself some time. They need not one, but two GIANT suckers. Write that down. That will come in handy for you one day, I promise.
Happiness restored, back arches gone.

   Don't even try to think you'll just whip out your neatly packed container of carrots and celery. That's not cuttin' it, girlfriend. Pull out the big guns for success.  :) We hit a second wind after we dropped a good $100 on assorted deep fried items and drinks for supper, and the sun went down!
It's very hard to stick to a healthy diet in a place like that. And after a long day like that one, I frankly don't care. You'll burn it off on the 10k you're about to jog,  looking for Buzz Lightyear.
 
 We got in at around 3 am on Saturday night, and man was that hard! Flight arrived at 11:30 in Calgary then we still had to drive 2 hours home. In the snow and fog while we still smelled like sun screen and were wearing flippy floppies. Painful as it comes. I may of shed a tear or 50. I just managed to drag myself to get groceries today so I'll be back on the cooking tomorrow. Tonight we just had some chicken burgers on the bbq and the cauliflower potato salad I posted last time. Because I've developed a brief crack habit with that! Just like my apparent new addiction to Starbucks Java Chip coffee. For real. I may require an intervention. The fact that they are double the price here as they are in Cali may help me beat it, however! :)

   I'm posting a picture of the finished product of this spice loaf and a link to the recipe. That's all I can pull together tonight. Look forward this week to turkey meatloaf with horseradish glaze, almond flour cookies 3 ways, jalapeno glazed chicken thighs and a tomato cream sauce for spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles!

Pumpkin Spice Loaf

www.sexfoodandkettlebells.com , then look under desserts and there you'll see this fab and easy recipe!

I forgot to take a pic of the frosting, but it was fab. I didn't frost the whole loaf because I wanted to send it to school for Grey. I just whipped it and kept in the fridge until I wanted it then let it sit on the counter for a few minutes and just roughed it up with a fork if needed! 

The loaf was awesome and so moist. And as always, makes your house smell amazing! Enjoy!

Parmesan Chicken and Spiral Zucchini Noodles

Happy Hummmmmmmmmmmmp day!!

   It's another balmy day here in Alberta, with the added bonus of our 2345th heavy snowfall warning of the year. Nothing but good news this winter, hey?!?!?! So, may as well do some cookin'....

   A few weeks ago I pressured Shane until he caved, into buying me a veggie spiraler. I looked all over here and in Calgary. He finally ordered it from Amazon and I love it more than life. When it came it was similar to the birth of a newborn baby. A new car. A soft puppy. Ok, it's not thaaaaaaat big of a deal but I am so excited!! You can do all kinds of veggies with it, potatoes and fruits! So far zucchini has been my only victim.

   When we were at the market this past weekend, I scored 4 huge zuch's for a dollar each. I used 2 of those tonight and it was enough for all 4 of us. Grey has been on a sweet roll with eating this week, trying new things. Usually it ends up in some sort of Mexican standoff with him gagging and probably barfing a little. But he's been on fire and I almost dropped dead when he tried and actually swallowed some of the zucchini noodles! Don't get me wrong, I don't foresee him begging for them again tomorrow....but he ate it and didn't complain. Major success if you ask me!! 

Please enjoy this sequence of photos for your viewing pleasure. :)

Like I said, he clearly loved it. :)

Then there's this one....

Sigh. Never mind. He'll get it eventually....

   Ok, let's make this shall we?!!? It will be pretty hard to make these noodles without the spiraler. You could cut the zuch into very thin, uniform strips. That could work. Or use a mandolin to get them even. But you won't achieve the spiral effect without it. I have the "World Class Paderno Veggie Spiralizer" give that a Google and see what you think!

Pan Fried Parm Chicken:

You Need:

4 chicken breasts

1 cup almond flour (wheat flour would work as well)

1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 eggs OR 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk

 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Your favorite pasta marinara sauce for serving on top (optional)

sea salt/ fresh pepper

Zucchini Garlic Butter Noodles:

You Need:

2 large zucchini

2 cloves garlic, minced

butter for sauteing 

sea salt

Spiral or cut your noodles. Place them in a big bowl and season with sea salt. Swish it around so it's all covered. Dump into a colander and leave for at least 20 minutes. The salt will draw out the excess water, giving you best results. Set aside.

If you have a zip loc bag you can put the chicken in there, or cover with saran wrap like I did. No one likes raw chicken splatter all over! Pound your chicken flat and thin with a meat mallet or a rolling pin if you don't have a mallet. Don't go all crazy on that poor chicken, just nice and flat! Season with sea salt and pepper.

Set up an assembly line with eggs in one bowl, beaten frothy. Flour with Italian seasoning mixed in, in another bowl, and then large frying pans, heated over medium heat with either butter or olive oil.

Chicken- dip in egg- coat in flour (both sides) and into the pan....got it? No need to cake the flour mix on, just to cover is good.

Fry, without fiddling with it (no moving) for 5 minutes. Once you have a nice brown crust on there, flip and fry until chicken is cooked through. If you pounded it thin enough, should be another 5 minutes or so. No pink!!! Don't let the pan get dry, or you'll end up burnt! Add butter or oil as needed and swish around the pan.

Once cooked through, transfer to greased cooking racks on baking trays. Sprinkle with parm cheese and put under the broiler until nicely browned. (only a minute or 2 ) You can skip this and just simply sprinkle with the cheese if you like. 

The way to serve the noodles is to 'cook to serve'. They only take a few minutes so don't make them until you're ready to plate.

Dump them from the colander onto paper towels. Pat dry. Get the moisture off, it'll only make watery noodles.

Heat up a large frying pan with 1 tbsp oil and a few pats of butter. Add the garlic and saute a minute or so. Add your noodles and swish around to cover in the garlic butter. Depending on the thickness of the noodle, they should cook between 2-5 minutes at the most. Just stir continuously and watch for your desired texture. I had them just like noodles, wrapping around my fork and soft. Not soggy. No one wants a soggy noodle!!

Season with sea salt and fresh pepper and you are a woman on fire!! If you're lucky your kids will make the loving faces mine did while they enjoy the dinner you lovingly prepared for them!! Ha ha, eat it or starve...suckers!!!

Top the chicken with some marinara sauce if you like, and BOOM! Delicious.

Original chicken recipe pingback to "deliciouslyorganic.net" 

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad

   

  Monday, Monday, Monday.....it's a pain every week, isn't it? This cold weather is hardly new, but man does it seem to be dragging on!

  At the last minute on Saturday we decided to whip into Calgary and get the hell out of the house! I was ready to kill the kids and they are just as sick of me! Cold weather tends to bring out the worst in people once you're on day 342 million like we are here! We got a nice room at the Hyatt and took the kids to Cross Iron Mills mall. Now. Normally taking my kids to the mall would be be a close second to running into traffic for me, but I'll take anything over being in the house at this point! It actually worked out really well and we all had a lot of fun. Amazing how much time can be spent in the Bass Pro Shop! Kids got popcorn and almonds in that little snack shop and they were happy wandering around in there. Cute place to kill some time.

    After being in the mall a few hours, we headed back to the hotel. When we left that place, it was seriously the coldest I think I've ever been! Shane even went out ahead of us to warm up the car and bring it closer. My hands hurt from trying to do the car seats and I felt like they were going to snap off! The radio on the way to the hotel said -38 with -44 windchill. Ummmm, what? That's more than I can stand! The lady at the gas station told Shane he was literally the first person to smile at her all day. Everyone has had enough of their nostrils sticking together when they try to go outside! Mother Nature, suck it!!!

   On Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market in Calgary on suggestion of my good friend, Gail. I love these things, but my good luck with my kids had run out. They were tired form the long day before and wandering around quietly wasn't in their plans! Within 5 minutes Kort had head-slammed the stroller, shooting my brand new $6 coffee all over me and everything else, pulled the plug on a pile of apples- sending them into a sweet avalanche and wiped his sticky little hands allllllllllll  over a fancy glass display of pastry. Good times to be had, I tell ya! We grabbed food, which bought us a few minutes, got Grey a sweet angry birds airbrushed tattoo to make up for his brother's behavior and we were outta there! BUT! I totally recommend going there at a time less busy, when it's not minus a million degrees. They have great selection, a super fun vibe and cool finds. They have tons of bison products and great options that are really fresh. 

   So, let's talk food. Monday is soccer night for Grey so I have to be on the ball early.Since I had the fresh bison sausage from yesterday, I went with that. I saw a recipe a few days ago for cauliflower potato salad. I have been so curious as to what it would be like, and it's one of my best finds so far I think! We bought a camping trailer late last summer and this recipe will be a total keeper for camping! I purposely made extra so I could see how it fared as leftovers. I'll let you know next post.  

   

    Don't think of  it with a cauliflower taste. The cauli simply gives you the texture that potato does but with all the added nutritional benefits! The recipe called for a cup of mayo. I used a half a cup of vegan mayo because I happen to have that and a half cup Greek yogurt. You could also use all yogurt, or mayo or even sour creme maybe? Just don't use any of that fake, chemical ridden low-fat, fat free crap! Whole fat dairy is best. I loved the texture and even Kort ate it. You could add some cayenne for heat or your fav spice. This one is pretty open to interpretation. Enjoy!

That is the vegan mayo I had. Shane's mom saw it at Heritage Foods when she was here and the sales lady had her sold. She grabbed it to give it a try. I actually really like it, it's quite creamy and good.

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad (serves 2-4 with a bit leftover)

**note- this recipe requires a few hours before serving, cauli and eggs need to chill for 2-3 hours, then an hour or so before serving. Give yourself time. I prepared at lunch then chilled until supper.

You Need:

1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed into bite sized florets

1 cup mayo of choice or Greek yogurt or possibly sour creme (or combination like I did)

3-5 dill pickles, diced

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 tsp dried dill (or more to taste)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

sea salt and pepper to taste

Paprika for sprinkling (optional)

Once your cauli is trimmed, steam it until just fork tender. A little less than you would usually steam it for eating. Hard boil the eggs while cauli is steaming.

Once steamed, leave to cool and drain a bit if needed. Transfer to a mixing bowl and put in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Also put eggs in the fridge.

After your eggs and cauli have been in the fridge for a few hours, peel eggs and chop. Dump into bowl with cauli. Add remaining ingredients, and stir to combine.

Once mixed, place back in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Giving it at least a half hour. We had it with the bison sausage on the bbq and just some fresh raw veggies. Success! I'll be doing this one lots this summer! Sprinkle with paprika to serve, if you like!

Original recipe pingback to "cupcakesomg.blogspot.com"

Paleo Cinnamon Bun Muffins

   Happy Wednesday, aka huuuuuuuuuuuuuuump day!!!


   How is your week going? Pretty much back to normal around here. Have you seen that commercial where the lady gets out of her car in the snowy driveway, shuffles her way on the ice and then whacks the snowman on her way by? That's a good one, and I think it pretty much sums up how everyone is feeling at this point! It has been in the minus 20's or more for what seems like forever and it isn't easy being stuck inside with the kids like this! Which is why baby Jesus himself brought us nap time and wine. My opinion, anyways. :)

   Lots of people have been asking me for ideas on healthier treats and dessert ideas. A lot of times when I make this kind of stuff it's when we have company over. So it's vital for me to try these things out on my family first! Or my good friend, Tereece! She has been subjected to random plates and containers full of things that I force her to take and try, and report back. I trust these people to give me an honest opinion and I hope they do!

   These are a great choice because they have low glycemic, natural sweetener in them with no refined sugar or grains. Now don't go scarfing down 12 just because I said it was a healthier version! The whole point is everyone wants a treat once in a while. So try making a better choice with natural, real food ingredients.

   I have been holding on to this muffin recipe for a while, and Grey needed some fresh snacks for school this week now that it's back in session. I learned 2 things from this recipe. One being even if you grease the crap out of a pan, things could still stick. And two, it's not wrong to just eat the topping out of the bowl with a spoon. To test it..... obviously.

   I didn't use liners in the pan because I don't usually. Mistake for these ones. The bottoms on most of them stuck to the damn pan, and the rest were like preforming open heart surgery on to get them out alive. One thing was for sure, they were heaven to eat. I fed the ugly, bottomless ones to Kort  (because he's 19 months, he smashes everything anyways) and then sent Grey with the good ones! I have a reputation to uphold for god sakes... :))

   I don't handle failure very well in the cooking department. In fact, it may or may not give me serious rage! I stared at the muffin tin for a few minutes, with all the crumbs and the massacre of trying to get those buggers out. I pretended for a while that I wasn't going to try them again to get them better. Well, that lasted the usual 5 minutes and the oven was back on! Don't judge me. Much better using parchment paper muffin liners. And the taste is still so awesome! Both batches are all gone 24 hours later. I win. :)

Cinnamon Bun Muffins:

You need:

muffin batter:
1/2 cup coconut flour (don't sub this, it's not near the same as other flours)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk of choice OR plain greek yogurt- (that's what I used)
1/2 cup raw honey

Topping mix:
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp pure maple syrup (honey could be subbed)
2 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil  (measure after melting)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional) I didn't use them because I didn't feel like watching Grey gag at them for half the day....)

Pre heat oven to 350

In a large bowl, combine coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Blend well.
Add the eggs, milk and honey. Blend well with a hand mixer, until smooth. Let the batter sit about 5 minutes so the flour can soak up the moisture.

Make your topping mix by combining all ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.

Fill your muffin tins no more than 3/4 full with batter. (don't forget your liners!!)

Using a tea spoon, spoon some topping onto each muffin. Using a toothpick, swirl the topping into each well so that's it's mixed through. (sprinkle nuts on now if using)

Into the oven for 20-24 minutes, until a tooth pick comes out clean. Mine were about 22 minutes. Let cool then transfer to wire racks to set. Enjoy the crap out of these little gems!

Note: in the original recipe it gets you to layer the the batter, then topping, then more batter. Then swirl with the toothpick. The second time I made these I didn't do that, as it seems like an extra step for me? You're already swirling it through anyways, why bother layering. Ain't nobody got time for that........


Original recipe pingback to "comfybelly.com"

Coconut Crispy Fingers

 

  Hello, all! How is everyone? Living in a deep depression because the Olympics is over? Me too!

    Many people have commented to me that they like my posts because they are "real life" and normal. This is how I feel like I sound in my head, so I'm glad that I get the message across! My intention is to never sound preachy or that my ways and ideas are right for everyone. What I know is what worked for me, and I want to try and give others ideas that they can turn into their own! It's all interpretation. 

   Where is this coming from, you say? Since I've started the blog, when I see people in the grocery store-some people stare directly at my cart! Scoping my groceries. I like to think that it's because I have such wicked and glamorous taste...but I know in reality it's because they are scanning it looking for pizza pops and chocolate bars! Fine with me. Do I buy entirely perfect food? Hella no! My kids eat mini pizzas and gold fish sometimes. We get a cookie form the bakery and if you see me at Tim Hortons afterwards...I'm totally having an icy cap!

   We had our good friends Dave and Jody at our house this weekend from Calgary. We had a great meal of steak and lobster accompanied with enough booze to drown an Olympic swimmer. The next morning Jody and I got into a great conversation about the scale (the dreaded scale....) and what does the number mean. When you really break it down, what does that number mean? It can be a representation of time spent kicking ass, working on a goal or it can be a number directly resulted from 2 am nachos from 7-11. Either way, does that change your self worth? Why do we let that number make us feel a certain way?

    Don't compare weight from one person to the next. A certain weight can be so ripped and healthy on one person but flabby and unfit on the next! There are so many factors to consider, it's not black and white. Do your jeans make you feel like you have a blueberry muffin popping out the top? Maybe it's time for a change. Or do you feel sexy in a size that you never did before, and you feel great about getting yourself out there? That's what it's about, being healthy and happy and fit. Not using a coat hanger to do up your jeans because they are so god damn tight. Besides, the camels called and they want their toes back. Don't even try and pretend you don't know what I mean ...you know what tight jeans are capable of............

   I have been the person that refuses to go somewhere because "what would I eat there?" or who has sat by (miserably, I might add) while friends had a few drinks and some fun food, and I didn't because what if the scale went up the next day? I'm not like that anymore and it's a much happier life. In a situation like this weekend, I made healthy snacks as well and had a decent dinner. I hardly ever have drinks these days (because I'm old balls) and I enjoyed having a "few" with good friends. In 50 years from now what will it matter if I enjoyed some drinks and a dirty little snack? I can always get back to exercise the next day, and I did. In fact I'm sure I heard the treadmill cry a little when I stepped on today. Maybe that was me....but in any case... you can never get back the social time you had with friends and family in your lifetime. Make it count, don't make regrets!

    Ok, supper. Tonight I made a crispy coconut chicken strip with the zucchini fritters I posted a while back. Both my kids ate an entire chicken breast which I took a as a major win. These don't have a super coconut taste if you're wondering and you can go a little light on the breading at first to see how you like the flavor. I do the ones for the kids like that. God forbid there was ever a "piece" of anything on Grey's food, it'd be game over right there. I just got my veggie spiraler in the mail and I had intended to use it tonight to try zucchini noodles. Unfortunately, in my rush to slam the bathroom door before Kort pumped all the soap onto the floor at record speeds, I slammed by fingertip in the door. It ruined my life for a good 10 minutes. I think I saw the dark side for a second there. You know when you hurt yourself and you go through severe rage after you recover from the pain? That was me. It made me so mad and it really hurt! Long story longer, I ran out of time to try the noodles. Hopefully in the next few days.

  

Coconut Crispy Strips:

You Need:

3-4 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 cup almond flour (regular flour can be subbed at 1:1)

1 cup shredded coconut

2 tbsp coconut sugar (brown sugar can be subbed 1:1)

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp all season

1-2 cups almond, coconut or dairy milk

oil for frying 

Heat oven to 375, line baking trays with cooking racks and tin foil- grease the racks

Mix all the ingredients excluding the milk into a shallow bowl or large zip loc bag. Mix well to combine.

Pour your milk into a separate bowl.

Set yourself up a little assembly line with the milk, your crusting, chicken and the tray.

Dip each piece into the milk, shaking off the excess. Dip into the crust mix, shaking off the stragglers. Onto the tray. Repeat. I think you get the drift?

Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the strips. No need to flip, that's why you used the cooking racks. See what I did there?? You're welcome. :) 

In the frenzy of my smashed finger and my last minute attempt to pull together a side dish- I almost ruined my fritters! I broiled them a bit too long, so they look quite dark. But we ate them and dammit we liked them! :)

I served it with a spoonful of the jalapeno Greek yogurt from Costco. If you haven't tried this, you suck. Get in the car and go find it! It really is amazing.

I usually share my blog on Facebook, so please feel free to give a gal a "like and share" if you enjoy my stuff!

Original recipe pingback to "www.preppypaleo.com"

Jalapeno and Cheese Stuffed Burgers

 
   Happy Thursday! It's almost the long weekend! Any plans?

   I actually went in to work at the school today to host a talent show meeting. For anyone that knows me, you'll know that ever since I started working at Griffin Park I have been in charge of the talent show, along with my good friends Alicia and Lana, both teachers at the school. It's the 8th year I've done it and it's a basic love hate relationship. It can be very exhausting tracking down the kids to change songs because their original pick had the f-bomb.(yep, that always happens at least twice) But we always get it sorted in the end.

   The day of the actual show gives me anxiety equivalent to that of me hosting the Oscars. I am the "stage boss" as we like to call it! I stand in the wings and ensure each little contestant gets out on stage with tap shoes buckled, hair pieces in and microphones turned on! It's very fast paced, and those little muffins are nervous! I have been barfed on, cried on, stepped on and held hands on stage with a girl who was borderline crapping her pants! I stood there looking like an ass, holding hands while she hit the high notes with Brittany Spears. We've had kids run at the last minute, like a runaway bride. Kids not show up, and even once a gal who had her teenage sister "help" her with her joke routine and had to be quickly escorted off stage! I dare to say we've seen it all. Alicia is up in the sound booth controlling the music and lights, and Lana sits in the audience with a perma-grin on, encouraging the kids from the darkness!

   Every year, at the start of the school year I tell Alicia I'm not doing it. She nods. Every year around this time I get a random text saying "talent show meeting next week". There is no talk of my previous threats to drop out. I do it. Every time. And I secretly love it !:)


   Ok, food time. I made these stuffed burgers last night. They were great, but I made 2 mistakes. I wasn't thinking and grated the cheese. This resulted in the cheese kind of getting lost in the mix. Block cheese is for sure the way to go. Secondly, lord Jesus did I use too much garlic! I suppose it depends on your taste, but I am still feeling it a day later!

   Getting the mix ready is a bit fussy, as it has a secret weapon loaded in, pureed garlic cauliflower!You can totally leave this part out, if you want to be a loser. :)
For real though, it will be fine without. It is a great way to get in a head of cauliflower into a meal without being busted!

Jalapeno and Cheese Stuffed Burgers:

You Need:
Aprox. 1lb beef of choice
1 head cauliflower
6 oz cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced jalapenos
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 garlic cloves minced, to taste
1 tbsp butter

Steam the cauliflower until tender and mashable.
Once cool, dump onto a clean (duh) dishcloth, and squeeze out as much water as you can. The more the better result.

Dump the squeezed cauli, butter, garlic, 2oz cheese and salt and pepper to taste, into your food processor, and whiz until smooth.

In a mixing bowl add your meat and season with salt and pepper. Add in your cauli mix. In the original recipe it says to add half. But I made smaller patties so I added the whole thing. Do as you like! Mix just to combine, don't over mix.

I put saran wrap down on my cutting board and formed equally sized patties. Remember you need to flatten them out a bit, so they shouldn't be huge. On half of the patties, make an indent in the middle and fill with cheese and jalapenos. These will be the best if you can leave the formed patties in the fridge for about half hour before cooking. If not, they will be fine- just maybe be a bit careful with transferring them, etc.

Once stuffed, put the other pattie on top and shape and flatten to a medium size. See why you don't need to make them huge? A little goes a long way here. Place on a greased cooling rack on baking tray. I did about 30 min at 350. You could also pan fry or grill. Adjust time to your done-ness preference.

I served them with a simple Caesar salad and ketchup, mustard and  pickles on the side! Easy. Salad was just chopped romaine hearts with a dressing of: plain greek yogurt, lemon juice and garlic all whisked together. Just to taste, nothing fancy. Enjoy!!

original recipe pingback to "loveandprimal.com"

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas

 
   Anyone still alive out there, or has everyone moved to Mexico at this point? It's -1000 here again, for about the billionth day in a row. I'm slightly over it, anyone else?

   This past weekend we decided to do something fun with the kids and get out of the house. Now, if you have kids you may be familiar with this feeling I'm going to describe. You've been stuck in the house and you are ready to take a hostage.You need to get out! Why not be super-parents and plan a last minute weekend trip, right?? You do your best to make it a fun weekend for the little buggers and it all falls apart and kicks you in the crotch while you're down. Anyone relate to me here? If you are shaking your head telling me no, then you're what I like to call a dirty liar. :))

   We had recently heard really great things about the Holiday Inn in Lethbridge. The wave pool looked fun and there was water slides. There is also a little spray park that was perfect for Kort to toodle around in that wasn't deep. Done. Booked. In the car and on the way.

   When we get there we start to unload the bags. Hmmm, something doesn't look right. Maybe because Grey's suitcase was sitting at the door. At home. Ok, awesome. No problem, we got this. We try to rip over to Target to grab some new swim shorts and an outfit for him. Following the GPS on Shane's phone, it graciously leads us to the "Lethbridge Harold", not Target. Maybe because Lethbridge doesn't even have a god damn Target! So, about 45 minutes later we find a Walmart which was about 5 ft from the hotel in the first place. Patience running thin. Trudge on.....

   Drag the kids to supper so they can fuel up for swimming. Morale is back up as we head back to the hotel finally for the pool. As we get there the lady informs us that due to the magical weather we're having, the waterslides have frozen up (somehow?) and aren't working. After I manage to peel Grey off the floor from his borderline life-ending devastation, we head to the spray part to get Kort busy. One toe in there and it was game over. I am not kidding you, it was ice water. And toddlers just love that, they love being freezing. Now that and the waterslides are both off limits. I am about 2 seconds away from smashing my head itno the wall a few times, it was a disaster! The wave pool was a degree or two warmer, so at least Grey could go in it after some good shifts in the hot tub!

   The rest of the weekend went a little like this: kids running into the walk-in shower wearing full clothing, room heater not working, an attempted trip to the mall ending in flying food and broken dreams, dragging crying kids through the parking lot in -475, a verrrrrrrrry long ride home, and then (wait for it)......my personal favorite...all 4 of us with some degree of the flu (or food poisoning) by Sunday night. Are you jealous yet? I am available for hire if you need a family vacation planner anytime soon. God knows I'm not doing that again!! :)

   I was up most of the night with at least one person at anytime, so I needed an easy meal today. I had a pot roast thawed already, so I tried the beef carnitas recipe. It was a risky move, as Shane is touch and go (as I've mentioned before) with meat in the crock pot. But I don't care at this point!! And he loved it, I might add. You can adjust the spices as you like, and I would of added jalapenos if I had any. You could also add a can of black beans at the end. In a previous post I showed you how to make savory wraps/crepes for enchiladas. I made up a batch of those and some spicy avocado sauce and dinner was done. Now, fingers crossed no one will talk to me for the rest of the night.

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas 
** note- this recipe requires marinating time, overnight is recommended, but leave at least 2 hours to let it rest before 7-9 hours in the crock pot....)

You need:
2-3 pound pot roast of any cut. (I used sirloin)
1 tsp (ish) of : onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and a mesquite powder mix (optional)
1 cup beef broth or water
1 jar of salsa

The night before, mix up your spices in a small bowl. Lay your roast on a large piece of saran wrap. Rub down your roast in a living manner with the spice blend until covered.

Wrap the roast up in saran so it's all covered. Then swaddle that thing up in tin foil, nice and tight.

Into the fridge for a sleepover. (or like I said, at least 2 hours)

When you're ready to cook, grease the crock pot and place the roast in.

Dump the salsa on top, followed by the cup of water or broth. Don't stir.

Cook on low for 7-9 hours, checking at 6.

Once it's done, remove from the liquid and onto a cutting board. You should very easily be able to shred it with 2 forks. 

I just served it in a bowl with some salsa and the avocado sauce on the side. Don't forget the wraps!

For the avocado sauce, all I did was put 2 avocado in the food processor with a chopped up garlic clove, 1 tbsp both lemon and lime juice and some salt and pepper. Just blend until smooth. Add a pinch of cayenne for heat if you like. 

Enjoy!!!