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Ingredients Archives: Zucchini

Smoky BBQ Beef Stew

By on March 26, 2019 in Main Dishes

Do you have foods that are so reminiscent of childhood they almost make you cry? I totally do. Like chocolate cake with vanilla icing, cherry pie, Belgium waffles, chicken legs and beef stew. Those were staples in our house. While I no longer eat chocolate cake regularly (but I do still have it because… balance), beef stew is a staple in our house. There is just something about the tender meat, creamy tomato sauce and soft potatoes and carrots that just make me happy. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

This recipe is a fun twist on traditional beef stew. I came up with it because I think my family was getting sick of traditional beef stew. Maybe it’s because we were having it once a week and consuming the leftovers throughout the week. Who knows? I personally was totally fine with that. Either way, I knew I needed to come up with something new.

This recipe was it! When my daughter said “What’s for dinner?” I said “BBQ beef stew.” She groaned “not again!” but when I explained it was completely different, she was willing to have another bowl of beef stew. She loved it! What really sold her was the rice. She’ll eat just about anything as long as it’s on a bed of rice.

I love rice, but when I’m trying to watch my carbs, I just swap out the rice for a bed of leafy greens. This is one of my favorite ways to get in more veggies and keep my blood sugar regulated.

This stew is grain-free and uses spices like turmeric, cinnamon and ginger so it’s also anti-inflammatory and gives you extra help to regulate blood sugar. Plus it tastes awesome. That’s my #1 priority when it comes to food. Why would I waste time chewing something that doesn’t bring me joy? That seems ridiculous.

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Shepherd’s Pie Baked Potatoes

By on August 10, 2017 in Main Dishes

Tonight on the menu in our house was shepherd’s pie. I always try to make dinner as easy as possible, but sometimes even that’s more effort than I feel like giving after a day of being a mom.. The idea of using a pan to cook the meat, two more to cook potatoes (we have to make sweet and regular potatoes in our house because everyone likes something different), and two pans to bake the pies (again for different potatoes) made me want to order a pizza.

Then I thought, “what if I just put the meat on top of a baked potato? Wouldn’t that taste the same?” The answer: YES! It does. I made the potatoes on one foil-lined pan that didn’t need to be washed. I didn’t have to wash a potato masher, and I didn’t have to wash the pans I’d have to use to bake the pies. I ended up washing one skillet. SUCCESS!

I used a lot of vegetables in this dish because I’m always trying to cram in more vegetables. This dish is a perfect way to add vegetables because once it all simmers in the sauce, your kids won’t even notice all the veggies. Mine didn’t!

I had to take a picture of this because it’s so beautiful! When they say, “eat all the colors of the rainbow everyday,” this is a great start.

I topped my husband’s and daughter’s servings with some grass-fed, grated cheese. My daughter hasn’t eaten dinner that fast in a long time. We cook our sweet potatoes using this method from empowered sustenance (click here for link). I always add a russet potato to the pan for my husband and it comes out just as perfectly as the sweet potatoes.

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15 Minute Smoky BBQ Stir Fry

By on January 11, 2017 in Main Dishes

My favorite lunch is a salad. Not a wussy salad with veggies only and dressing on the side. I’m talking a salad loaded with veggies but also avocado and a nice , filling protein. YUM! But this week in Denver, we got snow. Cold, wet snow. So when it came time for lunch yesterday, I wanted something warm that didn’t take a ton of time or dishes. I decided on a stir fry.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love a to make stir frys. It’s a great way to mix together a ton of leftovers and have a great, filling meal. Yesterday my leftover addition was ribs. The day before I made ribs by covering rib meat in Diane Sanfilippo’s Smoky Spice blend (click here for recipe), topping them with my N0-Sugar BBQ Sauce (click here for recipe) and cooked them in my slow cooker on low for 8 hours. They were AMAZING!

So for my stir fly, I stripped some meat off the bones, mixed it with some veggies, a little more smoky spice blend and some coconut aminos. It was so warm and delicous! Plus with all those veggies it was loaded with great nutrients. I’ve listed the veggies I used but feel free to customize this how you like. You really can’t mess it up!

 

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The Easiest, Tastiest Roasted Vegetables

By on July 22, 2016 in Side Dishes

I love to roast vegetables. It doesn’t make them mushy, but rather crunchy on the outside, warm on the inside and gives them a great smoky flavor. Plus, you can use whatever vegetables you want. In our house, we have to separate them into rows in the pan because my husband is convinced if certain vegetables touch the food he eats, he’ll die. Since I don’t want him to die from zucchini contact, we do ours in rows, but you can just as easily toss all the vegetables together.

Just cube up what veggies you want, drizzle them in avocado oil and season them with salt and pepper. Rather than do this in a bowl, I just toss the whole thing right on the pan.

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Then bake them in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. I like to go with 40 minutes because I like them to have some black char on them. If you’re not a fan of that, go with 30 minutes.

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Below I’ve listed the vegetables we used, but feel free to use whatever you like.

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Healthy Curry Stir Fry

By on April 22, 2016 in Main Dishes

I have another stir fry recipe today. I love stir fry because it’s a great way to use up excess or about-to-expire vegetables and meat. Plus you can flavor the mixture to fit your mood. This day, I felt like curry. This isn’t surprising since I could eat curry every day.

As is the case with most my stir frys, this comes together quickly in one pan. This serves one very hungry person or two people who are just sort of hungry. I tend to fit in the category of a very hungry person, so this is a great lunch for me.

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Quick Asian Chicken Stir Fry – Without the Sugar

By on March 4, 2016 in

I love stir frys. It’s just a fancy way of throwing everything you want in a pan and cooking it together in delicious seasoning. It comes together in one pot, is full of veggies and protein, and can be customized to for every person. Last week, I had some leftover, cubed chicken breast I needed to cook before they went bad. I decided to make a stir fry for lunch.

This was so good! It had that deliciously addictive flavor you get at a Chinese restaurant, but I didn’t have to add a ton of sugar. I love those small victories. I’ve included what I added (completely based on what I had in my fridge), but add what you want/have.

2016-02-13 12.51.46Start by cooking the chicken breasts and then adding the rest of the veggies. Add the sauce at the end and then serve the whole thing over a large bed of spinach. I love putting hot stir fry over a bed of spinach because the spinach welts down a bit but still has a great crunchy texture. This adds some great variety with the cooked veggies.

 

 

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