Pumpkin Muffins

I prefer cooking to baking, but occasionally I get the baking bug. Some days I just want to crank up the tunes and start baking. Tonight I made pumpkin muffins using almond flour. I think about making them every weekend when I make the almond flour pancakes. I figured making muffins couldn't be too different. They turned out surprisingly tasty! I'm going to play around with the recipe a few times again, but here is what I did today. My belly will be very happy tomorrow morning at breakfast.

Need

2 1/2 c. almond flour
1 ripe banana
3/4 c. canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. apple pie spice
1 T. melted coconut oil
1/3 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. chopped toasted pecans
Ghee to coat the muffin tin cups

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the almond flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium size bowl.

Add in the mashed ripe banana, pumpkin puree, eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup to the same bowl. Mix in the pumpkin pie spice. Lastly fold in the toasted pecans. The batter will be very thick.

Using some type of oil, coat the muffin cups. I used a small amount of ghee.
Divide the batter evenly in the muffin pan filling about 3/4 the way full. Top each muffin with a toasted pecan.

Bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes. The muffins should be golden brown.

Warm in the microwave the next day to enjoy with your coffee!

Sweet Sauce and Spicy Sausage

Who doesn't like Italian food? Italian food is my favorite cuisine. Traditionally, it is also a cuisine that can sometimes leave me feeling bloated and sleepy. If you eat the warm buttery bread that is usually served before hand, that is pretty much your carb count for the day. I decided to omit the bread and exchange the pasta noodles for spaghetti squash. I also used tomatoes that had zero preservatives and no water or citric acid added. I made a basic tomato sauce and cooked spicy sausage and peppers to go over herb spaghetti squash. It sounds more challenging than it really is. It's a long post though, so grab the vino if you're still interested.

Need

Tomato Sauce
1 box Pomi Tomato Sauce
1 box Pomi Tomato
4 gloves chopped garlic
2 T. fresh chopped basil
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
1/4 t. bay leaves (or 1 whole bay leaf)
1/4 t. garlic powder
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Sausage and Peppers
1 lb hot Italian sausage
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1 green bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 large onion cut into strips
1 large glove of garlic
Olive Oil
Red wine

Spaghetti Squash
1 small yellow spaghetti squash
1 T. fresh chopped basil
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
1 T. Olive Oil
Salt (about 1/4 t.)
Pepper (about 1/4 t.)

Prepare

Start the tomato sauce right away. In fact, you can make the sauce a few hours ahead if you want the sauce to simmer longer. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a sauce pan and heat on medium. About a minute later, saute your garlic in the sauce pot and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic powder, and herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about 1/4 teaspoon of each.) Simmer the sauce on low. If the sauce seems watery, take the lid off and it will start to thicken.

Cook the Italian sausage on medium heat in a large pan to brown on each side. Browning take about 4 minutes a side. Next, put a lid on the pan to allow the sausage to cook on the inside. It took approximately another 5 minutes for the sausage to be fully cooked. The internal temperature should reach at least 165ºF and there should be no pink.






Once the sausage is fully cooked remove them from the pan. Set the heat of the pan to medium-high. Throw in the peppers and onions. Add a large pour of red wine. I had pinot noir on hand, so that it what I used. Turn up the heat and allow the peppers to cook on high for 3 minutes. Bring the heat back down to medium, throw in a large glove of garlic, and cook until the veggies are tender. Slice the sausage while the veggies are cooking. Toss the sausage back in the hot pan a few minutes before serving.










There are several ways to cook spaghetti squash. I have had the most success when cooking it in the microwave. First cut the spaghetti squash in half. Using a microwave safe dish, place one half of the squash face down. Fill the dish with water so there is enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Microwave on high for 6 minutes. Refill the water if needed and microwave on high for another 6 minutes. Prick the squash with a fork to check tenderness. If the outside cannot be easily pricked with a fork, cook for another minute. The squash will be extremely hot! Make sure you use a oven mitt to handle it. Repeat same process for other half of squash.










Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds inside the squash. Once the seeds are discarded, use a fork to scrape out the squash into a medium size bowl. The squash "noodles" should peel up easily. Toss in the olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper.

Finally, top the herb squash with a layer of tomato sauce, then the sausage and pepper mixture. To make it extra special add some fresh Parmesan on top.

It seems complicated, but it is worth it!

Pork Lovers Cabbage

Yes, I said cabbage! I had a lot of cabbage left over, and I hate wasting food. It was begging me to use it. I pondered for a few days. How can I turn this cabbage into something that Ben will eat? I know! I'll add bacon! Well, I added pancetta instead because they had some from Pine Street Market at the Oakhurst Market and I just had to try it. Pancetta is simply Italian bacon. It is still pork belly meat that is salt cured. I served this as a side dish to a pork loin. I was not disappointed and neither will you.

Need

2 slices of thick cut bacon or pancetta
1 small red or green cabbage (I used both)
1 tbpn ghee or butter
1 tspn bacon grease (only if you use pancetta)
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 cap full apple cider vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Prepare

1. Heat the ghee in a large saute pan.
2. Cut the slices of pancetta into small pieces.
3. When the ghee is melted, add the pancetta and cook for 4 minutes on medium heat.


4. Core the cabbage and cut the cabbage into strips as if you were making a coleslaw.
5. Add the cabbage to the pan with pancetta.
6. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and cover for 2 minutes. This will steam the cabbage to help it cook down.


7. Take the lid off and toss in the bacon grease. If you do not have any, skip this step.
8. Stir occasionally allowing the cabbage to cook down until it is soft and wilted.
9. Liberally salt and pepper to your taste. The more pepper the better in my opinion!
10. Lastly, add the two cap fulls of vinegar.
11. Mix and serve.



I pan seared a small pork loin to go with the cabbage. I marinated the loin in a variety of dry herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil. While the cabbage was cooking, I browned the pork in olive oil on high heat with a whole glove of garlic added to the pot. Next, I set the burner to medium heat and put the lid on the meat for about 15 minutes. Using a meat thermometer, I checked the temperate of the meat at 147 Fahrenheit.

USDA food preparation guidelines advise 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chicken Curry with Cauliflower "Rice"

This dish was quite a risk for me. I'm not a huge coconut or curry fan, but I was inspired by a recipe I pinned on Pinterest. I read a variety of curry recipes and adapted them to my taste. I was scared to have Ben try it because Thai is not on his list of favorite cuisines. What a nice surprise! We both loved it! It felt like we ordered Thai takeout. We were both impressed at how the cauliflower rice tricked our brains into thinking we were soaking up the juices with white rice. This is a new recipe added into our "favorites" rotation.

Need

1.5lb chicken breast
2 chicken legs
2 tbspn ghee
2 c. chicken stock
3 large gloves chopped garlic
2 tspn curry plus a pinch
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
2 large carrots sliced
1 lb. green beans
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/4 tspn fresh ginger
2 tbspn fresh chopped basil
One large dried chili pepper- I used Guajilla
Salt and Pepper
Head of cauliflower

Prepare

1. Heat ghee in dutch oven pot on medium-high heat.
2. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
3. Brown the chicken on high heat for about 4 minutes each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. You may have to brown in two batches.


4. There will be some juices and chicken pieces left in the pot. Pour 1/4 cup of the chicken stock to deglaze your pan. Reduce to medium heat.
5. Add the garlic, peppers, and carrots. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a pinch of curry. Cook for about 4 minutes.
6. Add the green beans and cook for another 3 minutes.


7. Return the chicken to the pot.
8. Put in 1 cup coconut milk, remaining chicken broth, and bring everything to a boil.
9. Season with curry powder, fresh basil, ginger, salt, and pepper.
10. Place the chili pepper in the pot.
11. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 2 hours. The chicken should pull apart.

Using your food processor shredding attachment, shred the raw cauliflower. You should end up with small pieces of cauliflower that resemble white rice. Heat the "rice" in a microwave covered with a damp paper towel for 2 min.

Serve the chicken curry over the cauliflower rice.

Fajitas no Tortilla

We enjoy Mexican food at least one time a week. There are not many Mexican dishes we will not eat. While cheese dip, chips, and enchiladas are yummy, we opted for a more "fit" Mexican dinner tonight. I grilled a flank steak, sauteed some peppers, and added guacamole. It definitely satisfied our craving and we didn't even add any cheese! Ben would be a happy man if I made this dinner at least once a week for the rest of our lives.

Need

2-3 lb. flank steak
1 tbspn chili powder
1 tbspn cumin
1 tspn ancho chili powder
1 tspn garlic powder
2 limes- juice and zest
4 tbspn olive oil + 2 more tbspn for cooking
1 red pepper cut into strips
1 green pepper cut into strips
1 orange pepper cut into strips
1 medium onion sliced
Salt
Pepper
Fresh made salsa of your choice
Guacamole

Prepare

Create the steak dry rub by combining the chili powders, cumin, and garlic powder. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on both sides of the steak. Poor the remaining olive oil in a gallon size bag. Use this dry rub to cover the entire flank steak. There will be plenty left over, so save some for the peppers. Liberally salt and pepper both sides.


Add the juice of 1 lime into the gallon size bag with the olive oil. Zest the entire lime and add it to the bag. Place the rubbed meat into the bag, refrigerate, and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

When you're ready to cook the meat, heat a indoor grill pan and a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add the meat when the grill pan is hot. Allow the meat to cook on medium for about 8 minutes a side. Once each side is cook, flip again and cook for another 3 minutes each side. Flank steak will get tough if overcooked. We cook ours to medium-rare which has an internal temperature 130 to 135 degrees F. When the meat reaches desired temperature, allow it to rest for 5 minutes. If you cut the meat before, all of the juices will run out.


While the meat is cooking, add the peppers and onions to an oiled pan at medium heat. After about 4 minutes, add the juice and zest of one lime. Using the left over rub, add your desired amount to the peppers and onions. I added about 2 teaspoons. After I still had about 1 tablespoon of rub left over. Cook the peppers and onions on medium heat until soft.
(8-10 minutes)

Serve with fresh salsa and your favorite guacamole recipe!

Pulled Pork

Most of us probably do not own a smoker or have a device where we can allow pounds of meat to slowly cook and smoke all day. Most of us do probably have a crock pot. Pork is my favorite thing to cook in the crock pot. If you eat pulled pork, then I recommend making it in your crock pot. It stays moist and has a lot of flavor! This recipe completes the meal for the southern BBQ dinner we enjoyed. All that was missing was a sweat tea.

Need

3-4lb pork butt
1 onion quartered.
1 tbspn cumin
1 tbspn chili powder
1 tbspn salt
1 tbspn pepper
2-3 gloves garlic halved
1/2 can of chipotle peppers (make sure no sugar or wheat is added)
1/4 c. spicy brown mustard
1 tspn apple cider vinegar
1 c. broth (chicken or beef)

Prepare

1. Mix together the spices (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper) to create a seasoning rub.
2. Using your hands, rub the seasoning over the entire pork roast.
3. Take a knife and create slits throughout the meat. Add the half pieces of garlic throughout the meat. Make the slits deep enough so that the entire garlic piece can fit.
4. Add the quartered onion to the bottom of the crock pot.
5. Put the meat in the pot fat side down.
6. Whisk together the chipotle peppers and mustard. If you like spice, use the entire can of chipotle and increase your mustard ratio.
7. Add this mixture to the top of the meat covering the top and sides.


8. Pour the stock and vinegar around the meat.
9. Set the crock pot for 8-10 hours.

I would prefer to enjoy the meat with a side of barbeque sauce, but barbeque sauce usually has some kind of brown sugar or high fructose corn syrup added to it. Occasionally I do eat it with sauce and it's awesome. Tonight Ben opted for some hot sauce. It was moist, favorable, and delicious!

Fresh and Light Coleslaw

I have been making this coleslaw for a while. I just cannot bring myself to add tons of mayo and sour cream to cabbage. It just seems too heavy. Instead, I add olive oil and other light ingredients. I made this coleslaw to accompany the pulled pork and collard greens. It made it feel like a good old country BBQ at the Thoele household!

Need

1/4 head of red cabbage
1/4 head of green cabbage
1/2 bag of baby carrots
1 red pepper
1/2 jar of dill pickles chopped
1.5 tbspn honey
2 tbspon olive oil
1 tspn apple cider vinegar
2 tspn salt
2 tspn fresh black pepper
Food processor
Prepare

1. Using the shredding attachment on your food processor, shred the cabbage, carrots, and red pepper. Empty into a large bowl. (You can also buy the bagged coleslaw at the store and julienne the red pepper.)


2, Chop half the jar of dill pickles. You can buy any brand you like. I try to buy pickles that do not have any added sugar.
3. Add the olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to the cabbage mix and toss.
4. Next, add the honey and chopped pickles.
5. Toss the entire mix together and taste test. You may want to add more salt and pepper according to your taste.