Easter Italian Ham Pie and Rosemary Garlic Rack of Lamb

Easter Pie

(not Paleo as this recipe uses a crust and processed sausages and if you are following no dairy this is a definite no-no).  Otherwise leave out the crust and you have a very nice lo-carb meal.

Recipe:

Ham - a 1" chunk of imported ham , or a shank ham bone (2-1/2 lb) and dice up the ham

3/4 lb. proscuitto sliced thick

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 basket cheese

1 stick hard dry sausage dry or sweet depending on what you like

1/2 lb pepperoni

12 eggs

course black pepper to taste

Crust:  make your own or use any store made dough

Cut up the meat ingredients to small pieces.  Beat the eggs, add black pepper  and mix in with the meat and cheese mixture.

Grease pan, line with pre-made crust.  Pour mixture into pan.  Top with crust.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about an hour or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

This recipe made enough to fill a 9x13" pan as shown below

Our Paleo Easter Dinner 

Roasted brussels sprouts and carrots with Rack of Lamb (grass-fed from New Zealand)

Lamb recipe:  Mix fresh rosemary (finely chopped), five cloves garlic, Tblsp of salt, 3 T of olive oil.  Rub mixture over chops.  Let marinate a couple hours (or not - I've made these with rubbing the mixture on and letting it sit only for about 15 mins and it tastes the same to me...) and then sear the rack of lamb on all sides in a pan on the stove top.  Then bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 mins for them to come out moist and pink as shown in the pic.  If you bake them longer until they are well done they will still be very tender.  

Los Mariachis Mexican Food - Wallingford CT

Skinny Margarita

Los Mariachis Mexican Food in Wallingford, CT.  This place is the real deal.  Family run, freshly made food with an in-town feel and a place to go and just relax. No hustle and bustle of corporate food thankfully!  It's a new/old favorite restaurant of ours.  

The bar area has recently been repainted in darker colors and expanded into a horseshoe shape.  Much better for conversation and holds a few more people than before.  We like to go to Los Mariachis and eat at the bar for a quick, informal meal once in a while.  There is a great happy hour special Sunday to Thursday from 4 to 7PM that includes a margarita and an appetizer.  YUM!  My favorite appetizer food are the tamales.  They are so good!  They are the real thing, perfectly held together with the right consistency of a home made tamale.  You can even see the lines from the dried corn husks that held them together.  Stuffed with pork and hot or mild (you can one of each) the hot ones are perfectly spicy enough for me and the sour cream comes with it to cool down the hotness if necessary.

In the Paleo eating world having a nacho's/tequila night is much better for me than a pizza/beer gig as far as chowing down the carbs go.  And now that I've found that Los Mariachis has Skinny Margaritas - I'm hooked.  Look at that oh so clean, refreshing, limey loaded Skinny photo!  I haven't found a better thirst quenching drink than that around and none fresher either because they squeeze the fresh limes right when you order it.  WOW are they awesome.  Food is secondary to those lovely skinnies!  But eat we must, so along with my margarita, I usually end up with the carnitas.   Ok Ok I know that pork deep fried in glistening vegetable oil is definitely a no no but those pieces of tender, tasty pork are pure comfort food for me - definitely a cheat meal.  Along with a pile of guacamole and rice and beans, it's a win for me.  

Another lovely photo of the beautiful plate of carnitas with a delightful Pomegranate Margarita (not mine I swear!).  A little too sweet for my tastes but another win in the margarita realm.  

Carnitas Dinner

Last but not least, here's Carb Man's chicken burrito.  It's hard to tell how huge this thing is but that's a pretty big plate right there.  If it looks a little lonely on the plate, not to worry, it's a hefty meal loaded with chunks of chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, and cheese.  It's solidly rolled and held together so nicely too.   

Can't wait until next time to try another dinner or appetizer.  See ya there!

Waters Edge Resort and Spa - Sunday Brunch - Westbrook CT

Water's Edge Resort and Spa - Sunday Brunch - Westbrook, CT

Sunday brunch is a favorite meal of mine.  Well, almost every meal is a favorite of mine but don't tell anyone! That said, someone in the house (alright, yes it was me) wanted to go to brunch to celebrate January, burn some birthday cash, drink some mimosa's, and enjoy some wonderful food at one of my favorite places on the shoreline of Connecticut.  My husband was eager to enjoy the food as well - thank God!

The last couple of times we were here for brunch it was for a holiday event, like Father's Day or Easter.  We expected that it would be scaled back some for a normal Sunday.  Not!

I admit I am not doing a Paleo diet 100%, but I was going to keep as close to it as possible.  Thankfully, Water's Edge has plenty of Paleo and lo-carb choices including this spectacular selection of fresh shrimp cocktail.  They were perfectly crisp and cold and there were plenty of them.  I was pleased to see a beautiful ice carving as well.  I thought this might have been one of those holiday specials only but here it was with all those beautiful shrimp nestled at the bottom of it.  I didn't want to get too close to see what was carved on it, but I imagine it or was it a carving of a bottle of alcohol???  Or was I in a dream state because I was so anticipating that Mimosa?  Ok whatever...

I did say I was Paleo right?  Here are the boring lovely, healthy, vegetables that one can choose at this brunch.  The grape tomatoes are so shiny and colorful!  I didn't take nearly enough photos to show the immensity of options available.

And here is someone else's (liar) plate with the beautiful crepe that was filled with blueberries, coconut, and I think it was almond pieces - or that's what I wanted it to be... and it was flamed at the end with Grand Marnier.  Holy smokes!  Well, it didn't actually smoke -- it  -- just -- flamed!  See all the other good stuff on the plate next to it - like lox and poached salmon, and cucs, and, and, well good stuff!!! 

Here are some more of those awesome veggies that we Paleo people can't get enough of.  And they made them look so pretty too.  Awwwwww.  Wait - is that where the mimosa is supposed to go?  Hmmmm, I think I need to try that next time.

Ahhhhhh - finally, some bubbly.  Yes, I had a mimosa but I drank it so fast you couldn't even see the orange! Hah!  Not wanting to overdo on the fructose in the OJ, I settled for plain champagne for the second one.  Such happy-ness!

What Paleo Goddess wouldn't be happy with this meaty, beefy, array of protein? OK OK the photo doesn't do it justice, I guess you had to be there.  But I could see the juiciness of the lamb, the roast beast, and the pork.  I was just so overjoyed with the choice of the lamb I couldn't see straight.  Geez, the mustard and the white stuff looks so BIG doesn't it - LOL?  I wasn't having ANY of that stuff... 

And, for the finale, the hubby and I shared a small plate of desserts.  I had one.  Really!  They were just the right touch of sweetness.  Well, that means that hubby had the rest.  Yes he did!  

 Thank you Water's Edge for excellent food and as always, wonderful service.  

~ Brenda and Bob

Paleo egg and sausage muffins

Starting the new year with breakfast egg muffins. I found the recipe on paleospirit.com. It's an awesome paleo site chock full of good stuff for body mind and spirit.

Basically for these egg muffins it's cooked crumbled sausage, scrambled eggs (I use eggs from a local farm) some fresh herbs (you choose) and split grape tomatoes. Cook at 350 F for 20 mins or so, then cool.

Make sure you oil the muffin tin first. I didn't and they didn't stick too much but a little coconut oil or ghee would add to the flavor.

Paleo coconut pancakes

Yum! Recipe below:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup coconut milk
4 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
cinnamon to taste

coconut oil for cooking

First - make sure all your ingredients are room temperature.  I don't know why all the recipe sites do not tell you this but any recipe mix like this must be at room temp - the eggs, coconut milk and the flour (i keep mine in the fridge) all must be room temp or the batter will just be too thick.  I learned that lesson trying to make cream puffs and wondering why sometimes my paleo pancakes would work and sometimes not.  So.  That said... I basically just put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix them with a fork until the ingredients are blended.  You should be able to easily pour the mix into the pan.  I use coconut oil in the pan to fry the pancakes.  Let them cook on the first side so that you see some holes in them and then flip them.

If you must have your sugar - then at least use pure maple syrup please :-)

Enjoy!

Knuckleheads Restaurant Wallingford CT

Friday, December 7, 2012 - a holiday shop and stroll night in downtown Wallingford, CT eventually brought us into Knuckleheads Restaurant for some pub fare.  After partaking of several holiday type foods offered by some local stores for the stroll crowd, I decided to cast my Paleo intentions aside and have a sandwich.

First, since this was a planned activity night for the downtown shops to bring folks into their stores and/or eating establishments it was a very busy night.  This was hubby's first time at Knuckleheads and he was dying to try it.  The restaurant was full and the line at the back was about eight people long when we got in.  We didn't have to wait too long to be seated.   Since I decided to go totally non Paleo tonight, and there is no Chardonnay on the menu, I had the Guinness to start.  As for the meals, I think the pictures tell more than any words can.

The corned beef sandwich was the perfect size for me and I enjoyed every bite.  After the sandwich I had little room left for the sweet potato fries.  They were a tad greasy for me but still delicious.

Oh and they actually had fried cheese curds and fried pickles as a special appetizer that night.  OMG.  I thought for one moment that I was in Wisconsin.  People were friendly, the service was quick and efficient, everyone was enjoying their shop and stroll night.  It's all why I love Wallingford so much.

 Corned Beef Reuben with Sweet Potato fries.

Grilled Chicken sandwich with regular fries.

Breakfast Kale

Kale, not your average every day breakfast that's for sure! I recently ran across a TED talk from Dr. Terry Wahls that's been on the internet for a while. In the talk she tells about how she has recovered from secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis and recovered.  Her research into the disease led her to discover how important a Paleolithic diet is to human health. Visit the link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc. Watching the video made me realize that I still wasn't getting enough vegetables in my daily diet.

Dr. Wahl's diet consisted of three plates covered with vegetables a day, three cups of sulfur rich vegetables, three cups of bright color, grass fed meat, organ meat and seaweed.  She says that kale has the most nutrition per calorie of any plant as it's full of vitamins B, A C and K along with minerals.   We might think we are eating enough vegetables to get by, but once you right it down and pay attention you may realize you could be getting some more into your daily diet than you had been. One way to do this is to add more vegetables to your breakfast.  So on my way to three cups of green leaved vegetables a day I figured I'd start out with a nice plate of chopped kale sauteed in coconut oil.  I added a small piece of leftover pork for some protein (not grass fed unfortunately but hey I had to start somewhere...) and ended up with a nice power breakfast.  

Is there a way you can start to add more vegetables to your diet?