"Well, what DO you eat?!" Part 2

A couple of months back, I posted a sample dinner menu in response to this question that I get very frequently when I tell people that we do not eat gluten.  Immediately, most people's faces start to contort in horror, imagining a life without bread, bagels, pasta, and cookies. 

The truth is that we eat very well and are not deprived in any way.  For every gluten food out there that we cannot eat, there is a fairly reasonable substitute.  However, for me personally, I have used the gluten-free diet as a stepping stone to my ultimate goal of eliminating grains altogether (or at least for the most part).  I feel that I function best with little to no grains in my diet.

If you read my post yesterday, you will recall that I am still recovering from an onslaught of bad holiday food slip-ups, so I have decided to clear all grains and sugars from my diet for at least a few weeks to allow my body to heal.

The following is the dinner menu that I prepared for my family tonight.  It is totally gluten and grain-free, as well as free of added sugar.  It was amazingly delicious and nourishing and a big hit with everyone (with the exception of the creamed spinach- my kids refused it- they had cucumber salad instead).  Most shocking to me was the awesomeness that was the mashed cauliflower.  I swear, I may never eat mashed potatoes again.  Even my son asked for a second helping!

If you try any of the items on the menu, be sure to shoot me an email and let me know what you think!

Enjoy,
GFJG

Marinated Flank Steak with Mashed Cauliflower and Gravy

-16 oz grass-fed flank steak
-1 cup extra virgin olive oil
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-1/2 cup thyme, minced
-1/2 cup rosemary, minced
-salt and pepper

Place steak in a dish.  Mix all other ingredients together and coat meat with mixture.  Allow steak to marinate for 1-2 hours.  For more tips or recipes for good meat marinades, visit Mark's Daily Apple.

When meat has been thoroughly marinated, slice steak and cook in a skillet to desired temperature.

Meat Gravy

- drippings in skillet from steak
-1 cup homemade chicken soup aka bone broth
-1-2 tbsp coconut flour
-salt and pepper to taste

Once steak has been cooked, remove it from skillet, keeping the remaining drippings.  Add in chicken broth, coconut flour, and salt and pepper.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  Once gravy starts to thicken, remove from heat and serve immediately.

Mashed Cauliflower

-one large head of cauliflower (organic, if possible)
-4 tbsp softened butter (pastured butter is best)
-8 oz goat cheese
-2 gloves garlic, crushed
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 or 2 tbsp chicken broth (optional)

Wash and cut your cauliflower into chunks.  Put cauliflower in a pot of boiling water and cook for 20  minutes or so until cauliflower is very tender. 

Once cauliflower is thoroughly cooked, drain the water, and add cauliflower to a bowl with the garlic, softened butter, goat cheese, and salt/pepper.  Mix with an electric mixer until mixture is completely mashed.*  Serve with gravy.

*If mashed cauliflower mixture is too thick, you can add a few tablespoons of chicken broth.  I like mine nice and creamy though, so I omit the broth
Click here for my super easy creamed spinach recipe.

grass-fed sirloin strips with creamed spinach and mashed cauliflower- DELICIOUS!

And because no dinner is complete without dessert, we finished it off with homemade hot chocolate and grain-free chocolate chip cookies.  Yum!

Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

-4 cage-free eggs
-3-4 very ripe bananas
-1/4 cup grass-fed butter or coconut oil
-1-2 tbsp honey
-3/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/4 tsp GF baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.  Blend together eggs, bananas, honey, and coconut oil.  Mix together dry ingredients.  Then blend wet ingredients with dry.  Mix in chocolate chips.

Drop dough in balls on cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Better Than Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate

- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
-4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- honey or stevia (to desired sweetness)

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix coconut milk, cocoa powder, and honey or stevia.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to break up any clumps.  Remove from heat and allow to cool a little before serving.

simple, easy-to-make hot chocolate- no nasty preservatives or chemicals

homemade hot chocolate and grain-free chocolate chip cookies- the perfect winter dessert

taste-tester approved!

Meatza, It's What's For Dinner

Happy Fall, everyone!! I do apologize for the lapse in postings as of late, but alas, life is wonderful these days and quite busy! Being mommy to a new kindergartner is great and we are always on the go, go, between soccer practice and dance class and playdates and parks and coffee with friends. We are abundantly blessed, and we are just trying to really enjoy it all.

So, as I've mentioned previously, fall is my most favorite season.  Everything about this season makes me joyful and happy.  I can't wait to take the kids to Terhune Orchards in Lawrenceville for pick-your-own apples and pumpkins and all of their family fun on the weekends.  And while October is officially the end of farmer's market season, I was lucky enough to pick up a spare share at my local Purple Dragon co-op so I will still be getting my fill of delicious, organic, local produce.  Lots of squash, yay!  In my spare time, I have become slightly obsessed with canning and preserving food (I'll blog more about that when I have more time), and so far, we have done pickles, tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, and lots of bone broth.  I am trying to can and preserve as much of my excess produce as I can, so that we can enjoy these wonderful foods throughout the winter and so that none goes to waste.  My great-grandmothers would be proud.

Tonight we are making one of my favorite go-to gluten and grain-free recipes, the MEATZA!  It is a lacto-paleo take on the traditional gluten-full pizza that everyone loves.  I first heard of the meatza from my girlfriend in TX, whose family is paleo (thanks, Avery!)  It sounded delish, and I knew I had to try it.  Now we all love the meatza!  It is super easy to prepare, versatile in that you can literally use any fruit or veggies for toppings, and kid-friendly.  I like to just chop up a whole bunch of seasonal veggies and throw them on top.  My son's favorite meatza combo is olives, pineapple, and green peppers.  Try it tonight, and you too may just fall in love with this creative grain-free take on the pizza pie.

Meatza (Grain-Free Pizza)

• 5 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• sea salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings to taste
• 3-6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 ¼ cups tomato sauce (I like to make my own)
• 1 onion, diced
• various chopped vegetables of your choice for toppings (my faves are eggplant, broccoli, peppers, onions, squash)
• 5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• parmesan cheese (optional)

1) Preheat oven to 400F. Mix ground beef, pepper, salt, seasoning, and garlic. On a cookie sheet or in a large glass dish, spoon in meat mixture and pat down to make the pizza "crust."
2) Top with tomato sauce and vegetables, then top with cheese.
3) Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and cheese is melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then slice into wedges or squares.
ENJOY!!

Picture courtesy of Kristen M at Food Renegade

Coconut Chicken with Honey Peach Dipping Sauce (Paleo)

I love Sundays, and as a bonus, it's a rainy Sunday. Just perfectly lazy, and, not surprisingly, all I want to do is cook. 

I spent this morning watching an amazing documentary called The Beautiful Truth about the connection between diet and your risk of cancer.  It was nothing ground-breaking for me; rather it simply reinforced my belief in eating organic, whole foods in their natural state and avoiding processed foods for the sake of my family's health.  Of course, the very best way to take ownership of your health and be sure that you are in control of what is in the food that you eat is to spend time in the kitchen cooking and creating nutritious meals.

Coconut chicken is one of my absolute favorite summer dishes, and so I wanted to experiment with a gluten-free version. This recipe, which is adapted from one at Paleo Plan, came out great.  And, even better, it is entirely grain-free and paleo (for more info on why to avoid grains, even gf grains, check out this great article from Mark's Daily Apple).

For the dipping sauce, I just experimented with what I had: some leftover peaches, lemons, honey, and onions.  I'm impressed with how tasty it all turned out.

The complete dinner menu is below.  If you try it, let me know what you think.

In health,
GFJG

Paleo Coconut Chicken

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (preferably free-range)
1/4 cup coconut or almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 egg
2 tbsp coconut oil

Beat egg in a bowl.

Mix flour, shredded coconut, and sea salt in a separate bowl.

Dip chicken breast in egg and roll in dry mix.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add coco oil when hot.

Pan fry chicken until cooked through.

Serve with dipping sauce.


Honey Peach Dipping Sauce

-1 large organic peach, diced
-1 tbsp honey
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1 tbsp crushed garlic
-1/4 onion, diced
-1 tbsp coconut oil

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat for five minutes. Transfer to Magic Bullet and puree.  Let cool and serve with coconut chicken.

*Note: If you wanted to add some heat to this sauce, you could always add a little jalapeno or cayenne pepper.  I left it out because I was making it for the kids and knew they wouldn't eat it if it was too spicy.