Ham and Bean Soup

I love love LOVE ham and bean soup.  I always get excited to make a ham because it can make sooo many yummy leftovers... ham and eggs, ham fried rice, ham sandwiches, (well... I guess not anymore) and this lovely soup. I first found this recipe on allrecipes.com but I can't find it there anymore... luckily I printed it out when I first found it! A made a couple of small changes.  Here it is:

Ham and Bean Soup

2 medium carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cloves minced garlic
4 cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf

In a large saucepan, saute the carrots, celery, and onion in butter until tender.  Add garlic and saute for a few minutes.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down the heat to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.  Eat it up.

If you have a ham bone, toss it in and let it simmer with everybody else in the pot.
I could eat this everyday. Seriously.

Cucumber Salsa

In my weekly farmer's market produce basket I got a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes so I decided to find a salsa recipe for my salsa loving hubby.  I found this and have made it twice. It is super fresh and delicious!

Cool Cucumber Salsa

2 medium cucumbers - peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, stir together the cucumbers, tomatoes, green pepper, jalapeno pepper, onion, garlic, lime juice, parsley, cilantro, dill, and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

The best way to get the seeds out of the cucumber is to get a teaspoon and use it to scrape out the seeds.    They come out super easy that way.  

I didn't add the fresh parsley because I didn't have any.  I also didn't feel like adding any dill weed.  One time I added too much of it to a recipe one time and now I have been turned off by it.  Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tortilla soup is something that I love, but was not sure my 3-year old would eat.  I shouldn't have worried.  Both times I've made this simple recipe from Wheat Belly she has eaten her entire bowl full and loved it!  I served it with jicama sticks this last time and you should see how many of those she can eat as well!

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
3-4 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped (or less depending on your taste)
salt and pepper
2 avocados
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons sour cream

Bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat; keep warm.  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken and garlic and cook until the chicken is nicely browned, 5-6 minutes.

Add the cooked chicken, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, and jalapenos to the stock.  Return the broth to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into shallow bowls.  Top each bowl with avocado, cheese, cilantro, and sour cream.

My Take:  Love this recipe!  Couple things I do different though.  Since I keep a bag of frozen chicken tenderloins on hand I prep them like this:

Place the the frozen tenderloins on a foil lined baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil (I give them a good rub to make sure they get a light coating) and sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper.  Broil in the oven for 7 minutes.  Turn them over, sprinkle the other side with garlic salt and pepper and broil another 7 minutes.  You are now ready to dice them up and add to the soup (or anything else that calls for cubed chicken for that matter!)

I also added hardly any jalapeno, since Joey and Jenna can't handle anything too spicy.  I keep my bowl free of sour cream, but don't skimp on the avocado, cheese, and cilantro - they really make this soup outstanding!

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

I wanted to make something quick and easy for dinner.  I was in the mood for pasta (GF corn pasta of course (:  ) and wanted a creamy tomato sauce that used onions because I had a lot from my farmer's market weekly produce basket (bountiful basket-esque) I turned to allrecipes.com to find a solution and found this:

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
3/4 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Make sure it doesn't burn. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and continue to boil 5 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in whipping cream and butter. Reduce heat and simmer 5 more minutes.

Seems pretty easy right? Would take two pots- one for the pasta, one for the sauce, right? Maybe for the normal person.  4 pots, 45 minutes, and an immersion blender later, I had a fabulous meal, a happy husband, and a horribly messy and tomato-sauce splattered kitchen.  So much for a quick and easy meal.  Don't get me wrong, it was easy... or it should have been.  But I decided to cook 2 different kinds of pasta- GF corn pasta for me, and normal pasta for Taylor.  (I had a 1/4 of bag of each opened and GF is too expensive to feed to someone who doesn't try to eat GF at all.  What else was I to do?)  I also decided halfway into the meal to saute a half pound of mushrooms in butter for Taylor since we had a ton of them from our produce basket.  So I was busy juggling making the sauce, making one pasta, draining it, setting it aside, getting more water to boil, cutting up mushrooms, getting a smaller pot to make some broccoli, boiling the corn pasta, sauteeing the mushrooms, finishing the sauce, draining the pasta... and THEN I had the bright idea to put the sauce into the bigger pasta pot so I could immersion blend it so it was smoother (the saute pan it was in was too shallow so I HAD to move it to the bigger pot) so I had to transfer it to the pasta pot while the pasta sat in the strainer in the sink, and then once it was blended, I put it make in the original saute pan and added sour cream instead of heavy cream.  Only after I did that, did I notice my corn pasta was grossly under cooked had to re-boil some more water and put it back in the now dirty pasta pot.  WHEW! Was I tired after making this meal! 

It was totally worth it though.  Super delicious and flavorful.  Next time, I will try to think ahead so I don't have so much chaos.  

In case you got lost in the mayhem of the making of it, the things I did differently from the recipe were to immersion blend it before adding the butter and sour cream (instead of heaving whipping cream). I also added some parmesan cheese

<----- visible underneath the sauce :) 

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins

I pinned these while babysitting last night and woke up this morning sooo excited to make them and have a delicious and nutritious breakfast.  Well, after waking up and not having any yogurt, eggs, or honey to make them, I hopped straight into the car (in my sweats, slippers, and glasses (not a pretty sight) and drove over to Sam's club to pick up the needed ingredients.  Then I got home and promptly whipped up a batch of Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins.  They go a little something like this:

Ingredients:
2.5 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas

Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tin with non-stick cooking spray or line 12 muffin tins with silicone or foil liners.
2. Place the oats in the food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds. Add remaining ingredients (except chocolate chips) to the food processor. 

3. Process until everything is mixed together and oats are smooth. Add chocolate chips.
4. Divide batter among cupcake liners, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I don't have a big enough food processor to mix the whole recipe up in one, so I just use my baby one to chops up the oats and then I mixed everything in a large bowl with my hand mixer.  I also mushed up the bananas with a fork on a plate before mixing it in.  I pulsed the chocolate chips in the food processor too because I am not a big fan of chocolate chips in things so I would rather have little flecks of chocolate in it then full chips.  I also did not have cupcake liners which I think would have been better.  But! All in all they are pretty delicious.  Not too sweet and I can feel good about eating them.  I ate 3 right out of the oven and they didn't make me feel super full and heavy. Just good clean food.
(and they don't have a very strong banana taste at all-which is good because I don't love bananas)

Power Up!

My need for sweets drives my life... usually into guilt-laden activities such as watching tv with a spoon and a half gallon of Blue Bell ice cream, or making a very large self portion of rice krispie treats via the microwave.  After many "why did I do that" thoughts to myself, I decided to find a healthier outlet.  Enter "No-Bake Energy Bites".  (choir of angels singing "aaaaaahhhh")

If No-Bake cookies and cookie dough had a healthy baby, this would be it.  These little "energy bites" or "energy balls," as I have started calling them, as soo delicious and satisfy my dessert/sweets/sugar cravings without any guilt :) I found countless versions of them on pinterest and decided to give them a try. They are super fast to whip up and store.

No-bake Energy Balls

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon (depending on your tastes)
1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 cup rolled oats
1/4-1/2 cup of flax seed


Mix the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Then add cocoa powder.  Then add in the oats and flax seed.  Refrigerator for an hour and then roll into bite size balls.  Place balls into an airtight container and store in fridge or freezer.

There are endless variations of these balls.  You can add in chopped nuts, seeds, dried fruit, coconut, etc.  Kind of like trail mix in a little ball.

I like to keep mine choco peanut so they are more like a little ball of no bake cookie goodness.  You can eat 2-3 of them for a snack because they are pretty filling or I like to eat one after lunch to soothe my sweet tooth cravings.  Taylor likes to sneak them at breakfast when I am still asleep.  He will come in to give me a kiss before he leaves and I can smell the chocopeanuty goodness on his breath!

Now that I have made them a couple times, I never measure any of the ingredients.  I just kinda pour and mix until I get the combination of flavors and texture that I like.  So experiment, have fun, and don't feel guilty! They are healthy, right? ;)

Chicken Nuggets

I hate days like this:  It was 5:30 pm and I still had no idea what we were going to have for dinner.  The flank steak was in the fridge thawing for tomorrow's dinner (useless!), we were low on fresh veggies, so no inspiration there.  Everything I could think of required a trip to the store, which was so not going to happen.  I talked to Nicole and she was no help - they picked up BBQ for dinner.  Actually, she might have helped.  Got me thinking about eating out and quick and easy meals...I turned to the Wheat Belly Cookbook and BAM!  There was my answer:  homemade chicken nuggets!

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or tenderloins!)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup ground golden flaxseeds
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Slice the chicken into 1 1/2 - 2 inch pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and butter.  In a shallow bowl, combine the flaxseeds, cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Coat each piece of chicken in the egg mixture and then roll in the flaxseed mixture.  Place on the baking pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink and the juices run clear.

My Take:  YUM!  These really were quick and easy to whip up.  While the chicken thawed in the microwave, (yes, I cheat) and the oven preheated, I threw the rest together.  Dredging each piece took a little time, and I used every last drop of the flaxseed mixture.  The cooking time was perfect and they came out a little golden and smelled delicious.  Threw some green beans and corn on the side and we had a meal!  They were an instant hit with all three of us, and went well with our dipping sauces of choice (guess which belongs to each of us!).  The only problem: not a single leftover.

Turkey Quinoa Meatloaf and Rosemary Roasted Vegetables

I always thought I didn't like meatloaf, but I tried this recipe from Allrecipes a year or so ago on the advice of a good friend (Thanks Yvonne!) and love it!  Now my deep dark secret is I've never made meatloaf using hamburger, just ground turkey.  Jenna loves to dip hers in ketchup and is always concerned I don't share her great love of that dipping sauce.  To each her own.  The roasted vegetables are something super simple to throw together and I'm always amazed at how many we can eat.  Plus they go well with a wide variety of entrees.  You can leave the rosemary out if you want, or try your own spice combo depending on what you like and what you're serving them with.  

Turkey and Quinoa Meatloaf

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 (20 ounce) package ground turkey (I use whatever size the package at Costco is)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (I only use 1/2 tablespoon of Tabasco)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon water

Bring the quinoa and water to boil in a small saucepan over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat to cool.

Stir the turkey, cooked quinoa, onion/garlic mixture, tomato paste, hot sauce, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, egg, salt, and pepper in  a large bowl until well combined.  The mixture will be very moist.  Shape into a loaf on a foil lined baking sheet.  (Make sure you do this!  Ground turkey cooks differently than beef and will be dry if you bake in a loaf pan)  Combine the brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire, and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl.  Rub/drizzle the paste over the top of the meatloaf.

Bake in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, about 50 minutes.  Let the meatloaf cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Rosemary Roasted Vegetables

Potatoes

Sweet potatoes

Baby carrots

An onion

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Rosemary (I used dried crushed Rosemary)

Cut up all the vegetables into bite-sized chunks and toss into a glass baking dish.  I tend to make the potatoes smaller than the sweet potatoes as they don't get tender quite as quickly.  Toss the veggies in olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary to taste.  Make sure to get them all good and coated.  Bake at 350 for about an hour or until desired tenderness. 

Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

*WARNING* 

I'm talking about traditional English scones, NOT deep fried bread (much to Jenna's disappointment - she wanted "a scone as big as my head!" like you can get at Granny Annie's.  Never again poor thing, our days of greasy, glutenous, fried dough balls are over.)

Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

1 cup ground golden flaxseeds

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons xylitol or 8-12 drops liquid stevia or to desired sweetness (I used the stevia)

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup heavy cream (*if using stevia use an additional 1 tablespoon heavy cream)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the flaxseeds, almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and xylitol, if using.  Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it's the size of peas.

In another bowl, whisk together the stevia (if using), cream, eggs, and vanilla until combined.  Stir into the dry ingredients until well blended.  Add the dried fruit, and stir until evenly distributed.

Evenly dived the dough into 8 pieces and place on the baking sheet.  Flatten to approximately 3/4" thickness.

Bake for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

My Take: Thanks to the Wheat Belly Cookbook (which I'm convinced everyone should have!), whenever I feel the urge to bake I have tons of healthy, gluten-free recipes at my finger tips.  I'd been eyeing this one for a couple of weeks and finally broke down and bought the heavy cream so I could try it.  The recipe went smoothly, and I chose to shape the dough into triangles.  They turned out awesome, kind of how I think a whole wheat scone would be, a little more dense and substantial.  They're not very sweet (again, think traditional scones) but I enjoyed mine plain or with some butter.  I think they'd be yummy with some jam on top as well.  I individually froze half of them to pull out for a quick breakfast when I need it.  They are very filling!

Lemon-Poppy Seed Pancakes

This is by far my favorite pancake recipe I've tried to date.  So good that even Jenna wants to snack on them plain throughout the morning after breakfast is over.  So good I made them for Jenna and I last Thursday, and again over the weekend so Joey could try them!  The texture is lighter thanks to the egg whites and seems more of what I remember a traditional pancake being like.  I think they're best topped with vanilla yogurt and strawberries.  Raspberry greek yogurt was also yummy, and I'm sure whipped cream and blueberries would be excellent as well! 

They come from the Wheat Belly cookbook, and were also featured on Dr. Oz here.  If you're new to the Wheat Belly line of thinking check out the video clips from Dr. William Davis' visit with Dr. Oz here.



Lemon-Poppy Seed Pancakes

3 large eggs, separated
4 tbsp buttermilk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel
2 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp lemon stevia or to desired sweetness (optional - I did not use)
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon peel, poppy seeds, and stevia (if using).

Add the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites until slightly stiff. Fold into the batter.

Grease a skillet or griddle and heat over medium heat. For each pancake, scoop 2 heaping tablespoons of batter onto the skillet. Cook for 1 minute, or until bubbles form around the edges. Turn and cook for 1 minute, or until underside is lightly browned. Remove from heat to a serving platter. Repeat with remaining batter, regreasing the skillet if needed.

Fish Tacos with Spicy Slaw

This is a delicious recipe I tried out of Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook by Sarah Fragoso.   The spicy slaw is amazing.  I served it with corn tortillas lightly fried in coconut oil.  We loved them.

Fish Tacos

1-2 pounds wild-caught cod filets
Freshly squeezed juice from 1 lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspooon sea salt

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients.

Put the fish filets in the bowl of marinade and gently rub the marinade into them; let the fish soak for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the Spicy Slaw.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the fish and all the remaining marinade to the hot pan.

Cook the filets on each side for about 3-4 minutes or until the fish flakes easily, but do not overcook.

Spicy Slaw

2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup diced mango
1/2 cup diced cilantro leaves
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced jicama
1 fresh jalapeno, seeds removed and minced  (I used a half of a jalapeno and it was just right.)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
(I added a splash of vinegar for a little tang.)

Toss all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and use to top your fish taco.

Paleo Snack Mix

This is a great snack mix that my sister, Jenette, told me about.  Just put together the things you like and keep on hand for when you want a quick, healthy snack.  We use all unsalted nuts and seeds to help Ernie keep his blood pressure down.  Possible ingredients include:

Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Coconut flakes, unsweetened
Almonds
Raisins
Craisins

I would like to add dark chocolate chips, but Ernie won't go for that!

Risotto w/ Asparagus, Lemon, and Garlic

Whenever I see young, tender, asparagus on sale at the grocery store I am compelled to purchase it and make this risotto.  I'm not sure where the recipe originally came from, but it's been a favorite in our Willmore Family Cookbook for some time.  Thanks goodness rice is gluten free!  My advice is to have everything you need assembled before you start cooking as it is nearly impossible to chop asparagus and zest a lemon while stirring constantly!  And good luck eating just one serving....this is one I always eat myself sick on!  Enjoy!

6 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup water
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch lengths
1 tablespoon parsley, minced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Heat the chicken stock and hold warm over medium heat.

Heat a pot large enough to accommodate all of the ingredients on medium high and add the olive oil and onions.  Saute until translucent and add garlic.

Add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon to toast the rice for 2-3 minutes, add the water and continue to stir.  When all of the water is absorbed by the rice, add the hot chicken stock in 1/3 increments, and stir.

Only add the next 1/3 of stock when the previous 1/3 is absorbed by the rice, and keep giving the rice a light stir.

When the last 1/3 of stock is almost absorbed, add the asparagus, parsley, and lemon zest, and keep stirring.

Once the stock is absorbed, remove the pot from heat and add the butter and parmesan cheese and give the risotto one last stir. 

Garnish with additional lemon zest, cheese, and parsley.

Pancakes

Our family has a long-standing tradition of eating pancakes on Saturday morning.  This morning was no exception. 

Wheat-Free Pancakes

3 cups almond meal

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons extra-light olive oil, walnut oil, coconut oil, or butter, melted (I used coconut oil.)

In a medium bowl, combine the almond meal, flaxseeds, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the milk and oil or butter and whisk thoroughly.

Gradually whisk the flour mixture into the egg mixture.  The consistency should be similar to that of conventional flour-based batter; if too thick, add 1 or more tablespoons of milk or water until of desired consistency.

Lightly oil a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle.  

Almond meal pancakes can be delicate; if you encounter difficulty turning them, release the edges first and then turn.

They were very thick and I had to add several tablespoons of extra milk.  Next time, I will start with 2 cups of almond meal and add a little more as I go.  They were delicious and very filling!

Ernie's Two Month Check-Up

Ernie is now two months into his gluten free adventure.  He has been doing such an amazing job.  He has lost 15 pounds and his blood pressure is under 130/90.  He looks great and feels even better.  I am so proud of the way he has stayed with the program, even in difficult situations, when it would have been much easier to cheat and eat gluten.

I Need a Brownie!

Have you ever noticed how often people try to serve you brownies?  I have.  Since I went gluten free last August, I have passed on many, many brownies.  Just this week, there was a tray of mint brownies in the faculty room that I had to keep walking past.  Torture.  Today I had had enough.  I really needed a brownie.  I went on line and spent about an hour looking at different brownie recipes.  The gluten free ones had strange starches and flours and some of the paleo ones had some interesting ingredients, such as sweet potatoes.  I almost gave up.  I checked the Wheat Belly Cookbook and his recipe sounded closer to our traditional recipe than the others, so I decided to give it a try.  It calls for bittersweet chocolate.  I could only find some old bars of semisweet in the back of the cupboard--I didn't dare check the expiration date--but by this point I was desperate.   The brownies were amazing!

 Mocha Walnut Brownies

8 ounces bittersweet (85% cacao) chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup butter

2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (I did not add this.)

1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia 

4 eggs

1/4 cup canned coconut milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1/4 cup ground golden flaxseeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9" X 9" baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the chocolate and butter.  Microwave on high power for 1 minute, stirring once halfway through the cooking time.  If not completely melted, microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted.  Stir in the espresso powder (if using) until completely melted.

Add the stevia.  (My grocery store did not have stevia when I looked, so I used 1/2 cup of sugar.)

Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each egg.  Stir in the coconut milk and vanilla.

Stir in the walnuts, coconut flour, and flaxseeds until well blended.

Pour into the pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  (Mine needed 10 extra minutes--I may have been using an 8" X 8" pan.")

Parmesan-"Breaded" Pork Chops w/ Balsamic-Roasted Vegetables

Long title, I know, and yes it is as amazing as it sounds!  Once again my Wheat Belly book came through.  The driving force for trying this recipe was the eggplant.  I get them in my bountiful basket every so often, and never know what to do with them.  Until now, I have never found a recipe that didn't result in Joey reminding me how much he hates eggplant.  But I keep trying.  And I thought this dish would be perfect because the eggplant would be cut in tiny little cubes and he wouldn't even know it was eggplant (He doesn't spend much time trying to figure out what I make, he just eats it like a good husband)!  Best part, it worked!  He ate his entire serving and just raved about how delicious it was and told me I could always make pork chops like this (he's also not a huge fan of pork chops, dates back to his childhood.  I was taking a huge risk making this meal, could have been an epic fail).  At that point I told him it was eggplant - you should have seen the look on his face.  Didn't deter him for long, he ate a second entire helping.  You can bet I will be making this one again next week as I still have another eggplant to use!

1 white onion, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, unpeeled, but into 1/2-inch cubes
1 green pepper, sliced
1 yellow or red bell pepper, sliced
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or more as needed
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
sea salt and ground black pepper
1 large egg
1 tablespoon coconut milk (the kind in a can, not a carton)
1/2 cup ground almonds or pecans
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 bone-in pork chops (I prefer boneless pork loin)
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 350.  Combine the onion, eggplant, bell pepper, and garlic in a large baking pan.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil and the vinegar.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and toss to coat the vegetables.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and coconut milk in a shallow bowl.  Combine the almond or pecan meal, parmesan, garlic powder, and onion powder in another shallow bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dip each pork chop into the egg, coating both sides.  Then dredge both sides in the ground almond-parm mix.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the pork chops and cook just until nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

After the vegetables have been roasting for 30 minutes, remove the baking pan and place the pork chops on top.  top the pork chops with the lemon slices.

Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, until the pork chops are just cooked through and the vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes.