Tostones (Fried Green Plantains)

As you know from my previous post, I have a pretty long standing love affair with fried plantains. Wonder Dad and his family introduced them to me while we were still dating and I have looked for ways to include them in our meals ever since.

So I was seriously psyched when I ran across a post over at Everyday Paleo that featured plantains in a way I had never tried before: Tostones!

Usually, when I am frying up a batch of plantains, I go looking for a nice, ripe (brown) plantain. But this recipe calls for the GREEN variety.

With this preparation, you slice up the plantains, fry 'em just a bit to soften up, flatten them, and then fry them again to crisp everything up.

Like the folks over at Everyday Paleo, we topped ours with carnitas - like little tostadas - and they were down right AMAZING! I had found a new way to love plantains!

In fact, I was so enamored, I have served them at 3 more mealtimes just for good measure (and to enjoy this treat before my plantains ripen any further)!

These are super easy and beyond tasty! Here's how you prepare them ...

Tostones (Fried Green Plantains):

Stuff You Need:

• 2 green plantains
• 1 cup coconut oil
• sea salt (for sprinkling)

What To Do:

1. Peel plantains and slice into 2 inch chunks.
2. In a deep frying pan over medium heat, melt coconut oil.
3. Once the oil is hot, add the plantain slices into the oil standing on one end.
4. Fry until one side is golden brown, flip, and fry the other side until golden brown as well.
5. Remove from the heat and place on plate lined with paper towels to drain off any excess oil.
6. One at a time, place between sheets of parchment paper and smash with a plate to about a ¼ inch thick.
7. Add the flattened plantain patties back to the oil
8. Sprinkle sea salt, top 'em up, and devour!

We enjoyed these topped with carnitas and salsa, but they also work great just dipped in salsa or guacamole!

I am looking forward to trying all kinds of new toppings for these - I get the feeling that the sky is the limit!

Fried Ripe Plantains (Maduros Fritos)

I was introduced to this sweet treat not long after I met Wonder Dad. His folks are from Ecuador and this was a staple in their kitchen. I have to admit, it was love at first bite.

Not long after we were married, I tried my own hand at this dish and just failed miserably! It took quite a few sub-par attempts before I found out the key to sweet success ... you need BROWN plantains. In fact, it when the plantains start to look like they are going bad (at least compared to a banana, which was my only frame of reference) that they are indeed ripe and ready to fry up!

So here's the down low on this simple yet tasty treat ...

Fried Plantains (Maduros Fritos):

Stuff You Need:

• 2 very ripe plantains
  (put them in a brown bag and wait a few days if you can only find the ripe ones at your grocery store)
• 3 Tbs coconut oil
• cinnamon (for sprinkling)
• sea salt (for sprinkling)

What To Do:

1. Peel plantains and slice on the bias (diagonal). I like for mine to be about 1 ½ inches long and ½ inch thick.
2. Heat skillet over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
3. Place plantains in skillet and fry about 2-3 minutes on each side, being careful not to burn them.
4. Remove from the heat and place on plate lined with paper towels to drain off any excess oil.
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sea salt and ENJOY!

These plantains pair well with chicken, beef, and pork alike! I've even chopped them up and put on a side salad!

Regardless of how you serve them, they are such a tasty treat that it's like having dessert for dinner!

Crock Pot Carnitas

Living deep in the heart of Texas (clap!clap!clap!clap! - sorry, I couldn't resist), Mexican food is a staple. And that is something I sincerely didn't want to lose with our change in diet.

I gave up the rice and beans and even my beloved enchiladas, but there HAD to be some elements of Tex-Mex cooking that we could keep in our lives.

Enter the not-so-humble carnitas! Always one of my favorites, carnitas are great on their own, wrapped up in a large lettuce leaf, or even as the star of a fancy stir fry. A very versatile dish with lots of flavor! SCORE!

Preparing them in the crock pot means I can throw them in first thing in the morning and know that a super, savory dinner will be waiting for me after work. More often though, this is a weekend meal as it feels like such a treat.

Momma G's Crock Pot Carnitas

Stuff You Need:

• 4 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chipotle chile powder
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• black pepper and salt to taste
• 1 Tbs coconut oil (or other oil of your choice)

What To Do:

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, chile powder, oregano, coriander, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
2. Cut pork roast into 3" - 4" chunks, coat with the spice mixture, and place in the crock pot.
3. Pour the chicken broth around the sides, being careful not to rinse off any of the spice mixture with the broth.
4. Cook on low for 6 or 7 hours or until the pork can be easily shredded with a fork.
5. Before serving, melt coconut oil in a large skillet.
6. Remove shredded meat from the juice and place in the skillet with the coconut oil.
7. Stir until evenly browned and you can see a light crisp on your pork.

I have found this to be a true go-to meal (or meal starter). I make it about twice a month, on average, since there are just so many ways to serve it.

The most common way we eat this family favorite, is as "tacos." For Wonder Dad and I, that usually means lettuce wraps. For Wonder Boy, it's one of his favorite soft taco fillings. Carnitas taste great on salads. They stand up well as the main entree (served with a tomatillo salsa and fried plantains on the side). And Wonder Dad and I both really love carnitas as the starting point for a nice spicy stir fry.

Between being so easy to make and being so versatile, this dish is one of my top go-to meals!

Bacon Shell Tacos

This recipe is almost word-for-word from Nick over at Dude Foods. I decided to give this a try for Father's Day this summer as tacos are one of Wonder Dad's favorite foods. And we had both been missing his favorite crispy treat. Sure, we had been enjoying some nice spicy lettuce wraps, but it just wasn't quite the same experience. So when I saw these instructions on the Dude Foods blog, I knew I had to give it a try.

To say that this dish was a success is such an understatement. Right then and there, Wonder Dad and Wonder Boy alike, put in their "order" to have these as their special meal on their birthdays!

So ... without further ado, I give you the

Bacon Shell Tacos

Stuff You Need:

• bacon
• kabob sticks
• pint-sized mason jars

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
2. Create square bacon weave. I used 6 strips across and 6 strips down.
3. Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes.
4. This is the point where I diverge from Nick's instructions. Nick shaped his square weave into a circle, like a traditional taco shell. I didn't feel like going to all that trouble, so I simply sliced mine in half, making 2 rectangles.
5. Place your mason jars on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum and balance your kabob sticks between them.
6. Hang the bacon rectangles over the kabob sticks that are balanced across the mason jars and return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until bacon is cooked to desired crispness.
7. Remove from oven, stuff with your favorite taco meat or fajitas, and top with fresh salsa or pico de gallo.

It has simply AMAZED me how well these hold their shape! And unlike a crispy corn taco shell, when you bite into it, it doesn't crumble all over your plate.

However, with the fat & salt content of the bacon so high, this is not a dish I would label "healthy" and thus this is only a go-to for super special occasions around here. So it is with great anticipation we flip through the calendar, looking for days that are "Bacon Taco Worthy."

On what special days would you break out this incredible treat?

Chorizo Mini-Meatloafs

I'll admit it, I don't think I've ever had a meatloaf I didn't like. My favorite is the dish my mom always made when I was growing up. Her standard fare included ground beef, minced onions, ketchup (with all its sugary goodness), mustard, and crushed Ritz crackers (need I say more?) to stretch the meal enough to feed us all.

But that version is no longer welcome in my kitchen. So what's a girl craving comfort food to do? Well, as I have resorted to doing so often over the last few months, I took this challenge to the web. I finally stumbled on this beauty of an ideas ... chorizo meatloaf! My mouth waters just to read the words.

My concoction is similar to this one found on-line, but with my own preparation methods (I didn't saute the onions or garlic, I changed the amount of almond flour, and I added the bell peppers). In the end, this was a nice treat for us that I am certain will be a regular on our menu.

Momma G's Chorizo Mini-Meatloafs

Stuff You Need:

• 1 Tbs coconut oil, melted
• 1 lb extra lean ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 lb chorizo, casing removed
• 1 cup minced onion
• ½ cup diced bell pepper
• ½ cup almond flour
• 2 Tbs adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles in adobo)
• 2 egg whites
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• black pepper and salt to taste

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Prepare tin muffin cups by poking holes in each cup to allow grease drain while cooking. Brush melted coconut oil in the cups to prevent sticking.
3. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. It's messy, but using your hands is the best way to get everything distributed just the right way.
4. Fill each cup with the meat mixture.
5. Place muffin tin on cooling rack on top of cookie sheet and pop in the oven.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Before serving, I like to place on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up any grease left on the bottom. After just a few minutes they are ready to plate and enjoy!

the first time I made this, we had it for dinner, served with fried plantains and a side salad, but my favorite way to enjoy this little treat is for breakfast, with fried egg whites and some fresh pico de gallo on the side!

Happy eating!

First Share: Paleo Chocolate Donuts

I wanted this first share to be a special one. And this little snack is turning out to be a go-to recipe in that I always pull it out when special occasions (like a birthday or Father's Day) come around and now I am starting to turn to it for pot luck dinners as well.

When we began changing our eating habits, the first thing we thew off the menu was anything containing sugar. And we made this kitchen-centered decision just a week before Mother's Day and only 2 weeks before our anniversary. I'll admit to more than my fair share of bitterness over this call. Holidays and celebrations are normally full of visits from the Chocolate Fairy and I was missing her before we even said "adios."

So when Father's Day came around a month later and I was beginning to come to grips with holidays minus their sugar coating, I went looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth. After a quick search, I found a couple of recipes for paleo chocolate donuts on the 'net. I didn't have everything on hand to follow just one recipe, so I took these two (this one and this one) and combined them into the following:


Momma G's Paleo Chocolate Donuts

Stuff You Need:

• donut pan
  
• ¾ cup almond flour
  
• ¼ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
  
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 3 eggs (separated)
  
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  
• 3 tablespoons honey
  
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• ½ cup chopped strawberries
  

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. In a large bowl combine almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Separate eggs and combine yolks with remaining wet ingredients.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until combined.
5. Beat egg whites with a hand held mixer until light and fluffy.
6. Fold egg whites into batter until just combined.
7. Add strawberries, stir gently.
8. Pour batter into pastry bag (or zip lock bag with the tip snipped off)and pipe into donut pan.
9. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
10. Remove from pan and transfer to cooling rack.

Note: if the strawberries are an issue (due to allergies or if you are just not a fan), feel free to leave them out. I think they help keep the donuts nice and moist, but they are not essential to delivering a satisfying treat. My Wonder Boy is not a fan, so I always make a couple just for him without the blessed berry and he loves them all the same. Other seasonal berries (like raspberries) also work really well, if you prefer.

Momma G's Easy Chocolate Glaze

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips, melted
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil

Mix together coconut oil and chocolate then use spoon or knife to scoop out some of the chocolate to glaze donuts. If you have a nice wide bowl, you can always invert donuts and dunk them as well.

I have trouble waiting for them to cool enough for that little trick, so I usually stick to the spoon.

Bacon Bonus!
For a really special treat, I turn to the "bacon bonus." If you decide to up the wow factor on your donuts, you just need to crisp up 1-2 strips of bacon before starting in on you donuts. Allow them to cool completely and crumble. Once your donuts are glazed, generously sprinkle bacon bits onto the top and allow it to set before serving.

I employed the "bacon bonus" when we pulled this recipe back out for Wonder Dad's birthday and it was a HUGE HIT with everyone in the family! Alternately, we have also sprinkled sliced almonds on top as well. And while that too was a crowd pleaser, it was nothing like the response we got with the bacon bits.

Introductions

Howdy and welcome to my little corner of the kitchen!

I love to cook. I love to fiddle with recipes. I love to plan meals. I love to play with my kitchen toys. What can I say? I just love to create dishes that make my family beam.

And I'll be honest, I love to eat too.

But sometimes that love gets me in trouble.

In the past few months, we have begun to transform the way we eat. It hasn't been an easy transformation, but I am rediscovering the joy in my kitchen by checking out new dishes and finding ones that align with my new focus in the kitchen.

And as a bonus, we are seeing the difference where we most need to see it - on our waist lines!

I've been trying to find a word or phrase that best describes the changes we've made. It's not really "paleo." It's not exactly "South Beach." And it's not even really "low carb." But we have taken elements from all of these to get to some combination that works for our family. You won't find me hawking a particular life style on this blog. Instead, I'll post what has worked for us, and maybe it will help you out as well.

My vision for this blog is to share some of my go-to meals. But I will also share some recipes that were just plain fun and tasty, even if I wouldn't classify them as "go-to."

And I will probably share some of my all time favorites as well. Those we will just have to enjoy in moderation.

So I hope you enjoy hanging out on the kitchen with me. Hopefully we can all have a little fun and enjoy a few good eats along the way.