Author: Brent Schrader

Slow Cooker Chili

February 9, 2012October 16, 2012by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

I’ll admit, I wasn’t very disciplined about taking pictures, so please forgive the lack of step-by-step photos. We used to always start our chili with our favorite chipotle salsa and a can of diced tomatoes (sometimes with green chilies, something “zesty” style, sometimes “fire roasted” style). We normally just emptied them into the crockpot, and then got to work on the rest of the ingredients.

Unfortunately, our favorite salsa and the diced tomatoes are not Whole30-friendly.

So, instead, I chose to roast my own chopped tomatoes (…perhaps I should have diced them) and I made fresh salsa. Here’s more or less what I started with:

First, I roasted approximately 2 and 1/2 large tomatoes (they were actually left over from another recipe)…

While those were roasting, I turned on the crockpot to low and I worked on making a fresh salsa: 2-3 (small to medium sized) Roma tomatoes, some cilantro, fresh lime juice from half a lime, and 1 little red chili. It wasn’t my best salsa (in fact, my best and favorite to make is a pineapple-mango salsa, but that’s for another day). I had forgotten I’d need to make salsa from scratch and wasn’t prepared to do it; so that concoction was the best I could come up with given what I had in the house. I diced/blended it all really well in the Ninja.

Next, I sautéed 1 green bell pepper, 1 jalapeño and 1 onion (both of which received a quick pulse in our Ninja) with a splash of olive oil…

I put the homemade salsa and the onion-pepper mix into the crockpot. I didn’t put the roasted tomatoes in right away because I know they could overpower the overall dish, so I waited until the end to see how things turned out.

Then, I lightly browned about 2 lbs of ground beef with four good-sized cloves of garlic. We like are garlic, so the bigger the cloves the better. 😉 When that was ready, I strained out the excess grease and scooped the ground beef-garlic mix into the crockpot.

(It’s at this point that I would usually cook up 4 slices of bacon and 6 smallish sausages. But we haven’t found bacon or sausage that’s Whole30 friendly, so those didn’t go in this time.)

Brent then came over to help evaluate the situation. We agreed to add about half of the roasted tomatoes to the crock pot.

Next, he put in the spices. I almost always make the chili, but he always puts in the spices for me 🙂 Here’s what we used:

1 tbsp chipotle chili pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chili powder.

We gave it a good stir and then let the crockpot sit overnight on low.

Curry Dill Tilapia Filets

February 8, 2012October 16, 2012by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

Tonight’s dinner was a really quick and easy preparation of tilapia and asparagus. It was a long day and we just wanted something thrown together that would be as hands-off as possible. This is what we came up with:

4 tilapia filets
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp fresh torn dill
1/4 tsp garlic powder

How to:

Pre-heat oven to 350ºF
Melt ghee in a small bowl and add in curry, dill, and garlic powder.
Place tilapia on stick-free baking sheet.
Paint tilapia with ghee mixture.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, until it easily flakes with a fork.

All you need for the asparagus is to blanch it in boiling water for 3-4 minutes and then transfer to cold water. We had dinner made in about 30 minutes total and might even have some leftovers for tomorrow. Just watch out for bones; we only found a few, but it could have been bad if we weren’t expecting it.

Naturally Fermented Spicy Dill Pickles

February 5, 2012October 16, 2012by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

Taking a point from Mark over at Mark’s Daily Apple, I decided to try my hand at making my own naturally fermented pickles. I tried the recipe he mentioned but then also tried to take my own spin on it. Here’s my recipe:

1 1/2 cups filtered water
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 halved jalapeño stuffed olives (Santa Barbara Olive Company)
5 small cucumbers (ends cut)
5 sprigs of dill

I added in the garlic, peppercorns, red pepper flakes, jalapeño stuffed olives, and dill into the jar. Then I added in the pickles and salt water. Definitely put at least halved pieces of the cucumber above the whole cucumbers you put in, as it keeps them all submerged in the brine.

After 5 days, the brine got quite cloudy, so I decided to finally give them a shot. The standard recipe actually seemed to spoil or something–they were violently salty and not so exciting. My spin was nice and spicy without being too extreme. Also, it still had a great crunch. They’ll only keep for a week at most, so I look forward to eating them pretty constantly for the next few days.

Pot Roast

February 5, 2012October 16, 2012by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

We were able to pick up some pot roast on sale last week, and as the week flew by, the window for using or freezing the roast was closing in. Instead of freezing it, I decided to put together an easy overnight pot roast.

2-3 lb pot roast
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, quartered
4 tbsp chicken gelatin/fat (leftover from baked thighs)
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tsp fresh rosemary

I started with sprinkling the garlic salt and paprika on both sides of the pot roast. Then I added the chopped onion, carrot, and rosemary into the bottom of the crock pot. Then I added the chicken fat/gelatin from the thighs I cooked earlier in the week. This is a great way to make some chicken stock without having to buy anything else–my first attempt and a successful one!

I then added in the pot roast, and filled up the crock pot with water until the meat was submerged. Then set the dial to low, and let it cook overnight for about 9 hours.

At that point, the pot roast easily shredded, and then went right back into the stock. You could easily use the meat shredded with flavors of your choice, or use it as a stew. Admittedly the stock is a little bland, but as we’re adjusting to the new diet, I think it fit the bill pretty well.

Chicken Salad

February 3, 2012October 16, 2012by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

Here’s my attempt at Haley’s Homemade Chicken Salad from the Food Lovers’ Primal Palate (recipe here). This is one of my favorite recipes, and I thoroughly recommend it. My one cautionary tale:

When making homemade mayonnaise, your choice of oil makes all the difference. I can’t find/afford a cup of macadamia oil, so I usually use 3/4 cup of coconut oil and 1/4 cup walnut oil. Unfortunately I ran out of those things and had to make up the difference with olive oil. DO NOT do that. The flavor isn’t miserable, but it does leave something to be desired.