March 24, 2019

Sausage Pizza Egg Muffins

Eggs are a staple for me when I do rounds of Whole 30, so I eat them in a variety of ways. These pizza-inspired muffins from Paleo Running Momma are delicious and perfect for making ahead for a breakfast from the freezer.

Sausage Pizza Egg Muffins
3/4 lb. pork sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of crushed red pepper
2/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tsp. Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp. onion powder
9 eggs
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 12 muffin tins.

Cook the sausage with a dash of red pepper. Add the garlic when the sausage is nearly browned. Then add in tomatoes, and stir well. Remove from heat, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the seasonings. Pour in the sausage mixture, and stir to combine. Divide mixture evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake about 15 minutes or until the eggs are set, and muffins just begin to brown. Either serve immediately or freeze for future breakfasts. Makes 12 muffins.

Pizza Soup

I've had the Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind cookbook for a while now, but I haven't tried any of the recipes yet because I had too many other delicious, non-Paleo recipes to try. Anyways, I was looking for some inspiration for this round of Whole 30, and I tried this pizza soup.

This is delicious. It's loaded with vegetables and full of flavor. Since I'm doing Whole 30, I omitted the pepperoni and left the cheese off mine, although it looked so delicious on my husband's bowl. I did, however, top my soup with black olives to enhance the pizza toppings. This will be repeated already next week, but I doubt I'll photograph it then either.

Pizza Soup
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14-oz.) jars of pizza sauce (no sugar version for Whole 30)
1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes
4 mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 oz. sliced pepperoni
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded cheese, optional

In a large skillet, brown the Italian sausage. Remove from skillet, and set aside. Add oil to the skillet, and cook the onion and garlic until fragrant and translucent.Add in sausage and all the ingredients except the cheese. Cover, and simmer 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender.

To serve, ladle soup into oven-safe bowls, and top with cheese. Broil a few minutes until the cheese is golden. Top with black olives and chopped green onions, if desired. Serves 4 to 6.

March 16, 2019

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies

These cookies from Crazy for Crust are perfect for an afternoon snack or even breakfast. Sweet enough to be called a cookie, yet healthy enough for any time of the day. Next time I'm making a double batch to freeze for crazy days in the future.

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. flax seed, ground
3/4 cup quick oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with a silipat. Using a mixer, combine peanut butter, brown sugar and oil until smooth. Stir in egg and vanilla. Mix in baking soda, flax seed, oats and flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop 2 Tbsp. of dough for each cookie, roll in a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. They won't spread, so you can have them fairly close together. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Cool completely on the cookie sheet, or they will crumble apart. Makes 12 cookies.

March 14, 2019

Crockpot Carnitas

I'm a big fan of crockpot meals, particularly with working more hours. I'm also a huge fan of cooking a meal once that gives us leftovers for fast dinners. This recipe does both. The meat is great on its own, on salads, in tacos or used in any enchilada, quesadilla, burrito.

Crockpot Carnitas
1 Tbsp. oregano
2 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lbs. pork loin
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 tsp. salt
Juice of one lime
Juice of one orange
Additional oil for searing

Pat the tenderloin dry with paper towels. Rub the meat evenly with the oregano, cumin and olive oil. Place in slow cooker, and top with the remaining ingredients. Cover, and cook on high 4 to 6 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.

Remove the tenderloin from the crockpot, reserving the juices, and shred the meat with two forks. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add enough carnitas to cover the surface without crowding, and ladle a little of the reserved juice into the pan. Cook until the juice evaporates and the bottom of the carnitas are crispy. Flip, and cook until the other side is browned. Remove from heat, and serve with a little more juice. Serves 6

Browned Butter Frosting

My original plan for cupcakes was chai cupcakes with browned butter frosting. Sounds delicious, right? Well, the chai cupcakes are now a crumbled mess sitting in the freezer because they tasted great but baked horribly. Rather than doming nicely, they spilled over the edges into the flattest of pancakes, which made the cupcakes impossible to remove from the tins.

*Sigh*

Good thing that this browned butter frosting from Gold Lining Girl goes wonderfully with chocolate cupcakes as well. I'll be honest, I didn't try this frosting because I'm doing another round of Whole 30 (Day 9 today!). But I sniffed the browned butter and managed not to drool in the frosting. I definitely want to make this again when I'm eating all the sugar.

Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown. It will develop brown flecks, foam a lot and smell like a delicious nutty caramel.

Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla. Chill until firm but not hardened in the refrigerator. (If completely hardened, let come to room temperature for easiest frosting preparation.)

Beat the butter until creamy. Add in powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat until light and fluffy. You can add more cream or sugar as needed to get the desired consistency. Makes about 4 cups of frosting.