Savory Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

Years ago, a friend gave me a recipe titled, "The Pumpkin is the Casserole." Clever, no? It was delicious, but I lost it as paper recipes and cookbooks went the way of the web. When sugar pie pumpkins went on sale at Whole Foods a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to reinvent that recipe. I've done it two ways. First, I did a 'I'm not going to the store' version. Then, I went the more tasty route. I'll share both.

Since the first included things in my pantry and freezer, we'll call it:

Pantry Stuffed Pumpkin

 1 sugar pie pumpkin (3-4lbs.)

1lb. ground beef

1/2 cup each: frozen corn and frozen peas - thawed, onion - chopped, bell pepper- chopped, diced carrot

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

1/2 cup cooked rice, optional

 sea salt and black pepper to taste

meat seasoning rub or other spices

1/2 tsp. each:  garlic powder, onion powder

1/2 cup dry white wine

Score the top of the pumpkin and remove the stem. Clean out the seeds and 'guts.' 

Place pumpkin on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brown ground beef, drain fat, and set aside. I don't drain the heck out of the meat for a recipe like this, as a little of the fat will improve taste and digestion. Pumpkin can be hard to digest! Saute onion, carrot and bell pepper for a couple minutes in a little olive oil or butter. Add the thawed peas and corn. Saute until carrots are soft. Place ground beef, vegetables and remaining ingredients in a large bowl and combine. Place stuffing into the pumpkin and replace the 'lid' of the pumpkin. Bake  at 375 degrees for 45minutes, or until the interior flesh of the pumpkin is very soft. As you serve, scrape the insides of the pumpkin as you scoop out the stuffing. Enjoy!

Savory Baked Pumpkin

1 sugar pie pumpkin (3-4lbs.)
1lb. ground turkey, lamb, beef, or pork sausage
1/2 cup each: porcini mushrooms - sliced, dried cranberries, pine nuts - toasted, onion - diced, celery -diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cooked rice, optional
1/2 cup Gruyere or other cheese  - broken into cubes, optional
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1tbsp. garlic, minced
 sea salt and black pepper to taste
pinch nutmeg

Score the top of the pumpkin and remove the 'lid.' Scrape out the seeds and 'guts' of the pumpkin. Place on a parchment -lined baking sheet. Brown the meat and remove from the pan, reserving some of the fat to saute the mushrooms, onion, celery and garlic. Saute on med-high, until mushrooms release their liquid and onions and celery are soft. In a large bowl, combine the meat, sauteed veggies, and remaining ingredients. Place stuffing into the shell of the pumpkin and replace the lid. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the interior flesh of the pumpkin is very soft. When serving, be sure to scrape the sides of the pumpkin well, as you scoop out the stuffing, so as to get pumpkin with every serving. Enjoy!

A - P - P - L - E - S !!!

 

 

Apples with Carmel Sauce

Two weeks ago we picked A LOT of Gravensteins from a friend's house. We also picked up some Bartlett pears. We quickly disposed of the pears, mostly just one at a time. I was able to come up with an  Oven-Baked Pear Pancake recipe that was quite tasty, but mostly, I've been experimenting with the apples.  So far my favorite is the Apple Clafouti. BUT, those two recipes are for another day. To whet your appetite, here's a sweet, high-protein way to snack on apples:

Simply mix equal parts almond butter and honey or agave nectar in a sauce pan over low heat, just until smooth. Slice up your apples, dip, and enjoy! 

Stay tuned for some more apple-pear goodness...

Paleo Meatloaf

When I was a kid, I was not a fan of meatloaf, to say the least. One of my kids said to me recently, "When someone says, 'I don't like meatloaf,' someone else always says, 'Well, then, you haven't tried my meatloaf!'" Ha! It's funny, but it's totally true, and kind-of interesting. Nevertheless, if you don't like meatloaf, then you may not care for this recipe, but I feel like I have nailed this one pretty well, after lots of fiddling around with it. So, if you are the meatloaf type, you're in for a treat! For my vegetarian readers, I will not have a variation for you today, but I do happen to have a killer lentil loaf recipe that is quite delicious...for another day.

Paleo Meatloaf 

2lbs. ground beef 

2 eggs

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 cup blanched almond flour

1 cup marinara sauce

1tbsp. prepared mustard

1tsp. sea salt

1tsp. black pepper

2tsp. each - dried basil, oregano, thyme

1tbsp. each - garlic powder and onion powder

Prepare a baking sheet by wrapping it in aluminum foil, or covering with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ground beef, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, eggs, almond flour, onion, seasonings and 1/2 cup marinara sauce. Knead with your hands until well combined. Shape into a round loaf and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 50 minutes, then pour the remaining 1/2 cup of marinara over the loaf and sprinkle on the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. Bake for another 25 minutes. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Slice and serve! 

Substitutions Possibilities:

-Ground turkey for ground beef. I use hormone and antibiotic-free ground beef.

-You can omit the cheese or use another type. I use organic raw cheddar or jack, and sometimes goat cheese.

-3 slices bread crumbs or 1 cup rolled oats for the almond flour.

-1 cup tomato sauce or 1/2 cup ketchup for the marinara sauce. I use Whole Foods brand marinara sauce.

-You can omit the prepared mustard or use 1tsp. dried mustard. I have used almost every sort of mustard in this with good results. 

-Fresh herbs and/or fresh garlic would be delicious as well. Usually, you substitute 1tbsp. of fresh for 1tsp. of dried herbs. The onion and garlic powders I get from Bulk Herbs Store are so delicious, and truly add a heap of flavor to any dish.

 

 

 

And finally...something I love to do with this recipe, is to preheat my Weber gas grill, instead of the oven, on indirect medium heat. I follow the same baking times and procedures, baking on the prepared pan with aluminum foil, and not directly on the grill. It is a tasty meal and doesn't heat up the kitchen!

...If I can do it, you can do it! Enjoy!

 

Some Souper Ideas

As I mentioned in a previous post, Chickens and Their Stock, weekly, I make a really good stock from some grilled or roasted chickens and make a souper healthy dinner and/or lunch from it. As promised, I thought I'd pass out some of my go-to fillings for the pot. I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir when I talk about being creative in the kitchen, so please, feel free to share your yummy ideas, as the possibilities for soups are endless. The ones I'll share here, I mostly do with my budget in mind. Soup is my money-saving meal, so we can continue splurging on delicious and nutritious foods all week long!

1.) Leftover grilled chicken, grilled tomatoes, bell peppers and onions, maybe a bit of chili powder and some rice.

2.) The more obvious choice...pulled chicken, noodles, carrots, celery, other veggies like parsnips or turnips.

3.) Roasted white fish, a can of coconut milk, curry and rice.

4.) Leftover roast, a can of diced tomatoes, chili powder, rice, olives.

5.) Ground beef, frozen spinach, tomatoes, garnish with cheese and green onions.

Often, I do things as simple as rice and frozen veggies, as you don't need a ton of seasoning, since you've made the yummiest stock on earth already!!! My ideas aren't rocket science, but hopefully, they get the ball rolling for you to make your own souper idea! What are some of your simple soup creations?

Blanched Almond Flour

Briefly, wanted to chat about almond flour and alert you of a sale on my brand of choice. I first learned about almond flour years ago. I wasn't totally ready to go wheat-free yet, but after reading more and more about there being virtually no such thing as GMO-free wheat, we waved adieu to the golden grain...notwithstanding, of course, the pizza order every couple of weeks to bail me out of a serious time crunch. I digress. Really, my family fares so much better with little to no grains at all. We're not totally interested in gluten-free products, as they generally come with a handful of additives that aren't the greatest. Anyhow, as is our fashion, we dove in head first to cooking without wheat. I can honestly say I haven't missed it. Blanched almond flour makes delicious pies, pastries, muffins, cakes, breads, pancakes, etc. You probably know from my previous posts that I have learned much of what I know about cooking with almond flour from Elana's Pantry. She recommended Honeyville for the blanched almond flour. It is important to remember to use BLANCHED almond flour for baking most recipes. I accidentally ordered a 25lb. box of natural almond flour once, and it didn't go to waste, but it wasn't quite as versatile. It was useful in more dense pancakes, crisps and crumbles, and recipes which didn't require the flour to be as fine. The difference? I thought Living Healthy Mom explained it well. Now, more to the point. It's on sale at Honeyville right now. Well, anything you order is. Type in promo code: FOODIE when you check out and get 10% off your order. I buy my steel cut oats from them as well. Enjoy!

Chickens and Their Stock

Once a week I roast a couple chickens with some root veggies, herbs and lemons. It's ridiculously easy and equally tasty, not to mention super-healthy. I hang onto the bones and later in the week, make an ultra-healthy stock out of them. You really should do this too. Seriously.

Peaches, Part Deux!

In my somewhat obsessed effort to let not one peach go bad, (you'd think it would be impossible with all these mouths, but...) I came up with this peach crisp for lunch today to fill us after our chard/beet smoothie, and the girls helped me whip it up in record time. I really like how this one turned out. Hope you enjoy it as well!

Peach Crisp

For the crisp: 

1 and 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
scant 1/2 cup coconut sugar
scant 1/2 cup xylitol
1 and 1/4 sticks butter
1/2 cup sliced almonds
pinch of sea salt

For the filling:

5 large peaches, sliced
3tbsp. blanched almond flour
1tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Stir ingredients for filling together in medium bowl. Place in a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Mix ingredients for the crisp in food processor, or I did so in my Bosch kitchen machine, and crumble onto top of filling. Bake for 20 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and filling is bubbling.

Peach Custard Pie

The four boxes of huge, fresh peaches sitting in my kitchen have been begging us to bake them this week. Not wanting to let them down, we've obliged. Repeatedly. Here is one such recipe I dabbled with tonight...

Peach Custard Pie

6 peaches, sliced
1 pie shell  - I made Elana Amsterdam's almond flour pie crust from http://www.elanaspantry.com/ but added about a half tbsp.of cinnamon
3/4 cup coconut sugar
3 tbsp. blanched almond flour
3 eggs, well-beaten
1tbsp. butter, cold, cut into pieces

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Arrange peaches in pie shell. Beat almond flour, coconut sugar, and eggs and pour over peaches. Dot with butter. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned and peaches are soft.

Variations for this recipe:

Replace the coconut sugar with agave nectar or honey, by using 2/3cup agave or honey.
Replace the coconut sugar with xylitol with an equal amount.
Replace the butter with the same amount of coconut oil.
If you care not what goes into you, then replace the blanched almond flour with an equal amount of white or wheat flour. You may also replace the coconut sugar with refined white sugar in the amount of 1cup. If you use white sugar, you may want to turn the heat up to 350 degrees.