Have you ever seen a certain food and been suddenly reminded of a recipe from years earlier?  That happened to me recently when I received several freshly roasted Hatch green chiles in my CSA share.

Years ago I used to make a chile relleno casserole and as soon as I saw the chiles in my bag, I knew I needed to recreate a version for the GAPS Diet!

The original recipe came from a cookbook that I had when doing the Prism diet years ago.  I didn’t have my cookbook anymore, but I was hoping my mother-in-law still did.  I was in luck!  She sent me the recipe and I got to work changing it.

This dish is extremely versatile and can be served for breakfast or dinner.  As my husband and I were enjoying the finished product, we thought it could also be quite tasty with cooked chicken added.  I’ll have to try that as a variation soon and let you know how it works. [Read more...]

Honey Glazed Chicken

Recently on my Facebook page, I was asking for ideas for using up whole chickens.  I have been accumulating a few in my freezer lately,  but needed to clear out some room before picking up a large order of pork this week.  If you missed it, be sure to take a look at all of the fantastic ideas everyone shared!  I was quite inspired after reading the thread.

One that stood out to me, though, was posted by my sister-in-law, Jazmine.  She reminded me of a dish I had been making pretty regularly for a while, but had forgotten about for the past few months.  Her suggestion also reminded me that I have never shared this recipe on my blog.  I thought it was about time! [Read more...]

Since starting the GAPS diet, I’ve found one of the most satisfying sides to serve with my eggs at breakfast is a large bunch of sautéed onions and chard.  It leaves me feeling very satisfied, especially when I top them with a little butter when serving.  I don’t even miss a piece of toast on the side when I have my veggies instead!

I make a large batch each week and then reheat a portion of them to go with breakfast.  The key for them to still taste good as the week goes on is to make sure you don’t cook them very long the first time around.  Then I just stick them in a glass dish in the oven while I make the rest of my breakfast.  Perfect!

You can certainly vary this quite a lot by substituting a wide variety of other greens or vegetables.  This combination, though, has come to be my favorite.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Sautéed Onions and Chard

Sautéed Onions and Chard

Ingredients

3 large onions, sliced
1 large bunch of chard (or other favorite green), chopped
3-4 Tbsp leftover bacon grease (or lard, coconut oil, or fat of your choice)
sea salt, to taste
balsamic vinegar, to taste

Directions

Sautéing onions

Melt 2-3 Tbsp of leftover bacon grease in a large skillet.  Add sliced onions.  Cook over low-medium heat until soft; stir frequently.

Adding in chard

Add an additional 1-2 Tbsp of leftover bacon grease.  Stir in chopped chard.  Add sea salt to taste.

Time to turn off the heat

When greens are just wilted, turn off heat.  Add a splash of balsamic vinegar to taste.  Remove from stove and allow to cool.

Store in the refrigerator.  Reheat at 350 degrees in smaller portions as desired.

This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Eat Make Grow Thursday, Freaky Friday, GAPS Friendly Friday, Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, Sunday School.

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

I’ve always loved eating hard boiled eggs.  When I was a kid, my mom would always make me a large batch each week to keep in the fridge for snacks or for breakfast.  They are portable and delicious.  What more could you ask for?

When I was younger, however, I didn’t really care for the yolk.  I would pick it out and feed it to our dog Buster.  Even when I started college, I still wouldn’t eat the yolk.  (For which Buster was very grateful!)  Now I realize it probably had a lot to do with how much the yolk was cooked.

The Beginning Attempts

When I was first married, hard boiled eggs were something I wanted to learn how to make right away.  I would typically boil the eggs for 15 minutes because I was worried about making sure the yolk was fully cooked.  I kept making hard boiled eggs the same way until just very recently.

I had read in a few different places about not over-cooking hard boiled eggs.  I had made some half-hearted attempts at cooking them less, but I typically kept going back to my old habits.  Besides, I had perfected my method so that I knew how to get them to peel easily and I didn’t want to mess that up.  There’s nothing worse than a hard-to-peel hard boiled egg!  (Okay, so there are lots of things that are worse, but it is annoying.)

New Success Making Hard Boiled Eggs

A little while ago I watched a video on Beyond the Peel about their 2 secrets to making hard boiled eggs.  It made me decide to take the plunge and change my method.  I don’t follow their directions exactly, but I have reduced my cooking time and it’s made a huge difference!

There’s no more grey ring around the yolk of my eggs.  Did you know that means you’ve cooked them too long?! The yolks aren’t crumbly, but moist and extremely delicious.  I had learned to eat the yolks as an adult, but now I truly enjoy them!

The Perfect Hard Boiled Egg

I’m so excited to share my perfected method with you!  If you follow my steps below, I’m sure you’ll find them just as easy to make as I do now.  Let me know how it turns out for you!

1. Fill a pot with pastured eggs.

Pastured eggs ready to boil

The number of eggs will depend on the size of the pot.  I can fit eleven in my larger pot with a little room for them to move around.  If I use my medium pot, I put in seven eggs.

2. Cover the eggs with water.

I fill it until they are just barely covered.  Turn on high and bring to a boil.  Your pot should be uncovered at this point.

3. Boil for 2 minutes.

And only 2 minutes!  I know you’re going to want to let them go longer, but trust me, it will work.  Once the two minutes are up, turn off the burner, cover the pot with a lid, and leave on the hot burner.

4. Cover for 8 minutes.

Just let the eggs sit there in the hot water.  While you’re waiting for them to finish, fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water.  This is going to make them easy to peel.

5. Put eggs in ice water bath.

Let the eggs soak in the ice water bath

With a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the pot and set carefully in the ice water.  Allow them to cool for ten minutes.

6. Peel with ease.

Peel the eggs immediately.  Gently crack the shell a few times and slide your finger just under it so that you can remove the peel easily.  Rinse off any bits of shell that may have stuck to the eggs.

7. Enjoy your perfect hard boiled egg!

Perfect hard boiled eggs

The insides should be cooked, but still a bit moist.  This is quite the improvement over dry, crumbly yolks that aren’t very tasty.  I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do now!  Store the peeled eggs (the ones that you haven’t devoured!) in the refrigerator.

What are your tips for making hard boiled eggs?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

This post is part of Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Eat Make Grow Thursday, Freaky Friday, GAPS Friendly Friday, Monday Mania, Traditional Tuesdays.