Soup stock is almost a staple in our kitchen. It’s remarkably useful.
Almost any time we have chicken, we save the bones for use in making stock (freezing them until we have enough to use). If I want beef stock, though, I usually have to go out and buy bones for use.
Squash, Sauce, and Salad
Ideally this recipe would use grass-fed meat. I’m working on it. The meat I used (both beef and the sausage) was lean enough I had to add olive oil to keep things from getting unpleasant, so if we don’t look too carefully we should be okay.
It’s my birthday later this week and my daughter wanted to do something nice for me for my present. I asked her to make supper for me.
I think she did a good job — a very good job, for someone nine years old.
Ingredients: bell pepper, celery, chorizo, cucumber, dried chilis, garlic, ground beef, mushroom, olive oil, onion, oregano, romaine lettuce, sausage, spaghetti squash, tomato, tomato paste
Primal Hot Chocolate
Yes, this is only the second article I’ve written on primal hot chocolate. It’s my third try at a primal replacement for hot chocolate (the second wasn’t a noodle incident, but wasn’t such an improvement I felt compelled to write about it).
This is the best result I’ve gotten yet. A couple of changes in the ingredients is all it took.
Note that the hot chocolate shown is actually a bit darker, the picture here shows the foam on the top.
Also, I said ‘probably’ in the title because I don’t remember where vanilla extract fits in. I’m pretty sure the process for creating it is something Grok couldn’t do, but I’m also pretty sure I’ve seen vanilla extract used in one of Mark‘s books.
Since my kids were born, my parents come over to my place for Christmas. After we moved closer to them, we’ve split the hosting duties — morning (with the tree and presents, and breakfast) at my place, then we all go to their place for dinner.
Because we’re having a big dinner, and usually a relatively early one, we’ve found it works best to have brunch after the presents are done that will keep us satisfied until dinner. When I was a kid this usually meant pancakes or the like, with some snacking on a cracker and cheese plate through the day.
This clearly isn’t going to work in someone aiming for a primal lifestyle, or even a low-carb diet, so in the last few years it’s shifted more to some sort of egg dish. Omelettes are fairly straightforward, and there are a few variations that are more convenient to cook (such as Denvers — chop the other ingredients smaller and mix directly with the egg before cooking), but I wanted something different this year.
I’m not entirely sure what this is called, or what it will be called, but I think it’ll happen in my house again. It was pretty good.
Primal Egg Nog
So, I decided to take a run at primal egg nog. It turned out to be really simple, though thanks to a verbal stumble I think it will be referred to around my house as “OG Nog” (note: guttural pronunciation is key; feel free to bellow) from now on.
Pictures to follow, after I fetch the camera from upstairs.
More than two weeks later, I finally got around to pulling the pictures off the camera.
Ingredients: cinnamon, coconut milk, cream of tartar, egg, nutmeg, stevia, xanthan gum
Recipe Types: Drink
I have never been a huge fan of hot chocolate, but from time to time it is nice. Many of the ingredients normally in hot chocolate are, however, not allowed.
This is my second try at primal-friendly hot chocolate.
"Boring Salad"
So, I’ve been told that salad is a boring meal. I don’t think so.
This is a pretty simple and straightforward salad with dressing. The drink is a 20-ounce mug of water (yes, there’s that much salad there) with perhaps 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice.
(That handle sticking out of the bowl? An ugly spoon from the dollar store, nobody tries to take it, even by accident. I’ve had people return it to me when I forget it somewhere.)
Ingredients: bell pepper, chicken, chili powder, mayonnaise, nuts and seeds, onion, romaine lettuce
Recipe Types: Salad
As a bit of practice before Christmas I tried to put together a primal turkey dinner. I got fairly close with
The gravy was a bit interesting, but turned out well.
At Robin’s request, here’s a recipe for wheat pizza crust.
This recipe makes enough for one thin-crust medium pizza, and was originally derived from a recipe for pita bread.
Many bread recipes call for multiple rising periods, usually to double the original volume. My normal bread recipe, for example, calls for three such rises. Pizza is a flatbread, though, so while you may let the dough rest for a time, it isn’t really necessary to let it rise so much.
One very happy thing about making bread, though — yeast bread is very, very forgiving. As long as you adequately develop the gluten and don’t kill the yeast, (and don’t burn things when you cook them — there’s a reason I make the dough and shape the bread, and my wife actually bakes it) you should end up with some decent product.
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Pizza after cooking
I decided to take a run at pizza, using the healthiest set of ingredients I could come up with. I’m not entirely satisfied, but it was good enough I’d be willing to work on this as a start.
This recipe is adapted (more or less successfully) from one I found at http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/dear-pizza-i-missed-you-so-much/.
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