Shepherds Pie

 This recipe makes a huge Shepherds Pie as I am feeding a family of 9 

( I would suggest halving the recipe for a family of 4-6)

Ingredients for Meat portion of Pie:

4 pounds grass fed ground beef
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound green beans (cut into smaller peices or broken if they are frozen)
4 carrots, diced
2/3 cup beef broth
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 TBSP Kirkland Signature No Salt Seasoning (my new favorite seasoning!), or more, to taste
1 tsp basil, or to taste
pepper and salt to taste

meat mixture simmering

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large skillet brown your ground beef, onion, garlic and celery, cooking until the beef is browned.  Then drain off the fat and liquid from your beef (you can save it for later use if you would like).  Add your broth, tomato sauce, carrots, green beans and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until your veggies are tender and ready.

While that is simmering is a great time to prep and make your cauliflower mash.

After your meat mix is done, then pour it into a casserole dish or large pan of you choice and top with your mashed cauliflower ( I sprinkled mine with paprika for looks, but it's not necessary).  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes and then turn the heat up to broil and broil until the top is nicely browned.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, serve and enjoy.

Ready for the oven.

*Note:  you could easily up the veggie amount on this, however, since it's topped with cauliflower I tried to keep the carb content down a bit.

Mashed Cauliflower, if you have a recipe you like for mashed Cauliflower you can just use that.
This is just a suggestion:

3 heads of cauliflower florets removed 
Beef Broth
4 roasted garlic cloves (optional) (really easy to make homemade)
Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Steam  your Cauliflower until it's nice and soft, then just throw it into the bowl on your Food Processor, along with a little beef broth, salt and pepper (and garlic if you'd like).  Hit the button and puree until it's your desired consistency.  Delish!

*I have to apologize for the fact I didn't get any pictures of this dished up, it was devoured and given a thumbs up by everyone.  I got it on the table and ran out the door to the 6:30 workout at the box, and by the time I got home the kids had polished it off, not even a crumb left! *

Fresh and hot from the oven, ready to eat.

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Deals of the week

Did my grocery shopping yesterday, here is what I found.

GROCERY OUTLET:

Simply Good Chicken Sausage, sun-dried tomato and basil (12 oz package) $3.49

Woodstock farms Organic Applesauce (flavors are: Blueberry, mango, raspberry) 24 oz.  $1.69

Gertie's Artichoke Tapenade 19.4 oz $3.99

Frozen Peaches 2 pound bag for $1.99

Alessi Pasta Sauce, FraDiavolo (good for seafood ) 24 oz $2.49


EUREKA NATURAL FOODS:

 Rocky jr. Natural Chicken, Vegetarian Fed, NO antibiotics or growth stimulants, Whole Chicken Fryers are just $0.99 per pound

Unsweetened So Delicious Coconut milk from the cooler, half gallon. $3.29

Coconut Water Amy and Brian $1.39 per can Pin It

Back Home!

Meredith and I are back from our weekend of Nutrition training!  What an awesome weekend!  We got to meet  and talk with so many people!  We met Robb Wolf and Sarah Fragoso (Everyday Paleo and NorCal trainer) and had some very helpful conversations with them (oh, and Melissa and Dallas Hartwig, Whole 9) regarding training and nutrition.  

We are moving the Box tomorrow so it's crazy busy, but one little tidbit I will throw out there is to make sure you are getting lot's of protein (nearly 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight).  And a warning not to start your day out with fruit, it sets you up for sugar cravings all day!  Instead eat your eggs and bacon or leftovers from last night.

There will be a ton more information in the next couple of weeks, look for some Our Thoughts articles.

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Fried Apples

I made Sarah Fragoso's Fried Apples this morning, so simple but delicious.  The kids put them on top of paleo pancakes and I made an egg white crepe of sorts to wrap mine and topped it with applesauce.  I am going to tinker with the crepe recipe and then post it on here later.  Enjoy, it's it fun tasty treat!

Everyday Paleo's Fried Apples

3-4 small organic apples, thinly sliced
2 TBSP coconut oil
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 TBSP Cinnamon
2 TBSP Full Fat Coconut milk (I actually added a tad more)


Peel, core and slice your apples.  Melt your coconut oil in a medium skillet over med heat, add the apples and saute for 5 minutes or until the apples start to soften.  Add the raisins and cook 2-3 minutes.  Add cinnamon and mix well, then add the coconut milk and mix again.  Serve warm.  Serves 4


http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/02/25/sausage-n-cabbage-noodles-with-fried-apples/ Pin It

My Favorite Bargains This Week

Grocery Outlet, Eureka:

North Coast Organic Apple Sauce with Berries 24 ounce (1 lb. 8 oz) $1.29 

Eden Organic Sauerkraut 32 ounce (2 lbs) $2.99 - the only ingredients in this product are the following Organic Cabbage, Water and Sea Salt


 Live Butter Lettuce $2.99

Glacier Foods Freestone Frozen Peaches 2 lbs $1.99

Eureka Natural Foods: 

Beelers 2 pound Bacon with No Nitrates, No Nitrites or other icky stuff, $11.99 

Organic Braeburn Apples   $0.89 per pound 

Organic Fuji Apples of all sizes, tiny to big  $1.19 per pound 

Organic Cauliflower $1.49 per pound ( although this is considered a clean veggie, I like to buy organic when I can and the price is comparable if not cheaper than non-organic right now) 

Costco:

Organic Fresh Blueberries From Chile $6.49  for 24 ounces

Organic Frozen Blueberries $10.99 for 3 lbs

Brussels Sprouts  2 lbs $3.79 Pin It

Italian Summer Squash

4-5 very large yellow summer squash, cut into strips ( I cut them in half and then into strips because they were so large)

2 yellow onions thinly sliced (or any onion of your choice)

2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp basil

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

olive oil

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and cook unti tender.  Then add the tomatoes, , squash and remaining ingredients and simmer covered over low heat until squash is done to your liking.  Stir occasionally while it is cooking and don't forget to remove the bay leaves before serving. Pin It

Dinner in a Hurry!

Last night was one of those scrounge and throw it in a pot dinners, today is grocery shopping day so the night before can be a bit scarce.  Funny thing is it ended up being the best soup ever!  It got high fives from all the kids and that is a hard thing to do.  Unfortunately I didn't' keep track of amounts on my ingredients.  But after it was such a success, I sat down with my oldest daughter and we tried to recall everything that went into that pot so we can try to recreate it.  If we succeed you will definitely see it here. 
 Here is a list of the ingredients, the base was actually leftover Italian style yellow squash (which is yellow squash with onions, basil and canned tomatoes).  I will post that recipe right after I finish this post.

Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soup

This makes a huge stock pot of soup, we had some leftovers which the kids were happy about.  Lunch for them today!

3 boxes of chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
4 scallions chopped
1/2 red onion chopped
1 leftover batch of Italian Yellow Squash
3 pounds of Turkey Sausage Homemade Breakfast sausage
2 small bunches of Kale chopped
2-3 large handfuls of spinach chopped
Basil
1 tsp minced garlic
garlic powder
Onion powder
Pepper
1/2 tsp red Pepper flakes
2-3 mini yellow peppers
2-3 mini red peppers
fresh parsley chopped ( close to a cup)
Chopped Carrots
6 slices of Bacon Chopped and fried (I did this first and then cooked the turkey sausage in the grease)
Broccoli chopped (small amount)
entire bunch of  celery including leaves chopped


Combine and simmer until done, yummy!  Like I said if I succeed at re-creating this I will post a more exact recipe later.



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