I made dinner and the papparazzi forgot to show up.

As I posted earlier this week, the mister and me are participating a nutrition challenge for 30 days (September 16 - October 16).  Since we've moved away from gluten and legumes, many of our dinners have seen an increase in meats and greens.  It felt like I haven't made an all-vegetarian dinner for some time, so I did on this night.  I also had a smattering of foods that I half-prepped over the weekend and wanted to use:
- mushrooms from Oley Valley Mushrooms
- sweet potatoes from the LFFC CSA share
- chard from the raised beds
- beets from the raised beds (I harvested all of them on Sunday--see below and roasted them whole for later use)

So, this evening I decided to get creative. While sweet potatoes were wrapped in foil in the toaster oven and cooking, I began prepping the rest of dinner--scrubbing and cutting the mushrooms, removing the peels from the beets (it was super easy after roasting them the day before), and the mister helped me by chopping and rinsing the chard. 

I grabbed my two Le Creuset pans (the frying pan and the large sauté pan).  In both, I put about a teaspoon of ghee.  In essence, ghee is clarified butter; baked slow and low so that the milk solids are removed from the butter.  It is incredible to cook with and does not have the oxidization that occurs when heating EVOO to high temps.  

In the frying pan, I added the mushrooms and allowed them to cook on low until they were nice and browned.  It takes 10 minutes or so. 

In the large sauté pan, I added some sage to the melted ghee and let those flavors mix for a minute. Then, I added some chopped walnuts to toast them (let the walnuts get warm for about 2-3 minutes).  From there, I added 4 or 5 large beets (chopped into 1" pieces) and let them warm through.  At that point, I topped the pan with chard and put the lid on to wilt the greens.  After 5 minutes, I grabbed my silicone spatula and made sure to mix the beets and greens.  Once the greens were wilted, I was ready to put everything on our plates.  

We ate the mushrooms separately with just a touch of salt and pepper. They were divine!  I got more creative with the second half of the dinner -- and warned the mister that I was doing so.  I took the sweet potato out of the toaster oven, removed the skins, and mashed it in my bowl.  I then topped the sweet potatoes with the beet/chard/walnut mixture and added a dash of EVOO.  It was a terrific mixture of flavors and the mister followed suit and prepared his plate the same way.  

Problem is, I never took a picture of our dinner. The paparazzi were slacking this evening.  I will likely make this dinner again and promise to post a picture.  

Dinner was gluten-free and vegetarian. A quick swap of EVOO for the ghee would make this dinner vegan. 

Totally not local...but not every meal can be that way.

So, even though I call myself the Local Food Lady, we all know that I don't eat local 100% of the time!  The main crux of doing this blog and writing about my food choices is to strive for local foods. There are plenty of items that I haven't looked for locally (quinoa is a good example) or that I know definitively aren't grown locally (hello morning coffee!!). 

The mister and me are participating in a nutrition challenge at our gym.  He's following the Paleo diet and I have opted to eliminate sugar and gluten from my food sources. So, since I prepare most of the meals in the household, my dinners will be paleo, but my breakfast and lunches will not.

In essence, the difference between our two nutrition challenge choices is that I am continuing to eat: dairy, oatmeal, legumes, fruits (raw, cooked and dried) and gluten-free starches (like quinoa).  I'm also having a tiny, tiny bit of local, raw honey in limited dishes like my morning oatmeal. People who embrace the Paleo diet as a lifestyle choice will incorporate honey or maple syrup on a minimal basis, but the mister is attempting to avoid these sweeteners completely.

Also, anything that comes from a box or is packaged should have 5 grams or less of sugar per serving and should note "gluten free" on the label.

What's the reason behind this?  1) it's a challenge and 2) let's see what kind of impact these changes have on my body.  Over the last few months, I realized that I was relying on flour-based starches too often for dinners (hello pasta!) and if I saw a pizza on a menu, I was jumping to try it.  So, I began to scale back on the pasta and pizza dough, and have begun to remember that when dining out, a salad with lean proteins is a smarter option in lieu of a pulled pork sandwich doused in bbq sauce. 

What is the biggest challenge for me?  Beer!  I'm a big fan--beer geek, is a better term--of microbreweries (our local one, specifically) and the mister and me have an entire refrigerator in our basement dedicated to our love of beer.

I completely eliminated the 2 Splenda that I would put in my 20 ounce coffee and eliminated my secret stash of small chocolates. Instead, I'm drinking my coffee with half-n-half and opted for 85% dark chocolate that has 1g sugar per 1" square.  That said, I was in the mood to create a Paleo-friendly dessert that incorporated my favorite flavor--chocolate! 

I came upon a recipe for Paleo Chocolate Pudding. Hmmm...wondering how this would work out. As you know, I am inspired by recipes and rarely follow them to a T. This is what I used for my puddin':

- 4 very, very ripe avocados (it helped they were already chilled in the refrigerator)
- 1/4 cup of Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup buckwheat honey (it's dark like molasses)
- 3 tbs. creamy almond butter (unsweetened)
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. bourbon vanilla extract (you can use any extract you wish--almond, mocha, mint)
- spices: nutmeg, cinnamon

I tossed it all in the Cuisinart and and it came out looking just like pudding.  I tasted it and could not believe how AWESOME it was. It was the consistency of incredible fudge. I even went so far as to walk upstairs to the mister with a spoon and said, "ok, there's some honey in this, but you MUST try it!"  I think the Hershey's Special Dark was the slam dunk.

I packaged it up in individual servings for my lunch this week.  I cannot wait to make this again.  The only local ingredient on the list was the buckwheat honey. Even though we are 75 miles from Hershey, PA, I  don't think Hershey's cocoa powder counts.

Next time, I'll probably add some fresh mint from the garden (2nd local ingredient!) and give it a mint chocolate chip flavor. 

Not only is this Paleo-friendly, but it's vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free and the only product that is not vegan-friendly is the honey (I'm not opening that beehive here). 

Paleo-friendly puddin'

Snacks!?! Why not!

So, I had a plethora of kale in my garden this year. Yes, a ton of it. It's still growing and was one of my most successful crops from the raised beds. I even planted more for the cooler fall temps.  

My go-to kale dish usually involves garlic and EVOO and is sautéed . It's not too inventive, but I know what I like. 

This weekend, we had some more fall-like temps and my Instagram and Facebook feeds were filled with images of fall-inspired creations.  One I hadn't tried before were kale chips!  

So, on the first day of fall, I grabbed that excellent kale and got to work.  Here's what happened:

Preheat the oven to 300°. While the oven is warming, grab some cookie sheets and cover with parchment paper.  

I had a 1 gallon Ziploc bag stuffed with pre-washed and de-stemmed kale, so I was already ahead of the game.  I put about half the bag in a large bowl and drizzled with olive oil. From there, I added some garlic sea salt and make sure to get all of the leaves coated with the olive oil.   

With the other half of the kale, I dusted it with Chipotle Chili Powder.

Both sheets went into the oven for about 20 minutes.  They weren't quite done, so I let them cook for another 5 minutes and then swapped the locations of the cookie sheets in the ovens for another 5 minutes (total of 30 minutes in the oven). I removed the cookie sheets and then let the kale chips cool for a few minutes. 

The house smelled so good and I was looking forward to trying these chips as soon as they cooled. I was so looking forward to trying these that I ended up hovering over the stove as I "sampled" several chips...over and over again until there were just a few servings left for storing!  

Lessons learned: try turning up the heat to 325° to reduce cooking time; do NOT overcoat the kale, as it will take longer to cook (I think I used a little bit too much and will reduce my EVOO next time); get creative with the spices/herbs that you use! 

There's something awesome about double chocolate cookies.

So, as I have said before, the mister and me are doing a nutrition challenge. We are on day 14 right now. One big thing I'm missing is beer, but also I have had a craving for something sweet. Since we are avoiding sugar, even a teeny bit of honey (I'm talking a droplet) is enough.  It's amazing how the palate will change when you eliminate something from it. 

Yesterday evening, I decided to indulge that sweet craving and make some double chocolate chip cookies.  

• 1 and 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• scant 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 c. buckwheat honey (you can use regular honey)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips - I used "Enjoy Life Mega Chunks"

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat egg, honey, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
5. Melt coconut oil, pour into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
6. The mega chunks are a little too big, so I suggest chopping them first.  Stir in chocolate chunks.
7. On a parchment lined cookie sheet, create balls of cookie dough, about a tablespoon in size. Give them a little thumb print because they won't spread out like normal cookies.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

They were incredible with some almond milk.  Enjoy!!

Lamb meatballs with Moroccan-inspired stew

I am lucky to have regular access to Philadelphia's renowned Reading Terminal Market.  A new booth opened up over the summer--Border Springs Farm--and it specializes in pasture-raised lamb. They have both prepared foods and items from the butcher. I opted for a pound of ground lamb to take home and create something.  Other than making the occasional lamb burger, I rarely cook with lamb.  The good news is that it cooks at the same rate as ground beef.

The mister and I are participating in a 30 day nutrition challenge.  I'm avoiding gluten and sugar; he's doing the same, and he's also avoiding dairy. The focus of this challenge is to build a diet mostly of leafy greens and veggies (limited starches) and proteins.  

So, I scoured my many cookbooks looking for a ground lamb recipe. There were many lamb-based dishes, but few with ground lamb.  I came upon one for grilled lamb pops and decided to use this as a good starting point.  If you are a regular reader, you know that I rarely follow recipes to a T. Rather, I use them as an inspiration for a meal. 

We also had an abundance of sweet potatoes from our CSA and a never ending supply of tomatoes from our garden at home. I wanted to get them cooked up soon before they got soft and wilty.  So, I came upon another recipe for a Moroccan-flavored stew.  Here goes...

Grab two large pots. I used my Le Creuset wide  pan and the Dutch oven and put both on the stove top with a slice of bacon diced in each as well as some onions.  While these were warming up on the stove (slowly!), I began assembling the lamb meatballs. 

Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. walnut meal (in place of breadcrumbs)
- garlic clove, smashed and diced
- chopped fresh herbs: mint, parsley, cilantro
- salt, pepper

Mix well with your hands and form into 1" balls.  Add to pan and cook on low/medium heat, moving around the pan until semi-firm (about 20 min). 

While the meatballs are cooking, begin work on the stew. Once done (about 20 minutes), turn off the heat and allow the meatballs to rest in the pan.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 c. onion diced

- 3 stalks of celery, diced (not in the original recipe, but I used them because I had them)
- 2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cut in 1" pieces (the recipe originally called for butternut squash, but I substituted this) 

- 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes 

- as many fresh cherry tomatoes as you wish

- 2 cups water (again, another substitution--original called for chicken broth and I had none)

- generous handful of raisins -- I used golden raisins

- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon cardamom 

- 1/8 teaspoon clove

We've already began cooking one slice of bacon and onions as we were preparing the meatballs.  This is now nicely oily and the onions are translucent.  Add the celery and sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.  Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and add 2 cups of water.  Allow this to come to a boil and then simmer (with the lid on) for 20-30 minutes.  Begin to check the sweet potatoes for done-ness.  If they are still tough, continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so.  Add the raisins, garlic and all spices.  Transfer the meatballs and some pan fat to the stew.  Let the flavors mix for 10-15 minutes.  The stew will be brothy.  If you prefer a thicker stew, take the lid off and allow some liquid to cook off.  

Serve over pureed sweet potatoes (about 1/2 cup) or couscous.

Tomatoes and sweet potatoes simmering in the pot

Lamb meatballs added

As plated