Skinny Sausage Parmesan Stuffed Eggplant

Let's see, the hubby bought eggplants and Italian chicken (hot and mild) sausage brats...what to do? :) I reached out to pinterest, typed "eggplant chicken sausage" and found pages of wonderful recipes. I saved a couple of others to my "Recipe Bucket List-MAIN DISH" board for future use. This was surprisingly fairly easy to prepare-but make sure you plan to serve the meal no sooner than 2 hours after starting to prepare. I also splurged and purchased the pecorino romano from our local deli--well worth it. [The hubby doesn't tolerate peppers (i.e. red), so I omitted it :( ] The teenager, who has listed Italian as his top choice for cuisine, gave this dish a thumbs up. I doubled the recipe using 2 eggplants and a total of 4 brats and had 0 leftovers. :) I will likely make this one again, hopefully next time from our garden.

http://bakerbynature.com/skinny-sausage-parmesan-stuffed-eggplant/

Grilled Ribeye with Balsamic Caramelized Pears

"Stay dates" are our favorite--when we stay home, cook a fabulous meal and watch a movie. Saturday night, we picked out a couple of ribeyes and I had a couple of pears that were getting too ripe. So, I decided to google steak and pears and found this amazing recipe which I substituted for ribeye. I paired it with sweet potato fries and a glass of merlot. Rosemary rub on steak combined with carmelized onions and pears is so delicious!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/74140/grilled-pork-chops-with-balsamic-caramelized-pears/

Paleo Chicken Fingers

We love going to our local chain grocer "Sprouts". They have a monthly magazine with 4 recipes that I enjoy trying. Here's another one that was good, but not sure the teenager was quite sold. I had fun looking for almond meal (in the pay-by-the pound bins). It goes really well with baked potato wedges (seasoned with Shake-N-Bake), which of course keeps the meal from being paleo. Our household is not so much focused on strict this-or-that diet but the overall goal to eat healthier. Paleo gets us on that track. The food combinations and store ingredients tend to be ones that I would have never thought of or tried. 

1lb chicken tenders

1 egg beaten

1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground coriander seed

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1. Preheat oven to 425 deg F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. 

2. Combine almond meal with spices on a plate or shallow dish. Place beaten egg in a separate shallow dish. 

3. Dry chicken with paper towel. Dip in egg then dip in almond meal mixture, coating all sides. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken tenders are coated.

4. Bake for 16-18 minutes, turning once in the middle of baking, until completely cooked (interior temperature should read 180 deg F)

Paleo Chicken Pad Thai

We love going to our local chain grocer "Sprouts". They have a monthly magazine with 4 recipes that I enjoy trying. This one was very fun and easy. It was paleo for me, but the boys insisted on having rice (or noodles) to go with it. :) Cooking the chicken in the coconut oil was so delicious! I opted to sprinkle on the chopped cashews, cilantro and sriracha-so good. :)

1 1/2 lb chicken cut into 1" chunks

4-5 Tbsp coconut oil

5 cloves garlic chopped

3 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp aminos (soy sauce)

4 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 Tbsp apple-cider vinegar

5 Tbsp cilantro

4-5 green onions

1 12 oz pkg broccoli slaw

2 medium carrots julienned

2 Tbsp chopped cashews

Sriracha to taste

1. Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add oil and garlic, cook for about 1 minute.
2. Add chicken and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until lightly browned.
3. Add fish sauce, aminos, lime juice and vinegar. Cook at a rapid simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.
4. Add broccoli slaw and julienned carrot. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft but still firm, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Toss or garnish with green onion, cilantro, cashews and sriracha.

Artichoke, Leek, and Mushroom Ragout

Ok. Here's a recipe that, although it was delicious but I will likely never make again. Artichokes plain and simple are a lot of work to for the amount of reward (and price). I see why this dish was considered a holiday recipe--a special treat. Don't get me wrong, I think it is definitely something you should try at least once. I think I would probably just substitute the artichoke with another vegetable or meat or even pasta.

I only used 3 artichokes (for our small family), but kept everything else the same.

http://www.almanac.com/recipe/artichoke-leek-and-mushroom-ragout

Roast Leg of Lamb With Potatoes and Rutabaga

Rutabaga success! I was so delicious. Farmer's Almanac definitely has this combination figured out--the potatoes with the rutabaga and dijon mustard/garlic combo. Wow. I recommend serving additional dijon mustard as a condiment when serving. Instead of Leg of lamb, we had already purchased shanks and shoulder. The shoulder pieces were great; the hubby didn't care for the shanks--I figured out, texture is the same reason he doesn't like chicken livers (more shank for me haha). Once again, some great ideas for the farm and garden.

http://www.almanac.com/recipe/roast-leg-lamb-potatoes-and-rutabaga

Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

We had a wonderful Christmas with the hubby's son and daughter-in-law. The meal was traditional (menu posted in another blog). I had also purchased ingredients for many things on the Farmer's Almanac Holiday Recipes, so I've decided to go ahead and make them for our regular family meals for the next few weeks. This first one is pretty standard, although yellow beets and turnips aren't usually on my grocery list...not yet anyway. I am however learning what vegetables we should be growing in our garden. I also used my electric roaster to save energy. As we try to eat healthier, we lean towards a farmer's diet--minus the biscuits and gravy ;)

http://www.almanac.com/recipe/roasted-chicken-root-vegetables