Author Archives: ebchr

Feeling thankful..

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It’s been an amazing year. Baby Anders joined our family and he is a sweet, happy, easy going boy. Ava is such a dear, loving big sister. And then there’s Adam who is my rock and love.

Cooking (or just figuring out what food to put on the table) used to be super stressful for me because I would come home every day and have “NO IDEA what to make for dinner.” So I started a food blog to create an arsenal of recipes to have at my fingertips. Over time I built a quick list of go-to dinners, and much more. Dinners no longer seem quite as daunting.. I had to learn to be much more creative when I discovered gluten intolerance, and paleo inspired meals have become a big part of our lifestyle.

Lauren took this of Anders when he was 8 days old!

Lauren took this of Anders when he was 8 days old!

My latest obsession is food photography (which often takes place with one of the munchkins in my arms). I’m still working on my fashion photography which is just a little harder between (lack of) daylight hours and hands being free, but I am thankful for the creative partnership with Lauren through this blog!

It’s been big year for me outside of the home as well, as I joined a new, global team about a year ago, and am in an intense but gratifying role and work with wonderful and brilliant people every day.

So yeah, there’s a lot to be thankful for, I think about that every day, but wanted to take a moment to blog about it too during this holiday season.

dit-elle-Esther

Carmelized Onion Tart

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This is a delicious onion tart. Not quite paleo with the dairy, but great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Blog oniontart1 Blog oniontart2

Ingredients

  • 3 onions
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, half’n’half, milk or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup Swiss or cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  • Melt butter in large frying pan
  • Thinly slice onions by running them through the food processor on the slicer blade (takes <60 seconds)
  • Saute onions in butter for 30 mins on medium heat, stirring once in a while, until onions are translucent, soft, and started to brown and caramelize
  • If they have not started to brown, turn up heat and caramelize them a bit, stirring so as not to let them burn
  • While onions are cooking, whisk eggs and milk or yogurt
  • Cover glass pie pan with cooking spray, add onions, cheese, and pour egg/milk mixture evenly over it
  • Bake for 30 minutes on 350* or until golden brown around edges, bubbly and hot
  • Serve warm, great paired with soup and salad!

dit-elle-Esther

Spicy Pork and Sweet Potato Stew

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This is a wonderful hearty fall stew. Serve with a crisp apple cider!Blog spicyporkstew

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp high-heat oil like coconut
  • 1-2 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork loin, cut into 1″ cubes
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsps. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus 2 Tbsps adobo sauce (look for gluten free as some adobo sauces have wheat as an ingredient)
  • salt/pepper, to taste
  • 1 (12 oz) bottle beer
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 large sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
  • Top with fresh cilantro and sour cream

Directions

  • Heat oil in large heavy pot over medium-high heat
  • Brown the pork and transfer to a bowl and set aside
  • Reduce the heat and add onion and cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pot, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes
  • Add the garlic
  • Add reserved pork, cumin, coriander, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, salt and pepper, stir to combine
  • Pour in beer and chicken stock and bring to a boil
  • Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for an hour, stirring occasionally
  • After 1 hour, add sweet potatoes and simmer until pork is tender and potatoes are cooked through, ~30 minutes or so
  • Serve with cilantro and sour cream (or omit sour cream and add avocado as a paleo option)

dit-elle-Esther

Spiced Honey Almonds

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A great snack for the holidays – or anytime really! 🙂Blog honeyalmonds

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1/2 Tbsp butter
  • 3/4 tsp garam masala (find in bulk section)
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup raw almonds

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Melt honey, butter, garam masala, sesame seeds and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat
  • Add almonds and stir to coat
  • Spread mixture on the baking sheet in a single layer
  • Bake for 10 mins, cool and serve or store in an airtight container for ~4 days

These store well in an air tight container for up to 4 days.

dit-elle-Esther

Pumpkin Bread Bars

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Perfect fall treats! Serve warm or cold, eat them as dessert or breakfast or a snack on the go. Inspired by Elana’s Pantry, these are delicious pumpkin ‘bread bars’! I call these pumpkin bread bars, because they are a sort of cross between bread and bars. I used raisins, but you could use chocolate chips (and or chopped nuts) as an other yummy variation! 🙂Blog pumpkinpaleobread3 blog pumpkinpaleobread2 Blog pumpkinpaleobread1

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup coconut flour (1/3 cup is NOT a typo 🙂 – coconut flour is very different than wheat)
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup fresh roasted pumpkin or winter squash (I used acorn squash – excellent)
  • ⅓ cup honey or agave syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • ½ cup raisins or chocolate chunks

Directions

  1. In a food processor, combine dry ingredients
  2. Pulse in eggs, pumpkin, honey and oil until well combined
  3. Stir in raisins or chocolate chips by hand
  4. Transfer batter to an 8 x 8 inch baking dish or a pie dish
  5. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes
  6. Cool and serve

dit-elle-Esther

Tzatziki Sauce

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This is a no frills, super easy, super yummy tzatziki sauce! Serve with fresh cut veggies as an appetizer, as a dressing for gyros, lamburgers or Greek salad. Any recipe that can be made in a food processor is a winner in my book!blog tzatziki1

Ingredients

  • 1 8oz container of Greek yogurt
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, peeled & diced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Splash of lemon juice
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or dry)
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Salt / pepper to taste

Directions

  • Put everything in a blender
  • Process until well combined
  • Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate
  • Let flavors meld for at least an hour for best taste

This Tzatziki sauce is not quite as thick as some recipes – I saved a few steps by NOT pressing water out of chopped cucumber or de-seeding it, but it tasted great!

dit-elle-Esther

French Onion Soup

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French Onion Soup.. mmm, a classic, hearty fall soup. Dress it up with some protein or serve as is. Of course some toasted baguette and melted cheese would be amazing!

Blog frenchonionsoup

blog frenchonionsoup_venison

Add some protein to make this an even heartier meal (shown here with grilled and sliced venison).

Ingredients

  • 8-10 onions
  • Butter or other fat
  • One quart of beef stock
  • Splash of sherry (optional)
  • Sprigs of fresh thyme
  • Garnish with gruyere or cheddar cheese (if not paleo)

Directions

  1. Melt butter in large soup pot
  2. Thinly slice the onions (using the slicer blade on a food processor works well!) and add to pot
  3. Let onions sauté over low-medium heat until they start to sweat
  4. Cover the pan with a lid and saute for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes
  5. The onions will turn golden brown and while the bottom of the pan may be a dark caramel, make sure it doesn’t burn
  6. Add some sherry or stock if you are skipping the sherry and use this to deglaze the pan
  7. Add rest of stock and bring to a boil
  8. Let cool a bit and ladle soup into bowls, topping with cheese and some fresh thyme

dit-elle-Esther

Star Cookies

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Inspired by Elana’s Pantry, these Star (and Moon!) Cookies are a fun fall treat. I went to a Waldorf school a long time ago in a far away land.. and sun, moon and star cookies were an autumn tradition as part of the Moon Lantern Festival, which I’ll blog about another day. In the meantime, enjoy these high protein, not too sweet cookies.blog starcookies2

blog starcookies1

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
  • small dash of sea salt
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 5 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

  • In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients
  • In a smaller bowl, mix together coconut oil, agave and vanilla
  • Mix wet ingredients into dry, then chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour (or overnight worked as well)
  • Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until ¼ inch thick
  • Remove top piece of parchment paper and cut out cookies with a small star cutter
  • Using a metal spatula, place stars on a parchment lined baking sheet
  • Bake at 350° until lightly browned around the edges, 5-8 minutes
  • Cool completely prior to handling cookies

Super mom tip: these are great as a frozen treat and thaw quickly in room temperature for a few minutes! They are a nice high-protein/low-glycemic snack for little tummies.

dit-elle-Esther

Classic pumpkin pie

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So it wouldn’t be fall without pumpkin pie and I couldn’t wait till Thanksgiving to try out a gluten free (GF) version of this traditional pie! I made some minor tweaks to the classic Libby’s Pumpkin Pie recipe (the one on the back of the cans) and it turned out great! First, I substituted a gluten free (GF) crust and second, I used coconut palm sugar (1:1 ratio to regular white sugar) since that’s what I had in the house. The pie was a little darker in color, but it was EXCELLENT!

Blog pumpkinpie1 Blog pumpkinpie2

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar (I used coconut palm sugar – which has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar cane sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 can (15 oz) 100% pure pumpkin
  • 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
  • 1 unbaked 9″ deep-dish pie shell (I used a gluten free pie crust from Wholly Wholesome)

Directions

  • Mix sugar, salt, spices in a small bowl
  • Beat eggs in a large bowl and stir in pumpkin and sugar/spice mixture
  • Gradually stir in evaporated milk
  • Pour into pie shell
  • Bake in preheated 425* oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350* and bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean
  • Cool n wire rack for 2 hours.
  • Serve immediately or refrigerate
  • Top with whipped cream! 🙂

Super mom tip: Don’t keep that many spices stocked? Save a step and use 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon/ginger/cloves.

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo BBQ pork in the crock pot

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BBQ pork is one of the few recipes that does very well in the crock pot. Pair with *polenta (or riced cauliflower for a paleo alternative) and some sautéed spinach or steamed broccoli.

Blog pulledporkmeal1 Blog pulledporkmeal2

Ingredients

  • 2 pork loins
  • 1 onion, sliced in rings
  • 2 c ketchup (or contents of a 24 oz bottle) – HFCS/sugar free
  • 1/2 warm water
  • 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar (optional and omit if paleo)
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
  • 1 tsp Tabasco sauce (optional)
  • salt as needed

Directions: place meat into the stoneware with onion rings. Stir ketchup, warm water, vinegar, sugar, and sauces. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with fork.

*Nothing says comfort food like polenta! Especially with parmesan cheese. So not paleo, but so yummy. Polenta is super easy to make. 1 cup polenta to 3-4 cups water, a dash of salt, bring to boil, constantly stirring, simmer for 20-30 minutes or so. At end whisk in some olive oil or butter and parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Love BBQ pork and want more recipes to try? Lauren posted an awesome looking Pulled Pork Sandwiches recipe as well!

Super mom tip: You guessed it – BBQ pork freezes well. Polenta does NOT though! 🙂

dit-elle-Esther