Biscuits and Gravy is easily one of my most missed foods since going Gluten Free/Paleo.  Long ago, I bookmarked the recipe in Paleo Comfort Foods for Biscuits and Gravy, but I just hadn’t ever gotten around to making them.  Somehow, I had got it in my head that it would be quite a process.  Last week, Juli over at PaleOMG posted her version of Bs&Gs and it started up those cravings again.

Ultimately, I ended up using a couple of different recipes for inspiration and then doing my own thing.  (Adding a bag of baby greens to the sausage gravy was a yummy addition, but feel free to leave it out if you aren’t as veggie loving as we are.)

Biscuits:

I used the biscuit recipe right out of Paleo Comfort foods (Basic Biscuits, p.108).  I don’t feel comfortable sharing it, as the Paleo Comfort Foods folks haven’t share it on their website, but I found two websites that give the recipe here & here.  These biscuits turned out nicely, but I am not finished searching for a good paleo biscuit recipe.  There are a few others I would like to try:

• Elana’s Pantry – Biscuits
• Paleo Spirit – Coconut Flour Paleo Biscuits
• PaleOMG – Bacon and Chive Sweet Potato Biscuits

Gravy:

• 2 lbs ground pork (or a mix of beef and pork)
• 2 Tbsp Penzey’s Breakfast Sausage Seasoning
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp almond butter
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp paprika
• bag of baby greens (optional)
• (chicken broth or more coconut milk to thin gravy, if needed)

1. In a bowl, mix ground pork with Breakfast Sausage Seasoning.
2. Saute seasoned meat in a skillet until completely cooked.  Remove meat from pan, leaving as much of the drippings as possible.
3. Add almond butter to drippings and mix with whisk.
4. Add can of coconut milk, sage & paprika.  Bring to medium heat, stirring constantly.
5. Add ground pork & mixed greens to gravy.  Stir until combined.  Cook over low heat until gravy reaches the thickness you desire.  (It shouldn’t take much.) Add more coconut milk or chicken broth to thin the gravy if needed.

Notes:

• Use any biscuit recipe you wish.  Honestly, this stuff would be delicious on its own, over spaghetti squash or sweet potato hash.  Go crazy!
• Penzey’s Breakfast Sausage Seasoning is the BOMB! Feel free to use your own, but I promise this stuff is amazing.  I actually made this recipe with 1 lb ground pork and 1 lb ground beef.  It is easier for me to find grass-fed beef than pastured pork, and this isn’t the first time that I have made “sausage” out of beef.  The Penzey’s seasoning does all the work!
• Make a big batch. Double this recipe.   The hubby and I were fighting over the leftovers the morning after.
• Also, the hubby and my little guy like hard boiled eggs over the top of their Bs&Gs. Luckily, I always have a few of those on hand for snacks.

Keeping It Real:

You know my picky eater? This is what her plate looked like:

Harper’s Plate

It only took me a few minutes to cook a few patties so that she could eat her sausage separately   She also packed it in her lunch the next day.  I hated gravy as a kid, too.  She will soon enough learn the error in her ways!

This was my contribution to both our Paleo Thanksgiving and my family ‘Thanksgiving dinner.  I had several non-Paleo family members ask for the recipe, so in my mind that makes it a winner.  I would eat this dish anytime, but it is especially suited for holiday gatherings.  This recipe can also be tweaked quite a bit after you get the hang of it & it doesn’t have any strange ingredients, so I think it is a great one, even for someone who isn’t that comfortable in the kitchen.

This recipe is based off the Brussels Sprouts Slaw recipe that is in Paleo Comfort Foods.  This is my favorite cookbook to go through when trying to find ideas to serve my non-Paleo family.  I grew up in the Midwest on a farm, so although we aren’t Southern our preferred style of food is Home Cookin’.   This particular cookbook is the closest in style to how I grew up cooking and eating. (Paleo Biscuits & Gravy, anyone?) It is a cookbook that is worth your bookshelf space.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Bacon & Cranberry Salad

• 1/2  lb bacon, cooked and crumbled into small pieces (Maybe more? More bacon is always good, right?)
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard (Grey Poupon or Trader Joe’s Whole Grain Dijon Mustard)
• 4-5 Tbsp vinegar (apple cider or fruit infused vinegar work well here)
• 1/4 cup olive oil + 2-3 Tbsps for roasting
• pepper to taste
• 1-2 lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Variations:

• You can saute the Brussels Sprouts in the bacon drippings if you wish.  The original recipe is written like that, but after making it several times, my sister & I agreed that we liked it better roasted on the baking sheet.
• You can play around with the mustard, vinegar & oils in the dressings.  As long as the amounts stay close to the same to keep the oil/acid ratio.  My favorite version was using Grey Poupon mustard, olive oil & a Balsam Pear vinegar that I had purchased for my Mom at a fancy oil & vinegar shop.  However, it turns out great when I just use Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar as well.  Lemon juice could be substituted for part of the vinegar.  I think that using a walnut oil in place of part of the olive oil would be yummy!
• If your family isn’t crazy about Brussels sprouts, this is where the more bacon thing comes in handy to win them over!
• Chopped apples, chopped apricots, toasted nuts & pomegranate seeds could also be added to this salad.
• Make it your own!
• This recipe is very easily doubled to take to a potluck.  Just requires more chopping!

Once a week, or sometimes every other week, I break down and unload my refrigerator and take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly.  I try to do it on days like today, when I am headed out of town.  We eat up leftovers that are still edible and dice up any veggies that didn’t get used and stick them in the freezer for later. All the jars and containers that had one last serving in them get washed or recycled.  A grocery list gets made and we have a pretty clean slate to start the next week.

With Facebook changing its policies in regards to pages, I am not for sure what percentage of my posts are actually seen by my PFP followers.  My blog is primarily recipes, but my FB page does sometimes share interesting research and articles that I think could be helpful.  I also could use a place to put those Paleo thoughts and Instagram images that aren’t really worthy of an individual post.

These posts may end up being a jumbled up mess, but bear with me.  Let me know what you think!

Articles of Interest:

I ran across this article on Twitter from Grist and I thought it had some really important points for people to think about:

•  ”I’m not, by the way, suggesting that women go home and cook; I’m suggesting that someone goes home to cook.”
•  ”I began this book under the assumption that the way to stretch meat farther was to pair it with grains and legumes. When you’ve got to pay for insulin out of your own pocket (which we do), suddenly grains and legumes, which spike insulin demand, don’t seem so cheap.”

Instagram Recap:

I roasted some Brussels sprouts and diced sweet potatoes to serve along with Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs for dinner one night this week.  I can’t tell you how much my husband and son LOVED THIS DISH!  I love my CrockPot, but you know you can do a whole dinner on a couple of cookie sheets in the oven and use the cooking time to finish homework with the kids, clean or do laundry.  It is pretty easy prep, clean-up and time efficient, too! Check out this recipe from Balanced Bites for some guidance on the bacon wrapped chicken.  I used a Krakow nights Polish Style Seasoning from Penzey’s instead of her smoky seasoning.

This is my attempt at Lemongrass Chicken from Nom Nom Paleo.  I cooked mine in a baking dish instead of the CrockPot.  It was awesome.  Lemongrass isn’t one of our usual ingredients, but I found some already chopped in the frozen section of our International Food Market and it seemed too easy.  My little boy LOVED it! It was a nice change of pace for us.

Have I mentioned how much I love to eat at HotPot Smoothie Shop? This is my takeout ($10) , enough for 2 meals! Bulgogi Beef with carrots, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms over roasted sweet potatoes in a Thai Green Curry Sauce.  They have been so welcoming of my Paleo ways and have made it easy to adapt their dishes.  So thankful for this addition to our neighborhood!

This is a quick meal that I put together using what was in the fridge.  We all devoured it (except for my picky eater, of course)! Elliot even woke up one morning and asked for the leftovers for breakfast.  Pork, Mushrooms and Kale in an Acorn Squash.  I cooked the acorn squash in the microwave (poke some holes in it first).  3 minutes at a time until I was sure it was done.  Slice in half.  Scoop out seeds.  Scoop out flesh and leave in the “bowl” so it easily mixes with other ingredients later.  Saute pork loin slices in coconut oil and seasonings. (I used Penzey’s Tsardust Memories.) Add kale and mushrooms and a couple splashes of apple cider.  Serve in the acorn squash bowls.  Elliot is already asking about when we can eat out of a squash again!

Final note: Caramel Vodka + apple cider + club soda is delicious.  My Paleo drink of the week.  Happy Fall!

Pictured above: Paleo Pork Cutlets in Dijon Cream Sauce served over Sweet Potato Noodles

I used to make something much like this, before Paleo.  The only real swap I had to make was canned coconut milk for heavy cream.  This is a really easy, very tasty and rich dish that only took a few minutes to make.

Sweet Potato Noodles: Not an original idea. Sometimes I use my ceramic peeler to take the skin off of my sweet potatoes.  I had thought about just peeling the entire sweet potato into noodles, I just hadn’t done it yet.  Then the other day I stumbled upon this post from The Civilized Caveman.  He beat me to it! His recipe for Sweet Potato Pasta sounds yummy. Sweet Potato noodles sauteed with sage, cinnamon & grass fed butter.  I think that sounds like an excellent side dish for many a meal.  He shares in the post that he got the idea from Ashley Tudor’s book, Sweet Potato Power.  I haven’t read it yet, but I think I might need to check it out.  I can always use more ideas for how to cook sweet potatoes, as they are one of the few sources of carbs in my diet.

I simply sauteed my sweet potato noodles in some coconut oil till they were tender, but not losing their shape.  Then I set them aside in a bowl and covered them to keep warm.  I didn’t season them at all because I wanted the leftovers to be versatile enough to eat for breakfast or lunch the next day.  This is going to be one of my new favorite ways to eat sweet potatoes.  All I needed was my handy $10 ceramic peeler!

Pork Cutlets in Dijon Cream Sauce

• 1 lb package of Pork Loin Cutlets
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup canned coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 2 or 3 handfuls baby spinach

1. Season pork cutlets with salt and pepper and cook in pan, about 2-3 minutes per side, depending on thickness of cutlets.
2. Remove from pan and cover to keep warm.
3. Whisk Dijon mustard and sage into coconut milk.
4. Pour into pan and throw in a couple of handfuls of raw baby spinach.
5. Stir to start wilting the spinach.
6. Add pork cutlets back to the pan and heat until sauce is warm, spinach is wilted.
7. Serve cutlets & sauce over sweet potato noodles.
8. This made enough for two adults, adjust quantities accordingly.

Variations:

• This sauce would also be delicious on chicken or fish!
• Add mushrooms!
• Switch out the cuts of pork, a pork chop or a tenderloin would be delicious.
• If you can handle dairy, try heavy cream in place of the coconut milk.  The coconut milk is delicious, though! Very rich tasting and there is no trace of a coconut flavor.  I almost fooled the hubby.

Pictured Above:  Roasted Broccoli, Butternut Squash Soup & Crockpot Pork Ribs

This was so easy and made the hubby so happy, I will be throwing it into the dinner rotation much more often.  (He was so blissfully happy with his ribs and bowl of soup that he completely forgot the small fortune I spent that afternoon at a Columbia sample sale.  Everything was a size Medium! My sister and I will be rocking new coats all winter.)

I was able to pick up some Todd Geisert Farm pork ribs at the Kirkwood Farmer’s Market this week.  My husband, like most men out there, loves ribs.  I don’t make them very often because they aren’t in my “comfort zone” of things to cook. I love using my Crockpot, especially when it comes to cuts of meat that I am not familiar with.  It is generally foolproof.  I did some looking onto my favorite recipe sites and found easy enough directions from The Clothes Make The Girl on cooking ribs in the Crockpot.

Her recipe was for 5 Spice Slow-Cooker Pork, which I am sure would be delicious!  However, Matt is not a fan of the 5 Spice.  He requested a dry-rub BBQ style rib, which normally I would also love, but I have been avoiding nightshades, so the peppers and the paprika were not an option for me.  (I realize that I am a huge pain in the rear right now, but it is temporary.)  I decided to just follow her lead, but using the spices that I had at home with the same amounts of liquid.

The result was AMAZING!

Once again, this isn’t a “recipe,” more of a loose framework for you to get inventive.  Do your own thing!  The ribs will be fall off the tender.  My hubby assumed that he would have to take them out of the Crockpot and throw them on the grill for a minute to get the crispy texture he liked, but he was surprised that they came out of the Crockpot crispy and perfect.

Crockpot Pork Ribs

• 3 lbs pork ribs (I think ours was closer to 2, but anything from 2-4 lbs should work)
• seasoning blend (I used Simply Organics Steak Seasoning)
• 2 Tbsp coconut aminos
• 1 Tbsp vinegar

1. Rub both sides of ribs with your chosen seasoning blend
2. Spray sides and bottom of your Crockpot with some olive or coconut oil
3. Add liquids to the Crockpot
4. Add ribs to the Crockpot
5. Cook on high for 6 or low for 8-10 hours

I thought I already had this “not-really-a-recipe” posted on my blog, but I can’t seem to find it, so here it is.  I am calling this dish “Weekly Sweet Potato Hash” because we eat it at least once a week.  Usually the night that we are scrambling around in a hurry.  I can have this ready in 20 minutes or so and almost always have the ingredients in the house.

Adapt this any way you want with whatever veggies you have in the fridge.  You can also take the spices a lot of different ways.  I really enjoy using Penzey’s Breakfast Sausage Seasoning or Tsardust Memories Seasoning for my hash.  A little garlic, sage and paprika also gives it a nice flavor.   Swap out the veggies, use ground sausage or pork instead of the links, or use bacon.

Weekly Sweet Potato Hash

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil/butter/bacon grease
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 package sausage (I used Trader Joe’s Sweet Apple)
• 2 Tbsp Tsardust Memories Seasoning (Penzeys)
• 1 -2  eggs per person

1. Saute sweet potato until tender.
2. Add cooked sausage, cut into coins.
3. Toss spinach in while the sausage heats up.
4. Season with desired seasonings.
5. Fry eggs over easy and serve over hash.

I like to cook my eggs separately and put them over hash on individual plates.  I usually have leftover hash, so I can pack it away in the fridge egg-free!

I wanted to give my readers a little peek into my kitchen.  Just like everybody else, I am pressed for time in the kitchen.  I do not use many processed foods, but I have a few things that verge on processed that I use regularly and don’t worry about too much.  Maybe you will pick up a helpful hint or two and find ways to save time in the kitchen.

Prechopped Veggies:

I have no issue purchasing prechopped vegetables.  (Brussels sprouts sliced are pictured above.)  I don’t always do it.  A lot of times it depends on where I am shopping that week.  They are a bit more expensive, but if that makes the difference between you eating them, and letting them rot in your crisper drawer, I say go for it! Trader Joe’s seems to always have some unique things available, but your local grocery has options.  Explore! I frequently pick up cole slaw, broccoli slaw, butternut squash (in season), cauliflower, carrots & broccoli already prepped and ready to go.

There is nothing wrong with frozen veggies either, so use them if you want. (Frozen chopped purple sweet potatoes pictured above.) I found them at a local International foods market.  I also found pureed purple sweet potatoes & chopped lemongrass in the frozen department.  The labels are clean with no additional ingredients! Yay!

Dehydrated/Freeze Dried Onions:

I use these onions (pictured in the canister above) from Thrive foods 90% of the time when I am cooking.  Onions are in nearly every recipe I make with meat and veggies and it just saves so much time to use this product.  I order this large container from Thrive, but you can get them at any grocery store or bulk food market.  Just read labels to be sure you are buying a clean version.  You simply throw the amount needed into some water and let them plump up a bit and they are ready to go.

Crushed Garlic:

Again, garlic is in most of my meat recipes so this is a big time saver.  This product from Trader Joe’s is one of my favorites, but this kind of thing can be found at most groceries.  Just check labels for icky ingredients.  This one has California garlic and citric acid.  I like that it comes in a small container and I quickly use it up, never have to worry about it going bad.

Ready to Eat Sausages:

I try to keep a couple of these sausages on hand for quick meals.  Again, Trader Joe’s has several different flavors available, but so do regular grocery stores.  Make sure to look for Gluten Free and no MSG, you may find some additional sweeteners.  These are great to slice up, heat and throw into a scramble, hash or salad.

Spice & Seasoning Blends:

I have said it before and I will say it over and over again: I LOVE PENZEY’S! (Tsardust Memories pictured above.)  They have a wonderful catalog and website.  Order from them, you won’t be sorry.  Some of my favorite seasoning blends include Tsardust Memories, Breakfast Sausage Seasoning & Greek Seasoning.  These are time savers because they are already premixed and perfect! You don’t have to grab 5 different bottles and measure out amounts when throwing together a 15 minute dinner.  There are plenty of these types of mixes on your supermarket shelves (Steak Seasoning pictured above), just make sure to read labels and be sure they don’t sneak anything dirty into them.

Those are some of my most used “cheats” to getting meals ready quickly, but with lots of flavor.

Tonight’s dinner included a few of my shortcuts: sliced Brussels sprouts, Smoked Chicken Chardonnay Apple Sausage  & Penzey’s Tsardust Seasoning.  No specific measurements, I just sauteed the sweet potatoes & apples in coconut oil till tender, added the Brussels sprouts, seasoned with Tsardust Seasoning and added the sausage.  The hubby grilled the sausages for a minute (along with some chicken breast for later in the week) while he watched the Rams game.

I won’t call this a recipe.  But, it was good.  An easy weeknight dinner.  This is truly what eating paleo is about: meat plus veggies.    So, not a recipe, but some guidance for how to make a weeknight paleo meal that is really easy. On a side note, the picture has 2 lettuce wraps.  Please understand that I ate 6, maybe 7.  Paleo is not about calorie counting or watching portions.  That takes care of itself.  You eat when you are hungry.  I was hungry. 

We used Boston Head Lettuce for our lettuce wraps, because it is our favorite.  But romaine or even iceburg work well.  Ideas for lettuce wrap fillings: lunchmeat (use lettuce instead of the bread), Asian style chicken or shrimp (think P.F. Chang’s), Mexican filled instead of taco shells, BLT’s (use bacon, tomato and avocado), or Greek seasoned beef/lamb with lemon/olive oil/kalamata olives and feta.  You are only limited by your imagination.  Hot fillings taste really good inside the crunchy, cold lettuce. 

Check the ingredients in your sausages, some have gluten.  Trader Joe’s has an amazing selection of different flavors that are all precooked, so you only have to saute them to warm them up.  It makes for an easy weeknight salad, soup or egg scramble.  I found these sausages at Local Harvest, it was an Apple Cinnamon flavor, locally farmed.  (Yum!)

Sausage Sweet Potato Lettuce Wraps

• 1 package sausage (I used a locally farmed apple/cinnamon sausage from Local Harvest)
• 1 large sweet potato, grated
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 head Boston Head Lettuce

1. Cook sausages according to directions.

2. Saute sweet potato in the coconut oil. Season with salt and pepper. 

3. Rinse lettuce and separate leaves onto a serving plate.

4. Fill lettuce leaves and eat!

Today has been a rough day with the boy. There were sweet highs and really low lows today.  We will blame it on the early Easter candy he has gotten into.  He can be just as sweet and funny as any kid. Then I realize that his NEW shorts are hanging off because he CUT OUT the resizable elastic band on the inside.  For an end to the day, he wrote his name in PERMANENT marker on the table.  It is a pretty new table, from Pottery Barn, that I waited 3 years to buy.  It is just up and to the left of the beautiful dinner arrangement I photographed tonight.  For obvious reasons I cropped it out of the photo.  There are 300 markers in this house and only 1 is permanent, but the odds are 100% of something like this happening.

This is a keeper recipe! I had pinned this (http://purelyprimal.com/2011/08/15/margarita-pork-chops/) recipe on Pinterest a while ago.  A few modifications and a Crockpot later, and it was one of the highlights to this very trying day! At least when I walked in after Crossfit, the house smelled amazing and it felt good knowing dinner was ready!

Margarita Pork Shoulder in the Crockpot

• 4 lb pork shoulder
• 4 limes, juiced
• 1 Tbsp crushed garlic
• 1 Tbsp oregano
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 6 Tbsp EVOO
• 6 Tbsp tequila
• 2-4 cups chicken or beef broth

1. Grease crockpot with coconut oil or olive oil for easy cleanup later.

2. Put pork shoulder in crockpot and rub with all the spices.

3. Use enough stock/broth to fill up to your crockpot “fill line.”

4. I cooked mine on high for 6 hours.

5.  Using 2 forks, shred the pork shoulder.

6.  Serve with limes, avocado, cilantro.  I made mine into lettuce wraps.

It is 80 degrees here in St Louis, the week before Spring Break.  Crazy. So a soup recipe seems like a weird choice, right?  I am actually playing catch-up.  I made this recipe a couple of months ago when my website was in “transition.” So, it was never offically posted.  I made it pretty step by step out of the Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals cookbook, since it was my first go ’round with a cream soup in a VERY long time.  Obviously, since this recipe includes butter and heavy cream, it is Primal and not Paleo.  Still delicious.

It caught my eye because my sister LOVES sauerkraut and it was the dead of winter and soup sounded good. And it was. Really, really, really good.  I wouldn’t eat this very often, very rich and creamy, but I will make it at least once every winter.  Next time, maybe I will even save some for my sister. 

Cream of Sausage and Sauerkraut Soup

• 2 Tbsp (pastured, if you can) butter
• 1/2 lb sausage, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup sauerkraut, drained
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup (organic, if you can) heavy cream
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

In a soup pot, cook sausage in 1 Tbsp of the butter until browned.  Remove from pot and set aside.

Add last Tbsp of butter and saute onion until soft. Add saurkraut and wine, cook over high heat for 5 minutes.

Turn down heat medium, add stock.  Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, add heavy cream and mustard.  Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until creamy.  Add sausage back to the soup. Taste, season with salt (probably NOT needed) and pepper.