Before I get to my chit chatting, I'm going to guess you saw "Giveaway" in the title and might want to cut straight to the chase. Here's the deal. I'm December's US Wellness Meats Featured Chef and we're running a contest together until December 10th (Woohoo!). Sign up to win ALL OF THIS STUFF from US Wellness Meats at the link below.
- 1 – 75% Lean Ground Beef – (1 lb pkg)
- 1 – 85% Lean Ground Beef – (1 lb pkg)
- 1 – Beef Liver – (1 lb)
- 1 – Organic Walnuts – (4 oz pkg)
- 2 – Beef Long Marrow Bones – (1.75 lb pkg)
- 1 – Beef Knuckle Bones – (8 oz pkg)
- 1 – Free Range Chicken Feet – (1 lb pkg)
- 1 – Organic Almonds – (6.5 oz pkg)
- 1 – Beef Liverwurst – (1 lb)
- 1 – Beef, Ground 55% Lean with Beef Heart – (1 lb pkg)
- 1 – Superfood Chicken Bone Broth – (20 oz)
HEALTHY HAPPY HOLIDAY FEATURED CHEF PRIZE PACK
In May of this year I decided to send an email to one of my favorite companies to tell them how much I love their products. I had just put in an order with them and was thinking how much easier they had made my life by making grass-fed meat and bones (for my broth!) so much more accessible (Why do I care about grass-fed? I explain here). Much to my surprise, they emailed me back thanking me, and also with a special request:
Would I be their featured chef for December?
Umm, YES! I thought. Is that a rhetorical question? At the time I was still only 5 months pregnant and had no idea how life would be for me come December.
When their marketing representative emailed me in November with a reminder — it was time for me to write my post — I may have had a heart attack. With a 6-week old baby who would not nap for more than 15 minutes, and me going on little to no sleep, how could I possibly find the time to write a post and create recipes for them? For the first time in my life, I truly understood what my readers mean when they tell me that they DO NOT HAVE TIME TO MAKE PALEO FOOD.
Before Charley arrived, I had only myself to take care of. I had no idea how much time I spent in the kitchen tinkering with recipes and making complicated meals until I didn't have it anymore.
I am now the proud parent to a beautiful, rambunctious, curious, curly-haired, smushy-faced 2-month old. I’m going to state the obvious here, but I am madly in love with her and I can’t imagine life without her in it now. As expected, my whole world has been turned upside-down and priorities look very different than they did just a few months ago.
Every waking moment is spent feeding her, changing her diapers, changing her (poopy, spit-uppy) clothes, tickling her, smiling with her, shhhh-ing her, rocking her, bouncing her, and loving on my Charley girl.
Come breakfast or lunch time, I’m waiting for just the right moment to throw something on a pan or in a bowl, and shove it down my (very hungry) throat. I’m not saying that I’m resorting to McDonald’s drive-thru runs or Lean Cuisines (no judgement if you do). I still put eating whole, unprocessed food very high on my list of priorities — not to mention that I’m breastfeeding which means what I eat, Charley eats. But what I needed was to simplify.
I pulled it together and got US Wellness Meats their recipes, using some of my favorites from past posts. In fact, their beef liverwurst was the perfect thing to work with because it literally takes no cooking at all, but gives me the nutrients of three different organ meats and it's DELICIOUS.
You can see the post here (eek, my head looks HUGE as the header). But this little exercise also made me think about the kind of cook I need to be at this time in my life. I can no longer be the spend-hours-in-the-kitchen type of cook. But that doesn't mean I have to stop cooking all together.
So I started taking all the last-minute recipe searching, marinade-ing, spice mixing, and time-intensive meals out of the equation. I finally realized that this is a time for fast food. Or at least, faster food. All I ask is that my meals are Paleo-ish, comforting, and satisfying. But they should all take 15 minutes or less to cook. I searched the interwebs looking for such a guide, but could not find one. So I created my own.
I give you…
My Paleo-Friendly Fast Food Cheat Sheet
PROTEINS:
Pork Chop or Loin
Cook Time: 5-8 minutes per side on the stove top (depending on how well done you like it)
Method:
- Season with Salt
- Turn pan to medium-high heat and let sizzle on side 1 for about 5 minutes
- Turn over and put temperature reader in pork until it reads 145 (medium rare) to 160 (well done).
- Let rest for 3 minutes before serving.
Optional: Before cooking, add Dijon mustard and sprinkle seasonings of choice (thyme, oregano, cumin, paprika, etc.) on top of sauce.
Ground Meats (Beef/Lamb/Chicken/Turkey/Pork/Bison)
Cook Time: 5-10 minutes depending on meat
- Heat pan on high until sizzling, and plop meat in pan (I usually avoid adding fat because it creates so much on its own)
- Add in seasonings (cumin, cayenne, chipotle powder, etc.) + salt, chop up into small chunks with spatula, turning over frequently; turn pan down to medium heat
- Cook until you no longer see pink; season to taste.
Fish
Cook Time: About 10 minutes (rule of thumb is to cook about 10 minutes per inch of fish, turning it halfway through cooking; internal temperature of 145 degrees
Method:
- Season your fish with salt and pepper (other seasonings welcome, such as dill, tarragon, cumin, parsley, basil, etc.)
- Heat your skillet over high heat, add fat of choice
- Lower heat before you plop fish on and let sizzle for 2-5 minutes per side (see rule of thumb above).
Yolky Eggs
Cook Time: 5-8 minutes
Method:
- Heat pan till sizzling and add fat of coice
- Crack egg over pan and let sizzle for approximately 3 minutes
- Sprinkle salt and cover pan with lid. TURN OFF burner and let sit for 2 minutes (I like my egg yolk runny, but let it sit longer if you want a more solid egg yolk)
Bone Broth
Cook Time: 2 minutes (re-heating)
Method:
- Re-heat homemade (see my recipe here) or store-bought broth on stove or in microwave
- Add leftover meat, chop up vegetables, wilt in spinach…or just drink it straight with a sprinkling of salt and seasonings of your choice
Liverwurst Sausage
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Method:
- Slice into thin circles and use it to top salads, eggs or crackers. No need to cook.
*Note: I recognize that this one is not easily available at most stores so I highly recommend ordering it from US Wellness Meats. All of their meat is grass-fed and finally gives us a way to get this incredibly nutrient-dense food into our diets easily and quickly. This Liverwurst is a mixture of grass-fed beef, liver, heart, and kidney. DAMN. That is a whole lotta healthy.
Sardines
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Method:
- Throw canned sardines with extra virgin olive oil (ideally, wild caught) on a big bowl of lettuce – I like this brand.
- Add chopped veggies (if you have time)
- Toss with lemon juice and sprinkle salt.
Smoked Salmon
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Method:
- Take it out of the package and toss it on a big plate of greens
- Toss with lemon juice and sprinkle salt.
VEGETABLES
Asparagus
Cook Time: 4-5 minutes
Method:
- Drizzle with avocado oil/ghee/coconut oil/olive oil
- Sprinkle with salt
- Put in oven at 425 for a quick flash of heat — just enough to get it hot and crunchy
Bed of Greens
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Method:
- Literally lay your protein over a bed or a big bowl of greens.
- Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice.
- Sprinkle salt. Done.
Broccolini (unlike broccoli, it's ready to cook – no chopping required)
Cook Time: 5-10 minutes
Method:
- Heat up large pan on medium-high heat, once it’s sizzling add fat of choice
- Toss in broccolini with plenty of room for them to breath
- Sprinkle with salt
- Stir fry on high heat until desired doneness (less time = more crunchy).
Baby Bok Choy
Cook Time: 2-3 minutes
Method:
- Slice baby bok choy into strips,
- Sauté on pan at medium-high heat
- Sprinkle with salt
Much Love,
