Simple Supper Friday: Mexican Breakfast Burritos
Coconut flour wraps with seasoned egg and veggie filling.
Well, it’s officially three weeks (tomorrow) until our wedding ceremony. Jesse and I went and signed our marriage license yesterday and got all the official paperwork in order. Coming up now, I need to go to the flower shop (I’m going to Geranium Lake Flowers) and pick out my bridal bouquet (I’m just getting a bridesmaid size one). I have a trial run of my hair and makeup a week before the wedding with my friend and makeup artist, Brooke Morse. Brooke and I also used to work together at Lululemon Athletica. As a treat, I also arranged for her to do my mom, sister and soon-to-be mother in-law’s makeup on the day of our ceremony. What else? Oh, Jesse and I need to go up to Council Crest Park, where we’re having our ceremony and figure out where exactly, we want everything to happen. As for Jesse, specifically, he needs to find a pair of shoes and learn how to tie his bow-tie. He has not been practicing! There’s also the vows situation too…still haven’t started and I don’t know that Jesse has either. I’m not sure I will be able to pull it off with everything else I have going on. We’ll see, I suppose. I want to, but right now, it’s a little overwhelming because I have a lot of other things with deadlines to manage.
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As for this recipe, it rocks! The tortillas cook up easily (I only tore my first one…premature flipping) and hold together surprisingly well. I will definitely be making them again, but will probably try a different flavor combination. The egg filling is tasty and slightly spicy, and works well inside the wrap. These wraps would also be great for meat-based fillings — chicken breast with bacon, taco-seasoned ground beef, Greek-seasoned ground lamb, deli meat, sausages or grass-fed beef hot dogs, etc. There’s lots of possibilities.
For the filling:
- 4 slices US Wellness Meats sugar-free grass-fed beef bacon, chopped
- 1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 4 pastured eggs, beaten
- 1 8-oz can diced green chiles
- 1-2 Tbsp organic taco seasoning (make sure there’s no sugar or other junk ingredients)
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Dab of grass-fed butter or tallow, if needed
- Avocado slices
- Chopped romaine or greens
- Black lava course sea salt for garnishing, optional
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Cook for a couple minutes and then add the sliced mushrooms.
- Meanwhile, add the taco seasoning, sea salt and pepper to the beaten eggs in a medium bowl. Then, once the bacon is crisp and the mushrooms have softened, add the egg mixture to the pan. Add a bit of butter or tallow to re-grease the pan first, if needed.
- Turn heat down to medium-low and continue to cook. Add the sliced tomatoes and green chiles.
- Once the eggs are cooked through, adjust seasoning as needed.
- Spoon mixture into a tortilla and top with lettuce/greens and avocado.
Yields: enough to fill 4-5 tortillas
For the tortillas, adapted slightly from this recipe:
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup egg whites
- 1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 clove garlic
- Pinch of cayenne
- US Wellness Meats grass-fed beef tallow, for cooking
- Combine all the ingredients, except the tallow in a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds or until mixed through and smooth. Let sit for 10 minutes to thicken.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat and add a little tallow. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan and shake around a bit to form about an 8-inch circle.
- Let tortilla cook for a few minutes, until edges start to peel up and it’s no longer shiny on top — that’s when you know it’s ready to flip. Flip carefully using a large spatula. Once flipped, cook for roughly one more minute.
- Stack tortillas on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb the moisture.
Yields: 6 tortillas
Turkey Sausage Veggie Hash
Before I rant about this recipe, I want to announce an exciting event coming up in Portland this Saturday. Some of you may have seen it on my Facebook page, but I want to share it again! Anyway, Jason Seib, author of The Paleo Coach, is giving a FREE talk at the Pearl District Whole Foods from 12-1 p.m, this Saturday, May 4th. There will be copies of Jason’s book available for purchase and he will also be available for signing. In addition, there will be some delicious paleo recipes to try made by the lovely, Ashley Kipp, the pearl store’s Healthy Foods Specialist and blogger behind Craving4more. Space is limited and an RSVP is required, so if you want to sign up, please email Ashley at ashley.kipp@wholefoods.com. It’s only two days away, so make sure you reserve your spot now! The presentation will be held upstairs in Salud, the demo kitchen next to The Mezz.
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Meanwhile, this simple and tasty dish is versatile and pretty much foolproof — at least in my opinion. Honestly, I don’t have too much to say about it, other than the fact that it’s just plain good. Eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’d also be great mixed with some scrambled eggs, but a runny egg on top is lovely too. Can you believe that I used to detest runny yolks? Up until a couple years ago, I only ate my yolks cooked through. That’s just blasphemy!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground turkey thighs
- 1 Tbsp US Wellness Meats grass-fed beef tallow
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bunch radishes, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 3 cups fresh spinach, torn into pieces
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp ground sage
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- Dash of nutmeg
- 3 Tbsp bone broth or low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- Sunny side-up pastured egg for serving, optional
Directions:
- Melt tallow in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and break up with a spatula. Then, add the chopped garlic. Season with a little sea salt and pepper, and continue to cook.
- Next, add the radishes, carrots, spices, bone broth, and a bit more sea salt and pepper; stir. Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is cooked through and vegetables are crisp-tender. Then, add the torn spinach leaves and butter. Cook another couple minutes, until spinach softens a bit. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- Optional to serve with a sunny-side up egg and let the yolk ooze all over.
Yields: 3 servings
BBQ Buffalo Muffins
BBQ buffalo muffins.
Welcome back, all! I hope you had a nice weekend, whether it was eventful, busy or relaxing. I always manage to have a good weekend, no matter what ends up happening. I’m always happy to have time away from school and a little extra time with Jesse!
My weekend consisted of the usual errands, yoga and work on Sunday morning, along with trying desperately to understand my exercise science readings and homework. Jesse did his best to break it down for me, but it’s extra tricky since I don’t have a chemistry background. I only had to take one chemistry class ever and it was my junior year of high school, 11 years ago. I was fortunate to never have to take chemistry when getting my BA, because I had passed it in high school with better than a C. So, it takes some extra studying on my part and even then, it’s still complicated.
Saturday evening was especially lovely because I had a girl’s dinner out with my friends, Laura and Ashley (aka Craving4more). I introduced the two of them to each other and we had a nice meal and conversation at Dick’s Kitchen. We all ordered lettuce-wrapped burgers and veggies, and it was Laura’s very first experience at Dick’s. Naturally, she liked it (it’d be hard not to like it). We were there a couple hours and then afterward, Ashley walked home and Laura and I went for a cup of hot tea before driving back to my place. It was a good evening for us all, and nice for me to get out with the girls…something I never really do.
Anyway, these meat muffins make for an easy, tasty lunch and are suitable for breakfast or dinner as well. The Tessemae’s All Natural BBQ sauce is delicious, but I realized that I need to be careful with it. It has balsamic vinegar in it and I discovered that it’s still a bit too much for me at this point (balsamic is a SCD-illegal food because of the natural sugar content). I thought it’d maybe be okay since I’m far in my healing, but I guess not. My bloat was tolerable each time, but still annoying. I’ll try it out again down the road or understand the potential consequences if I choose to eat it. For most people, this won’t be an issue, but if you adhere to the SCD, don’t try balsamic until you’re far enough into your healing, but realize that it may still cause a problem. On another note, the muffins are really, really delicious and so is the BBQ sauce!
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp bacon grease
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
- 1 lb ground buffalo
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- 1 pastured egg
- 1/4 cup Tessemae’s All Natural BBQ sauce
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Pepper to taste
- Pinch of cayenne
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil and set aside.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, and add the bacon grease. Once melted, add the red onion and saute a few minutes, until translucent and softened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, mix together the ground buffalo, egg, spinach, BBQ sauce, sea salt, pepper and cayenne. Then, add the sauteed onion.
- Spoon into greased muffin tin, filling to the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Time and quantity will vary based on the size of your muffin tin.
Smoked Salmon Breakfast Hash
Smoked Salmon Hash
Remember how I said I’d work on posting more breakfast recipes last week? Well, I’m on it and have an incredibly easy and satisfying one for you today. This recipe is great not only for breakfast, but also for lunch or dinner. In fact, I made it for my lunch this past weekend. Feel free to swap out the cabbage for another vegetable, based on what you like and have on hand. Kale, spinach, chard or collards would also work well. For a little extra fat and nutrients, serve with sliced avocado too.
Another great thing about this recipe, is that you can make it ahead of time and reheat it later on. So, if you need breakfast to-go in the morning, make this the night before and grab it out of the fridge before you leave. It holds up just fine in the fridge, reheats well and is more exciting than an on-the-go breakfast of hard-boiled eggs and such.
Meanwhile, be sure to check back tomorrow for a tasty, decadent treat recipe. Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday after all! I’ve got to follow suit. No, it’s not a king cake either. It’s much simpler than that, and it’s not cake period.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- 1 3-4 oz smoked wild salmon fillet, shredded (I like Loki Fish Co. smoked salmon, which is uses honey in the smoking process vs. brown sugar)
- 1/4 head cabbage, chopped
- 2 pastured eggs, beaten
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 Tbsp chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk
- Black lava finishing salt for garnish, optional
Directions:
- Melt butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the cabbage and season with sea salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth and saute a few minutes, until softened.
- Next, add the eggs, smoked salmon and coconut milk. Add more sea salt and pepper, if desired. Mix together with a spatula and continue to cook over medium-low heat until eggs are cooked through.
- Garnish with black lava salt, if using.
Yields: 1 serving
5 Paleo Breakfast Ideas
Paleo breakfast burrito from Spoonful of Sugar Free.
One of my dear friends recently requested that I post some paleo breakfast ideas. This week, she needs to make all of her breakfasts perfect paleo. She’s already been dabbling in paleo since summertime, so paleo is not foreign to her. Right now, things are just slowly being dialed in for her. This friend is also the one Jason Seib and I are working with for our little project. Anyway, she specifically needs recipes that are not sweetened or as stated in the book, It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, of the “sex with your pants on” nature.
I realize, I really don’t do breakfast posts very often, even though breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I’m such a classic eggs, sausage, veggies and avocado girl that I rarely concoct an actual breakfast dish or recipe. This is a good reminder for me to work on some breakfast ideas. Regardless, there are a lot of awesome paleo breakfast ideas out there. Here are some I found that look delicious and don’t fall into the sweetened or “sex with your pants on” category. Most of these recipes can be made ahead of time and reheated or even eaten cold, so if you don’t have a lot of time in the morning, plan ahead!
If you get sick of eggs or cannot tolerate eggs, try dinner leftovers as an easy breakfast. If you usually don’t have leftovers, try making a larger quantity at dinner, so you do have leftovers. It’s not uncommon for me to eat leftover chicken soup, stew, etc. in the morning for breakfast, and it makes busy mornings really easy. Remember, breakfast doesn’t have to look like traditional breakfast.
I’ve done recipe roundups before, so maybe you already know the drill. If not, click on each photo to get to the recipe. Enjoy, and let me know if you try any of these recipes out!
Speckled egg wraps from The Cavery.
Quick paleo breakfast muffins from PaleoMunch.
Paleo breakfast casserole from Paleo Effect. Use squash instead of sweet potato for SCD.
Banana bacon scramble from katie did.
Easy Turkey Breakfast Patties
Homemade turkey patties with pastured eggs, broccoli and avocado.
After today, I will officially be done with my first week of winter term…hooray! I had a lot of fun in my fitness assessment class yesterday, learning how to take blood pressures. This is a completely new skill for me and I found it very fascinating. It’s crazy hearing the swishing of blood through the artery. I have never heard that before! I’ve had my blood pressure taken countless times in my life, but never had the opportunity to listen to what a blood pressure sounds like. I’m pretty stoked to know how to do this and it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I was intimidated at first, but was fortunate to work with a great partner who had previous experience. He helped me a lot! Needless to say, I look forward to practicing more.
Meanwhile, remember my Christmas Recap post, in which I mentioned making homemade turkey breakfast patties? Well, I’m finally sharing the recipe. Yay! It’s incredibly easy and I almost feel silly posting it because of how simple it is. These are great to keep on hand in the freezer, though they never seem to last that long in my freezer. They’re great cooked up as bulk sausage in a scramble, like I made on Christmas, or as patties with sunny side up eggs, avocado and veggies, as seen in my photos.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground turkey breast
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp ground sage
- 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- Dash of cayenne
Directions:
- Combine ground turkey and seasonings together in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands.
- Form into eight slider-sized patties. Layer between parchment paper and freeze. Alternatively, the patties can be cooked right away. You can also cook as bulk sausage, rather than form into patties. If cooking as patties, these take about 3-4 minutes each side — a little longer if they’re frozen. I recommend melting a little fat of choice over medium-high heat in a skillet first. Then, add the patties and cook.
Yields: 8 patties
Simple Supper Friday: Creamy Tomato Soup and Breakfast Sandwiches
Creamy tomato soup with a homemade breakfast sandwich.
The flavor of this soup instantly took me back to childhood. Growing up, I ate a lot of macaroni and tomato soup, made with Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, milk and elbow noodles. If it wasn’t macaroni and tomato, it was plain tomato soup with grilled cheese. It always tasted delicious and was definitely one of my kid comfort foods.
It’s funny, because my sisters and cousins all agreed that our Grandma Reilly’s macaroni and tomato soup tasted the best, but we didn’t know what tasted so special about it, other than the fact that it had really soft, overly-cooked noodles. Well, a few years back at a family get-together (probably Christmas or something), we told grandma that her soup always tasted better than anybody else’s and asked what her secret was. She replied, “I make it just like everybody else — a can of Campbell’s tomato soup, milk, macaroni and a little oleo,” (but it sounded she said a lil oleo).
We all laughed hysterically at the last ingredient and the fact that grandma said it as if we all knew to put oleo in the soup. You’d have to be part of my family to truly understand the humor in this. My grandma always used the word oleo for margarine and butter. I think it’s because one of the first margarine brands back in the day was actually called, Oleo. Does or did anybody else’s grandma call margarine and/or butter oleo?
I decided to make this soup on behalf of my friend Kim over at Healthy Foods to You. She posted a tomato soup and biscuit recipe the other day and the soup sounded so easy, that I decided I wanted to give it a go and add my own twist to it. Honestly, I didn’t change much, other than switching the order of things and adding a couple pats of “oleo” (grass-fed butter in this case) to the soup. I had to for my dear grandma, who passed away earlier this year. Plus, it’s butter … it makes things taste better.
Vitamix doing its thing.
I wanted to add some protein to the meal, but didn’t want to add any meat to the soup to take away from its pure flavor, so decided to make one of my breakfast sandwiches for the side. I whipped up some almond flour biscuits, fried an egg in grass-fed butter and sliced some avocado. Wham, bam breakfast sandwich made!
Fresh almond flour biscuits out of the oven. This is my go-to biscuit recipe. This time, I even used fresh ground almond flour.
Ingredients:
- 1 28 oz can organic diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Pepper to taste
- Chopped fresh basil for garnish, optional
Directions:
- Pour the tomatoes into a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, sea salt and pepper, and stir for a few minutes.
- Once the butter is melted and the tomatoes are heated through, stir in the coconut milk. Once incorporated, pour the entire mixture into the blender and blend on high for a couple minutes or until smooth.
- Pour the soup back into the pot to stay warm. Serve with chopped basil, if using and a breakfast sandwich.
I dunked my sandwich in my soup when I ate this. It was awesome.
Hawaiian Microwavable Eggs
As you know, I’m in Honolulu right now, and yes, it’s awesome. Jesse and I are staying in a studio room at the Royal Garden at Waikiki, a Wyndham Vacation Resort. We have a partial kitchen with a sink, refrigerator, microwave, dishes, etc. I thought we’d have a stove, but since it’s just a studio, we don’t. The rooms with 1+ bedroom have full kitchens though. Regardless, it didn’t stop me from buying a dozen local eggs during our stop at Whole Foods the other day. We went there to get snacks and food for breakfasts to save on eating out all the time. It was fun seeing all the different regional produce and local products there. Most everything that’s imported from the mainland is pricier than usual. For example, GT’s Synergy Kombucha is $4.79 per bottle plus tax. Some places in Portland sell GT’s for $2.99, and we don’t have sales tax, so $4.79 just seemed way too steep!
Our nice and tiny studio kitchen.
Anyway, back to the eggs. I had a plan to cook them and it consisted of heating up water in the coffee pot and pouring it over the eggs to hard cook (hard boil) them. I placed the eggs in a large Pyrex bowl, covered them with hot water that ran through the coffee maker, placed a lid over the bowl and let the eggs sit for about 20 minutes (I know there’s a way of cooking eggs similarly on the stove, so that’s what I was going for). Afterward, I gently cracked an egg at one end and peaked in to find … uncooked egg. Boo, my plan did not work. Inside, the egg was frothy and not even remotely close to being done. Even though I knew eggs (in shell) explode in the microwave, I proceeded to put the egg in the microwave anyway. Since it had a little hole at the end, I thought it’d maybe be okay. I placed it inside of a cup with a little water and 25 seconds later, BOOM! It exploded all over the microwave, although some of it stayed intact in the cup. Luckily, the egg that stayed in the cup was completely cooked and looked fine, so I ate it. It was really unwise on my part to put it in the microwave in the first place. Duh! I should have taken a photo of the mess, but it was such a stupid act, that I didn’t.
Pouring the hot water over the eggs.
Eggs covered with hot water and ready to be covered.
Since my original plan failed, I needed a different way to cook my eggs. I learned that eggs cook in the microwave just fine when cracked into a dish, sans the shell. I cracked two eggs into a mug, added salt and pepper and microwaved for 1.5 – 2 minutes at 50% power. It worked great! I haven’t had any problems with the egg sticking to the mug, but it’d still be better if I had some coconut oil or butter to grease the mug, mainly for flavor. I didn’t want to buy butter or oil though, knowing I probably wouldn’t use it all in time.
So, the next time you’re traveling and want to save on eating breakfast out, buy a carton of eggs and cook them in the microwave (if you have a microwave at your hotel, that is). Cheap, fuss-free and easy.
Mmm … breakfast outside on the lanai: two eggs, avocado, and a banana with fresh ground almond butter.
Same thing the next morning, but with two slices of Applegate Naturals turkey salami. Again, I ate this out on the lanai. (Taken on iPhone)
Chicken Curry Egg Bake
Chicken curry egg bake.
I love any excuse to eat more eggs. They are one of my favorite foods and pretty much always have been, except during my two-year veganism stint. I don’t remember, but I bet I still wanted and/or craved eggs during that time. Specifically, I bet I wanted scrambled eggs because I’ll be honest, tofu scrambles were never the same. Plus, tofu always gave me massive bloat and cramping. No bueno. Anyway, I digress … back to where I am today and now.
This is a great recipe for any meal of the day. It has a beautiful presentation when it first comes out of the oven. It’s puffy and soufflé-like, but then quickly deflates. I recommend serving it with steamed or sautéed leafy greens, like kale, but feel free to serve it with whatever veggie you like. Throw some avocado slices on top too. Avocado makes everything better.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb cooked chicken breasts, shredded
- 6 eggs, preferably pasture-raised or organic
- 3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk
- 6 Tbsp grass-fed butter, melted & cooled to room temp (plus extra for greasing pan & sautéing leek)
- 1 leek, chopped (a finely chopped yellow onion will also work)
- 2 Tbsp curry powder
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Chives for garnish, optional
Puffed up and fresh out of the oven.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10-inch pie pan or 2-quart casserole dish.
- Melt a little butter over medium heat in a medium-sized skillet. Add leek and sauté for a few minutes, until softened. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter, and coconut milk until frothy. Next, add the shredded chicken, sautéed leek, curry powder, and sea salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Pour into the greased casserole dish or pie pan. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.
- Serve with vegetable of choice and garnish with chopped chives, if using.
Yields: 4 entree-sized servings
Making good use of my Austrian plate again.
A versatile dish for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
Breakfast Stuffed Acorn Squash
Variation of PaleOMG’s 5-ingredient breakfast stuffed acorn squash.
Finally, I have some time (although not much) to sit down and write! I’ve been a studying machine lately and it’s going to continue hardcore the rest of this week and next. I’m thankful for this outlet … it gives me a break and relieves stress.
So as you can guess, I spent most of my weekend studying — very exciting, I know, but also very necessary. Naturally, I found time to cook and eat well though because it’s a must in my book. After all, good food contributes to my entire well being, performance and learning capabilities. I’m really hoping my diet contributes to a successful midterm next week when I’ll be asked to show origins, insertions and actions of various muscles (don’t know what I’ll be given) on a skeleton. I have so much to memorize, it’s terrifying.
Anyway, one of the things I made this weekend was PaleOMG’s 5-ingredient breakfast stuffed acorn squash. I made a few changes to make it my own, and it turned out great. Here are the ingredients I used:
- 1 acorn squash, halved and seeded
- 2 tsp bacon fat
- 1/2 lb or so smoked turkey kielbasa, sliced (no sugar added)
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cloves garlic
- 5 chard leaves, chopped
- 1 green apple, chopped
- 2 pastured eggs
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
The yolk is in there — it just got hidden. I wanted it exposed like PaleOMG’s, but I think my squash was stuffed so full that the yolk got engulfed by the white. There wasn’t room for it to run anywhere else!
I sautéed the apple with the onion and garlic in bacon fat. Then, once softened, I added the kielbasa (which was already cooked) and chard. I followed her instructions pretty closely for the rest. The hardest part is scooping out the acorn squash without tearing the skin — very tricky. I ended up not scooping all the way to the edges to prevent tearing. Then I scooped it out and at it later with my meal. Problem solved! Also, I ate my squash boat with avocado slices.
These are mighty tasty and there’s many combinations you can do. Also, if you haven’t been to PaleOMG’s site, I highly recommend checking it out. Juli is awesome, funny, honest and comes up with some wicked awesome recipes.
