Green Vegetable Skillet

I put 2 TBSP coconut oil and 1/4 cup basic chicken stock into a big skillet. On medium heat, I added:

1 head of broccoli, chopped into big bite-size pieces
2 medium zucchini, sliced
1 small container sliced portobello mushrooms
2 handfuls of fresh organic spinach
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato
1 handful pecan pieces
1/2 tsp basil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

I cooked, stirring frequently, until done, but not too mushy.

Why do people say they don't have time to cook? Do they have time for more illness in their future? Your food is your fuel, so be mindful of your intake. Thanks for trying my paleo recipes and sharing them with your friends. Some of you also might not know that we have a Feeding Ger Sasser fan page on Facebook, and we'd love for you to "like" our page, and share photos of your food. 

Spinach Turkey Burgers

We are such big eaters. (Maybe it's all those back squats....) Here's another way I kept hunger at bay recently........

I chopped fresh organic spinach until I had 2 cups. I put this into a large bowl and added:

1 lb healthy ground turkey
1 tsp minced garlic   (or 2 garlic cloves, chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
smoked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

I mixed this up with my hands.

I put 2 TBSP of coconut oil in a skillet and made patties with the turkey burger mixture. It made 6 patties (You could get 12 slider-sized burgers) I cooked them about 6 minutes on each side.
Since I had a huge skillet, I scooted them over and warmed up the leftover red peppers and broccoli.

Then we ate lunch.
Then Ger went back for more, but there wasn't more, so I MADE MORE! (good thing I had another lb of turkey....)
He really like them, and you will, too.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers

I know I am on to something good when Ger says, "Mom, you didn't make nearly enough of these...." so I am planning to make them again really soon. I wasn't sure if anyone would eat them, so I made 12 and cooked the leftover chicken livers in a skillet for Daisy....I didn't tell Ger that part. But, I should have known that I can wrap bacon around about any food and this crew will eat it.

This one is so easy! I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, for easy clean-up.
I poured the liquid off a container of chicken livers and laid them on paper towels.
I cut uncured bacon into halves. Then, I laid all the bacon on the cookie sheet.
Next, I laid a chicken liver on each piece of bacon. They hung over on both sides, but that's ok.
I topped each chicken liver off with 1/2 tsp Emeril's New York Deli Style All Natural Mustard,  (very clean ingredients) smoked sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Then, I rolled the two ends of the bacon up over the top of the chicken livers and flipped each one over so that the bacon stayed around the chicken liver. (You might want to just stick a toothpick in each one - but I was out of toothpicks...)
They went into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  I served them on a slice of cold, fresh sliced tomato.

Some people broil their bacon wrapped chicken livers but I don't like how it changes the consistency of the liver... and makes it so dry.

Butternut Squash Bread

This paleo butternut squash bread looks like a dessert, and it is, but without the coconut jam on top it's not very sweet. (sweet enough for all of us with a healthy "paleo sweet tooth." If you roast your own butternut squash, it works perfectly but the one in this photo is made with a BPA-free can of butternut squash. You can find it at Whole Foods, but it's not in the groceries in my part of the country, so I order mine from vitacost.com. It's good stuff and it makes this recipe so moist since it's all full of squash!


I rubbed an 8 x 8 glass baking dish with coconut oil.

I mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl:
1/2 cup coconut flour
3 TBSP almond flour
1 TBSP + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

I mixed the wet ingredients in a bowl:
1 can butternut squash   (OR 1 can pumpkin - it works great, just a little different taste)
5 eggs ( I set them out for a few minutes so they are not so cold)
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 TBSP raw honey

I mixed the dry ingredients into the wet ones with a wooden spoon and added:
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut chips (the big chunky coconut from nuts.com is my favorite)

I poured this mixture into the baking dish and cooked it in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. (Stick a knife in it - oven times vary and I like things pretty gooey.....)
You could do this as muffins, too, with a shorter oven time.

I love this photo from Central East 2013.  PLEASE don't giggle because his first S in his last name is covered up by the ring strap.......

Paleo Mexican Dinner

Well, Ger was craving "something.... Mexican - Paleo" and this is what I did:

In a huge skillet, I browned 2 lbs of grass fed burger (cow, bison, llama, venison) in 1 TBSP of coconut oil. As soon as that started to brown I added:
1 small organic sweet onion, chopped
1 TBSP cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Cherry Wood Smoked Sea Salt (or your favorite sea salt)
1/2 tsp red pepper
1  28 oz can of diced tomatoes (check label for no added sugar)
1  10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro
1  4 oz can diced green chiles

I let it simmer a good long time.

I laid out artisan lettuce, avocados,  and limes. Everyone laid their favorite lettuces out on the plate and topped them with the grass fed Mexican mixture. Then we added thick slices of avocado and squeezed lots of fresh lime on the top.

It was as good as it looks in these photos. Make this one soon. You will be glad you did!

Rotisserie Style Crock Pot Chicken

I don't live in a town where you can pick up a really healthy rotisserie style chicken at the grocery. Have you read the ingredient labels on those things? some are bad, and some are worse. So, I tried to make this happen at home, as easily as possible. I think I got it right, because Ger ate 2 huge platefuls of this (and spaghetti squash with marinara, cherry tomatoes, and portobello mushrooms) and said, "Oh! It was SO GOOD I ate TOO MUCH!" That's music to my ears. So, here's what I did:

I rubbed the inside of my crock pot with coconut oil.

I sprinkled the bottom of the crock pot with a little sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper, and oregano, and a LOT of smoked paprika.

I rinsed one big organic chicken and took out the inner paper thing. I patted the chicken dry and put it into the crock pot, like the photo, along with the liver and gizzard for Daisy, my paleo jack russell terrier.

Next, I sprinkled the top of the chicken with all the same spices that I'd just used in the bottom of the crock pot, in the same amounts. I didn't measure, but you can see from the photo that I used a LOT of smoked paprika.
I added 1 TBSP of water. That's it.  I put the lid on and cooked it on low all day, more than 8 hours and it was delicious. It may be SO GOOD YOU EAT TOO MUCH, TOO.

There's Ger on the left. I loved those purple 2POOD shorts. It was a great memory when Ger was called a "big dog." He is. (AND he eats like one!)

Coconut Flour Cocoa Cupcakes

I mixed these dry ingredients in a small bowl:

1/2 cup coconut flour
2 TBSP dark cocoa
2 TBSP almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

I put a very small saucepan on the stove, on low, with:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup pasture butter (mine was salted - if yours isn't salted, you may want to add a tiny bit more sea salt in your dry ingredients)

I just heated this until the butter and coconut oil melted. Then I took it off the stove and let it sit a little. (You don't want to put eggs in if it's very hot)
I added these other wet ingredients to the saucepan mixture:

2 eggs
1/4 cup raw honey
1/4 cup maple syrup (or 1/2 cup raw honey will work, but the taste has more depth with maple syrup)
2 TBSP vanilla
2 tsp apple cider vinegar (trust me.....)

I stirred this mixture up and in a few seconds, it thickened. (it's that magical coconut flour thing)
I put 12 cupcake papers in my muffin pan and then put the cupcake batter in them with a cookie scoop.

I baked at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.

I can't begin to tell you how good they were. NOW, paleo people don't eat a "treat" very often, but if you're going to have one, have a healthy one. This is a great one. I ate one, all dark and warm as soon as I could pick one up.

 Later, after dinner, we all ate them with ORGANIC COCONUT JAM spread on the top with a butter knife. It's from the company Coconut World. Kim had given me this stuff.....it's new to me...ingredients are organic coconut milk and organic coconut syrup. Well, words cannot explain how yummy that was on those paleo cupcakes.