3 Bean and Ham Soup - Gluten-Free

It's been a while since I've made a soup THIS delicious.  No, seriously.  My husband is very honest.  He tells it like it is....even when I don't want to hear it.   He said, and I quote, "Usually your soups are just, well....they just taste 'blah.'  (Gee, thanks honey! LOL)  This time, however, I heard "wow, this is good!" at least 6-7 times.  It was so good there are absolutely no leftovers after the second night!  Not a drop.  I'm pretty sure he licked his bowl clean as well...just sayin'!

How did I make this delicious magic happen?  It complicated, really.....no, not really.  Honestly, I grabbed some beans from my cupboard, took a ham bone from Christmas out of my freezer and added in some veggies from my fridge.  The rest, well, it magically just all came together PERFECTLY!  I would give this soup a 10/10.

Am I suggesting you make this instantly?  Why, yes.  I certainly am.  You can drool over the pic first, but then off....off you go!  Go make this! ;)

Servings: 8-10 Servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dry black beans

1/3 cup dry black-eyed peas

1/3 cup dry pinto beans

water to soak the beans in

1 ham bone

1 cup chopped red onion

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 tsp. Herbes de Provence

1/4 tsp. pepper

4 cups unsalted chicken stock

6 cups water

Directions: (You will need a 6 quart or larger slow cooker for this recipe)

The night before you want to make this, place your beans (sorted of course) in a pot and cover them with water by a few inches.  Let them soak overnight.  In the morning, drain and rinse them.

Place your drained and rinsed beans into the crock.

Add in the ham bone with the onions, carrots and celery.

Next, add in the garlic, salt, basil, onion powder, herbes de provence, and pepper.

Finally, add in the chicken stock and water.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Remove the ham bone, scrape off all meat and discard any bone, cartilage or fat you find.  Place all of the meat back into the soup and stir.

Serve and Enjoy!

Fiesta Lime Shredded Beef - Gluten-Free

As I was wondering around the grocery store, I came across the Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning.....the rest is history!

This meat becomes SO incredibly tender and just literally falls apart when it's done!  The flavor is amazing!  The Fiesta Lime seasoning is perfect.  It brings such great flavor mixed with the salsa.  Such simple ingredients...yet packed with so much flavor.  These are my favorite kinds of recipes!  Beware there is a lot of fat on the chuck roast, but it's really easy to separate from the meat.  I did it without a problem.

I served my beef over lettuce with lime infused Northern beans, fresh onions, salsa and sour cream on top.  It was seriously incredible!  This would be great in tacos, on enchiladas, on tostadas, in a burrito, on nachos, etc.

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast

4 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning

1/4 cup lime juice

1/2 cup minced red onion

3/4 cup salsa (fresh is best)

Directions:

Rub the Fiesta Lime seasoning all over both sides of the roast.

Add the onions and salsa on top.

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Shred the beef, separating the fat and discarding it.  Place the beef back into the crock and stir with all the juices.

Serve whichever way you choose and ENJOY!

Ethiopian Spiced Shredded Pork - Gluten-Free

Simple.  SERIOUSLY simple.

That is the ONLY thing I was going for when I made this!  LOL

Do you ever have one of those nights where you KNOW you HAVE to do something, but you'll totally cave and give in to the dark side if it's even the slightest bit hard?!  Well, this was one of those nights!  I knew I needed to get something in the slow cooker, but I also knew if it required any effort at all, I would run the other direction because I was too tired.

I had a pork loin roast and a giant bag of baby carrots from Costco....and that was about it!

I then remembered a spice blend my friend Henry gave me a few months back that I've been enjoying on ground turkey.  My kids and husband really liked that, so I decided that would be what I would flavor this with.

PERFECT CHOICE!

This was delicious!

It's super versatile too!  As you can see, I served mine over a bed of spinach.  I drizzled it with just a tiny bit of lite Honey Mustard for a little extra kick.  This would be fantastic over rice or quinoa as well.  We ate this for 3 nights, without a complaint about why we were eating it again.  LOL  That would make this recipe a keeper!  ;)

I'm not sure where Henry got the recipe for the Ethiopian Spice called Berberé, but it's super easy to throw together!

Servings: (6-10)

Ingredients:

2.5 lb. boneless pork loin roast

2-3 cups baby carrots

3 Tbsp. Berberé

1/4 cup water.

Berberé:

1 Tbsp. each of: cardamom, coriander, fenugreek, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, smoked paprika, turmeric, black pepper, sea salt.  Cayenne to taste. Pulverize it in a coffee grinder or food processor and store in a jar.

Directions: (Use a 3 quart or larger slow cooker for this)

Place the pork loin roast in your crock and cover it with the Berberé.  Place the carrots around it. Pour in the water.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.  Shred the pork and mix back through the liquid.

Serve and Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Frittata with Tomatoes, Avocado and Cilantro - Gluten-Free

My good friend Maria suggested I make a Frittata for dinner this week, so I said "why not?!"  We all LOVE breakfast around here, so this was the perfect fit for us!

A Frittata is very simple, you see.  All it is is eggs, some seasonings and some delicious add-ins.  We love tomatoes in our eggs, so that was a "for sure" add-in.  I had avocados in the fridge, and that was a no-brainer for me.  They are such a healthy fat to have!  The cilantro was hanging out in the fridge and was about to go bad, so I used some of that too.  However, you can make this with anything your heart desires!  Add in meat if you want!  Add in some bell peppers if you like those!  Own it!

This has about a 4 hour cook time on LOW, so I cooked it on HIGH for 2 hours when I got home from work (Wednesdays I get home around 4:00.)  While it cooked, the kids played outside, I mowed the lawn, got lunches ready for the next day and read with Ella.  It was a very productive 2 hours in which I didn't have to babysit anything on the stove or oven!  

This. was. delicious! The kids cleaned their plates.  Hubby and I cleaned our plates.  I'll be making this far more often!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

10 eggs

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

8 dashes hot sauce

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup tomato, chopped

1/2 cup avocado, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions: (Use a 5 Quart or larger slow cooker)

In a bowl, place the eggs, grated parmesan, hot sauce, pepper and salt.

 Mix it up.

Spray your crock with non-stick spray.  I used a slow cooker liner and sprayed it.  I was able to lift the entire frittata out of the crock this way to cut and serve it easier.

Pour the egg mixture into your crock.

Sprinkle in the onions,

tomatoes,

avocados

and cilantro.

Cook on LOW for 4 hours, or on HIGH for 2 hours (or until the center is set)

Serve and enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs....Easy, Healthy, Delicious and Gluten-Free!

Oh my goodness!!!  These meatballs were SOOOOOO moist, so buffalo-ey (I know that's not a word, but it's appropriate here!) and sooooooooo good!  The best part?  I didn't feel one ounce of guilt eating these because everything that went in them was lo cal and good for you!

I recently saw a friend post a recipe for some extremely decadent stuffed buffalo meatballs and as good as they sounded, I knew my FitAddict coaches (Hi Andrea and Julie!) would most definitely not approve of that food choice!  Being an adult, I'm responsible for holding myself accountable, so I knew if I wanted to make them, I would need to make some major changes.  So, I did!

First, I skipped out on the cheese all together.  Cheese is DELICIOUS, but these moist buffalo meatballs didn't need it at all!  Why have I never cooked with ground chicken before????? I had no idea what I was missing!!!!

Second, I decided these yummy meatballs would need a sauce of some sort, but I had envisioned something creamy.  Creamy usually comes with major calories attached.  Not this creamy sauce!  I used non-fat plain greek yogurt instead.  It was PERFECT!

Ok, I could go on and on and on about these, but I know why you're here.....for the recipe, not for my babbling! LOL  Enjoy these!  They are incredibly satisfying!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:
1.5 lb. ground chicken
1/2 cup Red Hot sauce
2 Tbsp. minced onion
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg
1 cup gluten-free panko bread crumbs
2 tsp. chicken better than bouillon granules
1 cup water
1 1/2-2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or oil of your choice)

Sauce:
2 cups non-fat plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1/4 cup Red Hot sauce

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the ground chicken, Red Hot sauce, minced onion, garlic powder, pepper, egg and panko.

TIP: I suggest wearing disposable cooking gloves for this recipe.  You don't want hot sauce all over your hands and then accidentally touch your eye or something! ;)

Heat the coconut oil over med-high heat in a skillet. 

Next, roll into 1.5-2" balls and place them into the skillet.

You only want to sear them, not cook the insides, so by the time you get the last one in the pan, it's time to start turning them.

Once they are seared, place them into your crock.

Sprinkle the meatballs with the better than bouillon and add the water.

Cook on LOW for 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3 hours.

(Mine cooked for 6 hours and sat for almost 4 hours on warm without drying out at all!!!  These hold up really well!!!)

Remove the meatballs so you can work on your sauce.

Stir together the corn starch, greek yogurt and 1/4 cup red hot sauce.  Whisk it into the juice at the bottom of your crock.

 Add the meatballs back in and cook for about another 45 mins. on HIGH.

Serve over rice or quinoa.

ENJOY!