Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

I know I've posted about chicken noodle soup before, but this is the latest version and we like it lots better.

1 large onion, diced (I try to get this super small)
several chicken thighs (or any type of chicken meat), cut into small bite-sized pieces

In a soup pot, saute the onions until soft, about 20 minutes.  Add the chicken and cook until browned.  Throw in:

2 to 3 stalks celery, sliced
3 or 4 handfuls baby carrots, sliced
chicken broth - 2 to 4 quarts, depending on how many people you need to feed

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 to 30 minutes or until carrots are soft.  Meanwhile, make zucchini noodles.  To do this, wash and dry some zucchini (I use 2 or 3 for our family of 6).  Using a vegetable peeler or julienne cutter (small, hand-held peeler that creates noodles!) slide the peeler down the zucchini.  I go until I hit the seeds.  I also cut large zucchini in half so the noodles aren't a foot long.

Once the carrots are soft, add the zucchini noodles and return to a boil.  Let boil for 2 to 5 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I often add in a few cloves of crushed garlic at this point as well.

This is good with a little olive oil drizzled in.  We've added sauerkraut as well, but kimchi would be better (I'm out right now).

Without the celery this is a Stage 1 recipe.  If you add celery then it's Stage 3.

Curried Lentil Soup

I made this several days ago and froze 3 quart-sized bags of it.  I have since re-heated one and it didn't effect the taste or texture.  The soup was okay, but not nearly "curried" enough for me.  I LOVE curry.  It's rather an obsession of mine.  In fact, it was sort of bland.  I like the concept of the soup (nourishing, filling, inexpensive) but need to tweak it a bit.  One of the boys said it needed "bits of meat".  I agree.  When I re-heated it I added some cooked steak and it greatly improved the flavor.

The original recipe is found here.

3 large onions, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp. butter or ghee
2 tbsp. coconut oil or tallow
2 quarts stock (any flavor will work)
2 c. red or brown lentils*
1/2 tsp. dried green peppercorns (I will leave out next time...it didn't add)
2 tbsp. curry paste, red, green or yellow (which may or may not have GAPS legal ingredients -read the label carefully)
sea salt or fish sauce, to taste

In a large soup pot, cook the onions and carrots in butter/ghee and coconut oil/tallow until soft.  This takes about 30 minutes on medium low.  Once the veggies are soft, add the stock and lentils and bring to a boil.  Skim off the foam, reduce heat and add the curry paste.  Cover and simmer until the lentils are soft.  Mine took about 45 minutes.  Puree with an immersion (handheld) blender.  I left it about half chunky, half pureed.  Season with salt (or fish sauce) and pepper to taste.

*Soak the lentils at least 7 hours before cooking with 3 tbsp. whey or apple cider vinegar and filtered water.  Use a bit more water than covers the lentils.  Drain and rinse before cooking.  Green and brown lentils don't turn mushy or dissolve like red lentils tend to do.

We all added sauerkraut to it (which was great) and some tried it with kimchi.  Also great.

Some additions I tried when I re-heated and would definitely do next time around:
chopped avocado
garlic cloves (1 per bowl or else in the pot of soup)
cooked meat (beef, chicken or pork)
olive oil - drizzled on the top
fermented food - sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.
sautéed, chopped greens - spinach or kale

Lentils can be eaten when you reach the Full Stage of the diet.

Curried Cauliflower

This also came from Everyday Paleo (we ate it with the baked breaded chicken).  My boys didn't really care for it but I loved it.  In fact, I was sort of hoping they'd hate it so there'd be more for me!  Well, one of them said it "wasn't spicy enough" and I should add more chili powder next time.  What is happening to my children?

coconut oil, melted - maybe 1/4 cup, perhaps less
1 head cauliflower - cleaned and separated into florets
1 to 2 tsp. curry powder
a few shakes turmeric
a few shakes garlic powder
a shake or three chili powder
maybe 1/2 tsp. sea salt
a few grinds black pepper

Mix some coconut oil and the spices in a large bowl.  Add the cauliflower and stir around until coated.  Place on a baking sheet and cook at 350 degrees for between 30 to 45 minutes.

Because of the spices, this would be a Stage 5 recipe.

Baked Breaded Chicken

This recipe comes from Everyday Paleo.  I used chicken breasts and halved the "stuff" because I only used a pound of meat.  It ended up being a bit dry so if I make this again, I'll cook it for less time.  My boys said this was "good, good, good".

I served it with curried cauliflower and raw sugar snap peas.

chicken (breast, thighs, whatever) - enough to feed your family
1/2 to 1 cup almond meal*
1/2 to 1 cup coconut flour
garlic powder (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
salt (to taste)
2 to 3 eggs
coconut oil or tallow

Cut the chicken into 'chicken strip' size pieces.  Scramble the eggs in a dish with sides.  Mix the coconut flour, almond meal, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a second dish with sides.  Dip the chicken in the eggs, then roll it in the flour mixture.  Place in a pan that has been greased with coconut oil or tallow.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  My chicken was dry at 30 minutes.  It might also help to drizzle oil/tallow on the chicken at some point in the baking.

*I ground 1/2 cup soaked and dried almonds in my food processor until fine.

This is a Full recipe because of the coconut flour.

My favorite ways to eat eggs

I've made this multiple times and love it still.  It's usually the same base recipe (eggs, carrots, onions and something fermented) and I add things here and there, depending on what I have in the fridge.  This recipe is enough for one person (my kids won't touch it) so adjust as needed.

matchstick carrots, one large handful
1/2 onion, sliced
2 eggs
ghee
1/2 avocado, chopped
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
sauerkraut OR kimchi OR cortido
cilantro
green onions, sliced

Cook the carrots and onions in ghee with some sea salt until soft (you decide if you want them mushy or slightly crispy).  Remove to a plate.

Fry two eggs in ghee (or butter if you can tolerate it).  I like to cook mine until the whites are set and the yolks are runny.

Place the eggs on top of the cooked carrots and onions.  On the side arrange the avocado.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add 2 or 3 spoonfuls fermented food of choice.  Sprinkle with cilantro and green onions, if desired.

Because I'm a bit weird I try to make sure I get a bite of each thing on my fork, but I DON'T like to mix it all together and stir it around.

Due to the avocado and fermented foods, this is a Stage 3 recipe.

Shredded Beef Soup

I made some shredded beef soup the other day, following this recipe from Grain Free Foodies.  My older boys, the kimchi lovers, thought I was disgusting to put it in my soup....and then they tried it and went crazy.  One of them had 3 bowls of it!  The original recipe is for one bowl of soup, but I adapted to make a large pot.

Beef broth (enough for a pot of soup)
beef, cooked and shredded (the meat picked from soup bones works well)
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced

Heat the above until warm.  Ladle into bowls.  At the table add any of the following:

kimchi OR sauerkraut (we tried both and loved it both ways)
green onions, sliced
cilantro, chopped
hot pepper sauce (like Tabasco)
avocado
olive oil

This is a Stage 3 recipe due to eating the fermented foods as well as avocado and cilantro.

Some housekeeping matters

You probably noticed...but I'm not doing daily updates anymore.  It was just too time consuming and I have lots of other things I need to be doing, including cooking for the GAPS diet.

We are still plugging along and I'm going to continue to update with recipes that we like and any interesting information that I find.