Tag Archives: Easy

Slow Cooker Carnitas

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This recipe graciously stolen from Sarah Kate Gillingham at The Kitchn.

(Picture to come.)

The Goods
1 (6- to 8-pound) pork shoulder, boneless or not
2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 chipotle peppers (dried)
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 1/2 cups orange juice

The Gettin’
1.  Combine all of the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on the lowest setting you have time for (at least 8 hours, 10 is ideal.)  If your shoulder had a bone, it should literally fall off the bone when it’s time.
2.  While it’s cooking, you don’t really want it to boil, so should you see some intense boiling action, just crack open the lid a little bit.  Pork shoulder is a hardy piece of meat, so don’t fret over it.  🙂
3.  When it’s finished cooking, shred the meat!  Again, it should be very easy to do so after cooking for so long.

The Take
These are good!  I love carnitas, so I appreciate having an easy, low-prep recipe for them where all I have to do is combine some ingredients in a slow cooker.  For my money, the other carnitas recipe on this site is better, but sometimes you just don’t have the time or want to expend the effort. 🙂


Total Time:  10 hrs 15 minutes (all but 15 min inactive)
Prep – 15 minutes
Yield:  18 to 24 servings of carnitas

Level: Easy

Jordan’s Delectable Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

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This recipe created masterfully by Jordan.

The Goods
1 beef roast (often advertised as pot roast, any size that will fit in your slow cooker)
1 lb carrots, peeled
1 container mushrooms, washed
1 or 2 onions, sliced
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp oregano
1 bottle of red wine you’d like to drink
salt and pepper
olive oil for searing

The Gettin’
1. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of roast.  If you have time, wait a bit for the salt to get into the meat, about 30 minutes.  No big deal if you can’t.
2. Sear the roast on both sides in frying pan on medium-high heat with olive oil. (It doesn’t keep the moisture in, but it does make a nice brown “crust.”)  After the roast is nice and brown on all sides, place it into the slow cooker.
3. There should be some tasty bits and juice left in your frying pan.  Place your carrots in the pan and soften them up a little bit on medium-high.  When they look a little brown/softer, place them into the slow cooker.  (No need to overdo it.)
4. Do the same with the mushrooms and onions.  Cook ’em a little in the tasty juice, and then place into the slow cooker.
5. Liberally salt and pepper the ingredients in the slow cooker.  You can also add the garlic powder and oregano at this time.
6. Pour about 3/4 of the bottle of wine into the slow cooker.  Save the remaining 1/4 to apply to the cook as needed.
7.  Cook for at least 8 hours, covered, on the low or very low setting.  The longer, the better.  Keep an eye on the slow cooker every so often – even on low settings it will tend to boil – just crack the lid open to cool it off if you see this.  Again, don’t fret over it.
8. Kiss the cook (Lauren’s suggestion).

The Take:
A pot roast is a wonderful thing, and a pot roast recipe is delightfully flexible.  Want a different vegetable?  Cool.  You’d rather use stock instead of wine?  Fine.  Adapt it however you see fit – all you need is the meat, something to cook it in and something to cook it with!

Total Time: 8 hrs 20 minutes – 10 hrs 20 minutes (all but 20 min inactive)
Prep – 20 minutes
Cook– 6-8 hours

Yield: 8 servings

Level: Easy

Strawberry Tart Push-Ups

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This recipe courageously created by Lauren.

The Goods
1 cup SCD yogurt
3/4 cup orange juice
1 ripened banana (black spots on skin)
1 sandwich bag frozen strawberries
1 tsp. vanilla

The Gettin’
1. Place all ingredients inside blender or food processor.
2. Pulse and mix until well combined.
3. Pour into Push-Up Containers.
4. Place Push-Ups into freezer and wait!

The Take
Remember push-up pops? Lauren loved to eat the Flintstone Push-Ups every summer from the ice-cream trucks or if lucky, mom’s freezer.  SCD attempt number one turned into something different, a smoothie like pop!  The orange wasn’t cutting it, so we just started throwing things in.  They are a nice strawberry tart relief from the heat.  Next time we’ll try yogurt with fresh mango and OJ to bring back the old summer Flintstone fling.  Oh and we might run the mix through the ice-cream machine before popping it into the Push-Ups.

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
Prep –  10 minutes
Freeze – 4 hours

Yield: 5-6 push-ups

Level: Easy

Crustless Cheeseless Quick Junk Quiche

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This recipe inspired by a craving, allrecipes.com, and the fridge.

The Goods
6 strips SCD bacon
1/2 onion chopped
6 small portabella mushrooms chopped
10 oz. frozen spinach
8 eggs
liberally salt and pepper

The Gettin’
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Cook bacon strips in skillet until crispy, then set aside to cool.
3. Pour out bacon grease leaving about 3 tables spoons in pan.
4. Add chopped onions and mushrooms to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft.
5. Stir in spinach and continue cooking until excess moisture has evaporated.
6. Chop cooled bacon into bacon “bites”.
7. In a large bowl, combine eggs, , salt and pepper.
8. Add spinach mixture  to bowl and stir to blend.
9. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
10. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

The Take
Very good quiche, but I would add more bacon… we love bacon…

Total Time: 1 hour
Prep –  20 minutes
Cook–  30 minutes
Cool– 10 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Level: Easy

Simple Boiled Eggs

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This recipe graciously stolen from eHow.com.

The Goods
eggs (the quantity is up to you)

The Gettin’
1. Place the raw egg in a saucepan.
2. Run cold water into the saucepan until the water is 1 inch above the egg.
3. Place the saucepan on a stove and cook over medium heat until the water begins to boil.
4. Reduce the heat to low.
5. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes for soft-boiled eggs or 10 to 15 minutes for hard-boiled eggs
6. Remove the egg with a spoon or ladle and let it cool slowly, or run cold water over it to cool it more quickly.

The Take
Simple quick breakfast you can make for the week that gives good protein for a good fill me up!  Lauren likes them with a Muffin.  Jordan prefers bacon.  Bacon needs nothing else to Jordan.  Why even eggs?  Well if you’re like Lauren, you want variety.  If you’re like Jordan, there is no such thing as too much of a good thing- bacon!!!!

Also you may like to know that hard boiled eggs can last up to one week in the fridge when the shell has not been opened already.

Total Time: 10- 15 minutes
Cook–  10-15 minutes

Yield: however many eggs you start with

Level: Easy

String Beans

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This recipe graciously inspired by FoodEditorials.com and embellished delightfully by Lauren’s Madre.

IMAG1079

The Goods
2 lbs. string beans
8 shiitaki mushrooms
1 medium onion or 8 miniature
2 steam fresh oregano
3 basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste, liberally is suggested

The Gettin’
1. Chop oregano, basil onion, garlic and mushrooms.
2. Add all chopped ingredients and string beans to pot over stove.
3. Add water to pot, 1/3 depth of green beans.
4. Liberally salt mixture.
5. Bring to boil and then simmer covered over heat for 30 minutes or until done.

The Take
Lauren loves green beans.  Loves them.  These are no exception.

Total Time: 38 minutes
Prep – 8 minutes
Cook – 30 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Level: Easy

Marinated and Grilled Pork Chops with Mixed Herb Chimichurri

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This recipe stolen graciously from Emeril.



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The Goods
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves
3 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. minced shallots
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 jalapeno – deseeded
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/4 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
4 (12-ounce) double-cut pork chops

The Gettin’
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, basil, garlic, shallots, cilantro, oregano, parsley, jalapeno and crushed red pepper.
2. Pulse until well blended but do not puree.
3. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper.
4. Remove 1 cup of the chimichurri sauce from the processor and transfer to a non-reactive bowl, cover with plastic wrapand reserve at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

*If cooking pork another day, refrigerate sauce and return to room temperature before serving.*

 5. Season the pork chops on both sides with the remaining 2 teaspoons of the salt and the remaining teaspoon of the black pepper and place in a large, resealable plastic food storage bag.
6. Add the remaining chimichurri sauce from the processor into bag covering the chops.
7. Seal bag and refrigerate the pork chops for at least 2 and up to 4 hours.
8. Preheat a grill to medium.
9. Once the chops have finished marinating, remove them from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for 45 minutes.
10. Set the chops over the hot grill and cook for 7 to 8 minutes on each side.
11. Once cooked through, serve the chops and pour 1/4 cup of the reserved chimichurri sauce over each chop before serving.

The Take
“I didn’t know pork chops could taste this good,” Jordan. (Lauren passed out on floor.)

Total Time:  3 hours 15 minutes
Prep –  15 minutes
Inactive – 2 hours 45 minutes
Cook–  15 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Level: Easy

Sweet Cinnamon Buns!

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This recipe graciously stolen from comfybelly.com.

The Goods
Muffin Goods

1/2 cup SCD yogurt
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cinnamon Topping Goods

2 Tbs. cinnamon
4 Tbs. honey
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted (coconut butter will work too)

The Gettin’
1. Preheat oven to 310 degrees F.
2. Combine all the muffin ingredients and blend well (we used food processor, but hand is great too).
3. Place cupcake liners in a baking pan, and fill the liners halfway with batter.
3. Blend all the topping ingredients well with fork.
4. Add about a tablespoon of topping to the center of each muffin.
5. Place another scoop of batter on top of each muffin until the batter just about reaches the top.
6. Evenly distribute the remaining topping over the top of each muffin. Optionally, use a toothpick to poke at the top of each muffin to allow some topping to drip into the batter.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are starting to brown.

The Take
They are moist, flavorful, and glamorous!  These buns are better than J. Lo’s!  THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!  The most amazing part to me is that if you handed these muffins to a friend, they would have no clue they were made with the nontraditional ingredients.  if you like cinnamon, you’re just gonna die.

Total Time: 55 minutes
Prep –  30 minutes
Cook–  25 minutes

Yield: 12 muffins

Level: Easy

Tuscan Mushrooms

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This recipe graciously inspired, practically stolen, from Giada.

The Gettin’
1/2 cup SCD legal diced roasted red bell peppers (These add about 30 minutes if not prepared before hand.)
1/2 cup diced pitted green olives
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 scallions, diced
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 lbs. white button mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves

The Gettin’
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl mix together the roasted red bell peppers, olives, cheese, scallions, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. On a greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet place the mushrooms, cavity side up.
4. Spoon the filling into the cavity of the mushrooms. Bake until the mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes.
5. Transfer the mushrooms to a serving platter, sprinkle with chopped basil, and serve.

The Take
EXCELLENT!

Total Time: 30  minutes
Prep –  10 minutes
Cook–  20 minutes

Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Level: Easy

Jim’s Fluffy Pancakes

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This recipe graciously stolen from nomorecrohns.com.

The Goods
1-1/4 c. almond flour
4 medium eggs
4 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. vanilla (containing vanilla and alcohol only)
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. real butter

The Gettin’
1. Mix all ingredients together in a blender for a light, fluffy texture.
2. Pour onto a buttered electric griddle (preferably) set at 275 degrees or a buttered pan.
3. Cook slowly until golden brown; (a bit longer than for regular flour pancakes).
4. Serve with warmed honey and/or jam.

The Take
Flippin’ floppin’ good!  Lauren loves to infuse hers with SCD butter and Jordan likes equal parts jam or honey to pancake.  The almond flour gives a nice sweetness.   Oh and stay tuned for banana pancakes… also divine…

Total Time: 25 minutes
Prep –  5 minutes
Cook–  20 minutes

Yield: 9 medium pancakes

Level: Easy