Overnight French Toast Casserole

While cooking French toast for a large group is time consuming, this recipe is put together the night before, and just popped in the oven the next morning. This recipe from Amy at chewoutloud.com is a great way to use up my einkorn bread that has been in the freezer for awhile. 

What you need:

8 cups cubed einkorn bread

7 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cup milk (I use coconut milk)

1 cup half & half

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp almond extract

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup coconut sugar

3 Tbs maple syrup

What you do:

Butter a 9X13 baking dish and arrange the bread cubes evenly in the dish.

In large bowl, add all the remaining ingredients and beat until fully incorporated

Evenly and slowly pour liquid mixture over the bread crumbs, gently tossing to ensure that all bread is coated with egg mixture.

Cover with foil and refrigerate over night.

Remove casserole from refrigerator and uncover

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Bake uncovered for 45 to 55 minutes, or until French toast is quite puffy and golden brown

Let casserole rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting and serving

Serve with butter, syrup and berries

Enjoy!

Oven Baked Meatballs

 Our neighbor gifted us with many pounds of elk! These easy to make, healthy meatballs from Heather at mommypotamus.com taste great using the ground elk. 

What you need:

2 lbs groud elk (or other ground meat)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1 large onion, minced

1/2 cup finely chopped kale or spinach

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil

1/4 tsp thyme, rosemary and/or sage

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

What you do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In large mixing bowl, mix the veggies, spices, salt and pepper

Add the meat and mix everything together with clean hands

Form the meat mixture into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet

(Make sure there is space between so the meatballs cook evenly. You may need 2 baking sheets)

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until inside is no longer pink

Enjoy!

These freeze well. To freeze, place meatballs on the baking sheet in the freezer to freeze for about 2 hours. Then transfer to a freezer storage bag and store up to 3 months.

For a quick dinner, I serve with store bought organic marinara sauce over Jovial organic cassava pasta.

Pecan Pie with Coconut Flour Crust

This is a great alternative to conventional pecan pie! The recipe for the pie (not the crust) is from Katie Wells. She has great recipes.

What you need for the crust:

1/2 cup butter (or coconut oil)

2 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup coconut flour

What you need for the filling:

3/4 cup maple syrup

3 eggs

3 Tbs butter (or coconut oil)

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup coconut sugar

2 to 2 1/2 cups pecans

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In medium bowl beat butter, eggs and salt together with a fork

Add coconut flour and stir until dough holds together

Gather the dough into a ball, then pat into a 9" greased pie pan

Prick the dough with a fork

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly brown (I cover the edges with aluminum foil)

Let cool

Turn oven down to 375 degrees

In small saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a simmer and simmer for about 5 mins

Pour into a bowl and add the butter, vanilla and coconut sugar

Use an immersion blender to combine

Add eggs and blend until smooth

Place pecans in pie crust and pour the liquid mixture over the pecans

Bake for 30 minutes or until the center is mostly set. Do not overbake

Enjoy!

Tip: 

A key to making a good pie crust is to keep your fats cold and not over mix

Thai Chicken Stew

 I found this recipe on Danielle Walker's Instagram. She cooked it in a Instapot. I used my Crockpot. Super easy, healthy and delicious!

What you need:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I prefer thighs)

1/2 chopped onion

2 to 3 cloves chopped garlic

Juice from 1 lime

2 Tbs. fish sauce

2 Tbs. coconut aminos

1 jar Thai Curry Paste

7 oz. tomato paste

Finely chopped ginger

1 can coconut milk

Veggies- sliced mushrooms, yellow, orange or red pepper, broccoli, 

What you do:

Place all ingredients in a Crockpot, except vegetables

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours

The last hour, add the vegetables

When cooked, shred chicken with two forks

Serve over sprouted brown rice

Enjoy!

Einkorn Pizza

Enjoy your Valentine's dinner, Maryann and Nick! I love you dearly! 

What you need: 

Einkorn dough (When making Einkorn dough for pizza, I divide the dough into 2/3 for a very large loaf of bread and 1/3 for pizza crust. So follow the directions for Einkorn bread, except for this measurement change, and place the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours or more, until you're ready to make your pizza.)

Pizza sauce

Olive oil

Mozzarella cheese, grated

Cheddar cheese, grated

Parmesan cheese, grated

Pepperoni and/or sausage

Mushrooms, sliced

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place parchment paper on top of baking sheet

Add olive oil to parchment paper and spread out with your hands

Place pizza dough on parchment paper and shape (into about a 12 inch round) with your hands 

Bake in the middle to upper-middle of your oven for 10 minutes

Remove from oven and add:

1) sauce 

2) then layer of mozzarella cheese

3) meat and mushrooms (or whatever toppings you prefer)

4) layer of cheddar cheese

5) sprinkle of Parmesan cheese

Bake for another 10 minutes (I broil for the last minute or so)

Slice and enjoy! 

Tips:

When I make my Einkorn bread, I often do the 1/3-2/3 measurements and only bake the 2/3 into a loaf of bread and freeze the 1/3 in a Ziploc bag for pizza at a later time. When we're going to make the pizza, I place the Ziplock bag with the dough in the refrigerator for about 24 hours to defrost. Super easy!

I buy organic, raw, 100% grassfed grated cheddar cheese. Great time saver to have it already grated! The mozzarella I grate myself, because I haven't found a pre-grated one that doesn't contain extra ingredients. 

Sliced mushrooms are also a time saver.

If we have left over pizza sauce, we set it in a little bowl on the table to dip our pizza crust into. Yum!