Eggs in Purgatory.

Fresh fixins were running a little slim this past weekend, and so I went after the numerous cans of tomatoes we have in the pantry. Prior to the GAPS diet, we were big chili eaters. Besides being delicious, it's super easy to make, especially in the slow cooker. Our technique was to basically add a bunch of canned (maybe frozen) veggies to the pot and let it go. After the diet switch, we went through a large purge of the kitchen cabinets when we got rid of just about all of our canned food, except for the canned tomatoes, which we had a lot of. In the end, it was probably not the cleanest, and definitely not the freshest meal we've had in a while, but dang did it turn out awesome!

Due to the anticipated chili making, most of our tomato cans contain various peppers and onions, garlic, and other seasonings. With that, the Purgatory recipe didn't require too much more seasoning, but I did take a couple recipe ideas and added just a few additional herbs and spices. The result was pretty amazing. It's super easy to make (especially with the assistance of canned goodies), and would go well with some kind of veggie hash as a side (we had some leftover roasted rutabaga and winter squash fries). If dairy is well tolerated, I'm sure this would be even more delicious with a cheesy topping. Mmmm....breakfast!

Those poor eggs cooking way in the fire and brimstone of purgatory...I mean delicious, delicious tomatoes!

Voila! Delicious, and relatively quick breakfast with example of the rutabaga prepped as fries, which are amazing as well!

The Recipe:

• 4 eggs
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes and peppers (I used fire-roasted with peppers and onions)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 onion, chopped (I used one large yellow onion)
• Garlic powder to taste
• Coconut oil (for cooking onion)

The Process:

• In a cast-iron skillet (or regular skillet), melt coconut oil and add chopped onion. Cook until onion is soft and translucent.
• Add all the canned tomato stuffs and seasonings to the skillet and heat through.
• Once all the ingredients in the skillet are warm/hot add in the eggs. Let them cook until the bottom of the eggs are done, then (carefully) flip and turn off heat.
• Serve and enjoy some awesome brunch!

This, as with just about any recipe I post, is very fast and loose. Try playing around with the different tomato and seasoning options and see what turns out. It's tough to go astray with tomato anything!

Zughetti and squash sauce with a side of veggie balls.

The hubby and I were on the lookout for some quickie meal ideas, and since we had just gone to the market, we had a few extra ingredients on hand, one of which being zucchini. We wanted something simple, yet comforting, and what is more comforting than spaghetti and meatballs...? Zughetti and veggie balls of course! I've always had an interest in using zucchini in place of traditional spaghetti noodles, and now that we're on the GAPS diet, it seemed like the perfect time. I thought it was a fun idea, and since I was planning to quickly and lightly stir-fry the noodles, thought it would be just the thing to star in our quickie dinner.

It was also a bit of a leftover meal, using up some of the older ingredients that had been lingering about the kitchen, in particular these two acorn squashes that had been threatening to become permanent fixtures if they weren't used sooner than later. So it was decided, squash sauce to top the zughetti noddles! The recipe for the sauce comes from MarthaStewart.com, and with only minor modifications, primarily the use of coconut milk in place of half-and-half, the dish was rather GAPS/paleo friendly. I was also quite liberal in my use of garlic (as always), caramelizing the cloves**, and adjusting the rest of the ingredients accordingly to accommodate the large amount of squash we had. Sticking with the theme of simplicity, instead of pealing and cubing the squash as the recipe suggested, I simply cut the squashes in half and sprinkled in my seasoning and oil, letting them cook open side up. Overall it worked out quite well. The sauce was delicious, and went amazingly well with our second attempt at the Detoxinista's Meat(less) Balls. What pulled it all together though, was how we topped everything off with the amazing leftover slow-cooker chicken we had made earlier in the week.

It turned out to be quite an amazing meal. Not necessarily the quickest, but considering what was all made, the effort was fairly minimal. And as a bonus, we finished off the last of our fouxtatoes/cauliflower hummus, which made for another great serving idea for the veggie balls. Definitely need to try doing the veggie balls falafel style!

I LOVE garlic, and really, is there anything roasted garlic doesn't go with?

While zucchini noodles are great on their own, a quick stir-fry can really make the flavor shine!

Delicious.

The Recipe

• 1 large zucchini (for the noodles)

• 1 medium butternut squash, about 1 1/2 pounds (I used acorn squash)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic*
• 5 cloves garlic (very rough estimate)
• 1 heaping tablespoon coconut oil (or desired fat for caramelizing)
• 1 cup coconut milk (original recipe calls for half-and-half)

The Process

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Using a large, sharp knife, trim ends; halve squash crosswise to separate bulb from neck. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut both pieces in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out seeds; discard. (To simplify, cut squash in half, remove seeds and prep each open half. Bake open side up. and proceed to step 4.)
3. Cut squash into 2-inch chunks; transfer to a small rimmed baking sheet. Toss with oil and sage; season generously with salt and pepper. Scatter garlic around squash. (*If cooking as whole halves, sprinkle minced garlic on each half.)
4. Roast until squash is very tender, about 40 minutes, tossing once halfway through. Remove and discard skin from garlic.
5. *While squash is cooking, begin cooking garlic cloves on a low setting, stirring occasionally. (The goal is to slightly caramelize.)
6. Transfer squash and garlic and onion mixture to a food processor; puree. With motor running, add coconut milk through the feed tube; process until smooth. Add 1 to 2 cups water (I did not add water as I like a thicker sauce); continue to process until smooth, adding water to thin if necessary. Season again generously with salt.

Serve over zughetti, veggie balls, or anything else you're looking to spice up, and enjoy!

**I have grown to love Sam's Club's Fresh Peeled Garlic. It's a huge bag of garlic already prepped for cooking. What more could you ask for?!

The best whole chicken in a crock-pot, really!

This recipe has really become the go-to for the hubby and I, and I can't tell you enough just how amazing it really is! The recipe comes from the 100 Days of Real Food blog, and besides being incredibly easy, as most slow-cooker recipes are, the resulting chicken tastes fantastic, so juicy and flavorful! We generally double up on the recipe, somehow squishing in two whole chickens into one (large) crock-pot, and reserving the remaining juices and bones to start the next batch of bone broth.

I love the set-it-and-forget-it style recipes, especially when they yield such awesome leftovers, and as we continue to go more GAPS/paleo, having a good meat recipe on hand is an essential. This slow-cooker chicken has made an awesome addition to dishes like our zughetti with squash sauce and salads, is a great topper for juice pulp chips, and is pretty darn good all on it's own. I can't say enough about this recipe, so try it and let us know in the comments what you think, and if there are any fun variations you've come up with!

The Recipe

• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 large chicken

The Process

1. Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.*
2. Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Remove any giblets** from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
4. Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
5. Cook for 4 – 5 hours on high*** (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. Don’t forget to make your homemade stock with the leftover bones!

*I just sprinkle all the ingredients over the chicken(s) once they are in the crock-pot, which has worked just fine.

**When possible (or when provided) we use the entire chicken, giblets and all!

***I generally let it cook on a low setting for at least 8 hours or more, till it's falling off the bone, or when I can get around to processing it.