Atkins and Paleo Challenge Box Set (10 in 1): Over 400 Atkins and Paleo Recipes With Pressure, Slow Cooker and Cast Iron for Busy People (Atkins Diet & Paleo Recipes) (46 page)

Following a recipe is like using an old-fashioned map. Sometimes you have to follow it exactly and other times you can wander off the beaten path slightly and take little side trips. For instance, instead of using water for a recipe you can substitute equal amounts of low sodium broth to punch up the flavors. There are other special tweaks and changes you can make once you are more comfortable with cooking this way. This will keep favorite recipes from becoming dull or overused because the taste is slightly different every time.

Make sure that you are adequately seasoning your foods at the start of the cook time unless you are using fresh herbs. Those should be added at the end of the time specified in the recipe or you will end up with unappetizing, lifeless and discolored globs in your food. Some recipes will call for greasing the crock- you can use whatever Paleo friendly oil that you prefer for this.

Set the timer and then make notes on the recipe for how things really went. Was your food done about an hour before the time was up? Did you need to cook it for a little longer? These notes will help you make the process more automatic the next time so it only gets easier and easier from there.

How to take an ordinary Paleo friendly recipe and adapt it to the slow cooker

Remember how many versions of the Paleo diet there are? You are just as likely to find that many books and websites solely dedicated to slow cooker cooking. You are never going to want for a recipe- they will literally be right there whenever you need one. But, we all have our favorite foods and sometimes we like the feeling of creating something on our own. There are many family favorite recipes that we just would love to have more often if we only had the time to make them! With the slow cooker doing most of the work, you can.

It is not complicated to convert a recipe to the slow cooker- all that you need are some very simple tips and guidelines to follow and you can use it to make nearly anything. You can even make a whole turkey for a holiday feast in a slow cooker and you will be completely blown away by how moist and flavorful it will be. You might never put another bird in the oven! And that brings us to the first guideline:  thicker cuts of meat and meat that is still on the bone will take slightly longer to cook than meat that is thinly sliced or off of the bone.

Cook times for recipes that were written for an oven can be converted as well. A recipe that calls for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven would need about 4 to 6 hours in a slow cooker on low. It may take some experimentation to get the right timing and temperature but once you get the hang of it, it’s like magic.

Liquids will also need to be adjusted for slow cooker cooking methods. In some cases you will be reducing the amount of liquid in a recipe and in others you will actually be adding it. If there is no added liquid in the original recipe and the cook time will be more than a few hours, it is best to add some liquid either in the form of water or even broth to keep the food from completely drying out.

As previously mentioned only add fresh herbs at the end of the cooking time. You might also do this with the faster cooking vegetables especially if you would like them to have a bright green appearance. Speaking of vegetables- no matter what you are throwing in the pot make sure that all pieces are roughly the same size so that everything cooks evenly.

• How slow cookers can save you time and stress during your busy day.
  
• How a slow cooker recipe can shave off unneeded calories and minimize your risk of falling victim to the dreaded Starving Decision
  

Mr. Caveman, you know the one that the Paleo diet was based on (at least some versions) had a rough life in many ways but not nearly as rough as the modern man. Think about it: Cavemen went out and hunted and/or gathered their food and other than avoiding predators and dealing with changing weather patterns he had little else to do. Now, the modern person is racing off to a job for which they get paid too little so that they can make the payment on a house, car and other items they can barely afford. They fight traffic on the way to this job and then deal with a cranky boss and incompetent coworkers until the end of the day when they get to get back into their car and fight traffic on the way back home. Once there they are faced with a mountain of chores or worse, the need to get back into the car and do a hundred errands before coming back and getting back to those chores. If these modern folks have kids then they have even more to do and even less time to do it in.

It is no wonder that food becomes a secondary thought to many people with all of that going on! With all of this rushing around no one has the time, desire or the energy to come home and cook food! Even if you only make two or three meals at home with your slow cooker and have some leftovers to work with, you will reduce stress and still get healthy, delicious and home cooked meals.

Without getting overly complicated- stress is a terrible thing for your mind and body. It causes weight gain. It causes high blood pressure and can increase your risk of heart disease. It can even cause memory issues and problems with sleeping. In short, stress is a terrible thing and we need to minimize it.

There is something warm and reassuring about knowing that there is a delightful meal at home waiting for you. If you are the one that does the cooking then you know that there is very little chance of this happening- unless your little friend the slow cooker is on the job!

Recipes that are fried in a pan and even some that are baked in the oven may have too many extra calories coming from the oil you need to keep the food from sticking. Remember, the Paleo diet uses a balance of fat types and oil is not a big problem- but extra or added oil might be. If you shave off a few calories here and there, it is all the better in the long run. The long, slow cook times can also allow you to use different seasonings which means that you can cut down on the salt. Salt, especially in excessive amounts is also bad for the health especially for people who already have or are high risk for problems like high blood pressure.

Most importantly, that fresh and hot food waiting for you can keep you from the evils of the Starving Decision. The Starving Decision is the choice you make when you are too hungry to be reasoned with. You know that you don’t need the triple decker cheeseburger with the extra-large, extra greasy French fries and hey, yeah, give me the fatty pie for dessert and a big old milkshake to wash it all down but there you are, stuck in traffic, starving and frustrated. The radio is playing ad after ad for this burger place or the pizza joint or the combo place down the street. Every road sign is telling you that you can get burgers and what have you at the next exit. Or worse, you are stuck in the business district with a traffic light at every intersection and the fast food places lining both sides of the street. The smells are driving you insane. The signs are offering you specials that are almost impossible to resist and the Starving Decision is winning again.

It is at that time that you need to pop in some minty chewing gum and focus all of your attention to the food that is waiting for you at home.

Recipes! There are some breakfast and others that can be used for lunches or dinners. Most will give you some leftovers that can be converted to lunchbox meals or saved for even faster dinners on super hectic days. Unless otherwise noted the following recipes are all Paleo friendly, low-carb and gluten-free.

Kick the too busy for breakfast excuse to the curb with this delicious and super nutritious start to a healthy day.

Cooking spray or softened butter. You can also use soft ghee

½ pound of regular breakfast sausage, crumbled (You can use mild or spicy if you prefer)

6 ounces of bacon chopped into small pieces

½ cup of yellow onion, diced

1 # sweet potato, peeled and finely shredded

2 bell peppers, your choice of color, seeded and diced.

16 large eggs beaten until frothy and lemon colored.

½ cup unsweetened, plain almond milk

¼ cup coconut milk

1 teaspoon sea salt. Can use pink or red salt if you prefer.

¾ teaspoon of dry mustard

¼ freshly cracked black pepper

Green onions for garnish. May omit if not in season.

Sautee the sausage, bacon and onion together for 10 to 12 minutes or until the onion is softened and the meats are mostly done. Drain the grease and set aside.

To the slow cooker add the shredded sweet potato first, pressing down slightly as you do. Add the meat and onion mixture and then the peppers. Whisk the eggs, the milks and the seasoning together and the pour on top of the other ingredients.

Set the temperature to Low and cook for 6 to 8 hours. This makes around 10 good sized servings so you make it once and have breakfast for two people’s workday mornings for the whole week.

Special note: there is some debate about whether the cream sauce in this recipe is “allowed” on the Paleo diet because of the cream cheese. One version of the diet says yes and another says no. Proceed according to the version you are following.

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts. (Can also use duck or turkey breast if you would like)

5 tablespoons of salsa. (Make sure there is no added sugar or make your own.)

4 ounces of cream cheese.

½ cup to 1 cup of chicken broth. Use a low sodium variety.

Layer the breasts in the slow cooker and then pour in the broth making sure that the liquid level comes to about half way up the side of the crock. Cook on high for about 2 hours or on low for 4 to 6 hours. Regardless of temperature make sure that the chicken is cooked through completely.

When the chicken is nearly done cooking mix the cream cheese and salsa together.

Microwave on high for one minute and the pour over the chicken breasts.

Most stuffed pepper recipes call for the addition of a binder like rice or saltine crackers. This one does not use either but does use a surprising addition to give the stuffing a nice consistency.

5 large and uniformly shaped peppers. You can substitute any color of pepper that you prefer.

1 ½ pounds of lean ground beef. Can substitute ground turkey, chicken or lamb. Can also combine one or more of these to make your own blend.

1 cup of shredded or grated cauliflower

½ cup of no sugar added salsa

½ tsp. each salt and pepper

1 cup shredded cheese (Again, this is not allowed with some versions of Paleo because all dairy foods are on the off limit list.) You can omit this without changing the recipe’s flavor or texture.

Slice the top off each pepper and then pull out the seeds and thick internal ribs. You can save the tops if you want to put them back on for presentation or discard them.

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and then spoon into the cleaned cavity of the pepper.

Arrange the peppers in the cooker in a single layer and then add about one inch of water to the bottom. Cook on low for 8 hours.

If you only have a smaller size slow cooker you may not have enough room for all 5 peppers at one time.

You can either stuff the peppers and cook what you can and freeze the rest or you can halve the recipe instead.