Recipe Review-- Slowcooked meats and Brownies

Salsa Chicken Crockpot style from Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Twenty minute to prepare! I skipped the tortillas (being gluten free n all) and instead served this with rice and black olives on top. I put half the sauce in the crockpot, added chicken breasts, put the rest over and cooked on high for 4 hours. Then I added cheese and let it melt into yumminess.

Black Bean & Avocado Brownies from Cara's Cravings

Believe it or not, these are absolutely delicious. While making these a friend dropped by and waved off the batter covered spoon I offered to him. "I'm on a diet." Well guess what you can have your brownies and eat them, too. These taste like the chocolate mousse type variety. Another friend would not stop talking about these after he tried it, and the ingredients are inexpensive. Be careful not to eat the whole thing, as beans and avocado might have a loosening effect! I replaced the sugar with equal parts palm sugar to make it even better for you. Instead of espresso, I added spicy hot chocolate mix I had in the kitchen.

Slowcooked Carne Asada from Faithful Provisions

I recently bought this dish at a Mexican restaurant and didn't realize it was not a slowcooked dish. So when I saw that Trader Joes sells premarinated carne asada for $6 a pound, I got a package of the sliced version and decided to make it myself. This recipe is a bit similar to the salsa chicken above, however it doesn't need any cheese, instead I topped it with fresh avocado. It was the perfect cool addition to this spicy dish. (If you don't buy the trader joe's version, I would recommend marinating the meat in your favorite spices first for extra flavor).

Crockpot Meatballs from a Year of Slowcooking

I am an Italian food snob. This month I craved meatballs and so I set out to make a gluten free version that I can eat. I made these marvelous things in about half an hour and I froze them. Next time I definitely will make an extra batch so I can have meatballs anytime. These are so good. I used a larger can of tomatoes and added onion, carrot and celery so there would be a delicious sauce with it to put over rice pasta and peas. Yum yum yum!! (FYI you probably only need a third of a cup of flour to coat the meatballs, not the 1 cup this suggests)

Recipe Review

I've been in a cooking frenzy! Here is my review of Grain Free Nutty Carrot Breakfast Bread, Pumpkin Gingerbread Protein Bars, and Gingery Shiitake & Cabbage Soup with Edamame.

Grain Free Nutty Carrot Breakfast Bread from Daily Bites

Omm nom nom!! This is so absolutely delicious and it doesn't use any sugar other than that which is naturally stored in dried prunes and carrots. I added a little almond flour I had lying around and a little less stevia than called for. I will definitely be putting this into the rotation, this batter would also make great muffins.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Protein Bars from Cara's Cravings

Yummy! I made one batch of these last night, looked at the half empty can of pumpkin and decided to make another! There are tons of these in my freezer now. I must have eaten four or five when they were cooling and gooey so I have a feeling these will go realll fast. Aside from the pumpkin, I have enough for another future batch so this is another one for the recipe log.

Gingery Shiitake & Cabbage Soup with Edamame from Cara's Cravings

This soup is a great way to use that leftover cabbage from the borscht I made! I didn't add edamame and I cut the amount of tofu in half. Personally I don't like to eat a great deal of soy. I've read a lot of herbalists say it is really only good for you if you eat it in fermented form so that's what I go with normally. But the todu is great in the flavor of this soup which actually gets better int he fridge. The broth feels so great for me because its got so many mushrooms.

Happy cooking!