Christina Najjar

Stuffed Peppers (Paleo)

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Hot foods, like stuffed peppers, somehow seem to make the transition into cool weather much easier. Usually, the arrival of fall means the beginning of my whining about winter. However, this year, after having had such an amazing summer and a late arrival to fall, I couldn’t help but get lost in the beauty of fall.

Stuffed peppers

Since I’ve been playing dodgeball about three times a week and been doing weight training workouts on the side, my body’s been begging me for more protein. A smoothie with 18 grams of protein just won’t do anymore. I decided to make stuffed peppers for breakfast instead. People generally tend to give me a look of “umm, okay, really?” when I eat dinner foods for breakfast, but dinner for breakfast is my absolute favourite.

I took 15 minutes last night to prepare the filling and stuff the peppers so that it would all be ready to go today. The beauty of this recipe is that it’s so quick. It can then be made in the oven or in the slowcooker while you’re at work or running errands.

Stuffed peppers (paleo)

Ingredients
4 medium or large bell peppers of different colours
Approx. 1 lb ground meat of choice (I used chicken)
1 small cooking onion, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, quartered and chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp black pepper
Salt to preference

Directions
Preheat oven to 400F (unless using slowcooker).

Mix together all the raw ingredients except for the bell peppers, then set aside. Cut off the tops of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Pack the filling inside the peppers.

Cook in the oven for about an hour or in the slowcooker on low for 8 hours. Makes 4 servings.

Can be prepared in advance and cooked the next day as long as expiry dates of all ingredients are being respected.

Mexican Spiced Chicken (Paleo)

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This Mexican spiced chicken came to be because lately, I feel like I keep eating the same meals over and over., Finding time to constantly come up with something new and palatable feels draining at times. I don’t want to buy condiments or spices for something I’ll be making one time. Then I would have to store the remainders, and I so badly want to downsize my kitchen. Every time I move, I have more boxes for all my kitchen stuff than for the rest of my apartment combined.

Mexican Spiced Chicken

Additionally, easy recipes tend to require ingredients I choose not to eat when I’m at home. Why when I’m at home? You may already know this about me, but I very much believe in an 80/20 lifestyle. 80% of the time, I eat really healthy things that makes other people cringe but that I absolutely enjoy. Then, when I go out, I’m free to enjoy anything I like, as long as it respects my food sensitivities.

This Mexican spiced chicken worked out well because I got to come up with something new to make using things I already had at home. It’s easy and quick to put together.

Mexican Spiced Chicken

Ingredients
4 chicken legs with backs, skin on, bone in
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
To taste: salt, pepper, cayenne pepper
OR use a Mexican spice blend

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.

Rinse the raw chicken and dry with paper towels. Mix the spices together in a small bowl and spread evenly between the four pieces of chicken.

Cook the chicken for about half an hour or until fully cooked. If you like your chicken extra crispy, broil until the top is brown, but watch it closely. Serve with vegetables for a complete meal. Makes 4 servings.

Comfort Food Chicken and Veggies (paleo)

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This comfort food chicken meal is the kind of dish I make when I don’t feel like making anything fancy. Those who have tried it rave about how good it is, though.  What’s great about it is that it’s a one pot meal. You can leave it on the stove and come back and check on it every 10-15 minutes to make sure it hasn’t caught fire.

Comfort food chicken and veggies

In other news, I finished my exams for the semester today. This means that I have two consecutive compressed courses left, and then I will have completed my undergrad. It’s taken me extra long to complete this degree, so it definitely feels like a relief to be getting to the end of it, finally.

Comfort Food Chicken and Veggies (paleo)

Ingredients
4-6 bone-in, skin on chicken legs/backs/thighs/breasts (choose your favourite)
2 large carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups butternut squash cubes
1/2-1 cup green beans
1 cup button mushrooms
1 small or medium onion, cut in half and sliced
1/4-1/3 cups chicken broth
2-3 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp oil

Directions
In a large “cooker” (like a deeper frying pan with a lid), heat the oil over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken. Place skin down into the cooker and brown for about 5 minutes, then flip it over and brown for another few minutes. Add in the butternut squash, carrots, broth and about half of the rosemary. Salt and pepper some more. Lower heat to medium high and cover for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add the rest of the ingredients. You can add a bit more salt and pepper. Make sure that there is still a bit of broth in the cooker. If not, add just a bit more. It will make the chicken nice and tender, and will give you a nice gravy-like sauce at the end. Cover and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

Ginger Beef Stew (with slowcooker option)

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Today was my last day of exams. This is the part where I should get excited. Somehow, I can’t seem to be able to find it in me to be excited. I start spring courses next week. After the spring courses? Summer courses. And after that, it’s the fall courses. It feels like it never ends.
I know my meat posts are really rare. I don’t often cook meat, and when I do, it’s for supper, and it’s too dark to take pictures. I really should figure out my lighting situation, because some of the dinners I cook are pretty neat. 
The secret to this stew is the ginger. If you’re unsure if you’ve put enough, add more. And when you think there’s enough, add more. And when you think there’s too much, add more. I’ve made it in the slowcooker and on the stovetop, and the stovetop one turned out better. 
Ginger Beef Stew (with slowcooker option)
Ingredients
1 package beef cubes – about 1 lb
2 zucchinis, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 potato, chopped
4 cups beef broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
About two inches ginger, cut into small cubes
Black pepper to taste
Optional: a sprinkle of cayenne pepper
Sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
Stovetop: Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan, except for zucchini and green peppers. Bring broth to a boil and then reduce to simmer. After half an hour, add in the zucchini and green peppers, and leave in for another fifteen minutes. Serve in bowls and sprinkle sesame seeds on each portion.
Slowcooker: Combine all ingredients in slowcooker. Cook on low for eight hours. Serve in bowls and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Slowcooker Freezer Bags

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Preparing freezer bags for the slowcoooker

If you spend any amount of time on Pinterest or you just like to browse the internet for food related stuff, you may have already heard of freezer bags that you simply pop into your slowcooker in the morning. If you haven’t, this is why I’m writing this post.
When I know I’m about to become really busy for a good period of time, I like to take a few hours to make freezer bags. I make a shopping list ahead of time to make sure I buy everything I need, and only what I need. I typically buy a bag of onions, a bunch of carrots, a bunch of celery, a bag of frozen green beans, a few zucchinis, a few bell peppers, and sometimes cauliflower or broccoli. If stewing beef cubes or chicken legs are on sale, I may also buy some of those.
When I get home, I wash all my veggies at the same time. I keep the celery and the carrots in bunches for faster cutting. You need a nice big knife for this. And watch your fingers. You don’t want finger pieces in your freezer bags. Especially if you’re doing vegan freezer bags.
When I’m done cutting veggies, I save the scraps to make veggie broth, except if I’m using broccoli or cauliflower (they apparently make broth bitter). I throw the sliced veggies into bags, add fresh spices directly to the bag (such as minced garlic or ginger cubes), and close them up nicely. When I’m ready to use them, I take them out of the freezer, empty the contents of the bags into the slowcooker or a large soup pot, and add broth or sauce.
I stuff my freezer quite a bit to fit all these freezer bags of goodies. If you use meat, make sure you place it at the bottom of the freezer.

At the end of about two hours of work, my dishes consist of two knives, a cutting board, my garlic mincer, a cup, and my mandoline. I have tons of meals prepared, and I only have to do the dishes once.

Here are some ideas of meals to make:
Vegan Chickpea Curry – If using canned chickpeas, add them from the can directly to the slowcooker

Apple Chicken Breakfast Sausage

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I have recently found out that I can’t peacefully digest regular sausage. This quite saddens me, because the Sausage Kitchen in the Byward Market here in Ottawa makes amazing gluten free sausage. I’m thinking the problem might be the high fat content. But hey, no biggie, since I have a healthier alternative anyway.

So, you thought low fat food had to be bland? Think again. I buy extra lean ground chicken sausage and use molasses to stop it from being dry. I like to fry it on the stove top with a bit of oil, but you could make it in a non-stick skillet without oil, or probably in a non-stick pan in the oven.

This recipe is really simple, and yet seems complicated enough to an outsider to be able to make this to impress a carnivore. I find it’s also really nice as leftovers.

Apple Chicken Breakfast Sausage

Apple Chicken Sausage

Ingredients
1 small package ground chicken, about 1 lb
1/2 apple, chopped finely (Granny Smith works well)
2 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp rosemary leaves
1 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste

Directions
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least three hours, though overnight is preferable.

To form into patties, I suggest using plastic gloves, especially if you have long nails. Because of the molasses, the mixture will be stickier than most ground chicken recipes. Patties of about two inches in diameter seem to be perfect. Alternatively, you can roll them, but keep in mind that it may need to cook longer, which could possibly make them turn out less moist.

Place patties in a lightly oiled skillet. If you don’t want to use oil, make sure your skillet is non-stick. Cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes. Turn the sausage and cook for another 5 minutes. Using a lid makes it cook faster and more uniformly. Makes about 4 servings.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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