Pork, Kale, & Toasted Coconut Stir Fry

This is my husband's favorite thing I make, and he would eat it for every meal if I'd be willing to cook it that much 😂 He's even taken to sprinkling unsweetened coconut on random dishes now, in an effort to capture glimmers of this dish - so fair warning that this might be more of a hit in your household than you're ready for!

3 tbsp avocado oil (or vegetable oil of choice)

3 eggs, scrambled with a fork

1 small onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, very thinly sliced

1 large garlic clove, minced

2 cups loosely packed kale

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 lb sodium-free ground pork (make sure you check the Nutrition Facts! They love to add massive quantities of sodium to raw ground pork)

Juice of 1 lime

Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Sriracha, to taste

Heat oil in a saute pan or skillet on medium-high heat. Make sure the oil is nice and hot before you start, or the eggs will stick to the pan when you add them.

Set an empty medium-size bowl on an unused burner before you begin.

Pour scrambled eggs into the hot pan, stirring only as-needed to break them up into pieces. The more you stir them, the more likely it is they'll stick to the bottom of the pan. They will cook quickly, so you shouldn't need to mess with them much. Once cooked, pour eggs into the bowl you set aside on the stove.

To the saute pan, add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until soft and translucent, and then add the kale. Cook until kale starts to wilt and is soft. Dump on top of the cooked eggs.

Add unsweetened coconut flakes into the empty pan, and stir constantly to make sure they toast evenly and don'[t burn. Pour on top of the cooked veggies.

Add ground pork to the pan, and cook until no longer pink, breaking up into small pieces as it cooks. Once it has finished cooking, add everything in the bowl back into the pan for 1-2 minutes and stir to combine and heat through.

Remove from heat, and squeeze lime over it. Place in bowls, and garnish with chopped cilantro and Sriracha.

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Asian Sweet Potato Noodles with Pork Meatballs

This has become a weekly staple in our house since I first made it this past summer. It has tons of flavor, texture, and can even be kid friendly! I make a small, separate batch of the sweet potato noodles for our kiddos without the spicy sauce, and steam them in the microwave instead of cooking on the stove. My son loooooves to eat his "curly noodles and meatballs", as he's dubbed it :)

And just a general warning on ground pork - make sure you check the Nutrition Facts, because they love to add tons of sodium to raw ground pork. I usually buy all our ground pork in bulk from a local butcher shop that adds zero sodium to their meat, but if I'm in a pinch and have to get it at a regular grocery store, I alway buy it from the small organic section of meat, because the organic pork usually has only 5-6% DV of sodium per serving, versus the non-organic kind that has anywhere from 20-40% DV of sodium per serving.

Ingredients
Pork Ginger Meatballs
1 pound ground pork
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (don't skip this ingredient if you aren't familiar with it - it really shines in this recipe!)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp Panko crumbs
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Sweet Potato Noodles
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and spiraled into noodles (if you don't have a spiralizer, you can cut them into matchstick size pieces instead)
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar with a dash of garlic powder whisked in
3 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp Sriracha
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.

In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients, mixing the meat and everything else together well. Form the meat mixture into about 16 meatballs and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a large dry pan or skillet over medium-high heat, add the sweet potato noodles, tossing them with tongs as they start to soften. Cook for about 1 minute and then add the sauce to the noodles. Toss and cook for another minute or two until the noodles are just slightly softened and well coated with the sauce.

Dish the noodles into bowls and add a heap of fresh spinach or kale, and then top with a few meatballs.

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Lomo Saltado

We try to limit the amount of Carbs we eat after 6pm, so I tend to use a lot of Paleo recipes for dinner. This is one I grabbed from a favorite website, PaleOMG, and altered a tiny bit to remove a lot of the sodium.

Soy sauce and it's alternates like Coconut Aminos are completely out for us because of the massive amounts of sodium, so whenever a recipe calls for it, I use Balsamic Vinegar mixed with a little garlic powder as a substitute.

Ingredients
1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced
Dash of garlic powder
2-3 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I cut into rounds and then half them)
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar with a little garlic powder whisked in
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup unsalted chicken broth (I use the brand Kitchen Basics, because they offer Unsalted chicken, beef, and vegetable stock)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tsp cumin
1 large plum tomato
1 whole jalapeño, cored and seeds removed
1 cup packed cilantro
2 green onions, roughly chopped
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt or low sodium mayonnaise (I have a sodium free version here)
Juice of 1 small lime
Cauliflower Rice, prepared according to package directions (there are a million recipes on the internet, but I use the pre-made frozen bags from Aldi)

Instructions
Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, and add olive oil. Pat flank steak strips dry, and sprinkle garlic powder over them. Once hot, add the meat and cook 2-3 minutes per side, being sure not to overcrowd the pan. Depending on the size of your skillet, you might want to cook the meat in two batches. Remove and set aside to rest.

Add the onions to the hot pan and cook for about 8 minutes until the onions begin to caramelize. Then add peppers, toss and cook for 3 more minutes.

Finally, add balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, broth, cumin, and pepper. Mix, then let reduce for about 8-10 minutes, until the sauce thickens and reduces by 1/2. Once sauce has reduced, add sliced tomato, toss, and cook for 1 more minute.

Lastly, make Aji sauce: place all remaining ingredients in a blender (jalapeño, cilantro, green onions, greek yogurt/mayo, and lime juice) and blend until smooth.

To finish the dish, place cauliflower rice in a bowl, top with vegetables and steak, and then drizzle with Aji sauce.

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Pumpkin & Apple Pork Roast

I'll just say it: crockpots are life. I love throwing some ingredients together in the morning, and then being greeted at the door later in the day to a cloud of delicious smells. It's like coming home to find someone cooked a surprise meal for you while you were gone, "For me?! Oh you shouldn't have, Crockpot! You're such a dear."

This is a little something I came up with after the kids begged me to buy a "baby pumpkin" at the grocery store. If you enjoy Fall as much as I do (it's at the top of my Seasons list), you'll love this recipe, because it will make your house smell like all the best things about Fall.

Ingredients
2-3 pound pork roast
2 large apples of your choice, cut into 1/2" slices (firmer ones like Honeycrisp tend to be better, because they don't turn to mush)
1 large onion, sliced (I cut into rounds, and then half them)
1 small baking pumpkin (I usually look for one a little bigger than the size of a softball. Cut it in half, scoop out the guts, cut into slices and then slice off the outer skin)
1 cup apple cider
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Instructions
In a small bowl, combine spices and then rub over meat. Place in a crockpot, and arrange apple, onion, and pumpkin slices on and around it. Pour apple cider over everything, and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 4-5 hours.

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Dried Fruit & Seed Muesli Buns

Ray absolutely loves the Protein Bistro Boxes at Starbucks, and they're honestly one of the few healthy/low sodium options we can find for him when it comes to eating out. But at $6 a pop, they aren't the most budget friendly option. He especially loves the little muesli buns inside them, but when we looked up the company that makes them (thinking that buying bags straight from them would be more affordable), we discovered it was $5 for a bag of 8 tiny buns (which would last all of 2 days in our house). So we went searching for a comparable recipe on the internet, and found this one by Sweet Phi. I modified it to our needs, removing the salt and upping the oats, dried fruit, and seeds. They're a great little grab & go snack for any time of day, and they freeze really well! If you have access to a Whole Foods or Fresh Thyme, it's *much* cheaper to buy the dried fruit & seeds from the bulk bins than purchasing pre-packaged ones at a regular store. I spent about $20 on the dried fruit and nuts at Fresh Thyme, and have only used half my stash after 4 batches of these buns - I'm thinking I'll be able to get 8-9 batches out of $20 worth of ingredients, so it's well worth the money!

Ingredients
Makes 21-24 rounds

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 packet instant yeast 
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup dried apricots, diced
1/3 cup dried apples, diced
1/3 cup dried currants
1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds

Instructions
Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and oats in a large bowl, stir once or twice, and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is foamy on top.

Slowly stir in the flours, and mix until dough just begins to form. You can do this with a stand mixer with a dough attachment set on low, or by hand (which is what I do). 

Add in the chopped dried fruit and seeds, and stir a few times. 

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes, until the fruit and seeds have been incorporated evenly into the dough. 

Put the dough ball into an oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and allow to rise for an hour.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and shape it into a large rectangle. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into 21-24 squares.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, take each dough square in hand, tuck the corners under to round them out, and place on baking sheet. When all the dough squares have been made into rounds, cover the baking sheets with plastic wrap (spray it with cooking spray first to keep the dough from sticking to it), and allow to rise for another hour.

Preheat oven to 375. Remove plastic wrap from the baking sheets, and bake the bread rounds for 15 minutes, or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool on racks before eating or storing. (To freeze, let cool and place in Gallon Freezer bags. To defrost, allow them to come to room temperate on the counter, or microwave for 30 seconds).

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Kale & Tomato Crustless Quiche

When I started this blog almost a year ago, my goal was to find ways to make heart-healthy eating fun for our family, despite the huge emotional and physical transition we were undergoing after my husband's diagnosis. It's hard enough trying to cope with the emotional ramifications of your spouse almost dying, but then to realize you have to completely overhaul your family's diet overnight, and cook most everything from scratch....it's daunting!

Our family loves to eat - which is a big part of what got us into this mess - so just because we had to give up the unhealthy foods in life, I refused to be relegated to a bland, flavorless diet. Not only would that make it harder on us to want to stick to it, but also there are too many beautiful spices and fruits and vegetables out there in the world for that kind of a boring diet to be acceptable to me!

So here we are ❤ And listen, I *know* the crust is the best part of a quiche. I know. But I promise this dish still has lots of flavor, even without it! The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes creates a nice contrast to the savory combination of eggs, kale, and onions 😍

Kale & Tomato Crustless Quiche

Serves 4-6

6 eggs, with 3 of the yolks discarded

1 cup milk

1 tbsp avocado or olive oil 

1 small onion, dived

1 medium garlic clove, minced

3 cups chopped kale

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 tsp thyme

Freshly ground pepper, to taste 

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a pie pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Stir in thyme and pepper, and set aside.

In a skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and when it's shiny, add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add kale and garlic, and sauté until kale starts to wilt. 

Pour kale mixture into the bottom of the pie pan, and add egg mixture on top. Arrange cherry tomato halves evenly over the surface.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until center is firm. 

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Ricotta Spaghetti Squash Bake

There are a few things you should note about this recipe if you're watching your sodium intake like us. Most cheeses are off-limits on a heart diet, but a few are low in sodium like ricotta and fresh mozzarella - but you HAVE to buy fresh mozzarella and grate it yourself, rather than buying the pre-shredded bagged stuff, which is loaded with sodium (trust me, it's worth the extra time - the texture and flavor of freshly grated cheese is *completely* different)

The other thing is that if you decide to substitute another green for the kale, avoid spinach because it's naturally very high in sodium.

We ate this as a side dish with chicken breasts and steamed broccoli, but the next time I make this, I plan on turning it into an entree by cutting up the grilled chicken and stirring it in.

Ricotta Spaghetti Squash Bake
Serves 4-6
1 large spaghetti squash
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tsp thyme, divided
4 cloves garlic, 2 minced & 2 crushed with the flat of your knife
1 small onion, diced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups loosely packed fresh kale
15 oz part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup shredded fresh mozzarella, divided
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle the insides with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, and place one crushed garlic clove in each cavity. Season with ground pepper and 1/2 tsp of the thyme. Carefully turn halves face down on a rimmed baking tray, and roast for 30-45 minutes or until fork tender.

While squash is baking, add remaining olive oil to a skillet and saute onions until translucent. Add minced garlic and cherry tomatoes and saute for 3 minutes, then add kale and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes until it begins to wilt. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Stir in ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella.

Once squash has finished cooking, leave the oven on at 400, and shred the insides of the squash with a fork. Scrape out of the skin and add to the ricotta mixture. Stir well, and pour into a greased baking dish. Top with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella and bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

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