So….I’ve embarked on this gluten-free journey and so far so good!
I have been so tired with a general feeling of crapiness for such a long time now, that I figured it was time to try something different. Years ago, when the low carb craze hit, I did it and felt great (of course, I was a lot less fluffy then *wink, wink*)…but I remember feeling great.
We eat great quality foods. We eat organic foods with no preservatives or GMO. We eat lots of fresh produce and meats that we raise ourselves (organically) or that we buy from friends who also grown organically. We cook almost all of our meals at home, so we know what goes into them. We don’t use chemicals in our home and use homeopathy as a means of getting ourselves well and food based remedies as well. We eat raw garlic and I make a bone broth (stock) at least once a week. Why in the world am I so tired and icky?? I’ve been feeling that wheat/gluten is the culprit for a while but haven’t made the jump until now. You see….I LOVE bread! It is what I eat when I don’t feel good, it is what I eat when I do feel good, some form of flour is always being eaten here at home as a meal or with a meal.
I thought that the transition would be harder, but honestly, it hasn’t been!! I feel better, have more energy (I’m not ready to run a marathon yet…) and am not craving the bread like I thought I would. Yay!
Sooo…as I embark on this journey I will create new recipes, I will try new recipes and let you know how they turn out!
My first official GF recipe is a Roasted Apple and Onion Pork Shoulder. You could easily use a pork roast or tenderloin too!
Ingredients:
4-6 lb Pork Shoulder (Pasture or organically raised if possible)
Bacon Fat saved from breakfast (you can use olive oil and butter or coconut oil)
5 Cloves of sliced Organic garlic
2-3 Medium Organic Onions, sliced
2-3 Organic Apples, sliced (skin on)
16 oz (or so) of organic chicken stock (homemade would be best)
1.5 Tbl Organic Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbl Organic Maple Syrup
3 Tsp Organic Cinnamon
Salt and Pepper
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Put about a TBL of bacon fat into the Dutch oven on the stove on a med-high heat and sauté the onions and garlic. Once they are beginning to brown, add the apples, cinnamon and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for a few more minutes then remove from the pan. Add about a TBL of bacon fat to the pan. Generously salt and pepper all sides of the pork shoulder. Sear all sides of the pork to create a beautiful brown crust. Once all sides are browned, add the chicken stock (should come about 1/2 way up the pork) and scrape the sides of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all of the yummy splatters into the sauce. Add the onions, garlic, apples and maple syrup to the pot. Cover and place in the oven for 2.5- 3 hours or until the roast is easily pulled apart with a fork.
Remove the roast (or roast pieces as it will probably fall apart) from the pan and set aside. With an immersion blender directly in the pot, buzz the juices, apples and onions together to create an amazing gravy. I may have splashed a bit of maple syrup into the gravy before buzzing… 😉
Crock pot Option: I would assume that you could throw all of this into a crock pot, put it on low, go to work and return to an amazing dinner too!!
Although I did not get any pictures of it, I served this with organic carrot sticks roasted in olive oil, salt and pepper and with roasted organic acorn squash.
Roasted Acorn Squash:
Halve the squash carefully as they have a tough skin
Scoop out the seeds
Add a small pat of butter to each half of the squash
I added a teaspoon of brown sugar, salt and pepper to the squash
Roast for at least an hour at 350 degrees or until very tender. Spoon the juices from the middle of the squash over the squash and scoop out onto the plates.
The kids LOVED this entire meal…I thought the Hubs was going to dive into the pan, he was nuts over it. I’m glad that I wrote it down!
raising a free range family 