Category: Dinner For The Whole Family

Smashburger

3/13/2015

Wow, looking back in my pictures I think I found the first photo of one of my first Smashburgers - could it really be 4 and a half years ago?! We discovered Smashburger about a year after we made our second big move to another state, and after I tasted Smashburger I was hooked. We have made it a weekly tradition to eat on Thursday or Friday nights, because really no other restaurant compares taste-wise for a great SCD dinner. And the price is good compared to other sit-down restaurants.

I order a Create Your Own, Big burger, with no bun, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and extra grilled onions.

There is good reason Smashburger is now expanding to other parts of the country! Check their restaurant locator to see if there is one near you... I sincerely hope there is, so you can also enjoy the juicy, flavorful goodness of a Smashburger!

Happy weekend!

~ Erin

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Group Dinners

2/11/2015

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This school year we started attending a church small group held at another family's home. We sometimes have dinner together and everyone brings something to eat. Because of my diet, I offered to make the main dish to make it easier on everyone. The group has all raved over Terrific Turkey Chili from our March/April web magazine and it's very easy to throw together if you have some navy beans already frozen and ready to go (soaked overnight, water dumped out and replaced, cooked, and frozen. I like to freeze them in 2 cup portions for this and other recipes). I make a double or triple batch, and sometimes switch up the meat for either ground chicken or ground beef. It helps to make it ahead of time and freeze it so I can just warm it up the afternoon of the group and then bring it hot, wrapped in towels in our cooler. Others in the group add to it with sides like corn bread, fruit, and dessert. The chili is one of our favorite meals, with great flavor, and I love that it just uses Campbell's Tomato Juice for the base, requiring little preparation other than the navy beans. (I have found legal canned Ortega diced green mild chilies that I use instead of roasting my own as the recipes directs.)

I've also made Taco Meat from our Now & Later Booklet, bring it in the crock pot to keep it warm, and bring tortillas along too. Others add sides like grated cheese, chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream, and dessert. The meat has lots of flavor and everyone likes it!

Last weekend we had our friends and their kids over for dinner. We had such a nice time, and we were all so relieved to find a time where all 5 of our kids were well at the same time - in February! :) Knowing that we would be having a yard sale earlier that same day (yes, we had yard sale weather in February!!), I made a double batch of Slow Cooked Taco Soup the weekend before from our September/October web magazine, froze it, and then warmed it up on the stove while I made grilled cheese sandwiches (with the kids in mind!), and cooked peas. This time, when I made it the weekend before, I skipped using the crock pot and made it pretty quickly in my Dutch oven. Taco Soup is one of our all-time favorites and it tastes so good with grated cheese, cilantro, and chopped lettuce on top! My friend very thoughtfully made some Ginger Snap Cookies for me along with the brownies she brought - such a treat!

Hope you're having a good Valentine's week!

~ Erin

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Cauliflower Rice & How We Combine Dinner For Everyone

1/29/2015

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First, separate the cauliflower into small to medium florets that can be easily pureed, wash them, and put them into the food processor.

Puree the cauliflower until it is almost completely pureed. Throw out any leftover florets.

Over medium heat, coat a pan with around 2 tablespoons of butter (add more to taste). Add the pureed cauliflower and cook for around 5 minutes.

Add chopped green onions if desired. You can also experiment with other spices and vegetables.

Here is our table - You can see how we mix SCD and non-SCD foods for everyone. The main dish chicken, Cauliflower Rice, avocado slices, buttered broccoli are for everyone. The corn bread and tortillas are for the non-SCDers.

Have you tried Cauliflower Rice yet? It really is amazing! The mild flavor, great nutrition, and close similarity to regular rice make this a great side dish for almost any meal. I've been trying to make more of it because it's so healthy and well-received by the family, not to mention quick!

Wednesdays are really busy around here, so I try to put something in the crockpot at lunch time and yesterday it was salted chicken tenders with legal marinara sauce and onions. When we got home from swimming lessons, I was able to whip up a quick dinner by adding some sides to the chicken.

To make Cauliflower Rice, you take a whole head of cauliflower and cut off the florets into small chunks that can be processed and wash them. Then put the florets in a food processor and puree until almost all of the florets are chopped (you will usually have a few that just won't be chopped - you can toss those).

As a side note, I love my new food processor! It's easy to fit together with few parts or confusing attachments, it holds a lot - 12 cups!, and it works with liquids too - a rare find in food processors.

After the cauliflower is pureed, put it into a pan coated with about 2 tablespoons of butter (you can add more to taste). Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Salt it a couple of times after stirring, to taste.

I added about 1-2 chopped green onions to it from my freezer stash (if I have extra green onions, I chop them and put them in a freezer zip top bag. It's so handy to pull out for recipes like this!) You can also get creative and add other vegetables or spices that you thing would go well with the meal you're serving. For example, try adding cumin, paprika, and onions to a Mexican meal.

Cook it for about 5 minutes, or until you see it just starting to turn light brown. I was able to get the table set while it was cooking.

I often hear the question of how to feed family members who are not on the diet while still making the diet easy for me, so I want to show you my dinner table - For everyone to eat, we had crock pot chicken, Cauliflower Rice, sliced avocadoes (salted and peppered), and cooked broccoli with butter, salt, and pepper. For other family members, I served corn bread leftover from the previous night with butter and honey, and had some corn/wheat tortillas out in case anyone wanted to make a chicken taco.

And that's how we pretty much do it - main and side dishes I can eat plus a few easy non-SCD sides for others when needed/wanted.

Yum! I hope you can enjoy some Cauliflower Rice soon!

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Smashburger

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Cauliflower Rice & How We Combine Dinner For Everyone

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