Lamb, Mushroom, & Onion Stuffed Pumpkin

The Dubai farmers market didn't compare to SOWA in Boston, but it was still awesome to check out. The quality of the local produce was pretty good considering the climate. We picked up some onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, apples, pumpkins, broccoli, and aloe vera. I decided to make a stuffed pumpkin recipe with ground lamb. Apparently the local food movement in Dubai is really growing, and they have 2 mini markets and 1 pretty large one every week. The main company is called RipeME, and everything is organic and grown around the UAE. Unfortunately the people running the market were not the farmers, so they weren't able to answer all of my questions. That being said, I was thrilled to check it out and felt right at home strolling through the market on the other side of the world. 

On a somewhat unrelated note, I am pleased to say that I have somehow avoided jetlag. My first day back I did try to shut off the sink by turning the light off (FYI - that does not actually work), but other than that my mind has been clear and my sleep has been great. I forced myself to stay up as late as possible the first night and then made sure to work out, eat clean, and hydrate like crazy. Not too shabby after a 24 hour journey back home! 

Lamb, Mushroom, & Onion Stuffed Pumpkin: Serves 4, Prep time: 10 min, Cook time: 50-55 min

Ingredients:
- 2 small pumpkins
- 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1 lb. mushrooms, chopped
- 4 small onions, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1-2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- Sea salt & pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Slice pumpkins in half, scoop out the seeds, and lie flat (cut-side down) on a cookie sheet
3. Bake for 30 minutes
4. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat
5. Add garlic and onions and cook until soft (5-10 minutes)
6. Add mushrooms and cook another 5-10 minutes
7. Add ground lamb, and cook until pink/red is gone (about 10 minutes)
8. After the pumpkins cook for 30 minutes, flip them over (cut-side up), and cook for another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned
9. Scoop the lamb mixture into the pumpkins and bake for another 10 minutes

  

  

Applesauce & Pumpkin Crock Pot Chicken

Hurricane Sandy has been causing quite the stir today. My office is closed again tomorrow, and the power outages are up over a million. The pouring rain has finally made it up to Boston, and the wind is howling like crazy between the apartment buildings on my street. I still haven't bought bottled water, batteries, or any other emergency supplies, so fingers crossed that it doesn't get too bad here!

While I worked from home (and checked weather.com every five minutes) today, I created a new crock pot recipe with some leftovers in my fridge. I think I officially have the first applesauce + pumpkin crock pot chicken recipe (paleo or otherwise) on the web.  This is one of those recipes that reminds me how flavorful the simplest ingredients can be. There is absolutely no sweetener of any kind in this recipe, and it is sweet as can be. The combination of the apples, pumpkin, cinnamon, and garlic give it such a great flavor. I am thinking of making some fall-inspired lettuce wrap tacos with the leftovers if I can make it to the store this week when the rain finally stops. Stay tuned!

Ingredients:
- 3-4 lbs. chicken (I used boneless, skinless chicken breast + rib meat)
- 1 cup leftover applesauce (recipe can be found here)
- 1 cup leftover pumpkin (used canned organic pumpkin from Trader Joes)
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, & cinnamon
- 1 cup apple juice (from the applesauce)
- 1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

Instructions:
1. Put the applesauce and pumpkin on the bottom of the crock pot and mix to blend the two
2. Rinse the chicken, and lay it on top of the applesauce/pumpkin mixture
3. Generously season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon
4. Flip the chicken with tongs and season the other side 
5. Mix the chopped garlic into the apple juice, and pour on top of the chicken (note - this apple juice is the thick/cinnamon-y liquid that was excess when I made the applesauce. You could always just use an extra cup of applesauce if you don't have the liquid reserved.)
6. Cook on low for 6 hours
7. Take the chicken out of the crock pot, shred the meat, and put it back in the crock pot with all of the juicy goodness
8. Enjoy a scoop of this with a dollop of applesauce - the perfect hurricane meal!

  

Paleo Pumpkin Carrot Walnut Muffins

I'm not going to lie to you. These are good. Really good. You can ask Chris - we ate them while we had a wonderful heart-to-heart around the kitchen island drinking tea yesterday. It doesn't get much better than that on a Sunday afternoon. I have to give credit to a new paleo meetup friend Anna for posting a picture of gorgeous pumpkin muffins on her facebook page Sunday morning. I tried to get her recipe, but clearly I am very impatient, so I created my own and added shredded carrots into the mix since I looove carrot muffins/bread/cake. I now love carrots even more after the nice man at the SOWA market got so amused from the way Chris and I were picking the "perfect" carrots. In other SOWA news, my favorite woman at the Westminster Meat table remembered me from last week and asked how my 5lb. chicken turned out! I was so excited to tell her that I was able to use the whole frozen chicken to make delicious soup, and it is great to see that I am becoming a regular at my neighborhood market. 

In breaking paleo news, I am hosting my first official paleo meetup in a couple of weeks. It is going to be a halloween potluck, and I have been brainstorming a few costume ideas (think grass-fed cow, hunter/gatherer, etc...). I already have a great group of people signed up, and I can't wait. It will be a wonderful thing to look forward to after I trek back up to Boston after the big Avon walk this upcoming weekend! There will be a ton of special treats at the potluck, and I'm sure my new paleo friends won't be disappointed. Stay tuned!

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups almond flour

- 1/2 cup pumpkin (I used canned organic pumpkin from Trader Joes)

- 1 cup shredded carrots

- 3 eggs

- 1 tsp. baking soda

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 2 tsp. cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp. salt

- 1 Tbsp. - 1/4 cup raw honey (optional - I used 1 Tbsp.)

- 2 Tbsp. coconut oil

- Splash of vanilla

- 1/2 chopped walnuts + 12 big pieces 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all ingredients other than walnuts in a mixing bowl

3. Fold in chopped walnuts (reserve the 12 pieces for later)

4. Grease muffin tin (12-muffin size) with coconut oil or use silicon baking cups

5. Spoon batter evenly into muffin tin and top each muffin with a whole walnut

6. Bake for 25 minutes (fork or toothpick should come out clean)

7. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack

8. Eat with a friend, a cup of tea, or both ;)