Crunchy Pork Belly

I find this method the easiest way to get crunchy pork belly. You can season the pork however you like. I've done Five spice,  char sui style. I only season the underside before putting the pork under the broiler. The skin doesn't need seasoning and it'll burn off under the broiler in the oven anyway.

Chili Oil (Jeaw Mak Phet) and Shallot Oil

I love using Chili Oil and Shallot Oil as condiments. They are often seen in many Asian restaurants. They are used for Dim Sum, Congee, in Noodle bowls such as Ramen, Khao Piek Sen, Pho, etc. Just about anything you want to add spice or garlic/shallot flavor to. They are also used in cooking, for stir fry and soup bases. In Laos this would be called Jeaw Mak Phet.

As with a lot of cooking there are no set measurements for these oils.  Play with the flavor combinations to come up with your favorite. In Chinese Chili Oil there is often bay leaf, star anise, sesame seeds sometimes cinnamon. I know the local Ramen place near me adds Sichuan peppercorn which I love and add to mine.  

Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry

This is a very simple way to prepare baby bok choy. I don't always add sesame seeds or coconut amnios- fish sauce or soy sauce (not for Whole30 though) can be substituted. Often times other than the garlic and chilies I don't add anything. It seems like it would be bland but the bok choy has great flavor and we like it. This can be served as a side dish. We've had it with Curry Pork Chops, with broiled or baked fish, with steak, over rice or quinoa.

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 Whole 30

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Vegetarian Red Curry

I love red curry, it's probably my favorite Thai curry. This is a Whole30 compliant dish, it could be used as a side with fat built in from the coconut milk. If not on a Whole30 round I like to add medium firm tofu to this. I usually pan fry the tofu first to get it crispy, then make the curry and stir it in after. This is an easy dish to make. If you're going to be pressed for time you can even prepare all the vegetables the day before. This can be made Vegan if you use a vegan curry paste and leave out the fish sauce, subbing for salt.

I have two store bought red curry paste brands that I have used. Both are Whole30 compliant, only one is vegan. That brand is Thai Kitchen brand. The other brand of paste I use is Mae Ploy brand. Which is very yummy but it has shrimp in it. I like both brands, the Mae Ploy does have more umami flavor to it.

Apple Snack

 It's funny, I thought I blogged this year's ago, but I can't find it, just references to it. It's like it's elusive. LOL.  I've never blogged it because it's so simple but it's one of our favorite ways to eat apples. The simple ingredients. Apples, an orange, and half a lime. That's it. But it's so good.

Hatch Green Chile Sauce

New Mexico Hatch green chile makes the best sauce to smother over just about everything. But other roasted peppers can be used too, like poblanos.

Fall isn't just pumpkin season, fall is also Hatch Green Chile season and it's right up there with pumpkin to me! This sauce is versatile. I use to for eggs, enchiladas, dipping sauce, on steaks, shrimp tacos, on burgers, on chicken...
If you can't find Hatch Green Chile use Anaheim, Poblano, most any big green chile that is fresh.  This sauce can be made grain free, check the notes section.

Use this sauce for these amazing Green Chile Pepper Jack Enchiladas.

Frozen Cherries, Icy Sweet Treats

YUM YUM. Nothing fancy, nothing new here. Just a nice frosty bowl of frozen cherries. Such a great summer treat! So simple and so easy, and they last a lot longer than when kept in the refrigerator.
Wash fresh cherries, dry well, freeze on a cookie sheet, transfer to a container or zip top bag to store.
Easy Peasy.

Chicken... Gizzards

You have to admit, they are Whole30/Paleo/Primal friendly, and if you're eating "tip to tail" you're bound to come a cross a chicken gizzard right? One of my favorite places to get Chicken Livers and Gizzards is Lamberts. So not paleo friendly (not that we eat totally paleo) but so good. Home of the throwed rolls, and the yummiest breaded and fried livers and gizzards. YUM.
These gizzards are not breaded at all. If you take care to trim the gizzards very well, you can get rid of all that makes them so tough. I just pan fried them like a stir fry in home rendered lard. Salt, pepper, and a side of Simple Cabbage Salad. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately just 2-3 of us here will eat gizzards.More for me!

Basically, well trimmed gizzards. Get all the tough silvery "skin" off of them. Rinse. Pat dry. Pan fry in a little hot oil/lard. Like a stir fry, not a ton of lard. Salt and pepper to taste.

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Roasted Tomato Basil Cod

A simple, yummy meal. Fragrant from the fresh basil, and the mango salsa gives texture and more flavor. I really need to get more of my fish recipes typed out and posted on here. Sigh.
The Cod is roasted with a pat of my homemade ghee and basil that I keep in my freezer. I just make the compound, and freeze it in an ice cube tray or in rolls. I also topped the Cod with cherry tomatoes.
Once roasted, the Cod is topped with Mango Salsa.
The Mango Salsa has mango, cucumber, cilantro, red bell pepper, garlic, salt, jalapeno, lime juice, and onion.
 Easy Peasy.
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Whole Food, Clean Eating, Give Peas A Chance

IMAGE CREDIT LINK

There's no recipe in this blogpost. But I thought I would share a Pinterest board with you. It's a board where I've posted some farms in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas. 

These farms specialize in grass fed beef/meats, organically grown vegetables, and milk products that are hormone free. Food that is pesticide free, herbicide free, hormone free. Whole foods that are "clean", non GMO also.
If you know of any farms I've missed please let me know, AND if you have resources for your area leave me a note in the comments section and we can all find resources. If you have a Pinterest account, start a board and share the resources so that we can support local farmers that are growing and raising our food responsibly!

I read through most of these sites to check, but you'll have to do your own research before you purchase.

Here's a link to my Pinterest board HERE.

Some farms and resources I've pinned so far but check the board for all of them!

Polyface Farms
Holly Grove Farm

Mount Vernon Grass Fed

Chapel's Country Creamery 

Silky Cow LLC (Raw milk heard shares)
Washington's Green Grocer 

West Wind Farm (Mountain grazed beef and more)

Really Raw Honey (Baltimore MD) I didn't pin this because the website wouldn't let me.

Greek Chicken Kabobs With Greek Seasoning Blend

These were a hit with the whole family. I thought I had made too much but there wasn't any leftover! The Greek Seasoning blend is easy to make, I had everything on hand. If you don't have fried lemon zest/peel, just omit and when you're marinating add fresh lemon zest. 

Serve this with some Tzatziki sauce if you like, and pita bread.

The seasoning is versatile. Use it for other meats, or in a cucumber, yogurt salad dressing, in

Coconut Limeade Slushie

Coconut Limeade Slushie

This may be one of my favorite drinks lately on Give Peas A Chance. I may have squealed with delight when I threw it together and it was so good. That doesn't always happen when I throw stuff together. So, yay! This Coconut Limeade Slushie came about one day when the weather was messing with us around here. It was pretending to be all warm for a stretch, but it lied. Really. Moving on, I had a bag of limes and thought about making my Cherry Vanilla Limeade. I didn't have cherries which is fine, my mom didn't ever use cherries. But then I thought I wanted something creamy. So I threw this together in the Vitamix and it was YUM. SO very good, the girls and I slurped it up, and later that week I made another batch. DH wasn't home to enjoy the goodness. We sat outside, the older girls ran up and down the sidewalk with Pixie trailing behind on her Radio Flyer tricycle. Happy to have our "Summer toes" as we call them, in sandals. Then, it got cold again. Sigh. It's OK I can still have my Coconut Limeade Slushies.

Roasted Salmon with Asparagus Topped With A Poached Egg

This is such a simple meal but it's so good. You can poach the salmon or put it in the oven. Asparagus is in season so we're loving that. I used a Hiwa kai black salt to finish the dish.
No real recipe.
Blanch the asparagus, then put it in ice water. Drain and set it on the plate.
Salmon- I roasted this in the toaster oven with a little bit of ghee, salt, and pepper.
With the same water that I blanched the asparagus in, I poached the eggs.
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Give Peas A Chance Curry Meatball Stew

Remember these Yummy EASY Curry Meatballs? Did you freeze some after you cooked them? I hope so because this Curry Meatball Stew is such an easy fast meal to throw in your crock pot. You all heard that right. CROCK. POT. Baby. You all know I suck at cooking in the crock pot so, if I can do this, so can you!   

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Dress You Up In My Love(-ly Avocado)

I know it's Dress you Up In My Love, but here we are. I already posted it.I'm too particular  I had to change the post title.

We love avocado around here. Buttery, creamy, yumminess. Plain scooped out of the shell, diced over salads, in salsa, in guacamole,  in lettuce wraps, Avocado BLT sandwiches and salads, in burgers, in fried egg sandwiches, in this Caprese, and so much more. 

Give Peas A Chance Best Caprese

7 Layer Dip

Sandwiches

Carnitas

Walking Tacos 

Green Chilie Posole

Don't forget the baby!

Well, here are two more ways to enjoy avocados!
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Whole30 Recap

This is a recap of our Whole30 month. Click here for more Whole30 posts.

Week 1

Week 2

Whole30 Week 4

March 20
Snacks
Avocado
Procuitto
Pork rinds

Breakfast
Eggs
Blackberries- that Pixie ate, all of them.

Lunch
Soft boiled eggs
Red Bell Peppers
Blackberries

Dinner
Curry Meatball "stew"- it had the meatballs, coconut milk, curry powder/spices, green beans, and sweet potatoes in it

Curry Meatballs and Mashed Cauliflower

 These meatballs are so simple. They freeze so well also. I made them one night on a fluke really. I was going to make meatloaf and I didn't have any tomatoes to make tomato sauce, and I didn't have canned tomatoes. So I decided to make meatballs instead. Because these are Whole30 meatballs, they don't have any grain- you can always add breadcrumbs to them if you would like. This is not spicy, I love spicy hot food but the girls don't eat that spicy.

I served them with Basil Mashed Cauliflower and steamed broccoli. They would be excellent over rice though.

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Whole30 Week 3

March 14
Breakfast
2 fried eggs (fried in homemade lard, sometimes I fry them in homemade ghee)
Bell peppers
didn't eat the banana

Lunch
Cheese- this is there for Pixie, we shared this lunch.
Steak
Cucumber
Mango salsa- spicy so I ate it all
Pineapple- neither of us felt like eating it, so I packed it up for later, DH ate it.

Dinner
Salads with a Lao "Yum Salad" inspired dressing, there's no oil or palm sugar in it. Just soft boiled egg yolk, fish sauce (Red Boat), lime juice, cilantro, jalapenos. You can see it pre blender in the salads picture and on the far right. My salad is in the lone salad picture. The rest are my families. I didn't eat any mango either. Too ripe for my taste!

At bible study I had a few bites of cake, and oatmeal cookies. (*hides*- Happy Birthday Bruce, sigh)
Leftover steak and an egg for a snack

Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash

I love spaghetti squash. It's so easy to prepare, and so good. This spaghetti squash has some homemade ghee on it. The ghee has fresh basil, fresh garlic, and Fleur De Sel. I put these in an ice cube tray for the freezer. Perfect to top a steak, fish, or vegetables.  

This was a small one so I just washed it, pierced it with a knife in a couple of places, then put it in the microwave for about 6-7 minutes. Until soft. Once cooled enough to handle, split in half, discard seeds. Please make sure you make holes in the squash first if you put it in the microwave whole. Because it could blow up, and the door of the microwave could fly open for the sheer force of the harmless looking squash, and squash guts could splatter all over the kitchen. Not that I would know anything about that.