Sloppy Joes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/super-sloppy-joes-recipe/index.html

This was great. It is done in less than 30 minutes too. David loves it. We halved the brown sugar.or at least did not pack it into the 1/4 cup, and it was a perfect amount of sweetness. I put in 1.25 lbs of meat as called for. We used giant buns and even then the recipe could easily have filled 6 buns, likely more.

Hamburger Buns

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/beautiful-burger-buns-recipe

I didn't want to go to the store so made homemade hamburger buns. They were really great. David liked them especially. I couldn't really taste it with the rest of the hamburger fixings distracting me, but David said he could and it made it a better hamburger. Maybe I'll make them for special occasions.

Roasted New Red Potatoes

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-New-Red-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

I followed this recipe and also put in some herbs de Provence.  I did not measure the potatoes, oil, salt, or pepper either. I baked it 25 minutes or so at 450. Worked great! Very tasty.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/fusionrecipes/r/lettucewraps.htm

This would have been better if I'd used fresh chicken breast instead of canned. Also, we used romaine lettuce which was difficult to roll because of the thick spine. Next time we'll try butter or iceberg lettuce or something without much of a spine.

Breaded and Baked Mustard Chicken Drumsticks

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/breaded_and_baked_chicken_drumsticks/
Breaded and Baked Mustard Chicken Drumsticks

This recipe looks promising, but I didn't follow it exactly so it didn't turn out as well. I did not have dijon mustard so used yellow, which made it more bland. Also I used matso meal instead of breadcrumbs, another mistake. Finally, I baked it on a rack instead of directly on the tray so it took an extra 20 minutes to bake, even though nothing was touching and there was plenty of space, but it relied completely on convection so there was no direct heat.

David thought it was "ok". I would make this again if I followed the recipe exactly.

Quick Banana Cream Pie

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-cream-pie-iii/

I made this using a graham cracker crust (using only 2 cups pudding because of the small crust, which I think is the equivalent of 1 instant pudding package)

I layered 1.5 sliced bananas on the bottom and sides. Then blend 1/2 cup whipped cream and 2 cups pudding and spread over bananas. Then put the rest of whipped cream on top.

This pie is not my normal style but did it because it was fast and easy.

Garlic Bread

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/garlic_bread/

This was great. I made it with 3/4 the amount of butter and it was enough. This was very garlicky too which I liked.

Best Brownies

from the Hershey's 100th anniversary cookbook.

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup hershey's cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Bake at 350. Mix wet ingred first, then add dry. Put in 8x8 or 9x9 greased glass dish for 20-25 minutes. (I use 8x8 and it works great).

Note: I tried making this with 3/4 cup honey instead of sugar and it was totally ruined. It tasted weird and was cakey like I used applesauce instead of butter.
I've also made this gluten free/dairy free by using coconut oil instead of butter and bob's red mill gf flour blend for the flour. It was fantastic. I cooked it 20 minutes and it was at least as good as the original version.

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

http://kathdedon.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/homemade-honey-sweetened-vanilla-ice-cream/

My mother-in-law can't have sugar, so I like to make honey sweetened desserts when she comes for dinner. I made this one yesterday with my ice cream maker and it turned out well, except it had too much vanilla. I spilled some in when I measured the first teaspoon, but then put in less the 2nd teaspoon, so I'm not sure how much was in there. But next time I'd reduce to 1.5 tsp and see how it is.

Ketchup

I made some homemade ketchup that is fermented, based in a 3/4 recipe of this: http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-ketchup/ .  I would have used the recipe in Nourishing Traditions, but I didn't have fish sauce so went with the other.

I used maple syrup in the recipe. And I don't have raw apple cider vinegar, only regular, which is what I used.

I have used this twice. Once as a topping for meatloaf, which turned out very well. Meatloaf topping is nice when it is sweet, and I know some meatloaf toppings tell you to mix brown sugar with ketchup. I used straight homemade ketchup, and it was every bit as sweet.

The second time I used it was as regular dipping ketchup. And it was horrible! It is way too sweet. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but the maple syrup flavor made me sick due to how sweet it was. I definitely will not be using this for dipping, and probably won't make it again.

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

http://marianutrition.blogspot.com/2011/10/mexican-chicken-lime-soup.html

This was really good. I also had sour cream with it. It was pretty spicy. I used 2 large chicken breasts, about 2 lbs. They were shredded.

Scotch Eggs

This is from a Paleo cookbook I recently purchased called Well Fed. Someone blogs about the recipe here: http://lowcarbcookery.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/scotch-eggs-from-well-fed/

Anyway, it is really good. I used almost all of a 3.75 oz bag of pork rinds. I probably coated them too thick, it is hard not to, so I was running out of the 2 oz and so crushed more. We each had one as the main course of dinner. It felt really fancy, and is a great way to have eggs be the star of the meal. David loved the pork rind. Non-paleo versions of this recipe on line use breadcrumbs instead of ground pork rind, but even if I had the choice I'm not sure i would use breadcrumbs after seeing how much David liked this.

Update: I am not loving the leftovers. It is too strong flavored for me. Maybe with another kind of meat or different seasonings, but as is it is not that appetizing to me. It would be better if the meat later was thinner, maybe with 3 oz ground meat per egg instead of 4.

Grain Free Porridge

Loosely based on http://www.thefitnessdish.com/?p=11957.

1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
1 Tablespoon chia seeds
1/2 Tablespoon coconut oil or grass-fed organic butter (put in at end)
1/3 of a very ripe large banana (or one whole small one), mashed/smashed

~ 1 cup whole milk

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (put in at end)

1 egg

cinnamon

few raisins and unsalted pepitas (good for texture, but optional)

So measure out first 3 ingredients into small saucepan. Add half the milk and stir on medium until it starts to cook. It will expand, but never really gets thick. Then add honey cinnamon, and banana. Add more milk, cooking a few more minutes. Beat egg separately and whisk into hot porridge. Don't let the heat be too high, this is making a sort of custard pudding by adding the egg. When it looks like the egg has thickened and cooked after a few minutes, you are done. Stir in butter, vanilla, raisins and pepitas.

Calamari Steaks

Based on http://www.food.com/recipe/calamari-steaks-81489. I tried to paleoize it by using almond flour and skipping bread crumbs. It was very strange. And dredging in almond flour never works very well. The calamari itself was really odd. I don't think I'll buy any again, even it if it is cheap like it was this week.

David did not eat any because he is very anti squid. So only I ate it. And the rating is mine.

Paleo Chocolate Cake in a mug

Yesterday was chocolate cake for breakfast day, and though we've had it on the calendar for many years have never actually managed to do it. Until yesterday.I made chocolate cake in a mug based on this: http://www.delightedmomma.com/2012/09/3-minute-chocolate-paleo-mug-cake.html

It was good. I halved the honey though, and I'm glad I did. It became drier with time, but was pretty good for a 3 minute paleo cake. It was the right sweetness for morning. Sweet, but not too sweet.