Shakshuka

Shakshuka is an Israeli dish where eggs are poached in a spicy tomato sauce. Since I had some leftover chunky tomato sauce, I opted the next morning to make some shakshuka for breakfast and it was the perfect way to start the morning. But you could opt to serve this any time of the day.

Shakshuka

• 2 tbsp ghee (or butter)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup tomato sauce (I used this leftover sauce)
• 1-2 eggs
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Basil (optional)
• Zoodles, cauliflower rice, or paleo-friendly pita bread. 

Heat ghee in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic in ghee until fragrant. Pour in tomato sauce and stir to combine. Bring to a little simmer. 

Once simmering, crack eggs over the sauce. Season with salt and pepper and cover the skillet until the yolks set, about 5 minutes. You can leave it covered longer for a harder egg yolk but I like them runny. 

Top with fresh basil and serve. I used the Shakshuka on top of leftover cauliflower rice but you could serve with pita bread for dipping into the sauce. 

Basil-Lemon Chicken

Simple marinades are something everyone needs to have in their back pocket. Usually, I never have time to marinade as I don't give myself enough thought the night before but when my mom handed me a bag filled with basil, I knew I needed to come up with something quick and easy for us to enjoy.

Basil-Lemon Chicken 

For the marinade:

• 1 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 large lemon, zested and juice set aside
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, basil, salt and pepper.

Put chicken into ziplock bag. Pour marinade over and cover all the chicken. Let marinate in the fridge anytime between 2 hours and 12 hours. Longer than 12 hours and the acid has some effect on the chicken.

Prepare the chicken as you wish - we opted to roast the chicken based on time but it would be tasty grilled as well!

Garlicky Cauli-Rice

I grew up eating a lot of rice. Now, living on my own, I don't eat a lot of rice since it takes so much time to cook and I don't own a rice maker. I was looking for a new way to serve up the head of cauliflower I bought and mashed cauli wasn't cutting it. In came recipes for cauli-rice. Super fast, easy and delicious! I went the buttery-garlic route this time but I think I may take on a Chipotle style in the future and do a cilantro-lime cauli-rice! Now to plan for a taco night!

Garlicky Cauli-Rice

makes 6 cups

• head of cauliflower, chopped into peices
• 1 small onion, chopped finely 
• 2 cloves of garlic,  minced
• 2 tbsp ghee (or butter if you are not Whole30-ing)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt-free seasoning (I used Trader Joe's Seasoning Salut)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Put the cauliflower pieces into the food processor and pulse until they are the size of rice grains. You can do it in two parts -- I had to. Next, in a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic in the melted ghee and coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Make sure the garlic doesn't burn. 

When the onions are soft, add the cauliflower grains and stir to mix it all together (fats, onions, cauli!). Add seasoning, salt and pepper to taste and then cover the skillet. Let the cauliflower cook for 5-10 minutes and then serve it up! 

treats everywhere

So if you follow me on instagram, you already know that joe and i brought home this sweet little pup home two weeks ago. Little Ellie is a Blue Merle Australian Shepard and she has been such a doll to have around, albeit she has had two accidents inside the house (we're getting there though!). 

She is a complete ball of energy, as many Aussies are. Some days when she's cooped up in her crate for 7-8 hours, we come home and take her on long evening walks so she gets active. The nice thing is that she has an "off" switch -- if we need to do our own thing and leave her alone, she tends to fall asleep or minds her own business until we want to pay attention to her. 

As any puppy, she is in her nippy/teething stage but Joe and I hope to nip that in the butt soon - hopefully when her puppy school starts! She's learned how to sit and come when called though sometimes when she is just too pumped she won't pay attention. Or she sees you pull a treat and she just sits right down since she knows what comes next. What a little ham! 

So now our house is filled with puppy treats, poop bags (sorry) and little toys. I've been noticing we have treats in all the little nooks and crannies of our house - even in the car! Lucky for Wiz, Ellie has some awesome salmon treats that we found her stealing right out of the bag.