Maple Glazed Grilled Chicken with Grilled Sweet Potatoes and Zucchini

 For some of you CrossFit FiveStar followers, this post may look similar to one Shawn posted a little while back. It's about the word "can't". The word can't, otherwise known as cannot, is a just word, right? WRONG! It's a dirty word in disguise. It's an evil word masked behind a seemingly innocent word.

Sweet Potato, Apple, Sausage and Spinach Medley

Today's post might look a little familiar to some of you; I am literally copying and pasting a previous post I did several months back. I feel that it is worth reiterating especially for our newcomers...

First I should say that I hate using the word diet. The majority of the American race incorrectly defines the word diet as a strict limitation to either amounts or types of foods to take place or a specific period of time with the intentions of weight loss and/or improved health. After their "diet" is complete they will go back to the way they were eating prior to the change. This definition is much more correctly defined as dieting (still a cr@ppy word).

Venison Ham with Onions and Sweet Potatoes, Slow Cooker Style

When you want to go all natural with your meats there is hardly a better way to do it than venison. Deer, moose, elk, and other big wild game have completely organic and natural diets and not a trace of antibiotics or hormones. Constantly on the move, these animals sport very lean mean. They are also rather large, so one harvest can feed a decent amount of appetites for quite some time.

Fortunately, I know quite a few hunters who tend to harvest a bit more than they need for their own freezers and I get to reap the benefits of their miscalculations. I was recently informed that a bit more would be coming my way soon, so in preparation I pulled some my back stock out. I came across a venison ham that just sounded like it would hit the spot!

Never having cooked a venison ham before (not like what you think of a pork ham; this is a cut from either the shoulder or the rump of the deer and cooks like a beef roast would), my first idea was to roast it in the oven low and slow for a few hours. However, my plan for the day also included baking several dozen cookies (and no, they were not paleo style, but it's a Christmas tradition! By next year they will all be, though :) and I did not think that venison aroma would bake into snickerdoodle's very well. Low and slow, though, huh..... Slow cooker! Perfect!

Venison Ham with Onions and Sweet Potatoes, Slow Cooker Style

The Food
- 1 venison ham
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Medium white cooking onion
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 can beef broth (low sodium if you can find it; if not, don't add any salt to the dish)
- Pepper
- Dried chopped onions
- Dried sliced garlic
- Red pepper flakes

The Prep
Cut onion into 1/8 wedges
Peel and slice sweet potatoes about 1/3" thick
Season meat with pepper



The Method
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sear the meat on all sides
Add the meat to the slow cooker
Surround with onion wedges and sweet potatoes
Sprinkle pepper, dried onion, dried garlic, and red pepper flakes to taste over meat and vegetables
Add can of beef broth
Set cooker to low
After about 2 hours flip meat (if you're home)
After another 2 hours flip meat again (if you're home)
Between 5-6 hours the ham should be fully cooked; when done the meat will simply fall apart (internal temperature should be over 160°)
For ease of serving, remove vegetables with slotted spoon to a serving plate/bowl and shred meat in liquids
Either add the vegetables back to the meat and liquids or serve individually

Enjoy :)

Sweet Potato Lasagna

Every year for my birthday, Mom always made whatever I wanted for dinner. For the majority of years it was either Lasagna or Stuffed Shells. Two of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE Italian dishes. I love ricotta cheese and the warm-ooey-gooey goodness of the classic baked dishes. So when I stumbled across this tub of ricotta in my fridge that was going to expire in but a week, I immediately had a craving for lasagna. Well, sorta. Since my transformation to grain-free, I really have little desire for pastas. But the ooey-gooey goodness... (from the cheeses, of course). I needed to come up with a way to make a "lasagna" without lasagna noodles. Then I turned around and spotted the bowl of yams I inherited from my brother who gave them up since he doesn't have an oven. Viola!

A few notes on this recipe. First, I am glad to note that this is my first "original" recipe; it was not inspired by someone else's version of a recipe. Of this, I am proud :) Second, I used home grown yams. However, since America seems to have a lot of trouble with the whole yam v. sweet potato thing (check out MDA's fabulous article on the topic), I am calling it a "Sweet Potato" Lasagna. Regardless, it ought to work with any of these tasty tubers. Third, I used part skim ricotta and mozzarella. Because that's what was in my fridge. You should be able to use any style you'd like. Bon Appetite!

Sweet Potato Lasagna

The Food
- 2-4 sweet potatoes or yams, depending on size
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- 6oz mozzarella cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
Salt
Pepper
Cooking spray

The Prep
Preheat the oven to 350°
Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray
Shred the mozzarella
Mandolin slice the sweet potatoes or yams
Mix the ricotta, 4oz of the shredded mozzarella (about 2/3 of it), egg, 1/2 the oregano and 1/2 the parsley; salt and pepper to taste.
Open the can of crushed tomatoes, add the rest of the oregano and parsley, and pepper to taste (unless you got a no-salt added variety, the sodium is already high enough. Do not salt.). Mix well.

The Method
Lightly coat the bottom of the dish with the tomatoes
Top the tomatoes with 1/3 of sliced sweet potatoes
Spread about 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top of the sweet potatoes
Put about 1/2 of the remaining tomatoes on top of the cheese
Repeat the layering of sweet potatoes, then ricotta, then tomatoes
Top with remaining 1/3 of sweet potatoes
Spread the reserved 2 oz mozzarella on the top.
Cover with foil.
Bake for 45 minutes
Remove foil, bake 15  more minutes or so, until there isn't a lot of bubbling tomato juices

Enjoy :)
Oh, let it cool a little. It's crazy hot right out of the oven.


And be warned- this dish SMELLS AMAZING. amazinggggggg. No lie. Even when re-heated. Seriously. Enjoy :)