Category Archives: Recipes

Southern Style Wilted Collard Greens

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I caught up with a friend from NC yesterday, and we chatted about missing our home states, so I was inspired to cook a NC recipe. I ended up modifying a recipe that might be one of my new favorites, holy crow! It was fabulous, and now that it’s home taste-tested approved, I can’t wait to make it for her and her hubs. I’ll have to make a double batch though, because it was so good I wanted to eat it all. ALL.

I haven’t cooked much with collard greens, but I love greens, and I don’t discriminate. Since some of the greens that I don’t often cook with are so packed with vitamins and minerals, I’ve been changing things up. While this recipe took a while to wilt, it was easy.

Wilted Collard Greens

  • 2 TBSP coconut oil
  • 2 yellow onions, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 quarts chicken stock/broth
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 TBSP raw honey
  • 6 strips bacon, cut into pieces
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 bag collard greens

Melt oil in wok and sauté onions until browning. Add garlic cloves and toss for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except the greens and bring to a boil; let boil for about 5 minutes, and then add the entire bag of collard greens. Let greens wilt until cooked down, which took a while. This could be shortened by higher heat and/or using less broth. Depends on your preferred wilt 🙂 The flavor was so intense though and I think that’s in large part because they wilted for so long! The spice of the red pepper flakes gets you after the fact, so if you like spice, add more to your taste!

In just the collard greens alone, here are the vitamins we had: vitamin A, E, C, K (the entire bag has 2,880%!), B6, calcium, thiamin, niacin, folate, phosphorus, copper, beta carotene  alpha carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, iron, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and manganese. Super food!

Wilted Collard GreensFull disclosure: this recipe was modified from the Cut ‘N Clean Greens recipe for Southern Style Cut ‘N Clean Country Greens. I replaced the vegetable oil with coconut oil, added more garlic, used bacon instead of ham hocks, and replaced the refined white sugar with raw honey.

Best. Fecking. Salad. Eva.

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This is what I coined a new salad creation about a week and a half ago on my Facebook page (hey! did you know I have a Facebook page? Give it a like for tips, food, articles, inspiration, garden stuff, etc.: livinglikelinds).

It has started warming up, which brings for me, an urge to garden and make lots of salads-some staple salads, and some new salads. I think you’ll enjoy this cinnamon balsamic pear salad as much as I did!

Best. Fecking. Salad. Eva.

  • 3/4 bag butter lettuce
  • 2 Bosc pears, cut in chunks
  • 1/2 small diced red onion
  • 3-4 bacon strips, broken into bits
  • 1 TBSP (or drizzle) raw honey
  • Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
  • Sprinkle of kosher salt/pepp
  • Generous sprinkle of cinnamon

I threw all the dry ingredients (except for the bacon) into a large bowl, and drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar, and tossed. This incorporated the cinnamon well (sidenote: Why have I not added cinnamon to salads before?). I topped with bacon bits. The light sweetness of the honey, toned down the balsamic, and the strong red onion paired well with the sweet Bosc pears. It’d be a great party or summer grilling salad!

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Cabbage Salad

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I’ve been working late, and have had meetings after work-so by the time I get home I throw together whatever random concoction I can from what I have on hand (this is why I try to ensure at the start of every week, I have on-hand, things that I can use or be creative with, that are easy and quick). I got home last night around 7 and was craving a salad so much, but no lettuce. I did have shredded cabbage though, so I thought, well, let’s make a cabbage salad!

Cabbage Salad

  • 1/2 bag shredded cabbage
  • 1 apple
  • 2 avocados
  • 1/4 red onion
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt/pepp

I poured the cabbage in the bowl, cut 2 avocados (they add the best creaminess to salads, and a healthy fat!), diced 1 apple, and loosely chopped the red onion. Then I drizzled olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt and pepper. It was fabulous! I love cabbage. I also love spicy red onion with sweet red apple.

Lessons learned here: things you wouldn’t normally throw together can actually be really tasty, thrown together 🙂 Yay for random simplicity!Cabbage SaladCabbage Salad 2

Elimination Station, right here!

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Phew! Things have been so busy that I’ve rarely been on the computer at all, and sometimes I just want to go home and hibernate (am I the only one that wants to do this? Go home and escape the rest of the world? I can’t be.). In addition to busy, I’m still really struggling with digestive issues, so I’m trying to work through those the best I can and still remain positive.

This last Monday I decided to get more strict for 30 days and see if it helps, so here’s what I’m doing:

  • No coffee
  • No alcohol
  • No dairy
  • No nuts
  • No eggs (SAD)
  • No artificial sweeteners (read: gum)

Coffee has been no big deal (much to my surprise). I think I like the idea of coffee more than the actual coffee itself. Alcohol, I miss my glass of wine, but it’s fine. Dairy, I’d already eliminated most anyway (except for occasional cheese or grass-fed butter), so not a big change there. No nuts has been fine. I miss a little almond butter in the morning with my banana, and I occasionally used nuts as an easy go-to snack or fat/protein, so maybe I miss the convenience more? Eggs. I miss them. I really do. I was eating a lot of them, and they’re my go-to protein on a late dinner night, for breakfast, etc. They go with everything and are fabulous. I miss chewing gum too…but I think that’s just a habit.

In addition to the eliminations, I’m eating less fruit (fructose can be hard to digest for some), more veggies and protein. I’m drinking my home-brewed kombucha regularly (I still can’t believe I’m continuously brewing my own kombucha!) and making a batch of bone broth weekly that I drink daily (it’s so good and comforting and warm). I’m also getting a lot more sleep, which is wonderful.

So far, my stomach has been better, but it’s only been 3 days. I remain cautiously optimistic 🙂

Taking all this into consideration, I still cook something everyday! I’ve been cooking pretty simple (but yummy!) things. Last night I sauteed onion, broccoli and cauliflower in some coconut oil with garlic, and then drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on it. I paired it with a turkey burger and some bacon.DSC_0674DSC_0678

Coconut Apple Cabbage

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Not sure what it is about the combination of these three ingredients that not only makes the entire house smell like butter, it tastes super buttery too. Not going to complain. I threw this together last week, with apples that weren’t crisp enough to eat alone, and I made it again last night. Super easy.

Coconut Apple Cabbage

That’s it. Melt the coconut oil in the pan, toss in the cabbage and diced/chopped apple, season with kosher salt/pepp if preferred. Eat alone, save for leftovers to bring to work, pair with some protein, whatever works!

SO BUTTERY.

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