Grit By Name and By Nature

Main Dishes

Greek Chicken Buddha Bowls (easy dinner, low-carb, grain-free, gluten-free, paleo)

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Moving from LA to Wyoming definitely has its ups and down. The landscape here is diverse, the sky is beautiful, and the rent prices are…

*I need a minute here*

UNBELIEVABLE.

The food options, on the other hand, are… lacking. Don’t get me wrong, if you want a burger, a steak, or a domestic beer, then you’ve got options. If you want anything else, literally, ANYTHING ELSE, well then you better strap on your apron and equip yourself to prepare it in your own kitchen.

I love to bake. It never feels like a chore to me. Baking and I? We’re best friends.

Cooking on the other hand? I don’t know her. We just don’t connect. Maybe it’s the feminist in me. Maybe it’s because I don’t like touching slimy things. Or maybe it’s because I transform into a completely useless couch monster after the hour of 5pm.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t pan out well for someone who loves any and all types of food in a town with one (v average) food option.

SO UR GIRL HAS BEEN COOKIN.

And let me tell you, we’ve stumbled upon some gems.

Obviously I want to share them all with you immediately, but I’m doing my best to pace myself here and start with our favorite. The Greek Chicken Buddha Bowls.

It only seems right to start with a Greek dish to further fuel my obsession with all things Greek (including my husband C #HOLLA) so today, hitting the blog, are these BOMB ASS Greek Chicken Buddha Bowls.

This dish is high protein, low carb, and packs a PUNCH of fresh flavors to satisfy even the deepest and darkest of garlic cravings (we’ve all been there). Bonus? It whips up stupid fast and is completely fool-proof for even the most useless of the post-5pm-couch-monsters. Another bonus? They translate perfectly to a wrap for (ahem, picky husbands) any type of craving.

See below for all the dEATs (see what I did there? I’m a real food blogger now). xxoo happy hump day friends!

Greek Chicken Buddha Bowls

Grain-free, gluten-free, low-carb, easy dinner
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine greek
Servings 4 very, very hungry people

Ingredients
  

For the chicken

  • 3 lb Chicken (cubed) (breast or thigh work) (… that's what he said?)
  • 1 cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 4 clove Garlic
  • 1 medium Lemon
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Oregano (dried works)
  • 1/4 bunch Fresh parsley (chopped)
  • 1 pinch Cinnamon
  • Fresh pepper to taste

For the bowl

  • 1 med Cucumber (diced)
  • 1 med Chopped red onion (Can be grilled or raw)
  • 1 med Green onion (chopped)
  • 6 cups Chopped lettuce
  • 1/2 cup Feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup Tzatziki (I used Falafel King)
  • 1/2 cup Kraut (I used Red Beet and Cabbage from Wild Brine)

Instructions
 

For the chicken

  • Combine your Greek yogurt, olive oil, garlic, Oregano, salt, parsley, cinnamon, and pepper in a bowl. Zest your lemon and add approximately 1/2 of its zest to the mixture. Use the other half to make my Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Donuts. (Jk jk jk jk) (……)
  • Juice your lemon and add all the juice to the mixture.
  • Place your cubed chicken and mixture into a quart size bag and combine until chicken is thoroughly coated. If you have the time, let your chicken marinate in the fridge for a half hour.
  • Place your chicken in a 9×13 glass dish and bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes (or until the chicken starts to turn golden on top)

For the bowl

  • Divide all your vegetables evenly between 4 bowls.
  • Top with approx one cup of chicken, sprinkle with feta, and finally, drizzle with your Tzatziki sauce.
  • Stir your bowl into a colorful mess and devour 🙂

Notes

If you’re feeling fancy, you can take your diced cucumber and make a super easy cucumber salad with your red onion. Simply finely slice some of your onion, combine it with the cucumber and some olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and you have a beautiful addition to your table!
Keyword chicken, dinner, easy dinner, fast dinner, gluten-free, grain-free, greek, low carb, low-sugar, lunch, meal prep

Everything Bagel Sandwiches (Paleo, keto, grain-free, gluten-free)

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Chris and I recently got back from an amazing trip to Hawaii and upon sharing photos with friends and family, I realized that I took approx. 15 photos of the beautiful wildlife, landscape, and adventure, and approx. 1,500 photos of our mass consumption of beautiful bagel sandwiches.

Look, I don’t know if it’s the salt water sourdough or the fresh vegetables, but once we started, we could not stop eating these bagels sandwiches and upon arriving home, our hearts WEPT for the chewy and crunchy euphoria we left behind.

So in order lessen the pain of longing without enduring energy crashes or skin breakouts, a grain-free, paleo, keto everything bagel sandwich substitute was devised.

Everything Bagel Sandwich

(Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, keto, low carb)
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Course Breakfast, dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 12 mini bagels

Ingredients
  

Bagels

Toppings (per bagel)

  • 2 tbsp Dairy-free cream cheese (Kite Hill is bombbb)
  • 1/4 cup sprouts
  • 4 slices zucchini
  • 1/4 avocado

Instructions
 

  • Prepare bread recipe as detailed. Pour dough into silicone bagel baking molds (a donut pan would also work). Top liberally with Everything But The seasoning. Bake for 20-ish minutes or until bagels are golden brown.
  • Once cooled, slice bagels and top with cream cheese, zucchini, sprouts, and avocado, and enjoy 🙂
Keyword bagel, breakfast, gluten-free, grain-free, keto, paleo

Um… Bread. (Gluten-free, grain-free, keto, paleo)

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Sometimes recipes are born of a touching life story. Sometimes they’re the result of a sticky, albeit entertaining, situation. Sometimes they come after an instantaneous moment of inspiration. Sometimes they’re gifted in the form of a stroke of complete dumb luck. Sometimes they’re guided by the favorite dish of a loved one.

And sometimes you just want a mother f***in slice of bread.

This one happens to be the latter.

You guys know that I have nothing against bread as a general population. Really, anything that can transport butter from my plate to my mouth is a friend of mine. But recently, C n I have just been CRAVING toast for breakfast and TBH eating carbs topped with a little bit of fat and a lot more carbs during the morning is a real recipe for disaster for the rest of my day.  

So for the sake of the general public, this keto n paleo bread was created. The bread is grain-free, gluten-free, and is shockingly moist (SORRY I CAN’T STOP USING THIS WORD I’VE TRIED). The first time I baked it, I was literally APPALLED because it provided such a rise (n such a bitch of an oven cleanup job—thx bread!). It has the real-life texture of a bread, which means you can actually slice it instead of weeping as you watch it crumble into a million pieces the moment your knife hits the loaf. (This has never happened in our kitchen.)

When you need to pack a serious fat punch in the morning, what’s easier than grabbing bread from the fridge, popping a slicarooski in the toaster, and dousing it with peanut butter upon completion? Nothing. Nothing is easier. In particular, cleansing your oven of burnt af keto bread dough is not easier.

So without further ado, for your consumption pleasure, I give to you . . . . bread.

Bread

Grain-free, gluten-free, keto, paleo, sugar-free, low-carb
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 cup almond milk
  • 3 tbsp melted ghee (or butter)
  • 3 tbsp nut butter (I’ve used pecan and almond)
  • 3 tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp xantham gum (can be omitted)
  • sesame seeds (for topping)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350F and grease doughnut pan or silicon molds.
  • In a small bowl combine all dry ingredients (except seasoning). Set aside.
  • Separate egg yolks and egg whites. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, apple cider vinegar, nut butter, Greek yogurt, and melted ghee. 
  • Combine dry ingredients into mixture. Add almond milk and stir again. Whip egg whites and fold into mixture.
  • Pour into loaf pan (about half full), top with sesame seeds, and bake for 30-35 minutes. **Note, I used a glass pan, if you use silicon or metal, that will affect baking times.

Personal Pan (Egg) Pizzas (paleo, keto, grain-free, gluten-free, high protein)

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C and I don’t have any kids. We also don’t have any pets or nieces or nephews (YET). What we do have, is pizza <3

When we got married were considering what to do with our last names (Peterson + Phillips = Pete-lips #sexi), we seriously considered throwing caution to the wind and going with C and Grit Pizza (Except just the emoji because we’re meta like that). And when we told our family of the consideration, they were 0% surprised. Because our dedication to the ‘za is very real.  

I’m all for giving your body what it asks for, but C and my bodies are ALWAYS asking for pizza, and under no circumstances should you eat the same food for every meal on every day of the week (Right? Pizza for every meal is definitely bad. Or is it? No it is. It definitely is.) so it goes without saying that we have a lot of pizza variations in our repertoire.

Now I know there’s a lot of grain-free pizza options out there today. But sometimes I just don’t feel like ricing my cauliflower and blending it and cooking a cauliflower crust and then prepping toppings and THEN baking the pizza. Actually, I never feel like doing that. And a frozen cauliflower pizza at Whole Foods costs 9 dollars! NINE DOLLARS!!! One of those pizzas = MAYBE one meal for C. Listen Linda, I don’t have that kind of cash.

So for my brothers and sister who need the ‘za but also need an array of vitamins and nutrients like normal grown-up adults, I give you these Egg ‘Zas.

Like all my fav meal recipes, this one whips up in a flash, plus it’s totally scalable (so C can get enough food without eating all of my portion as well) and customizable (because C eats like a boring banana and I like a little greens in my life). It’s super high protein and there’s not a grain in sight.

I make my “crust” with egg whites and I make Chris’ with full eggs. Feel free to do a mixture of both! And double bonus, these paleo pizzas are adorable af. So if you need a cheap and easy dinner option to please all the picky eaters in your household, these Egg ‘Zas are 4u.

Personal Pan (Egg) Pizzas

Keto, paleo, grain-free, gluten-free
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 20 mins
Course Breakfast, dinner, lunch
Cuisine American
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

C’s ‘Za

  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1/4 cup organic pizza sauce
  • 1 pack Belgioioso mozzarella snacking cheese (for topping)
  • 1/2 all natural chicken sausage (cooked, optional)
  • 1/4 avocado (chopped)
  • 1/4 green onion (chopped)

Grit’s ‘Za

  • 1 cup egg whites
  • 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 tsp crushed red peper
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 cloves garlic (minced)
  • chopped red onion (for topping)
  • 3 tbsp pesto sauce
  • 1/4 avocado (chopped)
  • 1 handful arugula
  • 1/2 all natural chicken sausage (cooked, optional)

Instructions
 

C’s Za

  • Whisk your eggs, shredded mozzarella cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic in a bowl. Pour into a non-stick frying pan and cook on medium low heat (just like an omelet) until the center JUST starts to solidify. Careful not to burn!
  • Flip omelet and let it finish cooking. While it finishes, top with pizza sauce, chicken sausage, green pepper, snacking mozzarella. To get the extra gooey cheese on top, sometimes I pop C’s pizza into the toaster oven on “warm” while I cook my ‘za. 
  • Right before serving, top with avocado.

Grit’s Za

  • Whisk your egg whites, shredded mozzarella cheese, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and garlic in a bowl. Pour into a non-stick frying pan and cook on medium low heat (just like an omelet) until the center JUST starts to solidify. Careful not to burn! It will take longer than C’s ‘za.
  • Flip omelet and let it finish cooking. While it finishes, top with pesto sauce, chicken sausage. After removing the omelet from the heat, top with arugula, red onion, and avocado.
  • Place on dish and enjoy 🙂 
Keyword egg, gluten-free, grain-free, low carb, paleo, pizza, whole 30

Flamin’ Hot Mac n Cheetos (paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, gut-friendly)

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C and I live by one of the trendiest restaurants in all of El Lay but because of it’s proximity to our home, we often take it for granted. It’s not until we run into a stranger from out of state who has made the perilous trek from their posh Malibu Airbnb to the mysterious and edgy world of Long Beach just to eat at this hyper trendy converted bungalow that we are reminded of its undeniable appeal to the youths.

The popularity of this place never ceases to amaze us. 3PM on a Tuesday? There’s a line out the door. Want dinner on a Saturday? You better book it now and expect to wait months. There’s a constant stream of influencers setting up their tripods across the street and herds of 30-year-old men with beards sipping on absinthe and discussing women’s rights.

Image result for the attic long beach california

Look, it’s a great place.

You may think that the adorable converted bungalow setting is what put this place on the map. Or maybe the seasonal menu or local ingredients, perhaps the constant stream of press coverage?

But no.

It was the Flamin’ Hot Mac and Cheetos. Pictured below.

Mac-N-Cheetos-The-Attic

If you have both eyes and taste buds, I don’t think any further explanation is needed.

Now imagine, if you will, that you live a stone throw away from this edible work of art. It’s dangerous. Walking past it is a risk that C and I take almost every day. But because we are broke, because we don’t have a couple hours to wait for a table, and because we value the health of our arteries, we resist. But it doesn’t mean that we aren’t reminded of that delectable flamin’ hot mac and Cheetos dish every time we pass the bungalow, and it certainly doesn’t mean that our heart doesn’t yearn for the unbelievable combination of creamy cheesy pasta and spicy Cheeto crunch.

So in an attempt to save our pocketbooks and our heart health, I devised a grain-free, gluten-free, paleo version of the dish that C and I can indulge in without taunting the Crohn’s Gods or handing our pocketbooks over to waiters with amazingly tall hair and amazingly terrible attitudes.

The sauce is made with cultured cottage cheese and a splash of almond milk for blending.  That means its far easier on the tummy than your traditional cheese sauce and far higher in protein.

To paint you a picture, a typical cheddar cheese sauce comes in at 253 calories, with 18 g of fat and 9.6 g of protein. The cheese sauce pictured below is equally delicious at less than half the calories, a whopping 1.5 g of fat and almost 20 grams of protein.

Perhaps the best part of this dish is it’s super quick to whip up. By the time the pasta is cooked, the sauce is done and ready, making this a 10-minute, low-carb, high protein dinner. What’s not to love?! Give er a try, you won’t be disappointed.

Flamin’ Hot Mac n Cheetos

Paleo, Grain-free, Gluten-free Gut-friendly
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course dinner, lunch
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Good Culture cottage cheese (or sub your fav cottage cheese!)
  • 4 tbsp almond milk
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1 pinch garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ground pepper (optional)
  • 5-6 green onion (chopped)
  • 1 box Banza Pasta
  • Fuego Siete Chips (for topping)

Instructions
 

  • Cook pasta per instructions on the box (9-11 minutes in boiling water) 
  • While pasta is cooking, place the cottage cheese, almond milk, nutritional yeast, onion powder, salt, cumin, garlic powder, and onion in the blender. Blend until smooth.
  • Option to warm sauce up on stove (usually, if my pasta is hot, I just pour it directly on the pasta from the blender, but if I’m eating leftover pasta, I heat the sauce up first). Warm on low heat and keep your eyes on it… it heats very fast and if it’s overheated, the sauce can separate (which is no big deal, just stir and let cool a bit). 
  • Pour sauce over pasta. Top with green onion and crushed Siete Chips before serving. 

Notes

Pro tip: Sometimes Chris and I will throw in some carnitas or barbacoa… SO GOOD.
Keyword comfort food, easy dinner, gluten-free, grain-free, mac and cheese, paleo, pasta, quick

Italian Club Super-food Bowl (paleo, keto-friendly, grain-free, low-carb, high-protein)

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C is a lawyer and I am an engineer. C drinks beer and I drink wine. C likes boring podcasts and I like bumpin music. C watches Game of Thrones and I watch Friends. C’s team Jacob and I’m team Edward.

There just isn’t a lot that we agree on.

However, like most good relationships, there are a few key areas in which our preferences overlap. Like the good engineer that I am, I have plotted this overlap on the diagram below.

Yes, we love bears. And we both live and die for a good Italian club.

Let me tell you a story to illustrate our dedication to this sandwich.

Last August, C and I took an AMAZING road trip through Northern California. We left from Long Beach, hit the Channel Islands, shot straight up to the Redwoods and meandered our way back south over the course of about two weeks. We had no real plan, but at some point, we decided to end our trip with a day in Santa Barbara, one of our happy places.

I’m going to level with you here and confess that we go to Santa Barbara A LOT. And when we do, we tend to be creatures of habit. We know the hikes we like, we know the ice cream we like, we know the shops we like, and we know the food we like. We REALLY know the food we like.

And that food, my friends, is South Coast Deli’s Italian 3-Way Sandwich.

IT IS SO GOOD I’m salivating just thinking about it. It’s layered #THICK with roasted turkey breast, followed by capicola and salami, topped with lettuce, onion, and pepperoncini, and just OOZING with their house made basil mayo. It’s stacked a solid 6-inches high with not one, not two, but THREE layers of chewy and fresh sourdough bread.

Excuse me please, I need a minute.

Okay *wipes sweat from brow*, back to the road trip story.

After a week and a half of a truly amazing and awakening trip, C and I decided to spread our wings and commit to trying something new in Santa Barbara. We yelped. We ate at a restaurant with a penny floor. We stopped at a brewery constructed of reclaimed wood. We ate sustainably sourced ice cream. We sat on the beach and wept because our stomachs were so full.

And yet, we felt empty. Because no amount of avocado toast, industrial-chic interiors, different types of exotic hops, or farmers’ faces could possibly fill the void that the Italian 3-Way Sandwich left behind. So C and I somehow managed to make our way to South Coast Deli (I think we laid on our sides and rolled?) and ordered ourselves the sandwich that we love so very much. There’s always space in our hearts and our stomachs for a good Italian Club.

And from this love, the paleo, low-carb, high protein, keto-friendly, grain-free Italian Club Super-Food Bowl was born.

I love this recipe for a few reasons. 1. It’s super easy and quick to make. 2. It’s high volume, scalable and customizable (C <3s carbs. I don’t eat so many. We are both happy when it comes to this dish.) And 3. It’s all of the amazing flavors of the Italian club without the grains and questionable ingredients.

I’ll stop teasing now and get right into it.

Italian Club Super-food Bowl

Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 hungry people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 box Banza pasta (or pasta of choice)
  • 6-8 cups leafy greens of choice (i.e. spinach, arugula, mixed greens, romaine)
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 red pepper
  • 2 avocado
  • 1/2 cup pepperoncini
  • 4 oz salami
  • 2-3 organic baked chicken breast (about 12 oz prepared)
  • 6-8 tbsp Primal Kitchen Dreamy Italian (or dressing of choice)
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce of choice (optional)
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Boil water and add Banza pasta. Cook per instructions on box.
  • While the pasta is cooking, thinly slice the red onion, chop the red pepper, and peel and slice the avocado. 
  • Add leafy greens as base to bowl. Add red onion, red pepper, avocado, and pepperoncini.
  • Slice the chicken breast and salami to desired width. Add desired amount to your bowl.
  • When the pasta is done cooking, drain, and toss in pasta sauce if desired. Add desired amount of dressed or plain pasta to bowl. (I only add a small handful, for C its the majority of his bowl.)
  • Top with dressing and chia seeds (optional), toss, and enjoy.
Keyword dinner, easy, grain-free, healthy, keto-friendly, low carb, paleo, quick