There's Nothing Wrong with "Meat and Potatoes"

I'm so thankful for my husband's interest in cooking. This week I have been entirely too worn out to do much (although last night I did finally bake up my favorite Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies!), and it was such a blessing that when Hubs got home from class tonight, he jumped right into defrosting some chicken and steaming broccoli.
I just wanted to make a quick post tonight about simple meals, particularly dinners, for those of us with food intolerances. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a foodie, if someone with as many allergies as me can still be a foodie. But I find that keeping it simple for day to day meals makes the special, multi course meals for holidays and dinner parties that much more special. Eating to live, not living to eat, is a goal I am going to try and keep in mind in this new year. If you know anything about the Paleo/Caveman Diet, you know that basic whole foods, real foods, closer to what our pre-industrialized ancestors ate, are much better for us than all the processed insta-foods of today. Eating a basic meal like a piece of meat with a vegetable and little or no complex carbs like brown rice or quinoa on the side, creates minimal dishes, requires minimal ingredients, and is very satisfying and filling.
Some of my favorite go-to simple dinners are:

• Grilled chicken breast with  EVOO, sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice, with steamed broccoli and a little bit of brown rice
• A slice of Pot roast (beef slow roasted in the crock pot all day) with roasted potatoes and carrots
• Grilled steak with steamed brussel sprouts and a baked potato with seasoning salt
• Quick chicken stir-fry (I made a great one the other night with a sauce of tamari [wheat-free soy sauce] and peanut butter): saute bite-sized pieces of chicken thigh in EVOO until no longer pink, add one bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables, and in five minutes add the sauce. Cook until it thickens, add peanuts, and serve with quinoa.
• Vegetarian option with more carbs: Spanish Rice. Saute onion, garlic, and peppers until tender. Add rice, water/broth, and diced tomatoes along with chili powder and hot sauce. Simmer, covered, until rice has absorbed liquid. Stir in one drained, rinsed can of black beans (protein!) and serve with a handful of tortilla chips.

This post was a bit random and thought up on the fly, but these are all meals that are tried and true in my house and no one complains about the basic "meat and potatoes" feel of them. Sometimes this is what we need to remember with food allergies; simple, basic, uncomplicated. I hope you'll give this concept a try! Happy cooking this week :)