Whole30 Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

This month during my September Whole30 I have been trying to create some more football tailgate party themed foods. You know, the standard fare... wings, nachos, potato skins, dips, chips, stuff like that. My intention for this particular recipe was to create a taco potato skin but it actually morphed a bit into a twice baked potato which is not surprising at all considering I generally just make shit up as I go along and it usually turns out better than I had planned.

Before I get to it let's talk about what makes a really good twice baked potato, because the method definitely matters. Once you get that down get creative with your fillings, anything goes.  Make sure you buy potatoes that are for baking. Yes, it matters! I like Russets. If you choose the wrong potato you could end up with super thin skins or really starchy insides that get like paste when you start adding other things in. We all love a good twice baked at a steakhouse or even better, homemade. First things first, the skin has to be crispy and really flavorful because I don't know about you but I want to be able to eat it, I love the actual skin! Secondly you have to leave some of the potato in the skin when you are scooping it out, the skin needs to be lined with potato or it completely falls apart and that is not good. So take your time and don't get all over excited, be gentle with your little taters. Thirdly, whatever you fill it with HAS to be rich, creamy, buttery and preferably light and fluffy... otherwise what is your point? The worst thing you can get is a gummy (you over mixed it or you bought non-baking potatoes) or a dry/crumbly (you failed at adding enough fat) filling in your twice baked potato. Yuck. Lucky for you I have been making them for years and thanks to my Grandmother, may she rest in peace, I am an expert twice baker.

Since I whipped this one up on the fly last week and it was more or less a test, I only made one. The down side to twice baked potatoes is that they are a little labor intensive so I went small to see how this would turn out... spoiler alert... they turned out amazing and a ton of you asked for the recipe via Instagram.

So here you go....

Yield: 2Author: Amy @ The Crazy Wise Woman

Whole30 Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

prep time: 40 minscook time: 1 hour and 30 minstotal time: 1 hours and 70 mins

ingredients:

• 1 Large Russet Potato
• 3 T. Ghee
• Pink Himalayan Salt Coarse Ground
• 1 egg beaten well, until frothy
• 3/4 cup taco meat prepared with Primal Palate taco seasoning or home made Whole30 compliant version (I made a 1 lb. batch of ground beef and will use leftovers for other meals)
• Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend
• Handful of Scallions Sliced
• Salsa, Guac, Green Onions for garnish and topping

instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Pierce potato, brush the outside with ghee and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 45 min. or until outside is crisp and knife goes through easily. Slice potato open and let cool until you are able to handle it. 
2. When potato is cool carefully scoop out the inside with a spoon into a separate bowl, careful not to break the skin and leaving a little of the potato in the shell  so that it not too flimsy and holds its shape.
3. Place skins back onto a baking sheet and brush insides with more ghee, sprinkle with salt and chile lime seasoning. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 until they start to get golden brown then take them out. Reduce oven to 400 degrees.
4. Mash the potato that you have scooped  into the bowl with a fork, breaking up any large pieces. Add in about 1 Tbsp. of ghee (or more if you like), salt and pepper and mash until well combined. 
5. Add in the prepared taco meat and scallions and combine.
6. Next, add the well beaten egg to the potato/taco meat mixture and combine gently. Do not over mix this, you don't want to break up all of the air that you beat into the egg. This is what will make your potato fluff up and get that wonderful puffy crispy outside and be light and airy on the inside.
7. Add the potato mixture back into the skins. You will always end up with a lot more than you started with so if you have extra just pop it into a ramekin and bake it! I like to really heap up the skins though.
8. Sprinkle with more chile lime seasoning and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until the outside is lightly browned. 
9. Top with salsa,  guacamole and more green onions. Enjoy!

NOTES:

I don't typically write anything down when I am cooking so this is all based on my best guesses. This recipe would be easily adapted to large batch cooking as there is really no wrong way to stuff a potato. If you are not on Whole30 feel free to add cheddar or cream cheese to your potato stuffing mixture to make it next level!

Created using The Recipes Generator

Twice Baked Potatoes • Whole 30 • Whole30 Food

Whole30 Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

Monday, September 24, 2018

This month during my September Whole30 I have been trying to create some more football tailgate party themed foods. You know, the standard fare... wings, nachos, potato skins, dips, chips, stuff like that. My intention for this particular recipe was to create a taco potato skin but it actually morphed a bit into a twice baked potato which is not surprising at all considering I generally just make shit up as I go along and it usually turns out better than I had planned.

Before I get to it let's talk about what makes a really good twice baked potato, because the method definitely matters. Once you get that down get creative with your fillings, anything goes.  Make sure you buy potatoes that are for baking. Yes, it matters! I like Russets. If you choose the wrong potato you could end up with super thin skins or really starchy insides that get like paste when you start adding other things in. We all love a good twice baked at a steakhouse or even better, homemade. First things first, the skin has to be crispy and really flavorful because I don't know about you but I want to be able to eat it, I love the actual skin! Secondly you have to leave some of the potato in the skin when you are scooping it out, the skin needs to be lined with potato or it completely falls apart and that is not good. So take your time and don't get all over excited, be gentle with your little taters. Thirdly, whatever you fill it with HAS to be rich, creamy, buttery and preferably light and fluffy... otherwise what is your point? The worst thing you can get is a gummy (you over mixed it or you bought non-baking potatoes) or a dry/crumbly (you failed at adding enough fat) filling in your twice baked potato. Yuck. Lucky for you I have been making them for years and thanks to my Grandmother, may she rest in peace, I am an expert twice baker.

Since I whipped this one up on the fly last week and it was more or less a test, I only made one. The down side to twice baked potatoes is that they are a little labor intensive so I went small to see how this would turn out... spoiler alert... they turned out amazing and a ton of you asked for the recipe via Instagram.

So here you go....

Yield: 2Author: Amy @ The Crazy Wise Woman

Whole30 Twice Baked Taco Potatoes

prep time: 40 minscook time: 1 hour and 30 minstotal time: 1 hours and 70 mins

ingredients:

• 1 Large Russet Potato
• 3 T. Ghee
• Pink Himalayan Salt Coarse Ground
• 1 egg beaten well, until frothy
• 3/4 cup taco meat prepared with Primal Palate taco seasoning or home made Whole30 compliant version (I made a 1 lb. batch of ground beef and will use leftovers for other meals)
• Trader Joe's Chile Lime Seasoning Blend
• Handful of Scallions Sliced
• Salsa, Guac, Green Onions for garnish and topping

instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Pierce potato, brush the outside with ghee and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 45 min. or until outside is crisp and knife goes through easily. Slice potato open and let cool until you are able to handle it. 
2. When potato is cool carefully scoop out the inside with a spoon into a separate bowl, careful not to break the skin and leaving a little of the potato in the shell  so that it not too flimsy and holds its shape.
3. Place skins back onto a baking sheet and brush insides with more ghee, sprinkle with salt and chile lime seasoning. Return to the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 until they start to get golden brown then take them out. Reduce oven to 400 degrees.
4. Mash the potato that you have scooped  into the bowl with a fork, breaking up any large pieces. Add in about 1 Tbsp. of ghee (or more if you like), salt and pepper and mash until well combined. 
5. Add in the prepared taco meat and scallions and combine.
6. Next, add the well beaten egg to the potato/taco meat mixture and combine gently. Do not over mix this, you don't want to break up all of the air that you beat into the egg. This is what will make your potato fluff up and get that wonderful puffy crispy outside and be light and airy on the inside.
7. Add the potato mixture back into the skins. You will always end up with a lot more than you started with so if you have extra just pop it into a ramekin and bake it! I like to really heap up the skins though.
8. Sprinkle with more chile lime seasoning and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes or until the outside is lightly browned. 
9. Top with salsa,  guacamole and more green onions. Enjoy!

NOTES:

I don't typically write anything down when I am cooking so this is all based on my best guesses. This recipe would be easily adapted to large batch cooking as there is really no wrong way to stuff a potato. If you are not on Whole30 feel free to add cheddar or cream cheese to your potato stuffing mixture to make it next level!

Created using The Recipes Generator

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Because Nachos Are Life...

Hey everybody! I shared this post with my friend and fellow Whole30 coach Judith over on her blog EverydayWhole a few days ago so I thought I would share it with you too! We are talking all about one of my favorite Whole30 comfort foods... nachos. Wait, what? Nachos can't be Whole30 compliant can they? Well yes, as a matter of fact they can, and I am here today to tell you how to make the magic happen in the kitchen. With the nachos that is, at least for this guest post anyway.

If you know me you know that nachos and me are like peas n' carrots. Nachos have been there for me when no one else has. They are undoubtedly the epitome of comfort food for me and aside from that they are just freaking delicious. Who doesn't like piles of crispy chips, spicy chili, chicken, steak, salsa, guac, sour cream, ooey gooey cheese, beans, jalapenos? I mean, if you don't we probably can't be friends, or at the very least we will agree to agree that you are a weirdo. J/k... but you're missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures. Jus' sayin...

But Amy.... I am on Whole30!!! I can't have nachos!!! FAKE NEWS. I don't know about you but nachos are with me for the long haul. However, since Whole30 has increasingly become a bigger part of my daily life I have realized they don't really make me feel all that great after I eat them. Don't get me wrong, the real deal nacho mountain with corn tortilla chips (or Siete at least) will likely always make an occasional appearance in My Food Freedom but for the most part now I make a wide variety of  new and improved versions at home. And so can you!

So, the coolest thing about making your own healthy nachos is that they can be anything at all. This is a fantastic way to use up leftovers which is 100% my jam cause... single Mom budget. All you need is a base, I like potatoes, some type of protein and a whole bunch of toppings. So let me just run thru the tried and true Whole30 compliant nacho making method I have come to count on in my hours of need. Take for example these Buffalo Ranch Chicken Chips I recently whipped up.

The base is just thinly sliced (pre-baked and re-baked) oven baked potatoes brushed with a little fat of your choice. Cook those babies in  a 450 degree oven though, so they actually become baked chips. For this particular version I had leftover grilled chicken that I tossed with The New Primal Buffalo sauce then drizzled with more of that, Primal Kitchen Ranch Dressing and sliced green onions. One of my favorite Whole30 hacks is to bake a bunch of potatoes at the beginning of the week and store them in the fridge for other recipes later, like nachos (chips) and crispy breakfast potatoes for hash, etc.

Another favorite variation of Whole30 compliant nachos is the Sweet Potato Chips and Chili version. This is more of a fall/winter go-to for me so pretty much perfect to start working into the rotation for September Whole30. Unlike white potatoes I find you have to start with thinly sliced raw sweet potatoes and either fry them quickly in the fat of your choice or brush with oil and bake in a very hot oven till brown and crispy. Then load them up. This plate is Mel Joulwan's Chocolate Chili topped with guac, red onion and taco seasoning and it is off the chain delish.

I am also a big fan of loaded fries so they are getting an honorable mention here too. Potato wedges brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper and baked until crispy really just beg to be doused in ranch dressing, bacon bits, green onions and tomatoes don't they? Trust me, they do. So don't forget about this as an option either.

Now, before you go getting all worried about me I am not eating Whole30 nachos and loaded fries every day, but once in awhile they really hit the spot. My kids love these types of recipes too and often they have no clue it's "that Whole30 stuff again", they just gobble it up. And for all of you who love to party and entertain like me, it is football season and the holidays are right around the corner. I promise, make any of these, or your own variation, in a sheet pan version and your guests will be very happy humans.

I hope this made you drool or at least gave you a few good ideas on how to change up your Whole30 game just a little now and then! Good Luck on your September Whole30 if you are doing one and have a great weekend!!!

Cheers,

Amy

Nachos • Whole30

Because Nachos Are Life...

Friday, September 21, 2018

Hey everybody! I shared this post with my friend and fellow Whole30 coach Judith over on her blog EverydayWhole a few days ago so I thought I would share it with you too! We are talking all about one of my favorite Whole30 comfort foods... nachos. Wait, what? Nachos can't be Whole30 compliant can they? Well yes, as a matter of fact they can, and I am here today to tell you how to make the magic happen in the kitchen. With the nachos that is, at least for this guest post anyway.

If you know me you know that nachos and me are like peas n' carrots. Nachos have been there for me when no one else has. They are undoubtedly the epitome of comfort food for me and aside from that they are just freaking delicious. Who doesn't like piles of crispy chips, spicy chili, chicken, steak, salsa, guac, sour cream, ooey gooey cheese, beans, jalapenos? I mean, if you don't we probably can't be friends, or at the very least we will agree to agree that you are a weirdo. J/k... but you're missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures. Jus' sayin...

But Amy.... I am on Whole30!!! I can't have nachos!!! FAKE NEWS. I don't know about you but nachos are with me for the long haul. However, since Whole30 has increasingly become a bigger part of my daily life I have realized they don't really make me feel all that great after I eat them. Don't get me wrong, the real deal nacho mountain with corn tortilla chips (or Siete at least) will likely always make an occasional appearance in My Food Freedom but for the most part now I make a wide variety of  new and improved versions at home. And so can you!

So, the coolest thing about making your own healthy nachos is that they can be anything at all. This is a fantastic way to use up leftovers which is 100% my jam cause... single Mom budget. All you need is a base, I like potatoes, some type of protein and a whole bunch of toppings. So let me just run thru the tried and true Whole30 compliant nacho making method I have come to count on in my hours of need. Take for example these Buffalo Ranch Chicken Chips I recently whipped up.

The base is just thinly sliced (pre-baked and re-baked) oven baked potatoes brushed with a little fat of your choice. Cook those babies in  a 450 degree oven though, so they actually become baked chips. For this particular version I had leftover grilled chicken that I tossed with The New Primal Buffalo sauce then drizzled with more of that, Primal Kitchen Ranch Dressing and sliced green onions. One of my favorite Whole30 hacks is to bake a bunch of potatoes at the beginning of the week and store them in the fridge for other recipes later, like nachos (chips) and crispy breakfast potatoes for hash, etc.

Another favorite variation of Whole30 compliant nachos is the Sweet Potato Chips and Chili version. This is more of a fall/winter go-to for me so pretty much perfect to start working into the rotation for September Whole30. Unlike white potatoes I find you have to start with thinly sliced raw sweet potatoes and either fry them quickly in the fat of your choice or brush with oil and bake in a very hot oven till brown and crispy. Then load them up. This plate is Mel Joulwan's Chocolate Chili topped with guac, red onion and taco seasoning and it is off the chain delish.

I am also a big fan of loaded fries so they are getting an honorable mention here too. Potato wedges brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper and baked until crispy really just beg to be doused in ranch dressing, bacon bits, green onions and tomatoes don't they? Trust me, they do. So don't forget about this as an option either.

Now, before you go getting all worried about me I am not eating Whole30 nachos and loaded fries every day, but once in awhile they really hit the spot. My kids love these types of recipes too and often they have no clue it's "that Whole30 stuff again", they just gobble it up. And for all of you who love to party and entertain like me, it is football season and the holidays are right around the corner. I promise, make any of these, or your own variation, in a sheet pan version and your guests will be very happy humans.

I hope this made you drool or at least gave you a few good ideas on how to change up your Whole30 game just a little now and then! Good Luck on your September Whole30 if you are doing one and have a great weekend!!!

Cheers,

Amy

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