Crockpot Green Beans with Ham, by Diane

I'm obsessed with this type of green bean at BBQ joints as a side dish, and a friend recently told me she makes them easily in the crockpot with a ham bone. I couldn't find a ham bone so I used ham chips (preseasoned cuts of fatty ham) and diced ham. These were so easy and came out really good, but I would eliminate the ham chips next time as it was WAY too salty and there was no seasoning in here. 

Ingredients:

2 large unsalted cans (38 oz) of cut green beans, drained (reserve 1 cup)

1 pack of ham chips or 1 pack diced ham or bacon 

1 sweet onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours, stirring gently every hour or so. Discard ham chips if using.

Whole 30 Shrimp, Sausage, and Cauliflower Grits, by Diane

Holy cow this is one of the best dishes to come out of my kitchen, and it just so happens to ALSO be Whole 30!! This took me way back to NOLA and my cousin's creole cooking in Houston, TX. The fact that it was Whole 30 but tasted amazing is so awesome, because a lot of people find Whole 30 boring. To them I say TRY THIS!!! Also, this tasted like it cooked for hours but in reality it came together in under 20 min.

Three side notes- first, I thought this came out too spicy (my cousins and the population of NOLA may disagree), so I would taste the final product before adding the cayenne since the recipe already has sausage and red chili flakes. Second, as much as I LOVED this dish the night I made it, I unfortunately didn't care for the leftovers. So, I would adjust this to make it for just the night of. Third, I loved the sauce so much I added in double the chicken broth and made 2 batches of slurry.

Ingredients:

1 package sugar-free smoked sausage or kielbasa (I used Nature's Promise Chicken Chorizo)

1 lb raw shrimp, thawed (I used cooked shrimp to speed this up)

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp onion powder 

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp water

1 tsp arrowroot powder

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1.5 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp ghee (I omitted this and added a bit of EVOO, not sure this is necessary)

Directions:

1. Place cauliflower in a large pot of water and boil for 10-15 min until fork tender.

2. While the cauliflower cooks, heat a large saucepan on medium high heat. Add in the olive oil, shrimp, and sausage and cook for 5 min until the sausage browns a bit. 

3. Add the spices (garlic powder through red pepper flakes) and cook another 2 min.

4. Add the chicken broth and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the chicken broth reduces by half.

5. When the broth is reduced by half, combine the arrowroot powder and water in a small bowl and make a slurry. Add to the pan and stir, mixture should thicken quickly. Set pan aside.

6. Meanwhile, drain the cauliflower and add it back to the pot along with the remaining ingredients. Using an immersion blender, blend until creamy.