Spoiler alert: Here’s a picture of the dinner I made last night.
The only reason I put this image here is because I didn’t want to start this post with a photo of my face. I didn’t want to ruin your morning.
My night shifts this week at the hospital have gone swimmingly. I’ve been practicing what I preach about prioritizing sleep and eating clean in order to survive shift work, so I feel pretty good as my work week comes to a close. See?
(Actually, I’m laughing because Lil-O cracked a funny about something totally age-inappropriate and possibly genital-related.)
Also, diligently donning my amber goggles after work, banning electronic devices from my bedroom, and hitting the sack before 11 a.m. meant I managed an average of 7 hours of sleep every day. To be honest, getting enough sleep might be the only reason I’ve had enough energy to cook dinner every night. Want to see what I ate yesterday?
After getting home from the hospital in the morning and getting the boys off to school, I made myself a hot dog.
First, I whipped up some crispy flatbread using Tara Grant’s wonderful Magical Multipurpose Paleo Dough…
…and then I topped it with a sausage link, some halved cherry tomatoes, and a mess o’ sauerkraut.
Curl up the sides of the flatbread, and presto!
After safely securing the dog in my belly, I turned to dinner prep. My in-laws are staying with us to watch the kids while I sleep, so I wanted to make something that could feed a houseful of hungry eaters. Thankfully, I had a dish in mind: The Bacon & Onion Roast from Tammy Credicott’s new book, Make Ahead Paleo. (Want the recipe? Check it out here.)
So before heading off to bed, I crisped up some bacon bits…
…and chopped some alliums as I waited for the swine to brown.
I removed a chuck roast from my defrost bowl and seasoned it all over with salt and pepper.
After removing the crunchy bacon bits from the skillet…
…I seared the beef on all sides in the bacon grease…
…before I plopped it into my trusty slow cooker.
Next, I sautéed the onions in the bacon drippings…
…and transferred them on top of the roast.
I poured the sauce that I made with wine, broth, and garlic into the cooker.
I also threw in a handful of cherry tomatoes (a tiny addition I made to Tammy’s recipe—because I’m all about umami-boosting!)…
…and let the slow cooker do its thing.
Then I went to bed.
When I woke up, I was happy to see that my Good Eggs delivery had arrived. Have I mentioned how much I love Good Eggs? The quality of its farm-fresh foods has been amazing, and the service is phenomenal. I don’t mind paying $3.99 extra for home delivery—especially given the insanity of my schedule. If you live in an area covered by Good Eggs, you should really check out their offerings. (I really don’t want it to go the way of Webvan. Remember Webvan?)
I checked on my roast, and it looked and smelled wonderful.
But first: I had some sides to prepare.
I shoved a tray of broccoli in my toaster oven…
…and peeled and threw some potatoes into my pressure cooker (a.k.a. Bubba).
(Yes, potatoes are fine IMHO.)
For good measure, I sliced up some of the eggplants that came in my Good Eggs delivery, and brushed them with melted ghee before broiling them in my oven.
Once the sides were done…
…I transferred the roast to a cutting board and sliced it up.
For color, I added a chiffonade of basil.
Yay! Dinner! In less than 45 minutes, I might add.
And then it was time to jet off to another graveyard shift at the hospital…my last one of the week.
