Grandma's Vegetable Beef Soup

I grew up not caring for any soup, but this is the one soup I would always eat.  Now I love all kinds of soup, but this one is still a favorite.  I can't believe I have never posted the recipe.  I took a picture of it the last time I made it (without potatoes and added peas)... but still never got around to posting it.  I figured since I am making it overnight tonight for a family gathering tomorrow after church, I would post it.  This time, I made my beef broth a couple of weeks ago and froze it, just to save some prep time this weekend.  I will not be adding the cabbage or butter this time, though, due to Bristol's sensitivity.  I generally always add homemade tomato soup, but the stuff I have in the freezer right now has milk in it, so I bought some organic soup with the fewest ingredients I could find.  This is such a delicious soup.  Let me know if you try it sometime!

Grandma's Vegetable Beef Soup

1 small beef roast (or 1-2 pounds stew meat)
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage
2 Tablespoons butter
1-2 cans tomato soup

Place roast with onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper in a large soup pot.  Cover with water by a couple of inches, bring to a boil.  Boil until beef is cooked through.  Remove roast and set aside to cool.  Cut up into chunks when cool enough to handle.

Strain broth.  Discard bay leaf and onion.  Return broth to soup pot.

Add chopped beef, celery, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, butter, and tomato soup to the soup pot.  Simmer until vegetables are cooked and beef is very tender. 

You can also dump everything into a crockpot and cook on low all day, if you prefer.

Hawaiian Meatballs

I've been looking for new recipes to make using ground beef.  I picked up this year's beef a month or so ago and we still had a decent supply of ground beef from last year... so I'm trying to use some of it up.  In the winter months, I always fear running out of ground beef, so I avoid using it much.  Then when it comes time to get the new order of beef, I find myself feeling like I'm drowning in ground beef.  So when I saw The Mango Duck's recipe for Hawaiian Meatballs on Pinterest the other day, I figured I'd give them a try.  I made a few changes - added some almond flour and an egg, plus omitted a few ingredients since I didn't have them on hand - red pepper flakes, lime juice, and cilantro.  I'll post the recipe as I made it below.  I also changed the cooking method to use the crockpot.  I'd like to try them on the stovetop sometime, as The Mango Duck made them, but we were going away during the day and I just wanted to have an easy dinner, ready to go once we got home. 

These were really good.  We all really liked them a lot.  It kind of reminded us of some thai-coconut curries we've had, but with a little sweetness from the pineapple.  It was yummy!  Carson even went back for seconds.  They were quite easy to throw together, too - at least using the crockpot for everything.  I'll definitely be making these again! 

Hawaiian Meatballs

For the meatballs:

2 lbs of ground meat (pork, chicken, turkey, etc)

3/4 cup almond flour

2 Tablespoons fish sauce

2 Tablespoons Coconut Aminos

2 teaspoon curry powder

2 green onions, diced

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 egg

salt & pepper to taste

For the sauce:

1 can coconut milk

1 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon Coconut Aminos

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 green onion, diced

juice from 1 lemon

2 Tablespoons crushed pineapple

3 Tablespoons pineapple juice

2 teaspoon basil, chopped

Mix all the ingredient for the meatballs in a bowl and then form into meatballs.  Make them whatever size you like.  Place the meatballs into a crockpot. 

Mix ingredients for sauce in a bowl.  Pour over meatballs in crockpot. 

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until meatballs are cooked through.


This post is shared at:
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS

Stifado (Greek Stew)

I pinned a post recently for summer slow cooker meal ideas.  One of the ideas featured in that pin was for a greek stew called stifado from Dialed-In Nutrition.  It sounded really good - plus I was trying to use up some of last year's beef before I pick up our beef this week.  So I made this for dinner one night last week.  I cut out a lot of the prep work to make it super easy to prepare and I don't feel like it really cut the flavors or taste at all.  I also cut out the optional ingredients and switched out a few for what I had on hand - I posted the recipe below as I made it.  This was very good - we all really liked it a lot.  My brother-in-law had dinner with us the night I made this and he thought it was very good, as well.  I served it with orzo, some roasted zucchini fries and roasted mushrooms. 

Greek Stifado

3 Tablespoons coconut oil
2-3 pounds grassfed beef, cut into 1 1/2" cubes (I used a chuck roast and cut it up)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato puree (I just used a can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Add everything into your crockpot.  Stir to incorporate ingredients.  Cover.  Let cook on low for at least 8 hours. 


This post is shared at:
Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist
Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke is Online

Crockpot French Dip Beef

My husband loves french dip sandwiches. My son and I think they are pretty good, too, especially homemade. But we haven't had them in ages because we haven't been eating much bread while following the primal/paleo diet. With a new baby arriving in a couple of months, I've been trying to get some easy, tasty, nourishing foods in the freezer so that I can just pull them out for easy dinners after the baby is born. So I decided to make up some french dip beef a few weeks ago. It really couldn't be easier to make and it is so delicious! Using homemade beef bone broth and grass fed beef makes this a very nourishing meal, as well.  We ate it for dinner one night and I was able to put two containers of the beef and au jus into the freezer to have later on this summer. Kevin and Carson ate this on some buns, which obviously is not paleo, but I ate the beef on its own with some au jus over top.  I think I actually like it better without the bun, honestly.  I served it with some roasted vegetables - asparagus, mushrooms, and broccoli.

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

3-4 pound grass fed chuck roast
1/2 sweet onion, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 quart homemade beef broth
2 Tablespoons coconut aminos (a healthy alternative to soy sauce)
Water or more beef broth, enough to cover the roast by about 1/2 inch - the amount, or even whether you need it will depend on what size crockpot you are using. I used a 4-qt crock, so I only needed to add about 1/2 cup.

Place roast in crock. Add onions and garlic, broth, coconut aminos, and water, if needed.

Let cook on low all day until meat is very tender and falling off the bone. Remove the meat from crock and shred using two forks. Add shredded meat back into crock. Serve on its own with au jus over top, or on buns with a small ramekin of the au jus for dipping.

If freezing, be sure to include plenty of au jus in your containers.



This post is shared at:

Real Food Forager's Fat Tuesday

Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesday

Paleo Beef Chili

Chili is a perfect dinner for a cool, fall day like the ones we've been having lately.  It's especially good on a night of watching the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS series, or some good football games - Go State!  It's also a very easy meal to prepare.  Normally, I make a big batch in the crockpot, but on this particular day, I made it on the stovetop.  However, this would be perfect for the crockpot, as well. 

I have made paleo chili before, but this is the best one so far.  The bacon adds a wonderful flavor and the carob powder adds a uniqueness to it.  It is so delicious!  I used a recipe that a friend of mine posted on her crossfit facebook page and tweaked some things to make it my own (added butter and mushrooms, more onion, more broth, more spices, carob for cocoa, and used beef instead of bison).  I had about a cup of leftover roast beef that I diced up and threw in here, too... but I don't have it listed below since it won't be a normal thing ton include. 

Paleo Chili

2 Tablespoons grassfed butter
3-4 slices chopped, uncooked bacon
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound grassfed ground beef
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

In a large stainless steel saucepan, melt butter, then cook bacon for a few minutes over medium heat until some fat has been rendered.

Add onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook another few minutes until onions and mushrooms have softened.  Add garlic and cook a minute or two more. 

Next, add ground beef and brown it a bit.  You don't have to cook it through since it'll continue cooking, just brown it. 

Next, add the spices, broth, tomatoes, and carrots.  Stir.  Cover and simmer over low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Add vinegar and carob/cocoa powder.  Stir.  Cook another 20-30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with sliced avocado and enjoy! 

Note:  If you want to make this in a crockpot, you can still cook the bacon, onions, and mushrooms before tossing it all in the crock.  Or you can just toss everything in together (except the carob powder and vinegar) and let it cook on low all day.  Add the carob powder and vinegar about 30-60 minutes before serving.


This post is linked to: 
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food Whole Health

Philly Cheesesteak in a Bowl

Kevin and I love a good philly cheesesteak sandwich.  Carson does, too.  But since I’m not making much/anything with bread these days, this means no philly cheesesteak sandwiches.  That’s ok, though.  Because we found out that they’re actually just as tasty sans bread and served in a bowl.  I’ve made them several times.  Sometimes I’ll have cheese on them (primal), but usually I don't have cheese on mine to keep it paleo.  I'll take some out in a bowl for me and put cheese on the rest for Kevin and Carson.  Either way they are super tasty.  And very easy if you have some leftover beef.  That’s usually when I make these – when I have leftover steak or pot roast.  I’ll chop up the veggies ahead of time and this makes for a very quick work-night meal.  

Philly Cheesesteak in a Bowl

2 Tablespoons butter

2 bell peppers, thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

8 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced

Leftover grassfed beef steak or roast works well, too

1/2 cup beef stock or broth

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon coconut aminos

1 teaspoon hot sauce

Good melting cheese

In a large, ovenproof skillet or saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  

Add peppers, onions, and mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms are translucent and peppers and mushrooms are soft.  

Meanwhile, turn your oven broiler on low. 

Next add the leftover beef.  You can use raw beef if you want, too.  Saute for a minute or two.  

Then add the stock/broth, Worcestershire sauce, coconut aminos, and hot sauce.  Saute for a few minutes more. 

Now sprinkle some shredded cheese or lay some cheese slices atop the beef mixture.  Place in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

Remove from broiler and enjoy! 


This post is linked to:
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food Whole Health
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Simple Lives Thursday @ GNOWFGLINS
Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager

Paleo Dolmades (a.k.a. grape leaves)

As I mentioned in my post for chicken souvlaki, we had a greek feast with some friends on Saturday.  I decided to make some dolmades/grape leaves to go along with our meal.  Some people think making dolmades is really labor intensive, but I don't think so.  Yes, they take some time to roll up each dolma, but it goes really quickly, in my opinion.  I prepped these the night before so they were ready to stick in the oven to cook before dinner on Saturday.  And I probably only spent about 20-30 minutes prepping them on Friday night... which I don't consider bad at all. 

I used my own pickled grape leaves for these, but you can pick up a jar at the store in the international section, also.  Normally, dolmades have rice in them, but since we are avoiding grains as much as possible, I decided to try making them without the rice.  They turned out great!  No one missed the rice at all and everyone commented about how delicious they were. 

Paleo Dolmades

1 jar grape leaves
2 pounds ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
3 Tablespoons dried dill
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 - 2 cups chicken broth

Take the grape leaves out of the jar, rinse, and drain. 

Mix the ground beef, onions, dill, mint, tomatoes, salt, and pepper in a medium-sized bowl. 

Place one grape leaf on a flat surface.  Place a small amount of the meat mixture (about 2-3 Tablespoons, maybe?) in the center of the bottom part of the leaf. 

Fold the bottom pieces of the grape leaf up over the meat. 

Then fold in each side of the grape leaf.  Once the sides are folded in, start to roll it up.  You'll want to roll it pretty tightly.

Then place the rolled dolma into a casserole dish.  You'll want to pack in the dolmades very tightly so that they are held in place during the cooking and don't risk opening up. 

Once you have all your dolmades in your casserole dish, pour the chicken broth over top, just enough to cover.  I actually ended up switching mine to a different casserole dish so that it wasn't filled to the top edge and wouldn't risk boiling over in the oven.  You can do all of this ahead of time.  If you are prepping ahead, cover the dish and stick it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them. 

When you are ready to cook the dolmades, preheat your oven to 375.  Cover your casserole dish with its lid (or foil if you don't have a lid) and bake for an hour to an hour and a half.  I cooked mine for an hour and a half.  Remove from oven, let cool slightly, and serve!  I've had dolmades with a tomato based sauce over them, an egg based sauce, and tzatziki.  They are great with any of these!  I decided to serve mine on Saturday with tzatziki. 



This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays @ Delicious Obsessions
Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet
Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday @ A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa
Primal Cave @ Primal Toad
Grain Free Real Food Carnival @ Real Food Forager

Honey and Vinegar Braised Short Ribs over Spinach

Last month, in preparation for getting this year's grass-fed beef order, I was trying to use up some of the last few remaining cuts of beef from last year. I had some short ribs left, so I went looking for a recipe. I came across this one on Epicurious that sounded pretty tasty.  I did make some changes to it, which are reflected in the recipe below. These turned out awesome. They had a wonderful flavor and we all loved them. They look and sound like a lot of work, but they actually weren't. I multi-tasked while they were browning and during the stovetop cook time, then the majority of the cook time is done in the oven. So they weren't really that labor intensive at all. 

Unfortunately, I didn't snap any final pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination, but they did look quite nice.  I did get a couple pictures of the stove top cooking, which are included below, at least.

Honey and Vinegar Braised Short Ribs over Spinach

2 tablespoons olive oil or lard
4 1/2 pounds beef short ribs (I'm not sure how many pounds I had... but these quantities still worked well)
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
4 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups dry red wine
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 pound baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat oil or lard in heavy large pot over high heat. I used my cast iron dutch oven. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown ribs, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Return all ribs to pot. Add carrots, onion, and garlic to ribs; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add honey; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add vinegar and boil until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Add broth, red wine, thyme and bay leaf and boil 5 minutes. Cover; transfer to oven. Bake until meat almost falls off bone, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours.

Using tongs, transfer ribs to large bowl. Boil cooking liquid until slightly reduced, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix 1 tablespoon butter and arrowroot powder in small bowl. Add to sauce; whisk to blend. Boil until thickened, 3 minutes. Mix in ribs.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in another large pot over medium-high heat. Add spinach; cook until just wilted, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide spinach among plates. Top with ribs and sauce.

Meatza

I found this on The Primalist a while back and knew I wanted to try it. So I made it for dinner a few weeks ago. This was really tasty! We all thought it actually did serve as a good substitute for pizza. It's a versatile recipe, too. You can pretty much use whatever you like or have on hand. And its very easy and quick to throw together. If you don't mind your child touching raw meat (I don't... that's what hand-washing is for), its a lot of fun for the kids to help press out the meat layer. Carson loved helping with that, at least.

I made some subtle changes to the original recipe. Mostly, I just scaled it back for our small family of three (and still had plenty leftover for lunches). I'll post the recipe below as I made it.

Meatza

Beef mixture:
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Toppings:
Use whatever you like. Here's what we used:
homemade pizza sauce
fresh basil leaves
sauteed mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450°F. Prepare a baking dish or pan. I used a 12" x 9" jelly roll pan. You may wish to line the pan with parchment paper... I usually would, but didn't because I realized I was completely out of paper.

Combine all ingredients for beef mixture by hand. Mix well. Transfer the beef mixture to the pan and flatten out all the way to sides and corners of the pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Pour out juices that have accumulated in the pan. The meat will shrink away from the sides some, but this is normal.

Set oven to broil. Place toppings on meatza. You can use whatever toppings you like. I had mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper on hand, so I sauteed those up in some olive oil and used those with some homemade pizza sauce, fresh basil leaves from the garden, and some shredded co-jack cheese. You can use whatever pizza toppings you normally like, though.

Place meatza in oven, broil for about 5 minutes, until cheese is melted and just starting to brown.


This post is linked to:
Traditional Tuesdays at Real Food Whole Health

Burger Lettuce Wraps

This is how we eat our burgers these days.  Since we're eating mostly primal, we're avoiding grains.  This means... no buns for our burgers.  At first, both Kevin and I thought it was going to be very difficult to eat our burgers wrapped in lettuce.  But it wasn't hard at all.  In fact, we actually tend to prefer our burgers this way... we seriously don't miss the buns at all.  Especially right now with all the yummy lettuce we're getting from our garden and that you can find at just about any farmers' market this time of year.  On this particular night, we had burgers topped with raw provolone cheese, pickles, mayo, and bacon... and I'm pretty sure I had avocado on mine (Kevin's is in the picture).  All wrapped in lettuce and served with a side of green and yellow beans from last year's garden (that we'd frozen).  It is a perfect summer time meal!

Paleo Salisbury Steak

I made this recipe from Everyday Paleo a couple of weeks ago.  It is a new favorite of ours and will be appearing in our meal plans regularly.  I only used one pound of meat for us and I prepped the patties and chopped all the veggies the night before so all I had to do once we got home from work was cook everything.  It was done within a half hour.  Perfect!  And it was so delicious!  I love that it has healing broth and healthy coconut milk included, as well. 

I've left the recipe as written below, for 2 pounds of meat.  But like I said, I only made a half recipe and used 1 pound of meat for our family of 3.  I made 5 patties with my one pound and we still had 2 patties leftover for lunches. 

Paleo Salisbury Steak

Steaks:
2 pounds of ground beef
1 cup spinach, finely diced
1 egg
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grass fed butter, ghee, or coconut oil

Gravy:
4 tablespoons butter
1 red onion thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper thinly sliced
2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup coconut milk
Black pepper to taste

In a large mixing bowl place all the ingredients for the steaks and using your hands mix well.  In a large skillet, heat the butter over medium high heat. While the butter is melting, form the hamburger mixture into thin oval patties (makes 7-8). Place the patties into the hot melted butter, make sure it sizzles, you want the pan to be nice and hot! Cook for 2 minutes on each side, the meat should be nice and browned on both sides. You’ll have to cook these in batches so add more butter or coconut oil if necessary. Once all the steaks are done, place in the oven to keep warm and now it’s time for the gravy!

In the same pan that you just cooked your steaks in, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the onions, bell pepper, and mushrooms in the butter until tender, about 7-8 minutes. Add the beef broth and deglaze the pan (scrap all the bits off the bottom of the pan that might still be there from cooking the steaks). Bring to a boil and add the coconut milk and pepper. Mix well, bring back to a boil. At this point you’ll want to turn the heat down until the gravy is just simmering. Now you’ll want to reduce down the gravy by stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.

Serve the steaks with the gravy ladled over the top and garnished with diced flat leaf Italian Parsley.

Paleo/Primal Stuffed Peppers in the Crockpot

I made these for dinner on Friday night.  It was the first time I've actually made stuffed peppers, but I've had them many times before.  Generally, they have rice mixed in with the meat.  My friend, Jaime, mixes in quinoa.  Both are excellent choices, but unfortunately neither are primal friendly.  I scored some organic red peppers for an amazing price last week... on the reduced produce rack.  I got 8 huge organic red bell peppers for 99 cents total!  Amazing!  I will only buy organic peppers since conventional bell peppers contain an obscene amount of pesticides in them.  I never make exceptions on peppers.  

So anyway, I decided to make stuffed peppers in the crockpot for dinner on Friday.  I did not use a recipe, just added what sounded good.  They turned out so delicious!  We all loved them.  Carson said they were his favorite dinner, he loved them so much. 

Paleo/Primal Stuffed Peppers in the Crockpot

2 extra large red bell peppers
1 pound ground beef
1/4 pound italian turkey sausage, casing removed
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 egg
spices to taste - garlic powder, oregano, cumin
1 jar pasta sauce, homemade is best

Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove ribs and seeds.  Set aside.

Mix ground beef, sausage, onion, celery, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, egg and spices in a medium bowl. 

Take each pepper half and fill with 1/4 of the meat filling.  Place into 6-quart crockpot.  Once all peppers are in the crockpot, spoon your favorite homemade pasta sauce over top of each stuffed pepper.  I used about 1/2 pint on top of 4 pepper halves. 

Turn crockpot to low and cook for about 6 hours.  Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade
Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS
Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet

Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

I made beef stew for dinner one night this week.  I've made beef stew many, many times over the years.  We love it.  It's a great, hearty winter meal.  I don't really ever make it the same way twice.  It just depends on what I have in my pantry and freezer, usually.  This week, I made it with some cut up beef roast, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, celery, and onions. We are avoiding most potatoes and grains right now, as we are trying to eat primal.  I would normally put potatoes in my beef stew.  And I'd normally use some flour to make a roux to stir in at the end to thicken up the stew.  Both of these options were out.  Of course, I could sub arrowroot powder for the flour to make a roux, but I got an idea to use butternut squash as a thickener from Life as a Plate.  So I thawed some butternut squash and stirred it in towards the end.  It really worked, too!  And it was a great way to get some squash in Kevin's and Carson's diet since they're both not crazy about the texture. The couldn't even tell it was there, yet we had a good, thickened stew.  It was delicious!  We sent some leftovers for Kevin's mom to have for lunch while she was watching Carson this week and she loved it, too.  We've found that if she's eating the same thing we send for Carson, he's more likely to eat it without any resistance... even though he'll love something and chow down two helpings of it at dinner at home, he'll tell her he doesn't want it since he knows he's got his grandma wrapped around his little finger.  ;o) 

Beef Stew with Butternut Squash

stew meat (I cut off about 1/3 of a beef roast and chopped it up for the stew)
veggies of your choice ( this time I used carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, zucchini, celery, and onions)
beef broth, homemade is best
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
other spices of your choice
1 cooked, mashed butternut squash

Put the meat, veggies, broth, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and spices into your crockpot.  Cook on low all day.  About a half hour or so before serving, stir in the cooked and mashed butternut squash.  I just used some from my freezer.  Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop
Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS
Fresh Bites Friday at Real Food Whole Health
Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade
Gluten Free Recipe Parade at Heavenly Homemakers

Hamburger Corn and Pea Bake

I made a casserole recipe from my SIL Mary's blog for dinner one night a couple of weeks ago. I had thawed some ground beef for something else, but then realized I was missing a key ingredient that I thought I had on hand, so I needed something else to make for dinner. I had some store-bought egg noodles that I needed to use up and some crusty bread that I had used to make up a batch of sausage stuffing to freeze for an easy side dish later on. I browsed through some recipes I had bookmarked a while back and came across Mary's recipe for  Hamburger Corn Bake.  I knew it wasn't very healthy, but then decided to modify it to use healthy ingredients.  I have posted the recipe as I made it below - you can click the link for the original version of the recipe on Mary's blog. I did keep the cream soup because I make my own homemade and can it. If I didn't have this on hand, I'd have just mixed up some milk and arrowroot powder with some seasonings to replace it with. I also have never ever bought cheddar cheese soup, as called for in the original recipe... I didn't even realize they made it. So I just added some shredded cheddar cheese and some milk. My mixture was pretty thick, or I'd have also added some arrowroot powder, but I didn't think it was necessary.

This turned out really well. We all really liked it a lot. I wasn't so sure I'd care for it, but I knew Kevin and Carson would. I ended up liking it quite a bit, though. Its not something I'd make a lot, but its a good winter comfort food. And its much healthier for you this way than using the MSG and preservative loaded canned soups from the grocery store.  I used up the small amount of store-bought egg noodles I had and added some of my homemade soaked whole wheat noodles, as well.  The homemade noodles were awesome in this! 

Hamburger Corn and Pea Bake

1 pound ground beef, grass-fed/finished is best
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 pint cream of mushroom soup, homemade if you have it (or 1 1/2 cups milk + 2-3 T arrowroot powder + your fav. seasonings)
1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups egg noodles, homemade is best
1/2 cup torn up bread or crusty bread
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the noodles. I used some remaining store-bought egg noodles that I needed to use up, plus some homemade soaked whole wheat noodles.

Meanwhile, cook the meat with onion until done. Stir in corn, peas, soup, cheese, and milk. I use homemade cream of mushroom soup. If you don't have homemade, you could use organic if you'd like, or else just add some extra milk, arrowroot powder, and your favorite seasonings. Mix well. Stir in noodles.

Put in 2 qt. casserole dish. Mix bread and butter. Sprinkle on top. (I forgot the bread was supposed to go on top and I stirred it up in the mixture. Oops. I used crusty bread (like you'd use for stuffing) and it turned out really tasty.)

Bake at 350 for 45 min. - 1 hr., until hot and bubbly. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.


This is posted as part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

We really like spaghetti squash in our house.  It really does serve as a great replacement for pasta and we all really enjoy it, even Kevin, who is a huge pasta/spaghetti fan.  Anyway, I stocked up on spaghetti squash through the CSA before they sold out, so I've got a few on hand now.  We used one last week for dinner in a casserole.  I didn't use a recipe, just put some things together, similar to the spaghetti squash lasagna we had a few months ago.  It turned out very tasty!  We all really liked it a lot and it was just as tasty as leftovers (a huge bonus for me... I don't enjoy many things leftover).  I prepped everything the night before so that it was ready to just pop in the oven when we got home from work.  That really helps us out a lot. 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 spaghetti squash
1 pound ground beef, grassfed is best
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce, homemade is best
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Place face up in a glass baking dish with some water in the bottom of the pan.  Bake in the oven at 375 for about a half hour.  Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes or so.  Then use a fork to scrape the sides of the squash into spaghetti strands.  Scoop the squash strands into the bottom of a casserole dish and pat down. 

Meanwhile, add the ground beef and onion to a sauce pan and cook over medium-heat, until beef is done.  You could also add more veggies, if you'd like.  Diced bell peppers, mushrooms, or spinach would be really good additions.  Add a jar of your favorite pasta sauce and stir.  Pour over the layer of spaghetti squash. 

Sprinkle lightly with the shredded cheese.  You can prep the entire casserole 24 hours prior to baking and it turns out great, as well.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

This post is linked up with Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist.

Navajo Tacos

I made these navajo tacos from Real Food For Less Money last week. I had bee looking for ways to use my sourdough starter and was intrigued by these. You use your starter for the fry bread, which serves as the shell. It is a puffy pastry-type bread that you place on your plate and then topped with the chili and any of your favorite toppings such as lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes salsa, sour cream, onions, etc. These are delicious! We all really loved them! And they weren't as complicated as I thought they might be at first. The prep actually went pretty quickly. I'll definitely make these again!

Navajo Tacos

The Chili
1/4 to 1 pound of ground beef
Coconut oil (if needed)
1 onion- diced
1 clove garlic-minced
2-3 cups of cooked pinto beans with juice (I just used some of my home-canned pintos)
1 can tomato paste
1/2 to 1 cup beef broth, or water
salt and pepper

In skillet, cook the beef and 1/2 of the onion. Reserve the other half for taco topping. When beef is done, add the garlic, beans, tomato paste and 1/2 cup broth. Let this mixture simmer for 30 minutes or so while you cook the fry bread adding additional broth as needed. You will want the chili to be on the saucy side. The fry bread will soak up the sauce.

Sourdough Fry Bread

Start early morning or the night before
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
3 Tablespoons kombucha, apple cider vinegar or whey (I used whey)
3 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Mix all ingredients until combined. Cover with a cloth and let sit for 7-24 hours.

When ready to fry, stir in 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. The dough will be fairly sticky and should stir easily. Don't over work it, just get the salt blended in.

To fry, in a large skillet or pan, heat about an inch of coconut oil. While it is heating shape your dough into patties using flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. When your oil is hot enough (a small piece of dough will sizzle), carefully put the patties in the oil to cook. Gently flip them over when they are brown on the bottom side. This usually takes 2 minutes or so. Cook until brown on second side. Put them on a cloth to drain while you finish cooking up the batch.

To Assemble, put the fry bread on your plate. Add a ladle of the chili. Top with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, sour cream or anything else that you enjoy on your tacos.

As a bonus, any leftover fry bread makes a sweet treat when drizzled with or dipped in honey. They reheat very good in the oven and fairly well in the skillet or a toaster.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

We had an Irish meal in honor of St. Patty's Day this week. I found some naturally raised, hormone/antibiotic-free, grass fed corned beef briskets at Whole Foods Market and figured I'd give it a try. I've only ever had corned beef once... in a casserole... and I was not a fan. So I was a little skeptical about trying this. I'm so glad I did, though! This was delicious! All three of us really loved it and I will definitely make it again if I can still find some good, quality briskets. It had a really good flavor and the meat was just falling apart, it was so tender.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 pound baby carrots
3 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges

Place the onion, potatoes and carrots in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine water, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Top with brisket and cabbage. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Meatloaf

I made a meatloaf for dinner one night this week. I used my MIL's recipe and made a few modifications this time. I always use her recipe when I make meatloaf and generally make it as-written. But I decided to add a little extra seasoning and stuff it with cheese this week. It was really good! I'll post the recipe as-written and my changes in parentheses below.

Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I only used 1 pound)
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 small onion, chopped
(I also added about 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon onion powder)
(I stuffed it with 1/3-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese)

Sauce topping:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon mustard

Mix all ingredients together. Make sauce. Press meat mixture into loaf pan. Pour sauce over top. Bake for one hour at 350.

(I pressed half the meat in the loaf pan, pressing a small indentation in the middle. I put about 1/3-1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese in the indentation. Then pressed the remaining meat mixture over top.)

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I made stuffed pepper soup the other night for dinner. I found the recipe on RecipeZaar and made a few changes so I could do it in the crockpot. I'll post the original recipe below with my changes in parentheses. This was a very good soup - it smelled so good when we came home from work! It tasted very much like a stuffed pepper - delicious! All three of us loved it!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 1 pound ground lamb)
3 large green peppers, chopped (I used 4)
1 large onion, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth (I used Organic BTB and water... and added about 3 cups extra water for the rice)
2 (10 ounce) cans tomato soup, undiluted (I just used a pint of my home-canned)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used organic, fire-roasted, diced)
1 (4 ounce) can mushroom pieces, drained (I used a pint of home-canned)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (I used 3/4 cup uncooked organic short brown rice)

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, cook beef, peppers, and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth, soup, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, heat through and serve.

(I cooked the meat and then just threw everything into the crockpot and let it cook on low for 9 hours).

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

I tried out another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking last night for Philly Cheesesteak Soup... only I used leftover lamb since we have quite a bit leftover from our NYD dinner. This was really good! We all really liked it a lot. The broth had an awesome flavor (and I normally don't like the broth of soups). I added some carrots for some extra veggies and I cut the recipe in half, which was enough for our dinner last night with a small amount leftover for a lunch for Carson (Kevin was super hungry though and had two huge bowls).

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

1 pound thinly cut beef strips (I used leftover lamb)
4 cups beef broth
2 cups skim or 2% milk
1 T butter (I left this out)
1 yellow onion, cut in chunks
2 bell peppers
2 t gluten free Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 t black pepper
1 t kosher salt
8oz provolone cheese (to add at the very end)

Add the 1 tablespoon of butter to your crockpot and turn it on high to melt. Cut up your meat and add it to the crock, swirling it into the butter to coat. Add the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic. Add the Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Stir in the beef broth and milk.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 5-6. The soup is done when the meat has reached the desired tenderness.

Before serving, stir in the provolone cheese. It will melt in stringy chunks---yum. (I just shredded up some provolone to sprinkle on top of our bowls.)