Braised Beef with Root Vegetables

I like good beef. I like it to be grass fed and humanely raised and slaughtered. I like to know what that animal ate while it was alive, and I want to know if it was given any chemicals or drugs. In order to be sure of what I'm buying and what my family is eating, I buy my beef in bulk from a rancher I've met, talked to and like. We usually get 1/4 of a beef once or twice per year and store it in our big chest freezer.

When you get beef in bulk you get all sorts of cuts of meat. There's no cow out there that's made up of all T-bone steaks. You get some steaks, some roasts, some stew meat, ground beef, and soup bones. Some of the cuts are better when you throw them on the grill for a minute or 2 then eat them very rare. Some require more cooking. I've also found that some cuts suit me more in the summer and some are better for winter. I usually thaw my stew meat in the winter when I want to make a big pot of soup or stew, but in the summer I'm not really in the mood for that. I have found, though, that stew meat makes really good braised beef any time of year. I also happened to have a turnip that I pulled yesterday that was begging to be eaten, so that got thrown into the pan as well. You can use any root veggie you like in this dish. Carrots, onions, potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips or others would be tasty. Braising takes some time, so plan accordingly. Just like stewing meat, braising is low and slow cooking as well. Enjoy

Braised Beef with Root Vegetables
2 T coconut oil, bacon grease or butter
1 lb stew meat
1-2 C root vegetables (turnips, onions, carrots, potatoes, rutabaga or any others)
4 C warm water - divided
2 tsp. salt or to taste
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbs. rosemary or other favorite herb

In a skillet (I like cast iron), melt fat. Rub meat with salt and garlic powder then brown meat in fat. When meat is just seared on all sides, add 2 C water to pan, cover and cook on medium low for about 30 minutes adding water as necessary to make sure the bottom of the pan is covered. Add chopped vegetables and rosemary at the 30 minute mark, cover and cook on low for another 45 minutes adding water as needed. Serve immediately with some liquid drizzled over the top of meat and veggies.

Meatball Soup

I love soup! It's a super easy dish that lasts for several meals in my house, it cooks mostly unattended and there's just something comforting about a steaming bowl of soup on a dreary Northwest day.

I also have an abundance of tasty ground beef thanks to my rancher friend, Ava, who delivers the best grass-fed meat on the planet. So, the other day I decided to combine 2 of my favorite things into one simmering pot of goodness. I guess you would say this soup is similar to Italian Wedding Soup without the orzo, but whatever you call it, it was very tasty!

Meatball Soup (AKA Italian Wedding Soup)
32 oz of chicken stock (make your own or use good quality pre-made)
1 onion chopped
3-4 chopped carrots (mine were rainbow carrots)
Juice from 1 lemon (about 1/4 C)
1/4 C fresh chopped parsley (or 2 T dried parsley)
1 t garlic powder (or 2 t minced garlic)
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb bulk sausage (I used chicken sausage)
salt and pepper to taste

Bring chicken stock to a boil then add onion, carrots and cook for about 10 minutes or until carrots are starting to get tender. While carrots and onions are cooking, mix beef and sausage together with your hands then form into many 1 inch diameter balls. Add meatballs to the stock,  adding extra hot water as needed to keep everything covered. Add lemon juice, garlic powder and parsley. Simmer soup for about 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

Meatballs with Fried Cauliflower and Kale Chips

Oven-baked Meatballs
2 lbs ground beef (grass fed, local is best)
3 eggs (pastured or backyard is best)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper or chili powder
1 tsp herb of choice (I used oregano)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl using your hands to really mash it all together! Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment, form 1 to 1.5 inch diameter meatballs out of mixture and place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 20 minutes then turn each meatball over and bake for another 15-20 minutes until internal temperature reaches 140F or until baked to your preferred doneness.

Fried Cauliflower
2 T bacon grease or coconut oil
1/2 head cauliflower
salt and pepper to taste

Coarsely chop cauliflower. Melt grease or oil in a skillet (I use cast iron). Fry cauliflower in oil stirring often until browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kale Chips
1 bunch kale
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C lemon juice
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Remove tough stems from kale then chop into 2 inch pieces. In a bowl or a zip lock bag, combine olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Add kale and massage oil mixture into kale. Place on cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 20 minutes or until  kale is crispy.

Zucchini Pasta Bolognese in the Crock Pot

After school is crazy busy around my house. With various activities that the kids participate in, homework to do, music practice, etc. going on, it's hard to start making dinner until sometimes 6pm or after. So, I've decided to start using my crock pot more! If I can get dinner in the slow cooker earlier in the day when I have a minute to think about it, then I won't have to worry about it after the kids get home from school. Hopefully this will make my evenings a little less crazy and me a little less cranky.

Yesterday I out did myself! I made both chicken bone broth for use in soup on another day and made spaghetti sauce for dinner last night. The spaghetti sauce couldn't have been easier, really. I just threw all of the ingredients into the pot, stirred it a couple of times before I left the house then had dinner ready to eat when I got back.

I used this bolognese to top the spaghetti pasta I made earlier in the week and had saved in the fridge. If you like your zucchini al dente, then there's no need to cook the thin strips at all before putting the hot bolognese on it. If you like softer pasta you may want to boil your zucchini pasta for a minute in boiling water before topping with the bolognese.

Slow Cooker Bolognese
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground bulk sausage
2 cans or 2 C sliced mushrooms
1 16oz jar marinara sauce (no sugar added)

Add all ingredients to a slow cooker. Break up the beef and sausage and mix well. You may need to let the mixture heat up more before you'll be able to stir the mixture well. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6.

Paleo/Primal Oven-Baked Meatballs

My family buys our beef in bulk from a local rancher. We usually get a 1/4 of a cow at a time. If you haven't bought beef on the hoof before you may not have thought about what cuts you get. You'll get the usual set of steaks and roasts, stew meat and soup bones, but a lot of what you get is ground beef. I've become pretty good at cooking ground beef, but after a while you get tired of Bolognese and meatloaf and soup. My kids are also pretty picky when it comes to mixing foods. They like everything naked; so no casseroles or soup or the like for them. They like their meat on one part of their plate and veggies and fruits in another. No touching! No Mixing! So that makes it pretty hard to get them to eat any of my ground beef mixtures.



The other day I had a few packages of ground beef thawed and didn't really have a plan for them. So, I thought I'd try to make meatballs from them. My kids love meatballs, but usually eat ones that come pre-made. I'd never tried to make my own before, but it didn't sound too hard. Turns out it was super simple and is now one of my favorite uses for ground beef! I made mine in the oven simply because my cookie sheet is bigger than my cast iron skillet and could cook more meatballs at the same time. But stove top would be a good option as well, if you choose.



Paleo/Primal Oven-baked Meatballs
2 lbs ground beef (grass fed, local is best)
3 eggs (pastured or backyard is best)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper or chili powder
1 tsp herb of choice (I used oregano)

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl using your hands to really mash it all together! Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment, form 1 to 1.5 inch diameter meatballs out of mixture and place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for about 20 minutes then turn each meatball over and bake for another 15-20 minutes until internal temperature reaches 140F or until baked to your preferred doneness.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

One of the many benefits of buying a 1/2 cow is that you get cuts that you wouldn't normally buy. Although they sound really yummy, I probably wouldn't have bought short ribs from the store. But since they were in my freezer, Hubby decided to cook them up the other day in the slow cooker. We searched through several online recipe sites to find a nice combo of spices to use then threw them in the crock pot to cook slowly all day. The result was very much like a fatty pot roast that falls off of the bones. Yum!

Slow Cooker Short Ribs
About 4 lbs of grass fed beef sort ribs
1 C beef stock
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs Chinese Five Spice
1 t chili powder
1 onion
4 carrots
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the short ribs under the broiler in the oven for 5 minutes per side. Coarsely chop the onion and carrots and put in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place browned ribs in slow cooker on top of the vegetables then add spices and stock. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-10.

Beef and Cabbage Crockpot Stew

This week I received an eggplant in my veggie box. I have no idea how to cook an eggplant. But on that same day I noticed a recipe on the Primal Recipe Archive for Ethiopian Stew that included eggplant. I didn't have most of the ingredients for that stew, but it sparked the idea of making a stew with that eggplant and other ingredients I had on hand. As it turned out, the eggplant didn't play a starring role in the stew and you could probably leave it out entirely without noticing. But since it was the ingredient that inspired the entire meal, I thought it deserved a mention. The stew, however, ended up tasting quite hearty and will make a nice warm-up dinner several nights this week.

Beef and Cabbage Crock pot Stew
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
1 large eggplant peeled and cubed
1 large onion diced
3-4 carrots sliced
1 small head of cabbage (I used red cabbage) chopped
4 C chicken stock or other stock (veggie, beef, chicken, venison, etc. are all good choices)
3 C Water
1 can or tetrapak diced tomatoes
1 T minced garlic
1 t Turmeric
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 C chopped fresh basil
1/4 C chopped fresh chives
2 T red wine vinegar
2 t cumin
2 t salt to taste
1 t black pepper to taste

In a medium skillet (I prefer cast iron), brown ground beef then put it in a crock pot. Brown diced onions then add to crock pot with meat. To the crock pot, add the peeled and cubed eggplant, sliced carrots, chopped cabbage, tomatoes, stock, water, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger. Turn crock pot to high and cook for about 4 hours (6-8 hours on low). About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the basil, chives, vinegar, cumin, salt and pepper to stew. Continue cooking on low for an additional 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

A week of Paleo/Primal Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners and Snacks

OK, I really don't like making meal plans. I can't imagine what I might want to make throughout the week while sitting on my couch on Sunday afternoon. I have a freezer stocked with meat and get a veggie box delivered on Thursday. Sometimes they substitute different items in my box; so I don't know what will be in it for certain until it arrives. That makes the meal planning a little hard. But really those are all just excuses because ultimately I don't make meal plans because that's just not the way I work. It's counter to my personality, I think. BUT, I can make a retroactive meal plan; I can tell you what I ate LAST week rather than what I plan to eat NEXT week. That way you can get an idea of what a week of Paleo/Primal eating might look like if you're having a problem coming up with ideas.  Keep in mind that I eat Primal, so there are some dairy items thrown in here. If you don't eat dairy, just omit those. Here ya go!

Week of Breakfasts
Saturday: Paleo/Primal Pancakes (make extra for eating throughout the week, Freezes well)
Sunday: Paleo/Primal Porridge (make extra for eating throughout the week)
Monday: Banana, 3 Eggs with cottage cheese
Tuesday: Orange, Paleo Porridge
Wednesday: Grapefruit, Breakfast sausage
Thursday: Pear, 2 primal pancakes without toppings
Friday: Smoothie, 3 eggs

Week of Lunches
Monday: leftover Beef Tarragon Soup from dinner
Tuesday: Natural sausage, bottled sauerkraut
Wednesday: leftover Spaghetti squash Bolognese from dinner
Thursday: 3 egg omelet with sauteed greens and sun dried tomatoes
Friday: Lunch meat, cheese, mustard wrapped rolled up in lettuce or chard
Saturday: Eat out (most salads without dressing or lettuce wrapped burgers are good choices)
Sunday: Leftovers from eating out Saturday and from the week's dinners.

Week of Dinners
Saturday: Pork Shoulder with Spinach and Onions with Cauliflower Rice
Sunday: Beef Tarragon Soup
Monday: Salmon Fillet, Sweet Potato Fries, Steamed Broccoli
Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash Bolognese, Salad with homemade vinaigrette
Wednesday: Balsamic Chicken and Onions, Salad
Thursday: Braised Beef, Sweet Potatoes with Chive Butter, Salad
Friday: Seafood Skillet, Salad

Other Lunch or Dinner choices:
Natural Sausage with browned peppers and onions, salad
Chicken soup
Baked Talapia, sesame oil broccoli and mushrooms, sesame cucumbers
Baked Chicken Legs, sauteed greens and onions, Steamed Sweet Potatoes or fries
Jambalaya, Salad
Butternut Squash Soup

Snacks:
Pear/other fruit slices wrapped with prosciutto
Nut and raisin mix
Beef Jerkey Pear /apple slices dipped in almond butter
Veggies with guacamole - baby carrots, cuke slices, broccoli

Paleo/Primal Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti is one of those comfort food dishes that almost everyone loves. The al dente noodles covered with rich flavorful meat sauce is something that just makes you feel warm from the inside out. Once deciding to eat Paleo/Primal, I gave up grain-filled pasta and needed a healthy substitute to fill that void. As the name would suggest, spaghetti squash has turned out to be our favorite noodle-like substitute. Although it takes a little more time to cook, the spaghetti squash is very easy to prepare. I top the al dente squash noodles with my regular beef bolognese. It's a family favorite and will most likely remain a dinnertime staple around here.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese
1 Spaghetti Squash

Cut squash in half, remove seeds from the inside with a spoon then place cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 350F for about 35 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the skin. Let squash cool then with a fork scrape out the "noodles" from the inside of the squash. Discard skin when all of the flesh has been removed.

Beef Bolognese
1 T butter or bacon grease
1 large onion
1 lb grass fed ground beef
2 C pasta sauce of your choice (I use Trader Joe's or Classico because they have no sugar added. But you could always make your own. )
salt and pepper to taste

Brown onions in butter or bacon grease. Remove onion mixture then brown meat in the pan. Return Onion mixture to meat then add all other ingredients. Simmer over medium heat until everything is bubbly. Serve alone or over spaghetti squash noodles.

Braised Beef and Sweet Potatoes with Chive Butter

Last night I made one of my usual concoctions, just winging it hoping everything tasted pretty good. Well, I hit a homerun with this meal (if I do say so myself)! I had some stew meat thawed in the fridge and still had a few veggies left from my weekly delivery. So here's what I did! (note that we ate it all before I could get any pictures, so the picture here is of a cow on the ranch where I get my grass-fed beef. This one's a milk cow, not a eatin' cow, but it may have known the one that contributed to the tasty meal tonight...who knows!)

I'll be posting this over at a new Paleo blog I'm doing with friends called Northwest Cavegirls as well. Go check it out!

Braised Beef (Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
1 lb grass-fed stew meat (chunks)
1 T coconut oil
2 T beef rub (see recipe below)
2+ C chicken broth

Beef Rub
3 t salt
1 t paprika
1 t garlic powder
1 t chili powder
1 t onion powder
1 t black pepper

Heat oil in a skillet until melted. Sprinkle Beef Rub over the raw meat and rub it in! Sear stew meat on all sides in the oil over medium heat. Cover browned meat with chicken broth, cover and simmer on low for 2-3 hours. Serve warm covered in it's own juice!

Sweet Potatoes with Chive Butter (Primal, Gluten-Free)
2 medium sized organic red sweet potatoes (often called yams in the store)
1 stick of butter
1/3 C fresh chives

Wash sweet potatoes and place on a microwave safe plate or bowl. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes. If you can stick a knife into them easily they are cooked!

In a small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Takes about 1 minute. Chop chives then mix them into the melted butter.

To serve, cut sweet potatoes into chunks and spoon chive butter over the top. Eat the skin as well!

Taco Salad

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the wonderful taco salad I made last night. I ate it all before thinking about photographing it. It was so easy to make I hardly call it a recipe, but here are the instructions all the same. Give it a try!

Taco Salad
1 lb beef stew meat (grass fed!)
1 1/2 C pico de gallo or salsa
2 C water

1/2 head cabbage shredded
1 C shredded cheddar or other cheese (can leave this out of you don't eat dairy)
olives, avocado, or anything else you like to put on your taco salad

Mix meat, pico de gallo and water in a slow cooker. Cook on high for about 3 hours or until meat is tender. Fill plate with shredded cabbage, top with meat mixture then the cheese and other toppings. You can also use tortillas to make tacos from the meat and other goodies. Enjoy!

Seasoned Sirloin Tip Steak

I love steak! Fortunately we have a lot of it in the freezer thanks to the 1/4 cow we bought. I had a Sirloin tip steak thawing in the fridge the other day and went looking for a steak rub to put on it before cooking. I remember finding one a while back but couldn't find it again this time so I decided to make one up myself for the fun of it. The results were very good and it's a lot easier to make than the missing one I used last time.

To to along with the steak, I made some mushrooms and onions for a topping and some steamed broccoli. It was a hit with 3 of the 4 family members and the 4th did eat some but was negotiating the amount he'd have to eat right down to the very last bite. :)

Seasoned Sirloin Tip Steak with Mushrooms and Onions
1 lb Sirloin tip steak
1-2 C sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion sliced

Rub (put into an old spice bottle and shake)
1 t salt
1 1/2 t chili powder
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t Italian Seasoning (can make this from oregano, parsley, and basil)

Pat dry then rub about 2 tsp of seasoning mix into each side of meat. Coat a cast iron skillet with butter or bacon grease then place meat in pan. Cook on medium heat for 6 minutes on each side, turning only once. This gets you medium rare meat. Cook longer to your desired doneness.

Remove meat from pan to a cutting board to rest while you put more butter or bacon grease in the pan then add onions and mushrooms. I also added all of the blood that was in my steak package to this mixture. Add about 1 tsp of seasoning rub to mushroom mixture and stir occasionally until everything is tender. Serve on top of meat.

Beef and veggie Bolognese

Last week I ordered a 1/4 of a grass-fed cow from my rancher friend in Oregon. A couple of my other friends decided to join me on my order to reduce the price per pound and share a 1/2 of a cow. One of my friends doesn't generally cook with a lot of ground meat, but a 1/2 of a cow comes with a significant portion of ground beef that's made from the bits cut off of the steaks and roasts. So I've been on a mission to come up with more recipes that contain ground beef.

I already had a few in past posts like my Meatloaf recipe and Beef Soup with Tarragon, but I have several more that I make but haven't posted here. One way I cook ground beef is simply browning it in a pan with onions and other various veggies and serving it with some veggie side dishes or over pasta if the rest of the family is so inclined. I looked it up and apparently meat sauce served over pasta is a Bolognese. So here ya go! Here is my verson of Beef and Veggie Bolognese.

Beef and Veggie Bolognese
1 T butter or bacon grease
1 C diced celery
1 large onion
1 lb grass fed beef
1 C pasta sauce of your choice (I use Trader Joes or Classico because of their low-to-no sugar added.)
1 C Pico de Gallo or other salsa
salt and pepper to taste

Brown celery and onions in butter or bacon grease. Remove onion mixture then brown meat in the pan. Return Onion mixture to meat then add all other ingredients. Simmer over medium heat until everything is bubbly. Serve alone or over pasta (if you eat pasta).

Beef soup with tarragon

Some days there’s nothing better than a big pot of soup for dinner. The aroma infuses the house with that comforting smell and makes you ready to eat even if it’s not dinnertime yet. Today I had a hankering for beef soup. And given that I just bought ¼ of a grass-fed cow last week, I had some beef ready to use! I also get a veggie box from Mother Nature’s Organics once each week that stocks my fridge with yummy organic produce. I pulled some of that out today to add to the soup as well. I’m a fan of refrigerator soup. You know, where you just throw every veggie in the fridge into the pot. So that’s basically what I did. This week I got some fresh Tarragon in my veggie box. I've never really been good at cooking with fresh herbs, but since I had it, I used it. The Tarragon gave the soup a nice peppery taste that I didn't expect, but it was really good. Give it a try and enjoy!


Beef soup with tarragon
1 lb ground grass-fed beef
3-4 small to medium sized zucchini cut into chunks
1 large onion
1 T diced garlic
1 container or can of chopped tomatoes (I use Pomi in the tetrapak to avoid BPAs)
4 C chicken broth
2 C water
¼ C chopped fresh tarragon or 1 T dried tarragon
2 T lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat and onions then add with all other ingredients to a large soup pot. Bring to boil then simmer on low for about 1 hour or more.

Homemade Beef Jerky

As part of the Paleo/Primal lifestyle you eat a lot of meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Although fruit, and homemade trail mix made from nuts and raisins are handy on-the-go snacks, I'm often looking for something more savory rather than sweet to grab and run. Jerky is a good choice, but I haven't yet been able to find a jerky in the store that doesn't either contain a lot of sugar or nitrates. So, being the kind of person that likes to make things myself, I looked up recipes for making my own Jerky. It really didn't sound that hard, and since I have a dehydrator in my cabinet and some grass-fed beef in my freezer, I decided to give it a try.

1. Select a cut of grass-fed beef with minimal fat (we get our beef from a ranch in Oregon that is totally grass fed). I used a 1 inch thick round steak, then cut it into very thin strips about 1 inch in width and no more than 1/4 inch thick.

2. Marinate the strips in a mixture of spices and seasonings for several hours or overnight. I used about 1/4 C Worcester sauce, 1/3 C Soy Sauce, and 1 tsp garlic powder. You can throw in some heat here, if that's your thing, by adding chili powder, red pepper flakes or other head-inducing spices. A lot of the recipes I found also called for liquid smoke, but I didn't have any and didn't really think I'd like it. So my marinade only had the 3 ingredients.

3. Dehydrate the marinated strips of beef in your oven or in a dehydrator at 160 degrees for about 5 hours. If using your oven, you want it on the lowest temperature possible, then you may need to prop the door open with a wad of tin foil to bring the temperature down even more to about 150-160 degrees for about 5-6 hours until the meat becomes...jerky-like.

This jerky turned out really nice! Everyone in the family loves it, so I may need to make some more if I plan to get any to use for my grab-and-go snacks. So, Ava, can I get another 1/4 of a cow? :)

Meatloaf

I had never made meatloaf before tonight. I guess I was intimidated by it and thougth it was hard to do, but I was pleasantly surprised. We bought beef back in the summer from a small sustainable ranch in Oregon where all of the cows are grass-fed and humanely raised.  The beef is very lean and has a wonderful flavor. So, with that starting point I thought I could make some pretty nice meatloaf. As with all of the things I cook, I can't leave it alone, I have to "healthy it up" a bit. So instead of bread crumbs I used oat bran and rolled oats and I added some carrot puree just for fun. Here's the recipe.

Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C oat bran
1/2 C rolled oats
1/3 C pureed carrot (could use any veggie puree, I think)
2 Eggs
1/2 C ketchup (no HFCS!)
1/3 C diced onion
1/2 C shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
1/3 C milk
salt and pepper to taste

topping:
1/4 C ketchup
1 tsp worcester sauce
1 tsp cider vinegar

Directions:
Pour all ingredients in a mixing bowl, roll up your sleeves and mix with your hands. Make sure all ingredients are well incorporated into the mixture, then pour into a greased medium size loaf pan. Mix topping ingredients and spread on top of uncooked meatloaf. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Internal temperature should be 160 degrees.

I posted this recipe to Mary's What's For Dinner Wednesdays. Post yours too!