Frozen Bananas

I have a new favorite blog, stir it up.  She's a paleo wife and mom, like me, and I think we'd be friends.

Today I made the frozen bananas I found on her site.  I adapted it for my preferences and thought I'd share it with you.

Photo: stir it up

For two bananas you'll need:

a heaping tablespoon of almond butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cacao powder
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon raw honey

• Slice bananas in half lengthwise
• Stir together almond butter, cinnamon and vanilla
• Divide almond butter mixture between two banana halves
• Add a popsicle stick and but bananas back together
• Place in freezer, on waxed or parchment paper, until frozen
• When bananas are frozen, melt chocolate, coconut oil, and honey
• Pour chocolate evenly over both bananas, covering every inch
• Place back in the freezer until frozen, about 30 min.

 Both of my kids were beside themselves excited about this new treat.  I think I'll be making them again very soon.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Citrus

Photo: Bryan Gardner

We discovered this recipe before we were paleo or bulletproof.  A friend of ours challenged us to the Whole Living 2012 Action Plan, a 4-week detox.  We've kept a few of the delicious recipes as we've transitioned into our new healthy eating lifestyle.

This recipe is delicious anytime but we like it for breakfast.  Make a couple extra sweet potatoes and consider baking a pan of the Sweet Potato Bars from a previous post.

Ingredients

•  2 small sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped raw almonds
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of freshly grated nutmeg
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 orange wedges

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400˚.  Prick sweet potatoes with a fork.
2. Bake until tender, about 1 hour.  
3. Split the top with a knife and top with almonds and spices.
4. Squeeze  orange wedges over sweet potatoes and serve.

Serves 2

Sunday Stew

Courtesy of Stiritup.me

You learn something new everyday.  For stew meat in particular Grassfed Cooking says, "Stew beef from the round, (especially the bottom or eye), will be ready to serve after about 1 ½ hours of simmering.  If it is cooked much longer, the meat will taste dry.  Conversely, stew from the shanks, brisket and chuck may take longer to become tender.  These are the ideal cuts for slow, all-day stews."

Thanks to stir it up for the inspiration on yet another stew recipe.

Sunday Stew

• 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 lb grass-fed sirloin stew meat (if using stew meat from shanks, brisket, or chuck, increase cooking time to 6-8 hours)
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup homemade bone broth or organic, gluten-free beef broth
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 2 parsnips, julienned

1. In a gallon-sized plastic bag add arrowroot powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, mix well.  
2. Add the stew meat to the bag and seal it tight. Shake ingredients all together making sure all of the meat if well coated.
3. In your dutch oven or large heavy pot add the coconut oil and turn the heat up on high.
4. Add the meat to the oil and brown on all sides.
5. Add the bay leaves, wine, broth, onions, carrots and parsnips and bring to a boil.
6. Turn heat to low and allow to cook, covered, for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Cashew-Date Macaroons

This is such a yummy treat and is SO fast and easy.  Thanks to Paleo Indulgences for the inspiration.

To your food processor add:

8 large dates, pits removed
3/4 cups raw, unsalted cashews
3/4 cups raw coconut chips or flakes
1 tablespoon raw, creamed honey (or regular raw honey)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
pinch of sea salt

Pulse ingredients until mixture is coarsely chopped, about 30 seconds.
Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 14 minutes at 350˚.
Cool on a wire rack.  If they last long enough you can store them in an airtight container 3-4 days, or freeze up to 3 months.

Organic Kale Salad with Cranberries and Almonds

Courtesy of Young and Raw

We brought this salad to a potluck at the Organic Pastures Dairy Farm.  The second annual Camping with the Cows was Memorial Day weekend.  We had so much fun!  On Saturday night they have a potluck and OPDC provides grass-fed beef chili, raw milk cheese, and raw milk.  So yummy!  Maybe we'll see you there next year.

Our salad was a huge hit.  Enjoy!

Salad:

1 bunch of raw kale (may be slightly steamed if you have trouble digesting raw)
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup toasted, chopped raw almonds (or raw nut of choice)

Combine all ingredients and top with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Dressing:

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon raw honey
pinch sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots

Whisk together all dressing ingredients except olive oil and shallots.  Gradually pour in olive oil, whisking continually until combined.  Stir in shallots.

Paleo Beef Stew

My husband makes a variation of this dish A LOT - so much that our daughter finally said, "no more stew"! It is easy and delicious, though. The recipe below is adapted from The Paleo Mom.

Courtesy of The Paleo Mom

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs grass-fed beef chuck stew meat, cut into 1-2” chunks

2-3 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

2 medium yellow onions, peeled, halved and sliced into wedges

2 large carrots, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

8 stalks celery, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

2 medium sweet potatoes, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

2 large parsnips, roughly chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

8 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cups homemade bone broth or organic, gluten-free beef broth

1 bay leaf

1 generous sprig of rosemary, chopped

1½ Tbsp chopped, fresh thyme

2-3 cups kale, stems removed, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large dutch oven or slow cooker.

2. Add beef to the hot oil and stir frequently until browned. Remove from pot.

3. Add vegetables, garlic, and another tbsp of oil, if needed, depending on how fatty your beef is.

4. Stir frequently and cook until vegetables are starting to get soft, about 10 minutes.

5. Add the meat back to the pot. Add the broth, bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme.

6. Cover and cook low & slow for 4-6 hours.

7. Add kale the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Osso Buco

Since buying our cow I've been learning how to cook unfamiliar cuts of beef like meaty shank, chuck roll, chuck steak, stew meat, cross rib roast, and bottom round roast.  As I try out recipes I'll be posting the good ones here.

The chuck, brisket, round, and shank are the most exercised muscles and therefore, the toughest. Cuts from the chuck are the least tender and are best suited for moist heat cooking methods such as braising/pot-roasting, stewing, or steaming.  

Osso Buco
adapted from Paleo Nick's Osso Buco.

Ingredients:

2 - 3 lbs grass-fed, bone-in, meaty shank
1 cup mire poix, diced (1/2 cup onion, 1/4 cup carrot, 1/4 cup celery)
2 tablespoons fresh, minced garlic
1 cup diced organic tomatoes
4 cups homemade bone broth or organic, gluten-free beef broth
zest of one orange
sea salt, to taste
olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or slow-cooker, or cast iron skillet.
2. Season shanks with salt and sear them in oil.  Allow shanks to brown generously on all sides.
3. Remove shanks and reduce heat to medium.
4. Add mire poix to pan and deglaze, stirring regularly for 30 seconds.
5. Add tomatoes, broth, garlic, & zest and bring to a boil.
6. Add shanks to broth and vegetables.  Stir to cover meat.
7. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Beef

We bought a cow!  Well, we bought a 1/4 of a cow.  Our first adventure was with Da-Le Ranch.  It has been great and we love sharing our cow with friends.  Today we just received a 1/4 of a cow from Alderspring Ranch.  We decided to try Alderpring because of their podcast on Bulletproof Executive.  This time we have a few friends buying the cow with us.  What an adventure!

I've always been fearful when it comes to cooking beef.  It seems too easy to overcook and ruin a good cut of beef.  Since buying a cow I've had to learn how to cook it.  I'll be posting the successful recipes, so stay tuned.

Courtesy of Paleo Indulgences

Slow-Cooker BBQ Beef 

Adapted from Paleo Indulgences

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3-5 lbs organic grass-fed beef chuck roast

• 1 15oz can tomato sauce

• 1 6oz can tomato paste

• 3 tbsp raw honey

• 2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

• 2 tsp sea salt

• ½ medium yellow onion, diced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1 tbsp Coconut Aminos, Bragg’s Aminos, or Tamari

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1/8 tsp cayenne

• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1)      Place the roast in a large slow cooker

2)      Place all the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl and stir well to combine. 

3)      Pour the sauce over the roast. 

4)      Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or until meat falls apart easily.

5)      Shred beef in the pot using two forks. 

Serve over chopped salad or roasted spaghetti squash and top with chopped red onions or try with gluten-free rolls as a bbq sandwich.

Coconut Lemon Bombs

This turned out to be a good after school snack, dessert, and sweet lunch treat all in one.  Thanks for the inspiration Addicted to Veggies.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1 1/2 cups dried, shredded, unsweetened coconut

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 big pinches of salt

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp grade B maple syrup or 1/4 cup raw organic honey

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla 

1 Tbsp lemon zest 

1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil

Directions:

• Mix all of your dry ingredients together, set aside
• In a small mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients
• With a hand mixer or standing mixer on low, slowly stream the wet ingredients into the dry  

• Keep your mixer on low and slowly stream in melted coconut oil

• Form dough into ball bombs and place on a cookie sheet

• Warm bombs in the oven on the lowest heat setting (mine is 175˚) for 1 hour, leaving the door cracked open

• Allow bombs to cool, then chill in the fridge until set, about an hour

Your finished bomb will be dry on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth moist inside.

Enjoy!