April 27, 2013

Paleo (bean-less) Chilli with a Paleo Dinner Roll

Paleo Chilli (slow cooker)

2 green peppers
1 large zucchini
2 small onions
4 stalks of celery
1/2 cup chicken broth (beef broth would work too)
1 can mushrooms
2 cans diced tomatoes, drained
2 cans tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tbsp minced garlic (we love our garlic!)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp baking soda (to taste, it helps get rid of the acidic 'tomato-y' taste)
-1/4 cup chilli spice (add to taste)
3 lbs ground beef and/or pork

Chop all the veggies into 1/2 inch sized chunks (except the celery, chop thinner). Add everything except the ground beef to the slow cooker, or pot, and start heating it up.
Cook the ground beef in a frying pan until just cooked. Don't worry if it's a little pink in spots. it will cook the rest of the way in the pot. Drain and add to the pot/slow cooker. Cook for 4-6 hours. At the end, taste and adjust spices. Ours is not very spicy, but you could add chilli peppers to increase the heat. Variations, add 2 tbsp cocoa powder, add chopped jalapeƱos. These are the veggies we used because this is what we happened to have on hand. You could definitely change it up and swap out different veggies. We also only used 2 lbs of meat (1 lb ground beef, 1 lb ground pork). It was a little light on the meat, so I would recommend using 3 lbs. This makes a really big batch! This made about 6 L (we have a really big slow cooker!)


Dinner Rolls (Adapted from here)



Ingredients
  • 1 cup tapioca flour (starch)
  • 1/4 – 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (I used melted coconut oil)
  • 1 large egg, whisked
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • optional: 1 tbsp fresh chopped chives or garlic or onions or other herbs

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Combine the tapioca flour with the salt, baking powder, baking soda and 1/4 cup of the coconut flour in a medium bowl. Mix well and break up any chunks.
  3. Pour in oil and warm water and beat together. Add the whisked egg and continue mixing until well combined.
  4. If the mixture is too thin you should add one or two more tablespoons of coconut flour – one tablespoon at a time – until the mixture is a soft but somewhat sticky dough.
  5. Spoon out about two tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls. Use extra tapioca flour in the palms of your hands so the dough does not stick.
  6. Place each roll of dough onto a greased baking pan or parchment paper
  7. Bake for 35 minutes.

Makes about 10 paleo dinner rolls.

I made them a bit smaller, and it ended up being about 15 and only needed to be cooked for about 23 minutes. I also added leavener to the recipe. These would have been AMAZING with some chopped chives, or other herbs/garlic. I have chives growing in the garden and I was disappointed I didm't think of it until after!


April 24, 2013

Sugar Detox


So about a month or so ago, I decided to go sugar-free! I'm not talking about no fruit here, but I am talking about "paleo-safe" sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. This came after basically drinking (yes drinking!) probably a cup of maple syrup by the spoonful (as if it makes any difference that it's on a spoon instead of in a cup!!) Am I deranged?? Yes, absolutely. It was at this moment that I realized that I really and truly was addicted to sugar. I decided that I needed to abstain, 100%. No sugar in any sauce (not even honey!). The funny part is that this is really just being more paleo, so maybe not a big thing for some, but a big deal for me. No more paleo desserts, no more chocolate of any form (which was a good idea because at this point I was becoming more and more sure that my 4 month old was sensitive to chocolate.)
It started off ok - I was surprised. It was much easier then I imagined it would be. It probably helped that I had convinced myself that my excess sugar intake was going to kill me at some point. Yeah, there's some motivation for you!
Then I decided that I would somehow, someway, make a dessert. A paleo dessert, with no honey, maple syrup, or any other sweetener. Except dates. Dates are technically a fruit, even though they're dehydrated, they were still fair game! I started out with a common raw vegan 'cheesecake' recipe, and used only dates to sweeten it. Then I added gelatine (sorry vegans!) to help it set up better, and I added raspberries to make a "raspberry cheesecake." Now honestly, if someone got you to imagine a raspberry cheesecake, then taste this... it would not taste like you imagined. That being said, it tastes really good. Not "OMFG I would rather eat this instead of that pan of freshly baked brownies" kind of good, but "there is no sugar in this, and it's all real food" kind of good :) Anyway, with that disclaimer, here's a picture of my dessert. (I tried a few variations, one including cocoa powder! It was really good, except it was this "experiment" that really emphasized the fact that my little lady has a chocolate allergy :(
Raspberry-Chocolate pudding / "cheesecake"


















My new dehydrator!

[I wrote this post a while ago, and just noticed that I never posted it - so here it is! Apple chips are awesome btw!]

So I received an early Christmas present from my Mother-in-law. A dehydrator! To be honest, it wasn't much of a surprise. It was one of those situation like what do you want for Christmas? OK order that and I'll pay you back. Anyway, super awesome gift!! I'm so excited!

I got started dehydrating tonight! Its actually so easy to get stuff started! I started dehydrating apple chips, banana chips and fruit leather. I've already realized that I need an apple corer and a slicer. You're supposed to slice the fruit really evenly... well lets just say I'm not the best slicer. The pieces are really uneven! Oh well, I'm sure they'll still be tasty! I sprinkled some cinnamon on none side of the apples and rubbed it in a bit, although I'll probably skip that next time. The banana is super easy! I can actually slice bananas evenly (well, sort of).

For the fruit leather, I didn't follow any recipe, I just blended up some thawed, frozen raspberries and blueberries, some apple (left over from the slices), and half a banana. After it was all consistent, I just spread it out on a nonstick sheet and put it in the dehydrator.

The first thing I noticed is what a wonderful smell the cinnamon apples give off! The whole house smells like apple pie! I can't imagine what the house would smell like if I was making jerky though!