"Delicious" Beef Ribs

I've been really busy. I can't really tell you why, not that it's top secret or anything, I just can't figure out WHY I've been so busy. I think that it might be slowing down soon but in the meantime I'm just hanging in there and trying to cook good food.
I've been meaning to cook these ribs for like 5 days now. The meat has been in my fridge thawed and waiting for me but it's a crockpot recipe and I never remember to put stuff IN it until it's about 3 hours too late. Well, today I remembered!
Juli, at PaleOMG, calls these "Paleo Caribbean Jerk Crockpot Beef Ribs" but I left out a lot of the spices because I just don't like them so I'm going to just call them "Delicious Paleo Ribs". K? Good.

You're going to need:
2-3lbs beef back ribs
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup beef or chicken broth or even water. (I used beef)
1 tablespoon coriander
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt and pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice


Ok guys, complicated instructions coming up!
First, put the ribs and the onions in the crockpot
Add your broth (or water)
Mix your spices together and put them in the crockpot, coating the ribs.
Crockpot it up for 6-8 hours on low!

While you're eating beef ribs please be very careful to pick out the bones, especially on these crockpot ones because the meat basically falls right off. 


Anyway, that's the recipe as Juli posted it but I crossed out what I left out of my spice mixture. 


Enjoy!!!

2 Delicious Sauces

So, we have quite a bit of london broil on our menu, not TONS but it is a lean, healthy meat item. The two times we've made it on Paleo we've used the following marinade. This recipe makes a good amount to cover the london broil about half way up, then you can just flip it over for the last half of the time you're marinating it for.

For the marinade you're going to mix the following in a bowl:
- 8 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
- 8 Tbs Olive Oil
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1.5 tsp sea salt
- .5 tsp freshly ground pepper

Just let it marinade for a few hours in the fridge and cook away!!

Next on the list, a salad dressing. We don't use commercial dressings anymore. You might be really surprised if you read the ingredients on them. Most of them have high fructose corn syrup in the top 4 ingredients! I've checked out quite a few "low fat/fat free" dressings but they use soy bean oil and we don't do soy. So, I whipped up this dressing last night and used it on a grilled chicken salad today for lunch. TO DIE FOR!

You're going to need:
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp dijon mustard (I used spicy brown)
- 1 tsp RAW honey (not processed)
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1 tsp of herb of choice (basil, thyme, chives etc... I used Italian seasoning)

Whisk (or blender) balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, minced garlic, raw honey and lemon juice until it's blended.
Gradually add in the olive oil while whisking (or blending)
Mix in the salt, pepper and herbs to taste
Store it in the fridge.

When I was making the salad dressing, I got ahead of myself and just mixed everything together in a container made for sauces and just shook the crap out of it. I didn't "gradually add in the oil". Everything turned out ok and no one died, so that technique works just fine. :P

Now, all you need is a london broil and a nice spinach salad to enjoy the dressing on and you're set!

Enjoy!

My New Chili Love

It's called "Texican Chili" in the recipe book but the girl who submitted it is from Utah? Anyway... on our search for new recipes Gary wanted me to try this one. He's NOT a fan of chili since he hates beans but this one didn't call for that many. It's delicious. He loved it. He loved it even more the next day. Melia and I just ate it for a quick lunch 3 days later and I swear it got even better!!

Now, living in Phoenix it's really hard to make "comfort foods" being that it's over 95 for 9 months out of the year. It's a problem with Gary since most of his favorite foods consist of heavy red meats and lots of starches. The day I made this it was 98 outside but the beauty of this is that it cooks in the crock pot!! NO standing over the stove stirring, heating up your kitchen.

Now, you're going to want to start this early because it IS a 9 hour cook. So, now I'll stop talking and start sharing!! You're going to need a BIG crock pot. Mine is 5 quarts and it was full!

You're going to need:
8 strips of bacon, diced
2.5 pounds of beef stew meat in 1/2 inch cubes
3 cans stewed tomatoes (14 oz)
2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz)
1 can kidney beans (16 oz drained and rinsed)
1 cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley (I skipped this, not a fan)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Start by cooking the diced bacon in a skillet. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels. Brown the stew meat in the bacon grease.
Transfer the beef to your crock pot.
Add the bacon to the beef and then add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours or until the meat is tender and falling apart. Stir occasionally.

We topped it with diced raw onion and shredded cheddar cheese. I also made cornbread to go with the chili. Gary inhaled it all. Dinner success!!!

Yeah Lisa, I said RUMP ROAST!

The rump roast recipe I used yesterday turned out DELICIOUS so as promised here is what I did.

First off, it's very important to use a rump roast or the texture is just not going to be the same. They're a little more pricey than a pot roast so yeah. I used a 2.75 lb one for just Gary and I and there was enough left over for leftovers for a person or 2.

In a small bowl mix the following:
1/2 Tablespoon of black pepper
1 Tablespoon of paprika
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 teaspoon of mustard powder

Rub it all over the rump roast and throw it in your crock pot with 1/2 a cup of water.
Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. (I did 8 hours with the size that I had and it was perfect)

When it's done you have a delicious rump roast. Strain out the juices and you have a great Au Jus. :)

Enjoy!!!

(sorry, no pics this time)

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic diced or minced
1 lb ground beef
1 15oz can tomatoes chopped
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
13 oz spaghetti

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion and garlic until the onion is tender (about 2 minutes). Add in the ground beef and cook over high heat until the beef is well browned. Use a fork to break up any large pieces.

Add the undrained can of tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano and basil. Bring all of this to a boil then lower the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Serve over cooked spaghetti with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.

This will serve about 4 people or in my case (since Gary doesn't LIKE spaghetti meat sauce) about 5 days worth. Mmmmmm



Notes:
- Usually I use about 4 to 6 large fresh tomatoes and a cup of water but the commissary didn't have ANY tomatoes that looked nice so I opted for the canned tomatoes this time.
- Also, you can make this sauce up to 2 days in advance and just reheat it and serve over the pasta when it's dinner time.
- I also add in a teaspoon of kosher salt because I really like salted food and in my opinion kosher salt is the only salt to cook with.

(also posted here)

Beef: It's what's for dinner

To make Albondigas you're going to need:

3 cans of Campbells Beef Consume (10.5 oz)
3 cans of Swanson's Beef Broth (14 oz)
6 cups of water
2lbs ground beef
1 bundle of green onions diced
4 roma tomatoes diced
1 3/4s CONVERTED UNCOOKED white rice (has to be converted)
Cilantro (I don't use much but I don't like a lot of Cilantro - maybe 1/3rd of a bundle)
1 tablespoon of veg. oil
1 teaspoon Salt (I use Kosher salt - for everything)
1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 cup or 2 of sliced carrots
1 cup or 2 of sliced celery
some avocado slices and lime juice (to garnish and flavor on each serving if you'd like)

Aight, so you get a big pot.
Saute the tomatoes and green onions in the veg. oil. Then you add the consume, broth and water and heat to a boil.

While that's heating up get your meat ready.
Ground beef (thawed), 3/4 cup of converted white rice, the salt, pepper and garlic salt. Mix that up really well.

Once the liquid is boiling start pinching off meat bundles into the liquid. Don't worry about making meatballs. It takes too long and seriously just pinching the meat off and dropping it into the water will get it done in about 3 minutes and the pinches stay together perfectly because the liquid is boiling.

Add in the cilantro, carrots and celery and the rest of the rice (1 cup) and let it all simmer for an hour.

Slice up some avocado and juice some limes and toss it on the top of each serving.

That's all Folks!