After a little recipe searching on the internets, I created my own Korean beef recipe concoction that was successfully paleo-ized! We got home around 8:45, showered and dinner was ready to be served. I was really happy with the results.

Korean Slow Cooker Beef

2-4 lbs. Chuck Roast
salt & pepper

1 Sweet Onion (roughly chopped)
1 head of garlic, pealed, but leave the cloves whole
1 tsp red chili flakes
Sesame seeds

Sauce
1/3 cup coconut aminos
1/4 cup honey (or more if you like it sweet, most recipes called for 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1 TBS fresh grated ginger
1 TBS sesame oil
2 TBS sriracha (I would of added a jalapeño or two instead, but I didn’t have any). If I used jalapeño, I might have added a tsp of fish sauce.
Salt and pepper the chuck roast and then sear all sides in a skillet – cast iron if you’ve got one.
Put the onion in the bottom of the crock pot with a few garlic cloves, place meat on top.
Place remaining garlic cloves on top.
Mix all the sauce ingredients and pour over the beef. Sprinkle with chili flakes.
Set the crock pot to low and cook for 8-10 hours.

Shred the beef, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
This would have been great in cabbage or lettuce wraps. I just served it with broccoli.

We were headed to Yosemite this past weekend. Thursday night I made meatloaf muffins for dinner, and we ate the leftovers for dinner while driving Friday evening.

Served with cauliflower rice and sautéd veggies.

making money

Meatloaf Muffins

1 lb. ground meat of your choice (I often double the recipe and do a mix of turkey and beef). Another variation I’ve started doing is to puree liver and mix it in. The taste isn’t noticeable and you get all the amazing nutrients from liver.

1/2 onion, diced

1 tbl olive oil

1 tbl coconut aminos

1/4 cup grated zucchini (this is very important for moisture since this recipe is egg-free for those with egg allergy issues like me).

1-2 grated carrots. You can add other veggies too. Celery is another good one.

1/4 cup almond flour

3 garlic cloves

thyme, seasoning of your choice. I often use Old Bay and Cumin. This is where you can get really varied. I usually just dump in whatever I feel like.

salt & pepper to your liking (tsp each is a good start)

fill up muffin tins about 80-90%, unlined

bake 40-45 min @350 (35 minutes is fine if using ground beef)

I’ve done a simple chocolate version that just use 1 can coconut milk, 2 heaping TBS of organic cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract, honey (recipe calls for 1/4 cup – I use less). I’ve also added a 1/4 cup almond butter for another great concoction.

But a recent batch of strawberries in our CSA delivery from Farmer Fresh to You inspired a strawberry ice cream with hard chocolate shell that was amazing!!

I simmered a cup of strawberries with approx. 2-3 TBS of honey, tsp vanilla, pinch of sea salt and 2 TBS water on the stove until the strawberries were super soft and sweet. Added in a can of coconut milk and blended with the immersion blender.

I modified PaleoOMG’s recipe (another favorite food blogger)

This photo is horrible because I didn’t think of snapping a picture until after I had eaten half of it.

for the hard chocolate shell. Mix 1/4 cup melted coconut oil with 1 TBS cocoa powder, 1 TBS honey, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of sea salt. When you pour it on the ice cream, it hardens right up like “magic shell.”

Lamb Sliders with Ginger Cilantro Aioli on a Sweet Potato “Bun”

Night two of our adventure with lamb from Everett Sparling was simple – lamb sliders.

The following recipe is taken from Everyday Paleo. Sarah Fragoso is one of my favorite food bloggers and podcasters.

Lamb Sliders
2 pounds ground grass fed lamb
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon bacon fat
Garnishes for sliders; romaine lettuce, red onion, Roma tomatoes and dill pickles
1. Season your grass fed lamb meat with the salt, pepper and garlic; mix together and with your hands and create your sliders.  We made a total of 12 sliders, about 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches across (more of an oval shape to fit the “bun”).
2. Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet over medium high heat and cook the sliders for about 3-5 minutes per side.  Lamb cooks quickly, so watch closely and do not overcook!  Overcooked lamb tastes too gamey in my opinion.

Sweet Potato “Bun”
3 medium to large white sweet potatoes peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick (lengthwise), a good knife will come in handy here.
Sea salt, garlic powder, pepper, oregano, italian seasoning
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Lightly season sliced white sweet potatoes with sea salt, garlic powder, pepper, oregano and italian seasoning.  Place sliced sweet potatoes on a baking sheet that is lightly coated with coconut oil and bake at 375 for approximately 10 minutes, then flip them over and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until done.
3. Let finished sweet potatoes rest for a few minutes.

Ginger Cilantro Aioli
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup homemade mayo
1 teaspoon diced jalapeño
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1. Mix all ingredients togther in a bowl.

For the past two years, we have purchase a split-half (quarter) grass-fed cow from Morris Family Farms and the meat has been amazing. I cannot eat grocery shelf beef anymore. I was so happy to find the lamb because lamb is probably my favorite land-animal meat – yet another reason to move to New Zealand.

For our first meal with our new lamb, I cooked up my favorite recipe for lamb chops. It’s something I call “scarborough fair” after the Simon & Garfunkel song. I paired it with a Petite Syrah from local winery HAKA by Labyrinth. A bit heavy for the meal, but the winemaker is from New Zealand, and I really like it.

Scarborough Fair Lamb chops served with a swiss chard side.

Scarborough Fair Lamb Chops

Blended a few cloves of garlic, approximately 1/3 cup of herbs parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme – heavy on rosemary/thyme. Option: add a mint leaf or two.

Add 2 TBS of olive oil and blend. Spread most on the lamb and let sit for 30 minutes or a few hours. Save a bit of mixture to mix with the juices in the pan and use as dipping sauce with dinner.

Heat oven to 450. Sear meat side approximately 1-2 minutes both sides. Place in oven for 5 minutes or more depending on how cooked you want it. Good meat should not be overcooked!

Mix the juices from the skillet with the leftover herb blend and use as a dipping sauce.

Recipe for the swiss chard side is here. I omitted the feta because we reserve cheese/dairy for special occasions.