No Bean Chili

 

Bbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..... and what we need is another chili night.  The hubby made this on Saturday from a recipe from Allrecipe. This is an easy recipe but really yummy. We ate it with some hot dog. It made good leftover too. We  have hervos racheous with it today for breakfast....so good.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin 1
 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

( we use a pound of beef and a pound of turkey and doubled the ingredients accordingly)

Direction:
1. Crumble the ground beef into a stock pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic, and cook stirring frequently until beef is evenly browned. Drain off excess grease. Season with chili powder, oregano, cumin and hot sauce.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and vinegar.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 1 hour - or longer if you have time. Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom.

Paleo Ginger Bread Cake

I have to admit that I have not had ginger bread cake ( well, I do not have sweet tooth....So I hardly eat cakes) till a week ago when the hubby bought one from Starbucks. I took a bite and love it.. and so the search for Paleo version begins.

Googled " Paleo ginger spice bread" and the most often popped up recipe is this Paleo Ginger Bread Cake with Maple frosting ( <+ click). For some reason, the recipe does not appeal to me... so the search continues.

I saw this Honey Cake recipe from Elana's Pantry and decided to use it as a base for my own Paleo Ginger Bread Cake :)

Ingredients ( Adapted)
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 table spoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 tablespoon of nutmeg
1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice mix
1/2 cup of oil ( coconut or canola)
1/2 cup of honey ( or more if you like it sweet)
4 eggs


Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 8"x8" baking pan
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
3. Beat the eggs till pale yellow and frothy
4. Add in oil and honey to the eggs
5. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes

~enjoy~

Crockpot Beef Stew

 

I really do not like this picture. It does not do justice to the beef stew. This is probably one of the best recipe for beef stew.. well.. even the hubby who is not a fan of beef stew agreed with me. And of course... it has to be good since I am the creator of this recipe :)

I have been looking at a number of beef stew recipes and most of them contain some ingredients which I do not like.. so I decided to create my own :)

This is really a good recipe for a busy day... a crockpot and 10 minutes of preparation time and Bingo.. dinner is done.

Ingredients:

 2 pounds of stew meat

 3-4 carrot , chopped

3-4 celery, chopped

2 potatoes

1 onion - chopped coursely

2 cup of beef broth

2 cup of red wine

1 table spoon of thyme ( more to taste)

1 table spoon of oregano ( more to taste)

1 small can tomato paste 

1 teaspoon of paparika

3-4 bay leave

Cayenne pepper ( to taste)

Pepper and salt ( to taste)

Direction

1.  Season the stew meat with the spices, salt and pepper for at least 30 minutes

2. Lay the crockpot with the onion , carrot and celery

3. Put in the seasoned stew meat

4. Pour the beef broth and wine into the crockpot, add in the tomato paste ( add in more thyme and oregano to taste) and bay leaves

5. Stir and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours

~enjoy~

Paleo Gumbo (Crockpot)

 

I have been thinking of Gumbo since I saw the pack of Andouille sausage which the hubby bought. So the search begins for a good recipe. Its hard to find a recipe which I like so I decided to create my own using various source. 

 Surprisingly, my creation turn out pretty good. The hubby had two helpings... so it must be good :

Ingredients: 

One and half pound of chicken breast, cut into cube

A pack of Andouille sausage

One green pepper, diced

One onion, chopped

11/2 cup of okra, diced

1 cup of diced tomato with juice

2 cup of chicken stock

1 tablespoon of paparika

1 tablespoon of oregano

1 tablespoon of thyme

1 teaspoon of celery seed

1 teaspoon of cayenne (more or less to taste)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken with the spices for at least 30 minutes

2. Brown the sausage in a pan with olive oil. 

3. Brown the chicken in the pan after the sausage.

4. Lay the crockpot with onion,pepper, okara. Add in the chicken stock and diced tomato.

5. Add the saugage and chicken. Add in more spices if desired

6. Cook for 7-8 hours on low

~enjoy~

 

Paleo Crockpot ribs

 

I have to admit that I am a ribs freak ! I love ribs and I think I could eat ribs everyday. It is hard to find Paleo ribs in restaurants. Most of the ribs sold in restaurants are slabbed with tons of sugar. 

I have been looking for a good crockpot ribs recipe. Ribs in crockpot ? Yes.... surprisingly crockpot makes good ribs :)

I saw this recipe at Paelosprit and decided to make it using the crockpot. The picture probably do not do justice to the ribs we had last night. They were so good. The BBQ sauce is awesome... my boy gives it two thumb up :)

Ingredients for ribs ( My version)
1 slab of ribs ( I use spareribs)
1/4 cup coconut crystals -optional  ( I omitted this)

2 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon dry basil (crushed)
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper ( I think 2 teaspoon is slightly spicy. I use about one teaspoon)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion
1 potato

Direction
1. Combined all ingredients (except potato and onion) in a small bowl to create a dry rub
2. Wash and pat dry the ribs. Add the dry rub onto the rubs. Let stand for 30 mintes
3.Chopped onion and potato into big chucks and lay them on the crockpot as base
4. Add the ribs into the crockpot and cook low for 8 hours

Ingredients for the BBQ sauce

1 1/2 cups of cooking juices from the ribs (or beef stock)
3 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced
6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup prepared mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste

Direction
1. combine drippings (or stock) and the diced garlic and simmer in a medium sauce pan for 5 minutes.  2. Whisk in remaining ingredients and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or more if you like a thicker sauce






Enjoy

~bel~

Mircowave Sweet potato cake/muffin

 

This is one recipe which I have always wanted to try but did not do so because it contains an ingredient which the Fiance did not like : Sweet Potato. This boy would just not touch sweet potato.

I final got a chance to try this recipe which I had kept in my "to bake list" today. We are heading to Singapore next week and we are trying to clear our pantry. I have 3 sweet potato sitting on the pantry and I have no clue what to do with them. The Fiance would not eat anything sweet potato soI decided to try this recipe and see how it goes.

This is really an easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium to small sweet potato
1/3 cup almond meal or flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk or creamer of choice ( I use coconut milk)
1 tablespoon of honey ( or more to taste)
1 tsp vanilla
 1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp melted virgin coconut oil

Direction:
1.  Pierced  the sweet potato with a fork, wrapping in a paper towel and microwaving for 4-5 minutes until soft. Scoop out the inside and measure out about 1/2 cup of mashed sweet potato.
2. In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk egg, milk, vanilla, stevia, and melted coconut oil together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
4. In 2 small ramekins, melt a bit of coconut oil to grease the bottoms and sides.
5. Microwaved for 3 minutes or more till the centre is set.

Verdict : The boy finished both muffin cake and declared it GOOD !

~bel~

Chili

 

The first cold front hit town this weekend... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... it was freezing cold ! A 33 degree drop from the summer 100 degree. LOL.. yes.. it was only 67F cold... but it felt like winter .  The body had a rude shock from the sudden cold front and the only 3 things I could do were slept in, couched under the blanket and drink hot ginger tea. 

The BF made my day when he decided to make chili... well .. we did plan ahead for the cold. We went grocery shopping for chili ingredients on Saturday in anticipation of the "freeze". The BF found an amazing recipe   (<= click) from Allrecipe.com.... beer, coffee and cocoa powder.. who can resist the combination.

The day just got better (despite the cold) when the BF said to me "I am okie. You just need to couch and rest.." when I offered to help make the chili....:)

The recipe looks intimidating with the many ingredients.. but it was actually very easy. The preparation time was only 20 minutes.

This is an amazing recipe. The combination of beer, coffee and cocoa powder are awesome. It is just so good !


The base before we add the meat

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil ( we use canola oil)
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
3/4 pound beef sirloin, cubed ( we use ground pork sausage )
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark beer ( we use shiner black)
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
1/2 cup packed brown sugar ( we omit the sugar as we are on Paleo)
3 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
 1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
4 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans ( we omitted the beans as we are on Paleo)
4 fresh hot chile peppers, seeded and chopped

 Directions
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions, garlic, ground beef and cubed sirloin in oil for 10 minutes, or until the meat is well browned and the onions are tender.
2. Mix in the diced tomatoes with juice, dark beer, coffee, tomato paste and beef broth. Season with brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, coriander and salt. Stir in 2 cans of the beans and hot chile peppers. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
3.  Stir in the 2 remaining cans of beans, and simmer for another 30 minutes. ( we omitted this step as we do not use beans)
( We browned the meat in the iron skillet, mixed the base in another pot and added the meat to the
base after they were browned)
~bel~