Sunday 24 November 2013

Cincinnati Chili from Well Fed 2


Paleo Grandad thinks I have too many cookbooks - not sure what his point is as in my world there is no such thing as too many cookbooks (or shoes!).  Since I found Paleo, I've collected even more cookbooks. Some are just nice to look at, but some I use often.

Melissa Joulwan's (The Clothes Make The Girl) Well Fed and Well Fed 2 are two of my favourites.  All her recipes use few, easy to find ingredients and the results are always tasty.  From Well Fed I learnt that having a food prep day - usually Sunday for me - makes making meals so much easier during the week.  Oldest Granddaughter borrowed my copy of Well Fed a few months ago because she liked the recipes, and I think the only way I'm going to get it back is to buy another copy!

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Paleo Mother-in-Law's Casserole

Sometimes I know what is for dinner that night and sometimes I am planning on my drive home.  Last night was a planning on the drive home.  Thinking of everything I had in the fridge reminded me for some reason of my first mother-in-law's casserole recipe - we are talking late 60's early 70's.  As far as I can remember it doesn't have a name and I don't know where she got the idea, but during that time it was my go to casserole when I had leftover roast beef.  I didn't have leftover roast beef in the fridge, but I did have leftover slow cooker roast pork.

Sunday 17 November 2013

Paleo Breads

There have been a lot of Paleo cookbooks coming out recently and I have picked up a couple of new ones that I like and one I didn't, (though it's not just a cookbook, it tells you how to eliminate sugar from your diet, which is really the Whole30 It Starts with Food - a terrific book).

There has been a lot of hype on the new cookbook - Against All Grain by Danielle Walker and, being in a baking mood, I chose three recipes to try from the Muffins, leaves and Morning Cakes section:

  • World-Famous Sandwich Bread
  • Banana Bread
  • Currant Scones

Monday 11 November 2013

Perfect soup weather.

Fall weather makes me want to make soup and knit - not necessarily in that order.  Fall in Vancouver is beautiful in one way - multi-coloured leaves falling everywhere - and dreary in another way with the grey skies and rain.  But it is perfect weather to make soup.

My stomach and I are not fans of tomato-based soup, so I like to try different varieties of soups that don't call for tomatoes (like the Golden Cauliflower Soup from last week).  A little tomato paste is OK, but that's it.

We went for dinner at Tapenade Bistro the other night and they had beet soup on the menu.  It was tasty but not the hearty beet soup I remember, so I found this recipe from Paleo Zone Nutrition.  The only difference is that I used two pounds of stew meat and more cabbage as I wanted it to be hearty and filling on it's own for lunch this week.

Sunday 10 November 2013

Do you have your vegetables for the week?


I love Fall vegetables - rutabagas, butternut squash, zucchini, parsnips, cabbage, shallots, apples and carrots, so that is what I stocked up on this week.

Sunday 3 November 2013

Sunday Beef Short Ribs

After a rainy, windy few days, the sun is shining in Vancouver.  Thank goodness this allows Paleo Grandad to go out and take down the Halloween decorations. He goes all out every year and our yard is full of crime scene tape, cobwebs, lights and spooky things.  He has a creepy costume (this year is the headless butler), and loves to terrify children (and they love to be terrified).

Paleo Grandad and I tossed around the idea of going out for dinner on Saturday night, but neither of us could think of anywhere we wanted to eat - we have a really small choice of Paleo-friendly restaurants in our part of the Lower Mainland.  We decided to stay home and avoid the inevitable stomach ache.

I wanted to try Nom Nom  Paleo's Orange Sriracha Chicken and - wow - was it worth staying home to eat. You could eat the sauce with a spoon and be happy.  I served it with a variation (subbed red peppers for the tomatoes) of The Clothes Make the Girl Tabbouleh Salad from her new Well Fed 2 cookbook - the two dishes were delicious together.


Time to cook.  Today's menu:

Brunch
I experimented with Paleo waffles again today and came up with a winner.



Paleo Plantain Almond Flour Waffles (or Pancakes!)
(Serves 4)

1 large, very ripe plantain
1 cup almond flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp. ghee or coconut oil
1 tsp. gluten-free baking powder
pinch of salt


  1. Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend until well mixed.
  2. Cook in a pre-heated waffle maker (or make pancakes with 1/4 cup of batter each).
  3. Cook a little longer than you would a wheat flour waffle - it takes longer to brown.
Dinner
When I was a kid, beef short ribs were one of the most economical cuts of meet, so my Mom made them fairly often.  Now, they are quite pricey - $23.64 for 8 meaty ribs, which will be one dinner and one lunch for both Paleo Grandad and I.  That works out to $5.91 per meal - cheaper than eating out (and tastier). 

Beef Short Ribs
(Serves 4)

2 lbs. beef short ribs
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 stalks of celery, cut into large chunks
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary or 2 Tbsp. dried, crushed rosemary
4 sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. chipolte powder (more if you like spicier food)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
8 fresh sage leaves or 1 tsp. dried, crushed sage
more salt and pepper to taste
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. raw honey
  1. Melt the coconut oil in a large heavy skillet.
  2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs.
  3. Brown the short ribs on both sides.  Do it in batches so you don't crowd the pan.
  4. Place the browned short ribs in the bottom of the slow cooker.
  5. While the short ribs are browning, roughly chop the carrots and celery in a food processor.  You can add an onion if your stomach will allow it - mine won't right now.
  6. Using the same heavy skillet you cooked the short ribs in, cook the vegetables with some more salt and pepper, until softened.
  7. If using dried herbs, add them and the chipolte powder and cinnamon now and saute them with the vegetables.
  8. Add the balsamic vinegar and honey to deglaze the pan.
  9. Pour the mixture over the short ribs in the slow cooker.
  10. Place the whole garlic cloves on top.
  11. If using fresh rosemary, thyme and sage, put them on top of everything.
  12. Set the slow cooker for seven hours and go do something else.
It was excellent served with cauli-mash and Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and dried cranberries.

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