Everything but the kitchen sink

This recipe is great for those nights when you need to clean out the fridge or you have some odds and ends veggies that are about to turn and no idea what to do with them. I had some veggies I needed to get rid of some things, so into the pan with some ground beef they went.
This is also slightly reminiscent of the beef stew over rice that we used to have when I was a kid. Not reminiscent in taste but in the idea and the memory of it.

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2-3 medium carrots, diced
• 1 bunch of celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 8 oz of mushrooms, diced
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos or worchestershire
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cauliflower rice (instructions at the bottom)
• Pats of butter (optional)

Start by heating your pan over medium heat, once heated through melt coconut oil. I recommend using the whole 2 tbsp since the mushroom will suck a lot of the oil up. They will shrink down as they cook releasing tasty juices but its best to have extra oil in the pan so nothing sticks. When the oil is melted add all of the veggies to the pan, except the garlic, and salt and pepper to your liking. When the onions get to the near translucent phase (a little white in the middle still) add in the garlic. Once the onions are translucent add in the beef and coconut aminos and cook until the beef is no longer pink.

I serve this over cauliflower rice with a couple of pats of Kerrygold butter (the butter goes on the rice then the beef mixture goes over that).

Cauliflower Rice
Take one head of cauliflower and grate with either a box grater or a food processor with a grater attachment. I have a microwave steamer so I add the rice to that and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. That is cauliflower rice. Seriously, its that easy. Now I'm not going to lie to you and say its just like regular rice, but it is a good substitute and now you don't need to serve a veggie on the side.

Individual Peach Cobblers

I'm not really a fan of peaches; however it is amazing what you can learn to appreciate when doing a Whole 30. I originally intended to just roast these peaches and let them stand on their own but then I was reminded of a peach cobbler that I made last month and inspiration hit. These have no sweetener and since you are roasting the peaches they don't have to be particularly ripe. For those of you, like me, who have terrible luck picking good peach, this is helpful.

Also I realize that these peaches are probably pushing the Whole 30 boundaries pretty hard, so keep your goals in mind when considering this recipe.

Individual Peach Cobblers

3 peaches, halved and pitted
2 cups almond flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line an 8x8 Pyrex with foil. Add the vanilla to the melted butter and stir to combine. Mix in the remaining ingredients and stir until everything comes together and gets crumbly.

Put your peach halves into the pan cut side up. fill the peaches with the almond flour mixture and press it down so it stays on the peach. Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes covered and then remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes so you don't melt the roof of your mouth, then enjoy.

Whole 30 Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

Don't you just love vacations? All the relaxing by the pool, good food, no gym or email or meeting. Yes, vacations are lovely, until you have to come home from them.

We just returned from Disney World. It was silly, hot, exhausting fun. We ate corn-dogs, ice cream and bread among other non-primal things. It was fun to let loose for a week. I also knew that Monday would probably be pretty rough since we decided to start a Whole 30 to restart our primal systems and we would be heading back to Crossfit after being gone for a week and a half.

Well Monday did not disappoint, let me tell you. After a seriously disappointing gym session (disappointment in my performance not the workout) and some carb flu symptoms, I really wanted something sweet. I realize that the point of a Whole 30 is to minimize carbs, which is why I kept my individual serving small. Just a few bites and then the rest went into the fridge for later.

Whole 30 Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

-2 sweet potatoes, cubed (I used garnet yams but use any sweet potato you have available)

-2 to 3 tbsp melted coconut oil

-1 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil. Put the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and drizzle with coconut oil. Toss the potatoes with your hands to coat them with the oil. Sprinkle the oiled potatoes with cinnamon and toss again. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then enjoy.

These could probably be baked at 400 degrees for less time but I put them in before I started dinner so that they would be ready at the same time everything else was.

Almond Chocolate Chip Microwave Mini Cakes

You know those days when you you want to eat an entire batch of cupcakes but you still have the willpower to know that would be a bad idea. Well this is recipe is for you, its a bigger than a cupcake and can even make 2 if you want to share. There are a lot of different flavor combos that would could try but my favorite is the Almond Chocolate Chip Mini Cake.

 

Almond Chocolate Chip Microwave Mini Cakes

Ingredients:
2/3 cup almond flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1-2 tbsp water
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips


Add everything but the chocolate chips to a bowl and stir to combine, then fold in the chocolate chips. Grease 1-2 ramekins, depending on how generous you are feeling, with coconut oil and add your batter. Cook in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds.Test for doneness (its a word I swear) with a toothpick.

You can either eat it directly from the ramekin or turn it out on a plate, but be careful, the ramekin will be hot.

Birthday Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

So it was my birthday this week so I decided I would make cupcakes. In my department you always get your favorite cake for your birthday, but I wanted to be able to actually eat my birthday cake  and since no one around here makes almond or coconut flour cakes commercially, I decided to make my own. Luckily I enjoy cooking and baking of that would have been a sad birthday story (not sure why but people seem to be shocked that I made my own birthday cupcakes).

I actually came up with this recipe for my parent's 30th anniversary party a couple of weeks ago, pretty much on accident. The carrot cake cupcakes I made for the party didn't make enough and I really didn't feel like shredding anymore carrots so I needed something that was basically just throwing stuff in a bowl and mixing together. It worked out surprisingly well and I got rave reviews on them at the party.

Please forgive the lack of picture of a cupcake with frosting on it. I didn't frost them until right before we were going to eat them and I forgot to take pictures. I know its one of the big rules of food blogging, use actual measurements and take tons of pictures. I'm still learning :-)

Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk all of the wet ingredients together until combined. Next add in the remaining ingredients and stir until the lumps are gone. Next line a cupcake pan with liners (I highly recommend these, they do not stick to the cupcakes like conventional cupcake liners. I get mine at Whole Foods). Evenly distribute the batter and bake for 20 minutes. Oven temperatures may vary so check for doneness (yes I know this is made up word) with a toothpick. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 pint of heavy cream
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract (I usually let a little extra go over the side of the spoon, not an exact measurement)

Place the bowl you plan on using in the freezer for about 10 minutes. If using a hand mixer I  recommend a glass or metal bowl since plastic won't retain the cold very well. Once your bowl is nice and cold whip your cream and vanilla together until you get stiff peaks (almost over whipping is best, you want to get right to the point before you are making butter). Next place the whipped cream in another bowl while you whip the cream cheese and maple syrup. Once the cream cheese and syrup are combined and no longer lumpy add in the whipped cream. Stop at least once to scrape down the sides.
When whipped to your liking store in the fridge until ready to use. Can be made up to a day in advance. I like to keep it in a zip-lock baggie, then I will cut one of the corners off and pipe the frosting directly onto the cupcakes. Its cleaner than spreading it on and makes them look nice.

*Note: I would recommend not frosting the cupcakes until you are ready to eat them. If you frost in the morning but then don't eat them until the evening things might get soggy.