Easy crockpot beef casserole

I know I’ve posted about it before, but I love my crockpot!* I love the fact that I can leave the house with a bunch of raw ingredients in a pot, and come home to a beautifully fragrant, perfectly cooked dinner (sometimes this happens when Bear cooks too, but the crockpot doesn’t leave as much mess for me to clean up afterwards!). As my crockpot is pretty basic and doesn’t have it’s own built-in timer, I like to use a wall timer so that I don’t come home to a dried-up, over-cooked, unrecognisable pile of mush.

So for those of you who’ve been asking for more crockpot ideas, here’s a really fast and simple recipe.

*I imagine that the crockpot is only going to become more and more loved once our little bubba enters our world, and my time and energy available for creating paleo delicacies decreases even further.

Easy crockpot beef casserole

2 onions
3 cloves garlic
500g blade steak
2 tins of chopped tomatoes in juice
2 carrots, chopped into chunks
2 capsicums, chopped into chunks (I used 1 green, 1 red)
3 small dried bay leaves
2 tsp dried herbs (I used 1 tsp of mixed herbs, 1 of oregano)

Place all ingredients into a crockpot and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6 hours, stirring halfway through if possible.

Serve with cauliflower mash (or cauliflower rice, kumara mash…whatever you fancy)

Hi honey, I'm home!

Wow, 4 and a half months since my last post...my bad! As most of you know, a lot's been going on for me over that time. Firstly, we made a baby! Super exciting, but it totally wiped me out for about 3 months there. Come August, Bear & I were off on our rather belated honeymoon to the UK & Europe for a few weeks, and then I was treated to a week in hospital upon our return.

And now here we are, past the middle of September, and I'm 5 months through the pregnancy - crazy times! But now that my energy has returned, I don't want to vomit at the smell of red meat being cooked, and I'm staying away from hospitals (touch wood), I'm planning on getting back to blogging.

When I came out of hospital a couple of weeks ago, I was essentially on a fluid diet...which meant a lot of soup & smoothies! Thankfully I'm back to solids now, but I did make a pretty darn good chicken & leek soup, which helped keep me on track with my nutrition over that time.

Chicken & Leek soup

1 whole free-range chicken
2 onions, cut into halves
4 large cloves of garlic
3 small kumara
3 leeks
Vegetable water (from boiling vegetables) (optional)
3 tbsp butter (or other form of fat if you want it strictly paleo)
2 tsp Colemans mustard powder
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Place the chicken in a large stock pot. Add onion and whole garlic cloves. Season with salt & pepper. Fill pot with water until chicken is almost covered. Boil for 60-90 minutes, until chicken is almost falling apart. Leave to cool for about half an hour.

Remove chicken from the pot, setting aside the liquid. With a knife and fork (I found this the easiest way), take all the meat off the bones and return the meat to the pot of liquid. Add in chopped kumara and leeks, then top up with vegetable water or tap water. Season, stir, then bring the mixture to boil. 

Simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Allow to cool slightly, then add 2 tbsp of butter and the mustard powder. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. Stir in the remaining butter, lemon juice, and salt & pepper if needed.

The greatest thing since sliced (paleo) bread...

I don't really miss bread anymore, but just occasionally, it's nice to have something bread-like to accompany a meal. This bread paleo recipe here (shared with me by a CrossFit friend) is simple and versatile.

I doubled the recipe and added a bit of flavouring, so the recipe ended up being:

3 tbsp melted coconut oil
4 eggs
4 very heaped tsp of coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

Onion flakes (probably around 2 tsp)

1 tsp smoked paprika

I had some for breakfast, topped with scrambled eggs and olive oil..

The rest, I had for dinner, as a Tuna & bacon open paleo sandwich

In a bowl, I combined a small tin of tuna, a few spoonfuls of homemade wasabi mayonnaise (in the fridge from last week), and some capers.

Leaving that to sit for a while, I grilled some bacon, and toasted a couple of slices of paleo coconut bread (under the grill, as we don't own a toaster!). Then I mashed some avocado & spread that on the toasted bread, and spread the tuna on top.

On top of the tuna, I added the grilled bacon and a couple of slices of tomato.

Season with salt & pepper, and enjoy. If you're eating it with your hands, it might be useful to have a napkin within easy reach!

More Paleo for Dummies

So I last left you at Tuesday dinner. Here are a few more quick & easy meal ideas...

Wednesday

Breakfast - bacon, scrambled eggs, kumara & avocado

This is really easy, and a fairly standard breakfast for us when we have time to cook it.

Heat the oven to 200-220 degrees, slice kumara thinly (I use a mandolin), then spread out on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Spray kumara with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, then cook until crispy (turning with a fish slice a few times). Depending on how much kumara you are cooking, this will probably take around half an hour.

Whilst the kumara is cooking, partly cook your bacon in a large frypan (mostly just to get some bacon fat off it to cook your eggs in!), then transition this to a baking dish and place in the oven until crispy.

Crack eggs into a jug, add salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings (e.g., onion flakes, garlic salt, mixed herbs) then beat with a fork. Just before kumara and bacon are ready, pour eggs into a heated frypan and stir with a non-stick spatula until cooked. Serve with bacon and kumara, with some avocado on the side.

Thursday

Breakfast - paleo muesli

I don't always feel like a cooked breakfast in the mornings, so this is a great alternative!

In a bowl, combine some chopped nuts, seeds, and desiccated coconut (I keep a container of nut and seed mix in the cupboard ready to go. The current one consists of chopped almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and cashews, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseed, and desiccated coconut).

Add a couple of spoonfuls of protein powder (I use Vital Protein - www.vitalhealthnz.co.nz), a handful of blueberries (fresh or frozen), a few spoonfuls of unsweetened applesauce and a drop of pure vanilla extract. Pour over some coconut cream (I also add some water, otherwise it's too rich for me) and combine.

On Friday morning, I made this with almond milk instead of the coconut milk and water - it was just as good, if not better!

Friday

Dinner - Steak with balsamic beetroot & tomato salad

For the salad:

Chop 1 fresh beetroot into cubes and roast in a baking dish for approximately 1 hour at 180 degrees celcius (I roasted mine in a spoonful of duck fat).

In a separate bowl, combine 2 diced tomatoes, 1/4C extra virgin olive oil, 1/8C balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste.

Finely chop a handful of fresh basil.

When beetroot has cooled a little, add beetroot, basil, and some lightly toasted some chopped almonds (optional) to the tomato mixture and combine.

For the steak:

Season steak well with salt and pepper.

Heat pan/BBQ (I cook my steak on a cast iron grill pan, or on the barbecue). Place steak in pan and cook on both sides, turning only once. Cooking time depends on the thickness of your steak and how well you like it cooked!

Sunday

Dinner - pepper crusted tuna steaks with wasabi mayonnaise, fresh asparagus, and kumara mash

(I forgot to take photos of the preparation - sorry!)

To make the mayonnaise, I followed this recipe here from one of my favourite paleo blogs - The Clothes Make the Girl. I've made this recipe several times, and it's produced amazing mayonnaise every single time! This time, I didn't have any lemons, so I used 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar instead. I also cut the mustard powder, because I wanted to make wasabi mayonnaise - instead, I added a teaspoon of fresh wasabi (not the horrible stuff you buy in the tube...have you ever read the ingredient list on that?!), and stirred more into the final product until I got the flavour I wanted.

For the tuna steaks, grind a whole lot of black pepper and add some salt to it. Place the tuna steaks into the ground pepper to coat. Heat a fry pan (I used my cast iron grill pan again) then cook tuna over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Tuna should still be pink (i.e., rare) in the middle.

I started the asparagus off on the grill pan, but then realised that it was going to take too long like that, so transfered it to a steamer!

For the kumara, chop kumara and boil until soft. Mash, then add salt, pepper, and a couple of spoonfuls of the wasabi mayonnaise in it's original form (i.e., before you add the extra wasabi at the end!), and beat with a fork until creamy.

Monday

Dinner - one-pot mince & veges (like the one-pot pasta my Mum used to make, but without the pasta!)

I didn't take photos of the prep for this one, because I wasn't even planning on posting it! I was originally going to make meatballs, but I was tired & couldn't really be bothered cooking, so I just wanted something I could throw together. Then I remembered that that's just the sort of thing I'm supposed to be posting!

Heat a spoonful of oil or fat in a large saucepan (I used duck fat again). Add a large clove of crushed garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for a minute or two. Add beef mince to the pan and cook until browned. Throw in some chopped vegetables (mine involved broccoli, yellow capsicum, & courgette). I then added a pot of tomatoes that I'd stewed up previously and put in the freezer, but a couple of tins of tomatoes would also do. Season with salt, pepper, onion flakes (I would have used fresh onion, but we didn't have any), and mixed herbs; stir; and simmer until vegetables are soft.

I felt like it still needed some more flavour after all this, so I also added in a bit of chili powder, some smoked paprika, a couple of capfuls of apple cider vinegar, and a glug of pomegranate molasses. Sorry it's not more specific, but that's how I roll!

ps: if you want to get hold of Vital Protein or Vital Greens, you can either order some through me, or go to the website and use the code PP2060C at checkout to get a 15% discount

Paleo for Dummies

Wow...I knew it had been a while since I posted, but I just saw that it's actually been over a month!! Oops - sorry! You'll all be relieved to know that I haven't actually been starving myself this whole entire time - I have still been cooking tasty, nutritious meals...but because I've been super busy, I haven't been creating anything amazing (aka gourmet, or what I considered blog-worthy). Thanks to the prompts (nagging?) of a couple of friends though, I've realised that what most people want is actually ideas and inspiration for quick, nutritious...but still delicious...everyday meals. So for the next little while at least, that's what you're going to get! I've been taking photos of all the food prep I've done in the last couple of days (and I'll keep doing it), so I can post them along with explanations of what I did. As one friend called it, "Paleo for Dummies"! I hope you find it useful.

Monday
Dinner - red curry pork & vegetables

To prep vegetables, grate one eggplant and finely chop quarter of a cabbage. Combine and set aside.

In a large frypan or wok, heat a small amount of coconut oil, then add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and 3 tbsp red curry paste (use 2 if you don't like it so hot!). Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant (usually a few minutes).

Add in 500g of free range pork mince, and stir to break up.

Cook until browned, stirring often, then add vegetables and half a tin of coconut cream. Combine thoroughly.

Continue to cook until vegetables have softened, then serve.

Tuesday
Breakfast - quick tuna frittata-ish thing!

For this, you need a small tin of tuna, two eggs, onion flakes, garlic powder, dried mixed herbs, salt, pepper, and olive oil (and an optional tomato or something to serve alongside it).

Lightly spray a small frypan with olive oil and heat. Lightly fry tuna, breaking it up by stirring.

In a bowl or jug, beat together eggs and seasonings. Add to frypan, and lightly stir to combine.

As with an omelette, push edges in towards centre slightly with a spatula, allowing runny egg to flow into space created. Repeat a few times around the pan.

Leave over a medium heat until the egg has cooked firm and the frittata is browning at the edges.

I'm a bit funny about having any of the egg runny (I like runny yolks in poached and fried eggs, but runny whites or runny egg in omelettes/frittatas makes me want to gag!), so I stick my frittata under the grill for a few minutes to completely cook the top. Serve drizzled with olive oil and accompanied with something fresh! (chopped avocado is nice with this too)

Dinner - crockpot roast chicken & stir-fried vegetables

I've been a big fan of the crockpot for a while, but now that I'm not usually home from work until 7pm, it's fast becoming my best friend! Crockpot roast chicken is super easy, and it's nice to know you only have to throw together some vegetables when you get home.

For the chicken, chop an onion and cover the bottom of the crockpot with it. Rub the skin of a defrosted, free range whole chicken with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Top with some dried herbs (I used my home grown, dehydrated sage), then place in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours (I used a wall socket timer for this, so that it finished about the time I get home). You should come home to something that looks a bit like this...

For the vegetables, I just chopped up what I had in the fridge (more cabbage, some red capsicum, and another eggplant), heated some coconut oil in a frypan and cooked them all together. I may have added some crushed garlic in first...I can't quite remember! Once the chicken was done, I tipped the onions and some of the juice (not all of it, or the vegetables will get drowned) from the chicken into the other vegetables and cooked for another few minutes before serving.

Ok, I think that's enough for now! Wednesday's & Thursday's breakfasts, plus Thursday's dinner to come soon.

(Note: there are no photos of lunches, because in our household, lunches are almost always leftover dinner! Some people prefer to cook a whole bunch of food in the weekend to put in the freezer for the week's lunches, but I like a bit of variety, so we just make sure we cook enough dinner to cover lunch the following day.)

It’s not you, it’s me

Last week, I wrote about the fatigue I’ve been struggling with recently (which has, by the way, definitely improved since I took action & made a change). The extreme tiredness impacted my work, my mood, and my social life, but nowhere did I feel it more than in my training. Metcons, in particular, were a battle. I had to fight to make myself go in the first place, and then I had to fight for every rep and every breath. Many, many times, I wanted to stop – to throw the towel in and tap out; many, many times, I fought tears as I struggled to keep going. I wasn’t keeping up with the people I used to keep up with, and it was hard to watch them improving while I felt like my fitness was going backwards. Each metcon like this made it that much harder to go to the next one.

Then, last week, a friend posted this photo on Facebook:

(on sale here)

It was a timely reminder that in the midst of a WoD, it’s about me, not the others working out alongside me. I have had (and will have) my times of improvement, and they will have theirs. The important thing is to be there, consistently putting in the work. Sometimes I might feel like I’m not winning...but how can I be losing when it’s just me against myself? At the end of the day, I’m still there; I’m still pushing through… I’m still choosing not to be defeated.

Lamb moussaka

Meat sauce

Olive oil
1kg lamb mince
1 onion, diced
2 large garlic cloves, crushed/chopped finely
1 tin tomatoes
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Salt & pepper

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil, then fry garlic and onion until soft. Add lamb mince & cook, stirring often to separate, until browned. Stir in all remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Vegetable layers

2 eggplants
4 courgettes
Olive oil

Remove tops and ends from eggplants and courgettes, then slice thinly, lengthwise. Heat olive oil in a frypan and cook vegetable slices until browned on each side. You will need to do a few at a time to ensure they are flat against the base of the frypan. The eggplant soaks up a lot of oil, so add more as needed.

Faux white sauce
1 cauliflower
1/4 tsp paprika
Dash of olive oil
Salt & pepper

Steam cauliflower. Transfer cooked cauliflower to a bowl then use stick blender to ‘mash’ it. Add paprika, olive oil, & salt and pepper, and whip with a fork.

Putting it all together

Line the bottom of a lasagne or other large baking dish with the eggplant slices, then create another layer of eggplant slices in the other direction (so they criss cross).

Spoon half the meat sauce over eggplant. Layer courgette slices over meat sauce. Spoon over the other half of the meat sauce, then top with the cauliflower mash.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes, or until top is slightly browned and sauce is bubbling.

Note: this is super tasty, but not very pretty – it goes a bit sloppy when you serve it – so maybe don’t cook this if you’re being judged on presentation!