Roast Beef

Hi Guys, remember me? Nicki Peet?  I know, i've been slacking on recipes lately, but it's been a pretty busy past couple of weeks.  But I am now officially a Registered Nurse! No more homework, no more studying = much more time for cooking( and once I get a job, much more money for cooking)  But I am living proof that you can find ways to maintain a healthy diet/lifestyle even when the budget is tight. Anywho, it was finally cool enough today to cook in my A/C-less kitchen.  I found a recipe for a slow-cooker beef roast on the Every Day Paleo Site, but Nicki didn't get to the grocery store until about 430 today, so slow cooker was out of the question.  So I used her recipe for a dry rub, and roasted it in the oven.

Speaking of Every Day Paleo, I really enjoyed this blog post Sarah posted the other day. You Can't Fix a Body You Hate  I have had this conversation many a times with friends/fellow gym members, usually women of course, but sometimes no matter how hard we work and no matter how good of shape we are in, we are never satisfied with our bodies.  Are you guilty of this?  I know I am.  Check out her post, it may give you a different perspective.

Ok here's what you need:

- 2 1/2 lbs beef roast
- one yellow onion
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/4 tsp chipolte powder
- 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbs oregano
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp celtic sea salt-- it turned out pretty salty so use less if you don't enjoy salt. I have an unhealthy love for salt.



Beef from Trader Joe's





all the spices for the dry rub

 1.) preheat oven to 420
2.) mix all spices together
3.) massage spices into the beef-- give this thing a good rub down.  If you had a run in with the pull-up bar this week, I don't recommend bare handing the raw meat and spices with ripped hands.  Throw a zip lock bag on your hands like I did!

4.  Chop up an onion, toss it in about a tbs of olive oil
5. Put your spiced up beef roast in a pan, and toss the chopped onion ontop of the meat and around it in the baking dish.
6. I cooked my meat medium- so I cooked it at 420 degreees for about 45 mins total/ until the temp of the meat read 140 degrees.
7. Take the meat out and lightly cover with a piece of tin foil for another 10-15 mins.  The meat will continue to cook in the center and you want the internal temp to rise to about 150 degrees.  Again this is for cooking it medium. Cook for less time if you want it more rare.

8. slice & serve!

*** I took the Juices from the Roast Beef and mixed them with a couple of teaspoons of Coconut flour to make a yummy gravy!

Enjoy!
~ Your Long Lost Friend,
Nicki Peet, RN  ( sorry that's the first time I got to write my name that way, I had to throw the RN in there)

Nicki Peet's Favorite Paella

Coconut Curry Paella

Nothing says summer time like a gorgeous medley of seafood!  What is your favorite part of a good Paella dish?  My favorite Paella is at Ola on the post road in Orange.  I usually end up wasting half of it though after picking out the rice and my least favorite seafood...scallops ( i'll eat them wrapped in bacon though)..  In nicer restaraunts its almost as if the staff gets offended if you try and ask for a dish with-out something like the main part of the dish (rice).  I was at bistro basque with a group of friends last year and one friend asked if he could get the Paella without the rice (obviously a Paleo friend, who may or may not own crossfit milford) and the waiter looked at him like he was a crazy person. He quickly changed his mind and ordered something else. Why not make this delicious dish at home and put whatever the heck you want in it??  My Paella consists of shrimp, clams, chicken, spicy chorizo sausage, and spinach ( not my favorite thing but had to throw a bit of color in there).  I got the idea for this from a recipe on paleodietlifestyle.com.  It was a recipe for a coconut curried shrimp and spinach, and I thought it would be pretty amazing with a bunch of different proteins mixed in.
here is the recipe from paleo diet lifestyle for curried shrimp & spinach, I made basically the same exact sauce.
If you don't like seafood, this coconut curry sauce would be pretty delicious on just about anything, you can do just chicken and spinach, or maybe throw some sirloin strips in there.  As T.I would say " You could have whatever you likeee" ( I don't know much about rap but I do know that song...don't judge)

You will need: ( this is going to be a long one)
- one dozen little neck clams
-1/2 pound of shrimp (deveined/tails removed)
- 2 small chicken breast cutlets
-1/2 package of spicy chorizo sausage ( I got mine at whole foods already cooked--I usually buy the uncooked chorizo there, but they only had a mango chorizo today)  Find it right in front of the butcher counter at whole foods.

- about 1/2 bag of spinach ( or 2-3 tightly packed cups)
- 4 tbs coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 of a 6 oz. can of tomato paste


You can get these both @ stop & shop

- 2 tsp curry powder
-1/2 cup  diced onions
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 small basil leaves
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- 3 tbs olive oil
- sea salt & pepper for taste

Phew, I think thats all the ingredients

** this should feed about 4 people


1. First I steamed the clams, in a medium sized sauce pan add olive oil, clove of garlic, basil leaves, and white wine.  Let simmer for about 2 minutes on med/high heat.  Then add your well washed little neck clams. Cover and let steam for about 8 minutes or until all clams are opened.  If after about ten minutes there are some that haven't opened throw them away that means they are no good.  If you are tired of cooking after this step then you can just eat the clams this way because they are yummmy in a white wine sauce. Take off heat and leave covered and set aside for later.

2. heat 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large skillet. Add onion and sautee for about 3 minutes. 

3. Add curry powder to this mixture. sautee for another minute or two. -- while that is cooking, add tomato paste and coconut milk to blender or food processor.  After onions begin to soften add the onion/curry/coconut oil mixture to the blender. Blend until mixture is smooth.

I know, doesn't look so appetizing here

4. Leave mixture in food processor for now, and add two more table spoons coconut oil to the same skillet you used for the onions.  Heat for a minute then add your chicken cut into small chunks.  Let that cook by itself for about 2 minutes stirring frequently, then add the shrimp.

5. Sautee chicken and shrimp for another 2 minutes then add your Coconut curry sauce to the meat.
6. After that you can then add your sliced chorizo & clams to the mixture.  I added about 1/2 of the broth from steaming the clams as well.
7. Finally add the spinach, simmer mixture over medium high heat stirring freqently for about 5 more minutes or until the chicken & shrimp is cooked all the way through.


And there you have it, Nicki Peet's Favorite Paella.  Of course change this to add all of your favorite things.

Enjoy!

Bacon Smothered Meatloaf

I always hated meatloaf.  I don't think I really ever tried it due to the fact it has the word "loaf" in it. I decided I might try and start calling it a Meat Brick, as cool as that sounds, I didn't think it would exactly lure in my blog readers. Anyway, as I got older I decided to give meatloaf a shot, I mean what could be better than a bunch of ground beef with some BBQ sauce or Kethcup mixed in.  Oh, That's right, the only thing better is a bunch of ground beef with homemade "clean" BBQ sauce, smothered in BACON.  I made my own BBQ sauce for the meatloaf, I used almost the same recipe as I had posted a few months ago, I'll post the exact recipe I used in this case.

You will need:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 clove garlic
-1/2 cup onions--or more if your an onion lover
-  1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil-- for a nice moist loaf...(thats what she said)
-1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 cup homemade BBQ sauce
- enough bacon to SMOTHER the meatloaf

For the BBQ sauce:
- 1  6 oz can of tomato paste(no sodium added)
- 1 1/4 cup no sodium added beef stock
- 2-3 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
-1/4 tsp chipolte powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbs dijon mustard
- 1 small shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 1-2 tbs olive oil
- salt & pepper for taste

To make the sauce, I first sauteed the garlic and diced shallot in the olive oil, after 5 minutes I added the rest of the ingredients and stirred over a medium heat until you have a nice smooth sauce.  Use one cup in the meat loaf, and use save the rest to serve ontop of the meatloaf.

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 350, mix all of the ingredients except the bacon in a bowl, mix it thoroughly with hands.  Then put meat in a baking dish, I used this instead of a loaf pan to make it cook faster ( is it even called a loaf pan?? thats such a silly word to me)

Then totally cover the top with strips of bacon

Put in the oven for 40 minutes then turn on the broiler and leave in the oven for 4 more minutes to crisp up the bacon..yes four minutes exactly is what worked for me, another minute and I probably would have had burnt bacon. No Bueno.

Top it with BBQ sauce and  serve it with your favorite veggie, I had spinach sauteed in coconut oil, and I tossed in some walnuts for a little crunch, the texture of cooked spinach gets to me sometimes.

I didn't notice that nice chip in the plate until right now.  Ooops.

Enjoy!

Crab Cakes

This recipe is also from Sarah at every day paleo.  The roasted red pepper mayo I posted yesterday was for these delicious crab cakes!  Who doesn't love some fried seafood in the summer time!  These were actually really simple to make.  The red pepper mayo was the tricky part, if you make your own mayo like I did, but at least you can make the mayo ahead of time so its ready for dipping when you make these little crabby cakes.  Here is the link to the every day paleo recipe crab cakes

you will need:
- 1 lb crab meat- sarah suggested using the canned crab meat from trader joes so that's what I did, you can use fresh crab meat if you'd like.
- 2 tbs of chopped chives- recipe called for red onion but I like chives better
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- sea salt and pepper for taste
- 1 egg
- 2 tbs coconut flour
- 1/8 teaspoon of chipolte powder
- 2 tablespoons paleo mayo recipe here -- the plain mayo not the red pepper mayo
- I also added about 1/4 shredded carrots- you can leave this out, I just had it left over and thought it would make a nice addition
- 3-4 tbs coconut oil for frying

1. mix crab meat ( break apart with hands to make sure there is no shell), chives, garlic, salt, pepper, coconut flour, chipolte powder, carrots, and mayo.

2. heat coconut oil in frying pan
3. form mixture into small cakes, toss in frying pan, fry on each side for about 2-3 minutes or until brown on both sides.



Even sponge bob likes these crabby patties

I served my crab cakes over raw spinach, the red pepper mayo is enough you don't need any dressing or oil, but you can service them however you like!

For those who didn't see yesterday, to make the red pepper mayo dipping sauce for these crab cakes, I just put about 1/2 cup roasted red peppers in the food processor with a tsp of garlic, pureed it and folded it into the Paleo Mayo recipe.  Thanks to Sarah from Every Day Paleo for all of these yummy recipes and ideas!

Enjoy!

The Art of Mayo Making

I have finallllly mastered the Art of Making homemade mayo!  It took about 3 attempts and a bunch of wasted olive oil and time, but after watching this video from Sarah at every day paleo, it made it much easier! 

  If you decide to make your own mayo know that it will take at least 10-15 minutes.  All the recipes I followed said slowly add olive oil to blender while blending.  They aren't kidding, you have to drop in the olive oil drop by drop at first (with 2 cups this takes a while).  My first few batches failed because I added the oil too quickly and it just was a watery mess.  I would say at least the first ten minutes you should be adding the oil in drop by drop, then once the mayo starts to emulsify, you can add a slow stream, it will eventually thicken and get a mayo texture.  Another tip I learned from this recipe from every day paleo is to actually use a lower quality olive oil.  You want to go to stop and shop and get a plain old olive oil, no extra virgin.  The extra virgin has a really potent taste, I used extra virgin on my last attempt and I couldn't stand the smell when I was trying to make it.
Also, she put a fun twists on her mayo recipe, you can turn it into dips, dressings, any other flavorful condiments.  I made a plain mayo and a roasted red pepper mayo that Sarah also posted on her site.  I'm very excited to now have my own "paleo" mayo to make chicken salad with! here is the every day paleo blog for this recipe click here for blog
 Ok here it is:

What you will need
- 2 cups of olive oil
- 2 eggs ( on the every day paleo site it shows how to pasteurize your own eggs if you are worried about salmonella)-- but using good quality farm fresh eggs pretty much eliminates your chances of getting sick from this.
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. add eggs, vinegar, and mustard to blender.  Blend alone for about 30 seconds.

2. keep blender running on low and SLOWLY drip in olive oil drip by drip until the mixture starts to emulsify.  It is very tedious and time consuming, but if you add it too fast the mixture will get ruined.  It took about 10 minutes for my mixture to start to emulsify, and then I added the oil with a slow pour.  Be patient.
3. Once all the oil and your mixture is creamy and thick, you can turn off the blender and add mixture to a small dish. 

4. then add the cayenne pepper and sea salt

I then split the mixture into two dishes, one I kept plain and one I made into a roasted red pepper mayo for a dish I was making for dinner(that recipe will be posted tomorrow)

For that I put roasted red pepper and garlic in the food processor, blended it up and then folded it into the mayo.  This could be use for a veggie dip, sauce, condiments, sea food, etc.  Another idea I want to try is a sundried tomato & basil mayo, maybe a pesto dip, you can basically add any spices, herbs, or flavors that you want!



Spice it up

Two things I've been eating a little too frequently, my coconut crusted chicken recipe and chicken salad.  These are two things I prepare on sunday or monday so I have a few days worth of mindless lunch and dinner.  I really enjoy both of these things, but sometimes you just need to spice it up a little.  These aren't really recipes but here's two things I did this week to spice up my food a bit. 




Coconut Crusted Chicken w/mango salsa

 I make a bunch of "chicken cutlets" and leave them plain, that way if I eat it a few days in a row I can switch between salsa, marinara, different veggies or whatever I feel like having on it.
To make the chicken cutlets I dip thin sliced chicken breast in egg, then "bread" them in a mixture of unsweetened coconut and flaxseed meal, I then brown them on both sides in coconut oil, and then bake them covered for about 15 minutes at 350 to keep the moisture in.

You can find my Mango Salsa here. (scroll to the bottom of the page)  The salsa and coconut chicken was a reallllly yummy/summery/refreshing combination.

For lunch today I made my self some cute little edible chicken salad bowls.

I usually just eat chicken salad out of the container or wrap it up in lettuce, but if you slice one pepper(find a nice round one) into four pieces they make perfect little dishes that you can eat the chicken salad with.  It adds a nice little spice to your same old lunch.  I made this chicken salad with chicken breast, walnuts,  shredded carrots, and olive oil mayo ( not paleo, I know, not the best, I know, but I haven't successfully made my own mayo and I only use a little bit ..ok?)  For a lot of people lunch seems to be the most difficult to prepare for because most people associate lunch time with sandwiches, chips, soups, etc.  These little guys kinda make you feel like your eating a sandwich, just a littttttle crunchier.  They are even easy to eat in the car! Trust me, I tried it out today, it was way less messy then trying to eat my spaghetti squash egg bake on the road this morning.  I'm not even that busy , I don't know why I ate breakfast and lunch while driving. Anyway, I know I get way too excited about silly things like salsa and red pepper "bowls".  Hope you enjoy a couple new ways to spice up your food.

Coconut Crusted Chicken w/ Spinach Marinara

I just got back from Deadlift Tuesday at CFM.  After Strength days i'm always ravenous, so I needed something fairly quick yet satisfying for dinner tonight.  This recipe is basically the same as my chicken parm recipe, but I added some sauteed spinach to the sauce and left out the "parm".  It was really delicious so I just thought i'd share.  I even liked the spinach, sometimes cooked spinach  grosses me out a little, maybe the texture it gets after cooking it in coconut oil, or maybe because its not the pasta I would prefer to have with chicken parm, or maybe because I ate it almost every day for lunch while doing my clinical rotations at the hospital because it was the only decent thing I could get there.  But when it was all mixed up with the sauce and the chicken it was much tastier. 

You will need:
- 1 egg
- 4-6 thin sliced chicken breasts
-1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
-1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
-1/4 cup flax seed meal-- you can leave this out and just add more coconut if you want
- 1 jar of your favorite marinara ( unless you are feeling ambitious and want to make your own--certainly not the case for me today)
- 1 bag of spinach
- 2 tbsp coconut oil- 1 tbsp for frying the chicken and 1 for sauteeing the spinach

*** sorry friends my hands were covered in egg and coconut so I didn't get to take any pictures along the way, just the final product. Forgive me, okthanks.

1. preheat oven to 350
2. beat egg and heavy cream in a bowl
3. add coconut and flaxseed meal to a plate
4. melt coconut oil in frying pan
5. dip chicken breasts in egg, then coat in the coconut/flaxseed mixture, toss in frying pan.
6. cook about 1-1 1/2 mins on each side ( just until slightly browned on the outside) then add to a baking dish.
7.sautee spinach in melted coconut oil, add jar of marinara to that.  Dump over chicken in the baking dish, cover it with foil, and throw it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

 Enjoy!