Primal Rib Sexiness with Coleslaw

My husband knows I love him.  There are a few key words that just make him swoon like steak, and ribs being two.  Ribs...pork ribs....

I found this recipe from Paleo Spirit, their dry rubbed barbecue pork ribs.  It tortured me all day in the oven, smelling up my house with yummy deliciousness.  The barbecue sauce for this recipe was so simple, and so good if it were my recipe I'd consider bottling it up and selling it.  Really I had no idea that when you make your own barbecue sauce it just tastes better than anything in a bottle.

I did however come up with the coleslaw that we had with it.  It was also primal, and so very simple.

First, get a bag of already pre-chopped coleslaw mix.  Toss out the dressing they put in it, because it's likely soybean oil, and high fructose corn syrup.

In a measuring cup put in the follow:

• 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 3 tbsp. of mayo (home made if you have it)
• 1 tbsp. of honey
• sprinkle of paprika
• sprinkle of celery seed
• salt and pepper to taste

Stir all that in your measuring cup, then pour it over your already cut cabbage and enjoy.  I think the only bad side about last nights dinner....was that one rack of ribs just wasn't enough.  We wanted more.

Have a great weekend!

Primal Chocolate Ice-Pops

My daughter has been pestering me for chocolate ice pops, and I couldn't find any recipe that looked good to me.  I have issues with using raw eggs to get a creamy smooth texture, especially since bananas do it so well, and sweeten things a bit, too.  So I threw this together, and it was super good, and even the kids in the neighborhood liked it.  If you're not doing milk, a can of high fat coconut milk would be a good substitute for all the milk and cream.

Directions:

• 3/4 cup of milk 
• 1/2 whole cream
• 3 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 banana
• 2 tbsp honey
• a dash of cinnamon
• a sprinkle of salt

1. Put everything in a blender, and mix it well.
2. Freeze for at least two hours.
3. Enjoy!!

Primal Morrocan Lamb Meatballs

I recently signed my family up for a meat CSA at this awesome farm out here in Maryland.  We're getting fresh good, grass fed beef and lamb.  We're also getting free range chicken from them.  It's all so good.  As with vegetable CSA's though it makes us break out of our shells when it comes to what we eat.  Ground lamb was the focus of this experiment, we hadn't had ground lamb very often before so we weren't really sure what to do with it.

I found this recipe on Lava Lamb's website and tweaked it just a bit, only because I didn't have everything I needed to make it just like they did. It was amazing, so I'm sharing my version of it here.  It was a hit.   Even the kids asked for seconds.

Here's the recipe:


Meatballs:

• 2lbs of ground lamb
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. powdered coriander seed
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Sauce:

• a little olive oil
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp. powdered coriander seed
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 2 diced tomatoes (I used two romas from the garden)
• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cup water

How to mix it all up:

1. Combine the spices in a bow, then throw in the ground lamb and mix it all up.  Then roll the meat into small meatballs and lay them on a plate while you make the sauce.
2. In a large sauce pan, drizzle enough oil to cover the chopped onion and sauté until it gets tender.  Then add the garlic and sauté for a few more minutes.
3. Add the spices for the sauce and stir briefly, then pour in the water and the tomatoes.  Once it's well mixed in the pan, add the tomato paste and stir.
4. Once the sauce begins to bubble, place all the meat balls in the sauce.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Enjoy with your favorite side. We chose steamed cauliflower.

Primal Strawberry Jam

A few months ago for my I made some honey biscuits as a special birthday treat.  When Danielle, the author of Against all Grain pictured with a side of jam, I knew I had the perfect compliment sitting in my fridge.

I've been making and canning my own jams for a few years, and initially I canned with traditional sugar methods.  However after committing to a primal lifestyle, I've swapped the sugar for honey.  This is still a temporary treat, and I'm currently working on a low sugar recipe.  Once that is perfected, I will be posting that as well.  You won't miss any sweetness with this recipe, and it spreads so wonderfully.

Ingredients:

4 cups of organic strawberries (or pick your favorite berry, any will do!)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 package of powdered pectin (I use Pomona)
1 cup of honey

Put the berries and lemon juice COLD in a saucepan.  While still cold (COLD!) mix the pectin, juice and berries.  Now turn on the burner on high, and stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil.  Add the honey and stir again until it gets to a boil that cannot be stirred down.  Now start your timer for about 10 minutes, and stir slowly the whole time.

Ladle the jam into half pint canning jars.  This recipe may be put directly into the fridge, where it can be kept for a few weeks.  If you choose to process them (which I would recommend), sterilize your jars beforehand (10 minutes in boiling vinegar water), and ladle the jam into them.  Leave about 1/4-1/2 inch head room and process for 5 minutes.  (Note you will need to increase the boiling process time if you live in a higher elevation, please check government standards).

Enjoy!!

Menu Plan

Hubs is doing great on his final stretch of his 21 day challenge. He'll be finished this Saturday, and can move into phase two. He's lost about 15 pounds in these two weeks...makes me kind of sick honestly. I don't think I lost 15 pounds in two weeks. In his two weeks, I've lost 2 pounds...but then again, I've been at this for months. The last few pounds is the hardest.

Mike has also gotten to the point where he's skipping meals.  Lunch will often be a handful of nuts, or a protein shake.  As suggested in the primal diet, 3 square meals are not always happening.  We eat when we're hungry, and if we're not hungry...we just don't eat.  Dinner is the fun meal, we get creative and try new recipes.  On the weekends, we experiment with breakfast and since beginning on Saturday hubs won't be on the 21 day challenge any more we can try some sweeter things.

Monday:
Breakfast: Eggs and diced ham
Lunch: Protein/Electrolyte Shake
Dinner: Steak and Mushrooms

Tuesday:
Lunch: Chicken Salad
Dinner: Out--  Daughter has an audition this night!!

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Walnut Porridge
Dinner: Pulled Pork

Thursday:
Breakfast: Primal Cereal
Lunch:
Dinner: Chicken Pot Pie

Friday:
Dinner: Primal Chili

Saturday:
Breakfast: Vanilla Pancakes
Dinner: Out!!

Sunday:
Dinner: Chicken Tikka Masala

For more awesome menu plans, primal or otherwise look here

Strawberry Yogurt Pops

We had a heat wave the other week.  Not spring weather at all.  The kids were hot and I felt miserable.  Here's a sweet treat I made to cool us all off.

I dug out my small little bullet type blender out of one of our boxes, and made just the right amount of our ice cream popsicle things I got from Ikea the other day.  Here's my recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup of full fat greek yogurt.

Place all your ingredients into a blender.  Blend the crap out of them, then pour them into your reusable ice pop makers.    Freeze them for about an hour.

Then give them to your kids, and have one for yourself too.  :)

Pizza Soup - Kid Friendly Primal Soup

Today was one of those days where I just threw what I had in the fridge in the pot, and hoped it came out well.  The kids loved this soup, drank it from their bowls until they couldn't suck down anymore.  This recipe was enough to feed a family of four easily.

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground pork
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 2 cans of water (use the empty tomato can)
• a bunch of celery
• 1 small zucchini
• 1/4 tsp sage
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 roasted pepper

Directions:

1. In a stock pot, brown the ground pork with the sage, and garlic.  
2. When the meat is cooked thoroughly, add the can of tomatoes.  Use the empty tomato can and add two more cans of water.  You can also use stock if you have some on hand.  I didn't.
3. Cut up a small bunch of celery, in tiny bite size pieces and toss them in.  Let this bit simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. After it's been simmering for 20 minutes, add the zucchini and a small bit of roasted pepper (I had some in a jar).  Simmer for another 20 minutes. 
5. Enjoy!

This is really good with a sprinkle of cheese on top if your diet allows for that.  That's why my kids named this pizza soup.  :)