Super Yummy and Healthy Paleo Korean Beef!

Paleo Korean Beef

(Picture to come, my family ate it too fast :))

Based on the recipe from Six Sisters Stuff

Ok, it is super hard to mess this up. I don't measure at all. I just throw things in. I am giving measurements but they are just general guidelines. And ingredients can be left or substituted with few ill effects. It is a very forgiving recipe. I also make large batches if you want less, use less.

This recipe is gluten free, wheat free, soy free, dairy free, peanut free, shellfish free, paleo, sugar free, allergen friendly, nut free, egg free, and with a few modifications could be AIP

Ingredients:

3 lb ground beef (other ground meats would  probably work too, I have mixed in puréed liver before and no one noticed, the flavor is strong enough to cover a variety of meats)
1 can crushed pineapple
1/4 c coconut aminos or soy sauce substitute, or soy sauce if you can have soy
1/4 c blackstrap molasses
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
1 T sesame oil
1 t ginger
1-3 T of salt to taste
1 t red pepper flakes (optional, I never use it, but add it if you like spice)

Cabbage rice, cauliflower rice, or brown or white rice
2-3 lbs vegetables of your choice (I use cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. whatever I have on hand) or a bag or two of slaw mix
1-2 c roasted salted nuts or seeds of your choice (I have used sunflower seeds, almonds, and peanuts). (Optional, but optional, trust me if you can eat them it's worth it, it makes this meal 10x better! :))
Lettuce leaves (optional) big enough for lettuce wraps. Romaine works well for this.


Directions:

1. If using brown rice start cooking now
2. Brown ground beef
3. Add pineapple (including juice), aminos, molasses, and spices
4. Let simmer for a while for flavors to mix
5. If using veggie or white rice start cooking now
6. Shred vegetables, I use my food processor with the shredding attachment.
7. Chop nuts/seeds (I use my food processor for this too)
8. Serve beef over rice with vegetables on top and nuts on top. Put in lettuce leaves for lettuce wraps.


Verdict:

Amazing! This is one of my family's favorite meals. My kids gobble it up vegetables and all. The flavor on the the meat is amazing and it flavors everything well. The vegetables and nuts add a great crunch. I have also served this at family parties and everyone loved it and begged for the recipe. And it is healthy! No sugar, no soy, allergen friendly!

Friday Fascinations 2 - Olympics Linky Party - Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew

Thank you to everyone who linked up to My First Linky Party! There was a lot of great posts linked up. You can find some of them at My First Linky Party Features.

This week I thought it would be fun to see all the projects that people did for the Olympics. Kind of an Olympics recap party.

My husband is a huge Olympics fan. I am not so much a fan. I don't like sports at all (Mr. Random doesn't usually like sports either but the Olympics is the exception for him) We like to enjoy things together as much as possible so I planned to contribute to the Olympic celebration in my way. I had planned to make meals from different countries several times throughout the Olympics times. I even made a special Olympics board on Pinterest for this project. As it turned out I didn't have time to make as much as I wanted to. There was one recipe that to me was my Olympics recipe. I knew that I had to  make it at some point during the Olympics. That recipe was Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew. I don't know why this recipe stood out to me so much, but it did so I did end up making it. I had decided that I did not want to spend a lot of money on special spices that I would never use again. This recipe called for two spices I didn't have and am pretty sure I have no need of, garam masala and yellow curry powder. So I got on google and did some research. I found a recipe substitute for garam masala and one for curry powder (couldn't find yellow curry powder) and I improvised from there.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs of beef, cut in cubes (I used what I had in the freezer)
Olive Oil
1-2 c carrots chopped
The original recipe called for onions, I didn't use any because I can't stand onions
Garlic, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, chili powder, ground pepper, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg (Sorry, I don't have exact measurements for any of these. I just sprinkled on a generous portion of each of , I used a double portion of cumin and coriander because they were in both spice recipes)
1 can tomato paste
Enough water to fill the crockpot
1 can chick peas (drained and rinsed)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c chopped dried apricots
1/4 c slivered almonds (toast in oven for 3-5 minutes)
Cilantro leaves if you have them (garnish)


Directions:
The night before, or the morning before saute beef over medium heat in olive oil. Cook thoroghly then remove from pan.
Add carrots and garlic (and onions if using). Saute. Add spices and tomato paste. Stir to combine.
Add beef, carrot mixture, and water to slow cooker.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Stir in chick peas, raisins, and apricots. Cook for 1 more hour.
Toast almonds in oven. Serve with rice. Sprinkle almonds and cilantro on top.


Verdict:
It was ok. Not the greatest thing ever. To be honest even with all those spices it was a little bland. Definitely needed some salt. I accidentally cooked the fruit way too long so it got really mushy, i don't know if that part would have been any better. The meat was not bad with salt, rice, and the toasted almonds (they actually did add a lot to the dish). The carrots had a slightly weird flavor and the broth was plain. It smelled better than it tasted. Bottom line, I probably won't make this again, but if I do I would add a lot of salt and make sure not to overcook the fruit. It was worth a try and we did end up eating all the meat, but probably won't happen again.

What did you make for the Olympics? Did it turn out good?



Olympics Linky Party

The rules:

•  Posts can include anything to do with the Olympics from a craft you did to thoughts on Olympic athletes to recipes. The recipes can be specifically Olympics or just recipes from other countries. If you associate it with the Olympics link it up. Once again I am fine with linking up linky parties and advertising/giveaways as long as it is Olympics related and you identify it as what it is when linking it up.
• Please follow me in some way. If you absolutely hate my blog then of course don't follow it, but if you hate it should you really be linking up? (I leave that for you to answer :) There are several ways to follow me offered on the right sidebar.
• Link up directly to the post, not your home page.
• By linking up you are giving me permission to feature your post including but not limited to pictures and quotes from your post, and also to feature your post in my various social media outlets.
• This is a family friendly, christian blog. I reserve the right to remove a link to any content that I find offensive or not compatible with this blog, with or without notice.
• Please add a backlink or my button to your blog or post somewhere. You can find my buttons on the left sidebar.
• Please check out some of the other links and leave some love in some way (comment, pin, follow, etc.)

Linked Up To:
Cornerstone Confessions, Claiming Our Space, Frugal Girls, Blissful and Domestic,  A Pinch of Joy, Addicted to Recipes, My Favorite Finds,

Quick and Easy Lasagne

Do you love lasagne? Do you wish it was easier to make so you could have it more often? Do you wish that you could decide at 4 that you would like to have lasagne tonight and have it on the table by 5:30? If so then I have the perfect recipe for you! I love lasagne and I have a great recipe that is super easy to make it. And yes the last question was an actual occurrence. A couple weeks ago I decided at 4 that I wanted lasagne for diner. We had to leave for something at 6 so we needed to be done eating by then. I had this whipped up and ready to eat by 5:30! That's how easy this recipe is. The baking takes the most time (especially if you use prebrowned meat!) so you can work on other things while it is cooking. Would you like to give it a try? Here you go.

Quick and Easy Lasagne

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagne noodles
• 1 lb ground beef or sausage (I use ground beef, I just prefer the flavor. And of course I use my prebrowned meat)
• Spagetti Sauce
• 1 carton cottage cheese
• 1T parsley
• 1T oregano
• 1/4 c parmesan cheese
• 8-16 oz mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook noodles according to package instructions
3. Brown and drain meat (or thaw frozen prebrowned meat) add spagetti sauce
4. Mix cottage cheese, parsley, oregano, and parmesan cheese
5. Spread 1/5 sauce mixture in bottom of big casserole pan
6. Top with (layered)  1/4 box of noodles, 1/5 sauce mixture 1/4 cottage cheese mixture , 1/4 bag mozzarella cheese.
7. Repeat 3 more times times.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and Bake for 30 miutes
9. Take off alumium foil and bake for 15 minutes
10. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes

Verdict:
Love this recipe. So yummy and so easy! You can serve it with garlic bread (brush some butter on any kind of bread you have, sprinkle on garlic and salt, bake for a few minutes at 350) This is also a great freezer meal because it is even better if you let it sit for a while and let the flavors combine. I always make a big pan of it and we eat it for several days If we have extra I freeze a couple of portions for easy meals later.

Linking up to:
Nap Time Crafters, While He Was Napping, Cornerstone Confessions, A Pinch of Joy, Addicted to Recipes, My Favorite Finds,

How to save time (and money, sorta): By Prebrowning Meat

I have the most wonderful Husband in the world! (There are many reasons that I believe that, but today I will share just one :) He browns meat for me. I (for some strange reason completely unknown to me) hate browning meat. Hate it. Maybe it is because you spend a decent amount of time standing there cooking something that is not even remotely impressive, and it is not even a meal of it's own. Maybe it is because I have so many other things to do that I hate to spend so much time on this small fraction of the meal I am making. Maybe it is because generally the rest of the ingredients take far less prep, so if I didn't have to brown the meat I could throw the meal together in less than 10 minutes and then do something else while it cooks, but no, I have to stand here browning meat. I don't know, whatever the reason, I hate browning meat. Fortunately I have the most wonderful husband in the world (as previously stated) and he will actually spend several hours once every couple of months (or whenever we run out of browned meat) browning up large batches of meat for me. He started doing this when I was pregnant and on couch rest (I could throw a couple ingredients together but I wasn't supposed to stand there cooking) and the smell of cooking (and raw) meat was bothering me. He has since continued this because he is as previously mentioned the most wonderful husband in the world (and possibly also because it means I cook some of his favorite dishes more often, but mostly I think it is because he doesn't mind it, I hate it, and it makes my job of cooking sooo much easier, like I said, awesome husband award happening here!)

Anyways on to the main point of this post. How to Save time (lots of time) (and sanity) (and money) by prebrowning meat.

Supplies:
Meat (I use hamburger, chicken, and sausage regularly)
Skillet (I (i.e. my husband) use an electric skillet because we think it is easiest, use what is best for you)
Several Spoons
Plates/Bowls for Browned Meat (lined with paper towels to catch the grease and drippings)
Ziplock freezer bags (I use quart size, for 1 lb increments)


Directions:
If the meat needs to be cut up do this first (or do it while you are browning the other meat if possible). My husband is as aforementioned awesome, so he cuts up the chicken into bite sized pieces before he browns it.
Brown your meat. You can either do 1 lb at a time, or brown several lbs at once and then split it into 1 lb increments (if you brown 4 lbs at once split the meat in 1/4ths) I always package it in 1 lb increments because almost all of my recipes call for 1lb of meat. If you need larger or smaller quantities package accordingly. We (he) use several spoons because we have one spoon for the cooked ground beef and a couple for the uncooked/cooking ground beef to avoid cross contamination.
If you are doing more than 1 type of meat in the same day wash the skillet out between the different types of meat.
We place the meat on a plate or in a bowl to let it cool down a little bit before putting in in the ziplock, this also helps by draining the grease on paper towels.
Package the meat up and put in the freezer. Make sure you mark the packages well. Trust me, it is very difficult to tell ground beef from sausage in a frozen state.
When you are making a meal that calls for that particular meat browned, pull a package out of the freezer and dump it in.
Easy as Pie! (I never understood that phrase, pie is definitely not easy to make, it is easy to eat though, maybe that it the idea?)

Oh and the way this save you money is that you can buy the big packages of meat at the grocery store since you will be browning them all at once. The big packages of meat generally cost less than the individual size packages. You can also stock up when meat is on sale and use this method to store it in easy to use packages.

I always save a couple of packages of raw meat (frozen in individual packages) for the ocasional recipe that doesn't ask for browned meat (hamburgers, a recipe that uses whole chicken pieces, etc) I usually need more raw chicken than other meat.

Conclusion:
Pure awesomeness! (Both my husband and the idea of having prebrowned meat in the freezer that I can just dump into a soup, or casserole, or whatever) This suggestion saves me so much time when cooking meals. I really really appreciate having the prebrowned meat available (In case you can't tell :)

 
Sorry I don't have pictures of the process. Here is a picture of the 3 type of meat after they are frozen in individual bags.

What type of meat would you love to have prebrowned in your freezer?




Linked Up To:
While He Was Napping, Clean and Scentsible, Uncommon, Cornerstone Confessions, Serendipity and Spice, A Pinch of Joy, Addicted to Recipes, My Favorite Finds, Shaken Together,

Guest Post - Bacon Meatballs

Today is the day that I am trading Guest Posts with Mamal Diane. Enjoy her Delicious recipe and hop over to her blog to check out my post!


Hi my name is Diane from Mamal Diane ~ keeping it simple. I am trying to live a more natural simple life. I like to share recipes, gardening tips, frugal ideas, , and of course brag about my grand kids. Stop over and visit sometime. Thank you Randomly Fascinated for letting me be a guest host and share my recipe with you and your followers.

Today I want to share a recipe for Bacon Meatballs (adapted from Cuisine for less). It's a great recipe to make in bulk, the meatballs freeze well.   

You'll need:  
6 strips bacon, diced  
1/2 cup diced onion  
3 cloves minced garlic  
1 1/2 pound ground beef chuck  
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs  
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley  
1 tsp paprika  
1 tsp sea salt  
1 tsp black pepper  
2 eggs beaten

Preheat the oven 400 F.

Coat a broiler pan with oil.


Brown diced bacon in a fry pan until starting to crisp.


Remove and drain on paper towel.


Pour off all but 1 Tbsp bacon fat. Saute onion in same skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes, add garlic cook 1 minute.


Combine ground meat, bacon with onion and garlic in a large bowl.


Add bread crumbs


Add fresh minced parsley.


Add paprika, salt and pepper.


In a small bowl beat 2 eggs. That's my cooking partner Katie she's 3 1/2 and loves to help her Mamal with anything and everthing.


Add eggs to beef mixture.


Mix. Form into 1 1/2 inch meat balls. Lay on broiler pan.


Bake meatballs until fully cooked about 12 - 14 minutes.


You can make a double batch and always have meatballs on hand. Just freeze on a baking sheet then transfer into a container or plastic bag. Freeze until you need them. Nice to have on hand for an easy meal.

I want to thank Randomly Fascinated for giving me the opportunity to guest host on her blog. I can't wait to see what Mrs. Random has for us next on Domestic Randomness. Stop by Mamal Diane and visit, maybe check out a recipe or two. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter. Have a wonderful day :)