Manly Texas Style No-Bean Chili - Paleo friendly!

This Chili is a staple in our household. Not only is it my husband's favorite, but about 20 minutes of prep work and a large slow cooker, turn this into 10+ meals for us. It is full of cliche "man-friendly" ingredients! Not only do the bold flavors come from things like Beer and Black Coffee, but it is put-hair-on-your-chest spicy! (Which can be adjusted to taste of course...)

Now, I sometimes cheat with this recipe to make it a convenience food which may take away some of the strict "Paleo-ness" of it, but if you have more patience than I do, feel free to go all the way natural and dice your tomatoes and things fresh from scratch... I'll give you my quick and easy version and the more strictly Paleo instructions I started with.

What you'll need:

4 Pounds of Ground Beef (or turkey, bison, venison, pork, pastured unicorn, whatever your preference!)

3 Large Cans (28oz each) of Diced Tomatoes (To be safe, make sure you read the ingredients and get ones that do not have added sugars or other questionable ingredients. If you really want to be safe, you can peel and dice your own tomatoes. You'll need about 6-8 cups.

1 bottle of Gluten Free Beer. I use Omission since it has a slightly stronger flavor than many of your watery GF beers.

Black Coffee. About a 1/2 - 1 Cup. It doesn't have to be super fresh or hot, just STRONG. I typically use whatever remained in my french press from my morning coffee.

1 small (7oz) can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce. If you don't like REALLY spicy foods, reduce this to about half the can. Be careful to read the ingredients on this as well. Many of these end up with added soy products, sugar, MSG etc, so if you are sticking strictly to Paleo, you may prefer just using your own fresh or dried chipotle peppers.

1 Onion - either sweet or red works best for me

3-4 cloves fresh garlic

Juice from 1 fresh lime

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar, 2-4 tsp Chili Powder & 1tsp Ground Cumin 

OR.... (and this is my favorite quick substitute if you have access....)

Instead of the dry spices and vinegar, substitute about half a bottle of Trader Joes Chili Pepper sauce. (Adjust  the amount for your preferred level of spice.) It does have a SMALL amount of added sugar listed in the ingredients, so this is a Paleo compromise, but considering that this is a few tablespoons of sauce with a *little* sugar that is going into a 6.5 qt slow cooker, I don't loose much sleep over this.












Now that you have all the stuff, let's talk technique.

1. Start with the onions. I find the flavor of the chili works best when I sauté my onions first, but I've never been a big fan of overly strong onion flavor. So I chop my onion finely and throw them in the pan with a little olive oil until they get to a nice caramelized brown color.
2. Toss the sautéed onion, tomatoes, garlic, and chipotle peppers into a blender or food processor to get a smooth consistency. If you prefer chunky chili, you can skip this step for the tomatoes and onion, but I would still suggest processing your garlic and peppers.
3. Pour the blended onion, tomato, garlic, and chipotle mixture into your slow cooker.
4. Add the Lime Juice, Beer and Coffee. Stir together and turn it on High Heat to get it cooking. This is the base of your chili.
5. Now for the meat! Brown your meat in the same pan you used to sauté your onions. I also add a little salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, but this is optional. Drain off some of the liquid and add to the chili sauce.
6. Let it sit and cook a while! 

Really, your chili is edible within about 3-4 hours of cooking on high. But here is the secret to REALLY good chili.... It is always better the next day. I usually turn it down to low after the first few hours and let ours cook over night. You will dream of chili as that scent fills your house!

My favorite thing about this chili is it's versatility. It can be eaten as a meal all on it's own or as a compliment to other foods. It does very well in the freezer, so we usually divide it up into individual containers for an easily transportable lunch. My husband who does not stick to Paleo likes to eat his with some cheese, sour cream, and Tortilla chips. I love mine over riced cauliflower, or served over a plate of sweet potato fries! But get creative and enjoy!

Paleo Swedish Meatballs Were a Hit!

I'm afraid I didn't come up with this one, but I must give credit where it's due!

I am not one to follow a recipe... I'll allow one to inspire me, but for better or worse I can't leave them be and I must try something different to tweak it. Tonight though, I took a chance. I tried something from Pinterest, following the recipe almost exactly as instructed. And it was quite wonderful :) 

I love the Swedish meatballs at IKEA. I mean LOVE. They make me think of redecorating and affordable furniture shopping, which just makes me a little giddy! 

This is a lovely Paleo interpretation. The only thing I wasn't entirely happy with was the flavor and thinness of the gravy, I think because I'm not the biggest fan of tapioca flour. I did add a bit more zest to the gravy by draining some of the fat from my meatball pan into it, but I may need to spend more effort to thicken it next time. Also I probably could've halved the recipe... So much gravy left over! Oh well, more for another day!

If you'd like to try it for yourself, here is the link: http://www.paleofondue.com/2014/10/24/paleo-swedish-meatballs/

Gluten Free Boneless Honey BBQ Wings

I don't post often, but when I do, I try to be sure it's worth it! These boneless wings DEFINITELY are! And they took less than 30 minutes from start to finish. My husband insisted these were better than Buffalo Wild Wings and still Wheat/ Gluten Free!! The chicken would really work great with almost any sauce! We're planning wing night with our neighbors soon to try a variety like Traditional Buffalo and Sweet Thai Chili....

Boneless Wings
2-3lbs Boneless Chicken Thighs (Trust me, get thighs, not breasts. They're cheaper and there is way more flavor!)
1/4 cup Arrow Root Starch
1/4 cup Potato Starch
1/2 Brown Rice Flour
(Or just substitute 1 cup of a Multi Purpose Gluten Free Flour in place of the starches above- Trader Joes' has a great one)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
Coconut Oil

1. Heat coconut oil in a large skillet on medium heat
2. Cut raw chicken into bite sized pieces
3. Place your flours and salt and pepper into a 1 gallon ziplock bag
4. Add chicken pieces to bag and shake it up until all of the pieces are fully coated
5. Toss Chicken in skillet and cook until golden brown on all sides. Usually takes about 5-8 minutes.

Honey BBQ Sauce
1 cup Organic Ketchup (Tomato Paste & Vinegar could make a good substitute)
1/2 cup Honey
4 tbsp Butter
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp Molasses
3 tbsp steak sauce OR 2-3 tsp Liquid Smoke & 2 tbsp worcestershire
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder OR about 1/2 to 1 clove of crushed garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Mix ingredients in a large sauce pan, heating on low and stirring until all ingredients are incorporated. I am notorious for never measuring ingredients when I cook, so you may decide to adjust them to taste as you go!
2. Once sauce is warm and well mixed, add the cooked chicken pieces and toss in the sauce!

German Chocolate Mug Cake, a Paleo"ish" Treat

Do you mean to tell me it is possible to make a grain free/ gluten free treat that only takes minutes to make, contains only a fraction of the carbs found in most dessert-like delicacies, AND it actually has the consistency of cake, rather than bathroom tile grout??

That, my friends, is exactly what I am saying...

I realize that inherently, no sweet dessert is truly "Paleo" but bending the rules a bit from time to time keeps me sane. As a woman, I just need chocolate occasionally. And this is a treat that really doesn't leave you with too much guilt in the aftermath. After I spent some time online, drooling over some recipes for a regular wheat-flour, microwave mug-cake, I set out to find a formula that would work with Paleo-acceptable ingredients, and by Jove, I think I did!

Also great news is that the results of my first attempt made a larger serving than I could actually manage to eat (funny how a little bit of sweet goes such a long way when you're Paleo), but it turned out that the remainder still tasted pretty great the following day!

You'll need:

A large coffee mug
A microwave (Yes, that's right! NO oven needed! Just trust me on this...)
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted (or pastured butter)
3 tbsp coconut milk
4 tbsp coconut flour
4 tbsp raw sugar (or substitute maple syrup/ stevia depending on what you're comfortable with, but the raw sugar gave the best consistency out of what I have tried... this is a "treat" remember)
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
a few pecans and/or unsweetened coconut flakes (optional, and you can get creative with some other options if you like!)

Start by mixing up your wet ingredients. Be sure that while your melted coconut oil is liquid that it is not "hot" when you add it to the egg, or it will start to scramble. Obviously, not what we are after here. Once your oil, coconut milk, and egg are mixed, add in the dry ingredients little by little, stirring as you do so that it mixes easier.

Once you have a well mixed batter, you can add your pecans and coconut flakes or other toppings as desired, then simply place your coffee cup in the microwave and set the time to 1:30 to 2 mins depending on your microwave. Keep a close eye on smaller mugs to make sure it doesn't boil over. The mixture will expand as it bakes. It will be quite hot, so you may need to allow the cake to cool a bit, but in under 10 minutes from start to finish you will have created a fresh and delicious Paleo (ish) cake!