Mexican LCHF chilli Con Carne

I am always on the look out for recipes for my old favourite foods.  When I can't find one then I just try and make it up as I go.  It can be hit and miss sometimes but this was a definite hit.  Both kids gobbled it up so that has to be a win right!

This was very easy and you could probably do it in the slow cooker too if you were pushed for time.

Ingredients

1kg nice and fatty minced beef

2 med onions diced

3 cloves garlic

800gr of diced tomatoes (I used some I  bottled last year)

1-2 whole red chillies sliced

2tsp smoky paprika

1tsp chilli flakes

1 pc smoky chorizo sliced

Optional:1 tin mixed beans (omit if going for super low carb)

S&P to taste

Method

In a large saucepan saute onion and garlic in some coconut oil.  

Add beef a little at a time and break up and cook until nicely browned.

Add chilli, chilli flakes and paprika along with the sliced chorizo. 

Cook a little more then add tomatoes and let simmer for around an hour.

Adjust seasoning before serving and if you want beans then add those in after 30min of simmering.

I served ours with a really cheese cauliflower mash.  The kids are a bit 'meh' about cauliflower unless it is baked whole with a bucket of cheese.

This recipe found their weak spot though.

Ingredients

1 whole cauliflower broken into smaller florets

2 cloves garlic

S&P to taste

1/4c grated parmesan

1/2c grated cheddar

extra 1/2c mixed cheeses for top

Method

Steam cauliflower and once super soft drain well.

Place in food processor with garlic and cheeses. 

Blend until creamy then pour into an oven proof dish.

Top with more cheese and back until bubbling and golden.

I really hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

This is a large serve but I like to freeze portions for lazy nights.
Serve with sour cream and guacamole to finish it off perfectly.

Week one

Round 3 (started loading 11 Oct 2014)
Phase 2   (Started 13 Oct 2014)
Day 7
Blood group A+
Loss to date - 38kg

So week one is done and dusted.   

I have found that I am suffering detox symptoms quite severely this week.  Round two wasn't so bad with them.

I have had headaches, itchy skin and a shocking pain in left ribs.   The latter I had for much of round two  and it is back again.  My chiropractor thinks it is to do with liver detox so I guess I should be grateful my body is working hard at mending but gee it is annoying.

Weights for this week are:

13Oct - 78.1kg (post loading)

14Oct -76.4kg

15Oct- 75.5kg

16Oct 74.8kg

17Oct - 74.5kg

18Oct- 73.8kg

19Oct - 73.6kg

Total loss for week= 4.5kg

Starting measurements10 Oct:

waist    94cm

hip  108cm

thigh  51cm

upper arm   30cm

chest  100cm

calf  36cm

This weeks measurements:

waist    94cm

hip  108cm

thigh  51cm

upper arm   33cm

chest  97cm

calf  35cm

Walked:
Approx 5.5km intentionally

Meals for the week:

Breakfast is generally an apple and a cup of black coffee.

Lunches:

stir fry chicken with broccoli, onion, garlic

egg and zucchini frittata

egg salad with celery, tomato, lettuce, lemon juice

Chicken and Broccoli salad
Curried Chicken and cauliflower soup
Tomato, zucchini and chicken soup

 

Dinner:

Broccoli and spinach soup with shredded chicken

beef broth with zucchini, spinach and beef meatballs

Poached chicken with spinach and cauliflower mash
corned beef (preservative free) and broccoli
Lemon chicken and asparagus with tomato
curried chicken and Cauliflower soup
Calamari and broccoli stir fry

Recipes for the week

Curried Chicken Soup
100gr chicken
1 cup cauliflower
water to cover
S&P
oregano
1tsp curry powder of choice

Simmer until chicken is well cooked through and cauli is soft.  Blend to a creamy texture with food processor/stick blender/bellini/thermomix.

I like to do multiple batches at once and then divide up for future meals.

Calamari & broccoli stir fry
100gr calamari cut into rings
1c broccoli cut very fine
1/2onion cut fine
S&P
cumin
Coriander
Garlic
1/2 lemon
Marinate the calamari for at least 30 minutes in the juice from the lemon and plenty of S&P.  Lightly steam the broccoli while doing this.  Heat your pan to very hot then add a splash of water and fry the onion, add the calamari and garlic and fry until cooked through, toss in the broccoli, cumin and coriander and let the water absorb so you get some colour in the calamari. At the last minute put a tbs of water in and swish around to create a type of sauce.  It will be brown from the previous step so don't stress.
Serve on a bed of lettuce greens.

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Round three - Loading Day 2

Okay, I admit it.

I am STUFFED!!

I started the day with a bullet proof coffee, eggs, bacon and the left over creamy chard.  

A delicious start to the day if I may say so.

Most people who do bullet proof have their own fave formula.   You can buy a ready made MCT oil blend to add to your coffee or you can play around with coconut oil, butter or ghee.

Whilst I have tried the Optimoz blend and quite like it I prefer to stick to my own mix.

I have played around with ingredients and measures and have found that the following is my fave blend:

1 sm plunder of good coffee

1tbs butter

1tbs coconut oil

Put into thermomix, bellini or stick mixer jug and blitz until frothy, creamy and well combined.

Trust me you won't look back, this is seriously good!

My mid morning smoothie today was similar to yesterday's offering but

 I added an avocado to the mix  

A girl can't have too much good fat on loading days right!

I had lunch out and forgot to take photos.  

Rest assured I ate up big. 

I was fortunate enough to attend the AGM for the Migrant Resource Centre and there were three different stalls offering international cuisine.   

I tried some delicious Afghan meatballs in a tomato sauce, Bhutanese momos (dumplings) and an a divine African Cassava Leaf dish with chicken.

I came home so stuffed I couldn't face anything for ages.

I managed to shovel in the last of the Ashgrove camembert (seriously THE BEST camembert I have tasted) and some of their blue with a couple of dates.

Dinner was meant to be a creamy chicken dish with zoodles (zucchini noodles) but I wasn't sure about the chicken so I tossed it.  

I found a beef bolognaise in the freezer and dug that out.  Had buttered zoodles with some meat sauce and parmesan instead.

To be honest, I am not sure I could have faced another cream based dish LOL

I am feeling a tad full, reflux-y and glad this is the end of the loading days!!

However, I do know that I am fully loaded in the best possible way.

I hope to go into this round in the best shape possible. 

I have come out of round two with no major pain or inflammation.  

I lost around 8kg in P4 without trying really and feel happy with the maintenance.

I really struggled, but seeing I had gone to the effort to make a sugar free chocolate icecream, I felt I should do it justice.

For dessert/supper I had some.  

Not much though (think 1/2c) as 

I just couldn't do it justice.

But OMG!  It was good.

Stay tuned and I will post my recipe in the next week.

So, tomorrow begins phase 2 for 43 days.

I won't bore you with daily posts but thought, for those starting out it might be a good idea to see what others do for the phase.

I plan on doing a weekly post on stats and meals with a few recipes thrown in.

I will also link to past recipes from the last couple of rounds.

Hope you enjoy the ride :)

And thanks for the bolognaise

Have you noticed I love red meat!  I really do.  Beef in particular, not so much lamb unless it is a shank or roast but beef,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, oh drool.
So it is very sad news that my blood type (A) isn't uber compatible with beef.  Last round I couldn't tolerate fish at all but chicken and beef were fine.  This round I have been eating mostly beef and seem to be slow losing.
Soooooo, dare I say it but I am cutting beef for a week to see what happens.
I know right!
Therefore, I shall have to live and drool through blog posts like this one.

Beef Bolognaise, how I love thee.................
oh and did I mention I am cutting tomato too........... can life get any worse??

I have given amounts for one serving but I usually do a kg at a time and divide into 10 portions and freeze.

Ingredients:
100gr BEEF, GLORIOUS BEEF!
1c zucchini zoodles or you can grate into BEEF and serve with slim noodles
1/2sm onion diced fine
1clove garlic chopped fine
1/2tsp oregano
1/2tsp paprika
2tbs tomato paste
S&P
1/4 tomato pulp

Method:
Saute onion, garlic, spices and mince until cooked through. Add tomato paste and let it sizzle for a bit (another technical French cookery term!) to bring out the flavours.   Then add your tomato pulp and mix well.  If it is too thick for you then add a spash of water to thin out.  Let simmer for 15-30minutes

 Create your zoodles by either cutting very thin strips or use a veggie spiraliser.

Steam for a minute or two to tenderise.  I like to put a dash of seaweed salt in mine for seasoning.

and there you have it!!  A really yummy zoodle bolognaise.

now I will go cry in a corner :(

Bone Broth goodness

The nutritional value of bone broth has been long known by our grandmothers and their grandmothers.  In this age of time poor folk it seems to have been totally forgotten.  Instead, people reach for a stock cube or a carton of 'stock' off the supermarket shelves.  They pale in comparison as a nutritional and healthy meal option. They may add flavour, due to their MSG or yeast extract content,  to a risotto or a soup but that is about all.

For real nutritional value nothing beats a home made broth.  The other day I took you through the steps to make a chicken stock/broth.

Today I have a beef bone broth for you.  This is a medium level broth, when it comes to time and energy.  When I was studying my chef subjects at college we learnt how to make the best broth ever!  It is time consuming but well worth the effort.  It required 5 cuts of bone/meat, several hours of roasting and then simmering and ending with purifying the stock with egg whites.
If I was making bulk broth in a commercial kitchen I would do that but as I am not and you are unlikely to be, this is my offering:

Ingredients:
1kg beef bones, I used neck bones this time but you can use osso bucco but it is quite fatty.
12 litres of water
1 onion peeled and cut in half
10-12 peppercorns
2 stalks of celery (I would put more veg if not in P2)

Method:

Ask your butcher to cut them to small pieces.  This helps all the yummy marrow and gelatins to come out.

As with the chicken stock, pop your bones and veg into a pot or slow cooker and cover with water.  I added about 12litres to 1kg of bones.

Simmer, for a loooooooooong time.  I did 15 hrs and it was divine!   Let it cool and then remove bones. They should look like they have had the life sucked out of them!

Remove the fat from the top.   This stock won't be as clear as chicken stock and that is ok.  If it bothers you, warm and put some egg white in to clarify.

I got five containers of stock and lunch out of my lot.   I have to say this was the best bone broth I have made in ages!

I use it as a base for soups, stews or 

just to have a cup of in the afternoon to warm up.

Asian meatball soup

I love my soups.  Especially in winter. Something so comforting by a bowl of hot soup.  Although I have tended to gravitate towards creamier soups I have found since doing the protocol I am loving clear soups more and more.
This one was very easy and used my home made stock.   You can use beef or chicken stock really and whatever allowed or free veg you like.

Ingredients:

1-2c of lean stock  

100gr lean mince 

1/2tsp chilli 

pinch seaweed salt 

1/2tsp oregano

1/2tsp cumin

1/2tsp ground coriander

1/2tsp dried ginger

1c veg of choice (mine had zucchini and spinach)

Method:

Bring stock to simmer and add 1 c of veg of your choice plus any free veg you want.  Season with chilli, seaweed salt and ginger.    Mix mince with other spices and form into small balls and drop into stock.  Heat until meatballs are cooked through and veg are tender.

Porterhouse steak with Mexican mash

One of my all time favourite meals is pulled beef/pork and I really miss it during phase 2.    I had some cauliflower that needed using up and decided to give this a try and see if it would work.  I am pleased to say it did and it was very nice!!

Ingredients:
100gr lean porterhouse
1c finely chopped cauliflower
pinch of chilli flakes, paprika, cayenne, S&P, oregano, garlic
1/2 diced tomato

Method:
Place all ingredients except steak in a saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of water.  Mix well then put the lid on and cook until very tender (able to be mashed).
Cook steak as you usually would.  Mash cauliflower until a mushy pulp and serve with some green salad or as I did with a handful of fresh spinach and some tomato slices!

Lettuce Wraps

This got a huge response when I shared the photo so thought I should post it today :)

It truly was an amazing lunch and I struggled to eat it all, despite the small amount of ingredients.

Ingredients:
100gr lean mince
1/2 sm onion sliced length ways
1c grated zucchini
1/2tsp chilli flakes
1/2 cumin
1/2 ground coriander
S&P
4 thin slices of tomato
2 large lettuce leaves
handful of baby spinach  leaves


Method:

Saute onion in a spash of water until it starts to caramelise.  Add meat and spices and mix well then add in zucchini.  Stir fry until all cooked and liquid has been cooked off.   On lettuce leaves, lay spinach leaves and two pieces of tomato on each.  Give a liberal dash of S&P  then top with meat mixture and roll up.
Enjoy!

sorry about the blurry pic on this one :(

Tacos

This is another favourite, with both the children and myself.  You could use beef mince or pork if you don't like chicken mince.

Ingredients:

100gr sliced lean steak, chicken mince or beef mince

1 c Broccoli cooked until very very soft (can use any allowed veg)

1 onion

1/2tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2tsp coriander

1 tsp hot paprika

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 cloves garlic.

Method:

saute all ingredients in a small amount of water and let simmer until most of the water is reduced and meat and veg tender.

I actually like to mix the spices in a ziplock bag and let slice steak marinade for a while if making with steak (as in photo).

Serve with tomato slices in lettuce leaves and roll up.

Meatballs on Cauliflower mash

This is an oldy from summer when we had basil in the garden but you could use dried or even miss it out.  

Ingredients:

100g lean mince

pinch of onion powder, oregano and cumin, hot paprika or cayenne, coriander, basil leaves, tomato diced.

1c garlic

1sm onion diced fine

1c cauliflower cut small

Method:

Mix mince with the onion powder, garlic clove, oregano and cumin. form into small meatballs and leave aside.

In saucepan water fry diced small onion, hot paprika, cumin, coriander (ground), 10 basil leaves shredded and one diced tomato  until all soft, put meatballs in and heat until cooked through.

Cook a cup of cauliflower until very very tender and mash with fork, season with salt and pepper.  Serve meat ball mix on top of cauliflower mash. 

Meat balls are a little dry in texture due to restrictions but with the sauce and cauli they aren't too bad and are very tasty.

Stir fry broccoli, kale and Beef

I made this for lunch today so thought I would share something current.   Very easy and quick meal.
To make things easier for me I package all my meat for the freezer in 100gr portions.  I buy my meat in bulk from Conmurra Farm and thoroughly recommend them if you are in the north of Tassie.  They are reasonably priced, grow their own grass fed beef, lamb and pork and their meat is beautiful.
Another attraction is the ease of ordering online and having your meat delivered to your door!!

Ingredients:

1c steamed broccoli cut small
3lg leaves of steamed kale shredded
100gr of lean mince
1/2 tsp cumin, coriander
pinch of chilli flakes
S&P to taste.
3spring onions chopped

Method
saute onions in a bit of water until tender then add meat and spices, break up mince and saute until cooked through, add veg and stir through.
Simple hey!!   You can add a splash of tamari, soy or braggs if you are not in phase2.