Work in Progress

I experimented with making my own meatloaf recipe tonight.  This isn't really anything new, I've been making meatloaf for years.  But I've been trying to figure out how to get the classic texture without using breadcrumbs, and without having to add something that drastically changes the flavor.  I really like this recipe, however it uses coconut flour AND coconut milk....and I could really taste it. Good variation, but not "classic".  The meatloaf I made tonight tasted AMAZING, but didn't hold together quite as well as I had hoped. It held up well enough, but not great. A good starting point!

1 lb ground beef

1 lb mild italian sausage

just less than 1 package of button mushrooms, chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 can tomato paste

1 small can tomato sauce (no salt added)

1 egg

~1/4 cup flax meal (I usually use almond meal, but I decided to try something different)

salt

black pepper

~1 T dried oregano 

~1 T dried parsley

Preheat oven to 375. Throw everything in a bowl and mix. Hands work best! I like to take a little ball of the mixture and cook it in a frying pan so I can see if I need to adjust the seasonings. Put the mixture in a pyrex dish... I used 13X9, use whatever you got...and bake for 1 hour. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

I also made "ketchup" to put on top...

1/2 can tomato paste

1 small can tomato sauce (no salt added)

~1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

~1/2 T honey

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of cloves

pinch of allspice

salt

black pepper

1-2 t "Italian Seasoning" (or use any combination of dried herbs...rosemary, parsley, thyme, basil etc.)

Mix everything together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. 

Pulled Pork and BBQ Sauce

First off- props to my roommate Yogy for making this for dinner tonight. This is not an original recipe by any means. In fact, you can find tons of recipes for paleo pulled pork, and I have tried quite a few. This is by far the best I have come across. I've also had some successes and failures with all sorts of BBQ sauce recipes, and this one turned out great. So I'm just going to post links for the recipes...

Crock Pot Pulled Pork
BBQ Sauce

I ALWAYS eat pulled pork with coleslaw.  Back in the days when I would eat  a pulled pork sandwich, I would put the coleslaw right inside the sandwich. Here is a recipe(ish) of the coleslaw I made tonight. I say "ish" because I don't measure so you just have to taste it as you go along. It's also not quite paleo because I used sour cream as the base for the dressing. If you want to make it paleo, simply replace the sour cream with some homemade mayo.

1/4 head of cabbage (red or green),  core removed and shredded
2 carrots, grated
1 apple, grated

Dressing
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 of a yellow onion, grated
1-2 T apple cider vinegar
1-2 t hot sauce
salt
caraway seeds (optional)

I shredded the cabbage with a knife, but from time to time I use the food processor with the grater blade to shred and grate everything. Throw everything into a big bowl and in a separate bowl mix the sour cream and vinegar. Grate the onion into the bowl and add hot sauce and salt to your tastes. Caraway seeds are optional- I threw them in because I had them and don't use them for anything since I no longer make bread.

Have you ever...?

...made your own mayo? One of the headaches of the Paleo-ish diet is diligently checking labels and coming to the realization that there isn't much in the way of store-bought sauces, condiments, and marinades that is Paleo friendly. Ok, fine. You can eat your salad with oil and vinegar 29 days out of the month.... but sometimes, don't you miss those creamy mayo based dressings? Now, you're probably not eating mayo on a sandwich anymore, but what about some aioli (fancy garlic mayo!) on grilled artichokes?

I've made mayo plenty of times with egg yolks, lemon juice, and oil- pretty much the classic way. However, the mayo you are used to eating is made with some sort of vegetable oil that is high in Omega-6's, which you probably are trying to cut out of your diet. So when I've made mayo, I've used olive oil which has a very strong flavor. This is fine if I'm making aioli, which has garlic blended right in, but otherwise it's a little much.

Another problem for some people is the fact that it usually uses raw eggs. I personally don't mind, but some do.

So I found another way to make "mayo"....

Almond Mayonnaise

1 cup slivered almonds (I was just shy of a cup, so I used some macadamia nuts, too)

1/3-1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup water

1/4-1/2 t salt (optional)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Put almonds, olive oil, half the water, and salt into a food processor or blender and let it go on high for a couple of minutes, until smooth. Add the lemon juice and the rest of the water and blend until combined. Transfer to a container and chill for a couple of hours.

This won't have the same texture as mayo, it's a little grainy. But it works! And the nuttiness masks the strong olive oil flavor. I used it this evening to make a salad dressing- just thinned it out with lemon juice and water, and added some fresh herbs. I've used this recipe before (subbed honey for agave syrup) and I liked it as well- a little tangier.

The rest of dinner consisted of grilled lamb chops with charmoula, and zucchini and tomatoes stuffed with crab and scallops.