Hunger Games Capitol Stew

Here's the thing. I love food way too much for my own good. The only way I can get myself to make regularly healthy choices is to mix things up a bit and make things that excite me. With all this cold weather, it's comfort food time. Nothing is better than snuggling up with a good book and a piping hot meaty dinner! That's right people, I'm talking stew.

I try to eat Paleo most of the time and as much as I love soups and stews most of them include dairy and/or cream. However, this recipe was devised specifically for Paleo folks who love The Hunger Games and who want their own parachute to deliver Lamb and Plumb stew directly to their kitchen. Get ready for the guilt free delicious!

• 3 lb. boneless lamb shoulder or leg, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-1/2- to 2-inch pieces
• 3 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium parsnip, corsely chopped 
• 2 medium carrot, coarsely chopped 
• 1 to 2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 1 cup red wine
• 3 cups low-salt beef broth
• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups peeled pearl onions
• 1 cup prunes, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbs. lemon juice
• baking parchment

1. Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat the oven to 325°F.
2. Spread the lamb on paper towels to dry for 10 minutes before browning.
3. In a 6-quart oven safe pot, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat. 
4. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Brown the meat well and then transfer it to a large bowl.
5. Once all of the lamb is browned, remove the pot from the heat to let it cool for a few minutes.
6. Add 3 Tbs. of the fat to the pot. (If there is not enough, add extra virgin olive oil to equal 3 Tbs.) 
7. Return the pot to medium heat, then add the yellow onion, and coarsely chopped carrot. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often and scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula, until the vegetables begin to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. 
8. Stir in the ginger, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and celery seed, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Add the wine, stirring with the wooden spatula to dissolve any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Raise the heat to medium high and boil to reduce by about half, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the beef broth and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil.
10. Return the lamb to the pot along with any juice. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer.
11. Crumple a 12x16-inch piece of parchment, then flatten it out. Place the parchment directly on the surface of the stew, allowing the ends to come up the sides of the pot. Cover and put in the oven.
12. After 1 hour of stewing, add the pearl onions, carrot pieces, and prunes to the pot. Cover with the parchment and lid, and cook until the lamb is fork-tender, about 1 and a half hours.
13. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Degrease the stew by laying a clean paper towel over the surface of the stew and gently pushing it into all the bumps and dips, then quickly peeling it off. Repeat as necessary with more paper towels. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Let us know what you think of the recipe? Good? Bad? Real or not real? Are there other types of geeky recipes you'd like to see us Paleo-ify? Let us know in the comments!

Night's Watch Sweet Potato Stew Recipe

I've been exploring cooking a little bit with my boyfriend. It's really important to learn a bit about cooking if you're going to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Let me preface this with the fact that I would kill myself if I had to cook every night of the week. That's why I pre-make my salads for the week. If you put in a little time on your day off, you can easily prepare yourself for a delicious and nutrition-concious week full of home made food that only requires a quick zap in the microwave to prepare. I'm definitely a beginner in the kitchen, but it's been really fun to level a new crafting skill by picking appealing dishes out of the blue and then trying to make them using recipes we find online. I really crave warm comforting vittles during these cold winter months so we have experimented with a few stew recipes and I've made plenty of little changes (like using less salt, low-sodium beef broth, and sweet potatoes instead of regular) to make this final recipe perfect for someone looking for something both delicious AND nutritious! Stew normally needs to cook for hours on end, but if you are careful to cut the meat, veggies, and potatoes into small enough pieces, you won't need as long to achieve that tender yummy goodness!

So without further ado, here's Anne and Brandon's recipe for:

Night's Watch Sweet Potato Stew

(best if eaten whilst watching Game of Thrones)

Sworn Brothers by tyusiu on Deviant Art

This recipe serves 6.

Cook Time: 2 hours (You'll need about 30 minutes of prep time on top of that).

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 1 to 2-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 onions, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium beef broth
• 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch slices
• 1 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 inch cubes

This is extremely important. Before you begin, recite this oath:

Ok! Now you're a member of the Night's Watch. You are filled with the honor of your order and are soon to be filled with stew! Now roll for initiative. 

Preparation:

1. On medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil to a large pot that has a lid. 
2. Wait for it to smoke a bit and then add the beef and brown very well. It may take a few batches to brown all the meat. Add salt whilst the beef is browning. 
3. After the beef is browned, remove the it with a slotted spoon set aside. 
4. Add the onions and sauté for until they soften. 
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the flour, and cook for 2 minutes. You will want to stir often. 
6. Add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute. 
7. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. The flour should thicken with the wine and it should come to a simmer. 
8. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, and then add the beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and the beef. 
9. Return to a gentle simmer. Now cover and cook on low heat for about 1 hour. 
10. Add carrots and celery. Simmer covered for another 30 minutes.
11. Add sweet potatoes, stir, then cover and simmer for another 30-45 minutes. They cook faster than normal potatoes, so make sure you check back around the 30 minute mark to make sure they're getting soft, but not so soft that they're completely falling apart when you stir.
12. Once you're happy with the tenderness of the meat, veggies, and sweet potatoes, turn off the heat and let it sit covered for about 15 minutes. Now it's ready to serve!

I generally eat about a cup and a half of this stew with a salad on the side, but of course you can serve it as you like! Let me know how you like the recipe and if you do make any changes, feel free to post them in the comments to share your variations and advice!

Thanksgiving Diet Plans

Today I weighed in at an even 57 lbs lost. I lost 3.6 pounds this week, which makes me very happy since it makes up for my puny -1.5 lbs lost weigh ins from the past two weeks. Of course any loss is nothing to sniff at but I like to aim for two pounds lost every week. Plus I'm always happy to see my weight go DOWN during the holidays.

This weekend my boyfriend and I decided to challenge ourselves to make beef stew so we could eat it whilst enjoying "Game of Thrones." My goal was to make it in the healthiest way possible. I used low sodium broth, cut away the fattiest bits of the meat, and loaded it with more veggies than called for. Maybe this would be weird, but next time, I'd consider using sweet potatoes instead of the regular kind. I think the sweet/savory mix would probably be delicious and of course healthier. It turned out really yummy, I got a guilt-free break from the Nutrisystem program AND I learned something new!

I'm curious about what everyone is planning to do for Thanksgiving this week. I'm planning on skipping my afternoon snack and having a little white turkey, a couple spoonfuls of sweet potatoes and a small serving of desert while staying strictly on plan for the rest of the week/exercising after work every day. I feel like that will be a fine planned indulgence for the holiday. I think the important thing will be to have a plan and not just fly blind. Good luck everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!