When I was a kid, I remember going to my grandma’s house (she was German and loved to cook all things food in LARGE portions). Without fail, at every visit, she would make a roast with mashed potatoes dripping in butter, carrots, peas and about four other sides with some pie at the end. As all good Midwesterners, we took our roast beef and squirted ketchup all over it for some good eating (don’t judge, I would probably still do it today because ketchup goes on almost everything).

Now that I’ve grown up, I find myself realizing that I can make an awesome roast beef recipe, but since I married a dude from southern California, I make my roast beef into a spicy shredded beef, put it into a little lettuce wrap, top it off with some guacamole and call it an awesome meal. This meal is perfect for a Saturday in the winter. It is spicy and warm, which feels good on the incredibly cold nights, plus the spice helps to kick whatever is going on in your sinuses. It’s great for a Saturday cause you stick it in your oven or crockpot in the mid-morning and come back ready to eat it in the evening. Hope you get a chance to try it out and enjoy!

Spicy Shredded Beef Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs boneless beef roast
• A culmination of spices (1 T garlic powder, 1 T onion powder, 1 T ground cumin, 2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, salt and pepper)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 4 oz can of diced green chiles (I use the hot ones)
• Chipotles in Adobo can – chop up 1 of the chipotles to use and use 2 T of the adobo sauce
• 1-2 cups beef broth
• A packet of ancho chile powder (you will use this at the end, so just set it aside)
• Bibb lettuce
• Cilantro & Guacamole (optional, but I find it is awesome to have on hand)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Get out a dutch oven and put that on medium heat on your stove with a little olive oil. Season your beef on all sides with your spices and brown the beef on all sides for about 3 minutes or so. Add in the onions, garlic cloves, green chiles, chipotle, adobo sauce and beef broth. Put the lid on your dutch oven and put it in the oven for 6 hours. You could also season your beef and simply add everything into a crockpot, putting it on low and coming back in 6-8 hours. Your choice.

After you have had an awesome day and your kitchen has made your whole house smell amazing, take your dutch oven out of your oven. Get your beef out of the big pot and put it into a bowl. Begin to shred it up (this should take no time at all, it will literally be falling apart). Get a big cast iron or skillet on your stove over medium-low heat. Put the ancho chile powder packet in the skillet with some of the leftover broth from your dutch oven till it forms a consistency between a paste and a soup. Add the shredded beef into this and mix it all around.

Get out some bibb lettuce, add in your beef, top off with some homemade guacamole or avocados, some cilantro and enjoy!!

It is FREEZING outside and you need Around the Way Chili. That comforting, warm-your-soul-but-still-make-you-wanna-slap-the-person-next-to-you-if-it’s-spicy-enough chili. When I tell you that I make this once a month, I’m not playin! I make this on Sunday afternoons and split it up for lunches throughout the week. Yum.

Whatchu need (Ingredients):

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2-4 T oil (avocado, olive, whatever you like)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1-2 stalks celery, diced
• 4 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 T chili powder (I use Mexican hot & do 3T)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional, use 1 tsp if mama said to knock you out, huuuh)
• 2 large zucchinis, diced
• 1 15-ounce can tomato puree or tomato sauce
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

HINT: Look at labels! Many people don’t realize that there is sugar in almost every can of tomatoes! Check out the ingredients.

You know when you start a NY’s resolution to eat better? You look up 50 new recipes from all sorts of blogs and magazines and purchase $500 of fruits, veggies, all sorts of spices to make fancy dishes and tons of wheatgrass. What happens then after a couple of days? The third batch of lettuce is already wilted, your lemon juice vinaigrette is a poor substitute for ranch dressing and that wheatgrass does not taste like wheat or grass.

Here is my second tip for making your goals/resolutions for 2016 and having them stick. Keep it easy. I’m talking easy and simple – something that tastes awesome and won’t make you miss your loads of carbs and sugar. Instead of going all bland chicken breast and broccoli that first week of 2016, get some chicken thighs and sweet potatoes. You can even add some garlic aioli (fancy term for garlic mayo dip), and I bet that this meal will still have less calories than your typical meal you cooked before and definitely have less than your night out for pizza.

Herb Chicken Thighs w/ Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients for Chicken:

• 4-8 Chicken Thighs (bone-in and skin on)
• 1-2 T of olive oil
• A bunch of spices – I like to use a T of garlic powder, a tsp of onion powder, a tsp of oregano, a tsp of cumin, a tsp of paprika and some salt and pepper

Mix the spices in with the olive oil and make a paste. Slather that all over your chicken thighs and get in a baking dish.

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Fries:

• 2-3 sweet potatoes, cut in slices about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
• 2 T of olive oil
• Salt, pepper, 1 T garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix the spices together with the olive oil and coat your fries. Place them on a baking sheet (I use aluminum foil so not to make a huge mess).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and cook the chicken and fries for an hour (turning the fries over half way through).

If you want, make up some garlic aioli in your food processor (1/3 cup of mayo, juice from 1 lemon, 1 T garlic powder, 4 garlic cloves and a bunch of black pepper) to dip your fries in. Add a salad for some green on your side and presto – you have a super easy meal that tastes awesome that is less calories than what you ate before!

Enjoy!

Garlic Bacon Brussel Sprouts

I’ve made this recipe a few times for family and friends. I’m not even lying when I say “even the kids will eat this!” I’ve seen it first-hand.

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
1 1/2 lbs brussel sprouts, halved
6 (or 12…I love garlic) garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3/4 cup chicken broth

Process:

1. Cook bacon until brow in. Remove from heat. Drain some grease out.

2. Return to heat & ad onion & brussel sprouts. Sauté for about 4 minutes.

3. Add garlic & cook until it starts to brown. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook until most of the broth cooks down and the sprouts are tender.

This is one of my favorite recipes. You won’t believe how much people will love brussel sprouts! Enjoy!

When you switch over to paleo or clean eating or just cutting-the-crap-out lifestyle, there are times that your body smells smells and craves things it used to have. For me, I catch a whiff of garlic and start craving some Italian. Now, I can head down the street and pick up a heaping helping of spaghetti and meatballs and feel like junk for the next 24 hours from eating all that gluten and cheese, or I can stick a bunch of stuff in a crockpot and in about 6 hours have wonderful Italian the way that won’t cause my stomach to turn into knots.

Spicy Italian Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spicy pork sausage (you can get links or make your own if you are concerned about what’s going on in there; to make your own, get a pound of ground pork and add in 1 T garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tsp ground sage and salt and pepper). If you have links, remove from casing and crumble up; or simply crumble up
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped up
• A package of mushrooms, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 butternut squash, skin discarded, seeds gone and chopped up (or buy the pre-cut up package in your grocery store if you are lazy and your knives are dull!)
• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, I like the fire roasted kind
• 1/2 cup to a cup (depending on how soupy you want your stew) of chicken stock or broth (whatever you have handy)
• 1 T oregano, dried
• Salt and pepper

Now, get out your crockpot, smile at it and say, “Hello, my love. It’s winter time, your time to shine!” Put the sausage down on the bottom, then add in everything else, put on low and say hello to a nice heaping bowl of Italian stew in about 6 hours! You can top it off with a little shredded parmesan cheese if you want or not, totally up to you. Enjoy!