beef stew | kristastes

After overdosing on christmas cookies and other sweets straight through new year’s eve, I am trying to get myself back on track to healthy eats and regular workouts. Since I absolutely hate ‘January joiners’ (sorry you people), not to mention the term itself, I got up ass early to get a workout in before I went to work this morning. I did this last January and loved having the weights all to my lonesome and my pick of treadmills. Definitely going to try to keep this up a few times a week. The best part is when I’m home from work, I exercise the pup and I’m D-O-N-E for the day. Glorious. Coming from a 100% NOT MORNING PERSON. If I can do it, so can you! End rant. I believe I had this same rant last year…new content whaaaaatt?

When sweet stuff is around me, I have THE hardest time avoiding it…I want to sample one of everything. Bad!! Holidays are one thing, but normal life, no way. Sooo in an effort to get out of sweets mode, last week I did a wegman’s/trader joe’s overhaul and stocked up on plenty of fresh veggies and organic, grass-fed meats that should last me at least a couple of weeks with a fruit/veggie run in-between.

The first dish I whipped up was paleo beef stew, tweaking this recipe slightly.

I browned 1lb of wegman’s organic, grass-fed stew beef in pastured butter and threw it into my rice cooker, making sure not to cook it through.
In the same pan, added more butter and quickly cooked a big handful of trader joe’s tiny potatoes (they are literally super MINI), carrots, celery, onion, plus a few cloves of minced garlic in the same pan with salt, pepper, and herbs. Instead of fresh as called for, I used dried rosemary and thyme…about 1/2 – 1 tsp each, I never measure anything exactly.
This cooked for about 5 minutes then I added the veggie mix to the beef along with stock and a can of diced tomatoes.
Cooked with rice cooker on simmer, closed for 2 hours, open for about 30 minutes.

The stew turned out great and best of all, made a hefty 4-5 servings, the last of which I ate for lunch today. RIP yummy stew…I am totally making it again soon. Highly recommend!

The past few mornings, I’ve had eggs fried in pastured butter or bacon fat with bacon, veggies and/or fruit. Plus a cup of coffee with either half & half or heavy cream. This and various types of cheese are the only dairy products I’ve had for quite a few weeks other than a full-fat plain latte yesterday afternoon. Coffee dates with my girlfriends are exceptions!

For lunches, I’ve been eating leftovers, and dinners have been a mash up of meat/veggies/salads. Tonight, I had leftover pot roast from my parents’ classic new years day feast (LOVE), along with sauerkraut, unsweetened applesauce, massaged kale salad with lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, yellow bell pepper, mango, pomegranate arils, and sunflower seeds, plus a small side of sweet potato fries.