Father's Day and Beef Pot Roast

The girls and I just returned from a two-week trip covering well over 1,000 miles of driving - some of it driven with just the three of us and some of it driven with my father. It was a good trip, but I missed my husband and our daughters missed their daddy.

However, that time spent with my father and the three of us was precious and I'm glad we made the trip the way we did. It was great bonding time for all of us. I wouldn't necessarily have chosen a live tarantula in a snap-top plastic box to be a travel partner at my feet (my dad is an entomologist), but I soon forgot about it and remembered the days that I actually used to let one crawl on my hand when I was a child hanging out with my dad in the entomology lab while he was in grad school.

My children got to see a little bit of that life on this trip with him - a day doesn't pass when they are with "Papa" that they aren't pulling him in one direction or another to show him some new bug or insect and ask what it is - to be given the scientific name of the creature. They love it. I was that child once, too. (Now I'd rather not touch them, but at least I can usually tell whether it's a friend or foe.)

I love my dad. He put up with more than his fair share, I think, of the antics my brother, sister and I (and I'm the oldest so I no doubt taught many of those antics) pulled while we were growing up but loved us through them.

And I'm so thankful my husband is the father of our children. If I had written a recipe for my future husband and father of my children, I couldn't have possibly written the recipe to create this amazing man I married. God blessed me richly with the man in my life.

I love my husband. He is such a wonderful, loving, supportive, caring, strong husband and father. Yes, I missed him.

And because we just got back and I want to hang out with him as much as possible tomorrow, I'm making a no-fail, simple slow cooker meal that we all love, so that I can put it together tonight, turn it on tomorrow, and forget about it. (The recipe is adapted from one of the Rival owner's guides that came with one of my several crock pots.) This recipe makes the most tender, fall apart roast with a great flavor. (This is also one of my favorite no-fuss meals for Easter!)

And I'm thankful to my father-in-law for being the great dad that he is to my husband, and a wonderful "Grandpa" to our children.

I wish all of you out there a wonderful Father's Day with the fathers in your life. And if your father is no longer on earth, I wish you a day filled with wonderful memories of him.

Beef Pot Roast
Projected prep time: 10 minutes; Projected cook time: 10-12 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high)
A few handfuls of baby carrots
1 large onion, roughly sliced
1 beef roast (size varies, I always use between 2-3 pounds but you can use 4 pounds)
Several sprinkles kosher salt
Few shakes black pepper
1/2 cup gluten-free beef broth (I use 1 tsp. Watkins beef soup base in 1/2 cup of water)
(Optional: 1 1/2 tsp. Watkins Meat Magic added to broth)
Several glugs of balsamic vinegar
(Sometimes I quarter up some red potatoes to throw in with the vegetables, so do that if you'd like. I prefer, however, to serve rosemary oven-roasted red potatoes with it.)

Put carrots and most of the onion (and quartered potatoes if you are cooking them with the roast) in the bottom of crock. Season meat with salt and pepper then put in crock on top of carrots and onions. Add the rest of the onions on top of the meat. Pour broth over meat and potatoes. Pour balsamic vinegar around and on top of the meat and vegetables going around two or three times (several glugs). Cover and cook 10-12 hours on low and 4-6 hours on high. If you are able, turn the meat over once or twice while cooking.

You can prepare the night before and stick in the refrigerator if you prefer to make the meal later the next day.

Happy Father's Day!

Organic, Grass-Fed, Gluten-free Beef Snacks

When we were new to the gluten-free lifestyle and weren't familiar with the array of gluten-free products available for snacking, one constant source of frustration - especially for my husband - was the lack of gluten-free meat snacks. Jerky, in particular.

I wasn't a huge fan of meat snacks - they served their purpose and gave some quick protein and sodium for certain occasions. I did, however, find myself craving them a little more after going gluten-free - most likely because they weren't readily available.

If you pick up a package of most jerky and other processed meat snacks and look at the ingredients label, you will more often than not find ingredients such as "soy sauce" that has in parentheses "wheat" following close behind. You may even see that certain snacks have a form of "wheat protein" listed. Even the brands with ingredients that look okay are questionable unless they state "gluten-free" on the package. It's rare.

But, on those rare occasions I do know a meat snack is gluten-free, I'm probably going to buy some - especially when we are going to be traveling. My husband enjoys them. The kids enjoy them. And sometimes I enjoy them, too.

In many of these snacks you are also going to see a lot of ingredients you may not be familiar with. Preservatives. Flavorings (both natural and artificial). Colorings.

Yuck.

That's another reason why I haven't cared too much for meat snacks. They are often filled with ingredients that are bad for you. And many times they also have parts of meat I don't care to eat. You won't know it from reading the label, but yes, they are often in there.

When I eat meat, I want it to as close to nature as God intended. I don't want it processed - or if it must be, I want it minimally processed. I don't want a bunch of artificial things added to it. I don't want meat with antibiotics, steroids and hormones. I want meat that has been truly grass-fed, pasture-fed, free-range, you name it - free to eat what it was intended to eat and no genetically-modified feed, either. I don't want it caged, injected and boosted, or bulked up at the end of life. I'm willing to pay extra to buy meat with those qualities, and we don't eat meat quite as often anymore because of it.

I didn't know until recently that grass-fed isn't always 100% grass-fed. Unless it states that or says it was finished "grass-fed," it could have been switched to grains at the end of life to fatten up more.

That's why when Rod from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats recently contacted me and asked if I'd like to try some of their meat snacks, I said yes. I'm glad I did!

Rod sent us a sampling of their Organic Honey Beef Jerky, Organic Honey Pepper Beef Jerky, Organic Beef Sticks, Organic Sliced Pastrami and Organic Beef Hot Dogs.

Each and every one of the products was delicious. Let me repeat that. Delicious. Each one.

My personal favorite was the jerky.

This jerky is beyond good. The right touch of seasonings, no preservatives. Not too tough and the right amount of chewy. And the sweetness of honey, but not overwhelming. This is good stuff, my friends.

The honey pepper jerky was a little too spicy for my girls. They ate it and liked it, but they preferred the regular honey jerky, which has a touch of pepper. That was their favorite. Just right. Me? I loved both of the jerky flavors, and so did my husband.

My husband's personal favorite were the beef sticks. These are really good, as well. Great flavor, the right amount of "crunch" as you bite through the casing and a great texture overall.

The pastrami was great - I've never eaten much pastrami but this was really good - and the hot dogs delicious.

I'll pause for a moment here and admit that yes, I do like hot dogs. When I buy hot dogs for my family, I get kosher beef hot dogs. I try not to buy them too often, however, because I don't care to eat nitrites and the thought of the amount of processing bothers me, even in kosher beef ones. I've tried other nitrite-free organic hot dogs before but they really didn't taste that great to me. Yes. I like hot dogs. I like them with ketchup and cheese and even chili. Yum.

These Rocky Mountain hot dogs met my criteria for a delicious hot dog, with a bonus: They are actually longer than the bun! And these are hot dogs that tasted great without preservatives and overly processing. They don't have nitrites and only a minimal amount of delicious seasonings. I can feed these hot dogs to my family without feeling twinges of regret.

I will be ordering more of these beef snacks for my family, as well as trying out some of the other products Rocky Mountain has to offer. They have a wide range of products including steaks, ground beef, roasts, lamb and even soup bones and pet snacks. I'll also keep them in mind for gifts. Their prices are pretty comparable to other organic, grass-fed meat products I've seen on the market and you can always go in on an order with other people to split shipping costs.

I'm looking forward to eating more of that jerky!

(Disclosure: Rocky Mountain Organic Meats provided these products for me to sample free of charge. The opinions on the meat products are completely my own.)

Sunday Sandwich and Oven Fries

I made this sandwich with our favorite oven fries a couple of Sundays ago after church, hence the name.  The sandwiches were so good, however, we'll be happy to eat them any day of the week! We really, really ... really liked them.

I was reading through Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks and got the idea for these sandwiches from her "Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich" recipe. It reminded me of a sandwich I sometimes ordered at a restaurant we can no longer eat at since we are GF. We've tried eating there a couple of times since, but they didn't put their best effort into making sure our needs were met. I basically read over the one by Ree Drummond and then as I often do, did my own thing with prep, ingredients etc. and made it gluten-free. If you haven't checked out her website yet, or seen her cookbook, you are missing out.

Projected prep time: 30-45 minutes ; Projected cook time (including fries) approx. 1 hour

Sandwiches

Note: This easily made four sandwiches

1 medium to large white onion, sliced into strips

1 green or red bell pepper, cut into strips (or use both colors, which is what I wanted to do but didn't see any red ones that impressed me in the store)

1 top round steak (didn't pay attention to the pounds)

Butter (or oil of preference)

Sea salt or kosher salt

Black pepper

Tony Chachere's

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce (U.S. only - Canada is not GF)

Watkins Meat Magic (can omit if you don't have)

Gluten-free buns (O'Dough's is what I used)

Oven Fries

10 small white potatoes (less if larger ones) or more fingerling potatoes

Grapeseed oil

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Paprika

Start with your oven fries first, they take longer. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread some grapeseed oil around on it.

Scrub the potatoes ...

and then slice in half and quarter them.

Then cut the quarters in half, and ignore the angle of this photo that for some reason Google turned around and I don't have time to fix, again.

Put them in a large bowl.

Then drizzle enough grapeseed oil over them to thoroughly coat each one. Toss. Sprinkle kosher salt and a little black pepper over them, then a generous amount of paprika.

Toss well to coat each one equally, then pour onto sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle a tad more kosher salt.

Bake at 425 to 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes, then remove sheet to turn fries over and then bake again for 20-25 minutes longer until done.

Serve with your favorite condiments.

***

While your fries are in the oven, start on your sandwiches.

Melt one or two tablespoons of butter (or use oil of preference) in a large pan and sautee onion and bell pepper strips.

When they are starting to get soft, add a little salt and some Tony Chachere's and continue to cook.

While they are cooking, tenderize your top round steak on both sides.

Then cut into strips and place in a bowl. Add about two teaspoons of Watkins Meat Magic, if you have it, and several generous dashes of Lea & Perrins, some sprinkles of kosher salt and a little black pepper. Let it sit in this for several minutes while the onions and bell pepper finish cooking (you can add more butter to them if you need to).

When onions and bell peppers are soft and starting to brown, remove from the pan and set aside, then add the meat and a little more butter (or oil of your preference).

When meat is cooked through ...

add the onions and bell peppers back to the pan. Mix it all together over the heat and let the flavors blend together for a couple of minutes. Season with more Tony's and/or salt to taste if needed.

Now you're ready for sandwiches. Get your thawed sandwich buns or rolls ready (I like to toast the inside of mine) ...

and your oven fries should be about ready now as well.

Enjoy!

Quick n Easy Chili

For those days you're craving chili, but don't have time to let it cook for hours, here's your recipe. I like to top mine with shredded Colby Jack cheese and Fritos. I realize I have somewhat of a contradiction here posting organic ingredients and then saying to put Fritos on top. But, I love Fritos on my chili. I figure adding a non-organic ingredient or two when the rest is organic is still better than using most of it non-organic. Of course if you don't believe organic makes a difference, go right ahead and use the type of ingredients you want.

Estimated prep time: 10 min.; Total cook time: 45 min. to 1 hour
1 pound lean ground beef (prefer grass-fed organic -- omit if vegetarian)
1 medium onion, chopped not quite as small as diced
1 can diced organic tomatoes
1 can organic kidney beans or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can of organic tomato sauce
Water
Black pepper to taste
Seas salt to taste
Chili powder to taste
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce (omit if vegan or soy-free -- and U.S. version is GF, Canada is not)
2 tsp. Watkins Meat Magic (omit if don't have or not using meat, or soy-free)
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed, or use Watkins Liquid Garlic Spice
Shredded Colby Jack cheese (or vegan cheese if dairy-free)
Fritos, if desired
*Note: If you are making this vegetarian, use one can of kidney beans and one can of pinto beans instead of beef.

Brown beef together with Meat Magic, chopped onion and a little sea salt. If you aren't using beef, just do onion and some salt. When beef is cooked through, add beans, garlic, tomatoes and can of tomato sauce. Fill tomato sauce can about 1/2 full of water and add to ingredients. Flavor to taste with Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, black pepper, sea salt and garlic spice if you aren't using fresh garlic.Simmer uncovered about 30-45 minutes. Serve topped with shredded Colby Jack cheese (vegan cheese if dairy-free) and Fritos if desired.