Marinated Steak Tacos - Cinco de Mayo

It is Cinco de Mayo Friday so we are having Mexican food week. I actually do a unit on Mexico at school with my fourth grade art class and at the end we celebrate Cinco de Mayo by making our own tortillas in class. I can't wait for that tomorrow (I don't work on Fridays so we have to do it early). I put a link below to how to make your own tortillas too because once you make them yourself you will never want store bought ones again. 

At home, I could eat Mexican food every day. I really wanted to make my own tamales but I could not find any local corn husks, so I will have to do that another time and order the corn husks online. There are not many Mexican markets in New Hampshire!  I decided to make a marinated steak taco instead. The recipe is from this Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications   - simply titled Mexican. I think this might be the same one on Amazon but the cover is different. It is FULL of great authentic Mexican recipes and little facts. I have been drooling over it for months and it was past time to try something from it. This recipe calls for flank steak, which is not my favorite, so I opted for a round steak that was sliced thin. You can use either. 

Marinated Steak Tacos 

• 2 pounds thinly sliced steak round or skirt/flank steak
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 tbs canola oil
• 2 ts chilli powder
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 12 corn homemade tortillas

1. Trim fat from meat. Make sure your meat is extra thin (about 1/4" thick) and tenderize with a meat cleaver  until it is. 

2. Cut the meat into thin strips (about 2 inches wide) and put into a gallon sized ziploc bag. 

3. In a medium sized bowl combine the rest of the ingredients for the marinade: lime juice, canola oil, chili powder, minced garlic, and salt. Pour over the steak in the bag, zip it shut, and make sure the marinade coats all the meat. 

4. Place the bag in the fridge for 60-90 minutes.

5. Grill the meat over a charcoal grill or an electric indoor grill (like I did). 

Enjoy in a homeade corn tortilla (Mealpod Recipe), with Mexican Rice, Roasted Corn, and a little sour cream. 

I actually cheated on my Mexican rice since I was already making tortillas and the steak (you can't make everything the right way), by combining 2 cups rice cooked in a rice cooker, a half a jar of my favorite salsa - Green Mountain Salsa - and a bit of garlic to lessen the acidity of the salsa. It comes out mooshy instead of fluffy like when you do Mexican rice the right way, but it works! Check out the ingredients on the Green Mountain Salsa: 

INGREDIENTS: Ripe Tomatoes, Fresh Onions, Fresh Tomatillos, Fresh Pasilla Peppers, Fresh Jalapeño Peppers, Fresh Cilantro, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fresh Parsley, Fresh Garlic, Sea Salt, Spices

ALL OF OUR PRODUCTS ARE: All Natural, No Preservatives or artificial colors or flavors. Gluten Free, Cholesterol Free, No GMO's (Genetically modified produce).

That is what a food label should look like! This stuff TASTES AMAZING too  and they actually sell it online by the case, which my Mom did buy one year and passed it out to her friends back home. 

To make the tacos into a frozen Mealpod (after devouring several fresh) I mixed the rice and corn together and put it in the bottom of a Mealpod foil packet (simply a sheet of heavy duty foil) and placed two strips of steak on top. 

Other Mealpod recipes celebrating Mexican food:

Tamale Pie

Gluten-free Mexican Casserole 

Tasty Turkey Chili

Spicy Sweet Potato and Sausage Burrito filling

Taco Cups

Mini Sweet Potato & Beef Shepherd's Pies

Mini Sweet Potato & Beef Shepherd's Pies

or

My First Shepherd's Pie

I have wanted to try shepherd's pie for a while, so I went with the big guns and started with Gordon Ramsey's recipe and then made some little variations like adding peas along with carrots, and using sweet potatoes on top (minus the butter and cream). I actually did half the recipe with yukon potatoes for the kids, but I don't think they are going to like this recipe... toO much wine flavor, which was really yummy for me, but not for them. I am going to have to make a very dumbed down version for them next time if I want them to eat it... sigh.  

Since I made both white potato topped pies and sweet potatoed tops I could compare them. I found that I enjoyed the sweet potato ones so much more.  The sweet flavor went so well with the wine and onions. Also because sweet potatoes mash creamy without any additions (as well as have a bold taste), I didn't find I needed to add butter or cream. I don't do well with super rich foods so, yay, and it keeps the calories lower per serving. 

Mini Sweet Potato & Beef Shepherd's Pies Recipe

·  2 lb Ground Beef 93/07

·  1 cup Red Wine, Alcohol Will Be  Cooked Off

·  1 medium Onion, Sweet, shredded

·  1 cup Carrots Shredded

·  1 cup Green Peas (frozen, rinsed and drained)

·  2 tbsp Thick Classice Worcestershire Sauce

·  3 cloves Garlic Clove

·  1 1/2 tbsp Tomatoes Paste

·  2 tsp Thyme, Fresh·  1/2 cup chicken broth

·  6 medium or Sweet Potatoes/yams

1. Peel and boil potatoes until soft. Mash the sweet potatoes with a hand mixer until there are no lumps. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. 

2. Brown the ground beef over medium heat. Drain.

3. Mince/shred your onion using a grater on your food processor or just cut really small. Add to the ground beef along with garlic, thyme, shredded carrots (storebought), frozen peas rinsed and drained. Let cook for a couple of minutes.

4. Add red wine and let cook off. 

5. Add 1/2 cup - 1 cup chicken broth and let simmer until thickened. 

6. Add salt & pepper to taste and Hungarian Paprika for color. 

7. You can either spoon the entire mixture of meat into a casserole dish and then top with the mashed sweet potatoes, or you can use little ramekins. Mine hold about one cup total and I have 5 of them, so I made 5 individual pies, and then ut the rest in a casserole dish. You can either spoon the potatoes on or use a cookie press and squirt it on with a star tip like I did. I had JUST enough potatoes... shew! 

8. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. If the potatoes are not starting to get a little stiff and browned, switch to broil at the end. The sweet potatoes seem to take longer to brown than white potatoes. 

14 servings – about a cup of food – 166 calories, 4.5g fat, 2.4g fiber, 14.9g protein 

Nutrition estimated using Livestrong: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/shepherds-pie-ramseys-beef/#ixzz1stOBwdUa

I love these little ceramic ramekins my Mom bought me. They hold almost one cup of "stuff" and have lids for easy storage. I found some similar ones on Amazon, Good Cook Ceramic Set Of 2 4 Ounce Ramekins, Red, but my Mom got mine at Marshall's. 

The five ramekins are for lunches - oops I mean 4 (I ate one) and the rest from the big casserole dish will be put into foil Mealpod packets and frozen. 

Okay, to be honest? The Margherita Meatza was better than this one. This is tasty, don't get me wrong, but apparently, Greek just isn't my thing. It probably needs more spinach and another kind of cheese, but I wanted to stay true to the Greek thing and leave it with just feta.

Greek Meatza

By mealpod

Published 02/09/2012

Paleo pizza with a meat crust and greek toppings.

Ingredients

1 1/2lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground lamb

2 egg

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

1 tsp salt

1 tsp fennel seed

1 tsp oregano, ground

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and measure and mix your crust seasonings together in a small bowl.

Place beef in large mixing bowl and eggs. Once you have thoroughly mixed in the egg add the seasoning mix and Parmesan cheese. Flatten beef into a 12 x 17 jelly roll pan and place into oven for 10 minutes.

Spread the crust evenly with feta.

Arrange tomatoes on the top, then remaining ingredients.

Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is melty, about 10 minutes.

Prep Time: 20

Cook time: 20

Nutrition

• Calories: 269

Fat: 17

Sodium: 492

Totalcarbs: 3

Protein: 26

Make Ahead Cheesy Beef, Broccoli & Potato Casserole

So, this was an unexpected Mealpod! I knew that my daughter had a lot of activities this week and I didn't want to have to buy dinner out too many of the nights, so I googled for "make ahead casseroles" and found something close to this recipe at Eating Well. Except for all the non-Paleo crap ingredients, so I Paleo'd this one up and it turned out FANTASTIC!

I made the casserole Sunday morning while doing my normal cooking for the week. I put the whole thing together in a 9 x 13 dish and put it in the fridge. When I got home from Sarah's activity last night, I threw it in the oven and baked it.

Maybe I was just super hungry, but I thought it was really, really yummy. Plus the recipe made a lot more than I needed for dinner, so I was able to put 2 Mealpods away for future use!

Cheesy Beef, Broccoli & Potato Casserole

By mealpod

Published 02/07/2012

A make ahead Paleo casserole with ground beef, fresh broccoli and shredded potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 cups broccoli


• 1 tbsp coconut oil


• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef 85/15


• 1 cup onion


• 2 tbsp Worcesterchire sauce


• 1 tsp garlic powder


• 2 cups shredded cheese


• 1/4 tsp tumeric


• 1 egg


• 1/2 tsp pepper


• 1 tsp paprika


• 2 cups shredded potatoes

Instructions

1. 1/2 4 potatoes and boil for 7 minutes, use grater to shred large into hashbrown type potatoes, set aside.


2. Toss broccoli with 1 tablespoon oil in a large bowl. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast, stirring once halfway though, until just soft and browned in spots, about 15 minutes, set aside.


3. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add beef and onion and cook, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon, until the beef is browned and the onion is softened, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt, set aside.


4. Spread the beef mixture in a 9-by-13-inch (or similar 3-quart) baking dish. Top with the broccoli and sprinkle cheese evenly over the top.


5. Combine potatoes, egg, pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Sprinkle paprika evenly over the casserole.


6. Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the potatoes are beginning to brown, about 40 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8

Nutrition

• Calories: 366


• Fat: 14


• Totalcarbs: 15


• Dietaryfiber: 3


• Protein: 28

Prep Time: 20

Cook time: 60

Super Bowl Fluffy Meatloaf Cupcakes

My sister usually does the MEAT recipes on our site and I usually do the ones packed with grains as well as veggies and a little meat, but I was so intrigued by all the paleo meat cupcakes I've been seeing. Then I spotted Meat Ball Pancakes in my vintage Betty Crocker cookbook and thought I'd have to try them as cupcakes! Plus I know my daughters will eat them! My oldest even took a picture of hers last night and Facebooked it to her friends, lol. 

My husband on the other hand likes to limit how much red meat we eat, but I think these paired with the sweet and sour brussel sprouts  I also made is a great meal and the cupcake is already made into a limited portion for the meat, so you know you are not eating too much. The potatoes on top are really basic boiled mashed potatoes but would be even better for you and cuter with sweet potato mashed poatoes.  

So here is the Betty Crocker pancake recipe that I altered into cupcakes. Let me know if you try the pancakes!!! I posted the recipe I did for the cupcakes below. Mine is very similar to the pancakes, but I added loads of finely diced veggies into ours. 

Fluffy Meatloaf Cupcakes

By Nicole Caulfield

Fluffy meat cupcakes with veggies inside!

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolks, lightly beaten (you can use less if you like)
• 1 pound ground meat (of your choice)
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• garlic powder (I just dumped some in)
• 1 cup diced veggies (carrots, yellow peppers, green peppers, green onions)
• 3-4 egg whites stiffly beaten

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients in a large bowl, except the egg whites.
2. In a separate bowl whip your egg whites until stiff.
3. Gently fold in the egg whites until you get a sort of batter.
4. Pour the mixture into foil cupcake liners in a muffin pan about 3/4 full. Throw away the paper inserts.
5. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the tops brown. If they seem finished but the tops aren't brown, throw them under the broiler for a minute or two.
6. Top with Mashed potatoes, and garnish with sliced green onions!

Curious how these will fit into Mealpods for the week? We ate some for dinner last night. We packaged some sans potatoes in our Mealpod foil packs for the freezer. I left some out in the fridge for dinner later in the week or to use in the bento lunch boxes. You can also see the brussel sprouts I made that were so good. I may post that recipe as well because I altered the one I linked to (no quinoa, used dried cranberries). I put the leftover brussel sprouts in the fridge last night and already had some cold with a cold cupcake from the fridge and it was so good. I think the brussel sprouts were in some ways better cold, so those will end up in my and my husband's bento boxes on Monday (if I don't eat them all first). The freezer cupcakes will be taken out at dinnertime over the next few weeks and paired with some extra veggies. I like a plate with half veggies, and half other stuff. 

NUTRITION: 12 PODS (SERVINGS) 96 CALORIES, 4G FAT, 180G SODIUM, 1G CARB, .5G FIBER, 12G PROTEIN from Livestrong.com

Margherita Meatza

 Sunday Cooking with Sis 1/15

I really found a winner this week!  Lots of Paleo folks know all about MEATZA, it's Paleo pizza with ground beef as the crust.  I had looked at the recipes before and always wanted to try one.  I didn't just want normal pizza toppings though, so when my brain popped up with a margherita pizza idea, it all came together!

It really turns out like especially awesome burger patty, moist and very tasty!  Two slices is a bit too much for me at about 600 calories, so I am having mine with a salad or coleslaw this week for lunch.  

INGREDIENTS:

TOPPINGS:

¼ cup Olive Oil

½ tsp Coarse Kosher Salt

1 clove garlic, minced

8 medium Roma Tomato, sliced

8 oz Mozzarella, shredded

10 Fresh Basil Leaves , shredded

¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

¼ cup Feta Cheese, crumbled

CRUST:

2 lb Ground Beef  

2 egg

½ cup Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Fennel seed

1 tsp Oregano, Ground

1 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

      1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

DIRECTIONS:

·         Preheat oven to 450°

·         Stir together olive oil, garlic, and salt; toss with tomatoes, and allow to stand for 15 minutes.

·         Measure and mix your crust seasonings together in a small bowl.

·         Place beef in large mixing bowl and add eggs. Once you have thoroughly mixed in the egg add the seasoning mix and Parmesan cheese.  Flatten beef into a 12 x 17 jelly roll pan and place into oven for 10 minutes.

·         Spread the crust evenly with Mozzarella.

·         Arrange tomatoes on the top, then sprinkle with basil, Parmesan, and feta cheese.

·         Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Allow to cool. Slice, then freeze. 

My crust shrunk a lot, I'm not sure why or if that is normal.  I have never seen mention of it in any other Meatza recipe.  Sarah and I delicately moved it to a new cookie sheet, blotted it and then added the toppings.  I actually think it worked out well, but I'm not sure that's what should have happened!

I can't wait to eat this today for lunch.

Sis

Beef Mushroom Risotto Recipe

 I had a very busy weekend this weekend. My oldest daughter turned 13 last week so we had her teenage initiation party. Saturday was a wash, but I did get to make one Mealpod recipe Sunday. We still have peppers, alfredo, and spaghetti Mealpods  in the freezer so we are doing well. I ate all the lasagna from last week though. I didn't even freeze it as I knew it would be gone by the end of the week.

This week I had my husband pick what to make and he picked a mushroom risotto from a magazine. It didn't have a protein though so I altered it to make it into a full meal. Now it is Beef Mushroom Risotto with a touch of red wine and baby arugula. 


I photographed it as a Mealpod because this is the way I eat it. We had some fresh last night after it was made, but I froze the rest and reheated one in the oven today at 350 right in the foil pack for 25 minutes. I have to say it tastes even better today... the Parmesan cheese mellowed and the mushroom flavor came out more after reheating. If you are a risotto snob I am sure freezing and reheating it is a no no but I think it is delicious.  The rice will soften when reheating, but you can always undercook it from the start so when it is reheated it is cooked right.
-Nicole
Click read ore below for the recipe.

Italian 3 Ways - Nicole - Noodle-Free Eggplant Lasagna, Spicy Stuffed Peppers & Meaty Sauce

I don't know what was with me this weekend. I usually cook a couple of double batches twice a week and my sister does the giant cook off on Sunday. I think I was just really craving Italian... and decided to do Italian 3 ways (or make one big batch of meat sauce and use it 3 ways).

First I made a noodle free lasagna using eggplant slices instead of noodles. It was beyond yummy with the thick meaty sauce and ricotta. The recipe for the meat sauce is at the bottom of the post. Next I made stuffed peppers and last I used up the last of the meat sauce by simply combining it with whole wheat noodles for my family who eats wheat. -- Nicole

All the recipes are in a giant post below: Noodle-Free Eggplant Lasagna, Spicy Stuffed Peppers, and Meaty Spaghetti Sauce.

Sunday cooking with Sis!

So, I'm the big sister on this blog. My whole family calls me Sis, rather than Melissa. I owe y'all an introduction post telling you how I ended up here, as a dedicated ancestral eater and lover of planning and cooking my meals. We'll save that for a day when I have more time.

Most weeks I cook my food for the week every Sunday. It's become a ritual and when life interferes and I have to do it on Saturday night or (gasp) not at all, it is not a pretty sight. I am spoiled with eating my own home-cooked meals for breakfast and luch at work.

This week I made two recipes, Sausage and Potato Hash with Eggs and Italian Beef and Squash with Mashed Potatoes.