Thursday cooking disasters & a great recipe!

[Senshin]

So I'm on day 23 and have been really pushing myself to try new recipes. I am a pretty good cook, but sometimes get into the habit of repeating the same recipes. Last night I tried two new recipes, so was excited for delicious outcomes. Let's just say it didn't quite go as well as I'd hoped.

First I made zucchini cups, the recipe is pretty similar to the zucchini latkes I make, but they are baked. You basically shred several zucchinis, then wring out the moisture and blend them with eggs to bind, almond flour and spices. I figured it was less labor intensive and would require less fat than frying. Despite generously greasing the muffin tins with ghee the zucchini cups stuck like crazy! They tasted really delicious, but fell apart and took repeated scrubbing & soaking to get the tin clean.

I also made a recipe that's really popular on Pinterest for coconut chicken tenders. Now I've previously made almond meal & spice coated tenders that were delicious. This coating called for 1/4 cup coconut flour & a cup flaked coconut, plus spices - before baking you heat a generous amount of coconut oil on the pan. phew, the coating tastes like sawdust! Thank goodness the recipe included a mango sauce, since it desperately needed it! Word to the wise, skip the coconut flour and stick with a nut meal or flour.

Since I'd rather not diss anyone who puts in the time & effort to blog, I won't share what sites those recipes are from - but what I will share is a delicious sloppy joe recipe!

I don't have compliant beef stock, but it worked great with subbing in chicken stock. I also added in a diced bell pepper & chopped mushrooms to sauté with the onion and served it over a sweet potato. It really has that zingy sloppy joe flavor that I didn't think was possible to achieve without a sweetener. This recipe you could easily serve people who aren't following Whole30 because it tastes yummy!

Paleo Sloppy Joes by Paleo Comfort Foods

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coconut oil or other cooking fat

1 small onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced (my addition)

5 mushrooms, diced (optional)

1 pound grass fed ground beef

1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)

1/2 cup beef stock (I subbed in compliant chicken stock)

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon brown or yellow (prepared) mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat the oil, then add your onions and sauté until slightly translucent.

Add your beef, and cook, breaking apart any big chunks of meat.

Once meat is completely browned, add all remaining ingredients, stirring very thoroughly to combine well.

Continue cooking for 5-10 minutes or until sauce is somewhat thickened and flavors have had a chance to meld.

Source: http://paleocomfortfoods.com/recipes/sloppyjoes/

[m5kaminsky]

The recipe sounds delicious!  I'll definitely try it out.  Thanks for the tip