Making Beef Stock

Beef broth ready to be frozen and beef tallow

I try not to waste anything in the kitchen. One of the best ways to get the most out of your meat and veggies is to use left over bones and veggies to make broth.  I made beef stock for the first time this week and as an added bonus, you can also render the beef tallow off the top of the stock to use as delicious cooking oil. Here's how...

Ingredients
- 6 rib bones (I used left over ones from dinner)
- 2 1/2 - 3 pounds  beef knuckle bones (basically any bones with a lot of marrow, I purchased mine at the butcher for very cheap.)
-1 white onion (cut in fourths, with skins on)
- 1/2 red onion (cut in half, with skins on)
- 2 large carrots (cut into 2 in. pieces)
- 2 stalks of celery (cut into 2 in. pieces)
- 4 cloves of garlic ( crushed)
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 8 whole peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- tomato paste

1. Brush the knuckle bones with tomato paste and roast for 30 mins at 350 F rotating once. When the bones are done, place them in the crock pot and add all other ingredients.
2. Pour water into the crock pot until the all the ingredients are covered. Set crock pot on low and cook for 24 hours. 
3. When the broth is done cooking, strain the broth so that only the liquid remains. Place broth in fridge and let sit over night. 
4. The next morning the broth will have separated from the fat (beef tallow). The fat will have rose to the top and formed a hard yellow layer. This layer can be scooped off with a spoon.   I place the beef tallow in bowl and reserve as cooking oil. I freeze the broth for later use. 

Gluten- Free Donuts!!!

Donuts with Caramel topping (Admittedly, I should have let them cool more before I put on the topping!) 

I've seen soooo many adorable homemade donuts on Pintrest that I just had to try some of my own. The problem is that most of these recipes contain gluten.  What's a gluten free girl to do? After some research, I found some promising gluten free donut recipes. True to form, I changed them a little bit.  I swear I can't follow a recipe from start to finish without making my own substitutions. I always want to change something but that's part of the fun of cooking, making it your own. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! Before you get started make sure to buy a donut pan.  Shockingly they weren't available at the Williams-Sonoma in Los Gatos (Isn't that place supposed to have everything??!!?!) but they were in stock at Sur La Table for only $10.95 for a 6 donut pan.  I'm actually glad they weren't available at William-Sonoma because the average half dozen pan at Williams-Sonoma goes for over $30.00 so Sur La Table is way better bet.

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour plus 1 1/2 tablespoons
- 1/4 cup almond flour

- 1/4 salt

- 1/4 baking soda
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted in the microwave)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla poaste plus three drops vanilla creme stevia

Icing recipes after the dough instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a donut pan with coconut oil.
2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl whisk all wet ingredients to combine.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Let sit for 3 minutes to thicken. If the dough is too runny add coconut flour by one teaspoon at a time. Coconut flour absorbs moisture a lot quicker than any other kind of flour so it should make your dough thicker when even a small amount is added.
4. Place the batter in a plastic bag and cut a small hole off the corner.
5. Use the bag to squeeze dough into donut pan.
6. Put in oven and bake for 18- 22 minutes. Rotate pan once during the baking time.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Flip pan onto a cooling rack and allow to cool before spreading icing on the donuts. If they do not cool down your icing will melt off the donuts. This is especially true with the type of icings featured on my website so let them cool!!

"Caramel" Topping 

Ingredients

- 6 tablespoons raw honey
- 2 tablespoons nut butter (I used almond butter)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste

1. Place honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir for 4 minutes. Honey will begun to bubble.
2, Add nut butter and vanilla and continue stirring for 1-2 minutes. The longer you cook the mixture the thicker it will get.
3. Remove pan from heat and spread on donuts.

Vanilla Cream Icing

- 1 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked for three hours, water discarded

- 3/4cup fresh apple juice

- 3 Medjool dates, pitted removed

- 1 ½ TBS honey

- 4 drops vanilla crème stevia extract
 - ¼ teaspoon vanilla paste

The Vanilla Creme icing is featured in my Harvest Cake Recipe Post.  If you liked it on the cake you will probably like it with the donuts too. 

Dijon Marinated Chicken Legs

Threw this together for a last minute dinner. Used up a lot of leftover veggies too!

Ingredients
-3 chicken legs with thighs attached
- 2 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
-1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Rub chicken legs with all ingredients. Allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes, preferably for a few hours.
2. Grill on medium-high for 3 minutes on each side.
3. Finish in the oven at 375 F.


Served above with kale sauteed in balsamic vinegar, steamed broccoli, and baked carrots!

Crab Salad Wrapped in Nori with Veggie Noodles

I decided to make an Asian inspired meal for our Friday night dinner. I also splurged on some fresh Dungeness crab since it's in season. This can also be made with canned crab meat which is much cheaper.

Ingredients (For Crab Rolls)
- 1- 1.5 pounds (cooked) crab meat (shredded and water squeezed out)
- 4 scallions (chopped)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons parsley (chopped)
- squeeze of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons mayo (I made my own Paleo mayo which I will include a recipe of ASAP)
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- Nori sheets (available at Safeway and WholeFoods)
- 2 avocados (sliced)
- 1 Bell pepper (sliced)

1. Combine crab meat, scallions, parsley, lemon juice, mayo, salt and pepper in a bowl. Toss to combine.
2. Arrange a large spoonful or two of crab salad in the middle of a nori sheet. Place sliced veggies (in this case red pepper and bell pepper) on top of crab. Add additional mayo if desired. Roll up into a hand roll.

Serve with zucchini noodles and top noodles with sriracha. 

Vanilla Coconut Cookies

Sorry for the break in posts.  I've been sick the past week and there's no point in making delicious food if I can't enjoy it! I made these last night and they are all almost gone already. With only five ingredients, these cookies are fail proof.

Ingredients
- 2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (the only place I can find the unsweetened kind is Whole Foods)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup raw honey
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
3. Grab about 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie. Roll into a ball and use your palms to flatten each ball into a patty. Lay each patty on a cookie sheet prepared with parchment paper.
4. Bake for 15- 18 minutes, rotating pan once during bake time.
5. Serve warm!

Mashed Garlic Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts with Bacon!!

Top Left: Mashed Garlic Cauliflower , Top Right: Brussels Sprouts and Bacon!

These are two delicious sides that are pretty easy to whip up. Hope you enjoy them as much as Dano and I did. 




Mashed Garlic Cauliflower

This is actually a cauliflower puree recipe but I like to call it mashed cauliflower because it is a great substitute for mashed potatoes.

Ingredients
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 4-5 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
- salt
- 1-2 tablespoons butter
- a pinch of nutmeg

1. Chop cauliflower and garlic. Toss with some salt. Steam cauliflower and garlic for 10 minutes- I steamed mine in a pot with a steamer insert.
2. Transfer cauliflower and garlic to a food processor. Add butter and a pinch of nutmeg. Process for 30 seconds until pureed.
3. Serve warm!

Brussels Sprouts roasted with Bacon

Ingredients
- 15- 20 brussels sprouts (bottom stems and outside skins removed, halved)
- 3-4 slices of good bacon
- olive oil or avocado oil
-salt and pepper

1. Prepare brussels sprouts. Toss them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Dice bacon. Toss with brussels sprouts.
3. Prepare a baking dish with foil. Spread brussels sprouts and diced bacon evenly in the dish.
4. Bake for 30 mins at 375 F.
5. Make sure to toss the brussels sprouts 2 or 3 times during the baking time. This will ensure that they cook evenly.
6. Serve with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.