Recipe: Rachel’s Chuck Roast

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My January 2012 project is reading The 4-Hour Workweek and culminating all my food knowledge into a very simple plan. Instead of my pattern over the past 13 years to add variety and optimal nutrition, I am now looking at choice-optimal (limiting choices and decision making) so that I have time for other things. This pot roast is easy and I’ll probably make it every-other week.

This Chuck Roast is prepare ahead and my whole family loves it. This past time I was in heaven eating it with the Horseradish Cream.

Rachel’s Chuck Roast

beef chuck roast (approx 5 lbs.)
coarse salt (I use Redmond Real Salt Kosher)
coarse/fresh ground black pepper
1 large yellow or white onion, coarsely chopped
1 large ripe tomato, chopped or a can of diced tomatoes in juice
6 regular cloves of garlic, (Easy tip: Use peeled garlic or 1/2 of a large clove of “Elephant garlic” sliced thinly)
water
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, or Soy Sauce (see Tips)–I no longer add this because I am allergic to yeast.
1+ tsp. sweet paprika (not smoked)

Optional: Potatoes, celery, carrots (Rachel loves turnips, but NOT in this dish!)

Allow meat to sit at room temp half hour before cooking it. You don’t want any almost-frozen spots in the meat. You want it to be on it’s way to getting warm so that it doesn’t suck all the heat out of the skillet too quickly.

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Safer mattresses

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Restwell Mattresses, Minnesota made: Dedicated to using safe, sustainable, quality materials, Restwell responsibly sources most components from the US, primarily from the Midwest. All of these materials are non-toxic and inherently resistant to flame, so you’re not sleeping on chemicals. Working with us to include the healthiest options possible, Restwell developed our natural latex mattress, comprised of a 100% botanically-derived latex core—made from the sap of rubber trees—and wrapped in certified organic cotton and wool.

You may also want to sign up for e-newsletters from Lifekind for sale notices.

You may also want to check IKEA for their natural rubber mattresses.

Healthy Indulgences: Options for Soda Replacement

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My Mom’s husband is also taking on a weight-loss diet similar to me and my hubby: a sort of Primal crossed with the Atkins Induction. Knowing he loves diet soda, I sent him some of these Pomegranate Cherry Fast Flavor Sticks from Trader Joe’s (TJ’s). He asked for more! (Yes, I sent them in the mail.)

Now, an Izze is natural carbonated juice. But, what if you want something that’s yeast-free, natural, and as little sugar as possible? You’ll need something sweetened with stevia and maybe erythritol (my two non-caloric sweeteners of choice). Enter these two great products.

Trader Joe's Fast Flavor Sticks Pomagranate Cherry. And, SweetLeaf Stevia Liquid Berry Flavor.

Two similar Berry-or-Cherry-flavored products for flavoring carbonated water like Perrier or with the SodaStream.

These TJ’s Pom-Cherry Fast Flavor Sticks make your drink red with natural colors. They’re gluten-free and party-friendly (unless you have white carpet).

Tip: Be careful with the Trader Joe’s Flavor Sticks going into carbonated water! I use a tall glass because this tends to foam up quite a lot.

The Flavor Sticks have only 13 calories. But, here’s another solution which is calorie-free!

The clear liquid stevia extracts from SweetLeaf are quite exciting to me, because they are even more natural with fewer ingredients. The Berry flavor is similar to the TJ’s Pom-Cherry sticks. I know a few kids who love this flavor. Now, some people might discern the difference and even prefer the TJ’s. But, the SweetLeaf option is available to those who want Zero calories and fewer ingredients. Or, no color–better if you spill your drink (what a great option with children!)

Now, if Trader Joe’s is too far out of your way, you could try eBay! But, for the SweetLeaf liquids, you could Google it. I would recommend these options:

Bonus: I happen to not own a SodaStream (yet), so I buy bottles of Perrier at Costco. No doubt I’ll be blogging about this later this year after some cost analysis.

Ideas: You do not have to use carbonated water; you could use these sweet flavors to add to regular water or to bump up some tea or juice, gelatin, chia seed pudding. Perhaps we’ll soon be adding our whole food Vitamin C powder to some of this Berry Water (more on that later).

My 5 year old and I both I like to have a treat with one of these drink options and Trader Joe’s Seaweed Snacks (only 99 cents) for a salty hit.

Share? Do you have a quick idea or recipe using a flavored stevia product? Could you share with all of Hearth and Gnome’s readers?

Newsflash! Honeyville Almond Flour 20% Off!

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Honeyville is running their biggest sale ever: 20% off your entire order. And, the shipping is only $4.95. Which means it’s time for you to try some almond flour! I’ll be posting recipes for almond flour, including Gnome Muffins.

The sale runs thru Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 6:00PM PST (that’s 8pm for those of us in Minnesota).

Now, I want to encourage you to sign up for the Honeyville e-newsletter. That’s how you’re going to know about the sales in the future and get the code. They usually only send emails out when there’s a sale.

Please go ahead and sign up. If for some reason you just don’t want to, then send me an email at rachel@hearthANDgnome.com and I’ll send you the code.

Be sure to buy Blanched Almond Flour. Last time I ordered, I bought 25 pounds!

Let me know how this goes for you! Feedback, people!  When you’re almond flour arrives at your door, come back and post here or contact me so that I will make sure you have a recipe or two to try out.

Rachel

Deals: The public library

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It’s fairly obvious, right? Your local public library is a great deal.

I’m throwing this up on the blog just as a little reminder to you, dear readers (in every sense), to become a power-user of your public library!

How do I get it done?

I utilize the online ordering feature for my library. I request books to be held for me. I get notified via email and then I go pick them up! This saves me time and trouble when I’m going to the library with or without children.

So, how can you remember to do this on a regular basis? Continue reading →

Warmth: Buying the Balaclavas

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As the Kindergarten teachers say, King Winter has returned from his vacation. The chill motivates me to finally purchase those Merino wool balaclavas for the kids. I am pleased to see that a local merchant has now added the balaclavas to her inventory and the price, as well as shipping, is lower than Green Mountain Organics. Visit Dr. Ester’s Flowering Child to order wool unders. I was recommended to this balaclava by our Kindergarten teacher and I several children were wearing them this morning.

I took a tour of Icebreaker.com today in order to see why wool? and why Merino wool in particular? They have beautiful videos. The simple technical answers make sense. I have a couple of Icebreaker shirts and the Womens Bodyfit 260 Legless baselayer short pants. I love them all: they are soft and have the qualities as advertised.

I was particularly impressed with the flammability test of wool against synthetics. I’d much rather put my children into Merino wool!

Mpls: Last Year for Museum Adventure Pass

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The Museum Adventure Pass Program ends it’s sixth and final year on Sept 3, 2012. So, we have the rest of the school year and the summer to enjoy free passes to museums. And, after you visit a destination, you can enter to win a free one-year pass to one of the destinations.

If you have visited one of the Minneapolis destinations, I’d love to hear about it! (Comment below.) Our family moved to Minneapolis last year and haven’t discovered as many of these great treasures as I would like. We have visited The Works several times and the kids (age 5 and 7) love that one. I think we should try the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary, the Foshay Museum and Observation Deck, the Bakken Museum, the Minnesota Transportation Museum, the Minnesota Zoo and the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory. The other destinations in the program I think we will save for when the kids are a little older.

Almond Milk: To Make? or Buy? That is the question.

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I love Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Breeze from the refrigerated dairy section. Almond milk is a great low-carb and tasty way to dress up many beverages and recipes. I use it in my Dandy Blend drink, smoothies, and many recipes including sausage gravy, baked goods, etc.

I work at keeping down the cost of the food we use most often (that’s a big part of what I blog about). I feel I am making constant progress to create a healthier and cost-effective diet. So would I be able to save money by making almond milk?

Almonds are $3 per pound (at Costco). That would make a gallon of almond milk.
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