No Onions, No Garlic: Comforting Crockpot Beef Chili

Ingredients and prices:

2 lbs of organic ground beef at Whole Foods. $16! :( this had better serve a goddamn village when I'm done.
28 oz can crushed tomatoes ($1.99)
16 oz can organic diced tomatoes, sodium-free ($2.99)
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 chopped green bell pepper
2 zucchini, grated
1 16 oz bag dried kidney beans, hot soaked
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tsp oregano
4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

My last chili recipe used twice the spices and no sugar, and had paprika. I omitted paprika because I found some kind of insect nesting in my paprika I bought from Kalustyan's ew ew ew ew. To do: find spice jars.

The beef was frozen, so I put it in the slow cooker first on high and added the crushed tomatoes for a couple of hours.

Once it was tender enough to be broken into pieces, I added the vegetables and spices.

After about an hour I added the hot soaked kidney beans. (Note: Beans are very high FODMAP foods. Omit if to reduce FODMAPs.)

Then I cooked on low for another three hours. Truth be told, it could have used more time to soften up the beans... or I could have just used canned beans. But overall, it turned out great.

Serving suggestions: in a bowl with cheese and tortilla chips; in a taco with avocado and cheese; on a baked sweet potato (pictured above) with cheese; on a hot dog!

Thursday: Fall Vegetable Stew with Beef

This morning I took the butternut squash out of the crockpot and let it cool off. 

I had a bunch of vegetables left over from previous recipes and some carrots and kale from the farmers market. So last night I prepped all the vegetables and stuck them in the fridge. This morning I mixed all the ingredients and set the crockpot for 6 hours on low.

Ingredients:

Cooked beef from making beef stock
2 zucchini, sliced in rounds
1 bunch of carrots from the farmer's market, sliced in rounds
1/2 head broccoli, chopped
2 red potatoes, quartered
1 bunch elephant kale from farmer's market, chopped
1 bunch fresh sage, parsley, and thyme
1 16 oz can unsalted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen corn
4 cups beef broth 

Remove the herbs, and serve with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Voila! Beef stew.

For dessert we had the butternut squash with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and sea salt. Yum!

FODMAP Free Sunday

This weekend I got busy in the kitchen making FODMAP-free foods for the fam.

#1: Whole Chicken Chicken Stock (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

Organic whole chicken including giblets
Handful fresh parsley from farmers market
3 stalks sad little celery from farmers market
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 carrot from the farmers market

Put it all in the crockpot with a buncha water and set to 20 hours on low. Results TBD. I'll take the cooked chicken out tomorrow and use for salads/sandwiches.

#2: Chicken Broccoli Cheese Bake (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
Organic chicken cutlets
Olive oil
1/2 head broccoli
Parmesan cheese
Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

Cook rice, cook chicken in dutch oven. Steam broccoli. Mix it all together and bake for 15 min. Went over well. But will it reheat? Probably four servings.

#3 FODMAP Friendly Pumpkin Bread (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 cup canola oil
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups quinoa flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, and water; add flour, bp, bs, salt, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla; stir a little. Preheat oven to 350. For muffins, bake for 35 min. For bread, 50 min. These were DELICIOUS. Half the muffins are already gone. Probably all that sugar + oil! {NOTE: The bread was a little squishy near the middle. Might need to bake it longer at a lower temperature.}

#4 Fall Beef Stew (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

1 lb organic beef chunks
1/2 cup or so of quinoa flour
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 16 oz can salt-free diced tomatoes
2 carrots from the farmers market
5 turnips from the farmers market
5 red potatoes from the farmers market
1 tiny celery stalk chopped up real small
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 2/3 cups water
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 tsp thyme

Coat beef chunks in flour, salt and pepper; brown. Add liquids and stir in the rest of the flour; add veggies and spices; bring to a boil and pop in the oven for an hour and a half at 350 degrees.

The beef was really tough, there were too many turnips, and while the carrots and potatoes were perfect consistency the turnips were very soft. But the flavor of the sauce was great. Wish I had beef stock and more wine on hand. Makes roughly four to six servings.

#5 Poor Woman's Pesto-like Power Spread

Is there such thing as a FODMAP-free garlic/pesto substitute? I made this one up. It's pungent and thrifty, but who knows if it will actually get eaten.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups turnip greens, celery leaves, parsley, broccoli
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan cheese
Balsamic vinegar

Boil water. Dip greens into the water for 30 seconds. Blend in blender. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper,  splash of balsamic vinegar, and parmesan cheese to taste/consistency. Apparently this is very nutritious, if somewhat overpowering, and I probably should have cooked the turnip greens. Will try on pasta or crackers (?) Maybe a sandwich spread? Next time add kale, spinach, basil. Call it Soylent...

FACTS AND FIGURES
 
Prep time: I spent about four hours preparing everything, but that includes chatting with a friend and doing all the dishes.
Servings: Hard to tell; probably 4 each of the entrees.
Agony rating: 7/10. Peeling and chopping; browning meat; measuring ingredients for pumpkin bread; ay ay ay.
Taste and stuff: So far, so good!

*COSTS OF STUFF I HAD TO BUY SPECIAL*

I tossed the receipt, and bought many other things at the grocery, but the cost of all this food probably came in around $70-$80. That includes the fancy organic meat and the organic farmer's market vegetables and eggs. So overall this will probably come in around $6-$8 a serving once I use all the chicken in the slow cooker, which while not stupendous is certainly doable.

VERDICT: A day well spent. We will have breakfast and dinner for almost a full workweek. SUCCESS.