Sloppy “Rose” Lettuce Wraps - The Best Sloppy Joes Ever (Gluten Free, Grain Free + Refined Sugar Free)

I don’t know about you, but I loved Sloppy Joes as a kid.  It was one of my favorite meals that my mom would make.  She would make up a big batch of it and serve it on brown butter toasted buns.  Yum!    

I’ve been craving this lately and told my husband that I would recreate the recipe my mom used to make for me.  We both agreed this is the best Sloppy Joes we’ve ever had.  We’re still talking about how good it was and wishing we had more of it.  This is going to become a routine staple in our home. 

My husband named this a Sloppy “Rose” because of the way I plated it in the lettuce, like the lettuce was blooming out.  I loved it as a lettuce wrap, but of course you could eat it on the typical bun too.  It would be so delicious on a gluten free brown butter toasted bun or in a tortilla too.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Sloppy “Rose” Lettuce Wraps - The Best Sloppy Joes Ever 

(Gluten Free, Grain Free + Refined Sugar Free with Vegan-Option)

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Equipment:Cutting Board, Large Sauté Pan

·      3 tablespoons fat of choice, divided – pasture butter, ghee or coconut oil

·      1 yellow onion, diced

·      2 cups mushrooms, sliced

·      3 carrots, peeled and diced

·      3 garlic cloves, minced or grated

·      1 pound grass-fed ground beef (See Resources)

·      ¼ cup bone broth, veggie broth or filtered water

·      ¼ cup organic tomato paste (buy organic tomato paste here)

·      1 tablespoon chili powder blend (buy chili powder here)

·      2 teaspoons organic Dijon mustard

·      2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar or organic maple syrup grade B

·      2 tablespoons coconut aminos (buy coconut aminos here)

·      ½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

·      2-3 pickles, diced (I use Bubbie’s)

·      Organic Romaine or Red Leaf lettuce leaves

1.    Wash and prep produce – dice onion, slice mushrooms, peel and dice carrots, and mince/grate garlic.  Wash lettuce – set aside. 

2.   Over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons fat of choice.  Add onion, mushrooms, carrots and garlic – stir occasionally until onions and mushrooms start to caramelize/brown, about 10-15 minutes. 

3.   Add remaining tablespoon of fat, ground beef and broth or water.  Stir, breaking up meat, until meat is browned, about 3-4 minutes.

4.   Add tomato paste, chili powder, mustard, coconut sugar, coconut aminos and sea salt.  Stir to incorporate and let simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.    

5.    Add chopped pickles and stir to incorporate.

6.   Serve hot in lettuce wraps.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Serving Suggestions: If you don’t want to use lettuce wraps, serve on toasted gluten free buns, rolls or biscuits.  For added yumminess, cut gluten free bun in half, place ½ to 1 tablespoon of pasture butter or ghee on inside of bun halves, place under broiler to brown – don’t take your eye off of it or it could burn quickly. 

Tip: This is even better the next day after everything has had time to marry.  The flavor is incredible. 

Storage: Store in the refrigerator.  For best results, eat within 3 days.

Vegan-Option: Replace meat with extra sliced mushrooms and carrots.  Add 2 more carrots and 4 more cups of sliced mushrooms.    

This post is part of Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager, Traditional Tuesdays @ Cooking Traditional Foods, Hearth and Soul Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Allergy Free Wednesdays @ The Tasty Alternative, Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet, and Simple Lives Thursday @ My Humble Kitchen..

Roasted Winter Root Veggies & Apples w/ Rosemary & Thyme

This is one of my favorite veggie combos to roast when the weather turns colder.   It’s super easy to make a big batch ahead of time and reheat as needed. 

Enjoy!

Equipment: Cutting Board, Sharp Knife, Peeler, Large Mixing Bowl, 2 Large Casserole Dishes or 2 Large Baking Sheet Pans

Note: Please use organic vegetables and apples when you can.  I would highly recommend at least using organic apples and potatoes if you cannot find all organic produce.  These are on the “dirty dozen” list of having the highest amounts of toxic pesticide residue. 

·      3 parsnips, peeled

·      3 carrots, peeled

·      3 red potatoes

·      1 large sweet potato, peeled

·      1 large golden beet, peeled

·      3 sweet apples, peeled (I use Fuji apples)

·      1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stem

·      5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem

·      4-5 fresh individual garlic cloves, peeled

·      3 tablespoons pasture butter, ghee or fat of choice (See Resources)

·      1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

1.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.   Wash all produce.  Prep produce, peel all of the produce that needs to be peeled (see above).  Cut parsnips, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, beet and apples into 1 to 1 ¼ inch cubes … this can be a rustic chop, don’t worry about everything looking the same.  Don’t cut pieces too small as they will shrink some while roasting.  Add chopped produce into large mixing bowl.  

3.   Remove fresh herbs from stems and chop finely.  Again, a rustic chop is fine.  Add to chopped produce/mixing bowl. 

4.   Remove skin from garlic cloves.  Add to chopped produce/mixing bowl.

5.    Add salt and melted fat of choice to the chopped produce/mixing bowl.  Combine with clean hands or large spoon, toss well to coat.

6.   Add all chopped produce in a single layer to 2 large casserole dishes or 2 large baking sheet pans. 

7.   Bake for 25 minutes, stir with a metal or wooden spoon/spatula.  Bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and have some golden brown edges.

8.   Season to taste and serve hot. 

Yield: Makes about 10-12 servings.    

This recipe is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. 

Grain-Free Carrot Cake Pancakes

My oven stopped working the night before Easter, so that meant the grain-free Carrot Cake that I had planned to make was not in the cards for us.  Little Love was SO looking forward to that Carrot Cake, so I had to come up with something else.  We decided to make pancakes instead, Carrot Cake Pancakes!  They were a huge hit. 

Enjoy!

Grain-Free Carrot Cake Pancakes

Advance preparation is required, the dates need to be soaked at least an hour (or soak them overnight, that’s what I do). 

Equipment: Small Bowl, Food Processor or Blender, Medium Size Mixing Bowl, Peeler, Standing Grater, Microplane Zester/Grater, Hand Mixer or Wisk, Large Skillet or Griddle, Flipper Spatula

Soaked Dates/Pureed Date Mixture

·      8 dates

·      Filtered water, enough to cover the dates

Carrot Cake Pancakes

·      4 pastured or organic eggs (See Resources)

·      1 medium size carrot, peeled and finely grated

·      ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated/minced

·      ¼ cup coconut flour

·      ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

·      ¼ teaspoon baking soda

·      1 tablespoons organic maple syrup grade B

·      ½ pureed date mixture

·      2 tablespoons date soak water

·      2 tablespoons ghee, coconut oil or pasture butter (See Resources)

Cream Cheese Topping

·      7 ounces homemade or organic cream cheese, room temperature

·      2 tablespoons organic maple syrup grade B

·      ½ pureed date mixture

·      2 tablespoons date soak water

·      ½ teaspoon fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated/minced

1.    1 hour prior to making pancakes (or the night before, my preference), place dates in a small bowl and cover with filtered water, about ½ cup of filtered water or enough to completely cover the dates.  Place dates in the refrigerator until ready to use. 

2.   Break dates in half and remove pit.  Add date flesh to food processor fitted with “s-shape” metal blade.  Add a couple of tablespoons of the date soak water to the food processor.  SAVE the date soak water, set aside.  Pulse until dates become pureed.  Add more date soak water if necessary to combine.  Leave in the food processor and set aside (you will use the food processor again, so make sure to leave it as is and set aside).

3.   Start preheating skillet or griddle, melt ghee, coconut oil or pasture butter over medium-low heat.

4.   Pancake Batter: In a medium size mixing bowl add eggs, grated carrot, grated ginger, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, maple syrup, ½ of the pureed date mixture, and 2 tablespoons date soak water.  Using a hand mixer, mix on low speed until all ingredients are combined.

5.    When skillet/griddle is ready, pour about 1/8 cup batter onto skillet/griddle.  Cook for about 2 minutes, flip and cook for another 2 minutes, repeat until all pancake batter is used. 

6.   Cream Cheese Topping: Using food processor with ½ of the pureed date mixture already in it, add cream cheese, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons date soak water and grated ginger.  Pulse until combined and smooth.  Set aside.

7.   To Assemble: Serve pancakes layered, top each pancake with a layer of Cream Cheese Topping, or to make dairy-free, serve pancakes with organic maple syrup grade B.  [Note: You can use a frosting bag or small reclosable plastic bag (cut a small opening in one corner of the bag to make the frosting tip), add topping into frosting bag, pipe topping onto pancakes.]

Yield: Makes about 11 small pancakes.

Storage: If you have extra pancakes leftover, the keep well in the refrigerator and can be reheated over low heat on the stovetop or on a warming temperature in the oven.  Cream Cheese Topping can be stored in the refrigerator for extra use too.  


This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet, Simple Lives Thursday @ A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage, Freaky Friday @ Real Food Freaks, Fresh Bites Friday @ Real Food Whole Health, Fight Back Friday @ Food Renegade, Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist, Homestead Barn Hop @ The Prairie Homestead, Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager, Make Your Own! Monday link-up @ Nourishing Treasures, Traditional Tuesdays @ Cooking Traditional Foods, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, Whole Foods Wednesday Recipe Swap @ This Chick Cooks, Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop @ Gluten Free Pantry.

Oven-Baked Burgers

Little Love inspired these.  She loves burgers and I am always trying to come up with new versions so I don’t get bored eating them.  We call these the “everything” burgers because there is a little bit of everything in them.  They are so easy to put together quickly.  Baking them is great because all of the burgers are done at the same time.    

Oven-Baked Burgers

Equipment: Food Processor, Medium-Size Mixing Bowl, Large Baking Pan (I use a Stoneware Large Bar Pan)

·      1 pound grass-fed ground beef (See Resources)

·      2 large kale leaves, inner stem removed

·      2 carrots, scrubbed or peeled, cut into chunks

·      ½ cup cilantro, about 1 handful - stems are fine

·      6 ounces raw cheddar cheese, cut into chunks

·      2 tablespoons chili powder blend

·      1 teaspoon dried thyme

·      ½ - 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

·      ½ teaspoon kelp granules (I use Maine Coast)

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.   Wash and prep kale, carrots and cilantro.

3.   Fit food processor with steel blade, add kale, carrots and cilantro.  Pulse until everything is shredded and combined, there should not be any large chunks left.

4.   Add raw cheddar, chili powder, thyme, sea salt and kelp to the mixture.  Pulse until combined. 

5.    Place ground beef in a medium size bowl.  Add veggie mixture to the ground beef.  Use your hand to mix just until ingredients are combined.

6.   Get baking pan ready.  Grab a small portion of the meat, form into the shape of a patty, and place on baking sheet.  Repeat until meat is gone. 

7.   Place baking pan in preheated oven and bake burgers for 10-12 minutes.    

Burgers w/ a few added meatballs for Little Love.

8.   Remove from oven and serve hot or store burgers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for later.   

Burgers w/ lots of Cilantro and Raspberry Kombucha

  

Yield: Varies, makes about 8-10 large patties, 15-18 small patties.

Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze for later use. 


This post is part of Homestead Barn Hop @ The Prairie Homestead, Make Your Own! Monday link-up @ Nourishing Treasures, Monday Mania @ The Healthy Home Economist, Weekend Gourmet Blog Carnival @ Hartke Is Online, Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager, Traditional Tuesdays @ Cooking Traditional Foods, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, These Chicks Cooked Recipe Swap @ This Chick Cooks, Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop @ Gluten Free Pantry, Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop, and Hearth and Soul Hop @ Premeditated Leftovers.