Need a Beef Cake?

My birthday came and went this year and due to my diet I have to cut out a lot of sugar, that meant NO BIRTHDAY CAKE.  So I came up with this!

I turned meatloaf into my birthday cake.  I cooked my meatloaf recipe in a bundt pan, iced it with the best mashed potatoes you will taste, and decorated it with green beans. It was an entire meal in every slice!  Watch the video below to see how I did it!

Healthier Chili

It is that time of year where everyone is trying to eat healthier, exercising more, etc....

So I wanted to come up with a recipe that was healthier but you wouldnt know it was healthier by flavor.  So I tackled one of my favorite winter-time dishes..... Chili.

What you will need:

1/2 pound lean ground beef
2 cans chickpeas
2 Roma tomatoes
1 small red onion chopped
1t chili powder
1t cumin
1/2t Cinnamon
1/2t cayenne
1 cup chicken stock
S&P to taste

First, rinse off your chickpeas.  In a blender add one of your tomatoes and about 1/3 cup of the chickpeas.  blend until smooth (you may need to add a few tablespoons of chicken stock to make it blend easier) reserve this liquid.

In a large stew pot add the ground beef and chopped onion and cook until the meat is thoroughly browned.  Add the other tomato but make sure to chop it first.  Saute for about 2 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients including the reserved tomato/chickpea smoothie you made first.   Let stew for about 15 minutes to make sure all of the flavors are melding well. 

Serve with either fresh cornbread or crackers.  You can garnish with avocado, sr cream, etc....

Braised Ox Tails

It is snowing today and I really wanted a warm feel good meal.

So I made Braised Ox Tail Stew...

What you will need:

2 pounds Ox Tails
1 cup pmoegranate wine
3 cups beef broth
4 cups water
1 pound potatoes chopped
3 large carrots chopped
1 cup onion chopped
1 tablespoon balsimic vinegar
2 tablespoons parsley
seasonings (I used garlic powder, onion powder, and red chili flakes)
S&P to taste
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

coat your ox tails in flour, brown them in the olive oil, add the wine and stock to a large heavy pan, add the browned ox tails. Let simmer for 1 hour, then add the water and all of the chopped veggies, seasonings, and vinegar. simmer 3-5 hours until the ox tail meat falls off the bone. enjoy!

Beef Heart Stew

I made this stew using a portion of the beef heart that I had purchased. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup beef heart (chopped in small cubes)
1/4 cup flour
4 beef bullion cubes
8 cups water
1 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup frozen corn
1 cup chopped potato
1 small onion diced small
2 garlic cloves diced small
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
S&P to taste

Directions

Take the beef heart and lightly dredge in the flour. In pan on the stove, add the oil and butter and add the beef. Let brown on all sides. Add half of the water and the 4 bullion cubes, let simmer for 1 hour on low heat, (this helps tenderize the meat) Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until carrots and potatoes are fork tender.

If you prefer a thicker stew, you can add a mixture of 1 teaspoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water to the stew, bring to a boil and serve.

If you want to make this a little more upscale, you can replace 1/2 cup of the water with red wine.

I served this with crushed whole wheat crackers in a bottom of a bowl and poured the stew over the top, the juices trickle down and soak into the crackers. YUM!