If you like lamb shank like I do, this recipe is for you.
It’s tender, moist, melts in your mouth and you’ll want to make it again and again.
Lamb Shank Dinner
And, if you’ve never tried fennel, this is a good time to try it as the juices meld together nicely. We did not use the anchovy fillets that were called for in the recipe — you can if you’d like and please let me know if you do and how you like it. I’ve never been an anchovy fan.
Lamb is such a comfort food for me and I’m not sure why. While growing up, we mainly had chicken. It wasn’t until late in adulthood that I actually had lamb and fell in love with it.
I’ve posted quite a few paleo dinner entrees already but breakfast is a huge part of a paleo diet because if you start off with a full belly, the rest of the day is pretty easy.
So this Breakfast Sweet Beef recipe (which is really a beef casserole) with its sweet potato and spinach ingredients really made for a healthy and hearty way to start the day.
Breakfast Sweet Beef Mix
I am partial to sweet potatoes though and have found that I can have them every day. Since we don’t eat sugar on the paleo diet (except for the occasional honey), the sweet potatoes satisfy the sweet tooth that I have.
You can substitute regular potatoes if you’re so inclined but I much prefer the nutrients in the sweet potato.
I am not a cook by a long shot but I do like to try other people’s recipes and “play” with them to see how I can make them my own. Currently, my son is doing the cooking and I am doing the tasting — not a bad arrangement, eh?
Lamb, lamb and lamb. I only know of one person who doesn’t like lamb. Are you a lamb lover?
This Moroccan Lamb Stew is made in a crock pot which makes it not just delicious but easy to make. The only problem I ever have with lamb is that it is so expensive so we don’t have it on a regular basis.
Moroccan Lamb Stew
This lamb stew went very well with a Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad that had plump golden raisins and pine nuts that made my mouth say “whoa! I love this!”  (laughing)  Okay, okay — my mouth really didn’t say that but it was quite pleased with the raisins and nuts.
Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad
Does it seem odd to you to have a carrot salad with lamb stew? Normally rice would be served so you can soak the juices from the stew with it but we haven’t introduced rice to our paleo diet yet and we find that salads go just fine with just about anything.
Here’s another lamb recipe that I’ve tried that tasted good also:
Ahhh … I’ll bet you’re wondering about the Christmas Tree Salad, especially since I’m posting in April, right? Well, frankly, I love salads all year around. The owner of the recipe thought the salad looked like a Christmas tree so that’s why she named it Christmas Tree Salad.
The salad has many healthy ingredients like oranges, pecans, cranberries … well, you get the idea.
Christmas Tree Salad
We had Salmon Provencal with this wonderful salad which made it a perfect Paleo dinner.
Salmon Provencal
The topping on the salmon was really delicious and is included in the Salmon Provencal recipe.
This was the first time I had tasted pomegranates. Isn’t that odd? I’ve lived over 50 years and never tasted pomegranate.
There really haven’t been too many paleo recipes that we’ve tried that haven’t been good, very good or excellent.
This Breaded Mustard Chicken did not taste like “regular” breaded meat but it was close. The almond flour that’s used as the breading doesn’t stay as “attached” to the chicken though. This is something we’ll need to work on — unless anyone out there knows of any tricks that could be helpful in using the almond meal as breading?
Breaded Mustard Chicken
The chicken was complemented with a Holiday Salad with a Cranberry Apple Orange Vinaigrette. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, it was! Â This is going to sound “old” to those who have been following my food posts but I have to say it again — make sure you serve the vinaigrette on the side so that everyone can add as much or as little as they like. There — I said it!
Don’t add too much maple syrup though or it will be too sweet. Yes, there is such a thing as something being too sweet, especially if you’re following a paleo diet. We use Kirkland’s Maple Syrup that we purchase at Costco.
We’ve been on the hunt for dried berries to use in salads and have found that the ones they sell at the store either have added sugar in them or they are as expensive as a trip to the moon.
So — we decided to get a dehydrator and checked on Amazon to see what we could find and settled on a Nesco American Dehydrator.
Nesco American Dehydrator
I was a little concerned when it arrived because the top of the box was only half sealed with tape but all the contents were inside so we lucked out. Whew!
We bought some strawberries that were on sale at our local grocery store and proceeded to slice them so they could be dehydrated.
The dehydrator is very easy to use. Slice your fruit, lay it on the trays, reassemble the trays and turn on the power. It is a little loud though so we put it in a spare room while it was running.
Nesco American Dehydrator
Clean-up was a breeze. I just used a soapy sponge to rinse it off.
Many times, while walking through the produce section, I’ve looked at acorn squashes  and wondered what to do with them. Recently my son made us brunch that included this Stuffed Acorn Squash. It looks quite interesting, don’t you think?
Paleo Stuffed Acorn Squash
The original recipe does include the sausage which gives it a lot more flavor.
The squash tasted very similar to a yam or sweet potato and was quite filling.
Now, if you want to talk about strange combinations of food (at least in my mind) then let’s talk about a Tuna Egg Salad. I wouldn’t have put these two ingredients together as it just wouldn’t have entered my mind.
Tuna Egg Salad
The salad tasted quite bland to me and I’m not one who likes spicy food. It needed something and it could be the Cajun seasoning that we did not use (mainly because of my aversion to spicy food).
So — I’ll take the blame for the blandness of this recipe. Next time we make it, I can add the Cajun seasoning a little at a time to see if it tastes better than it did this first time.
Or — if you happen to try it, let me know how you make it and if you follow the recipe to a T.
Did you think I’d be talking about cows grazing? Â You’d be wrong. Â (laughing)
Since we’ve been on the paleo diet, we try to find healthy snacks that we can eat and my son came upon Graze.com. The company is based out of the United Kingdom and was started by 7 friends who wanted to make healthy snacks.
Here is what a recyclable Graze snack box looks like:
Graze Snack Box
Each box comes with four healthy snacks and you can choose the types of snacks that are sent to you. Yes, they are mailed directly to your home weekly at a cost of $5 U.S. a week. There is no contract and you can stop the service any time (make sure you read the terms of service to be sure you know what they are). But, if you’re like me, you’ll look forward to your next box.
Here’s a closer look at the Oatbakes that you see above:
Graze Oat Bakes
And here’s a picture of an actual item once I removed the plastic:
Graze Oats
There are two different boxes to choose from — a light box or a snack box. The light box has lower calorie snacks.
Once a week, we get a box in the mail. I always look forward to what’s in the box. After trialling the snack, you go online and let them know what you think about it. Here’s the statement from the website.
“The food in your box is selected based on your own preferences. For each of our foods, you tell us whether you like, love, or would like to try them. We put together your box based on these ratings ensuring you always receive the food you like.”
Eventually, the snacks are tailored to exactly what you like. This is an easy way to try different things like, say, peppered pistachio nuts. (I didn’t like them but my husband did.)
The idea is so simple and makes snacking a snap! Leave them in your car for a healthy snack while you’re running to and fro. No more McDonald’s french fries or shakes!
In order to try Graze, you need to be “invited” by a current member until the company “launches.” Members are given one “code” to give out.
Unfortunately, we’ve used up our one code. Â Awwww ….
It’s always refreshing to have a casserole for brunch, isn’t it? Recently we had this Tex Mex Hash Casserole that was quite tasty. Admitted, it doesn’t look very good in the photograph but don’t let that fool you. The old adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover” rings true with this casserole.
Tex Mex Hash CasseroleTex Mex Hash Casserole
The combination of sweet potatoes and ground beef make this perfect for a paleo breakfast/brunch.
So far, we’ve had an interesting variety of foods — no boredom here.
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