Week 3, countdown to surgery

Drunken Beef or venison stew

Well, I finally moved through my sticking point and lost two pounds this week! Yippee! I did something I didn’t think I would ever have to again with this lifestyle; I started to count calories. I know I know, I wish I did not have to but my body is so used to this weight I really had to do something to let it know I was serious. Very serious. I allow myself between 1200 to 1500 calories a day, 50-75 carbs a day and about 60 grams of fat. It seems to be working. I think I have to limit my calories as such since I can not really work out that hard. Someday in the future I will, but until then I just plain need. to. lose. weight.

I also re-introduced myself to listening to Jon Gabriel’s cd evening meditation for weight loss. If you have not heard of Jon Gabriel yet and you would like to lose some weight, he rocks.  He lost 225 pounds through visualization and eating fairly primal. I think he likes flax seeds for omega 3s but other than that, he is really primal. His overall presentation is very inspiring. Jon’s book, “The Gabriel Method” is informative and an easy read. I highly recommend it. After you get his book you can download his visualization cd and load it onto you iPod. (I listen to it every night as I go to sleep and love it.)

This week with all the rain, rain and wind (did I mention rain?) I wanted comfort foods. Potatoes are out of the question but ohhhhh did I want them. My venison stew is such a wonderful cozy food to eat on these long winter’s night, but how could I make it without potatoes? Enter, stage left, parsnips!

I don’t know about you, but parsnips and I have never really gotten to know each other. I bought two giant organic parsnips at Mother Nature’s (our local health food store) and brought them home with high hopes. I replaced the potatoes in the recipe with them and lo and behold they were wonderful! I have a new love. ♥ Beets are also wonderful in stew even though I was out of them for the pictures I took here. So here is the recipe for you to enjoy on one of your long, dark and stormy nights.

Wonderful yumminess and comfort

Drunken Beef Stew
I used a commercial mustard for this but you can make your own easily enough over here. Add a wee bit more water an hour or so before it is done if you think it needs more broth. I used a venison rump roast. If you aren’t doing wine substitute beef broth or bone broth.

2 tablespoons of coconut oil, divided
2 pounds of bottom round, or any good grass fed stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pound of mushrooms, white or cremini, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of powdered arrowroot
2 cups of red wine
1-2 cups of bone broth
4 -5 large carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large parsnip cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large beet, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small can of pureed tomatoes, no salt
1 ½ tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (Slightly crushed in a mortar and pestle)
1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
A few cranks of black pepper
1 bay leaf

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add half the meat. Brown on all sides turning frequently, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a 6 quart slow cooker. Cook the second half of the meat in the remaining tablespoon of oil till brown on all sides and add to the party going on in the slow cooker.

Return the skillet to medium heat and melt the other tablespoon of coconut oil then add the mushrooms, garlic and onions and sauté till they get fragrant and translucent, about 5 – 7 minutes. Sprinkle the arrowroot powder over the mix and stir and cook for a few more minutes. Now the fun part, take a swig of the wine, just to make sure it is the right brand, then add to the mushroom mixture. Bring to a boil while whisking constantly to keep from foaming too much, for about more 3 minutes, till it makes you drool, then add the bone broth. Transfer to the party mix in the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients to the drunken slow cooker and mix it up. Put the lid on and cook on low for 8 hours, while you chase dreams. (Discard the bay leaf before eating.) Enjoy!