First 5K of 2013 & Great Eats!

Happy Saturday! I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday. Today was amazing. I was sad to see the holidays go, but now that the decor is put away (well, most of it), it feels clean and fresh again. Funny how January always feels like that.

I started the day by participating in my first 5K of the year.

It was COLD this morning. Like below 32 when we got ready to start. This was a pretty challenging course- VERY hilly! I wasn't very happy with my time of 40:56. I don't like to be above 40 minutes. However, I have to admit I didn't run during the holidays. And this week as I was doing my first week of the Whole 30, my energy was a bit down. (This is normal as you make some changes in your diet.). So... I am just going to consider it a starting point to try and improve upon for the next race.

Post race eats:

Easy Hash with sausage, sweet potato, onion, and apples.

We spent the afternoon taking down our holiday decorations. Yep, we still had them up this morning. However, I WILL say that we are NOT the last house in our neighborhood to un-decorate. ;) Here's a confession just between you and me: once, we left them up until February. Only on the inside, though.

In between all that, I managed to put together a fabulous dinner that I can't wait to share with you. This is a great comfort meal that is perfect for a cold wintry day. I threw this together quickly and let it cook all afternoon. The beef was great- but the rice you see in this picture... well, it isn't rice after all! Wait till you hear what it is!

Paleo Stewed Beef with Tomatoes and Onions

Ingredients for Beef (See notes at the end of the recipe for "rice directions.")

• 2-3 lbs of stew beef (uncooked)
• 2 diced onions (I cut my onions very chunky for this so they don't disappear after cooking all day)
• 2 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• Salt, pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours, until the beef is tender and pulls apart easily. (I have found that every crock pot is different, so you should check yours periodically.). Just before serving, prepare your "rice."

Now, for the surprise... the "rice!"

Rice Directions:

As I mentioned, this wasn't really rice at all! I recently saw this blog post from Juli over at PaleOMG, and I knew I had to try out this rice trick. Did you know you could "rice" a cauliflower?! This turned out to be AMAZING and was a complete hit with both the hubby and the kiddo. If you have trouble feeding your child vegetables, this is a great trick to try!

To make cauliflower rice, just follow steps 6-10 in Juli's recipe to prepare the rice. I think I could probably have subbed in beef broth and maybe a little onion powder to blend the flavors of the beef and the rice, but I am being overly critical. This "rice" was a huge surprise and I will definitely make this again!

Ok, now I am settling in after my super-productive day! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

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