Eye of Round Roast

My mom makes the best eye of round roast. It has been my favorite for years! I was really craving it a few weeks back and decided to make some.

Ingredients (disclaimer...I am very simple when it comes to GOOD meat! I am a purist!)

~1 eye of round roast (however many pounds you need)
~Sea salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Sprinkle outside of meat with sea salt and pepper. As much or as little as you want. I use some, but don't go overboard. It really doesn't need it.
3. Ok...here comes the math part. You put the roast in at 500 degrees for 5 minutes per pound (I have also heard 7, so you could always do the average and do 6 minutes per pound?). So if you have a 3 lb roast, it would be in the oven at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. Then....turn off the oven! Let it sit for 2 to 2.5 hours, then remove it. If you are cautious you can use a meat thermometer to check the internal temp. Here are standard temperature levels for roasts:

120°F to 125°F (49°C to 52°C) = Rare
130°F to 140°F (55°C to 60°C) = Medium Rare
145°F to 150°F (63°C to 66°C) = Medium

No, I did not give any temperatures above medium, because that would be a sin against this beautiful roast beef. PLUS you will probably have leftovers, and it is good to have it a little on the rare side so it doesn't overcook when you reheat it. As you can tell from my pictures, I like it a LOT on the rare side.

Sorry for the long break in blogging. Life gets in the way sometimes. :-) I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Bacon Stir-Fry

Bacon. Just the thought alone is delicious. This essentially sums up how I feel about bacon.

Needless to say, I love it. It is amazing. I think most of us can agree that bacon is pretty darn awesome. So when I saw a picture of bacon stir-fry on a friend's instagram, a sheer rush of "I MUST MAKE THIS" ran through my head. A friend commented on my facebook post saying he didn't think bacon is paleo...and technically, it is not. But this is what Paleo Central has to say about it...

I am not saying you should make this bacon stir-fry every day (even though let's face it, that would be incredible). Bacon is a treat I reward myself with on occasion. There are a lot worse things you could reward yourself with! Moderation is key. So let's get this bad boy started!

Ingredients

~8 bacon slices, diced (I made 2 extra, because how is it possible to cook bacon and not sample some?)
~1/2 onion, diced (I used white, but the recipe called for yellow)
~1 medium sweet potato, diced
~1 medium zucchini, diced
~7-8 green beans (since green beans are not paleo I did not include them)
~1 avocado (I do not like avocado, so I did not use any)
~Freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Directions

1. Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Set bacon aside (and save bacon fat!).
2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of drippings from the bacon pan, onion, and sweet potato.
3. Stirring often, sauté until onions begin to turn translucent and sweet potato softens slightly (about 10-15 minutes).
4. Add zucchini (and green beans if you use them) to the sweet potato mixture and cook until they turn bright green.
5. Combine bacon and vegetables. Season with pepper, and top with avocado if you choose to do so.
6. Sit back and enjoy the amazingness.

**At first I was curious if bacon grease is paleo, and here is what Paleo Central had to say about it!

Here are some pictures of my bacon stir-fry experience. There may be more than necessary, but it was just such a beautiful thing that I couldn't help but document it!

Paleo Peppermint Patties

Happy July, everyone! I apologize again for the break in blogging. Last week was rough, and it ended with a double ear infection which was most definitely not fun. I am so over all these random ailments and am ready to enjoy the rest of my hopefully HEALTHY summer!

Last Sunday I was in quite the paleo mood, and I decided to try out this paleo peppermint patty recipe I have had for a while. York Peppermint Patties are my absolute FAVORITE candy in the universe. We even used them as favors for my wedding! So to find a paleo recipe for them made my heart skip a beat. The base of the inside peppermint-y part is coconut. I was hoping that the coconut taste would be subdued, but I was wrong. That being said, I am definitely not a big coconut lover. So, unfortunately, these were not my favorite recipe. Heart=broken. However, my husband absolutely adores them. He said it tastes like a York Peppermint Patty and a Mounds Bar fell in love and this was their love child. So, if you love those 2, then this is most definitely the treat for you.

Ingredients

~1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
~2 tablespoons coconut milk
~2 tablespoons coconut oil
~1/4 cup honey
~1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
~1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions

1. In a food processor (I bought a new one and LOVE IT!), process the shredded coconut about 30 seconds until it is very fine. Add the coconut milk, coconut oil, honey, and peppermint extract. Process about 30 seconds until a smooth paste has formed. (disclaimer 1...I accidentally quadrupled the amount of peppermint extract...oops. But, surprisingly, I don't think it did too much damage! They were still refreshing without being overly peppermint-y.)
2. Shape the paste into about 1 1/2 inch size rounds and place on a cookie sheet. Place the rounds in the freezer for 10 minutes. (disclaimer 2...I used wax paper on the cookie sheet thinking it would make clean up easier...wrong. Well, right, but it also completely messed up the recipe. I guess the patties need to be directly on the cookie sheet to get cold enough, so mine did not, and never made it past a peppermint-coconut mush phase)
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on medium power or over a double boiler. Remove the shaped patties from the freezer and coat in chocolate. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden before serving. Enjoy!

Store leftovers in the fridge.

As you can see...my peppermint patties were not pretty. But again, my husband loved them. Because they were such a mess I ended up making peppermint patty sandwiches out of them, which my husband thought was fantastic. So at least there is some wiggle room with this recipe if it doesn't turn out quite as planned! :-)