Beef Stew

Okay, I must admit that soups/stews are my favorite thing to make, besides bread...lol. My husband has been begging me to make my stew for a few weeks, so here it is ;) Oh and take a look at that love-r-ly role in the background...I made that too! I might have mastered bread but it's a gamble when I make rolls, somehow I'm a little uncoordinated when it comes to shaping them and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't...today was a good day!

Beef Stew

1-2 lbs stew meat

2 cups baby carrots cut in half

3 stalks celery sliced

3 yellow potatoes

1 onion

1-2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons Redmond Salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

3-4 cups Beef Broth

4 cups water

1 cup white bean flour (thickens the stew)

1/2 cup barley

Brown beef, then add to large crockpot. Add carrots, celery, onions, potatoes, barley, and beef broth. In a bowl add water and whisk in white bean flour and spices. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. This makes a ton, cut the recipe in half if your not feeding an army like I am every night...lol! Enjoy!

*Just a couple of suggestions/thoughts: I love using bean flour as a thickening agent. It is sooo healthy and when combined with a whole grain, it makes a complete protein. Grain/Bean grinders are pricey but well worth the investment! If you do not have a grinder, even a small hand grinder, most of which are relatively inexpensive, will work great. I will also use barley, spelt or whole wheat flour as a thickening agent as well, but prefer bean flours.

Sweet Banana Muffins

As you've probably gathered I am going to continue my blog. I appreciate the comment made by Matt and answerfitness.com! I agree, this is useful information and deleting it would make it unavailable and if this info helps at least one person, then I've succeeded. Matt has a great blog and I encourage you all to check it out! There is a link for him on the sidebar of my blog.

I was craving something sweet and obviously with my uber clean eating I can't just go down on my ever favorite red vines, and I also had a pile of banana's that need to be put to good use...so I created this yummy concoction, or at least I hope you think so ;) Depending on the size of your muffins, this should make 12-16 muffins.

Sweet Banana Muffins

1/2 cup whole wheat or spelt flour

1/2 cup vanilla Protein Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup bran cereal (I used Kashi Go Lean & Vive Cereal)

1 tablespoon Agave Nectar

2 eggs whites or 1 egg

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup skim milk

2 or 3 large banana's

1 tablespoon baking powder (add last)

Combine dry ingredients, EXCEPT baking powder. Add in wet ingredients. Mix very well. Add baking powder and mix gently. Do not over mix! Bake at 400 for 14 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes or it will be mushy in the center. They are very moist! Enjoy!