It’s Stew Season

The first thing I think of when the leaves start to change and my sweaters come out from hiding, is cozy, warm up your soul, food.

The nip in the air has given me the bug to chef up some nourishing stews for the kids.

The stew I made the other day can be enjoyed by babies mushed up, by picky toddlers, hungry teenagers and busy parents.
You will need:
and busy parents.
You will need:
2 cloves garlic

4 stalks of celery

6 carrots

1 white onion

3 parsnips

thyme

oregano

2 bay leaves

1 pound organic, grass-fed stewing beef (Healthy Butcher sells in pre-made packages in their freezer section). If you can’t find grass-fed then just look for hormone and antibiotic free meat.

3 Tbs Almond Flour

3 Tbs olive oil

1 tbs cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s first get everything prepped: I like to have everything ready in bowls before I start cooking. I check the recipe to make sure I have everything to throw into pot before I start. It means that if I have forgotten to do something I will notice before I start and won’t be panicking as the onions are burning in the pot. Also – I like to clean up from all the chopping before I start to cook.

1. Dice up your celery, onion and garlic. Peel and dice the carrots and parsnips. Chop up your thyme and oregano.
2. Take a large bowl and add the almond flour. Grind a little bit of sea salt to the bowl. Mix.
3. Get the stewing beef and trim the fat off and cut into pieces that are small enough for your toddler to enjoy.
4. The next two steps will most likely have to be done in 2 or 3 batches. You don’t want to overcrowd the pot. Add a batch of the beef to the bowl of almond flour. Coat the beef in almond flour.

5. I warmed my dutch oven to medium and added in 2 tsb of olive oil. Then add in the first batch of beef. Let each side of meat brown. Appx. 4 minutes per side. Once the meat has browned, transfer to a plate off to the side. Repeat process with rest of meat. (cover in almond flour and brown in dutch oven or pan).

6. Leaving the cooked beef to the side, add in the last tsp of olive oil to your pot. Add in the diced onion. As the onion is cooking, use your wooden spoon to lift the brown bits off of the bottom of the pot. Sauté for appx. 5 minutes.

7. Add in the garlic, thyme, oregano and bay leaves. Mix.

8. Add in the carrots, parsnips and celery. Sauté for appx. 5 minutes.

9. Add back in the beef (including any juices that are left on plate). Pour in the cider vinegar and water.

10. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer and cover. Let everything simmer for 1 – 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. The beef will become tender and delicious!

Serve on top of brown rice, lentils or spinich!

I pureed this for Charles, served as is for Olivia and served with rice for my husband.

Enjoy!