Sauteed Zucchini

This is a great side dish for your steak or burger. It’s my favorite go-to side. I call zucchini and cucumbers the “freebies” because they are nontoxic nonsweet fruits that have almost no carbs or calories. Although cucumbers are served cold, zucchini can be cooked and flavored for a delicious warm side dish! Yum!

Ingredients:

1 zucchini per person, sliced into half-moons

1 teaspoon grass-fed butter per zucchini

sea salt

Optional: garlic powder, European feta cheese, oregano

Instructions:

Heat a cast iron to medium high. Melt the butter, spreading it around the bottom of the pan. Add the zucchini and cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until they are just cooked through but still firm. Add any optional ingredients and serve warm. Enjoy!

Korean Bulgogi (Bibimbap)

This recipe is one of my new favorites and the first night I made it, my partner and I and my 10 year-old son ate almost 4 pounds of meat in one meal! They both said it was the best meal I’ve ever made. So it officially went into the regular dinner rotation at our house and it’s so easy and delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 pounds of thin-sliced steak, preferably grass-fed (Costco usually has thin-sliced ribeye or NY strip)

Marinade:

1/4 Cup Raw Honey

1/3 Cup Coconut Aminos

1/2 teaspoon Ginger powder or 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder

2 Tablespoons Rice vinegar

Sides and toppings:

Minced fresh cilantro

Julienned blanched carrots

Julienned cucumber

Poached or soft-boiled eggs

Optional: White rice

Instructions:

Whisk all of the marinade ingredients and pour over the beef, stirring it in. Allow the marinade to sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes and up to one day, covered. Grill or saute the beef in cast-iron until just cooked through. If using cast-iron, then broil the beef in the oven for 5 minutes to get a little char on the edges. Serve immediately with the sides, including blanched carrots (simmered in water for a few minutes), cucumbers, eggs, cilantro, and optional white rice.

Ham & Cheese Frittata

This is such an easy weekend breakfast, and I like to double the recipe because then there are leftovers for the week! Just warm in the microwave or in a covered cast iron pan with a little water and it’s a quick and easy breakfast that is just as delicious the next day. Low- or fat-free ham (without nitrates or other weird ingredients) is a great way to enjoy high-protein pork without the seed oils that are usually present in pork fat.

Ingredients:

1 dozen eggs

1/2 C dairy (preferably raw): milk, yogurt, or sour cream

1 C chopped ham

1/2 C shredded cheese, preferably raw (I like the Emmi gruyere from Costco)

1 T butter

Instructions:

Make sure your 12-inch cast iron pan is well seasoned. If it is not, you can warm it and rub it down with some extra butter before cooking. Preheat the oven to 400. Melt the butter in the pan and warm the ham through on medium heat. Beat the eggs in a bowl with some sea salt and stir in the cheese. Pour the egg mixture on top of the warm ham and turn off the heat under the pan. Put the pan in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the eggs are just set but not brown on top. Remove from oven just when a knife comes out clean. Invert the pan onto a cutting board so the frittata stops cooking and let it cool a minute before serving.

How to Cook the Perfect Steak

Knowing how to cook the perfect steak is imperative to becoming animal-based! I love using cast iron pans for all of my kitchen cooking. Of course, nothing beats a steak on the grill, but if you want to cook your steak inside in cast iron, here is how!

Ingredients:

1 lb of steak for each person (ribeye for weight maintenance OR filet/lean sirloin/tenderloin for a protein-sparing day)

Butter for the pan

Sea salt

Optional: sprig of rosemary or sage

Instructions:

Make sure the steak is fully defrosted. It can be cold from the fridge or first brought to room temperature. Salt liberally with a high quality sea salt like Himalayan or Redmond’s Real salt on both sides. Place the cast iron pan on the burner and turn the heat to HIGH. Let the pan get good and hot for 1 minute, but not smoking. Add a small amount of butter to the pan, to just lightly cover the bottom with melted butter. Place the optional herbs in the butter, if using, and then push them off to the side of the pan. Place the salted steak in the hot pan as soon as the butter is melted but hasn’t yet browned. Turn the heat down to medium-high for a thinner steak (less than an inch), or medium for a thick steak (1.5-2 inches thick). Cook for 3-5 minutes until the bottom is nice and brown and a crust is beginning to form. Flip the steak and continue cooking on the second side and spoon some of the butter and juices from the pan back onto the steak as it cooks. You may need to continue flipping the steak every 3-5 minutes until it is done.

Optional: use a kitchen thermometer to check the internal temperature. I like to pull the steak out of the pan when the temperature is 10 degrees lower than the desired doneness because it will continue to rise about 10 more degrees. Rare is a final temp of 120, medium rare is 130, and medium is about 140. So, for medium rare, I like to cook my steak to about 120 degrees and it will continue to heat to 130 as it rests for 5-10 minutes on the cutting board. Resting also allows the juices to absorb so that they don’t run out when you cut into the steak. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, make a small incision in the middle of the steak in the pan to check for your desired doneness.

Carnivore Swedish Meatballs

These are delicious, extremely healthy, high-protein, and can be made in 15 minutes. Serve with zucchini noodles stirred into the sauce at the end until they are warm!

Ingredients:

3 pounds lean ground beef

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

3 large zucchinis, spiraled into noodles or thin sliced

1 C milk, half and half, or heavy cream, preferably raw

2 t sea salt, or to taste

1 egg, beaten

2 t Worcestershire sauce, optional

Instructions:

Combine raw beef, egg, and 1 t salt and form into meatballs. Brown these in a dutch oven or large cast iron pan until the outside is cooked (optional to butter the pan). Add dairy, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce, if using and bring to a simmer. Place a lid on top and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. I like to stir in the zucchini noodles just until warmed through (don’t overcook or the water will come out and make the sauce too watery). Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Beef Casserole

I saw someone post something similar on one of my carnivore groups this week and I immediately thought it was such a good idea! I made it right away and all 3 of my kids ate it up, so I knew it was a success!

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash

1 T melted butter

Sea salt

2 pounds ground beef

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

1 C cream, preferably raw

1 C parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

1 C shredded cheese, preferably raw (I like Costco’s raw gruyere)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Rub the melted butter all over the inside and salt liberally. Place inside-down on a cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes. When they are cool enough, use a fork to scrape out the “spaghetti” from the squash rinds.

In a sauce pan, warm the raw cream to 120 degrees and stir in the parmesan cheese with a little salt and the lemon zest.

Brown the meat with salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Stir the spaghetti squash, beef, and alfredo cream sauce together in a large bowl and spread in a glass baking dish. Top with the shredded cheese and place under the oven broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is just melted. Serve and enjoy!

Salmon Poke Bowls

These are super easy, delicious, and versatile. Set out little bowls of all of the ingredients, and let your guests or family build their own! Top with tamari and pickled ginger and enjoy!

Ingredients:

Sushi-grade raw salmon, chopped

Julienned or sliced English cucumbers

Shredded carrots

Sliced avocado

Chopped mango

Chopped pineapple

Shredded nori

Wheat-free tamari sauce

Pickled ginger

White rice, if desired

Beef Larb Salad

These are fun, easy, and absolutely delicious. Even my kids will eat them - in fact, they gobble them up! Double or triple the recipe for more than one hungry person.

Beef Larb Salad:

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 t sea salt

1 t garlic powder

1 t ginger powder

2 scallions (green onions), sliced, both white and green parts

juice and zest of one large lime

2 T fish sauce

2 T low sodium/ wheat-free tamari OR Braggs liquid aminos

2 T rice vinegar

1/2 Cup chopped fresh cilantro, mint, and basil (thai basil or regular)

For serving: julienned English cucumber (skinny cucumber with thin skin, wrapped in plastic).

Directions:

Brown the beef in a cast-iron pan with the ginger, garlic, and sea salt until cooked through. Turn the heat down and stir in the sliced scallions, tamari, fish sauce, rice vinegar, and lime juice and zest, and warm through. Sprinkle some of the herbs on top to serve, and plate the remaining herbs, and cucumber on the side. Serve the beef larb in bowls, topped with cucumbers and herbs, and enjoy!

Barbacoa Beef (Instapot)

My family eats this for dinner about once a week, it’s our main staple. I can’t get my kids to eat plain pot roast because they think it’s too boring, but they inhale my Barbacoa Beef on “taco salad night”. Hope your family loves it too! (This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled and makes great leftovers, too.)

Barbacoa Beef (Instapot)

Ingredients:

2 T butter

2 lb beef chuck roast

1 C beef broth

Juice of one lime

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T tomato paste, optional

1 T chili powder, optional

1/2 t cumin

2 t oregano

1 T sea salt

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

Instructions:

1.     Cut beef into large chunks. Either place on a cookie sheet, salted, under the broiler, flipping once, until brown; or saute in the Instapot with the butter until all sides are browned and then press cancel.

2.     Combine lime juice, vinegar, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a lidded mason jar and shake.

3.     Add the mixture to the Instapot with the browned beef.

4.     Secure the lid on the Instapot, closing the pressure valve. Press the “manual” button and set the timer to 30 minutes. Afterword, allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 20 minutes, releasing the pressure valve at this time if it hasn’t released on its own yet. Remove the lid, transfer the beef chunks to a bowl, and shred the barbacoa beef with two large forks, stirring in enough of the remaining liquid/fat so that the beef is saturated and moist.

5.     Serve the barbacoa beef in bowls with various toppings of your choice: shredded lettuce, sliced olives, sour cream and cheese, chopped avocado, lime juice, etc.

Buffins! (Bacon Muffins)

These are delicious and have virtually no carbs. The coconut flour can be omitted for those with fiber-intolerance like SIBO and they still turn out well, although more egg-y. You can also omit the baking powder for a strict carnivore muffin. These go like hotcakes at my house, I suggest at least a double batch and freeze the extras, if there are any! The can easily be brought to room temp from frozen, or quickly warmed up in the microwave for 30 seconds. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
12 pastured eggs
4 Tbs butter
1/4 C coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
16 strips nitrate-free bacon, chopped now or crumbed after cooking, fat pressed out with paper towels while warm
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Butter (for greasing your muffin tin)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Fry chopped bacon in a skillet until crispy. Set aside.
3. Mix eggs and butter in a mixing bowl.
4. Add coconut flour and baking powder, mix.
5. Stir bacon and cheese into batter.
6. Either grease your muffin tin with butter or line with silicone baking cups.
7. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes. Can be frozen for up to 6 months! Pop in the microwave for 30 seconds and go!