Almond Flax Blueberry Muffins

Time to share part II of my weekend cooking bender!

I had an abundance of fresh blueberries and was eager to put them to good use. I've had this recipe bookmarked for a while, and I figured today was finally time to give it a whirl. (With a few adjustments, of course!)

Disclaimer: if you are looking for a light, fluffy, traditional blueberry muffin recipe, keep right on looking. The muffins produced by this recipe bear little resemblance to standard muffins made with regular flour. Let's be honest. Any muffin made without flour or sugar isn't going to taste like it came from Dunkin' Donuts. 

Instead, these muffins are dense and nutty, with a slightly coarse texture. They are quite tasty, but very different. They are also low-carb, high protein, and extremely nutritious. Here's a pic of how mine came out.

Still with me? Cool. Read on for the recipe, more pics and nutritional info.

Crock Pot Beef Curry

I've gone on a cooking bender this weekend! I'm having a blast.

My local supermarket had an amazing sale on "Mock Tender" aka Chuck Eye steaks. I scored 2.5 lbs worth for a paltry $4.

However, although it's a flavorful cut, it's not one I particularly enjoy as a steak. It's a bit tough for me; I'm more of a filet mignon or ribeye gal.

I was in the mood for something spicy, and I came across this tasty looking recipe for a creamy beef curry done in the slow cooker. I tweaked the recipe a bit and I think it came out very well. My modified recipe is below.

Crock Pot Beef Curry 

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2.5 lbs Chuck Eye beef, fat trimmed, cut into 1" cubes
1 tablespoon butter
2 sweet yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger root, minced
2 green chili peppers, diced and seeds removed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
48 whole cardamom seeds (or 4 pods)
4 whole cloves
3/4 cup beef stock
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup almond flour
6 ounces plain greek yogurt (I used 1 container Chobani 2% plain)

I don't have step-by-step pictures for this dish, I'm sorry to say. I was in such a cooking frenzy this morning that I didn't have time to stop and snap photos along the way. But, here are the directions.

Step 1: Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Step 2: Brown the beef by adding to the skillet in batches. The trick is not to overcrowd. I ended up with 4 separate batches. Once each batch is browned, transfer it to the crock pot using slotted spoon. Make sure the juices stay behind in the skillet.

Step 3: Add butter to the skillet and deglaze the pan. Deglazing is an intimidating term, but it's super easy. It is done by taking a spatula and using the melting butter as a vehicle for scraping up all the tasty browned bits of beef that got stuck to the skillet. You want to make sure all that delicious flavor ends up in your dish.

Step 4: Add onions to skillet and saute, stirring, until softened and lightly browned.

Step 5: Add garlic, ginger root, chili peppers, cumin, coriander, cloves, cardamom (all the "c" spices, as my spouse calls them), turmeric, salt, and peppercorns. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

Step 6: Add beef stock and bay leaf. Stir together and bring to a boil.

Step 7: Pour mixture over beef in crock pot. Stir well to combine, and make sure the beef is mostly covered by liquid.

Step 8: Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high 4-5 hours, until beef is tender. I cooked mine on high for 5 hours, because I wanted to get the beef as tender as possible.

Step 9: Use two forks to break the beef apart. It should be tender enough that it'll fall apart easily at this stage. Breaking it up helps the meat absorb some additional flavor prior to serving, and makes it look less "cube-y".

Step 10: Stir in almond flour, cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes.

Step 11: Just prior to serving, stir in Greek Yogurt.

I served this with sauteed garlic spinach and Naan, as my family are not big on rice. However, this would go well with rice too.

I enjoyed mine without even needing the Naan. (Okay, I did end up having one small bite of my Mom's.)  Yum! I think the leftovers tomorrow will be even more flavorful

Below is the nutritional breakdown for the beef curry, assuming 6 servings:

Calories: 333
Fat: 14 grams
Protein: 44 grams
Carbs: 6 grams
Fiber: 1 gram