Whole30 Southwestern Meatloaf and Beef Recipes!

Sometimes you just need a little comfort food. Some of you may remember the old beef campaign from years ago... "Beef. It's What's For Dinner!"  Thankfully beef is on the menu for Whole30 and that is no surprise to us.  As ranchers, we realize first hand not only the heritage behind raising our own beef but the health benefits from a great cut of lean beef.  Our ranch raises Hereford cattle and it's the only beef we serve on our table.  There simply is nothing better in our estimation than a flavorful Hereford Ribeye steak, cheeseburger, or recipe made with our delicious farm raised beef!

As a rancher and former President of the National Hereford Women, I would be totally remiss if I did not post a blog with ways to incorporate beef or our beloved Hereford beef into your month of Whole30.  My recipes from my blog and recipes from Certified Hereford Beef are staples in homes across the US and world for that matter.  Hereford cattle, their associations on the state and national level and their wonderful people are what helped raise our daughters into what they are today.  For that, we will be forever thankful.  The beef cattle industry has instilled both work ethic and family values on a daily basis.  Beef is on our table most nights for more reasons than one.

For more beef recipes click here for Certified Hereford Beef's Recipe website

As you look through my recipes on and off the Whole30 tab, you'll see many, many beef recipes.  As my daughter Bethany and I continue our second month on the Whole30, we are creating new recipes daily that incorporate healthy and lean beef.

For today's post and to kick your week off, we wanted to share with you a piece of not only our heritage but yet another meal we served our family and rancher, daddy, husband Scott to raves review.

     

The Ranch Kitchen's Whole30 Southwestern Meatloaf is just that and Ranchman - husband Scott approved. Baked in your cupcake or muffin tins, these little meatloaves are full of flavor and something we think you will add to your recipe list.  These flavorful, mini meatloaves are perfect to serve your hungry family or for yourself as a wonderful evening meal or lunch the next day as you meal prep to be successful on the Whole30.

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Southwestern Meatloaf

Since flour and bread are off-limits on the Whole30, you must be creative when finding substitutes.  For us, Almond flour was our go to as an ingredient to bind recipes together as in our Whole30 Southwestern Meatloaf,  To be honest, we did not even miss the torn bread bits I put normally in my meatloaf, and the almond flour was a wonderful substitution.

To add a southwestern flavor, I used fresh, chopped green chile such as Poblano's (you can use canned if compliant) and then a really wonderful sugar-free - compliant BBQ sauce.  It was a wonderful substitute for the sugary ketchup I normally place both inside and on top of this meatloaf.

Along with chopped onions and garlic powder, salt, and pepper, these little meatloaves were both filling and made almost two muffin tins.  We had enough for both dinner that night and a few lunches for the next two days.

Do make sure as you combine the meat with the other ingredient and that you do not overwork the mixture as it will toughen your meat and make it chewy after cooking.  Just gently combine until all ingredients are worked through and then place in your lightly greased muffin tins.  I used extra virgin olive oil for my muffin tins.

We served our Whole30 Southwestern Meatloaf with our Whole30 Mashed Potatoes and a side of grilled asparagus with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.  We were all totally filled up afterward and loved this wonderful meal.

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Mashed Potatoes

Throughout the week ahead we will post several of our Whole30 beef recipes for you to add to your weekly meal plans.  Beef and it's flavorful cuts are the perfect addition to both your diet and meals as you plan ahead.  It is also so simple to reinvent a great steak into fajitas the next night or a quick beef stew.

To help you with meal prepping, here is a sampling of some Whole30 compliant recipes we've added to our site recently.  They are all Ranchman approved and loved by everyone in our family because Whole30 for us had to be tasty and feel like we weren't missing a thing.

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Ground Beef Hash

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Rustic Shepherd's Pie

So, remember that healthy beef is on the table at our ranch and just plain good for you!

I'll leave you with one of my very favorite beef campaigns of years ago...

Have a great week ahead and stay warm out there!

Alise & Bethany

Whole30 Rustic Shepherd's Pie and Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon

If you are trying to think of just what to cook for dinner while on the Whole30, then look no further. Here's a super simple recipe that everyone will really love full protein and healthy ingredients and our favorite Hereford beef.  Planning is essential to be successful on the Whole30.  Prepping meals and doing your grocery shopping a week or few days ahead of time will help you stay true to the program with no slip ups.  Leftovers are great for lunch or dinners the next few days as well. 

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Rustic Sheherd's Pie

Colorful and full of flavor, this rendition on traditional Shepherd's Pie is anything but boring!  Halfway through our Whole30 journey, I created this Rustic Shepherd's Pie for my hungry husband who had been a real sport while my daughter Bethany and I were on the program.  I wanted something that was deceivingly healthy...and this recipe was just the one!

Click here for the recipe for Whole30 Rustic Shepherd's Pie

Our green beans were super simple to make with just Extra Virgin Olive Oil to saute the fresh green beans in with small chunks of bacon, salt and pepper. Just cook until crisp and tender.  Make sure the green beans are Whole30 compliant with no added sugar or preservatives.  We luckily use pork raised by our local FFA, Future Farmers of America students who sold at our local county fair.

Click here for the recipe for Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon

So, here's to your Whole30 journey. Let us know how you like this recipe and check out our growing selection of Whole30 recipes on The Ranch Kitchen Whole30 tab.  

Alise and Bethany

Whole30 Must Haves

Whole 30...you've either started or are gearing up for your next thirty days. The response we've received from friends and family who are joining us on Whole30 this month has been absolutely wonderful.  As we continue to place recipes online on The Ranch Kitchen site under our new Whole30 tab, we are blogging with a post as well to give you tips and tricks that helped us stay 'compliant' while on Whole30.

For today's blog post, we wanted to share with you our 'must haves' while on the program. The list below was the things that will now be staples in our kitchen as we continue to prepare healthier recipes that are Whole30 compliant.

So as you begin either your pre-planning stage or you've jumped right in and need a list to start your shopping with, see below.  This list of will help you with meal prepping for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks and get you through the weeks ahead.

WHOLE30 MUST HAVES:

ALISE'S MUSH HAVE LIST:

Larabars:  These little bars are protein-rich and delicious. You will feel like you are cheating, but you are not.  Not all, however, are compliant on Whole30, so read, read the labels.  We absolutely loved the Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie, and Cashew Cookie Bars...delicious! We took a stab at the RX Bars that everyone raved over, but they were too chewy and dry for our taste.  Click here for a link to Amazon to purchase your own.  The neat thing is Amazon makes a Whole30 option on a couple of different products (Larabars, jerky, etc.) that make it easy to stay compliant.



Fresh Fruit: Bananas for a quick breakfast and for snacks I turned to grapes, tangerines, oranges and fresh pineapple that were huge for me while on Whole30.  I also realized halfway in that I could have the Dole Fruit Cups with natural juices that were downright amazing too.  Tangerines would give me that afternoon snack and natural sugar I needed around 4:30 - 5 each day and were great for a late night snack.  As I'd cook dinner, having grapes on hand were a sweet treat as well.



Earl Grey or Chai Tea - My morning or evening pick-me-up without sugar of course!  Love, love my Yeti cup that kept it hot or cold all day.  Being a Southern gal, we love our sweet tea...but I finally did learn to enjoy tea without sugar!  The added cinnamon in the Chai tea made me feel like I was having a treat and it also was a nice in the afternoons when my energy would sink.

       

Sweet Potatoes - We ate them with everything from the bottom layer of a breakfast casserole to the placing shredded chicken on top of it, or making a sweet potato hash with a fried egg that was really wonderful!

Sweet Potato Hash using Hereford Beef.
This was one of the first recipes we created and probably our very favorite.

Beef - For that matter Hereford Beef off our ranch.  As those who follow my blog know, we are ranchers.  We raise our own Hereford beef and proudly serve it to our family. Whole30 does not limit beef and the ability to continue the tradition of serving beef on our table was a must for me.  For recipes, check out Certified Hereford Beef for a multitude of ways you can create compliant recipes.

Picture compliments of Certified Hereford Beef

BETHANY'S MUST HAVE LIST: 

Avocado Oil - A new oil for our family.  After doing much research, Bethany saw that this was a great oil to use to cooking. You can find this at most grocery stores.

LaCroix - This was huge for my Bethany who loves her carbonation in her drinks. It would get her through her day and the carbonation - fizziness was a must for her.  Her favorite flavors are Pamplemousse, Lime and Lemon.  If you link to the LaCroix site, you'll see that they are a partner with Whole30 as well.

Kombucha - This fermented tea is compliant for Whole30 and made her feel like she was 'almost' having a glass of wine at night!  She would even pour it in a wine glass to give herself the thought that she was having a cocktail! Other benefits include stomach health with this increasingly popular tea.  We found ours at Natural Grocers in our neighboring town. ***Make sure that it is Whole30 compliant as some Kombucha Teas are not. Whole30 makes you read your labels.












Coconut Oil - Bethany cooked with it and used it to season pans as well.  She'd even use it for moisturizer on her hands.  You can buy it in bulk at food clubs like Sam's Club. This oil stores well and the multi-use capability of it really makes it a useful ingredient to add to your kitchen.










Unsweetened Almond Milk - This was used as a coffee creamer and substituted for milk in recipes as needed.  The shelf life on this is long and must be refrigerated after opening. Be sure to DOUBLE check that it is unsweetened. There are also great coconut milk option to look at as well. Bethany tried the NutPods for creamer, but they were inconvenient to have to order a small (we mean small) package from Amazon and the flavoring wasn't strong enough for her liking.







                                 **********************************

While on this program you will find just how much dairy and sugar you really consume on a daily basis.  In moderation neither of them is necessarily bad for you and especially not the dairy.  But, in order to see how these affect you, the thirty day process of elimination will help you figure that out.  Bethany realizes now that dairy can really mess with her system and I know now for a fact that sugar and flour really cause all the joint pain and stomach bloat I had been experiencing.

And if we had to have a #11 on the list it would be individual meal containers like the Gladware brand.  Prepping meals for the days in advance is a KEY to staying on the program and being successful.  One day's planning is worth a week of success!

As you begin your Whole30 journey, comment on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and The Ranch Kitchen site blog post to let us know how it is going.  If you create an amazing recipe or have found something that gets you through your days, let us know about it!  You can easily 'Share A Recipe' on my blog, or shoot me the recipe alise@theranchkitchen.com and I'll submit it for you!  Be sure to include a picture, even if you took it off your phone, please.

Together we will get healthier and feel so much better come February and the spring/summer seasons ahead...for that matter life!

Thanks for coming along with us on Whole30!

Alise & Bethany

Recipe's from the Ranch' - Grillin' That's Better The Next Day on Sure Champ's Blog for March

As a rancher and advocate for agriculture, I know first hand how beef has helped shape our lives.  Raising our own Certified Hereford Beef on our ranch allows our family the benefit of taking part first hand in the daily process of knowing where our beef comes from.....aka 'ranching heritage'.  Knowing beef producers from across our nation affirms our pride in the US beef product because we've also witnessed how when it comes to feeding the world as they do, both safety and a great tasting and lean beef product are paramount for these ranchers, their associations, and on the state and national levels.  

This month for Sure Champ's Blog and my Recipes from the Ranch blog contribution I chose to showcase a few meals we prepare using left over CHB steak and brisket.  These recipes are quick and easy to make.  A little thinking ahead by grilling or smoking extra beef the weekend before makes these dinners come together in a snap allowing the cook (me) the ability to not spend all their time in the kitchen!

 Sure Champ's Brisket Stew

You can click here at Sure Champ's Recipes from the Ranch Grillin That's Better The Next Day's March Post for three recipes for Sure Champ's Brisket Stew above, and The Ranch Kitchens' Brisket Fajitas and Beef Stroganoff from both grilled steak and brisket below. 

  The Ranch Kitchen's Brisket Fajitas

                

The Ranch Kitchen's Beef Stroganoff

As the temperature warms finally here in Texas and spring begins to peak it's head out from behind the clouds, do your best to get out and grill!  Make enough extra beef to help plan your week aheads meals.  And all the while as you are planning ahead remembering that no one ever said cooking had to be hard!  It's just takes a little planning ahead that will result later in some great meals with minimal effort and overall savings of your hard earned cash in the process!

Enjoy!

And in closing from my favorite television commercial....Beef.  It's what's for dinner!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen




Brisket Fajitas and Snow Day

Off to school and back home by 11 a.m.  Snow days are fun days in the south when life comes to a fast stop when the temperature goes below 32 degrees.  We just aren't equipped to handle the ice that always comes with below freezing temperatures.  Earlier today my good friend Danna posted on Facebook a map of the US with a white colored Texas and the words CLOSED across it...that pretty much sums up snow days here! 

As an educator we realize all too well what comes with possible snow days.  First there are the excited kids, more excited parents and even more the school employees!  We all love a good day off to sit by the fire or in our chair and rest a little. 

Today our school made the decision to start the school day and attempt to make the day as the inclement weather had not hit our little community yet.  Our school district feeds so many students each day, that it's never an easy decision to not have school even with bad weather.  We realize all too well that a hot breakfast and lunch after a long weekend may be the best meal some students have had in a while.  So today before we left, our hard working cafeteria staff hammered out a 'brunch' after breakfast and by 10:15 we had two grades fed and on their way home by bus or car.  The other schools in our district are to be equally commended for doing the same thing for all their students by bagging up lunches and making sure all tummies were fed and full before the sometimes long ride on the school bus or until we see those sweet kids again the next day. 

Tomorrow is a late start for us at 10 a.m. in the hopes that the weather will hold.  If not, we'll be out again only to make up our days at most likely either our Easter break Good Friday or at the end of the year in June.  Although I so enjoyed spending my day with our Audrey today cooking sweets, catching up on some work and visiting while also watching a fun movie, I realize why school is so important in more ways than one. 

 

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen's Brisket Fajitas

Thankfully tonight's dinner wasn't too much of an effort as I took the brisket from Saturday night's dinner and made it into fajitas.  Fajitas are usually made from beef skirt steak that is sauteed with onions, green bell peppers and wrapped into a flour tortilla with cheese, sour cream and Pico de Galo. 

In less than thirty minutes dinner was done and Audrey proclaimed that it was her #2 favorite meal behind what she calls my 'famous soft tacos' .  I can't share that recipe on this site as it uses a packaged seasoning!  However, so I could share with you my recipe tonight, I came up with a fajita seasoning within this recipe that you could use instead of the packaged varieties.  But, don't discount a good Lawry's or off brand seasoning.  I've used them on a regular basis simply because you just can't beat them....but if you want to, my fajita seasoning is pretty tasty too.

 

 

For my friends across the US, especially up north and for those here in Texas, I hope you enjoyed your day off and late start in the morning!  Spring is coming, but winter sure is getting in the way.  Stay warm, stay safe, and I hope and pray you get the rain you so desperately need.  I know we are all looking forward to longer periods of warm weather.  Darn that groundhog....

Remember - no one said cooking had to be hard!  Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

Fort Worth Hamburger Stew

On a cold night who doesn't love a good stew?  I remember growing up my mom used to make what she called 'Everything But The Kitchen Sink' soup where she'd use what she had and add hamburger to make it a warm meal.  It was always a favorite of ours and I've made my own version of it over the years. 

Soon it'll be time for the Fort Worth Stock Show and National Hereford Show in Cowtown and feeding the hungry family and crew is always a challenge.  Early mornings and late nights are the norm on these weeks. Everyone is excited to be there, but worn out by the days end. 

My husband commented last night after eating what he dubbed my 'Fort Worth Stew' that it would be the perfect thing to have ready as the cattle eat before we tie them out to stall.  I think he's right and plan on making this 'stew' or as some might call it a soup, to freeze and reheat one night while we are there. 

Stews and soups are always better the next day and this recipe should freeze and travel well.

Click here for the recipe for Fort Worth Hamburger Stew

Sauteed Mushrooms with Certified Hereford Beef Steak

In our family we love our mushrooms.  We especially love eating them along side a Certified Hereford Beef steak right off our place.  Last night was cold here in Texas.  We are not very cold hearty in Northeast Texas.  Any time the temperature gets close to freezing with wind chill factors in the 20's, we pretty much stay indoors. That is except for grilling. 

With his Carhart overalls and coat on Scott braved the weather and cooked the girls and I a few steaks last night as we stayed in and watched movies on my new Roku device. Don't have a Roku?  It's pretty much my newest favorite television device that gets me Hulu, Google, Youtube and just about anything else you want to watch.  It may have taken us getting someone else to hook it up to our t.v., but it was officially worth it and are loving it this winter as we stay in more. I plan on catching up on every season of my favorite shows I missed during our busy fall. 

The recipe  for my mom's Virginia's Sauteed Mushrooms is easy and you could add most any seasonings to fit your taste.  We like to add a little garlic salt, black pepper and margarine or butter.  I've even cooked these in a foil packet on the grill off to the side and not directly over the fire for an even less messy alternative.  No pan, just foil and you're done!  We've discovered this recipe that comes from my mom is my nephews new favorite, so she cooked it at Christmas just for him.



Click here for the recipe for Virginia's Sauteed Mushrooms.

CHB Steak with mushrooms is our very favorite meal. 

 

 

Stay warm, enjoy your winter, and tomorrow it's back to school for us!  It's been fun as they say, but now back to reality and a job I love with our sweet students. 

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

The Ranch Kitchen's Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those meals you can feed a crowd and for sure have a few leftovers from.  Last night we fixed this easy Italian dish that my youngest daughter wanted to cook.

It's a pretty standard lasagna recipe with a pre-made spaghetti sauce that made even better with the beef from our ranch.  In my younger years I made my own homemade spaghetti sauce, but for ease and quicker meals I enjoy my Ragu and Hunt's 4 Cheese variety meat sauces now a whole lot more!  My dad tells me my spaghetti is the best and I tell him it's truly because of the home grown Certified Hereford Beef we use from our ranch that makes the difference.

You can also use ground pork instead of beef as we do this from time to time. 

We served this with my The Ranch Kitchen's Italian Green Beans, a side salad with bacon and garlic toast. 
 

 

Click here for the recipe for The Ranch Kitchen's Lasagna

 

Audrey browning hamburger meat in the pan.

 

So proud she likes to cook!

 

Can of tomatoes already added and first layer of lasagna noodles...then first layer of 1/3 meat sauce.

 

Ricotta Cheese being added.

 

Second layer of lasagna noodles going on.

 

About 4 to 5 layers of lasagna noodles...this picture is minus two more noodles.  Notice they are not cooked. 

 

Audrey perfecting her method.

 

You need a pretty big casserole dish to make lasanga. 

 

Last 1/2 layer of Ricotta Cheese. 

 

Spreading on the Ricotta is not easy and gets a little messy...but no one knows the difference!

 

Last layer of spaghetti meat sauce is added.  Next add foil and cook on 400 for one hour.

 
 

Ricotta Cheese is a must when making lasagna.  I like the Frigo brand best..but they are all good.

 

Sprinkled with Parmesan Cheese this dish is ready to eat.

Enjoy!  Alise - The Ranch Kitchen