Beef Skillet Supper (Low FODMAP, AIP, Paleo, Whole 30)

Everyone needs staple meals. Easy dishes that can be made when time is short (and that dirty fewer dishes during preparation). Things that require regularly “on-hand” ingredients. Meals that remain economical (AIP/Paleo isn’t always cheap) without compromising on food standards. And things that are tasty, of course :)

We’ve eaten variations on this beef skillet supper on many occasions over the past year & it seemed only fair that I share it with you, my beloved readers. The last couple times I've made it, my husband has even licked his plate to ensure nothing is wasted! I would have shared the recipe sooner, but alas, I never took the time to write down exact measurements... But that is sort of the beauty of this recipe: it doesn’t require exact measurements & it adapts well to whatever veggies you might have on hand.

My husband and I concocted this meal last summer (2014) after desperately staring into our refrigerator, wondering what to make out of the random mix of ingredients we had on hand. The skillet has gone through several transformations, most recently when I went back to strict AIP + adding in a low FODMAP component. But it still remains as easy, economical, versatile & delicious as ever.

I haven't timed it out precisely, so don’t quote me, but I do believe this skillet supper could be made + on the table faster than if one was to order & pick up a pizza. Even if the ground beef is initially frozen (I’ve included some quick-thaw guidelines in the recipe below), this meal is still quite speedy. Often it is one I fall back on if I discover the protein I had planned to cook has not yet thawed & dinner time is looming! As a bonus, the leftovers travel well & we don’t mind eating them either cold or room temperature, though sometimes it is difficult to actually *have* any leftovers (just ask my husband!) ;)

Note on FODMAPs: FODMAPs are confusing things... Certain resources will say that one item is “ok” and other resources will list that item as “avoid.” I am choosing to get my information about FODMAPs from Monash University & their app. Monash is continually updating their information & they are great about listing what quantity of food (both by volume & by weight) keeps it within the low FODMAP guidelines. As always, though, you know your body best. Just because one list says a food is fine, doesn’t always mean your body will be fine with it. Or on the flip side, just because one list says a food is on the avoid list, doesn’t mean your body is automatically going to be bothered by it. Do what makes your body & mind feel the best.

Beef Skillet Supper (Low FODMAP, AIP, Paleo, Whole 30) 
yields 3 low FODMAP servings for people with hearty appetites 

1lb grass-fed ground beef (my preference is 85/15, but more lean will work too, though more fat may be necessary)
1 tsp Solid fat (such as duck fat, bacon fat, lard...), plus additional if needed
300 g / 3 c / 1/2 a medium cabbage, sliced
210 g/ 1.5 c diced White Sweet Potato, (I used Japanese variety this time)
3 Tbl Coconut Aminos
1 tsp fresh Ginger, grated (optional, I’ve developed a sensitivity to ginger, so I often leave it out....)
100 g / 1 c / 1 large Carrot, very thinly sliced (I use a mandoline slicer set to the medium thickness, but a sharp knife could work too) 
140 g / 1.5 c / 1 medium-ish Zucchini, very thinly sliced (I use a mandoline slicer set to the medium thickness, but a sharp knife could work too)
Fresh herbs, such as cilantro or parsley, for serving
Scallion, green parts only, for serving
Sea Salt, for serving (Smoked Maldon is my favorite)

1. In a large skillet (I used my 12-in cast-iron skillet , melt the fat over medium high heat. Brown the ground beef in the melted fat. 
2. Once the beef is 2/3 of the way browned, add the cabbage, sweet potato, coconut aminos, and ginger. Cover the skillet & cook for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is cooked through. Add additional fat if any of the ingredients begin to stick to the pan.
3. Once the sweet potato is cooked through, turn off the heat. Add the carrot & zucchini. Toss everything together, replace the cover & allow the carrot/zucchini to steam for 3ish minutes, or until they are done enough to your liking. Turn the heat back on low for a minute or two if you desire more “cooked” veggies, but I prefer them a little on the crunchy side. 
4. Portion the hash on to plates, making sure to divide it into no fewer than 3 servings if following a low FODMAP diet. Top with a sprinkle of fresh herbs, scallion, and sea salt. 
5. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. 

FODMAPs in this recipe

• I find that I can tolerate cabbage just fine, though some FODMAP lists say to avoid it. Monash states that green cabbage (NOT savoy) in quantities of less than 150 g / 1.5 c fits within Low FODMAP guidelines. 
• Some sources recommend eliminating most starches while on Low FODMAP. I attempted removing most starches, but found that my body needs some starch for energy. I prefer to use small quantities of white sweet potatoes (they are less sweet), but in keeping with Monash guidelines, limiting my servings to 70 g / 1/2 c (pre-cooked) at most. 

To Quick-thaw frozen ground beef

• If the package of beef is wrapped in paper or on a plastic wrapped tray, place it in a ziplock bag. If the beef is in a fully sealed plastic package already, leave it as it is. 
• Fill a large bowl (or sink) with hot water. Immerse the package in the hot water & allow to sit until the edges are no longer frozen--it is ok if the middle is still frozen if the beef is to be sauteed. Sometimes, I’ll use a water-filled pan or dish on top of the beef to keep it fully submerged. 
• Cook the beef immediately. 
• This quick-thaw method is only safe if the meat is cooked immediately! Thawing the meat in cold water or in the refrigerator is a safer method if the meat is not going to be cooked immediately. 

If not following a low FODMAP diet, feel free to add in.... (you may need a bigger skillet!) 

• 1 onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• additional sweet potato (or even substituting regular potato, if not AIP) 

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Sweet Treats. 

Sweet Potato Lefse (AIP)

Chances are, unless you grew up somewhere with a large Scandinavian population, you’ve possibly never heard of lefse. If that’s the case, it’s ok, I won’t hold it against you :) Lefse is a potato flatbread cooked on a griddle. Think of it like a scandinavian tortilla. It remains very flexible after cooking and is usually spread with butter (and sometimes sprinkled with white sugar) before it is rolled up into tubes and eaten.

I grew up eating lots of lefse, especially at Thanksgiving & christmas time, but never making it.  Every lefse recipe is a little bit different & many families are staunch traditionalists when it comes to “their” family recipe. Families will gather together sometime during the holiday season and spend an afternoon making loads and loads of lefse. Most versions include white potatoes, butter, dairy of some sort (cream, milk, etc), salt, sugar, and flour. My good friend Kelli & her family make lots of lefse each year & I’m very thankful she consulted on this recipe with me :)

To be honest, neither Kelli nor I were very confident that an AIP version of lefsewas possible. It was a tall order, since I needed to find AIP appropriate substitutions for every ingredient, minus the salt. The salt was fine, haha. But, the thought of having to go yet another year without lefse was a hard thing for me. In past years I’ve had to skip out on the lefse because it isn’t gluten free. This year, I felt like I should at least attempt a version, even if it didn’t taste or look exactly like traditional lefse.

The first order was to find a substitute for the white potatoes. Though I’ve been able to tolerate reintroductions of some things to my AIP diet, white potatoes, a member of the nightshade family, are not one of them... Instead, these days, I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, in different varieties.  Funny, prior to AIP, I had no idea there even were different varieties and colors of sweet potatoes. Hands down, my favorite kind is the white sweet potato, the Hannah variety, because it is a little less sweet & a little more starchy in texture.

I’m not sure if it was a good thing or not that I’ve never actually made homemade lefse before this adventure. From what I can tell, and I am most definitely not an expert, the rules for this AIP lefse are very different from it’s traditional counterpart. I’m not entirely sure how this AIP lefse works, but it just does :) And for that I am very thankful. Traditional lefse can be quite finicky and require an experienced touch. This lefse is more forgiving. I’ve made a couple batches, just to try to troubleshoot any challenges & to ensure that my first recipe success wasn’t just a fluke. The dough is more forgiving & doesn’t require as delicate a touch. Because it doesn’t contain gluten, you don’t need to worry about overworking it when mixing the dough & rolling it out.  It’s best mixed, rolled & cooked all in one day, but I find that it tastes more lefse-esque the day after it’s been made.

If you’re someone who is missing lefse because you’re following Paleo or AIP or are gluten free, I hope this recipe will be a great resource for you. Traditionally, I’ve really only eaten lefse during the holiday season, but given the reality that my “bread” choices are pretty non-existant, I forsee us making this recipe often & using the flatbread in a similar manner as tortillas.

Sweet Potato Lefse
yields approximately 16 small pieces 

14 oz White Sweet Potatoes (I used the “Hannah” variety)
Water, to cover

12 oz Riced White Sweet Potatoes
2 Tbl (22 g) coconut milk
28 g (2 Tbl) coconut oil
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Maple Sugar
90 g Tapioca Starch, divided approximately in half
1 1/2 tsp Coconut Flour

a lot additional Tapioca starch for dusting

1. Wash & peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into rough cubes & place into a stock pot. Add enough water to cover the potato pieces. 
2. Bring to a boil over high heat & cook until fork tender, approximately 20 minutes. 
3. Drain the potatoes into a colander. 
4. Rice the potatoes back into the stock pot, using a potato ricer  Return to the burner over low heat & cook, stirring constantly, for 1.5 minutes, to help evaporate some of the residual water. 
5. Remove from the heat & add the coconut milk, coconut oil, salt & maple sugar. Stir to combine. 
6. Add half the tapioca starch & the coconut flour. Mix well. Add the remaining tapioca starch. 
7. Divide the dough into 2 Tbl pieces. Roll into small balls. 
8. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. 
9. Liberally sprinkle the work surface with additional tapioca starch. Flatten a ball of dough & sprinkle with more tapioca. Roll out, trying to keep the shape as round as possible, until very thin--almost see-through, but making sure the bottom isn’t stuck. Use a small offset spatula to run underneath the rolled out dough. If the dough tears, don’t panic--gather the dough together into a ball again & re-roll it. 
10. Very gently lift the dough & slide your hand underneath the dough. Transfer it to the preheated skillet. Cook until lightly browned on one side, flip, and continue cooking until that side is also lightly browned. Once flipped, the lefse may bubble--use a heat tempered spatula to gently press down on the big bubbles. On our electric stove set at roughly 4.5, mine took about 1 min 15 sec on the first side & an additional 1 min on the second side. 
11. Transfer cooked pieces to a plate & repeat with the remaining dough. 
12. Once the lefse cools completely, store in an airtight container. Keep at room temperature for one day maximum, then refrigerate or freeze for longevity.  I find the lefse tastes more like traditional lefse the day following when it was made.   

Notes: 

• The recipe doubles very well, but the individual cooking process is more laborious. I cut my original batch in half because I got tired of running back and forth from rolling the lefse to cooking the lefse. 
• I do not recommend making the dough ahead of time & refrigerating overnight--I found  the dough to be much more fragile the second day. 
• If you have an actual lefse griddle, feel free to use it, though I do not personally have one & have not tried using any surface other than a non-stick pan. 
• A lefse stick won’t work because the dough is too fragile. 
• To serve, roll the lefse sheet into a tube. I usually like my lefse with butter and sugar on it, but this sweet potato version is naturally sweeter & I find it doesn’t need any additional butter or sugar. My husband, on the other hand, likes his spread with jam. 

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Sweet Treats

Sausage & Kale Soup with Sweet Potato (AIP)

It’s not surprising that I would turn to soup, as I branch out into posting about more savory foods. I love to both make soup & eat it.

Many of my previously favorite soups contain ingredients that no longer like me--tomatoes, potatoes & beans, I’m referring to you! But really, there are so many, many other ingredients I can use that I just need to think a little more creatively.

This soup is a rift on a sausage & Kale soup with white potatoes that I use to make frequently in my pre-autoimmune protocol (AIP) days. I’ve swapped the regular pork sausage, which is often filled with nightshade ingredients, for Garlic & Herb Chicken Sausages. And I now use white sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes.  Not to mention that anything that includes homemade stock (aka “bone broth” in the AIP world) is really, really beneficial for the healing process.  The flavor becomes a little more complex & a touch sweeter (from the sweet potatoes), but still makes a fantastic, filling, nutrient-dense lunch option, even if you aren’t Paleo or AIP.

Chicken Sausage, Kale & Sweet Potato Soup 
yields 2 to 4 servings, depending on how hungry you are

1-2 Tablespoons of solid fat (I used duck fat)
1 medium onion, diced (mine weighed 176 g)
2 medium carrots, peeled & sliced (mine weighed 113 g)
1 medium/large Sweet Potato, peeled & diced  (I used a white sweet potato & it weighed around 300 g)
1 package of chicken sausages, sliced on the bias (I used Trader Joe’s Garlic & Herb Chicken Sausages, which are free from nightshades, but do contain black pepper, so proceed with caution if on strict AIP)
1 quart of stock (I used homemade chicken stock, but you can certainly use purchased)
6 ribs of kale (mine weighed 50g)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste (omit for strict AIP)

1. In a medium/large pot, melt the solid fat. Add the diced onion & sauté over medium heat until the onion becomes slightly translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Add the sliced carrot & sauté an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the carrot softens just slightly. 
2. Add the peeled diced sweet potato, sliced chicken sausages & stock. Bring the soup to a boil, then cover the pot, reduce to medium low & simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the sweet potato is tender. 
3. Add the kale & cook an additional 5 minutes, or until the kale is wilted. Taste, and add salt & pepper as needed, depending on the flavor of the sausages & stock. 
4. Ladle the soup into bowls & serve. 
5. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. The soup may be frozen, although the potatoes do break down, so the consistency will be different after thawing. 

Sweet Potato Paletas (AIP)

It’s been hot. Super hot. Like +110 F hot, and it’s only June..... While I wouldn’t discriminate against a frozen treat any time of the year, I especially crave them in the summer time. Since I cannot just run to any store or shop & purchase a frozen dessert that would fit within my unique dietary guidelines, I have to make my own. I have a feeling my ice cream bowl will be working overtime, if only I can find a way to clear enough freezer space to actually freeze it. But, I did manage to clear enough space for my popsicle mold, so that’s where I’m beginning this summer. 

Paletas were not something I’d heard of until I moved to the southern border of Texas--they’re the Mexican version of a popsicle, only not usually as sweet as their American counterpart. We’re able to get paletas in just about any local gas station or grocery store & they come in much more interesting flavors than the regular popsicles I was use to seeing. Coconut. Watermelon. Pineapple. Pecan. Rice Pudding. Pina Colada. Tamarind. Fruit flavors spiced with chile. (The rice pudding ones use to be my favorite....).

Sweet potatoes have become one of my staple foods--most often either baked or roasted. Since paletas already come in such interesting flavors, I thought that adding sweet potato variation to the mix wasn’t such a stretch :)

Traditional paletas aren’t super sugary & my sweet potato paletas follow suite--they get their limited sweetness from the sweet potato & the apple juice. Even with the limited sweetness, they are cold & very refreshing, especially on a hot day when you’re just dying for an ice cream.

If I wasn’t following a sugar-free diet, I’d add a couple tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. Or maybe some candied pecans. If you prefer a creamier pop, adding some yogurt (whether sweetened, or plain) would also work.

One final note: I made & styled/photographed these sweet potato paletas while watching Diane Cu & Todd Porter of “White on Rice Couple”  give a 3 day food styling & photography workshop on Creative Live. While the presentation isn’t free anymore (unless CL rebroadcasts it), I’d highly recommend checking it out if you’re interested in furthering your photography skills. I learned some fun new tips & was reminded of some things I should have been remembering anyway. 

behind-the-scenes image of shooting these paletas while watching Creative Live

Sweet Potato Paletas 

Yields approximately 12 pops, depending on mold size 

1 large sweet potato (mine weighed just under 1lb, pre-baking & around 12 oz after) 

4 Tbl Apple Juice

1 1/2 c (13.8 oz) Coconut Milk (beverage, not the culinary coconut milk from a can) 

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla

optional: sweetener of choice (especially if you’re not following a sugar free diet).... I’d use a couple tablespoons of honey or maple syrup, if it was allowed for me.  OR add a little vanilla coconut yogurt.  

1.  Wash sweet potato & pierce the skin with a fork or sharp knife. Place sweet potato into an oven safe dish & roast at 350 F until fork-tender. (Mine took approximately 60 minutes in our toaster oven). 
2. Once cooked, let the sweet potato cool completely (I put mine in the refrigerator overnight. 
3. After the potato has cooled, remove the skin & add to a blender or food processor.  Add the apple juice, coconut milk, cinnamon & vanilla.  Process on high speed until well blended.  Add additional coconut milk if the mixture is too thick. 
4. Pour into your popsicle molds, leaving some headspace at the top to allow for expansion during freezing.  
5. Place in the freezer and freeze for 2 hours.  
6. After 2 hours of freezing, insert the sticks. Continue to freeze for an additional 10-24 hours.  
7. To unmold, fill a large bowl with warm water. Set the frozen mold into the warm water for 30 seconds & remove the mold. Gently lift the paletas out of the mold & place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Top with a second layer of parchment & allow to freeze for 30 additional minutes. 
8. After the additional freezing, the pops are ready to be consumed. If not eating right away, wrap them well & store in the freezer. 

For more information on paletas, this article is really helpful!