Tag Archives: coffee

Paleo Coffee and Cocoa Rubbed Brisket in a Crock Pot

Happy Sunday!  I hope everyone’s enjoying their non-routine, wacky schedules these past few days.  It’s so weird having Christmas and New Years smack, dab in the middle of the week.  But I guess it gave everyone a good amount of time off!  I took last Monday off and have tomorrow and Tuesday off as well.  I can get used to 5 day weekends!

For Christmas my mom gave me a crock pot.  I used to share a crock pot with my best friend and roommate, but when I moved out of Boston I left it with her so I was so excited to get my own!

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For my first crockpot meal I decided to do a slow cooked brisket.  I searched and searched the web for ideas that were easy and simple.  To be honest it was hard to find a paleo / primal friendly recipe that was also easy.  I would have loved to try a barbecue version but it seems making a paleo friendly barbecue sauce requires a lot of ingredients.

I settled on this Coffee and Cocoa Rubbed Brisket that I found on Our Full Plate and The Paleo Drummer.  It sounded really different and interesting, but both bloggers seemed to absolutely love it…

Well it did not disappoint!  I actually left the rub on for two days (because of change of plans) and then cooked it in the crock pot for about 9 hours.  It came out so tender and tasty!

Paleo Coffee and Cocoa Rubbed Brisket in a Crock Pot

  • 3 lb brisket
  • ⅓ cup of ground coffee
  • 1½ tablespoons of ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon of sea salt
  • 1½ teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ cups of Coconut Milk.  I used Pure Silk’s unsweetened version because I couldn’t find canned.

Combine coffee, cumin, salt, and cocoa powder.  Throw the rub in a big bowl or container.  Place your brisket in the spices and rub it into the meat.  I let mine sit for two days but I am sure it would be fine without so much time.  To cook I poured the coconut milk into the crock pot and then the brisket (fatty side up) on top.  I cooked it on low for 9 hours.  It came out dee-licious!

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My Evolution as a Coffee Drinker

2007 Café con leche

My first cup of coffee was actually in Barcelona, Spain while studying abroad.  We had super early classes but we were also in Barcelona!  In Barcelona you eat dinner at about 10PM and go out around 12AM.  We would have class as early as 8AM…so you do the math.  The lack of sleep combined with me wanting to be “cultured” led me to my first Café con leche.  Café con leche is basically espresso with milk.  Because I didn’t particularly like the actual taste of coffee at this point I would put in a TON of sugar.  It helped that the sugar packets in Spain were about the size of my hand.

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2008 – 2009 Dunkin Donuts medium french vanilla made in a bean-to-cup coffee machine, with skim and two splendas

After being abroad I came back to school and discovered that I might actually like the taste of coffee (well a lot of flavors, milk, and sweetener disguised as coffee).  This is when I started going to Dunkin Donuts.  The order went something like french vanilla iced coffee with skim milk and two splendas.

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2009 – 2011 Starbucks grande coffee with vanilla, skim, and splenda

I discovered Starbucks!  I moved to Boston and started working right across the street from a Starbucks.  This quickly turned into a 5 day a week relationship and there hasn’t been much turning back since.  This might sound silly but I just love starting my day going to Starbucks – especially if you have a regular one where they know you.  The workers are always so nice and just help get your day started on a positive note.  My first couple of years as a Starbucks drinker I still thought skim milk and splenda and adding vanilla syrup was pretty “healthy.”  Sometimes for a treat I would get a vanilla latte but of course “skinny.”

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2011-2012 Starbucks grande coffee with sugar-free vanilla and soy

I realized that I shouldn’t be putting 2 splendas in my coffee every day so I weaned myself off of it.  Although at the same time I switched to sugar-free vanilla syrup (which is made from splenda – I was a dumb dumb).  I then decided that soy milk was what healthy people drank so went  with that.

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2012-2013 Starbucks grande coffee with vanilla and whole milk

When I started eating primal I knew I had to stop with the soy milk and anything with artificial sweetener.  I switched to a splash of whole milk but couldn’t pull myself away from the vanilla.  By the way when you add syrup to a Starbucks coffee they put 4 huge squirts in! That’s a whole lot of sugar!

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Today Starbucks grande coffee with one pump of vanilla, black

I know, I know what the heck does one pump of vanilla even do?  But give me some credit – I’ve come a long way!  I’ve weaned myself off all of the processed, artificial, and sugar add ins.  My goal is to start enjoying coffee just plain black but I’m not there yet.  Either way it feels good to have a coffee almost in it’s raw form!   I can’t believe how much I used to put in it – now all of that stuff tastes so sweet to me it’s crazy!

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