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Before I give you this delicious Paleo French Onion Beef Soup recipe, I just want to chat for a minute about quality of meats and what to avoid! It’s important to me to eat animals that have been treated as well as our government allows, hopefully promoting the fair treatment of animals with my consumerism. My personal diet requires high protein levels right now, and I am consuming much more meat than I would prefer. (To the Vegans and Vegetarians out there: I hear you. And I want to be you. But I have to listen to my body’s needs in the mean time.) Right now I am still on AIP elimination, which means no grain, no nightshades (potato, tomato, etc) , no nuts or seeds, and several other ingredients that I usually gobble up. It means a lot more meals with meat in it, which is why I want to talk about where and what to purchase!

I choose my meat carefully. I’ve read and researched too much to do otherwise! Sometimes I have to make compromises, but I do have things that I won’t compromise on. Those include meat being antibiotic and hormone free. I realize there is a lot of controversy about the hormone treatments, and I’ve even talked to local farmers about the hormones they use and the amounts, and the reasons behind hormone use,  but I still cannot justify the need for these treatments and the fact that those hormones carry through to my own digestive system. Antibiotic free meat is a must, because most antibiotics used on sick animals can either be identical to human antibiotics, or they are human antibiotics. This presents a major problem when a human being needs to take antibiotics, and often will be resistant to certain antibiotics because their system has become accustomed to them.

Those two things are my must haves when I’m purchasing or eating meat. Luckily, some animals are regulated by the USDA and not permitted to have hormones or antibiotics pumped into them, including pigs and chickens.

Which means that, in a pinch, I buy regular/non-organic chicken and pork.

For the most part, I buy organic, free-range, grass-fed side because the animals are healthier and they have some sort of access to the outdoors.

I say some, because “natural” chickens and turkeys are usually corralled in cages without access to anything beyond the bars. “Free-range” means they are allowed to roam the barn floor, but “Pasture-raised” means they have access to the outdoors (though it’s not heavily regulated and so many get limited time outdoors).

It’s not perfect, but it is better than conventional meat.

I buy my organic, grass-fed beef from Costco, and it is raised in South America, where the cows are pasture-raised their wholes lives. Most countries in South America have strict laws about grass-fed meat, so I feel great about purchasing and consuming it. That’s where the beef in this paleo French Onion Beef Soup recipe came from!

Sprouts has started an organic line of their own that is great, and you can always find super options at Whole Foods (which are often local, if that’s your thing).

French Onion Beef Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb organic, raw grass-fed ground beef
• 4 cup of organic, grass-fed beef bone broth (or stock)
• 6 medium fresh basil leaves
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 4 large button mushrooms
• 2 cups of spinach
• 2 bay leaves
• salt to taste

Directions

1. Begin by warming a large frying pan on the stove and adding the ground beef. Put heat at medium high, and julienne the basil. Add basil to ground beef and cook until brown.
2. Add 4 cups of beef bone broth to a medium saucepot on medium high heat.
3. Add ground beef to sauce pot.
4. Chop onions and add to sauce pot.
5. Add bay leaves.
6. Let boil for approximately 5 minutes, then add thickly slice button mushrooms and spinach.
7. Boil for an additional 5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat, and add salt to your liking.
9. Serve hot!