Paleo Pepper Steak

Begin by slicing the steak (against the grain) into very thin strips. If your meat is fully defrosted, it helps if you pop it in the freezer for 20 to 25 minutes so it's partially frozen and much easily to slice. (warning: gross raw meat shot)

Combine coconut aminos, palm sugar, black pepper and chopped garlic in a bowl. Mix until well combined and set aside.

Peel carrots and slice lengthwise into 1/2" slices. Cut the 1/2" slices into 2" sections and proceed to slice each section into 1/2" pieces. This doesn't need to be perfect and these are guidelines. Ultimately, you want the carrots evenly cut so they cook at the same time and not in such big pieces that they won't cook in the allotted time.

Clean the bell peppers, slice off the tops and remove the seeds and white ribs with a paring knife. Cut the peppers into 1" squares.

Use a chefs knife to cut the scallions on the diagonal into 1 1/2" pieces.

Clean mushrooms caps by wiping with a damp paper towel and cut into quarters.

Drain water chestnuts. In a small dish, combine arrowroot starch with cold water until well mixed.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, add coconut oil and then sliced beef. Brown beef, about 7 to 8 minutes, until there is no pink. (NOTE: Don't crowd the pan or the beef will steam instead of browning. If you need to cook it in batches, divide the oil up accordingly.)

Once beef is browned, remove from pan with tongs to a bowl. Pour juice into a measuring cup and fill measuring cup with water (if necessary) until you have 1 cup total.

Return browned beef to pan along with juice and coconut aminos mixture. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, trying to make sure the meat is mostly submerged in the liquid, for 45 minutes.

Remove lid and add carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and water chestnuts. Stir to combine and cover. Continue cooking 15 minutes until vegetables are just tender.

Remove lid and push some of the meat and vegetable mixture to the side. Slowly pour in the arrowroot mixture while constantly stirring it into the sauce. As soon as it is all mixed in, immediately remove pan from heat. Stir to distribute the sauce, toss in scallions and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. [img src="http://www.everydaymaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_0408-533x400.jpg" alt="" width="533" height="400" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-11599"][img src="http://www.everydaymaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_0410-533x400.jpg" alt="" width="533" height="400" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-11600"]