Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tomie's Mini Meatzas

I had a lovely suprise waiting for me when I got home today, oh yes.

It's January 31st.  The last day, last meal of my Junkfree January and I was expecting leftover sweet potato hash for the third meal in a row.

Not so!

Tomie made me MINI MEATZAS!


Recipe follows:


Mini Meatzas:

  • 6 small portabella mushroom caps, stems removed, washed and patted dry
  • 1 lb sweet sausage (or make your own by adding some apple chunks)
  • Some Spices (dash garlic powder, 1tsp mint, 1/2 tsp parsley, dash red pepper)
  • 1 Egg
Preheat oven to 350.
 
Mix sausage, spices and egg together.  Flip mushrooms upside down like little bowls and fill with the sausage mixture.

Bake.  Enjoy.  Feel free to experiment with other favorite pizza toppings like tomatoes and cheese.  This particular recipe is great on it's own merit, though

More Shoes, More Hash


It was my turn to try cooking the sweet potato hash yesterday.  Tomie usually cooks this particular dish.  It turned out great.

The real key points that I could have done a bit better on are as follows.



You only need a bit of chicken stock since you are going to cover your pan.

This isn't chili, you don't want to cook it forever.

First, cook an onion and a few cloves of garlic.

I added 2.5 lbs of beef.  Once again, you just want to brown the beef here.

Finally, add the sweet potatoes cut into half moons, full moons, chunks, or whatever.  You want to soften them, but not turn them into baby food.

I also got these sweet shoes in from a nice discount site that has some minimalist stuff like Vibrams and Vivobearfoot at a discount.

These are Vivobearfoot Ultras.  The soles pop in and out, as well as the tongue attachment on top.

I ended up wearing them "sole-less" today like Crocs.





Sunday, January 29, 2012

Slingblade Taters

My wife said these are the best things I've cooked since she has been pregnant.

I cut up a potato while cooking 3 slices of uncured bacon, then fired the potato in bacon grease, and then popped the skillet in the oven at 300 degrees.

This stuff ain't rocket surgery.

I added salt and pepper because I'm frisky like that.

"But potatoes aren't paleo."

Well dudes, here's my take on it.  Take your starchy plant organs and fruits like plantains, potatoes, sweet potatoes and turnips and put them on a rotation.  It'll be fine.  Just eat real food.

My mom asked me if rice was on my diet the other day.  "Not really".  Well, what do you do when you get sushi?  I eat rice with sushi.

Yeah, I said it.  Providing you're like me, and you might get a good whack of raw fish every month (on a good month), you don't need to stress yourself about some white rice.  But I'm not going to waste my monthly rice allowance on a California Roll either.

Bee tee dub, check out the cool new snapshot button I added.  I LIKE IT!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Double Trouble

 Chicken and Potato soup, green beans, 2 olives and salami and a skillet full of coconut oil fried plantains.  It really doesn't get any better than that.

The chicken soup turned out really well.  I boiled a chicken until it fell off the bones with celery onion, garlic, salt pepper and some herbs.

"Some herbs" in this case was rosemary and thyme, but you should feel free to mix it up when you are playing along at home.




After the chicken is falling off the bone, you can toss in some taters, precious, and boil a bit longer.  

Fried plantains are plantains and coconut oil.  This recipe is awesome and doesn't take much explaining.

I subtitle this post with "getting your carbs from starchy plant organs.  Mmmmm.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sweet Potato and Blueberries

A nice post-workout desert.  Sweet Potato and Blueberries.

Despite overtime, my energy levels are good and I knocked out a "legs day" at the gym.  I'll admit, arms are going to happen every 4 days or so, but legs haven't really been a focus beyond my weekly sprints.

Still, getting stronger is fast becoming a real goal of mine.  I miss the strength I had when I was 16 and doing legit weightlifting.

I worry about "focusing on too many things at once" and getting discouraged as muscle gains "set back" my weight loss.  In the end, though, I don't want to lose muscle as I lose weight, so I suppose it can't be helped.  Perhaps I'll buy one of those scales and start tracking body fat instead of just weight.

Whack of sweet potato, FTW!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

From Scratch Chicken and Mushroom Curry


The proof, they say, is in the curry.


Free The Animal linked a very interesting series of videos by The Spartan Gourmet.

So far so good.  This yellow curry was even Thai approved by my friend Alisa.  Thanks for stopping by!

The dish features Guac-Cauli-rice and is pretty satisfying and hearty.



I started by making my own curry paste out of garlic, onions, turmeric, coriander, ginger, cumin, nutmeg, honey, thyme, cinnamon, mint, paprika, lemon zest, saffron, water, olive oil.

You know, the normal stuff.

 Plus, I bumped my head on the fridge and it made a bo-bo.

I suggest skipping this step if you are following along.


I added in some cubed chicken thighs (budget) and mushrooms and simmered.

I also added a bit of chicken broth, but in hindsight, I would have been happy with a thicker curry, so I think the stock was kind of overkill.

The "rice" is just broc and cauliflower in a blender that's been steamed with a touch of salt.  A bit tastier than straight up cauliflower rice, and more colorful.

Anyway, the very cook video I got the recipe from from Free The Animal is below.  Enjoy, everyone.








Saturday, January 21, 2012

Bacon Fries

Tasty, easy french fries.  Fried 2 pieces of bacon for a snack as I cut up a medium sized white-skinned potato.

I quartered the potato length-wise, then in sheets, then diced the sheets into "fries".  I also cut up half an onion.

I started the onion then added in the fries and coated with the bacon drippings.  The whole thing went in the oven with a bit of salt and pepper at 350F and I finished them under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

These are softer (not crispy) than the deep fried in oil variety, but very tasty and a nice treat.


Friday, January 20, 2012

Onion and Bell Pepper Frittata





Onion and Bell Pepper Frittata with chives!

Cook and eat 2 pieces of bacon.  Then cook half onion, and 1/4 bell pepper in the same pan.  Pour in 3 eggs whisked well with salt and pepper.  Turn heat off and let them set just a bit.  Throw under the broiler for 5 minutes.  Serve with chives. 

To date, the best frittata by far.  The key is really chopping the veggies fine so that the eggs glue together well, and to make sure the eggs are well whisked.  You'll note some of the whites separating on a bit of the top, you want to minimize this.  

The 5 minutes of broiler time is a good opportunity to snack on yummy pig belly.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Sweet Potato Fries


This my new go-to sweet potato fries recipe.  It turned out great.

Cut 1 sweet potato into fries and add a "whack" of coconut oil into an oven ready skillet (like my cool fajita skillet salvaged from a Mexican Restaurant that went out of business).

Cook on stove eye for a few minutes and start preheating at 350 F.

Once the bottoms start to brown (just a bit) flip them all and throw them in the oven.

Cook until they smell good, then flip the over, turn the oven off, and let them (and the oven) cool down for 10 minutes or so (until they are tender).

I recommend a 2 or 3 dots of Sriracha for "plating".


Eating Out

Had a company fun day event at Alamo Drafthouse and caved into some free Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, and then again at Luby's.  If I was going to break my "cook it all" rule, why not make the whole day an eat-out-day.  Still, I cooked some great sweet potatoes, recipe in next post.



Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Cold Weather Sprinting

Don't get caught in the cold.

It's important to suit up ever week for sprints.  Yes, toe shoes are required for additional ground-feel.

Yes, red tights are optional, but encouraged.

Yes, I ate 4 pieces of bacon beforehand.

The Sheep pictured above was my wedding gift to my wife, her name is "Missus Sheepie", pronounced kind of like "Mississippi" my home state.

Bacon! (And Cabbage)

 As a warning, this stuff is better than bacon.

This is actually uncured, stragiht up sliced hog belly I picked up at the farmer's market.

Yes!

There's really no going back.  It seriously only needs copious salting and a liberal amount of black pepper.

Mine fried up brittle and salty and wonderful and tasted like food on any diet should.


  Utterly satisfying and completely fulfilling....  I wasn't able to save any for the cabbage.






Four slices fit nicely in the pan, but they didn't last long.  Normally I would crumble some up in my cabbage after cooking it.

Nope!

You cook bacon for 2 reasons.

1) It's Delicious.
2) It's Delicious.

Bonus 3rd reason:  For bacon grease.




Meanwhile, Chop up some red (or green) cabbage and a small onion.
(See previous post for handy onion chopping tip!)



Saute onion in bacon grease for a couple of minutes.  By this point the pan is hot (but not smoking, back it down if it's smoking)!

Add cabbage and turn often.  You can even jack up the heat at this point.  


I added some oregano and garlic powder, but feel free to use any spices you want.

Many spices help grease or olive oil "hold up" to the oxidating stress of cooking, so follow your nose and just try to make something that smells good!

How To Chop an Onion.

When I was working as a UI Designer on Cook or Be Cooked I was clueless about most cooking and things like chopping onions or smashing garlic proved to be daunting tasks.

In case you are in the same boat I was, here's my 1 minute onion tip.  First, cut the tips off of the onion.  Then, you'll notice that the onion's center is usually off to one side.  Cut through the onion so that it intersects the center of the onion as well as the center of it's "core".  Geometry tip:  For any circle, there is exactly one line that bisects the center and another given point.



Peel the yellow skin off and, if you are lazy like me, the layer underneath it.

 The top and bottom of the onion should be top to bottom of the cutting board.  Dice from right to left keeping the onion together  as you go.

If your knife is sharp, you'll have a configuration that looks like my picture to the left.
 Now, dice across your original cuts.  You'll end up with nice, small slices as pictured below.









Easy!

How ~Not~ To Make Chili

Don't ever throw two pounds of ground beef into the crockpot without browning it first.

The chili will taste just fine... but you'll get kind of a disappointing mouthfeel since the beef will fall apart on you.

You'll notice the fine grain of the meat on the right.

Well, we live and we learn.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Sweet Potato Hash

This is a little dish my wife loves to make, since it's simple and tasty.

Sweet Potato Hash

Ingredients:
- Grass-fed Beef
- Olive Oil
- Onion
- Sweet Potato
- Garlic Powder
- Spices of Choice

Once the meat and onions are cooked, the sweet potatoes are added and the skillet is covered so that the potatoes get steamed and tender.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Exercise, or play?

I haven't been officially cleared for exercise yet, but I'm five weeks postpartum and feeling great but need some more oxytocin, seratonin and adrenaline to help combat depression.  So I'm looking for ways to get fit that don't seem like... well, exercise.  Because who actually ENJOYS that stuff except for the crazies?

We took our daughter ice skating yesterday.  I didn't think I'd get out there, but once I did (and made a refresher trip around the rink) I found how much I missed it- it was FUN!  And exercise!  If the clouds clear up today, I'll probably take Rowan to the park and chase her around a bit.

What really excited me though, and prompted me to write this post, is a meetup group I found.  It's all about natural movement, which is what Mark Sisson advocates.  Playing like our children naturally do, moving like our ancestors did- climbing rocks, trees, running and jumping.  This group meets up at local parks, playgrounds, whatever.  In fact, they have an upcoming meetup for trampoline dodgeball- how fun does that sound?

When I get full clearance to exercise again I will be easing my way into this.  Maybe I'll eventually get into the more technical side of working out (weights, sprints, etc.) but for now I just need SOME sort of activity.

If you're local to the area, check out the meetup!
http://www.meetup.com/austinnaturalmovement/

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Wild Hog Curry

 I found some nice, fatty wild hog chops at the farmer's market.

Naturally I am thinking IT'S CURRY TIME.

This time I decided to go for a slower crock-pot curry since I had the bird in the oven (previous post).





 Covered the hog in chili, paprika, lime juice, coconut milk and basil and rooster sauce.












Added 2 potatoes and 1 onion.













Wait and debone when the meat is falling off.

Will update tomorrow with details on taste.

Spicy Roast Chicken

Cooked this bird tonight.  It's about a 5 and half pounder.

Just paintbrushed some olive oil on it, then hit it hard with the chili power, paprika, cayenne, garlic power, salt.  Then I stuffed it with an onion and 5 cloves of garlic.

Started off for 20 minutes on 450, then backed it down to 400 for about an hour.

Went to the gym for 20 minutes while it rests.


In hindsight, I cooked it breast side down, which I think is a no-no, but it turned out great.

It may look a little burned, but it's not.  That's blackened!  So wise up!

Straight-to-Leftovers Deer Chili


Finally, a chili without beer that I am ready to put my name on!

My work desk.  Tupperware.  Overtime.  Thank god for spicy food.  This month has been all about turning down free Jason's Deli, Jimmy John's and Austin's Pizza in favor homemade Near Years Resolution approved food.

My producers think I'm crazy.



Recipe follows:
- 1 onion
- 2 Pounds Deer
- 2 Squash (cut lengthwise, then the other way)
- Few stalks of celery (chopped).
- 2 cans whole tomatoes.
- Chili seasoning
- Paprika
- Garlic Powder
- Rooster Sauce

Saute the onion until soft then add in the ground deer meat.  Brown the meat and hit it with all of the dry spices.
Add in squash, celery, tomatoes, and rooster sauce.  Simmer for a couple of hours.  Taste often and aim just under your own preference for spice.  (It always seems to build with time)

Plantain Power

Plantains are magical.  They hold up to frying better than bananas and, once you get the feel for the different amounts of ripeness they go through, you have a diverse palate of flavors to use.

The peel for these was nearly blackened, yielding an almost banana like flavor, but ripe plantains hold up to frying much better (they are less mushy).

Another plantain, slightly less aged had yellow and orange colors on its peel.  I baked it whole and it tasted almost exactly like a fresh pan of biscuits.

The plantains, above, were fried in a bit of coconut oil and sprinkled lightly with a mix of salt, red and black pepper, with a bit of Sriracha on the side (I have been on a bit of a spicy kick).  For a milder plantain, fry in coconut oil and sprinkle with cinnamon (or, if you must, brown sugar).

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Creating a rotating menu

As a mom of two and now a student again as well, sometimes it's hard to find time to meal plan and all that it entails.  I'm doing it right now, because I'm used to pasta.  Really, I'm used to the quick and easy meals that I could have done in 15-20 min and that's it.  But I'm having to learn new ways of cooking, without products with grains or HFCS in it (which is a LOT!).  So I've had to find new recipes.  Everything we've eaten in the past few weeks has been good, but there are a few that stand out to us as keepers and will probably go on a list of meals that we can rotate out.

One thing we LOVED from last week was fat guacamole devils.  Think deviled eggs, but add some avocado:
Image courtesy of www.marksdailyapple.com

These are SO SIMPLE!  Just hard boil your eggs, and for every 4 egg yolks, mix in 1 peeled and pitted avocado.  A splash of lime juice, salt and pepper, and a splash of chili sauce- I used sriracha (or rooster sauce).  Mush it all together, or be lazy like me and use a food processor, and spoon it back into the eggs.  I add some crumbled bacon on top (REAL bacon!  NOT bacos, those things will kill you!) and you have a high protein, high in healthy fat snack.  

A few other dishes we loved:
Bacon, Chicken, and Avocado Salad
Image courtesy of marksdailyapple

Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Pesto
Image courtesy of marksdailyapple

These will definitely be entering the rotation.  Through the recipes from last week, I really learned how much I love avocado- it's the perfect food.  Smooth, buttery, and rich!

Like a good Primal Wife

My husband has this friend.  A best friend, to be exact- you guys know him as Rusty, the creator of this blog.  And these guys, they're like two peas in a pod.  They find something cool and they share it with each other; not only that, but they OBSESS over it.  Such is the case with the primal lifestyle.  So several months ago, they picked up some serious interest in it.

How do I handle this, you ask?  Usually I just smile and nod, say 'boys will be boys'.  This time in particular however, I thought they were crazy.  I thought they were extremists, and that this idea of theirs was just too much.  I didn't want to go along with it.  But I can't, and won't, stop my husband from doing his thing.  However, this time there was something different.  Rusty lost a TON of weight.  Patrick lost the little extra he had.  Both men had energy to spare, and Patrick's stomach issues disappeared (we've since learned he has a pretty severe gluten intolerance).  This discovery made me decide that we, as a household, at least had to be gluten-free.  And let's face it, gluten-free grains (like pasta, bread, and pastries, my favorite) are just not the same.  They're sub-par, at best.

Once I went gluten-free, it was easy to make the shift to no grains at all.  And as someone who has dealt with depression for a few years and gone through 2 pregnancies, I could stand to lose a few pounds.  I decided that our family would go fully primal once the new year started.  And in the meantime, I would cut out as many grains as possible while still indulging occasionally, because I knew I wouldn't want to once I made the full switch.

Even mostly cutting out grains made a huge difference in my life.  I was 7 months pregnant at the time, and was eating SO MUCH- but didn't gain the weight most pregnant women do.  I had just gotten over some pretty severe hyperemesis which left me at a loss of 10 lbs.  Over the course of the rest of the pregnancy, I put that back on, but only 3 lbs more.  So when my son was born, I was lighter than I was pre-pregnancy.  We have now been fully primal for 2 weeks, and my son is a month old; I've lost 9 more pounds since then!  Of course, I am not worried about weight loss at the moment as I have a newborn that I am breastfeeding.  But seeing numbers I haven't seen in 3 years?  It's pretty exciting.

So now I'm being a good wife- a good primal wife.  It's been 2 weeks since we went hardcore primal, at least in the dietary sense of the word.  I am awaiting clearance to exercise.  This greatly excites me!  I love to cook, so we're eating really well- not that primal *isn't* that, period.  I'm just going a bit more... gourmet, I suppose for now.

 So from me, you'll be seeing some meal ideas and recipes (many of which may be stolen from elsewhere, in which case credit will be given!) and ways in which it's affecting my life.  As of right now, aside from the weight, the improvements are awesome.  I have more energy than any mom of a newborn should have, the acne I've dealt with my whole life is non-existent, and I get to eat as much bacon as I want.  I really can't complain!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Sometimes you just want fried chicken


I'm from the south... the Deep South - and that means I was raised on a plethora of things that have turned out to be far from healthy. The truly sneaky downside of foods like these... fried chicken, fried okra, biscuits and gravy, corn flake covered casseroles, etc... are that they just taste so dang good.

Overall, it's not a big problem because as anyone who has been eating a paleo/primal diet knows, real food is every bit as good; but sometimes you get a craving for the foods you grew up on... sometimes you just want fried chicken.

Sure, I guess you could indulge and still safely make your goal of 80% compliance - but if you're like me and have a nasty gluten intolerance, things get a bit more difficult. Fortunately though, I have a wife who loves to cook healthy meals, and she has the Primal Blueprint Reader Created Cookbook. A cookbook which has a recipe titled:

Crispy Nut and Herb Fried Chicken with Creamy Avocado


Oh yes. Life is good.

I'm not going to go into how this was prepared -- that will be for my wife to do (as she is joining the Cave Thought team) but they turned out fantastic. Instead, I'd like to briefly point out that before we WENT ON THIS DIET, our dinners consisted of a pack of ramen, or we'd get a pizza, or maybe boil some spaghetti. Now, we actually eat more food than before. On top of that, it's healthier food, we frequently cook it together, and always eat it together.

It feels good to feel good. And our family is getting there. We are nearing the halfway point of a successful 30-day challenge. Our next step is making the commitment to be active. My wife has an excuse currently, as she gave birth to our son December 12th, so she's just now a month post-partum (and already 20lbs below her pre-pregnancy weight but there's more to that story for her to relate) -- for me however, there is no good excuse so I am committing to fixing that (and my lapse of posting) next week.

Of course there has to be a plan associated with this "fix" as well. I can't just say I'll fix it, so here it is:

Step 1 - Clean the Garage. This will make my wife happy and be a workout in itself.

Step 2 - Set up the mats in the garage and resume my martial arts training (and instruction)

Step 3 - Join Rusty for his sprints!

This week I'll also begin cataloging my weight fluctuation and try to track down a way to accurately measure body fat %. Time to see what the Primal lifestyle will actually do to me.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Tilipia and Rooster Sauce

Thanks, my wonderful wife for my oven baked tilapia covered in carrots and broccoli.

She wrapped it in foil which made the veggies wonderfully steamed and delicious.   I covered in in Rooser Sauce!

Spicy, simple and delicious.

I have another deer chili on the boil.




I have very high hopes that the chili will turn out awesome, though I will say that the exclusion of beer definitely changes up the recipe quite a bit.

Hmm...  I may try a couple of shots of tequila in my next chili.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Curry and Sprints

A new recipe!

Chicken Broccoli Curry:

  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 2 chicken breasts, cut in chunks.
  • 1 onion
  • Some broccoli.
  • Whatever curry or spices you have on hand.
  • Basil is nice too!
Cook the chicken, the add in everything but the broccoli and simmer it until the onions soften up.  

Then cook soften the broccoli.



Cauliflower rice:

Steam a head of cauliflower (cut it into chunks first).  Then I used a hand-powered food processor to get it to a rice-like consistency.

Also, I had some blackberries and pineapples.  As a side note, I noticed that blackberries are much better when they start to get mushy and you think they're going bad.  They seem to get less tart and more awesome... who knew?


As a side note, if you are having trouble getting your calories in (I had been feeling a bit lethargic and cranky today despite eating 2 sweet potatoes), coconut milk is a magic substance.  1 can has 5 servings of 140 calories, with 120 of those calories being fat calories.  That's like 600 fat calories!  This stuff is awesome, tastes great, is creamy and goes great with spicy peppers of all kinds!

This meal really perked me up and gave me the energy to do my weekly sprints.  Pretty happy with it.  Next time I think I'll add in a hefty dose of turmeric and lime.  I kept it super simple tonight with a premixed curry seasoning, but even half the jar didn't bring out the rich yellow color I would expect from a Thai restaurant.  I'll post updates on this dish the next time I try it.



Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Frittata

Frittata, it's Latin for when you have a eggs and other random stuff and you're too lazy to shape it like an omelet.

The leftover bison burger patty and "bun" mushroom made its way into this guy, along with some red cabbage leaf.

Recipe:
Cook some bacon, then fry some other stuff in bacon grease.
Add 4 eggs whisked well and make sure it's more or less evenly distributed (mine was less even)!

Pop it under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

Lunch was leftovers.  In general my meals have been really veggie heavy, which has me eating less at a clip but more frequently, and more volume than a higher caloric density would.  I felt the need to get a good whack of calories when I got home.  I am just used to much more calorie dense meals than what I've been cooking.

Tomorrow will be another shoe review.  I'm wearing my Zems to the office.

Paleo Flowchart


Monday, January 9, 2012

Hauraches

Cool shoes, dude.

The kit to make these are found on InvisibleShoe.com.  As a warning, you have to punch the hole between the toes yourself.  I have a hole punch if any of my friends want to try though.

There are other methods (other hole punch configurations) other than this thong-sandal style, to play with.

As of tonight, these are getting a recommendation.  I'll be field testing them for office work tomorrow.

Video is below.






Plantains

Today is a 2 part piece.  I wanted to start with a short piece on the fried plantains.  As you can see, these are fried simply with coconut oil and sprinkled with a bit on cinnamon.

One of the easiest recipes ever, and very tasty

Ingredients:
- 1 plantain (peel should be at least half black)
- 1 or 2 tbsp coconut oil for frying.

Cook on medium heat until they look like the picture :).  Oil should not smoke.