A Few Days at a Time...

More of the same.


Saturday, 01/05/13
Weight: 141.0
Breakfast: Homemade turkey sausage (bleh, needs some tweaking), egg, 1/4 avocado, chai tea
Lunch: Leftover Jalapeno Garlic Chicken, peppermint tea
Dinner: Leftover elk paleo spaghetti, roasted broccoli
Snacks: nothing
Notes: I was feeling super cranky today and basically spent the whole day in my pajamas. I really wanted to go get some Taco Bell, but I sequestered myself in my apartment and ate leftovers. What an exciting life.

Sunday, 01/06/13
Weight: 140.8 (So close to the 130s!!!)
Breakfast: 1 Gross homemade turkey sausage,  2 eggs, chai tea
Lunch: (DON'T KILL ME) Slice of Costco cheese pizza (it was heaven, at the time)(gluten digest and super enzyme taken before lunch), pepsi, 1/4 Costco frozen yogurt
Dinner: Sesame orange salmon, leftover roasted broccoli
Notes: Yeah, not the most Paleo lunch I've ever eaten. I went there planning for it, though, and I'm trying not to feel guilty about it and I want to just move on. I do feel sick though. Joints increase popping, stomach distension/bloating, extreme energy crash ~2 hours after eating. We'll see how my face is tomorrow...
More Notes: Stomach is doing lots of rumbling and talking to me after dinner... it may have to do with lunch, but also seems to do this after I eat salmon.

Monday, 01/07/13
Weight: 141.4 (The pizza undid me)
Breakfast: Gross turkey sausage (they're almost gone), 1ish egg, chai tea
Lunch: (cafeteria, paid for by work) some kind of kebab, tons of broccoli, roast beef, sweetened green tea
Dinner: Salmon Salad
Snack: green tea (needed the caffeine), broccoli, mandarin
Notes: This was a crazy, busy, snowy workday so my food is WAY off. And I'm not sure if it's from the pizza yesterday or what, but I was EXHAUSTED all day. Like having trouble keeping my eyes open. Come to think of it, it could be because I only managed to eat about 1/4 of my breakfast before work got too crazy and the food got cold and I forgot about it. Or the crappy cafeteria lunch.
Exercise: First time back at yoga in over 2 months! It felt good.

Tuesday, 01/08/13
Weight: 141.8
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Snack:
Notes:

Wednesday, 01/09/13
Weight: 141.6
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Snack:
Notes:
Exercise: Yoga

Thursday, 01/10/13
Weight: 142.2
Breakfast: 2 turkey sausages, 2 eggs, black tea, raspberry leaf tea
Lunch: Ranch chicken and sauteed bell peppers, mandarin
Dinner: (Shhh, don't tell the paleo police) Taco Bell (I only ate about half of it and felt sick, so I stopped)
Snack: (Don't tell the Paleo FBI) Movie theatre popcorn and seltzer water/soda mix
Notes: P to the M to the S is so much fuuuuuun.

Paleo Asian Dressing

Omg you guys. This stuff is goooood. It tastes very similar to the Asian dressing at a local restaurant that I love (but that dressing is probably full of sugar and omega 6s.). I'm going to put this dressing on a salad tomorrow. Tonight I'm baking some Orange-Sesame Salmon and making an extra piece for lunch tomorrow. So the salad will be organic spring mix ($3.99 from Costco), salmon filet, 1/2 an avocado, diced, 1 bell pepper, sliced, and this amazing dressing drizzled allll over it.

I didn't measure the ingredients for the dressing, but here's my best guess:

1 teaspoon coconut aminos
1 teaspoon gluten-free dijon mustard
juice of one mandarin orange
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 clove of garlic, minced
a dash or two of crushed red pepper

Put all ingredients in a jar and shake it up. This amount looks good for my large lunch salad, so if you're serving more people, double or triple it. Voila! Paleo Asian dressing!

P.S. Hermione says 'hi'!

Quick Start

Here's my attempt to keep myself accountable during this part of my Paleo journey. 2 weeks of easing back into it, a 30-day Paleo challenge with my gym starting 01/14/13, and hopefully the 21-Day Sugar Detox after that.

Wednesday, 01/02/13
Weight: 145.6
Breakfast: 2 eggs, chai tea
Lunch: (didn't have any food in the house to bring) orange glazed pork chop and steamed veggies from the dining hall
Dinner: Elk Paleo spaghetti
Snacks: Almonds, 2 squares dark chocolate, 2 applesauce squeeze packets, roasted seaweed


Thursday, 01/03/13
Weight: 143.6
Breakfast: 2 turkey sausage patties, 2 eggs, chai tea
Lunch: Tuna made with avocado stuffed in a pepper
Dinner: Elk Paleo spaghetti
Snacks: Almonds, carrots, 1 square of dark chocolate
Sleep: Tired from 4-7, Energy rush right before bed (9pm), Almost 9 hours of sleep but still exhausted in the AM

Friday, 01/04/13
Weight: 142.6
Breakfast: 2 turkey sausage patties, 2 eggs with sauteed onions, 1/4 avocado, green tea
Lunch: Elk Paleo Spaghetti, carrots, applesauce squeeze packet
Dinner: Jalapeno garlic chicken with cauliflower rice
Snacks: Almonds, 2 squares dark chocolate, peppermint tea, snack bag of Classic Lay's Potato Chips (oops!)
Notes: Stomach upset after chips and dinner :(
Sleep: I must not have had enough fat with dinner because I'm dragging pretty bad and it's not even 9pm

Whoa, Almost a Year Away (And a Recipe)

Well I didn't mean to abandon this blog for almost a year, but here we are. My abbreviated Paleo journey:

December 2011to January 2012 - Heard about Paleo for the first time and began researching
March 2012 - Moved across the country and pretty much gave up on trying to implement the Paleo lifestyle
August 16, 2012 - Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, I started super clean Paleo. Over 2.5 months, I lost about 17 pounds and 2 pants sizes.
November 2012 to December 2012 - Started slipping from Paleo with National Novel Writing Month, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Gained 4 pounds, started sleeping like crap again, joint pain, constant stomach pain, and my face looked like a pizza.
January 2, 2013 - Once again, sick and tired, I committed to clean Paleo again.

Tonight's meal was jalapeno garlic chicken with cauliflower rice. I saw this somewhere on Chowstalker but can't find it again, plus I changed it up enough so it's my recipe now :). Probably wear gloves or be careful with the jalapenos. My hands are still burning a couple of hours later. I used my new mini-Cuisinart food processor for this, and it sped up the whole process. You certainly don't need one, but it will make it go much faster!

Jalapeno Garlic Chicken

2 tablespoons of coconut oil and/or ghee (I combined them)
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, most of the seeds removed, diced
2 chicken breasts (or whatever cut you have handy), cut into small pieces
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-low heat
2. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle a little salt over them to get them sweating.
3. Salt and pepper the chicken chunks, and add them, along with the jalapenos and garlic, to the pan
4. Squeeze the lime or dump the juice over the pan
5. Cook until chicken is cooked through

Serve over cilantro cauliflower "rice" (I used the recipe from the amazing book Practical Paleo - if you don't have it, go order it right now)

Ok, one more recipe on the books. I hope to keep it up this time!

Paleo Indian "Butter" Chicken

This was my first attempt at cooking Indian food. I'd previously been scared away by words like "garam masala" and "ghee", but after eating this dish a couple times at various Indian restaurants (and being impressed every time), I finally had to give it a go. And with my new paleo knowledge (including ghee), I figured I couldn't mess it up TOO much. So, I set out to make a paleo version of this delish dish, but couldn't find one that seemed just right. I ended up adapting mine from this one.

A few notes about the spices:

• For this recipe, it's easiest to pre-measure the spices into a single bowl and have them all ready to dump in the pan.

• If you can't find all the spices (or don't want to pay the outrageous price for cardamom...), you could probably live without a few of them (fenugreek, cardamom, and coriander). But you'd lose the essence of the dish if you didn't add the garam masala and chili powder, at the very least.

• Garam masala is a dry, ground Indian spice mix. You should be able to find it in your grocery store's spice aisle or at a specialty or health store.
  

I originally tried to make this with boneless chicken thighs, but with my aversion to "weird" meat, and the fact that pretty much the only form I've seen chicken in is boneless, skinless breasts, it didn't go well... Next time I'll definitely use breasts. My butcher shop even has pre-cut breast strips (they call them stir fry strips) for the same price as the whole breast, so I'll get those and save myself a step! But, if you're not crazy like me, and want to save a few bucks a pound, then you could use thighs.

Other than that, this was pretty easy to make and REALLY yummy. It was so good it distracted me from taking any pictures. Brock (who had never even tried Indian food before he met me) had two big helpings, so it will definitely be put into the regular rotation.

Indian "Butter" Chicken
3 Tbs. coconut oil (or fat of your choice)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 in. ginger root, peeled and minced
2 tsp. garam masala
1 Tbs. chili powder
dash cayenne powder (optional, add more for more spice)
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground fenugreek
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. sea salt
1 can tomato paste
1 can coconut milk
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 in. chunks (pastured, organic, if possible)
4 Tbs. grass-fed ghee

Cauliflower "Rice"
1 head cauliflower
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. grass-fed ghee
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Melt coconut oil in large saucepan over medium heat
2. Add onion and sauté until almost translucent
3. Add garlic and ginger; cook while stirring for a minute or two, until garlic is fragrant
4. Add in garam masala, chili powder, cayenne, coriander, fenugreek, cardamom, and salt; stir to make a paste
5. Stir in tomato paste and coconut milk
6. Turn heat down to low and add chicken to the sauce
7. Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through
8. After chicken is cooked, add ghee and stir until melted

While the chicken is simmering in the sauce, make the cauliflower "rice":

1. Heat a large pan over medium heat; add olive oil and ghee (1 Tbs. of each)
2. Wash cauliflower and cut into chunks
3. Chop up into rice-sized pieces in a food processor or blender (or with a knife, in the absence of either of those)
4. Add to hot pan; sprinkle with salt
5. Sauté for 7 or 8 minutes, until heated through and slightly soft

Serve the "butter" chicken over the "rice", and enjoy!

Beef Bone Broth

I was feeling under the weather last week, and I'd been reading about the many benefits of bone broth, so I decided to make my own to help cure me. I'm not sure if it helped speed along my healing, but it did result in a LOT of delicious, healthy broth to use for the next few weeks. Bone broth is chock full of calcium and other minerals. Here is some more info on all its benefits.

To begin my bone broth journey, I got 5 pounds of organic neck and knuckle beef bones from grain/grass fed cows, and tried not to throw up as I handled them. I've always been a little squeamish around meat, especially when it's raw or not a "normal" cut, but if I'm going to be a responsible meat eater, I figure I should get used to using and being comfortable with all parts of an animal, no matter what form it comes in. I threw the bones in my slow cooker along with some apple cider vinegar and veggies that I had on hand. If I'd had carrots and celery, I might have thrown those in too, but I work with what I got. The vinegar (in any form; it doesn't have to be apple cider) helps leach the minerals from the bones, so you'll want to make sure to add some.

Make sure you save and reuse your bones. I got four good batches of broth out of my bones before the cooking liquid began to lose its gelatin-y consistency (which means that my slow cooker was running almost continuously, with small breaks in between batches, for 6 days). From what I've read, the consistency is key to a good broth. Once refrigerated, the broth should become jello-like from the gelatin in the bones. Once it's less jello-like, it's still good to use, it's just a sign that you've used up most of the good stuff in the bones.

You can use your delicious, homemade broth as the base for soups, stews (tonight's dinner!), or simply add some salt and pepper and drink as a warm, nutritious broth.

This is the fourth batch of broth. There's almost no fat on this one.

Beef Bone Broth

5 lbs. beef bones (I got knuckle and neck bones)
1 onion, quartered (the skin can stay on)
1/2 head garlic (removed from the base, skin on)
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
Water (enough to fill crock pot and cover bones)

1. If you want a darker, richer broth, roast bones in a 400º oven for 30 minutes
2. Roasted or unroasted, arrange bones in a slow cooker
3. Add onions and garlic cloves
4. Add vinegar
5. Cover everything with water, leaving about an inch at the top for expansion
6. Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn on low, and let it stew for 24-48 hours
7. After a day or two, remove the big bones (save them!) and strain the liquid into a bowl through a colander or some cheesecloth
8. Let cool on the counter for a while (so you don't heat up the whole fridge), then place in the fridge
9. After a few hours, the fat will have risen to the top and solidified. Spoon out the fat and save it or toss it.
10. Pour into a container with a lid. After a few more hours in the fridge, the broth will (hopefully) have turned into a jello-like substance. It's ready! Freeze or keep in the fridge.
11. The best part? This process can be repeated with the same bones until they either disintegrate or the resulting liquid no longer turns jello-like after refrigeration.

Breakfast Casserole

Having fairly recently delved into the Paleo world, I'm just learning all the benefits of breakfast casseroles. They're quick and easy, and you can add an endless combination of meats and veggies to suit your tastes/nutritional needs. They're also great to put together the night before, keep in the fridge, and put in the oven as soon as you get up in the morning. AND, when they're cooked, you can cut them into perfect sized squares to fit into your tupperware for fast weekday breakfasts. For this one, I chose a combo of veggies that I love, and made my own breakfast sausage with ground pork from this recipe (though I omitted the brown sugar and halved the recipe).

1 T bacon grease or fat of your choice
1 lb pork breakfast sausage (pastured or organic if you can), removed from casing
1 bunch kale, separated from stems and chopped or torn
1 bell pepper (red and orange are the most nutritious), sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
12 eggs (pastured or free-range/organic if you can)
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Grease 9x9 glass casserole dish
3. Melt bacon grease in a large stainless steel pan over medium-high heat
4. Add sausage to hot pan and break up into small crumbles
5. While sausage is still pink, add mushrooms, bell pepper, and kale. If you have excess water in the pan at this point, drain it
6. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sausage is almost brown, and veggies are starting to soften
7. Pull off heat and set aside to cool
8. In a medium mixing bowl, crack 12 eggs, add coconut milk and salt and pepper. Beat well
9. Add cooled meat/veggie mixture to the egg bowl and stir to combine
10. Pour into casserole dish and pop into the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly
11. Let cool for a few minutes and dig in!