I thought the Pad Thai I made the other night was my favorite recipe from Well Fed, I was wrong. Well, maybe not wrong, but mistaken. It is actually the Sunshine Sauce that is my favorite.
I made a batch up to make Thai tacos with the (delicious!) carnitas and some Boston lettuce. After a few bites in, I realized I should have made a double batch for Paddy and I to share. It was such a good combo.
Today I tossed together a pretty sweet looking breakfast casserole for next week with some random stuff I had in the fridge. I roasted a butternut squash, sauteed an onion, browned some meat and tossed that all together with some spinach. Added 6 eggs and some coconut milk and popped it in the oven. It looks pretty good.
It feels odd, but right now I am eating leftover carnitas like potato chips. So good.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
A few days left
The start of my first Whole 30 is quickly approaching and I am using my time off of work to prepare, kind of.
I am slowly finishing off the Christmas leftovers that are not Whole 30 approved, although they were not bad. Just a little dairy and, of course, the puff pastry on the glorious Beef Wellington. I figure, if you are going to eat flour, you might as well eat it wrapped around beed tenderloin. Man, it was good.
And a nice side of parsnip and carrot puree and a casserole of leeks, butternut squash, goat cheese and hazelnuts. Not paleo, but quality ingredients and very delicious.
Now, I am thinking Whole 30. I have a pot of Citrus Carnitas from Well Fed (pg. 95) on the stove and I turned some old steak that was wasting away in the freezer into a variation of Chocolate Chili (pg. 73) that Paddy can take to work for lunch.
I also did some research and found a winter farmers market nearby that I am going to raid on Saturday. Depending on what I find there, I will plan my first week out. I know I need a lot of very easy to eat food so I am not tempted to cheat, although I do not think it will be hard. The foods I have made so far have been better than anything out of a box or bag. I just need to keep nibbley things out of my eye sight. I think I just made up a word, nibbely. But you know exactly what I mean.
Paddy has stopped eating sandwiches everyday for lunch and has been bringing leftovers and he can already feel a difference. Pretty sure he has lost 3 pounds, without really trying. Punk. His challenge will be no cream and sugar in his coffee. I do not think I will get him to buy off on coconut milk as an alternative. We will see how that all goes.
I am slowly finishing off the Christmas leftovers that are not Whole 30 approved, although they were not bad. Just a little dairy and, of course, the puff pastry on the glorious Beef Wellington. I figure, if you are going to eat flour, you might as well eat it wrapped around beed tenderloin. Man, it was good.
And a nice side of parsnip and carrot puree and a casserole of leeks, butternut squash, goat cheese and hazelnuts. Not paleo, but quality ingredients and very delicious.
Now, I am thinking Whole 30. I have a pot of Citrus Carnitas from Well Fed (pg. 95) on the stove and I turned some old steak that was wasting away in the freezer into a variation of Chocolate Chili (pg. 73) that Paddy can take to work for lunch.
I also did some research and found a winter farmers market nearby that I am going to raid on Saturday. Depending on what I find there, I will plan my first week out. I know I need a lot of very easy to eat food so I am not tempted to cheat, although I do not think it will be hard. The foods I have made so far have been better than anything out of a box or bag. I just need to keep nibbley things out of my eye sight. I think I just made up a word, nibbely. But you know exactly what I mean.
Paddy has stopped eating sandwiches everyday for lunch and has been bringing leftovers and he can already feel a difference. Pretty sure he has lost 3 pounds, without really trying. Punk. His challenge will be no cream and sugar in his coffee. I do not think I will get him to buy off on coconut milk as an alternative. We will see how that all goes.
Monday, December 19, 2011
It WAS the best chicken I will ever eat!
Started off my clean"er" eating kick tonight with an amazing recipe from a cook book I got in the mail this morning, Well Fed. The book itself is very entertaining and fun to flip through. I was very pleased to find out that the recipes themselves are AMAZING!
I just had to give "The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat" a try and see if lived up to the title.
It did.
I paired it with the Moroccan Sauce, as the author suggested, and some sauteed kale and bacon. Pretty much the perfect combo. I was not sure how Paddy would dig it, it has some bold and unique flavors.
He loved it.
Score. This one goes into the rotation, for sure.
I just had to give "The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat" a try and see if lived up to the title.
It did.
I paired it with the Moroccan Sauce, as the author suggested, and some sauteed kale and bacon. Pretty much the perfect combo. I was not sure how Paddy would dig it, it has some bold and unique flavors.
He loved it.
Score. This one goes into the rotation, for sure.
Time to hit refresh
You know how you can eat really well for a while and you feel great, you look great, things are great, super great?
Then all those great feelings give you a false sense of security and they cause you to cheat, sneak a bite, add a food back into your diet you had removed?
It may take a few days, maybe a few weeks, but those great feelings begin to fade away and you realize you felt great because you had gotten rid of all of that junk.
Why was it a good idea to let that junk back in?
I try to be good when it comes to my diet. I know the importance of eating clean. I have been relatively gluten free for over a year. I try to avoid dairy, I try to eat as little processed food as possible.
See how soft and lame that sounds? Not a very firm stance on my diet. That makes it so easy for me to cheat. If I tell myself I eat 80% gluten free or dairy free, then some creamer in my coffee sounds ok. Then, all of a sudden I am drinking a huge glug of creamer in my giant mug of coffee every morning. How did that happen? I don't eat dairy. And who put this donut on my desk and why am I eating it? You know I don't eat gluten.
Actually, I am pretty good about the gluten. This is mostly because I stopped eating it because I believe it was causing me bone loss. A couple of unexplained broken leg bones could make me ok with skipping a sandwich. But, even that has started to sneak back into my gut. I can blame my recent trip to Montreal and the presence of delicious croissants and pastries, but I know it is just my laziness about my diet.
So, now is the time for a reset. I stumbled across the Whole9 Facebook page and found their Whole30 challenge and love the idea of doing a clean sweep of my diet and eating delicious whole foods. I plan on starting on January 1st. This doesn't mean I am stuffing my face with junk in the 2 weeks in between. I am eating a clean diet and using my 2 weeks off of work to cook up a storm and prepare for the next thirty days.
I am armed with some great cook books and tons of blogs full of inspiration. I am going to stock the fridge with fresh winter veggies and some fruits. I bought some ghee, that was a first. Sunbutter, coconut oil, coconut butter, tons of herbs...I need to find a local butcher that does grass fed meats. That is on my list of tasks for the week.
One positive thing that came out of the weekend in Montreal was that my husband saw a picture of himself that he thought made him look fat (his is not). I, very selfishly, seized that moment of weakness to suggest he join me on my 30 day adventure and he actually agreed! Oh, did I mention he is a carb-o-holic? And he loves dairy in all forms? We will see how his experience goes. Either way, at home he is going to follow it, if he wants to eat what I cook. I can't control what he eats at work, but hopefully he will stick with it long enough to reap the benefits.
Luck would also have it that my towns only crossfit gym has reopened after a sudden shutdown last month. I am going to be able to get back in the gym hard core this week after taking it pretty easy while it was closed.
Perfect timing.
Then all those great feelings give you a false sense of security and they cause you to cheat, sneak a bite, add a food back into your diet you had removed?
It may take a few days, maybe a few weeks, but those great feelings begin to fade away and you realize you felt great because you had gotten rid of all of that junk.
Why was it a good idea to let that junk back in?
I try to be good when it comes to my diet. I know the importance of eating clean. I have been relatively gluten free for over a year. I try to avoid dairy, I try to eat as little processed food as possible.
See how soft and lame that sounds? Not a very firm stance on my diet. That makes it so easy for me to cheat. If I tell myself I eat 80% gluten free or dairy free, then some creamer in my coffee sounds ok. Then, all of a sudden I am drinking a huge glug of creamer in my giant mug of coffee every morning. How did that happen? I don't eat dairy. And who put this donut on my desk and why am I eating it? You know I don't eat gluten.
Actually, I am pretty good about the gluten. This is mostly because I stopped eating it because I believe it was causing me bone loss. A couple of unexplained broken leg bones could make me ok with skipping a sandwich. But, even that has started to sneak back into my gut. I can blame my recent trip to Montreal and the presence of delicious croissants and pastries, but I know it is just my laziness about my diet.
I am armed with some great cook books and tons of blogs full of inspiration. I am going to stock the fridge with fresh winter veggies and some fruits. I bought some ghee, that was a first. Sunbutter, coconut oil, coconut butter, tons of herbs...I need to find a local butcher that does grass fed meats. That is on my list of tasks for the week.
One positive thing that came out of the weekend in Montreal was that my husband saw a picture of himself that he thought made him look fat (his is not). I, very selfishly, seized that moment of weakness to suggest he join me on my 30 day adventure and he actually agreed! Oh, did I mention he is a carb-o-holic? And he loves dairy in all forms? We will see how his experience goes. Either way, at home he is going to follow it, if he wants to eat what I cook. I can't control what he eats at work, but hopefully he will stick with it long enough to reap the benefits.
Luck would also have it that my towns only crossfit gym has reopened after a sudden shutdown last month. I am going to be able to get back in the gym hard core this week after taking it pretty easy while it was closed.
Perfect timing.
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