"Infamous" Bacon Cookies

I got a new cookbook! The Food Lovers Make it Paleo (over 200 grain free recipes for any occasion). It was written by this obnoxiously adorable couple, Bill Staley and Hayley Mason (who, in my mind will never get married because her name would be Hayley Staley and that's just silly.) (Oh, I suppose they could get married and she could just not change her name, or they could be super progressive and take hers....But I digress.) So what recipe in my giant new cookbook should I start with?? Beef Tenderloin with Balsamic Drizzle? Lemon Thyme Lamb Chops? Halibut en Papillote? No, no, nope. Infamous Bacon Cookies.

First Thoughts: 

Oh yes I did. I made bacon chocolate chip cookies. At altitude no less. Call me brave if you will, but the photo made them look super delicious and then my facebook status about my pondering the recipe blew the H up and so I felt I must not disappoint! I'd like to start with a wee disclaimer, that if you are not currently eating Paleo or gluten free exclusively, you likely won't dig on the texture of almond flour. For those of us who indulge with waffles and pancakes on weekends, I think this will not be an issue. Ok, enough with the stalling. Here you go.

Ingredients:

• 5 slices nitrate-free bacon
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, unrefined
• 1.5 cups organic chocolate chips 72% dark chocolate chips 

Notes on ingredients: I used big fat slices of bacon, and as you'll read, they didn't crisp up the way they should. If you're using big fat slices of bacon, you may need to extend the baking time a bit. Or just by skinnier bacon. Also, don't hurt yourself looking for Blanched Almond Flour-most almonds are blanched in the process, they just don't go advertising it in the name of the product. And don't bother looking at your run-of-the-mill store. They don't have it. You need to go to Whole foods, who will charge you an arm and a leg for a pound of the stuff, or another natural market (I love Sunflower Market). 


The Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to bake at 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, toss bacon in 1/4 cup maple syrup.
3. Lay bacon on a parchment lined baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Remove bacon from oven and allow to cool. 
6. Crumble candied bacon for cookie batter.
7. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
8. In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
9. In a small mixing bowl beat eggs, 1/2 cup maples syrup and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
10. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
11. Add melted coconut oil into batter and continue to blend until combined.
12. Stir in chocolate chips and candied bacon.
13. Drop balls of dough on parchment-lined baking sheet, about 1 tablespoon in size.
14. Bake cookies for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. 
15. Let cool and serve.

 

The Critique:

Ease of Recipe: 4/5 Stars

 

The estimated prep time is 20 minutes. It took my daughter and I that amount of time, but for a new baker, it may take longer, and it's going to increase based on your bacon.  Like I mentioned before, the bacon needs to cook a lot longer than the 20 minutes they claim, unless you're using some pre-packaged crap. I'd recommend an extra 10 minutes to start. The estimated bake time is 15 minutes per batch, totaling 35 minutes of cook time (not sure who did the math on that one. Maybe they're including cooling time??). 15 minutes was perfect, even in high altitude to get nice, evenly browned cookies. 

Cooking Method: 5/5 Stars

 

If you use a measuring spoon (tablespoon) to measure your batter as you drop it on the baking sheet, you will likely get 2.5 dozen cookies instead of the 2 dozen they claim. And that size of cookie was perfect. Not too big, not too small.

Flavor: 3.5/5 Stars

Weird. But strangely compelling. I wish my bacon was crispier to get that extra crunch. As I stated before, those not used to gluten free baking will take issue with the texture. (I'm trying these out at a BBQ of non-paleo people tonight and will report back). But overall, more interesting than anything...

Kid Friendliness: 4/5


currently waiting for my daughter to wake up from her nap for this one....
 
Photo Evidence: 4/5 Stars

 Mine were fatter and bumpier than the ones in the cookbook, but overall still look appetizing I think.


Overall 3.9/5 Stars. I'd probably make this again just for the novelty of it.

Southwest Sliders over Spicy Avocado Slaw

The weather is changing here in Denver and spring seems to have arrived! Which naturally, calls for grilling. Our tiny house doesn't have air conditioning, so once the warm weather decides to stick around, we don't cook indoors for fear of raising the internal temp of our home to dangerous highs. Unfortunately, our patio table's glass top shattered this winter under the weight of snow so our outdoor cooking had to find a new venue last night. Naturally, we invited ourselves over to UTM's house, our best friend, honorary uncle and Godfather to our daughter, to grill. I took over the kitchen and we had a lovely meal outside by the fire. Now, let me preface some of this critique with the fact that our UTM is boarderline a gourmet cook. He's amazing and can create crazy dishes from original ideas. I, as you know, cannot and I'm forever nervous to cook for him.

First Thoughts: 
 
Ok, I really need to make an effort to find recipes that could possibly turn out poorly. This recipe is from my absolute favorite Paleo recipe blog: www.paleomg.com. Juli, the author/chef is a trainer at my Crossfit gym. She's badass, completely inspiring and a freaking phenomenal cook. Unfortunately, UTM hates turkey burgers with a passion. He refers to them as a "foul, cruel joke" (very punny). Thus, we modified the recipe a wee. We used Buffalo instead. Also a delicious lean meat. Because of this we didn't use the suggested 1 Tablespoon of fat. We also grilled these instead of skillet cooking.

The Recipe:

The actual link to the recipe page is: http://paleomg.com/southwest-turkey-sliders-spicy-avocado-slaw/. Claims a 15 minute prep, 10 minute cook time for the sliders. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
For the burgers

• 1lb ground turkey
• 1/4 red onion, minced
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 poblano pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon fat (bacon fat or coconut oil)                                                                                                           

For the slaw

• 1 small head of cabbage or bag of cabbage, chopped
• 2 avocados
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper, to taste
•                                                                  

Notes on ingredients: As I posted above, we used Buffalo and omitted the tablespoon of fat. We also found that because our avocados weren't quite ripe enough, we had to add a little extra olive oil, lemon and lime juice to make the actual "mayo" for the slaw. I'm sure if we'd had good ripe avocados, we would've been fine. 

The Method:

First make your burgers

1. Add all your ingredients for your burgers in a large bowl.
2. Shape small burger patties.
3. Heat up a large skillet under medium heat with a bit of fat in it (I used bacon fat) and add your sliders. Flip after about 3-5 minutes or when you see the sides of your sliders begin to turn a white color (meaning they are cooking through).

Now make your slaw

1. Pull out your handy dandy food processor, add all your ingredients for the slaw other than the cabbage and pulse until smooth.
2. Pour your avocado “mayo” on the cabbage and mix. Top off with a bit of salt and pepper.
3. Place your cabbage on a plate and top off with your sliders!
4. Consume!

The Critique:

Ease of Recipe: 5/5 Stars

 

The estimated prep and cook time is completely right on. The only thing we had trouble with was the consistency of the "mayo", but I'm not sure that there is any blame there except against Whole Foods who only stock unripened avocados.

Cooking Method: 5/5 Stars

Very easy to understand and very easy to pull off. We used a handy little gadget from Sur La Table that helped us form and grill our sliders, which was helpful for portioning correctly.

Flavor: 5/5 Stars

Delicious. The buffalo was a lovely alternative. They have a nice southwestern kick without being too terribly spicy.

Kid Friendliness: 4/5

Now to be fair, this blog is not geared towards being a resource for kid friendly foods (although many of her breakfasts are incredibly kid friendly). My kids wouldn't eat the veggies in the burgers because of the texture. It would be really easy to set aside a couple of sliders for kids before adding all the chopped veggies though. And my kids already usually opt to have their burgers sans buns.
 
Photo Evidence: 5/5 Stars

Yummy.

 

 

Even our gourmet supreme UTM enjoyed them...

 Overall: 4.5/5 Stars. Just a great spring/summer recipe!

Sarah Fragoso's Pecan Crusted Chicken

Sorry to do another chicken post right off the bat, but this one is totally worth it. I plan on experimenting exclusively from here on out, but this recipe has become a weekly standby for my family and friends. It's fast, simple and only has 4 ingredients. But I can serve this for a dinner party and get nothing but rave reviews. So I'm sharing. You're welcome.

First Thoughts:

If you aren't familiar with Sarah Fragoso, she's kind of the "Queen of Family Friendly Paleo Recipes". She claims her kids eat all her meals. Mine, however, do not. But I can guarantee you that even the busiest of families can find time for these recipes during the week! Her cookbook "Everyday Paleo" was my first Paleo cookbook. While I now own no less than 5 Paleo cookbooks, hers is still my standby. There are things it lacks, like a quality photographer, but overall, it's quite reliable. I highly recommend it.


The Recipe: Pecan Crusted Chicken: Claims a 10 minute prep time, 45 minute cook time and serves 4-5

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Spicy Brown Mustard 
2 Tablespoons Raw Organic Honey (Optional) 
1 Cup Crushed Pecans
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Notes on Ingredients: I like Dijon better, but that's just my preference. Either way, make it organic. Honey is optional? No. Delicious is the word she's searching for. Don't take this out. You can, however, substitute agave nectar. Equally Awesome.

The Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F.
2. Toss the pecans in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are finely chopped. Pour the chooped pecans into a large bowl and set aside.
3. Using a paper towel, remove any excess moisture from the outside of the chicken breasts. (This is key as the honey mustard won't stick if the chicken is too slippery.)
4. Taking one chicken breast at a time, roll the chicken in the honey mustard mixture and coat on both sides.
5. Transfer the coated chicken into the chopped pecans and again, cover both sides.
6. Place the crusted chicken into a greased glass baking dish and sprinkle each chicken breast with with just a little sea salt if desired. Bake 45 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

The Critique:

Ease of Recipe: 5/5 Stars

Yes, it is really this simple. The 10 minute prep is completely accurate. The 45 minute bake time is accurate as well, even in high altitude. I recommend the long bake at a low temp to keep the chicken super juicy. 

Cooking Method: 5/5 Stars

Again, "accuracy" is apparently the word of the night. The only thing I tend to change when I do this recipe is to go slightly heavier on the honey mustard mixture and the pecans. I probably use closer to 3/4 cup mustard and 3 tablespoons honey. I just like how the flavor is richer with a little extra. I'm sure it changes the dietary numbers a bit, but I don't pay attention to that. This recipe also doubles well. I've served up to 10 people with doubling it.

Flavor: 5/5 Stars

Obviously this wouldn't be a standby if it weren't delicious! Even my uber gourmet friends come by every time I plan on making it. 

Kid Friendliness: 3/5

This is where this recipe falls short.  I don't know many 3 and 5 year olds that like mustard. I have actually done this in chicken nugget form with only honey and pecans and my 5 year old ate it, but my 3 year old wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Photo Evidence: 5/5 Stars

 My shadowy cell phone pics even beat her craptastic photography.


Overall: 4.5/5 Stars. And that is why it's a standby.

My First Victim (Why I love Pinterest)

My newest addiction is Pinterest. If you haven't gotten an invite, you must request one. Likely you have at least 60 friends playing on there daily, so just suck it up and ask. I have a board on my page titled "Paleo/Crossfit" where you will find a plethora of inspiring phrases and potential yumtastic paleo recipes.

First thoughts:

My first victim is the blog "health-bent.com". This Orange Chicken recipe sounded super easy and super yummy. So I tried it this evening. I went to my local organic grocer for the ingredients. Let's start there. Chicken thighs are weird. And fatty. And isn't Paleo all about lean cuts of meat? The recipe calls for 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, but I'd recommend at least 1.5 lbs. I trimmed off seriously 1/2 a lb of tendons and fat. I wouldn't recommend substituting though, because it turns out the thighs have the exact right texture and flavor for this recipe. Breasts wouldn't have been nearly as successful.

The recipe: The direct link is: http://www.health-bent.com/poultry/paleo-orange-chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite size pieces)
• 3 T fat (coconut oil works well here)
• juice of 2 oranges*
• zest from 1 orange
• 1 t fresh ginger
• 3 T coconut aminos or wheat-free soy sauce
• 1 t chili garlic sauce or sriracha
• 3 green onions, chopped

Notes on the ingredients: I used coconut oil. Which I love for it's frothy texture and mild flavor. I used the recommended 3 Tablespoons and could not get the "brown crust" on the outside that the "method" discusses until I emptied out half of it. So truly, I'd recommend 2 Tablespoons at the most.
I also used the Coconut aminos, which you can find next to the soy sauce in the Asian aisle of your local market.

The Method: 

In a medium size sauce pot, add the orange juice, zest, ginger, coconut aminos and chili garlic sauce or sriracha. Set over medium heat and let simmer to reduce and thicken while the chicken cooks. Ok, so here are my suggestions. Squeeze your oranges over a strainer set on top of your saucepan so you don't get pulp and seeds all up in there. Also, I ended up with this on high and constantly whisking trying to get this sauce to thicken! Maybe it's my high altitude, but it took about 20 minutes total for that to happen.
In a saute pan, heat 3 T of the fat of your choice, over medium high heat. Remember the note about no more than 2 T of coconut oil. And even that may be a wee on the heavy side. Just dump a little out if you're not getting that "nice brown crust".
Add the chopped chicken thighs and cook until a nice brown crust has developed on the chicken pieces, about 6 minutes. Again, took me about 20 minutes, not 6. The chicken wasn't even cooked through at the 6 minute mark.
Add the chicken to the sauce pot and stir to coat with the orange sauce.
Serve topped with sliced green onions.

*Taste your oranges. If they don’t taste orange-y, then neither will this dish. Use tangerines if you gotta or add a teaspoon of sweetener until you’re satisfied with the flavor. I used about teaspoon of Stevia for some extra sweetness.

The Critique:

Ease of recipe: 4/5 stars 

This recipe is really simple with only a few ingredients. 

1) More seasoned paleo cooks know where to find coconut aminos, or already have them on hand. I'm new to this. I had to ask for help and guidance. 

2) Chicken thighs take a lot of prep to trim the crud off.

Cooking method: 4/5 stars

1) Just the browning of the chicken took an extra 15 minutes. 

2) That sauce took forever to thicken. Ended up whisking on high for 10 minutes after simmering on medium for 20. Would be super easy to burn if left to it's own devices. 

Flavor: 5/5

Yum. Just yum. It was definitely a hit. The texture and flavor of the thighs was a good ingredient call, as breasts just wouldn't have mimicked the Chinese Restaurant feel they were going for.

Kid Friendliness: 5/5 

My 3 year old asked for 2nds. And 3rds. But did mention that it was a wee bit spicy. Cut back that Sriracha a wee if your child has any aversion to spice.

Photo evidence: 5/5

Just as pretty as the original blog.

Overall: 4.5/5 Stars. I will definitely make this again.

Change of plans (For Hilary)

One of my 3 loyal followers, my friend since 7th grade, texted me last week chastising me for neglecting my diet blog. I promised this weekend I'd get back on. But with some revisions...

I've come to decide 2 things. 1) I really love this Paleo diet. So far I've lost 8 lbs, and 2 pants sizes. I'm sold. I'm committed.  2) I really can't pretend like I can create a recipe blog. I'm just not an innovative cook.

I've also come to realize 2 things. 1) I can follow a recipe really, really well. Thank you to my 8th grade Home Economics teacher, Mrs. French. 2) I can also test drive a recipe and accurately document how long it takes to make, does it really look like it does in the photo, do my husband and I like it, and more importantly, will my kids eat it.

So I'm reformatting this blog. I've changed the layout and the title. Paleo bloggers may come to love and fear me. You may now call me: The Paleo Critic.

Here I am...Friday night

I thought I may have overwhelmed you with my superbowl madness from last weekend. I even held back I bit!! So here I am...Friday night...Cheating. With a fat ass glass of wine. It's been that kind of week. For how much I've said this diet is easy, I've wanted to cheat...alllllll week. I had Starbucks twice. I'm currently consuming alcohol. But you know what's great? I'm still eating the way I'm supposed to. Why? F if I know. Kidding. Because I have a goal. I now weigh (have I shared this with everyone???) 140 lbs. Forever, my longterm goal has been 137 because that was my pre-preggo weight with my daughter. Now? 135 is my goal. It's been 15 years. 15 YEARS. Not ok. Mind you, I'm only 5'2" (on a good day) and could probably be as small as 115 and be healthy and was considered overweight at 145. So now, I'm 5 lbs from a goal I've had for 15 years. I have to hit this. I do. Crossfit has done great things for my competitive side. My husband of almost 10 years says he didn't even know I had this side (except when playing card games). So now I'm competing with me. And my butt, and my waistline.

Anyhoo. We're ordering from our favorite sushi place tonight. The menu is as follows:

Sashimi: 2 pieces yellowtail, 2 pieces seared tuna, 2 pieces New England king salmon
Steamed Chicken and Veggies and a Side of steamed Bok Choy. Yummmmmm.....

Who says you can't get take out on Paleo?? 

Paleo Cupcakes AND Frosting

It's next to impossible to find good recipes for both cupcakes and frosting on the same blog page. Either the cupcake sucks, or the frosting sucks. I'm here to give you pretty darn good recipes for both.

Coconut Vanilla Cupcakes
(I add the coconut in the title because you really can taste it in there. It's a really smooth and delicious combination!)

Cupcake Ingredients:
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
 4 eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 Cup Cane Sugar
1 Cup Coconut Milk (I used canned)
2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and line cupcake pan with liners. (This recipe makes a dozen short cupcakes, or about 9 that are raised like normal cupcakes.) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until you get a nice even batter. Scoop batter into each cupcake well. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

 Frosting Ingredients:

1 Cup dark chocolate
1/2 grapeseed oil
2 Tablespoons agave nectar or raw organic honey
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (or almond, or whatever you like)
Pinch sea salt

Frosting Directions:
In small saucepan, melt and combine chocolate and oil. Add agave, vanilla and pinch of salt. Stir until combined. Remove from heat and put into freezer for 10 minutes to force cool. After 10 minutes, remove frosting and whip with a hand mixer on low speed. Let stand on counter for 10 minutes before frosting.

Frost cupcakes and devour.

Chocolate Covered Bacon. Yes. It's on the diet.

O.M.G. I found a Paleo friendly snack my daughter will eat. Not that she should be snacking on these regularly, but hey, I'm counting it as a success.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 lbs lean bacon-Sliced however you like
1 lb good quality organic chocolate. I don't love the 100% cacao, but the bars that are 70%+ are good.
4 Tbsp Irish Butter

Directions:
Drop coconut oil in frying pan. Just enough to keep the bacon from sticking before it starts leaking juices. Fry up bacon in batches-don't clear out the juices in between. Just let it spatter baby.

 Pat bacon between paper towels to get the grease off. Let the bacon cool to room temp. While you're letting it cool, put butter and chocolate in a small saucepan and melt on low, stirring constantly to keep it from burning.

Once chocolate is melted and smooth, remove from heat. Proceed with dipping bacon halfway into the melted chocolate and put on a rack to cool. I put mine in the fridge to speed up the process.

Eat up!! This is seriously awesome.

Superbowl Sunday Sunday Sunday

I was a cooking MACHINE this weekend. My best friend threw a Super Bowl shindig and I was charged with bringing the Paleo friendly snacks. I googled and cooked and experimented and tweaked and I'm proud to say everything I brought was devoured. I have a few photos and some quickie recipes that I'll add on as individual threads. It gave me hope for my daughter's birthday party that is later this month. I was thinking it was going to be a giant cheat day but now I don't think it'll have to be! Even the Paleo Cupcakes were a hit. Who would've thought???

A note on the kid front. My almost 6 year old is really getting good at eating my Paleo food. But my almost 3 year old is not. I'm starting to wonder if it's just a palette thing. She's still maybe a bit to sensitive to the spices, flavors and textures that I'm putting before her. I did find a new crust recipe for paleo pizza that I'd like to try. Our first attempt with that was a giant disaster. She did really like my chocolate covered bacon that I made for the Super Bowl party, but hey, who wouldn't??

Day 15/30

5 lbs. I've lost 5 lbs in 15 days. Holy f. And I feel good. I mean, really good. I'm sleeping better, I'm not getting sore after workouts, and F!! I can deadlift 125 lbs!! I'm about 70% ready to change this challenge from 30 days to 356. Come on. I need some encouragement.

Stuff the Pork with Pork Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin (Get it? it's Pork).

I've owned a crock pot for 10 years and used it maybe 5 times. But I've been looking up crockpot recipes lately in anticipation of some spring time snow days. Since we're getting buried up to our eyelids today, I thought today would be a good day to start. I didn't find anything I loved, so I'm tweaking one for pork chops. This recipe starts with about 20 minutes of prep, but it's totally worth it. My house has smelled BEYOND delicious all day. For some reason I didn't think to take photos until just now, so I'll be as descriptive as possible to make this extra easy.  This was also a total win on the kids friendly paleo menu. Both kids LOVED this and even asked for seconds. (I may or may not have told them it was chicken....)

Ingredients:

1 trimmed pork tenderloin: 2-3 lbs
1 tablespoon of your favorite cooking oil
6 large strips of bacon cut into bite sized chunks
3 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
1 medium whole head of garlic (It's annoying but again, so worth it) peeled, crushed and cut into large bits)
1 cup of raw, unsalted pecans
10 green onions, chopped
1 lemon (for zesting at the end)

cooking string or twine cut into 5-6 15 inch pieces for binding loin (that sounds dirty).

Directions:

Pre-prep: toss a tablespoon of your favorite cooking oil (I used coconut) into a skillet. Put bacon in and cook until it's about 80% cooked and browning. Toss in the apples and garlic. Cook until bacon is about 90% cooked. Use a slotted spoon and stuffing mix from pan and let cool. Keep the bacon grease in the pan and turn off the heat. Throw the onions into the pan but don't cook them. Just toss them and coat them in the bacony fatty goodness.

On a cutting board, lay out your cut pieces of twine about 2 inches apart from each other. Most tenderloins are already cut down the center and fall into two pieces. Hold them together and center tenderloin on twine pieces. Stuff the center of the tenderloin with the half of bacon-apple-pecan stuffing, and then tie the pieces of twine individually around the tenderloin so it's completely bound with stuffing cascading out the top.

Line the bottom of your crock pot with half of the onion/bacon grease goodness. Place bound tenderloin on top. Dump the rest of the stuffing on top of the tenderloin and let it fall and fill the bottom portion of the pot. Cover and cook. All. Day.

You can cook this either on Low for 8 hours, or for the first two hours on high, and then 3-4 hours on low. Pork's internal temp needs to be 145 degrees to be servable. There is no broth or anything in this recipe, but the pork will ooze juices all day. For the last hour, I scooped the juices and poured them back over the pork just to let it marinate even more. Remove tenderloin and let it stand 10 minutes before serving (it will continue to cook while you do this). You can serve it with some of the filling from the bottom of the pan the way it is, or smash it up in a bowl to make it more like applesauce and line the tenderloin with it when you serve it.  Be sure to cut off twine before serving.

I'm planning on serving this on a bed of spinach, so that I have a spinach-bacon-apple salad along with my tenderloin. Plus it's pretty.

Makes 5-6 servings.

Revamping my favorite recipes...

I'm a high school art teacher. Everyone wants to cut our jobs, so I have to prove myself somehow, aside from the normal gold key art shows and full ride scholarship offers. No. I have to really prove my worth. So tomorrow, I'm entering a chili cookoff at my school to help feed a staff of 120 for parent/teacher conferences. I have an all time favorite chili recipe, but alas, it's not Paleo. So I'm revamping the original recipe to meet my health goals. Here is my Paleo Autumn Harvest Chili. Enjoy.

Pre cooking disclaimer: This is NOT a weeknight chili. While the cooking time is minimal, the chopping time is 30-40 minutes alone. I also doubled my recipe to feed more poor starving educators, so my photos may look more bountiful than your actual creation. It does impress though and you have my permission to bring it to ANY chili cookoff and take full credit. Unless you win money. Then I take a 20% cut.

Paleo Autumn Harvest Chili:

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 1/2 lbs Apple Chicken Sausage
6 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into bite sized chunks (about 6 cups)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
6 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored and chopped into bite sized bits (save a handfull for garnish)
1 tablespoon fresh snipped sage

Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sausage and cook until medium brown (about 3-4 minutes if pre-cooked). Remove from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Add onions and garlic to oil in pot and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add butternut squash, stir to coat in oil and oniony garlic goodness. Cook about 6 minutes. Stir in chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper; cook for 1 minute. Return sausage to pan and add broth; bring to boiling; then reduce heat.  Simmer, covered for 8 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in medium sized skillet, heat remaining oil over medium high heat. Cook apple slices in hot oil for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until light brown. Transfer apples to chili. Simmer for about 8 minutes, until apples are tender. Top with fresh snipped sage and extra apple slices. Serve and devour.

4. Serve at chili cook off. Kick ass. Take names. 

Cooking tip: Keep your handy dandy Newfoundland around to clean up any delicious morsels that may have accidentally hit the ground while cooking.

Day 7 of 30

I have to admit, I'm having some trouble with all this juggling. Obviously, as I haven't posted in a few days. But I have to say, it's clearly working. I'm down 4 lbs in 7 days. The last time I lost that much weight in one week was when I had the stomach flu. But I haven't cheated on meals. Not once. I even went to Starbucks this morning because I didn't have time last night to make a smoothie for today. And when I say "I didn't have time" I mean "I had NO motivation after the ass kicking I received at Crossfit". Anyhoo, Starbucks called. I got up to the counter and instead of my regular grande-nonfat-sugar free vanilla-no water-chai (yest I'm high maintenance) I grabbed a "green machine" smoothie out of the case. There were a number of factors at work there. 1) 4 lbs people! I can't ruin this now. 2) The juice concoction actually sounded more filling than tea and 3) I might be cheating for dinner tonight by going out for sushi. I'll see how much willpower I have when my favorite Kobe Beef roll gets served. I'll do as much as I can without rice, but it's my favorite. Wish me luck.

Day 4 of 30

This is the easiest diet by far that I've ever done. I'm rocking the socks off of this thing. Although I'm still working on how to make this work for the kids. Here's how I've been managing my time to make the 3 meal a day plus snacks thing work out for my husband and I. In the evenings, I pack our lunch. Some easy things I can just throw in there and reheat are meatballs, andouille sausage and homemade BBQ sauce, etc. I bought these awesome tupperware containers that hold the meal in the bottom and then have a couple of different compartments on the top for fruit and such. Yesterday we had pineapple glazed meatballs and a mix of berries. Today we're having our leftover bison stuffed bell peppers and fruit. Tomorrow I think either meatballs again or sausages in some kind of sauce. Pretty simple and lots of protein to kick start my afternoons. I also prep our breakfasts the night before. I found this protein smoothie base that is made up of 16 oz of brewed and chilled herbal tea (I've used peach and red raspberry so far), a scoop of egg white vanilla protein powder, and any and all fruit I have lying around the house.  Yesterday it was raspberries, strawberries and bananas. Today it was blueberries and bananas. So I blend those all up together with no ice and then put the blender in the fridge. In the morning I add a cup of ice and blend until smooth. It's enough for both of us to have a 12 oz smoothie! Yum. Oh and snacks. I bought a little 11 oz container of almonds, cashews and dried cranberries with sea salt at the store. A serving is a 1/4 cup, so I have snacks for a week.

I've also been drinking at least 64 oz of water (in my starbucks cup with a straw. I don't know what it is about drinking with a straw, but I drink SOOO much more during the day!) and taking 2000mg of fish oil per day. The thing I notice the most is that I'm less sore after workouts. I think I'm properly hydrated, plus the fish oil works like a healing agent. Awesome. Now I just need to find the time to work out. We worked out at home on Sunday doing a air squat/push up/sit up Tabata. I didn't work out yesterday, we have swimming lessons tonight, I have my school club that I sponsor tomorrow...So it looks like Thursday, Saturday, Sunday? Ugh. This is going to be my challenge.

Chicken Nugget Failure

Bomb. Big. Fat. Fail. So my idea was to cut chicken into bite sized nuggets of goodness, coat them in raw, organic honey, and then roll them in pecans that I ground up into a fine dust. Only pecans have this funny little thing called "oil" in them. So I did all of the steps I listed above, baked them in a greased baking dish for about 25 minutes and then tossed them on the stove to get them a little browner and crispier. My almost 6 year old son liked them and ate them without complaint. My almost 3 year old gagged and spit them out in my hand. I looked through a bunch of recipes and found a crispy chicken recipe that uses almond meal as the coating, so I think I'll try that next time. Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Yum yum give me some chicken stir fry...

Made a great, easy, yummy meal last night. I bought the "Everyday Paleo" cookbook by Sarah Fragoso and like it a lot. I think it will be a great tool to get started cooking paleo. I will warn you the photos don't do the meals justice. She should probably hire a new photographer for her next cookbook (and I hope there will be one). I adapted her recipe for Skillet Chicken a bit and here's what we came up with:

Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp coconut oil (really awesome for sauteing. It has no flavor and no smell and best of all, doesn't splatter like other oils! I found it on the very bottom shelf at Whole Foods. I use the refined.
1 orange bell pepper, cut into spears
4 green onions
1 cup chopped cremini mushrooms
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 Tbsp dried Thyme
1/2 cup low sodium free range chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs free range boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
4 cups Kale
handful of thinly sliced almonds
fresh ground black pepper to taste

 Directions: heat 1.5 Tbsp of coconut oil in pan on med heat. Toss in chicken and garlic and cook until it starts to brown (6-7 minutes for me). Toss in bell peppers, onions and mushrooms and saute until tender (3-4 minutes). Add chicken broth and thyme and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated (3-4 minutes). Pour everything from pan into a bowl and set aside. Heat the other 1.5 Tbsp of coconut oil in pan on medium-low heat. Add Kale and cook down until tender (will be bitter if you undercook) about 3-4 minutes. Put Kale on plates and add your portion of chicken stir fry on top. Top with black pepper and a sprinkling of almonds. 

Super yum! Next time I think I'll throw in some broccoli too. Now did the kids eat this? No. They had mac n cheese. Actually they probably would've eaten the chicken solo, but not all the yumminess surrounding it. But I have a plan damnit! I'm inventing some paleo chicken nuggets this weekend and will keep you posted. 

And it begins...

It's 2012 and I'm committing. Well, "we" actually. And by "we" I mean my family. All four of us. We're not unhealthy people in general, but we don't have the best habits. It's pretty easy for us to fall into making a pasta and garlic bread dinner every night for a week. This year needs to be different, and it needs to be a long term plan. I've dieted in the past and have struggled every moment. I'm not bad at working out, but tend to plateau within the regime I choose. My husband has never struggled with weight or fitness; if anything he's struggled to keep weight on. Our bodies are completely different, so in general, sharing workouts and diets haven't been beneficial to the both of us. Until now.

So here's our plan. We're going to commit to health in 2012. We're doing that in 2 ways. 1) We've been going to a Crossfit gym. It's perfect because it's something we can do together and even bring the kids. They can play in the kid pit in the back of the gym while we work our buns off. We're hoping for 3-4 workouts per week. People say it takes 24 repetitions of an action to create a habit. This puts us at 2 months until it becomes a regular part of our lives. 2) We're going to eat Paleo. That's right, the caveman diet. I like to cook and so does my husband. This isn't really a diet, it's a lifestyle change. No dairy, no grains, no major starches. Lots of lean meats, fish, poultry, veggies and fruit. The most important aspect is that I can keep bacon in my diet. And alcohol. Phew.

Here are our challenges: 1) We have 2 great, but picky kids. Our son is in Kindergarten and our daughter is almost 3. They are really mac n cheese and chicken nugget kind of kids and I'm not sure how we'll adapt our new meal plan to them.  2) We work full time. I'm a high school art teacher and my husband is an Administrator at a high school. Our schools are between 25 minutes to an hour away each, depending on the time of day we're attempting to drive. 3) Eating paleo is likely to be more expensive than our existing diet.

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish with this blog: During the course of one year, I want to prove that a busy working mom can create a healthy home environment for her family without going broke. I want to share recipes, links, planning techniques and general ideas to show that it's not impossible to cook something nutritious every night for your family and it's not impossible to fit fitness into your schedule. 4) And lets be honest, I'd like a safe place to vent my frustrations as well as celebrate my accomplishments. I'll share with you my progress, weight loss, fat loss, muscle gain and overall health benefits. Some of the info might be TMI. Just fair warning.

So if you'd like to come along for the ride, I'd love to have you!