Classy Cave Lady

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Warm arugula salad w/ pears

A salad that appears on every menu. Kind of nice for the winter though!

In a pan sprayed with oil, or a little bit of coconut oil:

1 shallot, chopped in tiny pieces
2 pears, cubed

Cook until the shallots and pears have softened.

Take a bag of arugula salad (16oz) and put in a large pan and allow it to warm up a little bit (and wilt)- do NOT over cook it.. this should take 1-2 minutes. Just want to wilt it- not cook it completely.

Remove all the stuff from the pan and put in a large bowl.

In a small bowl- mix 3 tbsp water with 1 tbsp maple syrup. Mix well.

Pour the water/ syrup on the salad mixture and mix well. Top the salad with 12 oz of fresh blueberries and slivered almonds. If you're the cheese-eating type, you can add a sprinkling of goat cheese crumbles.

Kale is also a nice substitute for arugula-- and of course, in the winter is widely available for cheap!

Lemon cucumber salad

I've been trying to get more vegetables in my diet-- but I'm SO tired of salads with lettuce.

Here's a new one I tried from my recipes: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemony-cucumber-salad

In a big bowl, combine:

1 cup thiny sliced radishes
1/2 cup finely chopped orange bell pepper
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
2 english cucumbers thinly sliced (~ 6 cups)

In a little bowl, combine:

1 tsp lemon rind (grated off a lemon)
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP olive oil
1-1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Pour the little bowl of stuff on the big bowl of stuff- toss well and serve.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Peanut Coleslaw

Taken from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/peanutty-coleslaw

This is an excellent alternative to cole slaw!

In a bowl mix:
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green onion
3 TBSP white vinegar
1 TBSP sesame oil
1 tsp grated ginger (or, I use 2 tsp sliced ginger that you buy in a jar... not pickled)
1 tsp wasabi powder (or 2 tsp wasabi paste)
2 TBSP mayo (add more if you like a creamy coleslaw)
salt & pepper

Then mix in a bag of cole slaw mix... when you're ready to serve, throw some peanuts on top.

It is pictured here in the top portion-- it's the stuff that looks like cole slaw ;-)

Peach-Basil Salsa on Grilled Chicken

Here's a good end of summer dish. We're having this in our meal that we're taking to blossom tonight (pictured) in the container that's packed and ready to go!

This is really simple- and is delicious. I've put it on top of tuna salad, salmon, and chicken. It is also delicious topped with some blue cheese crumbles. Just sayin.

In a bowl mix:

2 large tomatoes, cut in chunks
2 peaches, cut in chunks
1/2 packet of splenda (or you can use the equivalent sugar)
2 tsp molasses
1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup of fresh sliced basil
salt/ pepper

Store in the fridge. Delicious on meat, salads, or by itself!

Recipe adapted from: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-peach-basil-vinaigrette

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Roasted Sweet Potato & Pepper salad

Roasted Sweet Potato and Pepper Salad

This has become a staple at our house-- for quick weekday sides, BBQs-- all sorts of things. Can be enjoyed warm or cold.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Ingredients:

6 sweet potatoes, cubed (bite-size)
2 bell peppers (I used green and red for color)
5 garlic cloves, sliced
Olive oil
Salt/ pepper
Dried rosemary

1. Cube the potatoes and toss in olive oil (about 2 TBSP) and sprinkle with seasoned salt (or regular is fine too!). Sprinkle 2 TBSP crushed rosemary.

2. Spread taters into single layer on baking sheet- and bake until potatoes are browned on one side (about 25 minutes).

3. While the taters are baking, chop the bell pepper into bite size pieces. Put in a bowl with 2-3TBSP olive oil, salt/ pepper, garlic cloves. Add another 1 TBSP rosemary.

4. When taters are done-- add to the bell pepper mixture and toss together. Enjoy this dish warm if desired (maybe with some goat cheese sprinkled on top :-) )

5. Or... put it in the fridge for later, and enjoy it cold.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Italian baked chicken

I found a good (easy) recipe for baked Italian chicken. It has a very refreshing taste to it because it uses fresh herbs. It sure beats chicken marinated in Italian dressing! I served it with bacon brussel sprouts (and some white cheddar- not paleo).

Recipe: http://cleanfoodcrush.com/fresh-italian-herb-chicken-breasts/

Essentially you blend these things in your blender:

1/2 cup Olive Oil

2-4 garlic gloves (I did 4, and it was delicious)

One package of fresh basil (the package was the size of a dollar bill... that's the size you want)

1/2 package of Oregano

1/4 package of Thyme

1 tsp salt (or less if you're not into salt)

1/2 tsp pepper

Blend...

Then smother on top of 6 chicken breasts that you've washed and dried.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 30-45 minutes (until the chicken is cooked--ie: clear juices come out of it, or use a thermometer). I used a foil lined dish for easy clean up.

I used it for a couple meals (served like this... cold on top of salad... I feel like you could even make a chicken salad out of it with tomatoes, mozz, and olive oil).

I found this cute little lunch container at the grocery store and it was the perfect size for my lunch! I packed my bacon brussel sprouts and chicken in one part (so they could be microwaved together... because who has time to microwave two things separately!), then I put grapes and a packet of almond butter in the other side.

All packaged up and ready for Monday!

... Plus I found this creepy grape. Something tells me these "organic" grapes are maybe not so organic. Oh well! It was delicious :-)

Friday, May 30, 2014

Refreshing summer green smoothie (paleo-zone)

I love smoothies, however, I rarely get them because they're loaded with fruit and other sugars that make them too carby. However, I was at my yoga studio the other day and they make this awesome smoothie that is refreshing and not too sweet! Below is my paleo-zone rendition...

Paleo-Zone Green Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 a medium cucumber sliced (made about 1.5-2 cups sliced cucumber)
6 chunks of pineapple (I used fresh)...
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup mint water (I used MetroMint)--you could also throw in a bunch of mint leaves if you have fresh... or maybe a few drops of mint extract?
1/3 of a frozen banana
a scoop or two or ice...depending on how you like your smoothies

Directions

1. Blend thoroughly

2. Enjoy immediately!

This is roughly 1 block of carbs and 1 block of fat

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Paleo-Zone Sweet Potato Hash

So far I'd say the Zone thing is pretty reasonable. I will say Memorial Day was not totally "in the zone", but I did alright. I also did a lot of working out this weekend- so I'm not going to beat myself up over it!

Anyway, this hash has become a go-to breakfast for me. I eat a little shy of 2/3 cup of this with a few sliced strawberries, 1 tsp almond butter, 2 eggs over-easy, and 1/2 of a chicken sausage link.

*I count the bacon in this as a block of fat per serving... The bacon I used was 5g of fat per 2 slices.. so 6 slices = 15g fat, divided over 7 servings is roughly 1 block of fat. I know zone counts bacon as a protein... but bacon has way more fat-blocks than protein-blocks per serving... so I've counted it as a fat here. I don't know if it's right-- it's just what I did. My bacon has 5g of protein per 2 slices... so 15g of protein in the entire recipe, divided by 7 servings is about 2g protein per serving, which is a fraction of 1 block of protein (literally 2/7). Thus, I count the protein from the bacon in this recipe as negligible.

I've seen mixed reviews on how to count sweet potatoes on zone-- I've seen it range from 1/5cup-1/3cup = 1 block of carbs. I went with the 1/3 cup estimate. You could use 4.5 cups of sweet potatoes to make 18 blocks of carbs if you think I've underestimated the carb-block value of sweet potatoes. Or not.

Sweet Potato Hash

21 blocks (about 2/3 cup = 3 blocks of carbs, 1 block of fat)

Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups of onion, chopped (1 block carbs)
- 2 cups bell pepper and/ or poblano pepper (use a mix), chopped (1 block carbs)
- 6 cups sweet potato, shredded (18 blocks of carbs)
- 6 slices bacon (see*)
- Salt/ pepper
- ½ tsp Cumin powder
- ½ tsp cayenne powder (optional)
- 1 tsp garlic powder

Directions
1. Cook bacon in large skillet/ pan.
2. Remove back from pan
3. Add onion, peppers. Saute until slightly softened
4. Add shredded sweet potato—allow to cook with lid, turning occasionally until potatoes are thoroughly cooked and browned
5. Add salt, pepper, cumin, garlic, and cayenne
6. Crumble bacon, add in to pan
7. Allow to cool, divide into 7 containers or just measure as needed (~2/3 cup = 3 carb blocks)

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Why Paleo Isn't "Working"?!

Hello friends.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the paleoness lately. I started trying out paleo back in 2010 in an attempt to lose a few pounds. I originally found that when I stuck to it in a really strict way (in the-- I can't even eat sweet potato fries because they are cooked in a soy-containing ingredient- way), I lost about 5 pounds. However, if I'm not being incredibly strict, my weight stays about the same... and maybe even creeps up over a couple months.

WHY?!

Well. Like any good researcher, I started to examine the issue... I kept a food diary so I could see what I was really eating. I know a lot of people aren't about calories in/ calories out... but to SOME extent- I do believe if you start taking in a LOT more calories (especially not high-quality calories often found in the "80% paleo" person's diet), you will not lose weight. You may even gain weight. Just my two cents.

Anyway... what did I find? I found that I ate a lot of red meat (ground beef, steak..grassfed, but still), processed meats (breakfast sausage, bacon), nuts and nut butters (in one day I ate a quarter cup of almond butter... wtf?), paleo "treats", and I eat out a lot- so I have a lot of "cheat meals". Sometimes to the point where it becomes dumb to call them cheat meals because they're so frequent, lol. Maybe we should just call them normal meals?

Anyway- no big deal. It is what it is. In thinking about how I wanted to rectify the issue I went through a variety of thoughts... maybe I should do strict paleo again? Should I just count calories like the rest of the world? Something else?

So I did a PubMed search and found:

Keeping a food diary is recommended, pretty much always
I didn't come across a single NEW study advocating a low-fat, high-carb diet. So everyone, please stop saying that's what is recommended by scientists today. The GOVERNMENT may recommend that with their food plate...but scientists do not recommend it. There's a difference. A really big one. Even when people do recommend carbs, no one is recommending white bread and pasta.
Bacon isn't good for you (neither is pork sausage). Even the nitrate-free bacon. I searched high and low trying to prove myself wrong... but alas, bacon is not good for you. (best case scenario-- it may not hurt you in moderation). I'm not saying you can't eat it... but I am saying, according to the research, you shouldn't eat tons of it.
Red meat is questionable. Lots of research out there saying red meat is not the optimal meat to put in your system. I couldn't find a lot of work done on grassfed beef (I'm sure it's out there... I just didn't come across it). Anecdotally I've heard it's better...but I heard that from the people who sell it to me, lol. I'm skeptical. I've also read red meat has lots of B-vitamins, iron, and other minerals, etc. Granted... leafy greens have those too....
Fish = good. Omega3's, lean protein... good stuff... no one is really that concerned about heavy metal poisoning. You'd have to eat so much fish everyday for that to be a problem... and 99.999% of people don't want to eat that much fish. Fresh-caught fish is better than farmed-raised fish... duh. Happy fish are better.
In fact, lean meats = good. Fish, chicken, turkey... good stuff.
Vegetables = winner. No surprise here. Eating fresh vegetables is really good for you. So is fresh fruit. I didn't find anything saying how much fruit though... or what kinds of fruit.

So really, nothing earth-shattering. This was not a systematic-review...so it's not exhaustive. It's not cited. It's not complete. It just what I found.

When I think about the typical diet of a 80% paleo person (which is most paleo-people I know)-- I see that they eat lots of burgers and sweet potato fries, paleo treats, trail mix, fruit, and bacon. I don't see a lot of them eating a lot of fish and vegetables. Yes- certainly they eat more than most of the population--and I think even the 80% paleo diet is better than the standard american diet (SAD)... but I don't really care about comparisons to SAD. I want the best diet that leads to the best health and best physical and mental performance. Is that paleo? I don't know.

Anyway- in short. I've been trying a lot of things to optimize my diet.

I've reduced (pretty much eliminated) paleo treats from my diet. That means no paleo crunch or paleo cookies/ muffins, etc. That stuff is loaded with sugar, and sugar is bad. Doesn't matter if it's honey or maple syrup- it leaves me feeling hungry (hangry, really) in an hour... and if I eat that crap before I workout, I generally have a crappy, lethargic workout. It probably goes without saying-- but I'm avoiding non-paleo treats too...lol. Just to clarify. Not to say I'm not going to eat a slice of birthday cake or something-- but I've taken this out of my day-to-day diet.
I've reduced the amount of red meat, bacon, and pork sausage I'm eating. This sucked. Chris and I bought a portion of a grassfed cow--and part of it is still in my freezer. So, it will get eaten eventually, just maybe not at the same pace as before. Have I noticed any differences in how I feel? Yes and no. I do feel like red meat kinda weighs you down... and it sits a little more heavy in your stomach than chicken or fish. I don't know that I noticed I feel better because I'm not eating as much red meat, rather, I feel better because I'm eating more fish. I don't know what it is... but fish just makes me feel healthy. Maybe it's just me.
I did use My Fitness Pal to track my food, which automatically counts your calories... I tried playing this game for a couple weeks on and off... Counting calories is not a fool-proof way to lose weight. Very few people are out there weighing and measuring everything they eat, and accurately capturing their true caloric intake. Thus, this wasn't super useful to me. Plus, their recommendation was that I "net" 1300 calories a day... I can tell you I felt like garbage on those days. I workout a lot... sometimes I run before work, and then do a lifting session and a CrossFit WOD after work. Is 1300 calories enough to support that? Also- apparently you burn 0 calories doing strength exercises. Sorry, but I'm pretty sure I'm sweating my a$$ off when I do 30 back squats at 200 pounds... so I'm pretty sure I've burned off at least 1 tic tac in that period of time. Enough said.
Zone... So now I'm trying zone proportions of mostly paleo/ primal foods. I throw in some gluten-free stuff here and there, but I don't eat a lot of grains. So far the Zone thing is difficult, but I'm literally like 36 hours in. I just need to learn how to make a couple meals that are in the correct proportions, get my blocks right, and learn how to eye-ball portion sizes. I think for me, portion-size is key. I can put a lot of food down unfortunately... so keeping my portion sizes in check is critical for me.

SO. In sum- if you are struggling with losing weight on paleo I'd do a few things:

Keep a food diary for a week... or at least 4-5 days, including some weekends. Just write it all down... no judgement. Write it down if you have a couple beers, cake, kale, whatever. Write everything down. If you lie on your journal-- you're just hurting yourself...and biasing your analysis!
Analyze what you're eating at the end of the food journaling period...

Are you eating a LOT of vegetables? If not, you should be.
Are you eating tons of nuts/ nut butter? Maybe tone it down. If you're eating trail mix-- does it have a lot of dried fruit? Dried fruit contains quite a bit of sugar...
Are you eating paleo treats a couple times a week? Try making it an actual TREAT-- like once or twice a week. Not 4-7 times a week.
Are you eating any fish? Come on. At least once a week, if not 2-3x/ week.
This one is gonna sting.... how much bacon and sausage are you eating? Try coming up with some meals you like that don't focus so much on these things.
How much fruit are you eating? What kinds? From what I've read in the paleo books... the focus is supposed to be on berries because they're low in sugar. So maybe cool it down on the apples, bananas, and citrus for awhile, and see how it goes.
How much water do you drink? Is it enough? (half your body weight in ounces + whatever you sweat out in workouts)

Make changes based on what you learned in the food diary... so what works and what makes you feel good...

When I was complaining about not losing weight while doing Paleo to Chris... he was like... "well... you eat a lot of almond butter, maybe you should cut back"?.... Poor Chris. I, of course, got super defensive and told him he had no idea what it was like trying to lose weight because he was born with a perfect genetic disposition. And then of course- I pulled the... "are you calling me FAT?!". Poor Chris, indeed. You just can't tell someone who is hangry that they're doing something wrong when they're trying so hard. But really.... yes. I was eating too much almond butter. SO. If you read the above and you get super defensive...maybe that's an indication that you really do need to cut-back on whatever you paleo-vice is... You've got to be honest with yourself. Do you really NEED 6 slices of bacon for breakfast everyday? No. There's not a chance in hell that you NEED it.

These are just some ideas... everyone's body is different. I'd be interested to hear what other people's experiences are like with plateauing on paleo-- or not losing weight (when you want to lose weight) on paleo. I know there are plenty of people out there that don't want to lose weight (or would rather gain)- so this isn't for you.

The BEST Salmon

Chris actually found this recipe awhile ago, and it is now a household favorite. Salmon has a pretty good flavor by itself, but these ingredients compliment the already delicious-ness of the fish! Plus this is super easy to make and even easier to clean up... good for keeping the cave clean!

from: http://fitpaleomom.com/garlic-dijon-baked-salmon/

Garlic Dijon Baked Salmon

Ingredients:

1# Salmon (preferably fresh, not farm-raised)... I know the original recipe says 1.5#...but I like a more concentrated sauce on my fish
2 TBSP Chopped parsley (fresh)
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1.5 dijon mustard
salt/ pepper
2-3 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Lemon juice
lemon slices (optional)

Directions:

1. Set oven to 450F

2. Line your baking dish with foil

3. In a bowl-- put in the parsley, garlic, mustard, olive oil and lemon juice

4. salt/ pepper the fish

5. pour contents of bowl on fish... spread it on there to make sure the surface is touched by the delicious sauce!

6. bake for 12-15 minutes... depending on how thick your fish is... and how done you like it.

Enjoy!

I served with a kale salad with some almonds (olive oil/ lemon juice dressing) and plantain chips from Trader Joe's. SO much easier than making your own... and they're better than what I've made in the past, lol.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Breakfast Pizza

Well it's been a long time. I've got about 1 week left of school-- and then I'm done for the spring semester-- phew! Now it's crunch time with papers, presentations, posters, and wrapping up some graduate assistant activities. Needless to say... I am ready for summer time.

So I find that sleeping in an extra 15 minutes is more intriguing than getting up 15 minutes early to make eggs for breakfast...so on Sundays I make the gigantic breakfast pizza in my most enormous, non-stick pan (I'm not sure what the diameter is... it's more than a foot... maybe 14-16"). It's super easy- you just cook all the stuff, throw in some eggs and let everything heat until the eggs are set... then you cut it up like a pizza, wrap in foil-- and put in the fridge or freeze for the week (or two!). This is inspired by the CF Breakfast pizza they had on the journal awhile ago... but I tweaked the ingredients.

Breakfast Pizza

Cook this in a big, non-stick pan (or perhaps a greased regular pan):

1# breakfast sausage (or whatever kind of sausage you want)

Once it's mostly cooked, add:

3 poblano peppers, diced
1/4 onion, diced

Cook that stuff until they're starting to get softer... add:

1 cup chopped mushrooms
a can of black olives
diced tomatoes (1 tomato is usually enough for me)
2 medium-size sweet potatoes, cut (microwaved and diced... or baked if you have time)

Let all the stuff cook... and add (or subtract) whatever ingredients prefer! I've added roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, banana peppers.... whatever is in the cabinet that I need to get rid of

Once all your stuff is cooked:

beat a dozen eggs together, pour over the batter. It should bind everything together... depending on how many veggies you put in you may need anywhere from 10-14 eggs.

Here's what it'll look like:

Let the eggs cook on low until they are set on top. Then-- (this is key)-- let the pizza and pan cool down until the pizza pulls away from the pan. Take a big cutting board that covers the top of your pan (or mostly covers), and flip the pizza onto the cutting board.... slice into 6-8 slices (depending on the size of your pan... or size of your appetite). Wrap each slice in foil-- and throw either in the fridge or freezer! I usually put 3 in the fridge for Mon-Wed and the rest in the freezer... then on Wed I pull out 2 more slices for Thur/ Fri.

I generally just reheat in the microwave for ~60 seconds... I may or may not put cheese on there occasionally. That may require an additional 20-30 seconds in the microwave...

I hope this simplifies your morning routine! I know during the week, especially when I'm busy, it's tempting to stop at Starbucks and get an egg sandwich... which inevitably leaves me feeling guilty and less than satisfied. A little labor in the kitchen on Sunday will save you lots of time during weekday mornings (plus this is way more delish than some nasty sammie that makes you feel like garbage!).

Go forth and enjoy. :-)

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Ginger beef

We're slowly entering grilling season-- slowly, but surely. In light of that-- here is one of my favorite paleo-grill receipes!

Ginger Beef-- from Everyday Paleo

1 skirt steak (mine was 1.5#)

Marinade:
1/4 cup coconut aminos
1 TBSP fish sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or 1 tsp fresh ground ginger)
pinch of salt
Sriracha to taste (I usually use two squirts or so)

Mix the marinade ingredients together, and pour over the steak-- marinate for a 2-24 hours. Put it on the grill-- careful not to overcook since this is a thin cut of meat.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Italian Turkey Meatballs

I still love spaghetti with meatballs from time to time... and especially in this crazy weather, I could use some comfort food!

Meatballs

1# ground turkey
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 cup almond flour
1 TBSP oregano
3/4 TBSP dried rosemary (I tried to crush mine up into smaller bits)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
hot pepper flakes to taste
salt/ pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients. Roll into 1-2 inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes (or until meat is cooked).

I use a spaghetti squash instead of noodles-- just poke some holes in the squash and put it in the microwave for 10 minutes (turn it once around 5 minutes)...and let it cool before you handle it.

Serve the hot "noodles" and meatballs with your favorite sauce... and maybe some fresh Parmesan cheese if you're feeling frisky. Pairs nicely with dark chocolate for dessert. :-)

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Stuffed chicken

Last Sunday I bought some thinly sliced chicken breasts and decided to make some stuffed, baked chicken.

I got myself all set up and ready to stuff some chicken! You can use whatever you want... I settled on 3 varieties--
1- Ham + mustard + cheese
2- Bacon + greens + cheese
3- Tomato sauce + pepperoni + parm cheese

I just set my chicken breasts out, had my foil and skewers handy and just put the ingredients in the middle and rolled them up! I stuffed them in foil then poked them with a skewer to keep it all together... threw them in a baking dish and called it a day. 350F for 30 minutes, or until chicken is booked.

Tip-- I had thick-sliced bacon and I microwaved it for 2-3 minutes first just to get it a little cooked... It takes a long time for the inside of the chicken breast to heat up- and I wasn't sure the bacon would cook thoroughly by itself. I'd recommend just cooking your bacon all the way, and then stuffing it.

Foil + skewer

Finished! I made about 8 of these bad boys for the week!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Avo-Shrimp Salad- because it reminds me of summer!!

Delicious Shrimp Salad (AKA: I wish it was summer!!!)

I found this recipe on Facebook... and it looks super summery. And don't you know... in the dead of Winter (which, in Ohio, for me, occur in February)-- I need some summery thoughts. February is rough. It's cold. It's windy, snowy, slushy, and... just cold. Thankfully it's the shortest month and we're almost through it! Hurry summer!!

Shrimp and Avocado Salad:

Ingredients AND directions:

Combine in a bowl:
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 TBSP Olive Oil
2 limes, juiced (or just use lime juice from a bottle)
pinch of salt/ pepper

Let that sit for 5 minutes... takes some of the bite out of the onion

Combine in a bigger bowl:

1# large or jumbo shrimp, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 avocado, cut into chunks
2 stem tomatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 cup green salsa

Combine contents of both bowls... and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed

I like to eat this on top of a giant bed of spinach for lunch. You don't even need to add dressing because the dressing on the shrimp is so awesome!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Easy Baby Back Ribs

I am not a pork chef. Pork, to me, is one of the most difficult meats to cook. It can dry out very easily (there's a reason people always serve applesauce with pork chops)-- and when it's dry it's incredibly tough. I think pork is harder to cook than steak, fish...all of it. It's just temperamental. For that reason, I've never made ribs before... they're usually super expensive, and pretty fatty. However, Earth Fare had them on sale this week ($5/ pound)... so I decided... why not? Try new things... anyway, they turned out great and they were super easy! Granted, they weren't falling off the bone and oozing with sauce... but I did a dry rub because I hate having saucy fingers... I'm saucy enough!!

I served with a salad because we weren't that hungry, but this would be delicious with some mashed sweet potatoes.

Easy Baby Back Ribs

Dry rub:

1 TSP Paprika
2 TSP Coconut sugar
1/2 tsp lemon (or orange) peel, dried (could use fresh zest as well)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix it all together, rub it on your rack of ribs... then plastic wrap the ribs to sit in the fridge for 2-24 hours. When you're ready to cook- preheat the oven to 300F. Put your ribs on a rack and bake in the oven for 2 hours, or until the meat is at your preferred temperature.

Eat all by themselves, or dip in your fav paleo BBQ sauce (perhaps this?)

This evening I also made another batch of Pizza Spaghetti Pie, Zuppa Tuscano, and Deep Dish Breakfast Pizza... I think that should get us through Wednesday... not bad for 2 hours of work!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Post Workout Smoothie

I know it's pretty cold outside for a smoothie... but sometimes they're just delicious!

Here's a good post-workout one for ya:

In your blender:
1/2 frozen banana:
8-10oz unsweetenend cocoa almond milk
A scoop of ice cubes (~15 ice cubes)
1 TBSP almond butter
1/2-3/4 scoop choco protein powder (I use egg-based)

Directions: BLEND. Pour. Smile. Picture a sunny day with tulips and sunshine. Now go do something silly. :-)

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Deep Dish Breakfast Pizza

The classy cave lady has been on a hiatus. Things are incredibly busy right now between work^2 (both jobs), school, researching, crossfit, training for the half marathon... oh- and cooking delicious foods!

Breakfast is tough. I hate taking time to make eggs (and then you have to clean the pans... and have all the meat/ veggies prepped... ugh!). So I tried the Deep Dish Breakfast Pizza from Crossfit.com.

Recipe

This is pretty easy- just have to have a large pan that can hold all this food. This is a paleo "zone" recipe- so that means the quantity is meant to be controlled (ie- if you cut into 8 slices, each slice is about 2 blocks of food).

If you've even been curious about Zone- here's a pretty good explanation:

Here's the recipe:

ingredients (16 Zone blocks)

• 1 lb. hot Italian sausage (6 protein blocks)

• 1 large onion, diced (2 carbohydrate blocks)

• 3 poblano peppers, diced (2 carbohydrate blocks)

• 3 yams, roasted and roughly chopped (9 carbohydrate

blocks)

• 3 c. mushrooms, sliced (1 carbohydrate block)

• 2 c. black olives, sliced (16 fat blocks)

• 3 large Roma tomatoes, diced (2 carbohydrate blocks)

• 10 whole eggs or 20 egg whites (10 protein blocks)

• Kosher salt, to taste

• Olive oil, as needed

directions

1. Heat a 14-in. cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add Italian sausage in small chunks and cook until done, then remove from pan. (Use a little olive oil if necessary, but rendered fat should be a sufficient cooking agent.)

3. Add onions, a touch of olive oil, the poblano peppers and some salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Add yams and mushrooms and salt lightly again. Cover pan with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil and cook 5 minutes longer.

5. While veggies are cooking, crack eggs into a bowl and whisk until uniform.

6. Remove lid from pan, add sausage, olives and tomatoes. Stir well, add eggs and cover again.

7. Cook until eggs are set, then remove lid/foil and broil the top side in the oven in order to dry it out and brown it slightly.

8. When finished, place a piece of parchment paper over the top, place an inverted sheet pan on top of that, and invert the skillet and pan together. Place on a counter and remove the skillet from the top.

9. Slice and eat immediately, or allow to cool completely, then slice, portion, wrap and freeze/refrigerate.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Bacon Jalapeno Bread

This is awesome to serve with soup on a cold day... chicken "noodle", chili-- whatever you want. I ate it with my Zuppa Toscana.

Recipe: http://vahuntergatherers.com/2013/05/01/bacon-jalapeno-bread-gluten-free/

Ingredients
4 oz bacon (approximately 4 thick slices)
3 large jalapeños
6 large eggs
1/2 C ghee, melted
1/4 C water
1/2 C coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried chives (optional)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ghee to grease your baking pan

Directions

1. Bake the bacon and sliced jalapenos (I removed the seeds to make it less spicy)... bake for about 10 minutes, then flip and bake for an additional 5-10... depending on the thickness of the slices

2. Put the bacon/ jalapenos in a food processor-- chop it up in tiny pieces (I suppose a blender would work too?)

3. Mix together wet ingredients

4. Add in the dry ingredients

5. Mix in the bacon, etc.

6. Put all of this in a greased glass pan, or the bread pan of your choice

7. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes

8. Let cool for 5 minutes or so... then it'll slice easier. Enjoy!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Cold weather Paleo food

Here's my meal plan for the week. I had a request to post everything at once... so here's what I'm planning on... I'll update here as things get made. There will be pictures, of course!

Thoughts on the menu this week:

It's going to like... VICIOUSLY cold this week.. so I wanted hot foods (hence the soup, spaghetti squash casserole, crockpot chicken...). When the "high" is projected to be sub-zero... I'm not putting anything cold in the tank.

Also- a special message to Kent State... please close. my parking spot is a mile away from my office... frostbite of the face isn't cute, or useful in any way.

I need to have breakfasts made this week because Kent never closes (and the hospital definitely never closes...) so I'll need to get up extra early and there will be no time for cooking eggs in the AM.
The crockpot chicken is TBA. I got a whole chicken for 99c/ # at Earth Fare... it seemed like a reasonable deal. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with this bad mamba jamba.
I have a confession to make.... I purchased really delicious short ribs last week... then got too busy to make them... and had to throw them out because they were green and slimy... I want to lose 5#... but not like that... ugghhh

Dinner/ lunches
1. Buffalo chicken
2. Taco beef (salad)
3. Parsnip & Kale Zuppa Toscana Soup
4. Pizza Spaghetti Pie (again)--and really, it's a casserole, not a "pie"
5. Crockpot chicken...TBD... something easy, and with lemons.

Breakfast
1. Sweet potato hash
2. Deep dish breakfast pizza

Snacks
1. Cauliflower popcorn
2. Zucchini boats

Recipes--

Entrees
1. Buffalo Chicken

This one was super easy.... inspired by practical paleo.

I took about 2# of chicken thighs and sliced them. Put them in a frying pan with some coconut oil (2TBSP) + 1 tsp each of cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder + salt/ pepper to taste. If I were to do this again... I'd just cook the chicken in a bunch of frank's hot sauce. Now there's chicken ready to go in lettuce wraps (with diced avocado and cubed cucumber)

2. Taco beef for salads
http://everydaypaleo.com/cooking-demo-paleo-tacos-with-purple-cabbage-slaw/

1# ground beef
1 TBSP each: garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup green salsa

Brown the meat-- add the spices and salsa... enjoy. If you're going to put this in the fridge to eat later- DRAIN THE FAT. Otherwise you're gonna have a hard time getting it out of the container you put it in...

3. Parsnip & Kale Zuppa Toscana Soup

I ganked this from here: http://www.insonnetskitchen.com/seasonal-comfort-food-cookbook/

1 TBSP Coconut Oil
1# sausage
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 parsnips, thinly sliced (yields ~3 cups)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp EACH dried basil and oregano
5 cups veggie or chicken stock
1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
1 bunch of kale (torn into bite-sized pieces)
salt/ pepper (easy on the salt, especially if your stock has a lot of salt)

Put the oil in the pan brown the sausage,add onions and cook for ~ 5mins until the onions are softened
Add parsnips, garlic, red pepper flakes and basil + oregano and bring to a BOIL
Simmer down now, for 20 minutes, or until the parsnips are soft
Add kale and coconut milk... let that simmer for an additional 10 minutes, or until the kale is tender
Salt and pepper to taste
eat!

Breakfasts...

1. Sweet tater hash

This is pretty basic... no frills here.

1# breakfast sausage
1 sweet tater- run through the food processor and shred (or shred it regular style)
1/2 onion-- diced up small
2 garlic cloves, minced/ pressed
salt/ pepper
Eggs

Cook your breakfast sausage in a big frying pan... breaking it up so there are little chunks.
Once it's fully cooked, remove meat- put in dish...leave the fat in the pan
Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook about 5 mins (until onions get tender)-- you may need to add some oil if you're sausage was lean
add your shredded sweet potato
Cook the potato (don't stir too much- that'll make mashed potatoes!)-- just turn the potatoes now and then until they are fully cooked
Add the sausage back in...
voila!! hash complete.
I like to serve a couple scoops of hash with 2-3 poached eggs (MMMM)

2. Nick Massie's Deep Dish Breakfast Pizza

From CrossFit.com

http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_2014_01_Kitchen_Pizza.pdf