The sun in Michigan finally decided to brave it and come out today! It made for a beautiful drive to work this morning, and looked much warmer than the -30 reported on the news. Not a bad view on my drive to work, eh? In an effort to avoid grocery shopping and use up what I have around the house, I decided to try my hand at Paleo coconut shrimp. I de-thawed a package of pre-cooked shrimp, then coated them in a mixture of 1/3 cashew flour to 2/3 unsweetened coconut. I first dipped each shrimp into a bowl of beaten egg then into the coconut mixture, before eventually tossing them into some hot coconut oil. While I thought this recipe left a little to desire on the sweetness front, the shrimp did taste pretty good on my 'throw everything in the fridge together' salad. When I am making a non-whole30 version I might use sweetened coconut, or find another way to up the sweetness of the shrimp. What's one recipe you are dying to have while following a Paleo diet? Have you tried to recreate it?
0 Comments
So week 2 has come and gone along with several temptations. My dad celebrated his 59th birthday this week, and I could barely stay away from the carrot cake, chocolate lave cake, chocolate moose tracks ice-cream and all of the delicious drinks, but somehow I managed to sneak by. I am still noticing sugar cravings late at night, but so far I have been able to satisfy them with snacking on nuts and fruit. Overall I am still really enjoying the Whole 30 experience, and plan on continuing to follow a primal plan through the end of January. Starting in February I will be completing a Whole 30 Monday-Friday, and a more lenient plan on the weekend (still primal, but with a few treats and indulgences such as wine, dark chocolate, and some maple syrup or honey sweetened desserts.) Hey, I gotta live a little! Incase you missed it, you can find my week 1 recap here! Browsing Material:As promised, here is my (good as the original) recipe for Paleo Split Pea (free) Soup. Ingredients: -3 cups of broccoli -3 cups of cauliflower -2 cups of chopped carrots -1 cup of chopped celery -2 cups (+1/4 cup) organic chicken broth -1 smoked ham hock -1 Tbsp. Olive Oil -Salt & Pepper to taste -1/2 tsp. garlic powder Directions: Step 1: Boil (or steam) the broccoli and cauliflower until you are able to easily mash it with a fork. Step 2: Drain the majority of water from the pot, use either a blender or food processor to blend the broccoli and cauliflower (use about 1/4 of the hot water from the pan to keep things moving.) Step 3: Add all of the blended broccoli/cauliflower mix to your slow cooker, adjust the heat on your slow cooked depending on how long you want to cook it. If I am at home I will set it to high for 4 hours, if I am leaving it to cook while at work, I will set it on low for about 8 hours. Step 4: Add in 2 cups of organic chicken broth & the olive oil, stir to mix. Step 5: Add in 2 cups of chopped carrots, 1 cup of chopped celery, and the ham hock. Step 6: Let the soup cook for 4-5 hours (on high) or 6-8 hours (on low.) Step 7: Once your soup is fully cooked, remove the ham hock and shred the meat from the bone. Add the meat back into the soup the additional 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Step 8: Give the soup a good stir, and let the soup cook for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!
We finally said goodbye to our Christmas tree and Christmas décor this morning and our place looks so empty now! Why don't we keep large live decorated trees in our house all year? (Seriously our tree was half of the furniture in our living room.) I have an impromptu day off today after only one day back to work, (Michigan weather you tricky biotch.) Not complaining over here though, I will take a 3 day weekend any way I can get one! So instead of my usual grab and go workday/weekday breakfasts I got a chance to cook up something yummy. Paleo Breakfast SandwichSweet potato hash browns, scrambled eggs with spinach & onion, and Juli's Paleo waffle recipe came together to make the perfect cold weather/comfort food breakfast. I made Juli's waffles last night to go with the BBQ Cherry Pulled Pork I whipped up yesterday, and they reheated like a charm this morning. I stored the leftover waffles in the fridge (in a Ziploc) then reheated with a little ghee in a pan this morning. Mmm! A Paleo friendly breakfast sandwich with avocado, scrambled eggs (with onion and spinach), and thinly sliced salami. Threw it all on a halved waffle and wala! Backtrack: NYESo I am finally getting around to recapping the rest of our ski trip. Where did I leave off? After a (freezing) awesome day packed full of skiing we headed back to our hotel to change and get ready for some NYE fun. 1st Stop: Noggin Room, Petoskey I loved this basement bar! The ceiling was covered in old beer mugs and the selection of Northern Michigan beer on tap couldn't be beat. Our group of four relaxed and threw back a few mugs before running off to catch our dinner reservation. 2nd Stop: Dinner at City Park Grill, Petoskey I failed on the picture front as far as dinner. The chef at City Park Grill had prepared a special menu for NYE. Rob and I split a Salad, Pumpkin Risotto Cakes, and the Whitefish. The food at dinner was so-so, but we enjoyed relaxing and catching up with friends before spending the rest of the night out on the town. Holy flash batman! Sadly our only picture together from the evening. Of Possible Interest:Here's what's cooking today: Cherry BBQ Pulled Pork! I make this recipe almost every week, it is that easy and that good. Every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Easter my favorite butcher at Eastern Market sells fresh and affordable pork shoulders or pork butts. (Just learned last year the pork butt is not actually the butt, sheesh call me blonde.) I purchase 4 lbs. of meat for under $10 and can usually make enough pulled pork for both Rob and I to enjoy two meals. A win-win in my book. I prepped today's lunch last night, and let it simmer on low over night. I woke up to the house smelling delicious, and a lunch that was ready to go for my first day back to work. Step 1: Thinly slice half an onion and line the bottom of your crock pot. Step 2: Place your 3-4 pound pork butt into the crock pot on top of the layer of onions.
Step 3: Coat the pork butt in the rub of your choice, I tend to use a BBQ spice mix. Add in a handful of pitted and blended cherries (you can skip this step when they are unavailable.) Step 4: Cook the pork for 5 hours (on high) or 8 hours (on low.) You will know that it is done when you can easily pull apart the pork with 2 forks. Step 5: Drain the excess liquid from your pot, once you let the pork cool it will solidify into fat. Done! Easy, inexpensive, and delicious! |
AuthorArchive
February 2015
Categories
All
|