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Monday, March 19, 2012

St. Patrick's Day Feast!

So St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Yep, I'm a green-bleedin' Irish Girl... So, Saturday was my annual fatty day, and I gorged myself. I'm not going to lie. I am not ashamed.

I started with Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Crock Pot, for dinner.  Of course, there was beer to be had.  The next morning, we finished off the Corned Beef in a similar manner to the sweet potato latkes which can be found here.

I will tell you the one thing I am slightly ashamed of.  I did a shitty job taking pictures... More like a non-existent job.  I do have a picture of the leftover Corned Beef "Hash" Breakfast, but not of the actual dinner. Sorry y'all.

Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Crock Pot

Here's what you'll need:

1 Corned Beef Brisket (I got a uncured, nitrate/nitrite free one a Trader Joe's)
1 head of cabbage
1 sweet onion
2 potatoes
salt & pepper

*Notes* I have a fairly small crock pot, so I wasn't able to fit everything in at once.  I fit 1.5 potatoes, and about 1/4 of the head of cabbage in at first.  When we were getting ready to eat, I braised the rest of the cabbage (which I'll tell how I did that) and added it to the pot, since there was more room at that point. I used the other 1/2 a potato Sunday morning for breakfast.

1.    Slice up the onion and line the bottom of the crock pot with it.  Top with about half of the potatoes, cubed.

2.    Add the beef on top of that, and put more potatoes and cabbage on the very top.

3.    Put the crock pot on high, and let it cook for about 5 hours.

4.    When you are about ready to eat, you can get the rest of the cabbage ready.  Heat some bacon grease or coconut oil in a skillet.  Add the cabbage to the skillet, and cook until tender.  You may add it into the crock pot, and let it cook all together for a while (10-15 minutes), or just serve it together.

That's it!


Corned Beef "Hash" with Eggs

My Corned Beef Hash with Eggs all mixed together. Yum!!


Here's what you'll need:

Leftover Corned Beef & Cabbage
That 1/2 a potato (not necessary)
Eggs

1.    Since I had a half a potato that still needed to be cooked, I cubed it, and cooked it up in some bacon grease.  I then added the corned beef and cabbage to the potato in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  If you're not using the extra potato, then just put the beef in a skillet with a little bit of fat over medium-high heat.

2.    Heat the hash until it is hot throughout, and getting crispy in parts.

3.    Top with eggs, and enjoy!!


Peace y'all!

Sweet Potato Latkes

Saturday morning I made up these DELICIOUS Sweet Potato Latkes topped with bacon and eggs.  They were filling, delicious, and fast! I'd say definitely a winner!!



Here's what you'll need for the latkes:

3 sweet potatoes

chopped onion to taste (I used a couple tablespoons)

2 eggs

cinnamon, salt, & pepper

coconut oil (I used extra virgin, although unrefined; or any fat would be good)


1.    Take the sweet potatoes and grate them.  I don't have a large-size grater right now (yeah, yeah) so I used my spiralizer and the roughly chopped up the spirals... It was close enough!

2.    Beat the eggs, and add the sweet potatoes, onion, and spices to them.

3.    Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, and pile the potatoes in little "cakes".  I found it easiest to scoop them with my hands, and then pour a little bit of the egg on top, that way it got a little crust on the bottom, and could flip.

4.    Cook for about 3-5 minutes on each side, or until brown and cooked through.  I topped each latke with 1 slice of bacon, and 1 basted egg.  Keep reading to see how I did that...

For the eggs:

1.    Heat you skillet over medium low heat, and add a healthy scoop of bacon grease.

2.    When it gets nice and hot, crack your eggs directly into the pan.  *Note* Don't overfill the pan. I did two at a time.

3.    You want there to be enough grease to cover most of the egg white.  While the eggs are cooking, spoon some of the grease over the exposed white and yolk.  Do this until the egg is cooked to your liking. I like mine really runny, so it doesn't take very long.

4.  Scoop out, and you can save that grease for more eggs, or another time!




Peace y'all!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Sausage and Cabbage Soup/Stew

So I took a mental health day from work yesterday, since I wasn't feeling so hot. Around lunch time I whipped up some soup for me and the man, and it was DE-LISH! Best of all, it was soo easy, and Paleo! Yay :-D

I only got one picture (on my iPhone).. The light in the kitchen was bad, and honestly I just didn't feel like getting my camera.

Cabbage and Sausage simmering away
Here's what you'll need:

1 head of cabbage
1 lb of sausage (I used hot sausage)
1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
~1.5 quarts chicken stock (I used what I had from this chicken)
Optional: tomato paste (I use the stuff in a tube. It's just tomatoes and salt)
Coconut oil, or whatever fat you want (about 1 Tablespoon)

1.    Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, and soften.
2.    When onions have become transparent, add the garlic.
3.    After a few minutes, add the sausage. I have also used beef, in a similar soup, and it is very good as well.
4.    While the sausage is browning, roughly chop your cabbage.  I find it easiest to quarter it, then cut out the core, and slice it up.
5.    When the sausage is browned, add the cabbage on top, and pour about 1 cup of the chicken stock in. Turn the heat up to medium-high, and put the lid on the pot. Let it sit for a few minutes. (I didn't time this, maybe 5 mins, or a little less?)
6.    Add the remaining liquid and about 1.5 teaspoons tomato paste, and stir everything up. You can use more or less liquid, depending on your taste. I used about 1.5 quarts, and my soup was more stew-like. It could have used more liquid, but we were hungry, and didn't feel like thawing any stock.
*NOTE*  I did not measure how much tomato paste I used, I just eyeballed it. I wanted a slight tomatoey flavor, and I added a few squirts, until it looked right. 1.5 teaspoons is just a guess. This could definitely be optional.
7.    Season to taste, and let it cook for about 10 minutes back at medium.  Cook until the cabbage is cooked to your desire. If you like it crisp, a little less; if you like it limp, a little longer.

I even brought some of the leftovers to work with me today! Yumm!

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as us.

Peace y'all!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Salad in a Jar

I got the idea from Pinterest, which is the best thing ever!!




First, I poured a little bit of this dressing in the bottom (only enough to cover the bottom of the quart jar).
Sidenote: I know it's not Paleo, but it's my FAVE dressing, and I couldn't bear to throw it out yet.. Don't worry, it's almost empty!

I took some of the leftover chicken, and chopped it roughly and put that in second. Then I added some carrots, peppers, and a tiny bit of onion. Last, I added a couple handfuls of baby spinach.

Important!! Make sure to put the spinach (or whatever green) on top, so it doesn't get soggy from the dressing.  When you're ready to eat, just shake.. Yep, just like those old McDonald's Salad Shakers.


You can add pretty much anything to the salad. Just make sure you have enough bulk to separate the greens and dressing. Be Creative!


Salad inspired by: http://www.fatgirltrappedinaskinnybody.com/2011/10/salad-in-a-jar-src/


Peace y'all!

My First Paleo Meals

  So like I said before, them man and I dove into Paleo hardcore this weekend. Here's a glimpse of some of what I've fixed:


Sunday Breakfast...

  It was pretty straight forward. Bacon, 1/2 an apple, 1/2 a grapefruit, and 2 eggs scrambled in bacon fat with spinach, onion, and mushrooms.
  I did not eat the mushrooms.. Gave them to the man. I'm not a fan of their texture, but I don't mind the flavor they impart on food.  As you can probably see, I like my eggs scrambled soft.. Fortunately, the man has perfected this technique. He is much more patient when cooking, so the eggs come out better when he does them :-)

Sunday Dinner...

  I cooked a whole chicken in my slow cooker.  It was super easy, the recipe for it is here.  On the side were fresh beets. I cooked the beets the night before.  I roasted the roots in a foil pouch at 350 for about 45 minutes (until fork tender), and refrigerated. Sunday night, I chopped up the stems and greens, and separated them.  We sauteed the stems first, in coconut oil with a little bacon fat.  When those were softening up, I added the roots, which I had peeled and sliced up. After a couple more minutes, we added in the greens, and cooked til soft. Personally, I LOVE beets!

Sunday evening, I also went ahead and prepared breakfasts for the next few days and made up a salad for the man and me for Monday.  The post is here about the egg muffins.  The salads were awesome, and you can find them here.


So there's a glimpse into what I've eaten the last few days!

Peace y'all!

Easy Egg Muffins

This is an amazing make-ahead breakfast. They are fast, easy, filling, and YUM.

Please excuse the shitty picture.. Clearly I had some egg overflow...
Here's what you need:

12 eggs
1/2 lb. sausage
Spinach
Onions
Peppers
Mushrooms

1.    Preheat the oven to 350
2.    Plop the sausage in a pan, on med-low heat, and start browning while you chop the veggies.
3.    Prepare the veggies (I just chopped everything up, and left in separate piles.
4.    Crack all the eggs into a large bowl, and whisk. I added salt, pepper, & (salt-free)creole seasoning to that
5.    Once the sausage is browned, remove from the heat.
6.    You can either line your muffin pan with paper liners, or grease.
7.    Add in your veggies. I did a few variates - all with sausage (spinach, onion, pepper; mushroom, onion, spinach; pepper & onion; and spinach & onion)
8.    Add in eggs. I used a quarter-cup as a scoop, but didn't fill it to the top.
9.    Add sausage, and bake for 20-25 mins, or until the eggs are set in the middle.

Here are the issues I had my first time:
  • I used liners, and I'm gonna be honest.. The eggs stuck.
  • The muffins were over-filled. It didn't seem so at first, but as they were cooking, I had some egg-splosion, as you can see above.
  • The spinach was all on top, and kinda crispy. Not bad, but a little odd. I think this is because I added the ingredients in a different order than above. I did sausage first, then eggs, then veg.
Here is what I plan on trying:
  •   I'm going to try adding some oil to the eggs to see if that helps the sticking. If that doesn't I'm going to try greasing the liners. I want to use liners, since it makes taking them on the go easier.
  • I'm going to use a little less sausage and veg per muffin
  • I'm going to add the ingredients in the order above. My logic is that maybe the sausage will weigh down the veggies.
You can also use bacon. If you want it crispy (yum), cook it first. If you like it chewy, then put it in the muffins raw.


Peace y'all!

Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot

I cooked a whole chicken in a crock pot for the first time this weekend. It turned out SOO good! It was moist, tender, and left enough juice to have some gravy and make stock!!

The Slow Cooker Chicken with Beets for dinner



Here's what you'll need:

1 whole chicken - I got my free-range organic dude at Trader Joe's
1 sweet onion - I almost always use sweet onions, cause I love them, like to an unhealthy level. I'm sure you could use a white onion too
1 lemon, halved
salt, pepper, any other spices you like


1.    Take the chicken out of the package, wash off, and make sure there's no giblets inside - mine didn't have any :-(
2.    Slice the onion, and line the bottom of the slow cooker with the slices
3.    Put the chicken on top of the onion, squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken, and stick 'em inside the bird. Then season to your liking.
4.    Put the lid on, and let it cook on low for 8ish hours.

That's it!  You do not need to add any liquid. You'll know the chicken is done when you go to cut into it, and it falls apart.  The onions on the bottom get all caramelized and yummy! Don't throw out those bones yet though...

I took some of the chicken juice and made a quick gravy.  Just a few ladles full of juice, and a little cornstarch (yeah, yeah I know.. I haven't gotten a chance to go get arrowroot yet)..

 So to make a stock with the chicken juice, just pull all the meat out of the slow cooker. Leave the bones and all the juices. Add some water (I just filled it up to where there were crispies on the side of the crock pot). Let that baby simmer on low overnight, and in the morning, you'll have a dark rich stock.  Just strain out the bones and bits into a jar.

Peace y'all!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Full Throttle

So, this weekend I decided enough was enough, and I completely (well, almost) purged the kitchen of anything "naughty".  That's right kids, bread, pasta, Jell-O, all of it. Garbage.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I did keep a few "bad" things. Pomegranate jelly my Grandmother made, home made sweet pickles, a single bag of pasta (we bought it not too long ago, and I feel like that would be wasteful), and I hung on to my flour, sugar, and baking powder & soda, since when if we decide to cheat, then we won't have to buy a WHOLE bag of something, just to make a little.  We also, very sadly, ate our last peanut butter and jelly SANDWICH.

Long story short, I finally reached the tipping point. I am so tired of feeling shitty and eating crap. I am ready to do this, balls to the wall (well, figuratively, of course).  I even made ahead breakfasts for me and the man for the next 3 days, and made us up salads for lunch. I also prepared "smoothie packs" for smoothies later in the week. *I plan to post recipes and pictures of these*

Overall, I feel very accomplished this weekend. I got all of the temptations out of the house, and I'm ready to start being better about stocking healthy food and snacks.  To me it's the snacks that are the hardest to be "good" about, and I feel at a loss as to what to keep around.

I'll have those recipes up probably either later today, or tomorrow.


Peace y'all

Friday, March 9, 2012

Sleeeeep

So last night, I had a sleep study done. I've been having a lot of fatigue issues for quite a while now, and there are several different things contributing to the issue.  My doctor decided I should have a sleep study, since all of my blood-work (thyroid levels, B-12, red blood count, etc) came back normal.  So last night was it.  I got hooked up to the machines, snuggled up in my (not-so-)comfy hospital bed, and off to sleep. It was certainly not my best night's sleep, but also not too terrible.

My doctor should have my results in 7-10 days, and I'll have to make an appointment to find out what the results are. I'm looking forward to it though! Hopefully I'll have some answers for why I'm ALWAYS tired!! I am hoping that by starting to eat right (and exercise), I'll feel less tired anyways.

Peace y'all

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Fermented Salsa

So here's the best salsa on the planet.And my first recipe, YAY!


Fermented Salsa

Ingredients

·         Chili peppers (1-2 serranos or 1 jalapeno, depending on how hot you like it)
**The perfect spiciness to me although not *Paleo* is 5 of the Dorot Chopped Chili cubes (frozen) - they have soybean oil :-(
·         4 Roma Tomatoes
·         1 Sweet Onion (or White Onion)
·         3-4 Garlic Cloves
·         3 Limes
·         1 Tbs. Sea Salt (I prefer coarse for this)
·         2 Tbs. liquid whey (you can also use 1 additional Tbs. salt instead of this)
·         1 large bunch cilantro

Directions

1.         Cut tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out the seeds, or scoop out with a spoon, and discard. Place in the food processor and process until smooth.

2.         Peel and quarter the onion, and place in food processor. Peel and crush garlic, and place in food processor. Process until smooth.

3.         Juice the 3 limes and add all the juice to the food processor. Add the sea salt and whey (if using), and process.

4.         Rinse cilantro, and cut off the ends. Break up with your hands and place in the food processor, and process until smooth.

*NOTE* You can also add all the ingredients to the processor, and pulse to your desired consistency, if you like your salsa chunky. Personally, I like mine smoooooth.

5.         Transfer salsa to quart size mason jars. Leave at least an inch of space at the top of the jar, for gasses.

6.         Keep the salsa at room temperature for 3-4 days, depending on ambient temperature.  I find 3 days is about perfect in around 75 degree weather, while in the winter (keeping the jars near a radiator) it took about 5 days to get the right flavor. Transfer the salsa to the fridge, and it will keep for months.  Don’t be afraid to give it a try after a couple days, if it still tastes like fresh tomatoes, let it sit another day. It’s trial and error, but it’s damn good!

 

This recipe is also good doubled (or tripled), just be mindful of how big you food processor is!

Recipe is adapted from:  http://www.cheeseslave.com/lacto-fermented-salsa/

 

Peace y'all

Live, Love, Paleo

Well hello everyone!
  My first post.. I don't suppose I have too much to say, so I'll introduce myself. You can call me Elle. I'm a soon-to-be 25 year old (yikes!) living in Wilmington, DE (a long story, which I'm sure I'll get to). I'm from Florida, and plan to return there as soon as possible, hopefully this summer.  I have lived with my wonderful boyfriend for a little over a year now, and we house a menagerie of 5 animals! Currently I am working full time at a job that I won't bore you with any details about. Just your regular old desk job, that forces me to be there at the obscenely early hour of 8AM!!
  I'm starting this blog to share my journey. I have found blogs to be a tremendous resource to me, and I'm hoping that I can make my own little stamp on the blogosphere. It's taken me a long time to get where I am, and I'm ready for big changes in my life. I'm starting with my health. I'm aiming to eat Paleo, or mostly Paleo. For those of you who may not know what that is, I'll post on that later.  I'm also trying to work out as much as I can make myself.  The goal has been to go to the gym in the morning before work with my accomplice Yolanda. Between us both being slackers, and not at all morning people, it ends up being about 3 times during the week, and once on weekends. But we're getting there.. and we're getting better!
  I plan to post recipes that I find helpful, tips, and other life shit. And that brings up another thing. I like my four letter words.. a lot. Sorry. I'm sure I'll write some more about me another time, but I suppose I should be back to work.

Peace y'all