Tag Archives: paleo

How to Get Rid of Dead Bananas and Avocados

The other day when we were dropping the glambaby back home, my daughter-in-love, Nikki, asked if I wanted four avocados. They were pretty ripe and she wasn’t going to use them. I love avocados so I said sure. 

Paleo Chocolate Pie

I needed to use them right away, though, four of them. They were very ripe. That’s a lot of avocado for me to eat alone. I remembered seeing a chocolate avocado pudding recipe so I searched for it.  Since I also had some dead bananas, it was a perfect thing to use the avocados for. 

I thought, just maybe, that if it was good enough, David would eat it. And he did. He said it had an unusual flavor but he liked it. Awesome!

So today, I still had two very ripe avocados and two very ripe bananas left. On Tuesday, Nikki had given me some dates so I decided that I would make a chocolate pie with these things. I made the chocolate avocado pudding I made last night and then made Fudge Babies into a pie crust. 

I’m really looking forward to trying this after dinner. It looks delish! The best part is, it’s healthy and has no sugar in it. 🙂

Coffee Rubbed Steak

I have found something else to do with my Eight O’Clock Coffee. Coffee Rubbed Steak!

coffee

I found this recipe in my travels through the interwebs and it looked delicious.

I made it for dinner last night. After grinding the coffee very finely, I mixed the rest of the spices with it and rubbed it into both sides of the meat.

spices

It didn’t say in the recipe to do this but I did this a couple of hours before I planned to cook the steak, then covered and put it in the refrigerator. Also, although we normally don’t add sugar to things, I did add the 1/2 TBS of brown sugar because it wasn’t very much and I wanted to taste what the original recipe ended up like before modifying it.

I then cooked the steak on the stove top for five minutes on either side. It was done with a little pink in the center.

pan

I’ve never cooked a steak in a pan before and I was worried about how juicy it would end up but it was fabulous!

The taste of the rub was good, the level of juiciness was good. I couldn’t noticeably discern a strong coffee flavor but the combination of the spices with the coffee was wonderful.

I served the steak with my famous roasted baby carrots and mashed cauliflower. Delish!

dinner

 

Cookbook Cook Through – Week 6

Just finished the second recipe from this week’s cookbook cook through challenge of Everyday Paleo and Oh. EM. GEE!

This week, I made Apple Shallot Pork Chops and Breakfast Paleo Pizza.

PA

 The pork chops were good. There’s something about pork and apples, right?

 I will admit I’m not a big fan of cinnamon and meat. But I did follow the recipe instructions on this one mostly because of the apples. It was good but not sure I’d make it again with the cinnamon.

The Paleo Breakfast Pizza was to die for! OMG! So good.

pizza

David helped me make this one. It would have taken a lot longer if he hadn’t. Doing the prep chopping took the most time. If I had to make it alone, I’d have all that done ahead of time. But it was fun to cook with him.

As he started putting the sausage on the eggs, it seemed like a lot. I looked at the other ingredients and told him I think we need cheese.

Okay, cheese is a gray area in the paleo world but we like it. We don’t eat it often and when we do, we enjoy every single bite. This recipe wouldn’t have been as good without it, in my opinion. Did I mention it was DE-LISH? Yum! We’ll definitely have this one again.

For next week, we’re going to try Rockin’ Moraccan Chicken and Sausage Stuffed Dates. 🙂

 

 

Cookbook Cook Through – Week 5

After taking a week off for vacation, we came back home and I decided to make Speedy Spicy Stuffed Peppers and Curried Veggie Hash from the Everyday Paleo cookbook.

speedy_spicy_stuffed_pepper

I lost my food processor in between moves but am happy to say that I’ve found it again and I love it. It makes recipes like these super easy.

Both recipes were amazing and we will for sure eat them again. The best thing is they were tasty but the second best thing is that David ate three things he tells me he hates. Now, I’m really into honestly and transparency but I also know that basing your adult taste buds on foods you tasted as a kid can let you out of a WHOLE bunch of good food.

curried_veggie_hash

My mom used to always cook spinach, from a can, in the iron skillet some way. Gah. I didn’t like it. It was slimy and disgusting. But fresh spinach as an adult? I eat it out of the bag like candy.

Anyway…

The first recipe for stuffed peppers, contains yellow squash and the hash recipe contains sweet potato and zucchini.

Four thumbs up on these two recipes. We’ll be eating them again! 🙂

Next week we’re going to try Apple Shallot Pork Chops and Breakfast Paleo Pizza.

 

Cookbook Cook Through – Week 3

It was week three of my cookbook cook through challenge and we had some good food!

We both loved Indian food so I chose the Better Butter Chicken to make first. It was really good and even better the second day. I searched high and low to find fenugreek but couldn’t so I ended up leaving it out. I guess I’ll check the Indian grocery to see if they have it. I will make this one again but I think I’ll serve it over riced cauliflower next time.

Better Butter Chicken

We had never had red chard, or any kind of chard, before and I was able to find it at Sprouts. It was pretty! I looked forward to preparing and tasting it. I wasn’t too thrilled with its taste and David didn’t like it at all so I probably won’t make it again.

The second recipe we tried was Nutty Cookies. One of the problems we always have when eating clean is that David misses his “fun food”. He has started bringing me recipes which I help him out by making but have been truly awful. The last one, The Life Changing Loaf of Bread was just, um, awful.

nutty cookies

So anyway, this cookie recipe looked like it would be far and away better than the bread recipe. Although it was a little involved, it wasn’t difficult and we ate the cookies for breakfast. They were good! I will for sure make them again.

Next week I’ve decided to try the Frittata for All and Baked Curry Cauliflower. Yum! 🙂

Cookbook Cook Through Week 2

It’s the second week of my Cook Through of Everyday Paleo and I made two recipes that were DE-LISH! Yum! 🙂

I made the first recipe Brussels Sprouts ‘n’ Bacon straight away. I had scored some beautiful Brussles sprouts at the preview event at the new Sprouts Farmers Market that’s located in midtown Tulsa.

Brussels Sprouts N Bacon

This recipe was fairly easy and we both loved it. I’m not sure about the steaming for 4 minutes part of the recipe, though and I might just skip it next time. Maybe blanching them for 4 minutes? I don’t know but after only 4 minutes in my steamer they were still cold so it seemed like a wasted step to me.

Clearly, I’m hooked on stick to the ribs comfort food since it’s winter. I chose the Marvelous Meatballs for the second recipe. I kept putting off making it because it seemed involved. That’s why this post is a day later than I had planned to write it.

Marvelous Meatballs

In the end, the veggie chopping wasn’t that difficult and the meatballs were amazing! I served it with mashed cauliflower and roasted green beans with garlic.

I cut this recipe in half and it still made six large meatballs so we got dinner and leftovers.I can’t wait to taste the cold leftovers, something I adore.  🙂

Next week, I plan to try the Better Butter Chicken and the Nutty Cookies.

Brussels Sprouts ‘n’ Bacon – from Everyday Paleo

  • 6 bacon strips
  • 1 lb Brussels sprouts
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbs dried thyme
  • black pepper to taste
  1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Dice bacon and cook in a skillet until crispy
  3. Steam the Brussels sprouts for 4 minutes, cut off stem and quarter
  4. In a medium sized mixing bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts with the bacon, bacon grease, garlic powder, thyme, and black pepper. Spread evenly in a glass baking dish and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time. 

Krispie Brownies, Yum

This weekend was a fun one. I went to visit my mini-me, Lyndzee. I was going to teach her how to cook some easy dinners and then she and her new husband were going to have a gender reveal party to tell everyone the sex of their baby that will be born in November.

Lauri & Lyndzee

I like to cook but sometimes I get really busy and run out of time. We try and eat a healthy paleo diet much of the time.

I asked Lyndzee if she had a George Foreman grill and she didn’t. We use the GF Grill at a minimum of five nights a week and often for lunch. Honestly, I can’t imagine how I would get along without my GF Grill. I brought one for Lyndzee so she will be able to see how fast and easy she can make dinner.

Most nights, I told her, I put the potatoes in the microwave when the GF Grill is heating up. Then, when the potatoes are done, put the meat on the grill and veggies in the microwave and, voila!, dinner in 15 minutes. There’s enough time to chop up an easy salad, too.

I taught her how to make spaghetti squash and meat sauce, a dish that both of us love. Mr. Lyndzee took a tiny portion to be sure he liked it.

Spaghetti Squash

And his review was two thumbs down. Oh well.

Although I was cooking healthy, Lyndzee is pregnant and she wanted treats so I brought a terrific dessert that I love but hadn’t made in years, Krispie Brownies. They are easy and so delicious.

They are so good, that Lyndzee wanted to eat a piece this big:

brownies

Here is the recipe so you can make your own awesome Krispie Brownies.

1 pkg fudge brownie mix, family size
1 (10 1/2 oz) pkg mini marshmallows
1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c creamy peanut butter
1 T butter
1 1/2 c Rice Krispies

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of 13×9 in baking pan. Prepare and bake brownies according to pkg directions for original recipe. Remove from oven. Sprinkle marshmallows on hot brownies. Return to oven. Bake 3 more minutes. Place chocolate chips and peanut butter in medium saucepan, cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until chips are melted. Add cereal, mix well. Spread mixture over marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled. Cut into bars. Makes about 24 bars or one uber large brownie. 😉

The next day was gender reveal day and

cupcake

It’s a GIRL!

We are so excited to welcome this little girl when she arrives in November. I hope she will be an extra-mini-me. 🙂

Cardamom nom nom

The other day, I was talking to my friend @wedgepizzza to see how she used cardamom pods. I had stopped by for a banana cardamom muffin back in March and it was delicious. She was baking them again that day.

I had been to the Indian grocery before we left Tulsa and bought a bag of cardamom pods that has been sitting in the cupboard ever since. Every time I open the cupboard I smell them and think I really need to do something wtih them. I love that smell!

@wedgepizza told me that she grinds the pods after she toasts them and she particularly likes it paired with banana and suggested pancakes. I told her I’d have to find a paleo pancake recipe since we are trying hard not to do flour.

Not ten minutes later, this recipe sailed into my inbox. I figured that crepes were pretty close to pancakes and got ready to make the recipe. I knew that allowing bananas to be old enough to moosh was going to be my biggest challenge since David loves them so much.

I bought a bunch of bananas and then we went out of town for a week. The bananas were ready and waiting for me to moosh them into crepes this a.m.

I followed the recipe as given but it wasn’t as soupy as it was supposed to be and we ended up with banana pancakes. Which we ate with our fingers. Delicious!

This recipe makes a lot of pancakes and we have a bunch left over. We’ll be having this again! Oh, and I forgot to add the cardamom so I will  have to figure out a way to incorporate that into something. 😉

Paleo Banana Crepes

Makes about 7 big crepes

Ingredients:

1/2 bag of Bob’s Redmill Tapioca Flour

1 can full fat coconut milk (try Native Forest – no BPA in can)

5 ripe bananas

1/2 teaspoon salt

7 pastured eggs

Instructions:

Mix and mash all ingredients together to make a pretty soupy batter. A hand held mixer or submergible blender works well. Heat a large, non-stick pan on medium low and then cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of the batter. Flip when bottom is golden brown. Cook until both sides are lightly browned.

You can cut these up and eat them plain or wrap meat and veggies in them. Even though they’re banana, the flavors blend really well.

Sugar is a slippery slope

Last week, David asked me at the last minute if I wanted to bring the dog and come along with him on his build route. I was excited to be asked and hurriedly made sure that I packed healthy snacks for the car.

Since beginning to eat paleo, I’ve realized that I can eat in almost any restaurant and maintain the healthy eating style. Having good snacks for the car is important to keep from getting too hungry.

That first day, although I had no idea it was going to happen, or not happen as it were, we didn’t eat lunch. David told me that he’s often caught out, far from civilization at lunch time and often goes without eating.

Needless to say, by the time dinner rolled around – and it was a late dinner – I was beyond starving and any good intentions to eat right on this trip had flown out the window miles before. The healthy carrots and radishes we had brought along barely took up any space in my very empty stomach.

We saw the Dairy Queen.

What we’ve learned while driving around Texas is that even the tiniest little towns have a Dairy Queen. I could have even eaten right at the Dairy Queen but I ordered a patty melt, french fries and a Georgia Mud Fudge blizzard (medium sized thankyouverymuch) for dessert. I don’t think I took a breath until I had hoovered the entire meal and, the shocking thing is,  I still felt hungry after I was finished. 🙁

The next day, forewarned by the previous day’s experience, we stopped by Walmart to get lunch. And some snacks.  Some good snacks. Into our cart went cookies and Doritos and donuts and Wheat Thins and a bag of Snickers. I was NOT going to be hungry on that day.

And then the slide started. Oh, I put healthy things into the basket too, but basically I shopped as if I was still as hungry as I had been the previous day.

Breakfast came. Instead of some healthy eggs and fruit, I chucked it all over for pancakes, syrup (extra syrup, please!) and sausage. And down the slope I rolled. Faster and faster.

Sugar and flour make me feel AWFUL. First my knees ache, then  my hips ache, pretty soon all of the joints in my whole body ache and I can’t sleep. It’s bad stuff. So what on earth possesses me to EVER eat sugar and/or flour?

Especially when we’re in a restaurant.  That should be the epitome of easy healthy eating since someone else is preparing the meal for me. But that first little bite tastes so good. And  I don’t feel bad. Not right away. It takes about three days to start feeling really bad and I can tell myself it’s not that big of a deal.

Ha!

Several years ago, my friend was diagnosed with diabetes. We went to an anniversary dinner and she was drinking sweet tea. Her daughter was trying to get her to drink  water but she insisted on the sweet tea. I couldn’t understand why she would do that to herself.

And, yet, here I am basically doing the same thing.  Although I just want to keep feeling good and flexible, I’m still hurting myself by giving in to that first bite that will push me over the edge and down the slippery slope.

I’m going to try really hard not to do that anymore. 🙂

 

She ain’t heavy, she’s my…

…well, she is me.

And how would I really know how heavy I am? David persuaded me to leave my scale behind when we moved to Amarillo. His justification was that the RV isn’t so big that we have room for every little thing and he thought the scale would be better off in our bathroom in Bartlesville.

Well, it’s not JUST a little thing. How am I supposed to know if I’m gaining tons of weight here?

True confession time: I will admit that I’ve been addicted to the scale for many, many years. I have a history of disordered eating that I like to think I’m finally past. There are two things I can’t seem to let go of, though, and one of them is the scale.

Last weekend David had to attend some meetings in Dallas and I made plans to visit with my friend, Denise. I had a brilliant idea:

So I got there and even though I had eaten breakfast, had coffee, was in clothes, I was still 5 lbs less than I was when we left Bartlesville. My day was so HAPPY!

While I realize that basing my happiness on a scale number is ridiculous, I can’t tell you how terrified I was that I was just gaining weight hand over fist.

One of the things we decided prior to moving was that we would never have sugar or flour and anything “bad” in our RV home. There have been days when it’s been tough, usually David is gone and I’m missing him and a nice slice of chocolate cake sounds like a good idea.

But I haven’t given in. David almost did. And it crushed me.

When we were shopping on Saturday, all of a sudden, I saw a package of flour tortillas in the shopping cart.

Me: Are you really going to buy those and bring them into the RV?

Him: Yes.

Holy cow. I was crushed. I mean seriously, I felt betrayed. It must have been on my face like my emotions are a lot and he eventually put the tortillas back on the shelf. I thanked him.

We have been eating mostly Paleo since November of 2010. What I know about that is that we feel so much better when we eat this way. But I have a big sweet tooth and an incredible ability to follow a bad idea (foodwise) to it’s hurtful (oh my aching joints!) conclusion. I knew that if those tortillas got into the RV, it would be the beginning of the end.

David travels and I know he doesn’t eat as healthfully when he’s on the road. He really needs to let that be the only time.

We are heading home for Labor Day weekend. I will visit the scale and it’s very likely I will bring it back with me. I can always store it under the mattress. 🙂