Toasted Pumpkin/Squash Seeds

You know what sucks? Migraines. Do you know what sucks more than migraines? Crying in front of your supervisors while you have a migraine. Yeah. That happened to me. I had a headache all morning, but then again, I have a headache most mornings, so it's nothing new. Anyways, I fought off succumbing to the headache for a couple hours before I finally took my migraine meds. 45 minutes later, the headache was significantly worse and every little sound was pounding in my head. The thing that finally set me off was a phone ringing. That was it. My final straw. I walked over to tell my supervisors that I had to go home (with tears in my eyes), and that's when they started freaking out, because in the words of my supervisor "You look terrible. You can't drive yourself." So one of my other co-workers drove me home, where I promptly crawled into bed and fell asleep. Let me just say that I have a renewed love of black-out curtains. Only black-out curtains were able to stop me from dragging myself under a pile of blankets... probably in my closet. Otherwise, being in my room with regular curtains in the middle of the day/morning would have been torture.

Today was the worst migraine that I've head in over a year. Since starting Paleo, most of my headaches haven't been too terrible. Yes, I still have headaches pretty often, but I can usually ignore them because they're not as intense as they used to be, and don't usually take any medicine for them. Unfortunately, I think that the lack of sleep this past week is what did me in. I've had such difficulties waking up this past week because I've been so tired and today's migraine is yet another sign that I need to pay better attention to my body. Obviously my goal of getting enough sleep (the 21-day challenge from Mark's Daily Apple that I mentioned) is not working out so well. Clearly, I still need some work. Health is a work in progress.

Anyways, enough of me, my migraines, and my need for sleep. Here's another pumpkin-related recipe.

Hot Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Seeds from one pumpkin

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.

2. Thoroughly clean the seeds after scooping them out of the pumpkin. I pull the pumpkin bits out by hand and then rinse the seeds in a colander.

3. Dry the seeds with a paper towel. It doesn't have to be completely dry.

4. Place the seeds in a bowl and add the salt and pepper. Stir to coat evenly.

5. Spread on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes. The seeds are done with they're nice and crunchy if you bite into one.

Sweet Toasted Acorn Squash Seeds

Seeds from one acorn squash

1 tsp coconut oil, melted

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

pinch of allspice

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.

2. Thoroughly clean the seeds after scooping them out of the squash. I found the seeds to be more thoroughly attached to the acorn squash flesh, so it took some extra time to separate the seeds from the stringy bits.

3. Dry the seeds with a paper towel.

4. Place the seeds in a bowl and add the coconut oil. Stir to coat.

5. mix in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice.

5. Spread on a baking sheet and slide it into the oven. Cook for roughly 25 minutes. The acorn squash seeds are smaller and I found they didn't need to bake as long to dry them out.

Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup

Yesterday I decided to try out intermittent fasting (IF). IF basically just means going through periods of time of not eating (drinking water and low-calorie drinks such as tea) and eating

It's one of those things of which I've been skeptical. I mean, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Well, that may still be true, but there is an argument that IF can aid weight loss by increasing fat oxidation, decreasing fasting insulin levels, and increasing insulin sensitivity. Head to Mark's Daily Apple for more information.

Despite a few hunger that hit around 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., I felt great. I drank water and tea. I wasn't hungry and I wasn't struggling with cravings for food throughout the day. My stomach did start rumbling pretty loudly after my Krav Maga class yesterday evening, so I ate some food after practice, even though I still didn't feel terribly hungry. I ended up feeling like I ate too much at dinner though, so that'll be something to work on in the future. I lasted a full 24 hours without food. I've mentioned before that I'm an emotional eater. If I'm stressed, bored, tired, etc., I tend to eat. Plus I seem to also use grabbing a snack as a short break. Yesterday I didn't have that option, but I survived without much effort.

Compare that to today. I started out the day with a mug of Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup (see recipe below). Within 2 hours, I wanted to eat something else. I know that I didn't have my usual protein for breakfast, so that could be part of the culprit. But I find it interesting that on my IF day, I wasn't hungry and didn't have to put any effort into restraining my snacking, but today, when I started off the day with food, I wanted more food, more frequently. I guess that's your body heading into starvation mode.

Pumpkin-Acorn Squash Soup (10 servings, 1 cup per serving)

1 pie/sugar pumpkin

1 acorn squash

2 Tbls coconut oil

1 Tbls olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 Tbls thyme, fresh, leaves

4 cups chicken broth (1 Mason jar)

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil.

2. Slice the pumpkin and acorn squash in half. Scoop out the seeds and set aside seeds for a different use.

3. Brush the flesh of the pumpkin and acorn squash with coconut oil. Place the halves, cut side down on the baking sheet. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until the skin is easily punctured with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes so you don't burn yourself. During this baking/waiting time, you can do something else, or chop onions, or whatever you want. After cooling, peel the skin off of the flesh or use a spoon to scoop out the flesh.

4. Once the pumpkin and acorn squash are cooling, heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the onion and thyme, cooking for 5 minutes or until soft.

5. Add the pumpkin and acorn squash flesh to the pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

6. Transfer the mixture in small batches to a blender. Process each batch for a minute or until the mixture is smooth and creamy. You can also use an immersion blender, but it may not end up as creamy.

7. Once the entire pot has been blended, stir in the remaining ingredients. Reheat on the stove and serve immediately. Top with sage if you feel like it.

Here's how much soup I got out of this recipe.

Here's a nutrition label based on the results from inputting my recipe to PaleoTrack.com. These values assume a serving size of 1 cup, with roughly 10 cups of soup altogether.

Whole 30 - Day 17

So I’ve been listening to Backstreet Boys since the concert on Saturday. Yes, I’m a 26-year-old woman listening to my favorite childhood band. Don’t judge. I find it interesting that I can still identify who is singing based on the sound of the voice... yeah, that's Brian singing, now AJ, oh and switching over to Kevin. Is that not crazy that even though I haven’t really listened to Backstreet Boys for 10 years, but I still remember each of their voices. I bet I can still do the same thing with N’Sync too. It’s incredible what the mind can do. I can pick out the sound of some of my old choir buddies’ voices even when they’re singing in a group, like our old choir tour CD or one of my friend's a cappella group's CD. I guess some people just have very distinctive sounding voices. Sorry for that tangent. I’m just listening to BSB right now, so it’s on my mind.

If you want an easy side dish, give acorn squash a try. It’s got a nutty flavor and is a bit sweeter than summer squash. Some tips for picking a good one: You want the squash to be 1-3 lbs, because larger squash tend to end up stringy and dry. There should be no soft spots and the skin should be smooth and dull (shiny skin is either applied wax or the squash was picked too early). I aim for the ones with more green color than orange, but some orange color is okay. Too much orange and you could get a stringy squash.

I think the most common non-Paleo way of cooking acorn squash is to cook it with butter and brown sugar and/or cinnamon. If you’re Paleo, here’s one way to do it, and it smells delicious while baking!

Cinnamon Acorn Squash

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Cut your acorn squash in half length-wise. Scoop out the seeds.

3. Rub coconut oil or ghee over the surface of both halves of the squash.

4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg.

5. Place halves face down on a lined baking sheet (or unlined if you don’t care about cleanup).

6. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

You can eat as is, or you can add some chicken or eggs inside to make an acorn squash bowl.

Another random side note… did you know that there are gluten-free dating websites out there? Go figure.

Whole 30 - Family Gathering

Today was my first full day with my family, and it was a bit of a later start than I was expecting. I ate a small banana for breakfast before leaving the hotel. After my parents and I got our ID passes from the Air Force base (the hotel at which we are staying is on the base), we stopped by the grocery store in order for me to pick up some ingredients for Paleo meals. My grocery list consisted of:

• Butternut squash 
• Cauliflower 
• Broccoli 
• Onion 
• Scallions 
• Garlic 
• 2 tart apples 
• Bacon (as organic and free-range as I could get) 
• Ground beef (as organic and free-range as I could get)

While I was there, I also grabbed some acorn squash because it looked delicious. Once we got to my uncle's house, I immediately started cooking. I started off with Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Broccoli

and Spicy Kale Chips

I also chopped up two bags of Brussels sprouts for a side dish tomorrow. By this point, it was about time for lunch. So while my family ate BBQ pulled chicken, I snacked on some broccoli and salami. And because of happy coincidence, my Atlanta-born college roommate and I happened to be in the same city, so I met up with her in the early afternoon for a catch-up -on-your-life tea break. When I got back from hanging out with her and her hubby, I started making non-Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars for my family. Yeah, I'm just that nice; even though I couldn't eat it, I wanted to share the deliciousness with my family. I think they liked it... just kidding, it was awesome!

Because the oven was full of baking lasagna and mozzarella breadsticks, I postponed prepping my own dinner until the oven was free. Because I'm on vacation I didn't want to think of any new recipes and the acorn squash reminded me of a PaleOMG recipe that I wanted to try. So I made Stuffed Acorn Squash.

1/2 acorn squash

1 lb ground beef (go for free-range/grass-fed if possible)

1/2 onion diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbls + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 375°C. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil.

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Coat the flesh of the squash with olive oil (1 tsp on each half). Now shake 1/2 tsp of cinnamon onto each half and rub the cinnamon across the squash to ensure even distribution. Place the squash, cut-side down, onto the baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes before flipping over and baking for another 10 minutes.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in a skillet over the stove. Once hot, transfer the onion and the garlic into the pan and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the ground beef. Once the beef has been browned, reduce heat to low and keep warm until the squash is done.

Now that your squash is done (the skin of the squash will be squishy when you poke it), carefully scoop the flesh out of one half of the squash, making sure that you don't break the skin.

Transfer to the pan on the stove and mix into the ground beef. Transfer back into the skin of the squash. When the half is almost completely full, use your spoon to make a dent in the mixture and crack an egg into the hole you just made. Put the squash back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the egg is cooked.

You could do the same thing with the other acorn squash half, or you could use a knife to cut the squash into squares for use in some other dish. I did the later, but I haven't decided yet what to make... I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

So it took an hour after my family ate for me to finish cooking and get around to eating, but hey, I managed to stay Paleo and eat a delicious meal. And I have exercised INTENSE self-control and have not eaten any of the pumpkin chocolate chip bars which you all know that I love. That's dedication to Whole 30. Your admiration of my mad self-control is appreciated.

Go Bad and Go Big

"WHY?" I ask you, "Why?" I was bad, REALLY bad, at lunch yesterday. I wasn't feeling very good; I had a sore throat, just felt generally icky, and was having an incredibly hard time staying awake. I blame running outside and "sucking up" (in my dad's words) allergens, because the sore throat kicked in shortly after my run on Tuesday. Anyways, when I don't feel good, my willpower is zilch. And I guess I have this idea that eating food will make me feel better. Does it? Hell no. And after eating a small square of lasagna I felt even worse. Not only did I have a sore throat and my ever-present headache, but also I could feel the "bad" food just sitting in my stomach. If that food could talk, it'd probably say something along the lines of "F' you!", "Gotchya!", and You're gonna suffer now!" That was one of those decisions that, as soon as I finished eating it (and even slightly before I finished), I thought I really wish I hadn't done that. I wish I could take that back. That was stupid. But I can't undo it. Ctrl-Z does me no good. (Did you know that Ctrl-Y is "re-do"?) There's no way to take it back aside from sticking a finger down my throat to make myself throw up. And I don't do that. Nor does it work on me anyways. I've tried in the past when I've accidentally eaten something with shrimp/shellfish in it, and apparently my gag reflex isn't strong enough.

So sadly, I got the spend the afternoon suffering through a sore throat, achy body, and angry tummy. If it wouldn't have drawn attention, I probably would have smashed my head on the desk a few times for being so idiotic. And do you want to know what the worst part was?? The food wasn't even that good. Stupid catered food from lunch meetings. If only my fellow Paleo-ish buddy (BA) was around to smack some sense into me before I ate anything. I must remember that if I'm going to slip up, I might as well do it at a fancy restaurant with high quality food, or at home, where I know the food is going to taste good and I know what went into the meal, like homemade pasta using my nifty pasta maker. Why do I make such stupid decisions???

In response to my bad decision, I made a Paleo version of lasagna. Now most of you probably think that I'd substitute the lasagna noodles with eggplant, but you're wrong. I hate eggplant. I've tried to like it in the past, but no matter how many times I've tried it, I can never finish the dish. Since going Paleo, a lot of my taste preferences have changed, but eggplant is not one of those. Instead of eggplant "noodles," I used sweet potatoes.

Paleo Lasagna

(prep steps are color-coded)

1/2 lb chicken, in strips or cubed

1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 tsp pepper

1 link of all-natural sausage

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise (say hello to the mandoline)

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

1 acorn squash, cubed
1 1/2 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls olive oil

1 1/2 yellow onion

2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup artichoke hearts

1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

2/3 red pepper, sliced

3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered

3/4 jalapeno, thinly sliced

Mix the purple ingredients in a ziploc bag and marinade the chicken for 2+ hours. After the chicken is chillin' in the fridge, prep your blue ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Pull out that acorn squash and remove the outer shell and the seeds. Chop the acorn squash into bite size pieces. Pull out a large square of tin foil and put the squash into the tinfoil, drizzling with 1 1/2 Tbls of olive oil and seasoning with salt and pepper. Fold the tinfoil over the squash and put in the oven on 400F for ~30-40 minutes.


Heat 2 Tbls olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat to start cooking the green ingredients. Once hot, add the onions and garlic, cooking until onions are translucent. While cooking the onions, season with salt and pepper. Add the peppers, acorn squash, jalapeno, oregano, cayenne pepper, and 1/4 tsp garlic salt, cooking for another 10 minutes.  Mix in the mushrooms, artichokes, and cherry tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes. All of your veggies should be soft at this point. In a bowl, mix your coconut milk with 1/4 tsp of garlic salt, and a few shakes of salt and pepper.

Lower your oven from 400F to 375F. And it's time to start layering. Grab an 8"x8" pan and grease the pan (I used a little EVOO). Begin by spreading a layer of sweet potatoes. Overlap the edges of the slices. Next layer is your veggies, followed by the acorn squash, and then your meat. Repeat until you run out of ingredients (I got two sets in). Top with a layer of sweet potatoes. Pour the coconut milk over. So for you visual learners, out there:

Coconut Milk

Sweet Potato

Purple
Blue

Green

Sweet Potato

Purple
Blue

Green

Sweet Potato

Cover your pan with tin foil and place in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes. Check to see if the sweet potatoes are fully baked. If not, cook longer, checking every 5 minutes until they are ready. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Lamb Stew

Lamb Stew

Acorn Squash - I ended up only using the one of the left.
The picture below shows the squash after chopping.

2 lbs lamb (cut into bite-sized chunks)

2 tbls EVOO

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbls EVOO

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

7 cloves garlic, chopped

3 strips of bacon, chopped

1 acorn squash (~1 lb), peeled, seeded, and chopped (can use butternut squash)

splash of white wine (any kind will do, I used Sauvignon Blanc)

1 1/2 cups carrots

1 can diced tomato

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup red wine (any kind will do, I used a blend)

1 tbls dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tbls of olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. When the oil is hot, add the chopped lamb, and cook until browned (if some pink remains, don't worry), stirring occasionally. Remove lamb from the pan, leaving the small bits of meat and fat. Set lamb aside.

Without cleaning the pot, add 1 tbls olive oil, celery, onion, garlic, and bacon. Add a little bit of white wine, thus deglazing the pot. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Add carrots, squash, diced tomato, tomato paste, red wine, browned lamb, red wine, beef broth, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir. Cover the pot and turn heat to low. Cook for 2 hours. Stirring every 30 minutes. After 2 hours, remove the lid, and turn heat up a few notches. Set timer for 30 minutes. (This last 30 minutes will boil off some of the liquid and thicken the stew. It's up to you how thick you want the stew, so adjust the time accordingly. For a thicker stew, mash up some of the chunks of squash.)