New Tradition: Healthy Meals with Friends

I've implemented a new tradition with my friends. Once a month, we’re going to gather at someone’s place and cook a healthy dinner. Each person brings the ingredients for one dish which gets shared with the rest of the group. Leftovers can get taken home by all and serve as at least one lunch for everyone that week. For this first one, my roommate and I got all of the leftovers because we went to see a movie after dinner and we didn't want to let the food sit unrefrigerated in the car. Of course then my roommate went out of town for work, so really I kept all of the leftovers… works for me. I got at least four meals out of the leftovers, and still had another three meals portioned out that I didn't eat - I need SOME variety in my life.

I have the most dietary restrictions of the group, so everyone caters to me… just kidding, but not really. We've also got one girl who doesn't eat any meat except for chicken and another who doesn't have gluten or added sugars (she’s practically paleo), so our meal plan is roughly:

• 1 chicken-based entree (i.e., stir-fry, chicken tikka masala, etc.)
• 2 vegetable-based dishes (i.e., ratatouille, roasted asparagus, sweet potato, tomato basil soup, etc.)
• side salad
• fruit for dessert

February 15th was the first night we did this and we had three people attend. I’d say 3-4 is a good number if all of the chefs need to prep and cook their dishes. More people probably would have led to some collisions

My roommate made a Spicy Sweet Potato Soup, with roughly the following ingredients. She tweaked this recipe to suit my needs and her dislike of chicken broth/stock.

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 tablespoon ghee

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

4 cups water or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root, or 2 tsp ginger powder

1/4 cup smooth almond butter

2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp salt

If you divide this soup into 8 servings, each serving is 106 kcal, 14 g carbs, 5 g fat, 3 g protein, 5 g sugar, 3 g fiber, 168 mg sodium, 260 mg potassium, 165% vitamin A, 18% vitamin C, 5% calcium, 5% iron.

My other friend made a spicy veggie stir-fry, and I whipped up NomNomPaleo’s Braised Chicken with Artichokes and Pearl Onions.

We scarfed down our dinner before I thought to take a photo of the nicely plated meals, so here’s a shot of one of the portioned meals I had throughout the week.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apples

1-2 lb pork tenderloin

2 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbls Dijon mustard

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

2 apples (I used Gala), cored and thickly sliced

1/2 onion, sliced (you can use more than this, but I'm not much of an onion person, so I only use a little)

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Trim pork to remove the silver skin. Rub the tenderloin with 1 Tbls olive oil, then rub all over with salt.
3. Heat 1 Tbls olive oil over medium-high heat in a cast-iron skillet. Once hot, place the tenderloin in the pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side (there's four sides in case you were wondering).
4. Remove tenderloin from the pan and set aside. Add the apples and onions to the pan and cook for 4-5  minutes
5. While the apples and onions cook, rub the tenderloin with the mustard, thyme, and pepper.
6. Place the tenderloin on top of the apples and onions and transfer to the oven. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145-150°F.
7. Transfer the pork to a plate and cover with aluminum. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Dijon Mustard Salad Dressing

Happy Monday, y'all! The summer weather has definitely hit Texas. To celebrate the heat, one of my best friends and I went for a walk after work. LMR is currently fostering an adorable little Pomeranian, so we got a dose of cuteness to counteract the heat. I returned home to do a P90X workout, and then whipped up a hefty salad to stave off my hunger. My salad ingredients consisted of red leaf lettuce, carrots, celery, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts. And here's the dressing I whisked together to add some extra flavor...

Dijon Mustard Dressing

2 Tbls Dijon mustard

1 1/2 Tbls extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl, then drizzle over your salad.

I added some chopped prosciutto to make myself feel fancy while I lounged around in my sweats. What a wonderful Monday night!

W30D17

Hey, guess what? I just realized that we're over halfway through with this Whole 30. Rock on! It hasn't been too bad so far, if you exclude my Saturday Irish stew consumption, but that was a brief hiccup. I have to admit that I've been fighting off the urge to sneak a piece of dark chocolate. Notice that I used the word "sneak," because I know that I shouldn't be eating it so I feel like I'd need to hide it. I've fought off the urge for the past two nights. Want to know my motivation for saying no? Of course you do... It's the fact that I'd have to call up Jay and confess that I ate dark chocolate during a Whole 30. That's a definite no-no. And after I called him, I'd post it on here. For all of you to read. Yeah, it's good to be held accountable by someone other than just yourself.

I really need to start going to bed earlier. I'm not sure how exactly to make this happen, because I keep finding myself writing these posts and finally replying to emails at the end of each day. Because I stayed up till 11:30 last night, it took me a while to get moving this morning. I snoozed my 5:00 a.m., 5:15 a.m., and 5:30 a.m. alarms, and finally got up at 5:50 to shuffle over to my rowing machine and get a morning workout in. Note to self: Don't get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom... There is a 7' long rowing machine in your way.

Now on to the yummy stuff.

Rosemary Lamb Chop

1 lb lamb chop

4 Tbls olive oil

2 Tbls chopped rosemary

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1. Mix 2 Tbls olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper together. Rub mixture into the meat, cover, and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.

2. Heat the remaining two Tbls olive oil over high heat in an cast iron pan (or something capable of going into the oven). Once hot, add the lamb chop and sear on each side for 3-4 minutes.

3. Transfer to 400 F oven and cook for 4-5 minutes. (optional)

4. Move the lamb chops to a plate or cutting board and cover with tin foil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Then eat up.

ECD9: 45 minutes rowing + 15 minutes practicing inversions (a.k.a. head stands). I'm getting closer to being able to hold it for more than 5 seconds.

W30D15

I woke up this morning and decided that I wanted to fast today. At the time of this post, I'll have gone without food for 27 hours. I don't know all of the reasons why, but I always feel GREAT when I fast. I have no stomach issues, no headaches, and consistent energy levels. I even worked out tonight. I did 45 minutes on my rowing machine and then spent 15 minutes doing yoga stretches and working on inversions (a.k.a. head stands).

I really need to research fasting some more, because as great as I feel now, not eating for extended periods of time is just not going to work for me. So I need to figure out what it is that I'm eating that is causing me to have lingering stomach issues. Thoughts anyone?

Roast Chicken

4 lb free-range chicken

2 Tbls olive oil

3 tsp salt

3 tsp pepper

1 lemon

4 cloves garlic, smashed

2 sweet potatoes, chopped into 2" pieces

10 carrots, roughly chopped

1 yellow onion, thickly sliced

1 bunch celery, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven or roaster to 350 F.

2. Rinse the inside and outside of the chicken. Pat dry and then coat with olive oil.

3. Rub 2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper into the skin of the bird. Make cuts in the skin near the wings of the bird and use the holes to rub salt and pepper under the skin as well.

4. Rub the remaining salt and pepper on the inside of the bird.

5. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the lemon on the inside of the bird. Then place the lemon halves and the smashed garlic cloves into the chicken.

6. Spread the sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery chunks across the bottom of the pan. Use a rack to place the chicken above the vegetables.

7. Cook for 1 hour (roughly 15 minutes per pound of chicken). Halfway through, baste the chicken and drain off the liquid in the bottom of the pan; this will make sure the bottom of the chicken gets crispy as well.

ECD7: 45 minutes rowing machine, 15 minutes yoga

W30D11

I just realized that I haven't eaten any fruits for the past three days. So somehow my Whole 30 has shifted into a mix of Whole 30 and 21DSD (21 Day Sugar Detox). It wasn't intentional, but I guess I have been trying to break the habit of finishing off a meal with something sweet or dessert-like, like chocolate, fruit, or nut butter. Now I kind of want to see how long I can last before I start craving fruit.

I'm somewhat regretting my decision to say goodbye to Facebook for a while, because now I just want to ask for my friends opinions on the fitbit and other biotracking devices. Although I would really prefer a device that would monitor my heart rate and walking/running speed/distance in addition to the number of steps I've taken. Is it too much to ask for everything? Does the vivofit by Garmin cover my desires?

Basil Tuna

1/2 lb tuna steak

1 Tbls olive oil

3 Tbls fresh basil, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1. Rub 1 Tbls of olive oil into the tuna steak.

2. Mix together the basil, salt, and pepper. Then spread over the tuna steak.

3. Place on a parchment paper-lined baking pan and set to broil on a rack 4" below the top of the oven. Cook for 4 minutes, then use tongs to flip the tuna over and cook for another 4 minutes. This got me to a medium-well tuna steak, which is a bit more than I wanted. It still tasted delicious though!

After cooking for 4 minutes on one side.

After for minutes, flipped.

After 8 minutes of cooking

ECD3: 1 hour Krav Maga

Of course we worked on throwing elbows again today, so shortly after starting to slam my right elbow into the "tombstone" (small pad), my partner looks at my elbow and asks "Are you okay?!?" I've got blood smeared all over my elbow and partly onto my forearm from scraping off the fresh scab from Wednesday morning's class. And there's blood on the pad as well. Lovely. So I do a few more, despite the worsening wound, and then run off to grab two disinfecting wipes. One to clean off my elbow (Ahhhhh! It BURNS!), and one to clean the pad before I switch to my opposite elbow. During one of the breaks where the instructor focused a bit more on technique, I run over to my purse where I had a roll of stretchy tape and wrap up my elbow to make sure I don't spread blood everywhere. Despite reapplying a fresh wrap after class and removing it once I got home, I have a nice red, itchy, burning rash where the tape was. Because of course, I'm allergic to tape. I know that I have allergic reactions to band-aids and medical tape, and have ever since the summer of 2003. I don't know what happened 11 years ago in the formula for the adhesive used in band-aids and all types of medical tape (including "sensitive-skin"), but over the course of one month, my grandmother up in Minnesota, my mother in Atlanta, and me in Valdosta, GA for summer camp, ALL developed allergic reactions to adhesive. What gives? The doctors didn't know what it was so they labeled it as a latex allergy and it's stuck in my records ever since, though I'm find with latex as long as you don't attach an adhesive to it.

W30D10

Well, I managed to wake up at 4:58 a.m. to get my ass over to my Krav Maga studio for their 5:25 a.m. Meta (metamorphosis/boot camp) class, followed by the 6 a.m. Krav Maga 1 class. In the 30 minutes of Meta, I did 66 burpees, 54 hollow rocks, 54 kettle bell push-presses, 54 up-down planks, and 54 Krav get-ups. We were supposed to do more, but I did move fast enough... for good reason, I was exhausted. We worked on elbows, knees, head-butts, and side choke holds today. By the time I got done with my Krav class, I had scraped off the skin of my right elbow due to throwing elbows against a pad, had gotten elbowed in the head more times that I could count, and had a slightly rug-burned neck from snatching my partner's hands away from it and out of the choke hold. Yeah, it can get a bit violent, but I always leave feeling happy and energetic. Right now, roughly 16 hours after the start of my first workout, I'm starting to feel the muscle soreness. I can only imagine what tomorrow is going to be like.

I'm thinking about getting a Fitbit. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Is it worth getting one?

Chicken and Sweet Potato Stuffed Peppers

(this is pretty similar to a recipe I posted last year, with some differences)

1 1/2 lb chicken, cut into 1" pieces

3 bell peppers, whichever color you want

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 small jalapeno, finely diced

2 tsp chili pepper

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 Tbls lime juice

2 Tbls olive oil

1 sweet potato

1. Mix your ingredients together in a large bowl or gallon-sized plastic bag. Toss/shake until the chicken is evenly coated. Cover/seal and place in the fridge for an hour or two. Take a break, read a book, or cook other things.

2. In the meantime or after you get back to cooking after your break, heat your oven to 400 F. Prick your sweet potato with a fork all over and bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until tender. Remove from oven and let cool. Then chop up half to all of the sweet potato into 1 cm chunks. Set aside.

3. Remove for chicken/veggie mixture from the oven and spread on a pan. Cook in the 400 F for 25-30 minutes until almost completely done.

4. While this is cooking, slice the tops off of the bell peppers and remove the seeds.

5. Mix together the chicken and the sweet potatoes and stuff into the peppers.

6. Place on a pan and cook for 30 minutes, or until peppers have softened.

ECD2: 30 minute boot camp style + 1 hour Krav Maga

W30D8

I'm sure I mentioned this the other day, but I've been listening to some of the interviews available through PaleoCon for the past week. I definitely recommend heading over there now to check out the interview with George Bryant of Civilized Caveman before the interview gets removed from the website. Go now! It's a really personal interview that covers some of George's struggles to turn his life around and be happy and healthy.

While I haven't had the same struggles as George, I've been thinking lately that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I think about it A LOT, whether it's planning my next meal, or feeling bored or upset and wanting to eat something to break up the monotony. I'm also pretty terrible at moderation. One of my "healthier" weaknesses is dried mango. I used to dislike the taste of mango, but I learned that I am kind of obsessed with unsulphured, unsweetened dried mango. And though a serving size is maybe a couple slices, I can down an entire bag in one sitting, which is something like 4.5 servings. While I'm devouring the mango, I mentally tell myself Okay, this is your last piece. You really are full. You don't need another piece. So I stop, for like 15 seconds, and then I'm reaching in the bag again to grab more mango. Before I know it, the entire bag is gone and I'm left feeling slightly over-full, but also craving more. Hello, sweet tooth! It's a bit ridiculous how little self-control I have sometimes. I'm the same way with chocolate and gluten-free crackers. I can't have "just one."

I feel like I'm programmed for all or nothing. I'm good at restrictions or going hard-core into a sport. But if I let myself slip once and tell myself It's alright, you'll get back on track tomorrow, I start slipping all of the time. I had one piece of chocolate yesterday, so one more today won't hurt. I didn't actually have any chocolate yesterday in case you were wondering. This overeating trend also ties into the fact that sugars and grains are addicting. In one of the PaleoCon presentations today, the interviewee mentioned that sugar is more addicting than cocaine. WHAT?!?! And sugar is in so many things that you wouldn't expect, like bacon. There were at least five people that I talked to this weekend alone who were shocked to hear that there's added sugar in most bacon. Yep. Sorry folks. If I'm buying bacon at the store, I spend at least five minutes reading the labels of all of the brands and end up settling for whichever option is the most organic and is nitrate-free. It's tough. And I think most people in the Paleo world end up buying their meats online, such as U.S. Wellness Meat.

Chocolate Chili

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

1 onion, diced

3 cup bone broth

1 1/2 cup tomato sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 Tbls cumin

1/2 Tbls chili powder

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (pure chocolate is kind of OK by Whole 30 standards if used as a spice, not a sweet)

1 Tbls apple cider vinegar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Heat 2 cups bone broth and ground beef over medium-high heat in a large stock pot. Cook for 30 minutes or until little liquid remains.

2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir, and cook covered for 2 hours.

3. Remove lid and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved.

4. Serve with green onion or avocado.

W30D4

I'm admitting a slip-up when it comes to the Whole 30. I had alcohol tonight with some of my current and former co-workers. I started Whole 30 with the knowledge that I already had plans to consume alcohol during the 30 days. I totally understand the reasons why I shouldn't consume alcohol and I know how alcohol affects my bodily functions. I also firmly believe that our ancestors did not have easy access to fermented beverages. So while I believe that they probably had irregular access to some sort of alcoholic beverages/materials, I don't believe that it would be a commonly consumed product. However, I also recognize the fact that while I do follow a Paleo lifestyle, the foods, whether they be meat or vegetables, that I eat now are not the same foods as what my Paleolithic ancestors eat. Food products have evolved (or been genetically engineered) to be different from what humanoids ate 10,000 years ago. The cow meat that I buy at a store now, is not the same as what would have been hunted and killed by our ancestors. Just accept that fact. I do recommend that you should aim for grass-fed meat whenever possible. And speaking of grass-fed meat...

Spinach Meatballs
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
3/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine all of the ingredients together using your hands.
3. Roll into 1" diameter balls and spread across broiler pan.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

5. Serve with spaghetti squash and pasta sauce or pesto sauce.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Last Sunday, I went into work for 7.5 hours. On my way home, I was thinking about what I had at home and what I could make for my meals for the week. My mom had mentioned having soup earlier in the day, which made me think about tomato soup. I went through the pantry inventory stored in my mind, and decided I wanted tomato basil soup. I had everything at home that I would need, excluding the fresh basil, which I had to go to two stores to find. Ridiculous! Anyways, here's what I did, and honey, it tastes good.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes, no salt added

1 15-oz can of crushed tomatoes, no salt added

1 12-oz can of tomato sauce

1 8-oz can of tomato paste

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/5 tsp ghee

1 cup finely diced onion

1 cup finely diced carrots

1 clove garlic, smashed and minced

~5 leaves fresh basil

1 tsp oregano

1 pinch sea salt

fresh-ground black pepper

1/2 cup coconut milk

Place all of your ingredients, excluding the coconut milk, into a crock pot. Stir, then cover. Set on low for 8 hours. After cooking, use an immersion blender to break down the ingredients into smaller pieces (if desired). Stir in the coconut milk and serve with a chiffonade of basil. Enjoy!

I just happened to have 5 different types of canned tomato products at home. You could use one of the jumbo cans of crushed tomatoes and use that in place of the 2 15-oz cans of diced/crushed tomatoes. Also, if you like your tomato soups to have a little chunk to them, stick with diced tomatoes instead of crushed tomatoes or the tomato sauce. It's what you make of it, so have fun.

Sweet and Spicy Cabbage Tacos

The sweet potatoes, carrots, and cherry/grape tomatoes adds some sweetness to the heat from the ground beef seasoning. If you like dishes that give you a little kick while also providing you with soothing sweetness (thanks to the sweet potatoes in particular), give this a try.

Sweet and Spicy Cabbage Tacos

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

6 leaves of green cabbage, carefully removed from the head of cabbage (you don't want any tears in your taco "shell")

1/2 sweet potato, diced

1/4 onion, chopped (I'm not a huge fan of onion, so feel free to add more if you like it)

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup broccoli florets,

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half

1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped

Taco Seasoning (http://adventurepaleo.blogspot.com/2012/05/guacamole.html)

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add another 1-1 1/2 tsp if you really like spice)

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp paprika

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp pepper, freshly ground - See more at: http://adventurepaleo.blogspot.com/2012/05/guacamole.html#sthash.Nekjm48U.dpuf

1. Mix the taco seasoning and raw beef together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for an hour or so.

2. Remove the seasoned beef from the fridge, and toss into a pan on medium heat. Once the meat is thoroughly cooked, drain the fat and transfer the beef to a paper towel-lined plate.

3. With what fat remains in the pan, throw in the sweet potato, onions, carrots, and broccoli, but don't add the mushrooms, red bell pepper, or tomatoes yet. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper for a bit more flavor. Cook for 5 minutes. (I know that I'd usually cook the onions until they turn translucent before adding other veggies, but I figured that that these veggies all could do with roughly the same amount of cooking time and I didn't feel like doing this is too many stages).

4. Add in the mushrooms and tomatoes, cooking for a couple minutes.

5. Then return the ground beef to the pan. Heat for a couple more minutes or until the beef is thoroughly warmed.

6. Add a couple spoonfuls of the ground beef mixture to one of the cabbage leaves, curl up the edges, and dig in.

Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese sauce refers to a meat-based red sauce generally used on broad/flat pasta (e.g. tagliatelle or fettuccine) or shorter tube shapes (e.g. penne). It typically consists of onion, carrots, and celery, as well as meat like ground beef or pancetta, a bit of tomato, and some wine. I cooked mine without the wine, but it still tastes delicious. The carrots give it a bit of sweetness. Enjoy!

Bolognese Sauce

1 Tbls olive oil
1 1/4 lb grass-fed ground beef
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 cup carrots, finely diced
1/4 cup celery, finely diced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6-oz can tomato puree

1. Heat 1 Tbls olive oil over medium heat on the stove.
2. Break up the beef into small pieces and cook until thoroughly brown.
3. Once cooked, remove the beef from the heat and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
4. Drain some of the fat from the pan, then add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until veggies start to soften.
5. Mix the beef back in and stir in the tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes to thicken.
6. Serve with zucchini noodles. If you don't have a mandoline, use a peeler to cut the zucchini thin and wide.

Lemon-Paprika Salmon

It's the second day of my Virgin Diet. Nothing new to report. As I mentioned yesterday, the Virgin Diet isn't significantly different from how I normally eat. However, thanks to the handy website PaleoTrack.com, I noticed that during these past two days my protein intake has increased and my carb intake has decreased. And by carb I mean starchy veggies and fruits. So I'm falling into the ketosis/intermittent fasting range of carb intake, or < 50 g of carbohydrates. Reference this graph here. I had talked about ketosis the other week as a way of potentially reducing my migraine frequency, but I never really expected to do it. Seriously, I had already cut down on so many things, that the idea of cutting down on my fruit/starchy carbs intake was unappealing. Yet here I am now, cutting down on fruits. Ketosis, here I come... Let's see how long I can keep it up without having a bad day or a weak moment and attacking an entire bag of dried fruit (dried mango has become my weakness over the last couple months... curse you, Trader Joe's for have unsulphured, unsweetened dried fruit). In the meantime, get some Omega-3's into your diet with this salmon.

Lemon-Paprika Salmon

1 wild-caught Coho salmon fillet
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp lemon juice (or orange juice)
1 Tbls olive oil

1. Mix the garlic powder, paprika, sea salt, pepper, lemon juice, and olive oil together in a small bowl.

2. Coat the salmon on both sides with the mixture, and place in a covered container in the fridge for half an hour.

3. Set oven to broil.
4. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the salmon has turned a light pink shade and is slightly flaky.

5. Let sit for a few minutes and then slice and serve.

Steamed broccoli or asparagus are good side options.

Breakfast for Dinner

You know how I said I've been lazy lately. Well, that laziness has continued. I'm being more productive this week, but I didn't do my weekly meal prep, so here's what I tossed together for dinner today:

Leafy Greens, Sweet Potato, and Avocado with Eggs

1 sweet potato, diced

2 cups spinach

1 cup kale

1 cup Swiss chard

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 avocado

pinch of cumin

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp lime juice

1. Heat 1 Tbls olive oil over medium/medium-low heat (setting 4 on my stove).

2. Once hot toss in the sweet potato. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and salt. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.

3. After a few minutes, toss in the carrots and stir with the sweet potato. Add the spinach, kale, and Swiss chard to the top of the pan, but don't stir. Cook for 4 minutes.

4. Stir everything together, reduce heat to medium-low (3) and cook for another couple minutes, or until the greens are wilted.

5. Push everything to the side of a pan and crack the eggs into the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the egg white is cooked through.

6. Serve in a bowl with the eggs resting on a bed of leafy greens.

Top with avocado, and sprinkle with the cumin, cayenne pepper, and lime juice.

Backup Protein

The one thing that I feel is the most important thing to have in the fridge, especially when you're feeling lazy, is a carton of eggs. Often when I'm not in the mood to cook, I'll just toss some veggies and eggs in the frying pan and call it dinner. Yeah, eggs are typically considered a breakfast food, but you learn to move past that with Paleo/Primal/healthy eating. When you start eating steak or meatloaf for breakfast, then "breakfast" kind of becomes unimportant. Tonight's meal (since it's not a typical "dinner") consisted of smoked salmon with spinach, shredded cabbage, shredded carrots, and eggs.

Vegetable Scrambled Eggs
1 cup spinach, packed
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 shake of crushed red pepper

1. Heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan. Once hot, add the veggies. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until desired softness.
2. Add the eggs and stir. Cook for a few minutes until eggs are fully cooked, then serve.

Meatloaf Muffins

I have no recollection of ever eating meatloaf growing up. I asked my mom and she insists that we she did make it a few times, and I guess I can't remember every meal my family ever ate, so if I forgot a a few servings of meatloaf... oh well. If I go with my memory though, these "muffins" are the first meatloaf I've ever had. For some reason I had this preconceived notion that I didn't like meatloaf... that it was gross. It appears that I was wrong, because I thoroughly enjoyed these.

Meatloaf Muffins

1 lb ground beef

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

2 Tbls tomato paste

3 Tbls almond flour

1 egg

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Mix all ingredients together and distribute into muffin tin, filling to the brim. (The mix makes roughly 8 muffins)

3. Bake for 30 minutes. Then transfer to paper-towel lined plate.

Steak with Swiss Chard

Well, it's a Friday evening and I just finished cleaning the heck out of my living room. I spent at least 4 hours vacuuming the rug, sweeping and mopping the floor, vacuuming the couches and giant bean bag, fluffing pillows, sweeping under the couches, wiping down the dining room table and chairs, and mopping the tile in the hallway. To say the least, I'm beat. On the bright side, I did spend the evening with two of my delightful friends, KAOS and PC, painting pottery. I was so engrossed in trying to decide what to do and then actually executing my plan, that I forgot to take photos. It seems like I can only remember to photograph food. Anywho, here's some of the food I remembered to take a photo of...

Steak with Swiss Chard and Roasted Peppers

1 top sirloin steak (other cuts work too)
salt and pepper, to taste

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped into 1-2" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch crushed red pepper
2 Tbls ghee

Roasted Peppers

1. Set oven to broil.

2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a cast-iron skillet over high heat on the stove. Once hot, add the steak and cook for 2 minutes on each side.

3. Place the steaks 3" away from the top of the oven. Cook for 13 minutes, flip, and cook for another 13 minutes (for medium-rare).

4. While the steaks are cooking, heat 2 Tbls ghee over medium heat. Add a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and the minced garlic, and saute for a minute or so.

5. Add the Swiss chard, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Flip over the leaves, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. The chard should be soft and look like sauteed spinach leaves. If it's dry, add a tablespoon of water and cook for another couple minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

7. Once the steaks are done, remove pan from the oven, transfer steaks to a plate, and cover with tin foil. Let rest for 5 minutes. Then serve with Swiss chard and roasted red pepper.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

I think this may be one of the dishes that I was most excited about making. It's been on my list of foods to Paleo-ify for over a year, but I just never got around to it. I think I was a bit intimidated of attempting an Indian dish, which I've never ever tried before. And there's a large number of ingredients, but it's all pretty easy to throw together, especially when you do a slow-cooker version. Win! It tastes delicious. And if you're like me and don't eat a ton of meat at each meal, this concoction can last you for a while. I made this last Thursday. So far, I've had it for breakfast on Friday, breakfast and dinner on Saturday, breakfast and dinner on Sunday, and breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. And I've still got enough left for another 4-5 meals. That's a total of 12-13 meals, that I got out of one crock pot. Double win!

Anyways, I hope you LOVE this as much as I do! And did I mention that this is Whole 30 and 21DSD-friendly? Well, now I have...

Slow-Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

3 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbls grated ginger

2 small jalapeños, stemmed, sliced in half, and seeded

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, salt-free

1 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, whole

3 Tbls tomato paste

2 Tbls coconut oil

2 Tbls lemon juice

2 Tbls Garam Masala

1 Tbls cumin

1/2 Tbls paprika

2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper (for extra spice, add an extra 1-2 tsp)

2 bay leaves

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp turmeric

1 can coconut milk (shake well before opening)

cilantro, chopped for serving

1. Mix all of the ingredients, excluding the chicken in a large bowl.

2. Pour half of the tomato mixture and half of the can of coconut milk into the slow-cooker. Add the chicken, then cover with the remaining ingredients.

3. Set on low for 8 hours.

4. Remove bay leaves and jalapeño.

5. Serve by itself or over cauliflower rice.