W30D6

I don't know what it is about weekends that make me feel so darn lazy. I still worked out, cleaned, cooked, and did laundry. But I did spend 30 minutes of the day just relaxing on my un-made bed. It seems as though the dryer at my house decided to stop working after I started washing my bedding. So it's taking me hours with a combination of hanging the sheets and running the dryer on timed dry to get my sheets close to being somewhat dry. Fun, huh?

My friend Jay (of Health Nuts Anonymous - go check it out!) is doing this Whole 30 with me. It's not quite the same as having a support system with you, but it's the next best thing. It keeps me a bit more accountable than if I were just doing this alone. During our brief conversation today, we talked about our communal love of chocolate and our associated sadness in not eating chocolate for the next three weeks. Can there be a version of Whole 30 that requires the consumption of a limited amount of dark chocolate every day? Please? I think that's the thing that I've been wanting the most over this past week. Especially because it's so easy to snack on. Anyways, we also discussed fish, in particular sardines. Jay has found some excellent sardines that come in olive oil with sea salt, and because the sardines have been roasted, you can eat the spine. Um, not exactly my cup of tea, but props to him for choking that down. I'll allow that it may be good for you, but I think I'm going to need to work on Paleo for at least another couple years before I make it to eating sardine spine... if I ever get there. Don't count on it.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that even if your support system doesn't physically see you, it's still helpful having someone else do Paleo/Whole 30/21DSD with you. Sign up for newsletters, join online forums, or even just comment on blogs. Give it a go!

Paleo Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks, room temperature

1 Tbls lemon juice

1/2 cup melted ghee, this should be warm, not hot

pinch of salt

pinch of cayenne pepper

1. Blend the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper on low for 30 seconds. Keep the blender running...
2. SLOWLY add the ghee drop by drop to the blender. If you add the ghee too quickly, the emulsion will fall apart and then you'll just have a yellow mess. No bueno. After the emulsion has formed, you can speed up a little bit to a trickle, then to a steady, but slow, stream. Continue until all of the ghee has been incorporated.

Poached Egg with Hollandaise

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

I gave it a try. I attempted another recipe of Paleo pumpkin chocolate chip bars. The results? It's a bit closer to the consistency (but it's not quite there) and the pumpkin flavor got a bit overwhelmed by the coconut sugar. I've never used coconut sugar before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. So here's the recipe I created today. Again, it tastes good, but it's not exactly what I was aiming for.

Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars (#2)

1/2 cup walnut chunks

4 Medjool dates, pitted

1/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 Tbls pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup melted ghee

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup almond butter

pinch of salt

3/4 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Use coconut oil to grease a 8"x8" pan.

2. Put walnuts and Medjool dates into a food processor for a couple minutes (or until they almost form a paste)

3. Mix the almond flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt into the walnuts and dates.

4. In a separate bowl, use a hand mixer to mix the coconut sugar and melted ghee.

5. Once the sugar and ghee are combined, add the egg and vanilla. Mix in the pumpkin puree and almond butter.

6. Now mix the "dry" ingredients (everything from the food processor) into the "wet" ingredients.

7. Fold in the chocolate chips.

8. Transfer the mixture into the baking pan, and place in the oven.

9. Cook for 35-40 minutes. The sides of the pumpkin bars should pull away from the edges of the pan, and a toothpick entered into the center of the pan should come out clean. Let cool before slicing.

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.

Whole 30 - Day 28

Man do I love lazy Sundays. It took me a little bit of time to fall asleep last night due to what I'm attributing to a dehydration headache and the after-effects of a day of physical exertion. And I'm pretty sure my shoulder is bruised from carrying boats around yesterday. So I dealt with roughly 20 minutes of muscle soreness and headaches and then slept solidly for 9 hours, waking up at 8. It was glorious. I then relocated to the couch where I promptly started watching movies and knitting. I snacked on some unsulfured, sugar-free dried mango and some roasted, unsalted pistachios, finally making myself an actual meal around 4. It ended up being almost the same as Friday's post (Whole 30 - Day 26: http://adventurepaleo.blogspot.com/2013/09/whole-30-day-26.html), though I didn't add any mixed greens or cabbage to the egg scramble. Here it is...

Orange Bell Pepper and Asparagus Scramble

1/2 orange pepper, chopped

12 stalks asparagus, bottom inch cut off, then cut into thirds

1/2 chicken breast, grilled, then sliced/shredded

2 eggs

1 Tbls ghee

salt and pepper

1. Heat ghee in pan over medium-low heat (I used setting 4 on my stove).

2. Add the asparagus and pepper to the pan, cooking until soft. Sprinkle a couple shakes of salt and pepper to the pan.

3. Add the pre-cooked chicken to the pan (just to warm the chicken.

4. Whisk the eggs, then add to pan.

5. Cook for 3 minutes or until eggs are thoroughly cooked. Stir often.

Whole 30 - Day 19

So far this week, I've been physically active every day. On Monday I started off the day with a 6 a.m. row with my one of my double's partners for next week's regatta, followed by the club row at 7:30 a.m. On Tuesday evening, I went to Krav Maga. On Wednesday, I had another practice with my double partner, and on Thursday, I had an even club row. Today, I spent some time on the erg practicing for my regatta next week. It's been a lot of rowing for one week, and my hands are complaining. During last night's row, I got two fresh blisters that ripped open during the row, and one of those ripped-open blisters got a blister beneath it. Yep, my blister got a blister. Yikes. Anyways, despite my hands being a bit tender, it was a good week. It's nice to remind myself that I enjoy working out so much. If I could, I'd spend hours every day working out. Remember, endorphins make you happy, and I could always use more happy in my life.

Last night after crew practice, I threw together some Hot Wing Chicken Wraps. Here's how it went a 1-person serving.

3 slices of chicken breast (from the whole chicken I cooked the other day), ripped into small pieces

1 Tbls hot sauce (Franks or Tabasco)

1 tsp ghee

1. Melt the ghee in a large bowl in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.

2. Once melted, stir in the hot sauce.

3. Add the shredded chicken. Toss until well coated.

4. If the chicken isn't already hot, then heat on the stove.

5. Place on large leaves of lettuce. Wrap. Eat.

Buffalo Chicken Egg Bites

Buffalo Chicken Egg Bites

4 eggs, whisked
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup frozen cut spinach

Sauce
1/4 cup (4 Tbls) hot sauce
2 Tbls (2 oz) Tbls ghee, melted
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper

Chicken
1 lb chicken, cubed and seasoned with
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pull out your 6-muffin tin and either insert paper liners or coat with oil.
2. In a bowl, stir together the chicken, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Spread the seasoned chicken across a baking sheet, and cook for ~7 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and pat dry.
4. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl (large enough to hold 2 cups).

5. Stir in the cooked chicken, making sure chicken is fully coated.

6. Evenly distribute the pepper, spinach, and chicken among the 6 muffins.
7. Add 3.5 Tbls of the whisked egg to each muffin.

8. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

Alternatives: You can use a loaf pan, or 8"x8" pan instead of muffin tins if you like. I had leftover eggs and chicken, so I chopped up some more pepper and made a mini souffle dish of the buffalo chicken egg bites, as you can see at the top...

21DSD Day 3 - Mashed Parsnips

I've been in training sessions for the past two days. Because you never know what you're going to get when it comes to the food that's provided, I planned on bringing my own lunches and snacks. It turns out that I can find something to eat for lunch, but I would still need my own snacks. Yesterday for lunch I ate mixed greens with pan-fried chicken, two small pieces of salmon, and steamed broccoli. Today we had pork loin and braised chicken legs/wings. The food is mediocre, but it'll do, and it's less strange for me to eat large portions of meat than it is for me pull out my own foods while everyone else is eating the provided food.

Today was a bit harder to deal with the sugar cravings and temptations. After my meeting today, we had a dinner out at an Italian restaurant. We were offered wine before dinner and with the meal. I think that was the hardest part: saying no to wine. Everyone else was drinking and some people questioned why I wasn't drinking. Instead of explaining that I'm in the midst of a Whole 30 and 21DSD, I just said that I wasn't drinking because I was driving. That seemed to be a good enough excuse for everyone. Another thing I wanted was to have something other than water. But when you go to a restaurant, your options for drinks generally include alcohol, soda, iced tea, and water. Obviously there are some variations, but not many.

There were three courses: soup or salad, entree, and dessert. Oh, and fresh-baked bread. I had a caprese salad which is tomato, basil, and mozzarella (I had tomato and basil), chicken with mushrooms and spinach, and no dessert. Though oh buddy did I want that cheesecake when it came out. Yum. Anyways, enough about my struggles, here's a recipe you can use while doing Whole 30 or 21DSD.

Mashed Parsnips

1 lb parsnips

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp dried parsley

2 Tbls ghee

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1. Set water to boil in a medium pot on the stove.
2. Wash and peel the parsnips as you would a carrot. Here's the before...

and after shots.

2. Cut the parsnips into chunks and place in the boiling water. Add in all of the ingredients and boil until the parsnips are tender ~ 20 minutes.

3. Drain the liquid (but don't toss it yet).

4. Transfer the parsnip pieces and 1/4 cup of the liquid you set aside to a blender or use an immersion blender in the pot to puree. Add more liquid if you want it a bit smoother, but don't add too much or it'll get runny.

Optional: Instead of using the cooking liquid, you can use coconut milk to make the mashed parsnips a bit creamier.

21DSD Day 2 - Chicken, Spinach, and Artichoke Frittata

Chicken, Spinach, and Artichoke Frittata

6 eggs

2 Tbls ghee

1 Tbls olive oil

1/2 cup diced artichoke hearts

1 cup frozen chopped spinach

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 lb chicken breast, diced

1 leek, green and white parts, sliced

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Heat 2 Tbls ghee over medium-low heat in a pan. Once melted, add in the sliced leeks. These will cook while the frittata is cooking.

3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in an oven-safe pan. Once hot, toss in the chicken and cook until thoroughly cooked.

4. When the chicken is cooked, add in the artichokes, spinach, garlic salt and pepper, cooking until thawed.

5. Whisk the eggs and pour into the pan with the chicken, spinach, and artichokes. Cook for about 5 minutes until the eggs on the bottom have solidified a bit. (Pssst... Don't forget to stir the leeks)

6. Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until the entire concoction has solidified. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes. By this time the leeks should have caramelized. Serve with a topping of leeks.

Thrive Brussels Sprouts

Last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article about Atlanta restaurant Thrive's Brussels sprouts. While I was in Atlanta two weekends ago, I tried out their recipe, and decided it was good. Yesterday, I decided to make it Paleo by changing the unsalted butter to ghee and using olive oil instead of canola oil (ewww). Oh, I also cooked more Brussels sprouts. See the original recipe here.

3 Tbls EVOO for sauteing

2 cup Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, cut in half

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock (I used chicken broth because I didn't have any stock at home)

1 tablespoon ghee

1/2 tablespoon honey

3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Heat the EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Place sprouts cut side down in a single layer. Sear sprouts until they are golden brown, then turn, searing the other side. (I cooked mine a little too long on the first side because I got distracted. It should be about 3 minutes per side.)

Season with a few shakes of salt and pepper. Add vinegar and cook until vinegar has reduced by half. Add chicken broth, ghee, honey and pepper flakes and continue to cook until sauce has reduced to a glaze, about 5 minutes.