Paleo Nutella

You know when you really want nutella, and then you realize that it contains a bunch of non-Paleo ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (milk) lecithin as emulsifier (soy), vanillin: an artificial flavor (What is vanillin by the way?) Well here's the solution... No it doesn't fit into the Virgin Diet because of the maple syrup, but that's okay, because I didn't actually eat it today. It was yummy in my tummy.

Paleo Hazelnut Spread

1/3 cup ground hazelnuts/almond butter

1 Tbls maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbls cocoa powder

Mix the ingredients together and you're ready to eat. Enjoy on apples, Paleo crackers, or by itself if you're like me.

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.

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.

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.

Whole 30 - Day 22

I smell like a candy cane right now. Weird, right? Especially considering that it's September; I'm a few months early for the Christmas holiday... just a few. Anyways, you're probably wondering why the smell of peppermint is wafting from my skin. Well, in my ever-encompassing effort to incorporate the Paleo ideals into my life, I bought a bottle of Dr. Bronners Magic "All-One" castile soap which is supposedly a good option for Paleo/all-natural-fanatics, of which I'm becoming (or have already become). There are a lot of different scents available: tea tree, lavender, eucalyptus, almond, citrus, rose, peppermint, peppermint/hemp, aloe, and unscented. You can purchase it in bar form or in liquid form. Personally, I got my hands on an 8-oz bottle of the liquid soap. I probably would have gone for a different scent than peppermint, but it was the only option that came in 8-oz at the grocery store, and I didn't want to invest in a giant 32-oz bottle if I didn't like the stuff or the smell. Now, I've only used it once, but I have no complaints so far. My skin feels soft and minty-fresh. It also feels moisturized, which means that my skin isn't itchy right now, if you exclude the locations mosquito bites magically appeared after my Saturday morning row, and even they aren't terribly itchy.

You may be wondering what is castile soap, and why should I use it? Well, castile soap is the name of olive oil-based soaps that are made in similar style to that originating in Castile, Spain. Dr. Bronner's soap is a popular version that is well-known for the insane amount of tiny text all over the bottle's label, and more importantly for its foaminess. If you're like me, you're used to your soaps developing into a lather when you use them, however, there's some soaps out there that don't lather. For instance, Cetaphil is a soap that had been recommended to me by my dermatologist as a gentle face wash. It was moisturizing and gentle as claimed, but it didn't lather and I just felt like I wasn't getting clean. That being said, my experience with Cetaphil was ages ago (a.k.a. high school), and now that I've switched over to the oil cleansing method for my face, I no longer need that foaming action to consider my face clean. I haven't completely accepted that for my shower though, so Dr. Bronner's Magic "All-One" is a good option for me to start going more natural for soaps. I've looked up some recipes for making my own soap though, and I imagine it's going to happen some day. I mean, I've taken to making everything else and using natural household ingredients for everything from face wash to toothpaste to leave-in conditioner and moisturizer. Why wouldn't I eventually get around to making soap. Yeah, I see that in my future.

In the meantime, let's talk about the present, or technically the past at this point. After getting home from Krav Maga and a brief stop at Trader Joe's for some veggies and unsweetened dried fruit, I whipped up some steak with fajita veggies, and a side of plantain chips with salsa. For the fajita seasonings, refer to my post here: http://adventurepaleo.blogspot.com/2013/08/whole-30-day-4.html

I used a bag of frozen 3-pepper medley (red, green, and yellow) with onions. Toss that into a cast-iron skillet, and cook with the seasonings until it's melted and the excess water from freezing has started to evaporate. Then toss in the steak (or half a steak as shown above), cooking for a few minutes on each side until the insider reaches your desired pinkness. As always, go for the grass-fed beef if you can find it. And the plantain chips are a good option (when you can find them not cooked in canola oil) if you're really craving chips and salsa. Don't go wild on it, because we don't want to have too much dried fruit, and it falls into that iffy region of "Sex With Your Pants On." But I feel that as long as you don't eat ALL of the plantain chips in one sitting, you're probably okay. And if it feeds the craving, that great, and you can get back to all of the other healthier options.

Whole 30 - Day 18

For ages when I made hard-boiled eggs, I struggled with removing the shell. I'd try like crazy to remove the shell without pulling the egg with it. I looked online and found lots of different options. I tried one method that had you add vinegar to the water; another where you boiled the water, then removed the pot from the stove, put the eggs in the pot, and put the lid on the pot, but it seemed like every time, the egg would stick to the shell and no matter how slowly or carefully I went, my resulting egg looked like a hot mess. So I decided to try a different way, and this is what worked wonderfully for me.

How to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg
1. Bring pot of water to a boil, ensure the water is high enough that it will cover the eggs. Add a shake of salt to the water and stir.
2. Add your eggs to the pot and boil for 3 minutes.
3. Put cover on the pot and remove from heat. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes.
4. Transfer eggs to an ice bath until they cool completely. Now you're ready to peel and enjoy.

Look at how smooth that sucker is...

As promised, here are some of the photos of the plated Korean Beef Short Ribs I made on Monday. You can also check out the original post (which I have since updated) for these photos. Enjoy the deliciousness!

P90X - Day 9

Plyometrics. "The mother of all workouts."

I first heard the term "plyometrics" when I was a freshman in college. I was in a sorority my freshman year and we started training for Tug, a giant tug-of-war competition held every spring. We did hill sprints, stadium runs, toes-up wall sits, the erg (rowing machine), and plyometrics. Plyometrics consists of squats, lunges, and jumping, with combinations of these three exercises. Plyo helps to improve speed; it's vaguely similar to long-distance runners doing sprints. Sure, you're going to be running 26.2 miles, not sprinting it (though if you ask me, those Olympic marathoners are sprinting at 4:45-ish minute-miles). But you need to work on your short bursts of speed to build your way up to your goal time. When I was training for a half-marathon with Team in Training, my coaches provided a schedule that included cross-training (i.e. cycling), easy runs, short sprints, and form runs (to focus on your running technique), in addition to our long runs.

All this talk of running reminds me that I need to start training for a half-marathon again. I need to find a running buddy.

I bought a bag of Gala apples over the weekend and I needed something to do with them...

Cinnamon Apple Chips
1 apple, sliced (I used Gala, but you can go for a sweeter variety if you choose)
2 Tbls cinnamon
1 Tbls pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Preheat oven to 250 F. Slice your apple (perpendicular to its core). Lay pieces on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon, as much or as little as you like/love. Bake for 45-60 minutes, flipping halfway. The apple slices should be thoroughly dried out, but not burnt. It'll look all crinkly and delicious.

Class It Up

LMR and I went to see a free production of Hamlet tonight. Yeah, we keep it classy. It was well done, however I was vastly confused by the use of fake guns, images of airplanes, and the use of a straitjacket. Considering the fact that the play is vaguely set in the late medieval period (which spanned the 5th through 15th centuries) and the straitjacket was invented in 1790, I'd say they took some artistic liberties... Also, in case you're like me and didn't remember this from when I first read the play back in middle school, Laertes is apparently a fighter pilot and Guildenstern is a woman. Surprise!

So I didn't go into work today because I had already worked a ridiculous number of hours this week. Instead I made my way to the nearest Trader Joe's, which is roughly 45 minutes away from my apartment (I was in the area). I miss Trader Joe's. I used to frequent the store back during my senior year at Georgia Tech. I grabbed myself some sun butter (made from sunflower seeds) and a rack of lamb that I'm super excited to try. After driving back to the city, I hung out at the pool for an hour or so to relax. Spending time outside was enough to cause a flare up in sinus pressure and my congestion, so I took a bit of nap (though I intended to watch the Olympics... oops).

After waking up I was a bit rushed to meet up with LMR and didn't have any food prepared, so I grabbed some supplies. As I ran out the door, my bag contained a large bottle of water, an apple, a fruit bar, some beef jerky, dark chocolate-covered cocoa nibs, as well as kleenex, sudafed, migraine medication, and nose spray. I was prepared to be assaulted by allergies and to be hungry while it happened, though I only ended up using the kleenex and water. LMR was better prepared... she brought a bottle of wine and two fancy plastic wine glasses. Good job!

Trail Mix and Blueberry Muffin Lärabar

I found dried blueberries today, which meant that I had to attempt the Blueberry Muffin Lärabar. Here's what I did:

1/4 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup cashews
1 tsp lemon juice



Use the blender or food processor to blend each of the ingredients (excluding the lemon juice) individually. Mix together in a bowl. Measure out 1/4 cup and wrap in saran wrap, molding it into bar shape. And you're done!



And I made my own trail mix:

1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried apples, unsweetened
1/4 cup dried pineapple, unsweetened
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds, whole

Think I'm ready for camping tomorrow??

Homemade Lärabar

Lärabars are kosher, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and vegan. They are made with unsweetened fruits (dates, apples, bananas, blueberries, cherries, raisins), nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, peanuts), spices (cinnamon, ginger, cocoa powder, coconut, sea salt). Using these ingredients, the current flavors are below. I've crossed out the ones containing peanuts.

1. Apple Pie
2. Banana Bread
3. Blueberry Muffin
4. Carrot Cake
5. Cashew Cookie
6. Cherry Pie
7. Chocolate Chip Brownie
8. Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte
9. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
10. Chocolate Coconut Chew
11. Coconut Cream Pie
12. Ginger Snap
13. Key Lime Pie
14. Lemon
15. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
16. Peanut Butter Cookie
17. Peanut Butter & Jelly
18. Pecan Pie
19. Tropical Fruit Tart

Last week I was in a rush before work and didn't have time to cook something before running out of the door, so I stopped at the grocery store on the way into work to grab some pre-cut carrots and celery. While I was standing in line to check out, I saw some Lärabars on sale and vaguely remembered trying some at the race expo before my first half marathon in 2011. I picked up a bar and flipped it over to see the ingredients... "Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Non-GMO [genetically modified organism], Vegan, Kosher"... so I grabbed Cashew Cookie and Apple Pie. They were surprisingly good. I ate the Apple Pie once I landed in Atlanta and I let my mom try a piece. The expression on her face was priceless! It was a mix of "ugh, gross" and "something must be wrong with my daughter that she actually likes this." When I told her there's no added sugar, she replied, "Oh! It's pretty good then." Well I like it, and I feel like I appreciate flavors more, now that I'm not covering everything up with salt and sugar.

This coming weekend I'm going camping with some friends. We've been utilizing email and a google spreadsheet to figure out what we'll be eating and who's bringing what food, gear, etc. Based on our meal plan, I know there are some meals that I won't be able to eat, such as hot dogs, prepackaged trail mix, and cinnamon rolls. Because I don't want to impose my eating habits on everyone else, I'm going to bring some food to replace those meals. One of the things I'm going to bring is homemade Lärabars. These are the recipes for the ones I made Tuesday night:

This is really similar in appearance to actual Lärabars

 Apple Pie (made 4)

1/2 cup dates

1/2 cup almonds

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup dried apples, unsweetened

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp water

Pumpkin Pie (made 3)

1/2 cup dates

1/2 cup cashews

2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp water

Ingredients for Apple Pie

Use a food processor or blender to breakdown the dates/fruit into a paste. Transfer the paste to a separate bowl. Put the nuts in the blender and pulse until chopped small, but not to the point that you form flour/meal. Mix the nuts, dates/fruit, and spices together in a bowl. If your mixture isn't binding together, add a little bit of water. Once the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, measure out 1/4 cup of the mixture for each bar and form into bar shape. This is more cleanly done if you roll the 1/4 cup of mixture into a piece of saran wrap before shaping the bar. Repeat for all bars and then place the wrapped bars into a ziploc bag. Store in the fridge - this allows the shape to firm up. There you go. Homemade Lärabars!