Food for Thought

My mom sent me a link to an article on Everyday Health titled: "Processed Meat May Kill You, Study Finds." Processed meats include smoked and cured meat (ham, bacon, and sausage), as well as deli meats and meat from fast food restaurants.

“Overall, we estimate that 3 percent of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20 grams of processed meat per day," Sabine Rohrmann, PhD, study author and assistant professor of chronic disease epidemiology at the University of Zurich, said in a statement.

I fully support cutting down on processed meats, especially from fast food restaurants, but I do believe that some minimally-processed meats are acceptable. For example, I'm going to believe that it's okay for me to continue eating grass-fed and/or nitrate-free bacon (based on what's available). When you don't have a lot of options for what to eat, I recommend going for the most Paleo option. If in doubt, aim for the item with the least ingredients. If you're choosing between dried bananas (no-sugar added) and dried bananas made with sugar and canola oil, go for the one that only contains bananas.

Ham and Veggie Pasta

I really do think that going Paleo has made me a better cook. I used to have to follow recipes (and for some reason I always went for extremely complicated ones), but now I've gotten more confident in my own skills at throwing something together. Tonight was like that. I didn't know what I wanted to eat so I checked out the fridge/pantry to see what I had available to me. This is what I ended up with:

1 spaghetti squash
1 onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1/4 orange bell pepper, sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, sliced
2 carrots, quartered and sliced
1/2 cup ham, cut into small chunks
1 can diced tomatoes
4 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp basil
3/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Slice the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and rub 1 Tbls olive oil into each half. Place cut-side down on the baking sheet. Put into the oven, and cook for 40 minutes, or until the skin gives when you poke it.
3. While waiting for the oven to heat, prep your veggies.
4. Heat 2 Tbls olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. To determine when the oil is hot, get your hand a little wet and then flick the water into the pan. If it sizzles, it's ready. Add the onions, cooking until it starts to become translucent. Then add the garlic, and cook for a couple more minutes.
5. Toss in the rest of the veggies, cooking for about 5 minutes to soften they carrots.
6. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices, as well as the basil, oregano, rosemary, pepper, and salt. Stir in the meat and cook until the tomatoes and ham are hot.
7. By this time, your spaghetti squash should be about done. Remove from the oven, and drag a fork across the flesh to get your spaghetti.
8. Put about 1 cup of the squash into each bowl, and top with roughly 1 cup of your veggie/ham mixture. Pour yourself a glass of wine. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Business Trip: Part 4

So, fair warning, this post has little to no reference to Paleo, besides the fact that I tried to stay Paleo while I was in Scotland. But I imagine that you might enjoy some photos...

Wednesday night after I got back from my work meetings, I signed up to go on the Rabbies: Oban, Glencoe, West Highland Lochs & Castles Day Tour on Thursday. I was debating between that one, the Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond National Park & Whisky Tour on Thursday or Friday, and Lochs, Glens, Wallace Monument & Whisky Day Tour on Friday. I ended up picking the Oban one because I figured that it would be better for me to spend the day in Glasgow on Friday since I was flying back early on Saturday, and because I've been to Stirling Castle three times already. I would have liked to go to a whisky distillery, even though I don't actually drink whisky (it's much too strong for me). I went to Oban with my choir when I was 12, as well as Loch Lomond. I've also previously driven through Glencoe when I went to Scotland with SD a couple summers ago and did the Haggis Adventures: Island Explorer tour. As a side note... apparently the restaurant at which my choir ate dinner during my first Scotland trip was burned down in a fire a couple years ago (Oban Times: McTavish's Kitchens).

The tour started at 9:00 from George Square. We stopped by Loch Lomond, the Rest and Be Thankful Stop, and Loch Fyne on the way to Inverary, where we saw the Duke of Argyll's castle.

We were supposed to go to Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe after that, but it was closed off by the police because a person had gone missing in the area and the police divers were in the Loch. Instead, the tour guide took us to St. Conan's Kirk. The Kirk was interesting because it was designed and built by Walter Douglas Campbell because his mother wanted to attend a church that was closer to her because the drive to the closest church was too far for her liking. Because Campbell designed the architecture himself, it's a bit eclectic  There's different styles combined together and there's even grape decorations on the roof of the cloister (despite the fact that grapes don't grow in the area). All I have to say for the matter is that I'm glad I don't go to church there. It was very cold inside and we could see our breath while we explored inside.

We ate a late lunch of fish and chips in Oban (so not paleo) and then stopped for a bit to take photos of Castle Stalker, which is a castle on it's own little island. We didn't stay for long because the rain was starting at that point. 

Castle Stalker

From there, we drove on/through Glencoe. Parts of Harry Potter and the recent James Bond movie were filmed in this area. I took lots of pictures of mountains during our short breaks (the rain got a bit heavier before it eventually turned into snow).

After a couple more hours of driving we got back to Glasgow around 19:00. I promptly headed back to my hotel, dropped off some things, and then went across the street from my hotel to a Wetherspoon (chain-pub/restaurant). It was jam-packed, and I realized that while I'm okay with sitting in a not so busy pub by myself, sitting alone in a very crowded pub is not my thing. So I walked over to The Piper on the Square, located at the southeast corner of Glasgow, right across the street from City Council. From what my friend told me and from what I gathered when I went there, it's a bit of a locals pub. The bartenders know the names and usual drink orders of most of the people that come in. They were hosting their first ever open mic night, which mainly consisted on one of the waitresses and one guy singing, so it was basically like karaoke. I had a couple Magners ciders there and talked to a couple people that had come in. Apparently they heard my Southern accent (yes mom and dad, according to everyone but us, I have a Southern accent) while I ordered a drink and wanted to talk to me more because I am American. Fun times.