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.

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.

Pumpkin Sausage Soup

In honor of the first week of October happening this week, I've decided to do a week of pumpkin recipes. Someone forgot to tell Texas weather that it's fall, but the spirit of fall is in the air. Grocery stores are displaying tons of pumpkin desserts, Halloween stores are open, and Christmas decorations are already on sale. But then again, I've seen Christmas decorations in stores since June. Anyways, pumpkin recipes will be happening for the week. I'm pretty excited, but since I'm cooking for one, and apparently never cook small batches of anything, I'm going to be eating pumpkin at EVERY meal this week. I would say that I'm concerned about getting tired of pumpkin, but I LOVE pumpkin, so I think we're safe.

Pumpkin Sausage Soup

2 Tbls olive oil

1 pound sweet Italian sausage (bulk if you can find it)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

1.5 Tbls sage leaves, chiffonade

3/4 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

1 1/4 cup chicken broth, homemade if you have it

1 bay leaf

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper, to your taste

1. Heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Once the olive oil is hot, add the sausage. If you couldn't find mild (a.k.a. "sweet") Italian sausage, and instead have the sausage itself, make a light cut lengthwise along the sausage, then fold flip the sausage inside how, keeping hold of the casing. Use your hands to break up the sausage to smaller chunks.

2. Cook the sausage for a few minutes, until it's thoroughly cooked.

3. Transfer the sausage to paper towel, to allow the fat to be drained.

4. Heat another 1 Tbls of olive oil to a skillet and toss in the garlic and onions. Cook for 5 minutes until onions are soft.

5. Now add the sage, bay leaf, and wine to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes to allow the wine to reduce. (To chiffonade the sage, roll up the leaves, and then make small slices from the rolled edge.)

6. Mix in the chicken broth and pumpkin puree. Once the concoction starts to bubble, reduce the heat to low.

7. Stir in the coconut milk and the sausage, and cook for 5-10 minutes to allow the soup to thicken.

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.

Paleo Peach Cobbler

Paleo Peach Cobbler

2 small peaches
1/3 cup water
2.5 Tbls honey
1 Tbls + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/3 cup almond flour
1 egg
2.5 Tbls coconut oil
pinch of sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prep a baking dish by greasing the dish with melted ghee or coconut oil.
2. Peel and dice the peaches. Mix in pan with water, honey, and 1 tsp cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until you hit your desired thickness.

3. Transfer peach mixture to your baking dish(es).

4. In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, 1 Tbls cinnamon, egg, coconut oil, and sea salt. Scoop over the peach mixture.

5. Bake for 30 minutes.

6. Let cool for a couple minutes. Then serve. I topped mine with coconut cream (milk).

Chemo - Part 7 - Day 6

Today I went to the Atlanta Steeplechase for my friend's birthday. It's bright and very colorful. I didn't see a single horse, but I did see a lot of our tailgate. LF told me after the event that she saw me getting my flirt on... I do miss my fraternity boys - there's not as many within my social circle in Houston. There were four of us that are gluten-free, so we stuck with cider. And there's a liquor store in Atlanta which carries my favorite cider, Kopparberg, so we drank a fair amount of that. Her younger brother, who we used to torment when we were growing up, and his friends planned the gathering, and it was a lot of fun. I recommend that you go if you get the opportunity. A similar upcoming event is the Kentucky Derby. Celebrate this fact.

While I was gone, my parents stayed at home dealing with the repercussions of chemo. I feel guilty that I wasn't there to help out. The bone pain that I mentioned yesterday was worse today. The pain has extended from one shin and one shoulder to both shins and shoulders. And there's not anything that I can do about it.

On the bright side, our neighbors made DELICIOUS pork loin with grilled asparagus for us for dinner. OMG! I would eat that pork all day, everyday. And he sought to make sure that I could eat it with my funny diet. It was wonderful. I plan on chasing him down to get the recipe tomorrow.

Last week one of my family's other neighbors brought us some kale from the DeKalb Farmers Market (yet another instance of my family's support system). She had bought some dinosaur kale, which I had never seen before. But when I was flipping through The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen, one of the many cookbooks I borrowed from the library, I found a recipe that called for dinosaur kale. So yesterday afternoon when we got back from chemo, I decided to give it a try. Here's the recipe (found on page 89):

Kale with Sweet Potatoes and Pecans

2 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1 sweet potato, peeled and finely diced (~1 1/3 cup)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup bone broth
5 cups dinosaur kale, washed, stems removed, and chopped into bite-size pieces
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbls golden raisins
1/4 tsp maple syrup
chopped pecans for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the ginger and cook for roughly 30 seconds, until just aromatic.

2. Add the sweet potato, cinnamon, and bone broth, and cook for 1 minute.
3. Toss in the kale, salt, and raisins, cooking for about 5 minutes, until the kale turns dark green and the sweet potato is soft.
4. Stir in the maple syrup and remove from heat.
5. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the kale and serve.

According to the cookbook, kale is like a "twenty-four-hour pharmacy." Kale contains "phytochemicals that attack cancer." So go eat some kale. It's good for you!

Chemo - Part 6 - Day 5

It was our last day of cladribine! Thankfully we've survived the first 5 days of chemo without any major issues. Overall the side effects have been tiredness, nausea, and a fogginess in the head, but we've attributed that last one to the anti-nausea meds. When I was talking about the fogginess with a few friends last night, we discussed how one of my friends thinks that the anti-nausea medications generally just makes you tired so you sleep through the nausea and wake up after it passes. I can see that being true. It's kind of the same way with migraine medications, though I'm not sure if it's the medication or the migraine that actually makes me pass out and sleep through the worst part of the migraine. I'd say that I'd experiment with it, but when I have a migraine, testing to see if I can stay awake through it is the last thing on my mind.

Some bone-deep leg pain has also kicked in. I think that's the hardest thing we've dealt with so far. We've tried ice packs, but I don't think there's anything to do for bone pain, besides maybe pain killers? Suggestions, anyone?

Anyways, I appreciate all of the well wishes we've received. It makes me relieved to know that my family has a good support system here in Atlanta. I won't worry as much when I head back to Texas. Our next-door neighbor called earlier today to see when he could bring some grilled goodies for us. And some other family friends have already offered to help out with the transportation to the future chemo treatments.

Last night, I went to Leon's Full Service in downtown Decatur. I ordered the Chicken Sausage, with charred scallion, ginger, baby bok choy, green curry, and fried shallot pickles. It was really yummy. And I had the Bitter in a Bottle cocktail. Go there and try it.

Though I think my friend LF got the best option: Bacon in a Glass, with a side of peanut butter.

Here's another banana-based dessert that I baked last night. It has a very strong banana taste, so if you're like my dad and don't like bananas, then don't make this. I know, it's a really complicated concept... Don't make something you don't like? Go figure.

Two-Way Banana Bread

5 frozen bananas, peeled

6 pitted dates

4 eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Put the dates into the food processor and run until the dates have been broken up into little chunks.

3. Cut up the frozen bananas into a separate bowl. Mash the bananas with a fork (you could also put these into the food processor and use that instead of the manual effort needed to mash the bananas with a fork).

4. Mix with the dates.

5. Whisk the eggs, then stir into the banana/date mixture. Add in the rest of the ingredients in order, stirring after each one is added.

6. Transfer to two coconut-oil greased loaf pans.

7. In one pan, stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips. In the other pan, mix in dried or fresh fruit. I used dried blueberries and dried cherries.

8. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaves cool completely before trying to remove from the pans.

Cherry/Blueberry

Whole 30: Banana Bread

Banana Bread
1 frozen banana, mashed
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 Tbls cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thaw the banana for 20 minutes. Mash the banana and mix in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk the eggs and the blend with the banana and almond flour mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until solid. It might end up being a little dry, so top with apple butter for a bit of moisture. Alternatively, you can mix in some coconut oil to the mixture before baking. Enjoy!