Avocado Lime Dressing

Avocado Lime Dressing

1/2 avocado, mashed
1 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
pinch of cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper

1. Mix the ingredients together and toss with a salad. Because this dressing is kind of thick, I found it best to put the salad and dressing in a Ziploc bag, and then shake until evenly covered.

Yeah, it looks kind of like my guacamole recipe, but this has olive oil and more lime juice, so it's a bit more smooth and creamy than a typical guacamole.

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.

Whole 30 - Day 4

Steak Fajitas

1 lb flank steak

1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
1/2 onion, cut into quarters and then into strips

1. Mix spices together and rub over the steak.

2. Place steak in a Ziploc bag in the fridge for at least an hour.
3. Heat 2 Tbls olive oil in a cast iron pan (or any pan) over medium-high heat. The pan is hot when a few drops of water sizzles when sprinkled onto the pan.
4. Place the peppers and onion into the pan and cook for a couple minutes, then clear out a space in the center and add the steak.

5. Cook for a few minutes on each side. Transfer steak to a plate and cover with tin foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Then serve with your veggies.

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

5-6 lb pork butt roast - bone-in
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 Tbls chili powder
1 Tbls parsley
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix the spices together in a large bowl (large enough to hold your pork roast).

Use your hands to rub the dry spices onto the pork roast.

Put one layer of onion slices at the bottom of the crock pot. Then put in the roast and cover with more onion.

Set the slow cooker on high for 4 hours, then change setting to low and cook for 4 hours.

Remove from crock-pot and transfer to a bowl/plate to let cool for a bit. Then grab a couple forks and start shredding.

Chemo - Part 8 - Day 7

Let's start with an update on the chemo recovery. Things aren't going so well right now. The bone pain has spread, so there's a constant whole-body ache. Additionally, we had a short period of nausea such that we were positioning a trash can close by, as well as placing an ice pack on the back of the neck as well as a cold washcloth on the face. It passed, but came with cold sweats so that a fresh shirt needed to be grabbed and we layered on two blankets and used a heating pad to warm up. Nausea, bone pain, and headaches are terrible on their own. Combine them and it's misery.

One of the families that lives on my parents' street is vegetarian, so when they decided to help out my parents by providing food, they provided vegetarian dishes. When my parent had surgery back in January, our neighbor made the following soup. My parents had told her how I enjoy cooking, so she provided the recipe and all of the necessary ingredients. Because of the black beans used for protein instead of meat, this dish isn't Paleo, but it is a good option when recovering from chemo. This recipe comes from The Voluptuous Vegan, page 36. There are a few differences based on the proportions that I used, but it's basically the same

Colombian Black Bean Soup

2.5 cups dried Michigan black beans, soaked overnight

1 jalapeno pepper

1 dried chipotle pepper or habanero chile

6 cups water

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 Tbls olive oil

1/2 green pepper. finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely diced

1 onion, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbls freshly squeezed orange juice

3 Tbls freshly squeeze lime juice

Salt and pepper

Cilantro (optional)

1. Drain the soaked beans. Put in a large pot with the peppers and water. Boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for an hour, until beans are tender.

2. Remove the pepper. Remove 1 1/2 cups of beans and 1 cup of the cooking liquid to a blender, blending until smooth. Return the purée to the pot.

3. Toast the cumin seeds in a small, dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Grind the seeds to a powder with a mortar and pestle or electric spice grinder.

4. Warm the olive oil in a medium pan. Saute the onions and garlic over medium-low heat for 7 minutes, until the onions are soft. Add the cumin, green pepper, and celery, cooking for 5 more minutes until smooth.

5. Transfer the sautéed veggies to the pot. Add 1 1/2 tsp salt and a little bit of black pepper. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

6. Stir in orange and lime juice. Season to taste.

7. Serve with chopped cilantro and orange and lime pieces.