Google+ Adventures in Paleo-land: garlic
Showing posts with label garlic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garlic. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

W30D17

Hey, guess what? I just realized that we're over halfway through with this Whole 30. Rock on! It hasn't been too bad so far, if you exclude my Saturday Irish stew consumption, but that was a brief hiccup. I have to admit that I've been fighting off the urge to sneak a piece of dark chocolate. Notice that I used the word "sneak," because I know that I shouldn't be eating it so I feel like I'd need to hide it. I've fought off the urge for the past two nights. Want to know my motivation for saying no? Of course you do... It's the fact that I'd have to call up Jay and confess that I ate dark chocolate during a Whole 30. That's a definite no-no. And after I called him, I'd post it on here. For all of you to read. Yeah, it's good to be held accountable by someone other than just yourself.

I really need to start going to bed earlier. I'm not sure how exactly to make this happen, because I keep finding myself writing these posts and finally replying to emails at the end of each day. Because I stayed up till 11:30 last night, it took me a while to get moving this morning. I snoozed my 5:00 a.m., 5:15 a.m., and 5:30 a.m. alarms, and finally got up at 5:50 to shuffle over to my rowing machine and get a morning workout in. Note to self: Don't get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom... There is a 7' long rowing machine in your way.

Now on to the yummy stuff.

Rosemary Lamb Chop

1 lb lamb chop
4 Tbls olive oil
2 Tbls chopped rosemary
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

1. Mix 2 Tbls olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper together. Rub mixture into the meat, cover, and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or more.
2. Heat the remaining two Tbls olive oil over high heat in an cast iron pan (or something capable of going into the oven). Once hot, add the lamb chop and sear on each side for 3-4 minutes.
3. Transfer to 400 F oven and cook for 4-5 minutes. (optional)
4. Move the lamb chops to a plate or cutting board and cover with tin foil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Then eat up.

ECD9: 45 minutes rowing + 15 minutes practicing inversions (a.k.a. head stands). I'm getting closer to being able to hold it for more than 5 seconds.

Monday, February 3, 2014

W30D8

I'm sure I mentioned this the other day, but I've been listening to some of the interviews available through PaleoCon for the past week. I definitely recommend heading over there now to check out the interview with George Bryant of Civilized Caveman before the interview gets removed from the website. Go now! It's a really personal interview that covers some of George's struggles to turn his life around and be happy and healthy.

While I haven't had the same struggles as George, I've been thinking lately that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. I think about it A LOT, whether it's planning my next meal, or feeling bored or upset and wanting to eat something to break up the monotony. I'm also pretty terrible at moderation. One of my "healthier" weaknesses is dried mango. I used to dislike the taste of mango, but I learned that I am kind of obsessed with unsulphured, unsweetened dried mango. And though a serving size is maybe a couple slices, I can down an entire bag in one sitting, which is something like 4.5 servings. While I'm devouring the mango, I mentally tell myself Okay, this is your last piece. You really are full. You don't need another piece. So I stop, for like 15 seconds, and then I'm reaching in the bag again to grab more mango. Before I know it, the entire bag is gone and I'm left feeling slightly over-full, but also craving more. Hello, sweet tooth! It's a bit ridiculous how little self-control I have sometimes. I'm the same way with chocolate and gluten-free crackers. I can't have "just one."

I feel like I'm programmed for all or nothing. I'm good at restrictions or going hard-core into a sport. But if I let myself slip once and tell myself It's alright, you'll get back on track tomorrow, I start slipping all of the time. I had one piece of chocolate yesterday, so one more today won't hurt. I didn't actually have any chocolate yesterday in case you were wondering. This overeating trend also ties into the fact that sugars and grains are addicting. In one of the PaleoCon presentations today, the interviewee mentioned that sugar is more addicting than cocaine. WHAT?!?! And sugar is in so many things that you wouldn't expect, like bacon. There were at least five people that I talked to this weekend alone who were shocked to hear that there's added sugar in most bacon. Yep. Sorry folks. If I'm buying bacon at the store, I spend at least five minutes reading the labels of all of the brands and end up settling for whichever option is the most organic and is nitrate-free. It's tough. And I think most people in the Paleo world end up buying their meats online, such as U.S. Wellness Meat.

Chocolate Chili

1 lb grass-fed ground beef
1 onion, diced
3 cup bone broth
1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 Tbls cumin
1/2 Tbls chili powder
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate (pure chocolate is kind of OK by Whole 30 standards if used as a spice, not a sweet)
1 Tbls apple cider vinegar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Heat 2 cups bone broth and ground beef over medium-high heat in a large stock pot. Cook for 30 minutes or until little liquid remains.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot, stir, and cook covered for 2 hours.
3. Remove lid and cook for another 30-45 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved.
4. Serve with green onion or avocado.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

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.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Whole 30 - Day 1

Over the last couple weeks I've been allowing myself to have a lot of cheat meals, meaning that I've been snacking on gluten-free crackers lately. I've also been experiencing more headaches and stomachaches during the last few weeks. I even had to leave work early the other week due to a migraine and stomachache. So, I decided last Thursday that I was going to start a Whole 30 today. And I did. I was in Atlanta over the weekend so I had some free time this afternoon after I got back from the airport. Here's one of the recipes I made today...

Cauliflower Hummus


1 medium head cauliflower, broken into small pieces
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed  **UPDATE (see below)**
1/3 cup tahini
2 Tbls olive oil
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Steam the cauliflower. Boil your water, then add the cauliflower in a steamer basket, and steam for 15 minutes.
2. While the cauliflower is steaming, heat some olive oil in a small pan and add the garlic, cooking for about a minute while stirring.
3. Transfer the cauliflower and garlic to your food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Serve with carrots, celery, cucumber slices, etc. Or use it as a topping for chicken or salads or whatever you feel like using it for.


**UPDATE : The longer you let the hummus sit in the fridge before eating, the strong the flavors get. The garlic flavor got really strong by the second day - to the point that I have to run to the bathroom to brush my teeth because I'm worried I'm going to scare someone off with my breath. Yikes. It still tastes good, but is a bit strong.**

Monday, August 5, 2013

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.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

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...

Monday, May 20, 2013

21DSD Day 8 - Chemo

Well folks, I'm back in Atl to be with my parents for this next round of chemo. Yesterday we just took things easy. We took the dogs for two walks, finished one puzzle, and watching Rise of the Guardians and Resident Evil: Resurrection. I really enjoyed the first one. I thought it was super cute and funny. Resident Evil was a bit of a let down though. I've been a faithful Resident Evil since I watched the second film during my senior year of high school, probably slightly becasue of the movie itself, but mainly because of the good memories I associate with it. (Yes, you heard that right. Zombie movie = good times. I'm weird, right?) Anywho, we stayed busy, while still taking it easy. I whipped up some steak and roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner.
And got to use my parents' handy Wustof Silverpoint steak knives. Yep, they copied me because of how much I raved about my set.

Today we spent about 4 hours at the facility, which is a lot less than what we expected. The doctors started the chemo drip slowly (50 mL/h, then 100, 150, 200, and 300 after 30-minute intervals) in order to watch for any signs of allergic reaction, which of course kicked in after about 45 minutes. The allergic reaction we got today was a "weird-feeling," slightly itchy throat. We notified the nurse (Vanessa is really helpful), and they paused the chemo and started up a steroid drip to stop the reaction. The doctor basically told the nurse to use whatever drugs (steroids, anti-nausea, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, etc.) she thought we needed, considering all of the issues we encountered with the supposedly "nicer" chemo drug. After the steroid we progressed without a hitch.

We then headed home to start a new puzzle, (maybe you can tell that we like puzzles?), and eat a late lunch. We brought some food to snack on while we were at the doctor's office, but it didn't count as a meal. I brought a sugar-free chicken-andouille sausage, some proscuitto, and a mixture of almonds, pistachios, pecans, and pumpkin seeds.

After about an hour working on the puzzle, we took a nap break because some light-headedness and tiredness had set in. We checked temperature and blood pressure just to make sure there wasn't any fever, which is a concern if it goes over 100 F, or anything like that. I headed back to the puzzle after placing a trash can next to the bed just in case and leaving the yorkies in the room to "keep an eye on things" (Yes. The two 8-lb dogs are worriers and will stick close by when they know something isn't quite right.) A couple hours later, we were pulling together some dinner before calling it an early night, with some Benadryl to hopefully prevent any other possible side effects.

In summary, things are going well so far. Fingers crossed that the good continues!

And just to leave you with some comfort food, here's a garden vegetable soup recipe I made last week:

Garden Vegetable Soup
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup tomato puree
3/4 cup water
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 14-oz. can tomato puree
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups celery, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbls olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced

1. Toss everything into a large stock pot. Heat over medium-high heat on the stove for 2 hours.

Man, again with the one-step recipes. Awesome, right?

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Paleo Gyros

Paleo Gyros
1 lb meat (beef, lamb, etc.)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 Tbls marjoram
1 Tbls dried rosemary, finely chopped or ground if you can
1 tsp sea salt
5 leaves of red butter lettuce, washed and carefully separated

1. Mix together the olive oil, garlic, marjoram, rosemary, and sea salt.
2. Place the meat in a plastic bag and pour the olive oil mixture in as well. Shake the bag to coat evenly. Let rest in the fridge for a couple hours.
3. Cook the meat on a pan over medium heat for a couple minutes per side, or until cooked to the level you desire.
4. Slice the meat and serve over red butter lettuce with cucumbers (and tomatoes if you want).

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Chemo - Part 13 - Day 16

Have I mentioned that cancer sucks? Apparently the allergic reaction is enough that my parents made a trip to the dermatologist. The doctor biopsied a part of the rash to run some tests. They also ran blood work to test liver and kidney functioning. My parents finished off the day with two units of blood transfusion. They were at the doctor from 7:45-8:40 a.m., and from 10:40 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Yikes. I'm hoping that the transfusion will help and improve energy. At this point it looks as though the second round of chemo will get pushed back a bit. We'll have to wait and see what the test results are.

While we're waiting, check out this YUMMY version of Paleo lasagna. It's delicious! Enjoy!


Paleo Zucchini Lasagna
Ingredients
2 zucchini, sliced
1 lb grass-fed ground beef

Macadamia Nut Cheese
  • 2 cup macadamia nuts
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp parsley
  • 2 Tbls of water
Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Sauce
  • 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water for 1 hour
  • 2 Tbls olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large can of tomato sauce
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes
  • 3/4 head of broccoli, chopped to ~1" pieces
  • 3 stalks celery, diced
  • 4 carrots, diced
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp parsley
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 2 tsp fresh basil, chiffonaded
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Macadamia Nut Cheese
1. Dump the nuts into a food processor and run until the macadamia nuts are fully ground. 
2. Mix in the lemon, salt, oregano, basil, and parsley.
3. Add in the water 1 Tbls at a time. The mixture should become slightly sticky and look a bit like ricotta cheese.

Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Sauce
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.
2. Add the onions and garlic, cooking until onions are translucent.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and cook for 30 minutes until the broccoli and other veggies are slightly soft.

Paleo Zucchini Lasagna
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Use a mandolin slicer to cut the zucchini into thick slices.

3. Place one layer of the zucchini slices at the bottom of a greased 8"x8" square pan

4. Spread out a ~ 1 cup of the Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Sauce and top with ground beef. Spread out some of the Macadamia Nut Cheese on top of the ground beef.

5. Repeat the layers, finishing with the pasta sauce.

(You can also use small Corningware if you have leftovers like me.)

6. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven. Let cool for a bit, then devour!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce

Yesterday I tracked my food intake on PaleoTrack, a free Paleo food journal. The cool thing about this food journal is that it let's you know if you're staying "Strict Paleo" or if you ate legumes, sugar, dairy, or grains. It also tracks your nutrient intake, including amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Additionally, the journal calculates your omega 6:omega 3 and sodium:potassium ratios, and signals if you're within the appropriate Paleo ranges. This is a screenshot of the results of my food intake yesterday: 


As you can see, I got "Congratulations! You are: Strict Paleo!" The beauty of Paleo is that though I only ate 1153 calories worth of food, I felt full after every meal, even after one hour of kickboxing. And when I got hungry at work, I snacked on green pepper slices and a pear while.

Anyways, it's recipe time...

Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, with their juices
2 whole heads roasted garlic, cloves removed from peels

Saute the onion in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until soft (about 5 minutes). Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, salt, balsamic vinegar, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and basil, and cook for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes and their juices. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a  simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the roasted garlic and stir to combine. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes longer. Then toss onto your zucchini pasta or spaghetti squash.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Whole 30 - Italian Greens Frittata

My dad sent me an email a while ago about this and I'm finally getting around to posting this... Apparently cooking with dry heat isn't good for you... or at least not for mice. Cooking meat with dry heat increases Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs), such as the compound methyl-glyoxal (MG). With sustained exposure MG, mice (across four generations) "developed significant abdominal weight gain, early insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes." The study recommends that we stop cooking foods with dry heat (grilling) and replace them with lower heating methods or methods that use a lot of moisture (stewing, poaching or steaming). So check out my slow-cooker recipe from yesterday.


And now that I've shared that it's possibly bad for you, let's bake breakfast...


Italian Greens Frittata
7 eggs
1 lb ground turkey/beef
1 baby bok choy, chopped
1 cup frozen, chopped spinach
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch broccoli, chopped to bite size pieces
1 green onion, sliced - for topping
1 tbls olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp basil

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on the stove over medium heat. Once hot (test this my getting your hand slightly wet and flicking the excess water onto the pan. If it sizzles, it's ready.) Add the onions and garlic, and cook for about 5 minutes. While this is cooking, rinse and chop your bok choy, separating the stalks (white part) from the leafy green part. Toss the stalks in with the onions and garlic and cover for ~3 minutes. Now add the leafy bits, broccoli, and mushrooms. Cook until veggies are soft. Transfer the veggies to an 11" x 7" pan.

While the veggies are cooking, use a separate pan to cook your ground meat. Once browned, transfer to the pan with your veggies and spread evenly. Crack your eggs into a separate bowl and whisk with your seasonings. Pour eggs into the pan and put into the oven for ~20 minutes or until the eggs have solidified. Take out, sprinkle with green onions, and slice into 6 pieces. Breakfast for the week. Sweet.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Whole 30 - Family Gathering



Today was my first full day with my family, and it was a bit of a later start than I was expecting. I ate a small banana for breakfast before leaving the hotel. After my parents and I got our ID passes from the Air Force base (the hotel at which we are staying is on the base), we stopped by the grocery store in order for me to pick up some ingredients for Paleo meals. My grocery list consisted of:
  • Butternut squash 
  • Cauliflower 
  • Broccoli 
  • Onion 
  • Scallions 
  • Garlic 
  • 2 tart apples 
  • Bacon (as organic and free-range as I could get) 
  • Ground beef (as organic and free-range as I could get)
While I was there, I also grabbed some acorn squash because it looked delicious. Once we got to my uncle's house, I immediately started cooking. I started off with Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Broccoli


I also chopped up two bags of Brussels sprouts for a side dish tomorrow. By this point, it was about time for lunch. So while my family ate BBQ pulled chicken, I snacked on some broccoli and salami. And because of happy coincidence, my Atlanta-born college roommate and I happened to be in the same city, so I met up with her in the early afternoon for a catch-up -on-your-life tea break. When I got back from hanging out with her and her hubby, I started making non-Paleo Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars for my family. Yeah, I'm just that nice; even though I couldn't eat it, I wanted to share the deliciousness with my family. I think they liked it... just kidding, it was awesome!

Because the oven was full of baking lasagna and mozzarella breadsticks, I postponed prepping my own dinner until the oven was free. Because I'm on vacation I didn't want to think of any new recipes and the acorn squash reminded me of a PaleOMG recipe that I wanted to try. So I made Stuffed Acorn Squash.

1/2 acorn squash
1 lb ground beef (go for free-range/grass-fed if possible)
1/2 onion diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbls + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 375°C. Cover a baking sheet with tinfoil.

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Coat the flesh of the squash with olive oil (1 tsp on each half). Now shake 1/2 tsp of cinnamon onto each half and rub the cinnamon across the squash to ensure even distribution. Place the squash, cut-side down, onto the baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes before flipping over and baking for another 10 minutes.

While the squash is baking, heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in a skillet over the stove. Once hot, transfer the onion and the garlic into the pan and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the ground beef. Once the beef has been browned, reduce heat to low and keep warm until the squash is done.

Now that your squash is done (the skin of the squash will be squishy when you poke it), carefully scoop the flesh out of one half of the squash, making sure that you don't break the skin.

Transfer to the pan on the stove and mix into the ground beef. Transfer back into the skin of the squash. When the half is almost completely full, use your spoon to make a dent in the mixture and crack an egg into the hole you just made. Put the squash back into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the egg is cooked.

You could do the same thing with the other acorn squash half, or you could use a knife to cut the squash into squares for use in some other dish. I did the later, but I haven't decided yet what to make... I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

So it took an hour after my family ate for me to finish cooking and get around to eating, but hey, I managed to stay Paleo and eat a delicious meal. And I have exercised INTENSE self-control and have not eaten any of the pumpkin chocolate chip bars which you all know that I love. That's dedication to Whole 30. Your admiration of my mad self-control is appreciated.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Breakfast Bites


Breakfast Bites - Veggie Base
1 dozen eggs
1 red pepper, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
5 mushrooms, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 head cauliflower
1 head broccoli
salt and pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper


Start by roasting your cauliflower and broccoli. Use 1 Tbls olive oil with a little bit of salt and pepper for a flavor base. Wrap with the aluminum foil, and cook in the over on 425°F for 25 minutes. It doesn't matter if you don't roast it enough for your usual liking, because it will cook further later.

Heat 1 Tbls olive oil over medium-low heat (4 out of 9). Once you think it's ready, wet your fingertips and splash a little bit of water onto the pan. If it immediately sizzles, you're ready to add your onions. Cook the onions until they start to become translucent. Then add your sliced garlic. After cooking the onion and garlic for another 10 minutes, add your red peppers. Cook for ~5 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat 1/2 Tbls olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp bacon fat over medium-low heat (3 out of 9). Once ready, add your sliced mushrooms. The trick to cooking mushrooms properly is don't overcrowd. Cook until they've started to brown and have reduced in size.

While these veggies are cooking on the stove, whisk your dozen eggs. After all of your veggies are done cooking, stir in the broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, red peppers, and mushrooms. At this point you're ready to make veggie muffins.

Veggie Egg Muffins
Veggie base (see above)
1 muffin tin
Muffin tin liners

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Pour roughly 1/4 cup of the mixture into each muffin liner. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is fully cooked and solid.



Chorizo Egg Muffins
Veggie Egg Muffin base (see above)
1-2 chorizo sausage links, casing removed

Take your chorizo sausage links and make a slice length-wise down the link. Pull the link open and turn inside out, removing the meat from the sausage casing. Break the meat into pieces and mix into the egg muffin mix. Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into each muffin liner. Bake for 25 minutes or until the egg is fully cooked and solid. The "muffin" won't rise, so feel free to fill the muffin tin.

Salmon Frittata
Veggie Egg Muffin base (see above)
~ 1.5 cups of Lemon-Rosemary Salmon, shredded

Mix salmon into the veggie and egg mixture. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a round 8" pan with coconut oil. Pour the egg-salmon-veggie mixture into the pan. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until eggs in the center are cooked through and are solid.

And now you know what I've eaten for the week. Yum!