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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Day #15

April 20, 2012
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Yesterday I did something a little out of the norm. Well, I still did my usual cooking, eating, running ( I know chronic cardio! Gasp! ) but I also participated in a little thing called CrossFit. I know, how could I have gone so long without ever trying it? Well, we didn’t have any local CrossFit gyms here in little old Auburn. Auburn isn’t exactly the destination spot for business but how could we be passed up when we have physique’s such as this?

The infamous naked statues of Auburn....

I bet she eats paleo

Well now thanks to Elijah at Auburn Crossfit we now have a brand spankin new gym. No more excuses for me, I had to go…and I am so glad I did. If you haven’t tried CrossFit, I highly recommend you do, I have a feeling I will be back again…and again.

I think CrossFit put me in an extra good mood so today you get a little treat- step by step dinner prep pictures. If it is something you would like me to do on a more regular basis let me know. For now, enjoy.

Breakfast

I'm kind of addicted to this breakfast now....

The more pictures of bacon I put up on my blog, the more judged I feel. I know, you might have been told for years how bacon is going to lead you to an early death…but its not true. ( as long as it is the right kind of bacon of course ) so stop judging me. Just in case you missed it the first time, here is a great article on bacon.

Lunch

Left overs from Day #14 and some mango/avocado

Left overs can be a beautiful thing. Don’t ever worry about cooking too much. It can be saved for when you are feeling a little lazy like me.

Dinner

And now for your step by step dinner prep.

Step one:

Mise en Place

First, prep all your veggies. Prepping all of your ingredients before you start cooking will help keep you organized, make the cooking process easier, and save you time. For my Mise en Place I used Onion, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, kale, pre-cooked chicken that I had left over from the day before, white wine, chicken stock, and coconut milk.

Saute your ingredients

Over medium heat saute your bell pepper, onion, and carrots in a little coconut oil until tender. Then add in your garlic. ( You don’t want to burn garlic EVER. It will make your dish bitter.)

Mmm kale

Add in your kale.

Wine...

When your kale is tender, deglaze your pan with a little white wine. I used chardonnay because it happened to be in the fridge….feel free to use what you want. Let it simmer until almost dry. Then add your stock and coconut milk…

Stir in your coconut milk and let it reduce a bit until it reaches a sauce like consistency. Then add in your chicken and seasonings of choice. ( I used Penzy’s curry powder which you actually want to add in at the saute stage…but I am awesome and made up my spice mind last minute. )

Simmer until your chicken is warmed to your liking and your vegetables are at the texture you like and serve over some zucchini noodles.

Try Me

Easy enough right? Give it a try, let me know what you think.

TGIF!

Day #14

April 19, 2012
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I am officially moving my daily food posts to the next morning, my brain is a little slower in the evening…which is how its supposed to be if you are winding down for sleep. And just so it is clear, even perfect nutrition ( if there is such a thing ) can not make up for lack of sleep. I am definitely guilty of skimping on my sleeping hours. Here is a little article on sleep I highly recommend you read.

Well, when I wasn’t sleeping, here is what I was eating…

Breakfast

Eggs and bananas, you know the drill.

It seems that when I do skimp on the sleep hours my go to breakfast is always eggs, and bananas. Its easy…and doesn’t require much effort on my sleep deprived brain.

Lunch

Salad Stew

For lunch… I just made a simple salad with chicken, avocado, bell pepper, and tomato. I tossed it with some white wine vinegar and topped it off with some salsa. Yum.

I had some chicken thighs in the fridge that needed to be used ASAP…so for dinner I cooked them up with a little salt and pepper and Penzy’s Tandoori seasoning. ( I love this stuff ).

I heart Penzy's Spices

Dinner

Chicken, cabbage, and cauliflower rice

After I seasoned the chicken I threw it in my cast iron skillet over medium-high heat to get a nice sear on the presentation side, and then flipped it over and let it cook for a minute or two. After letting the bottom sear a bit I turned the heat to low and put the lid on it until it was done ( which is about 160-165 degrees if you didn’t know ). Don’t over-cook your chicken… over-cooked chicken is nasty. Thighs are a little more forgiving, but over-cooked chicken breast = the texture of Ghandi’s flip flop as Gordon Ramsay would put it.  I usually pull my chicken off the heat at 160 because it keeps cooking a bit after it is pulled and the heat will continue to go up to 165. Its called carry over cooking…it can make or break you.

For the cabbage I simply sauteed in a little coconut oil, salt and pepper, and finished it off with a little white wine vinegar.

The cauliflower rice- just grab yourself some cauliflower, put it in the food processor until you get a course mealy quinoa type texture and saute it in some coconut oil until tender and season to taste.

For the rice in this picture I added some diced onion, bell pepper, garlic, and zucchini. So for my rice it went like this:

Saute onion and bell pepper until tender.

Add in zucchini and garlic.

Add in cauliflower and saute for a few minutes until tender.

Make a well in your pan and place a beaten egg in the center… and mix into your rice.

Season to taste.. wallah :)

Enjoy!

Day #13

April 18, 2012
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Yesterday was day #13 of my paleo menu. However, you are receiving it on day #14. My apologies…I know, you were waiting in anticipation for some food porn. Unfortunately Day #13′s food is hardly food porn…its more like the whorish Facebook pictures girls take of themselves with their phone in the mirror… a little exposed, unattractive, sad, and desperate looking.

Breakfast

Scrambled eggs, sweet potatoes, bacon, and an orange

I have two breakfast meals that I generally stick to if you haven’t noticed by now…but am I the only one with a breakfast routine? I think not.

After breakfast I routinely go for a morning run. Where I saw this:

baby geese!

On my first lap around the park I noticed these little buggers and wished that someone there with me to see them…. I didn’t want to look like a dork chasing them around with my phone trying to snap a photo but then I just said screw it and stepped onto the grass ( which is a risky move if you know how much these things poop ). Enjoy.

Lunch

Chicken breast, sauteed zucchini, mango and avocado

Just in case you doubted the combination of mango and avocado…you should know that it is delicious. Try it. I didn’t have much time to prepare lunch before class so I just sauteed some zucchini, diced up some mango and avocado, and threw in some pre-cooked chicken breast. Done!

In class we made the usual gluten bombs which contained:

Biscotti

These were probably some of the lowest gluten containing items we baked in class this week. Most of the flour was made up of a mixture of almond meal and hazelnut flour…however, these things would of broken the teeth right out of paleo man’s mouth. Hard as a rock without coffee to dip them in. Not recommended.

Dinner

Whole Foods Salad bar salad: Spinach, tomato, beets, salmon, cranberries, olives, tomatoes, and a red wine vinegar dressing

I was pretty hungry after class and knew the kitchen would be out of service when I got home so I stopped by whole foods, picked up some more bacon and had a salad from their salad bar. Simple and delicious :)

 

Cooking up anything special this weekend?

Day #12

April 17, 2012
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Once again today was filled with making some awesome gluten bombs…

Cookies, brownies and pita bread for today

Onto the real food

Breakfast

Cabbage sautee with mushrooms, onion, chicken, avocado and mango... I put mango in everything these days.

Dinner

Don't judge me

I really didn’t feel like cooking so as soon as I got home I sliced up a few bananas, covered them with almond butter, and called it dinner. Yep… I have my lazy days in the kitchen too. However. I was in a kitchen all day baking a paleo nightmare.

What did you eat today?

Paleo Day #11

April 16, 2012
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Not only is it Day #11 of paleo food but it is also officially spring!

Sunshine!

Getting to go on a morning run in the sun was pure bliss…almost as blissful as my weird breakfast…

Breakfast

Lazy breakfast day

Lunch

Shrimp salad with mango, bacon, tomato, avocado, radishes, and bell peppers

I didn’t have my morning bacon so I was kind of craving it by lunch…I cooked up some bacon in my cast iron skillet and then sauteed the shrimp in the rendered bacon fat, seasoned it with salt, pepper, and Penzy’s Arizona Dreamin. I always say that to me, a salad is like a stew… I just throw whatever I have on hand into it. In this case it was avocado, tomato, mango, radishes, and bell pepper. I think I had more things thrown into it than lettuce…oh well, it was a hearty stew. Yum.

Dinner

Bun-less burger with caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, avocado, and tomato.

Upon further examination of this photo I am a bit ashamed of my apparent love for mustard. Yep, I love mustard, I can’t help it. I can’t get enough of it’s tangy goodness. For whatever reason sunshine and warmer weather always brings burgers to mind so I went out and bought some grass-fed beef and made a burger sans the bun. Still delicious. I also used the opportunity to put some sauerkraut on top, and roasted some sweet potatoes. Only problem with the sweet potatoes was that with this new oven we have, 500 degrees is actually 500 degrees…they got a bit toasty if you can’t tell..but hey, they still tasted good. Cheers.

Day #10

April 15, 2012
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Day #10! That is two whole hands worth of fingers…assuming you still have all ten digits that is. Fortunately I do ( although there have been a few close calls ) so I used them to cook up some of these eats today…

Breakfast

Eggs, bacon, sweet potato, and oranges

My bacon looks black in this picture…but as a seasoned bacon cook I guarantee you it wasn’t. The key to crispy bacon is cooking it low and slow, you want to render the fat slowly, and flip it over when it is nicely browned on one side. If you are smart and want to make other things such as veggies, eggs, or other meats taste amazing, save that bacon fat…it is culinary gold, don’t let that fatty goodness go to waste. Oh, and never cook bacon naked. Just common sense…not speaking from experience or anything. Seriously I’m not.

Lunch

roasted pork tenderloin, cauliflower rice, and sauteed brussel sprouts

I had a ton of left overs from last nights meal so I decided to use up some tenderloin. I made some quick cauliflower rice and steamed/sauteed the brussel sprouts. If I am cooking for other people I always par-cook my brussel sprouts first so that they keep their green color. I par-cook them in boiling salted water until they are tender enough to only have to saute for a few minutes in a pan for some color or to season them with whatever flavors I want to add. For the cauliflower rice I just stuck it in a food processor until it was a mealy couscous texture, then sauteed it with some garlic and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

Dinner

Roasted pork tenderloin (more left-overs) with sauteed kale and onions, and mashed sweet potatoes.

Since I still had a ton of left overs ( okay and I was feeling lazy ) I used up some more left overs for dinner, sauteed some onions and kale, and mashed up some sweet potatoes. Dinner complete. Yum.

Dessert

??????

Paleo Day #9

April 14, 2012
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I seriously debated posting the days eats in the morning, but then it wouldn’t be today’s eats, it would be yesterdays. And no one likes yesterdays news…because you all are dying to know what I ate right? I knew it.

Bacon, eggs sunny side up, sweet potatoes, and orange slices.

Told you I would switch it up my breakfast a bit, bad news is this picture is making me want this breakfast again tomorrow…so much for variety :)

Shrimp in a coconut curry sauce with zucchini noodles

I wasn’t too sure what I was going to make for lunch today, but when I opened the fridge and saw that I had shrimp, and a can of coconut milk, I knew that I must mix these two ingredients together immediately.  I wanted to make a coconut curry sauce but what was going to go with it? Rice? NO. Cauliflower rice? Would of worked… but I was fresh out of cauliflower. Ah Zucchini noodles! They are super easy to make and delicious. To make zucchini noodles just use this little peeler thingy…

My Peeler...and my man hands. Don't be frightened.

 

after you have created your noodles, saute them up until they are tender and season to taste.

Dinner

Started off with a salad

Avocado, radishes, spring mix and sweet peppers with a lemon honey (raw) vinaigrette

Entree

Roasted pork tenderloin with an apple cranberry sage sauce, mashed cauliflower, and zucchini. Not just any zucchini. Zucchini that has been Tourne'd.

My friend Mike and I had a little plating challenge this evening that consisted using the same ingredients and then having people vote on who had the better plating of the evening….so I tourne’d my zucchini. You can’t really even tell from the picture. You are probably wondering what a Tourne is. Well, a classic tourne has 7 sides and is football shaped. It is the most annoying cut ever invented in the culinary world…however, it does look fancy and you get kudos for doing it because it is such a pain in the bum. The other downside of this cut is that there is so much waste. You can probably get about 4-6 tourne’s out of one large zucchini…if you don’t screw it up.

Thats enough culinary jargon for the day.

Happy cooking!

Paleo Day #8

April 13, 2012
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Time for the days meals but first…I will start you off with a pretty awesome video:

Pretty awesome right? Ready to eat some real food? Here is what I ate today…

Breakfast

Yep. The usual. Scrambled eggs and bananas with almond butter.... tomorrow I will switch it up a bit. :)

Sauteed shrimp and a salad with spring mix, tomato, avocado, and mango with a lime vinaigrette.

Dinner

Just a simple roasted chicken with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed summer squash.

If you want to know how to roast a good chicken, check out this post from awhile back. Roasting a whole chicken is a great way to plan ahead and use the left overs in meals throughout the week. Not to mention, buying the whole chicken is much cheaper than buying individual parts. When you buy parts of a chicken you are paying extra for the labor. If you don’t want to roast your chicken you can just break down a whole one yourself. Oh, but you don’t know how? Well, that is what I am here for. How to break down a chicken video coming soon!

Happy cooking!

What did you cook today? Tweet me your pics! @AHarman411

Paleo Eats Day #7

April 12, 2012
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By this point you will probably notice a bit of repetitiveness in my Menu. At least when it comes to breakfast. My breakfast tends to get caught up in my morning routine… being that it is routinely made up of eggs and whatever else… most days its bananas. Don’t judge me.

Breakfast

Eggs and bananas with almond butter...again :)

 

Chicken over cauliflower mash with Brussel sprouts

So here’s the deal with mashed cauliflower. It tastes similar to mashed potatoes. It’s not exactly the same so…don’t try and trick anyone into thinking it is mashed potatoes because then they will just think your potatoes taste a little off… its kind of like how when vegans bring a cheesecake to a dinner party and try to pass it off as a regular cheesecake. Its not going to happen. However, they still taste good. Really good. :)

Dinner

Sea bass with red pepper sauce, mashed cauliflower, and braised endive.

That wraps it up for day #7 remember if you want any of the recipes from the blog feel free to ask, otherwise you just get pictures :)

Paleo Food Day #6

April 11, 2012
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Wow has it really only been 6 days? Good news is that means there are 24 days worth of Paleo food left which equals a total of 72 meals. (Aren’t you impressed with my math skills? ) That is 72 more opportunities for you to be inspired to give paleo real food a try. Sure there might be a few odd things that end up on my plate that may seem out of the norm to people ( like sauerkraut ) but all in all, its just food. Before I get onto the real food I will start with where I was standing only a few hours ago:

Any Vegan/vegetarian who says they don't secretly want bacon is full of crap, and any Paleo peeps who say they don't wish they could eat bread are also full of crap.

Now that you got a good look at the gluten bombs lets take a look at the paleo foods of the day…

Breakfast

Eggs sunny side up, bacon, and fruit ( mango and orange )

I realize that eggs everyday might get old to people but I can’t help it…I love them. What are some breakfast foods that you eat now that you would like to see made paleo? Pancakes? Waffles?…. or do you just love eggs as much as I do? Because I am totally okay with that. ;)

Lunch

Just a lil somthing quick and easy.

Dinner

Chicken breast ( pre-cooked free-range organic ) brussel sprouts with a little bit of bacon, sweet potatoes and sauerkraut.

Oh Sauerkraut…you are probably used to only seeing it on top of a bratwurst. Truth is it goes good with just about anything and it is really good for your digestive health. I would write more about it but why would I do that when I can just link you to someone else that already did. Just in case you are too lazy to click on that link- in short, sauerkraut is good for your gut health because it is a fermented food that contains lots of beneficial bacteria. Think Activia…minus all the chemicals, sweeteners, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Go get some Kraut!

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