The (Paleo) Eats

I thought I would share a few things we have been eating lately to give you an idea of what we are making while doing pseudo Paleo.

First up we have been using Coconut Oil instead of Olive Oil for cooking. Not for any particular reason, just that Paleo Diet encourages it. I actually bought this a long time ago when it was on sale and hadn’t opened it until this last week. No it doesn’t taste like Coconut, and yes it works about the same as Olive Oil. You can watch this video on Coconut Oil vs Olive Oil here. Supposedly its good for weight loss and metabolism.

Our Peony Bush bloomed too!

This is what we had yesterday for lunch, but once again I am reminded that I really think pork is pretty gross if it’s not HIGHLY seasoned or marinated. I had to not eat that meat, but I did eat all my Kale! The Kale is actually 3 different kinds from our garden that we picked yesterday and grilled up with onions.

This is a pretty typical dinner for work. On the left is Tuna made with non-fat mayo and dill relish. On the right is just raw veggies and a banana. I usually stagger them over my 10 hour shift.

This is today’s lunch. Its Chicken Sausage, kale, onions, and Peppers. sautéed on the stove. I add a little garlic and red pepper flakes. Its yummy and simple.

Today I feel worn out. I also feel like there is not enough time in the day to do household chores, wedding planning, working out, and socializing. Today we did manage to do a test run on our Boutonnieres, which turned out super cute! I’m excited to finish them this weekend, It’s important to finish little tasks a long the way because all those things add up.

Oh and we did do 3.5 miles this morning, so at least I’m managing to stay on top of that.

 

Cauliflower Soup

Although the weather has yet to cooperate, tomorrow is October 1st, and that means ITS FALL!

Fall to me means:

-Pumpkins EVERYTHING! Lattes, scones, muffins, decorations, EVERYTHING!

-Scarves

-Soups

-Snuggles on the couch watching either A. When Harry Met Sally  B. Stepmom

-Crisp walks in the woods

-Halloween at all the thrift stores!

-Candy Corn and Carmel Apple Pops on my coffee table

-My two BFF’s Birthdays!

But this post is about soup, not fall, lets not get too excited now, it’s still in the 70’s this week (although there are signs of rain and 60’s ahead). And this soup was amazing!

Mr. Gaunt swears he hates Cauliflower, but in this household BEGGERS CANT BE CHOOSERS! You eat what I make you! No picky eaters! End of rant.

So I made Cauliflower Soup, and I made it so delicious that he ate it all up and loved it! He also had it for lunch two days in a row! Beat that picky eaters!

Ok the recipe (which I wont post on here because it’s the same thing) is from this blog CLICK HERE and I only made a few changes.

1. I hate cooked carrots, so buh-by. Instead I replaced the Carrots with a smaller head of Kale, which is the most amazing food on earth.

2. Right after the onions were sautéed I added diced Apple Chicken Sausage (that I get at Costco or Target)

3. I didn’t have any Parsley so I did Thyme and Basil. I also did a good shaking of Red Pepper Flakes (which belong in all soups)

4. I used Fat Free Milk and Sour Cream

5. I used 3 cups of Chicken stock and 4 cups of Vegan Beef Flavored Bullion Cube stock (because that’s what I had)

Other than that I followed it to a T! And it was Perfect! And could feed a family of four for two days, or a family of two for three days! Enjoy folks!

Oh and I kinda destroyed my lightbox and its getting dark so early these days so all my pictures suck. This weekend Mr. Gaunt and I will be building a new one for me.

Sweet Potato and Kale Hash

This was an “empty the fridge” kind of night that just happened to turn into something wonderful! Mr. Gaunt loves Sweet Potatoes, so I buy them and try to use them in recipes that make them a bit more interesting to me. Now I kind of winged this one, so I don’t have exact measurements or directions, but it goes a little something this:

INGREDIENTS:

2 Medium Sweet Potatoes

1 Avocado

1 Large bunch of kale chopped up

1/2 a diced onion

Parmesan Cheese

1 Chicken Sausage (optional)

Olive Oil

Minced Garlic

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

-Peel and dice (into dice size cubes) Sweet Potatoes. Chop Kale, Put both into a large pot of boiling water.

-You only want the Sweet Potatoes al dente, not mush. Watch them carefully and pull one out to verify its al dente.

-Get a separate LARGE pan and heat up olive oil. Add minced garlic, onions and red pepper flakes. Cook until onions are clear-ish.

-Cut sausage into small chunks and add it to the pan.

– When sweet potatoes are ready drain them (and the kale) and put into the pan.

-Turn heat up and cook like you would frozen hash browns. Letting them sit for a bit to fry up then turning them. Let them get slightly brown. If they seem to not be getting mushy enough you can cover the pan and let them steam a bit.

-When everything is nice and cooked add chopped avocado, sprinkle with salt and pepper and parmesan. Let cheese melt and serve.

Sorry the directions are kind of crappy. Feel free to edit them to work best for you. The Garlicy Cheesy Kale and Sweet Potato makes such a nice combo. This makes a fair amount too, and the leftovers are great! Will make again!

Day One in Pictures!

I wanted to share how my first day of Eating Like a Baby went! Just so you can see what exactly I will be eating, and also to give you a bit more information on my techniques.

First off I had someone ask me what the importance of cutting food up is. To help explain this I’m pulling a paragraph from this article:

Cut your food up into bite sized pieces. Cutting your food up into smaller bite sized pieces will ultimately make you ‘think’ you have more food.

You can ‘see’ it.

This optical perception is transmitted to your brain. If you see more food on your plate, your brain will acknowledge that and you’ll trick yourself into believing you’ve actually got more food on your plate. Your stomach will feel fuller from eating such a ‘large’ meal, when all you really did was cut your food up into smaller bite sized pieces.

You can lose weight, just by utilizing the perception that you have eaten more!

This is a ‘brain trick’ you can use often. Cut your food up into smaller pieces and you will ‘see’ why its one of the most terrific ways to lose weight that I know!

See totally worth it! i even cut my pizza up into small pieces tonight! Ok onto the meals (please note this is what pictures look like when taken in poor lighting with zero staging…lol!):

BREAKFAST (4:45 am):

1 Whole Wheat Low Fat Eggo Waffle (70 calories)

1/2 Cup Organic Unsweetened Applesauce (50 calories)

1/2 Pink Lady Apple Diced (40 calories)

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

I mixed the apples in with the apple sauce and cinnamon over night. No Butter, No Syrup.

MID MORNING SNACK (8:00 am)

1/2 Cup Honey Nut Cheerios (100 calories)

1 Cliff Bar (250 calories)

6 Raw Almonds (20 calories)

LUNCH (10:00 am)

1/2 Cup Pasta (110 calories)

1/2 cup Grilled Veggies (20 calories)

3 mozzarella Balls (10 calories)

1/2 mango Sausage (80)

1/4 Avocado (50)

1/2 cup watermelon(20 calories)

1/2 cup cantaloupe (30 calories)

LATE AFTERNOON SNACK (3:00 pm)

1 Slice Ezekiel Bread (80)

1 Slice Light Swiss Cheese (60)

1/4 Avocado (50)

DINNER (6:30 pm)

1/4 cup Pasta (50 calories)

1/4 cup Grilled Veggies (10 calories)

1/2 cup watermelon(20 calories)

1/2 cup cantaloupe (30 calories)

2 slices Caprese Pizza (recipe to come) (300 calories)

—————————————————————————-

In total I ate just under 1500 calories. Im not really concerned about calories, but every now and then I like to see where Im hitting in a day. 1500 is good for weight loss. I also did about 45 minutes of aquatic work out. 20 laps + aerobics. I feel really great about how the day went! Even now at 9:15 I could totally do a snack, but instead I brushed my teeth and put on my crest white strips…cant eat now! ha!

A Week Late, Easter Pics.

]

Cooking What I Plan.

I’m always so pleased with myself when I actually follow through on a recipe I said I would. Last week I mentioned this Smoked Salmon Pizza made with Leeks and Pesto. I got Leeks last week in my Door To Door Organics box, and searched Food Gawker for ways to use them. There were a ton of Leek Soup recipes, but Spring is coming so no more soup! Pizza is year round friendly, and I had Salmon.

So like usual I made a few changes to the recipe. Like always I used a Whole Foods 365 Organic Wheat Pizza Crust to start off. The recipe called for a heavy cream Pesto sauce, but homie doesnt use heavy cream, so I made my own Cream Pesto Sauce! I used 2 Pesto Cubes (I made Pesto last summer and froze it in ice cube trays) melted in a sauce pan, added a teaspoon of Olive (just to make it more runny) and a large dollop of Fat Free Cream Cheese. stir on medium low until smooth. Spread evenly over crust.

Oh ha! Before I made the sauce I actually baked a Salmon Steak. I didn’t have smoked salmon, and although I love Smoked Salmon sometimes its too intense for me. Any way  I only have one Salmon Steak left, so this was a great way to use it up. I basically just sprinkled some seasoning on it and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Ok back to the stove top. I cut up my Leeks (to be honest I have never used Leeks so I really didn’t know how to cut them, so I just did thin slices off the end) and tossed them in a little heated Olive Oil with Mushrooms. When those got nice and cooked I threw in some Kale, because let’s be honest, I’m a little MAD FOR KALE! Let it all cook down.

To put it all together I layered it like this

-Pizza Crust

-Pesto Cream Sauce

-Light Sprinkle of Mozzarella

-Sprinkle Salmon evenly

-Glop sautéed veggies generously

-Sprinkle more Mozzarella

Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Ok I know I keep saying this, but this is the BEST pizza I have ever made! Ha! Mr. Gaunt LOVED this! Im so glad I did regular Salmon and not smoked. It was beautiful!

On a side note this past weekend in Washington I made Kale Chips! Whoohoo! These are all the rage on food blogs and Food Photography Sites. I was waiting to make these with my mom for her Birthday, and we did just that! They turned out pretty darn good, shockingly crispy and chip like. They are also very easy. I bought Purple and Green Kale just to mix it up. You can read how to make them here. I was also shocked how much people liked them! Even the guys, so definitely try them.