Quick Dinner Wins
Recipes · Strategies

Quick Dinner Wins

paleosherry2 Comments

This past weekend was again one of those where I had places to be on Sunday in addition to my regular meal prep duties.  Fortunately, we still had quite a few lunches in the fridge from last week, so a couple of slow cooker dishes filled the gap.  But one of the things I’ve learned in our Paleo journey is that there’s nothing more depressing than food boredom.  Since I hadn’t had time to really try any new and exciting dishes this week, I decided to see if I could pull off some quick weeknight meals and share them with those of you who struggle to dedicate 6-9 hours of your weekend to cooking.

Here are a couple of those wins:

  • Honey Glazed Salmon with Orange and Ginger from Laughing Spatula – let me just say “Wow”.  I had picked up some salmon this weekend when scoping out the seafood counter looking for lobster specials.  I really didn’t know what I was going to do with it at the time, and just picked up some asparagus to go with it, because there’s something about asparagus with seafood…   Anyway, I had made a special treat for E.J. and Brendon on sunday in the form of a Double Chocolate Orange Torte, and had another really good navel orange sitting on the counter that needed to be used.  On the way home on Monday I searched “Paleo Orange Salmon” and picked this one out of the long list of hits.  To make it a one-pan dinner, I trimmed the asparagus and just laid it on top of the sliced oranges around the salmon and let the lovely juices mingle.  Yum!  This is definitely a must-try, and was seriously a 30 minute meal with very easy cleanup (quite rare in the Paleo world)
  • Steak with Chimichurri Sauce from Paleo Hacks – I used flank steak instead of skirt steak, but this chimichurri turned out really well and made for a really quick weeknight meal.  Over the weekend, I cooked some beets in the slow cooker and had them available in the fridge already, so all there was left to do was caramelize some onions on the stovetop, have E.J. grill the steaks, and throw everything in the blender for the sauce.  Dinner was served in about 20 minutes.  Can’t ‘beet’ that! (I’m sorry, couldn’t resist)
  • Pork Loin with Blueberry Sauce from PaleoLeap – I’ve posted this one previously, but it’s another really good quick weeknight win.  I think you could even substitute cherries, blackberries, peaches, or any other pork-friendly fruit and end up with a lovely meal within 30-45 minutes.  If you’re looking for a way to amp-up a pork loin, this is it!

Et voila!

Reality Checks

Diagnosis: Runner’s Knee

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This morning I got the diagnosis from my MRI last week and the answer is Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome or “Runner’s Knee”.  Honestly I had never really heard of Runner’s Knee previously, but now doing some reading on it, it makes total sense.  Pain going down stairs but not up?  Check.  Pain after stitting or standing for long periods? Check.  Pain around and/or behind the knee cap?  Check.

What apparently causes it is either poor running posture/habits (which I’m sure I’m guilty of since I never ran competitively and never had any training) or weak quadrcepts – also very likely because I haven’t been doing much in the way of strength training along with my running like EJ has.

Here’s the real kicker – it’s slow and painful to recover, to the tune of 4-6 weeks with anti-inflamatories and slow, but consitent physical therapy.  Sigh.  But at least now I know what I’m dealing with, know that it’s pretty common, and have a game plan for getting better.

If you’re having knee pain when you run, definitely check this out.  You may be able to save yourself a lot of agony…

https://runnersconnect.net/runners-knee-symptoms-causes-and-research-backed-treatment-solutions-for-patellofemoral-pain-syndrome/ 

Recipes

Paleo Shepherd’s Pie

paleosherry1 Comment

My favorite recipe for Shepherd’s Pie on FunctionalFoodie.com appears to have gone all 404 on me.  So while I don’t have the original printed, I know it was based on Gordon Ramsay’s recipe, so I reimagined it.   Here’s what I recovered from memory that worked this past week:

Paleo Shepherd's Pie

  • Servings: 8-12
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print

My re-creation of the amazing Paleo Shepherd's Pie recipe from FunctionalFoodie.com.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 lbs ground lamb (Ground beef substituted is ok, but lamb is best)
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 large yellow onion
  • 2 large carrots
  • 4 tbsp Coconut aminos
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup red wine (optional)
  • 8 oz tomato paste
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary,  trimmed and finely chopped
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 3 pkgs frozen cauliflower (steamable bags)
  • 2 tbsp granulated garlic salt
  • 1 tbsp black pepper


Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. In a large skillet, warm olive oil and cook meat, crumbling with a spoon or spatula until no longer pink.  Drain grease and return to skillet
  3. Add grated onion and carrot in with meat.  Cook until vegetables are soft.
  4. Add coconut aminos, garlic and tomato paste.  Mix and cook for a few minutes until garlic is fragrant
  5. Add wine, stock, thyme and rosemary and simmer until liquid reduces.
  6. Pour meat mixture into a large baking dish
  7. Steam each of the 3 packages of cauliflower in the microwave according to directions
  8. Combine cauliflower, garlic salt and black pepper in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add coconut or almond milk if needed to achieve smooth consistency
  9. Spoon Cauliflower mash over meat and spread until covered
  10. Bake for 20 minutes, or until cauliflower topping starts to brown


Happy Easter!
Recipes · Victories

Happy Easter!

paleosherry1 Comment

This past Sunday we entertained once again for the big Easter meal, and there was plenty of Paleo goodness to go around.  While the kitchen effort was doubled when combined with the week’s lunch & dinner meals, the result was a highly satisfying meal and a lot of great food to look forward to throughout the week.

Here are some of the highlights:

  • “Best of all worlds” Paleo Lasagna – Last week I made a double-recipe of the Bolognese sauce and had quite a bit leftover.  My options were to either freeze it and have it available for future weekends when I don’t have cook time, or use it in something else. I chose Option B and combined that sauce with the Grain Free tortilla recipe from Against All Grain as a noodle replacement, and the cashew cheese from my bookmarked Paleo Lasagna recipe on Paleo Newbie.    The reviews are in and apparently this is a huge win. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but so far I’m hearing it’s positively scrumptious
  • Creamed Spinach – if you are a fan of creamed spinach, this is your recipe.  It’s not runny or lumpy or flavorless like a lot of the paleo versions out there (I’ve tried quite a few of them and never been really happy with the result).   This one is creamy and thick and full of awesome.   As a bonus, because it’s not made with dairy, it actually reheats well, so you can make it ahead of your event and just warm it up when you need it (or reheat it for leftovers).  This is my new go-to for spinach.
  • Paleo Lemon Pound Cake – This one from Paleo Hacks really turned out nice.  It’s soft, dense, like a pound cake should be.  The fresh lemon flavors were a great compliment to the springtime meal
  • Carrot Cake Donuts – E.J. and I haven’t had donuts in a year and a half, so when I started looking for Easter-themed desserts, this one jumped out at me.  The flavor is outstanding and if you like carrot cake, these are a real treat.

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  I have actually been fighting with severe knee pain for the last several weeks and finally have an MRI scheduled for Friday.  Hopefully there’s nothing seriously wrong, and I’m just suffering from a sprain/hyperextension.  In the meantime it’s been really frustrating not being able to run or walk easily, so it was nice when the weather cooperated enough this weekend to get in the pool for the first time this season.  I was able to do some laps and at least get my heart rate up for a bit, and felt much better for it.  It’s been raining steadily since then, but I’m hoping it will clear up so I can get back in tomorrow.

Slow Cooker Sunday
Recipes · Strategies · Victories

Slow Cooker Sunday

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E.J. and I had a fairly eventful weekend, considering we originally didn’t have much planned.  Friday night, E.J. wasn’t feeling very well, so we called it an early evening and just stayed home, but that was really the only relaxation we got.

17757225_10208869035672281_5729165839992357941_nSaturday was the annual Houston Art Car Parade downtown, which is a fairly big deal when it comes to H-Town traditions.   Considering I remember attending 20 years ago when there were only a handful of cars, the parade has come a really long way and consists of nearly 2 hours of colorful entries sauntering down Smith street.  I consider the Art Car parade a must-do activity for any self-respecting Houstonian, along with the Rodeo, NASA/Space Center Houston, and the Texas Renaissance Festival.  So it was with great horror, that I discovered E.J. had never seen the parade before.  Queue a serious face-palm.

Anyway, this year’s parade was at 2pm, so we had plenty of time before then to run some errands, have a lovely Paleo-friendly lunch at Escalantes in the Woodlands, and then head downtown for some parade fun.  We ended the day having dinner with friends at one of our favorite fancy dinner spots, Peli Peli in Vintage Park.  If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend the South African inspired restaurant, and while there’s nothing on the menu that is anything short of delicious, you have to try their beef filet covered in Diane sauce.  Sigh… it’s a rustic mushroom cream sauce that definitely isn’t dairy free, but oh is it divine.

Then today we were planning on meeting some friends in the afternoon, so Sunday Cook Day needed some special help.  Enter my 3 trusty slow cookers!  Before we headed out, I managed to get a Shepherd’s Pie cooked and packed for lunches, and also these favorite Crock Pot dishes going:

  • Mongolian Beef – this has become a new favorite.  I actually made it for the first time last week, but only made a single recipe, so it didn’t last long.  It’s back by popular demand this week and with more meat
  • Sweet Chipotle Slow Cooker Chicken – This is my own invention, a super simple sweet & spicy chicken that is easy to do in the standard sized pot. I paired this with some sauteed yellow squash and zucchini with onion.
  • Slow Cooked Bolognese Sauce – Instead of sweet potato noodles, I went with spaghetti squash to help reduce our carb intake this week after Saturday’s splurge.

But before the weekend ended, I went ahead and helped E.J. kick the craving he’s had lately for hot dogs.  We grilled up some Applegate Farms Uncured grass-fed beef hot dogs and used this cassava flour bun recipe to make some hot dog buns.  Like most Paleo buns, the texture is definitely different from standard bread, but they held up well to the dog and the toppings.

At least today is a short week.  Next weekend is the big Easter meal, so I’m starting to put together my recipe list.  Next week I’ll report on the springtime spread!

Uncategorized

Paleo Fruit Crisp

paleosherry4 Comments

Paleo Fruit Crisp

  • Servings: 5-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A sweet and fruity springtime dessert with a satisfying crunch. Based on the Skillet Fruit Crisp recipe published in Paleo Magazine.


Ingredients

For the Fruit Base:

  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 5 medium pink lady apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
  • 2 cups blueberries and strawberries (cored and sliced)
  • 1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp tapioca starch

For the Topping:

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1/4 cup tapioca starch
  • 3 tbsp coconut flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp cold butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/3 cup honey


Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. In  12 in. cast iron skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat
  3. Add the apples and berries and cook, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to release their juices
  4. Stir in cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and honey
  5. When the juices begin to bubble gently, sprinkle tapioca flour over the fruit and mix well.  Remove from heat.
  6. In a medium bowl, combine the topping ingredients up through the butter.
  7. Add the butter and use 2 knives to “cut” the butter into the mixture until butter is in small pieces
  8. Add honey, mix well, and spread the topping evenly over the top of the fruit mixture in the skillet
  9. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.
  10. Serve warm.


Good Eats
Recipes

Good Eats

paleosherry1 Comment

E.J. is always saying on Paleo Marine that the secret to sticking with Paleo is the tasty meals.  I happen to agree with him, and while I certainly enjoy looking forward to a tried and true favorite dish, I do enjoy trying new things and blazing new culinary trails.

This weekend, I ventured into the world of cast iron cooking, and found two new favorites to add to the list:

  • Paleo Fruit Crisp – This month’s Paleo Magazine has a recipe for a skillet fruit crisp that I modified to use up some of those lovely strawberries and blueberries I mentioned in my last post.  The resulting dish was not only delicious, but very pretty, and held up well to a dollop of coconut milk ice cream.  I’ll post the steps I used in another post this week.
  • Caveboy Casserole – This gem from Our Paleo Life (minus the olives) was another surprise win.  This one-dish meal packs lots of veggies and flavor together for a really enjoyable meal.  I had some of this for lunch on my cook day today, and look forward to having again for meals this week.

Since E.J. just finished up his first drill weekendIMG_2666 in the Guard this weekend, I decided to make him a special Sunday meal with one of his favorites – stuffed fish, Paleo style.  I have tried stuffed flounder, tilapia, and others in the past, but this Crab Stuffed Tilapia from FitChicLA is by far my new favorite.  It’s not difficult to throw together and makes a very pretty meal.

E.J. said it’s one of the best Paleo meals he’s had so far, so we’ll definitely have to make it again sometime.

 

Looking for the Silver Lining…
Reality Checks · Recipes

Looking for the Silver Lining…

paleosherry2 Comments

I know I haven’t been writing as much as I usually do – and for that I’m really sorry.  My only excuse is that it’s been a crappy couple of weeks at work, so that means my stress levels are through the ceiling, and consequently, so is the scale.

I have no idea if there’s been a reasonable study on it or not, but I can directly correlate my periods of successful weight loss to times in my life when things were relatively stable –   feeling somewhat in control at work and at home, and therefore over my body and my cravings.  Right now is not one of those times.  While things are actually humming along just fine at home, my stresses at work are at an all-time high, which translates to exhaustion, both physically and mentally.  While I may be holding on to some excess pounds I’d really like to shed along with the stress, I’m still able to find some bright spots in some of the recipes I’ve tried recently:

  • Paleo Lemon Cookies – I baked these for my company potluck, and while I substituted honey for the maple syrup and butter for coconut oil, the resulting dough was super easy to work with and made a really pretty and tasty cookie.  I’ll definitely be making these again, though I might add some additional honey and maybe fresh lemon juice.
  • Dublin Coddle – I made this for St. Paddy’s Day and simply substituted Paleo-friendly bacon and polish sausages, leaving everything else the same.  This along with corned beef and cabbage make up my annual offerings.
  • Pork Loin with Blueberry Sauce – Strawberries and Blueberries have hit the shelves this week, and I was really excited to find an excuse to enjoy them.  We made some grilled chicken strawberry salads over the weekend, and made this pork loin with Brussels sprouts for one of our weekly meals.  Spring fruits for the win!

I know, like all rough spots, this too shall pass.  So I’m going to do the best I can to stick with good eating habits and try really hard not to land face first in a tub of ice cream.

Recipes

Hungarian Breakfast Casserole

paleosherry3 Comments

Recently we’ve had a number of questions about breakfast, and how to keep it from getting boring with bacon and eggs every day.  Personally, I don’t really ever get tired of bacon and eggs (how can anyone get tired of bacon?) but I do sympathize with food boredom.  E.J. and I have our favorites that we make often, but there’s always at least one somewhat experimental dish every week to help keep things interesting.

This week, E.J. was lamenting the lack of pulled pork to make another Pulled Pork & Apple casserole for breakfasts – and I just happened to have another pound of sausage left from the St. Paddy’s day so Hungarian Breakfast Casserole was born.

Hungarian Breakfast Casserole

  • Servings: 10-12
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

This is our Hungarian version of the classic Paleo breakfast casserole


Ingredients

  • 1 lb polish sausage, diced
  • 1/2 lb bacon, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 granny smith apple, diced (optional)
  • 14 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons sweet hungarian paprika
  • salt & pepper to taste


Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. In a large skillet under medium heat, cook onion, green pepper and bacon until onion is soft
  3. Add polish sausage and apple (if using) and cook until apples are beginning to soften
  4. Turn off heat and stir in paprika
  5. Mix everything well and pour into greased 9×13 oven-safe pan
  6. In a large bowl, scramble the eggs and add salt & pepper
  7. Pour eggs over meat and vegetables and cook for approximately 25 minutes


Few more to go…
Reality Checks · Strategies

Few more to go…

paleosherry1 Comment

Ok, it’s been about a week and a half since we got back from our trip and I’ve still got a few pounds to lose.

E.J. was able to drop all of his trip weight within about a week – lucky bastard.  I did everything he did and mine not only came off slower, but are still sticking around.  I think this is what they mean when they say it’s harder for women to lose weight than men.

That being said, I have been running every other day or so without too much trouble, and and I’m happy to no longer feel swollen all over.  My right knee gave me a little grief after my 5k this morning, but I’ll give it an extra day or two before my next run and it will hopefully be good to go.

On the cooking front, this weekend I went the lazy route because I felt like I needed some quality time with my fur baby, Buddy, who really missed us when we were gone on our trip (how can I resist that face?).  I threw some ribs in the smoker which got paired with sweet potato halves in the instant pot.  Then made this Italian Pot Roast in the slow cooker, and one of E.J.s favorites, the Instant Pot Paleo Chicken Tikka Masala paired with caulirice.

Friday will be the big traditional St. Paddy’s Day viewing of The Boondock Saints with Irish Dinner.  I am so glad Sam’s & Costco now carry almond flour for a reasonable price, because I’ve got about 4 loaves of Irish Soda Bread to make Thursday and Friday!