Lemon Cookies

Hello Bloggers!!

Christmastime is almost here!!!

Maks had decided to bake goodies and mail to her mom. Of course, she dragged me through the process to help her modify to our ingredients in the kitchen. She found this recipe online with gluten and refined sugar, I pointed out that it only required few modifications. She did not feel confident with her baking skills that she requested that I "hang out" in the kitchen and help out.

Turns out, DELISH! I love lemons and this rocked my socks! It is dry, perfect companion to a cup of coffee.

This requires rice flour, the reason why I picked rice is because of the smooth texture to mimic the soft sugar, buttery cookies. I could have used coconut,  but I keep finding it too sweet, and better in small amounts.

MEAT LOVER: So good!
GREENARIE: I'm surprised. I rock with the modifications, don't I!? *beams*

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Take a gawk at this! Seems yummy? That's because it is!

Lemon Cookies
Makes a baker's dozen

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1 Tablespoon squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup honey (warm)

1: Preheat oven to 350*
2: Mix all wet ingredients, including lemon peel (I grate the lemon, it's more fresh)
3: slowly add flour, mixing well. The batch shouldn't be dry, it is a soft texture.
4: roll dough in your hand, making a golf-sized balls, flatten, and place on baking sheet.
5: Bake for 18 minutes. 
6: Sing.

Stuffed Acorn

I had brought acorn squash for the autumn festivities, then it dawned on me: I did not know what to do with acorn! After researching on what type of flavor goes with acorn and I decided to do the similar thing with stuffed zucchini. IT WORKS! I loved it.

MEAT LOVER: So good.
GREENARIE: Oh, nom nom!

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Stuffed Acorn
serves two

1 acorn squash (dark green), halved and seeds scooped out
1 package mild ground italian sausage
1 large white onion, thinly diced
1 cup chopped spinach
1 Tablespoon Basil
1 roma tomato, thinly diced
1/4 cup dry Parmesan (optional)
1/2-1 cup water

1: In pan, toss sausage and onion until fully cooked (onion to be sweated). Drain the juice, turn off heat and toss in spinach. Mix.
2: In Crockpot, pour the water. Then place acorn squash, the pitted areas faced upwards.
3: Scoop the sausage mix into pitted areas of acorn squash. Should be overfilled. Careful not to spill off the acorn.
4: Sprinkle tomato and parmesean on top.
5: Cover and cook on High for 4 1/2 hours.

 

Chocolate Cashew Caramel Bars

We have been craving sweets for... uhm... awhile.

Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are coming up, so we have been craving the autumn desserts, especially caramel.

I found this recipe and thought... why not? We need to satisfy our sweet tooth without dropping to our knees and wail "I want chocolate chip cookies! I want ice-cream!" At least, we can get something decent.

MEAT LOVER: OMG. These are dangerous! (gobbling)
GREENARIE: Too rich.

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Chocolate Cashew Caramel Bars
makes 16 bars

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup organic maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups cashews, soaked and dehydrated
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3/4-1 cup dark chocolate(70% Cacao)

1: In a pot, heat up the butter or oil, add maple syrup and milk, until the oil/butter melts, start boiling. Stir occasionally. Should be gentle boiling for about 15 minutes. This should look like caramel.
2: put cashews in blender, make flour.
3: Melt 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil, pour in cashew flour and blend for a minute.
4: Toss the cashew mix in a square baking pan and squash to a even layer.
5: Pour caramel mix over the cashews. It should even out. Put the pan in the refridgator for 20 minutes.
6: Melt chocolate and 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil slowly in a pot. When fully creamy, pour over the caramel, and softly spread out even. Return to fridge for another 40 minutes.

 

Purple Cabbage & Sunbutter Soup

Hey there. Meat Lover here. It was a Sunday and we felt very tired. Okay, I felt tired. I didn't want to cook or do anything. But I decided on cooking this recipe because the prep wasn't long and you leave it on the stove as it simmers. Kinda perfect for that kind of day.  I didn't include all the ingredients because I was afraid it would turn too spicy. Turns out my modification was just right. In the future, perhaps, I could add a bit more kick.

MEAT LOVER: sunbutter as broth? amazingly good.
GREENARIE: very good.

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Purple Cabbage & Sunbutter Soup
serves 4

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon of Curry paste (i used powder. still as effective)
1 medium red onions, peeled and diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and diced
1/2 head of purple cabbage
1 cup of roasted green chilies or yellow peppers(ML: I didn't include any)
3 cups of vegetable broth
1/2 cup sunbutter (sunflower seed butter)(note: melt the sunbutter in 1/2 cup of broth until it is smooth)
14 oz can of coconut milk (ML: I put in almost 2 cups of regular coconut milk)
1/4-1/2 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes (ML: I didn't include any)
Juice from 1 fresh lime (ML: I didn't include any)
1 tablespoon of honey/agave/light brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
garnish: chopped cilantro (ML: didn't add this either)


1: Heat the olive oil in large soup pot. Add the curry until it is blended with the oil. Add the onions, garlic, sweet potato, cabbage, chilies or yellow pepper.
2: Stir and cook the veggies until soften, approximately 5-7 minutes.
3: Add the broth, sunbutter, coconut milk, red peppers flake and cilantro.
4: Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
5: Stir in lime juice and taste test. add honey/agave/brown sugar if needed to balance the heat. salt and pepper to taste. (ML: no sweeteners were needed because it wasn't spicy)

Breakfast Bread

No narrative needed here.

This bread is, egg-ish, but the bacon and jalapeno came out wonderful. Reminds me of my childhood in Colorado... mmm.

MEAT LOVER: It's OK.
GREENARIE: I love jalapenos.  Yes.

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Breakfast Bread
serves 4

5 slices of thick-cut bacon
2 jalapenos, sliced
5 eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1 drop maple syrup
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1: Preheat oven to 400*. On a pan, lay sliced jalapenos and bacon. Bake for 10 minutes, flip the peppers and bacon, then bake another 10 minutes. Let cool.
2:  In large bowl, mix together eggs, applesauce, ghee, flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3: slice up the cooked bacon, remove seeds from jalapeno. Toss in a blender or food processor and lightly pulse. Should not puree, but into small bits.
4: Pour the bacon mixture in bowl, mix until batter is ready
5: Pour in a bread pan and bake at 375* for 40-45 minutes.
6: Let cool and serve. Keep in refridgator for storage.  

Cream of Broccoli Soup

I love it when the autumn season rolls around. The crispy air, leaves, and refreshing rain (in the Northwest, anyway). Also, it's perfect time for the house to be warmed up with soup. mmmm.

I went ahead and made a plant-based soup, which is excellent!

Meat Lover: Good, love the cashews.
Greenarie: Soft, smooth, and a keeper.

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Cream of Broccoli Soup
Serves 4

8 cups vegetable broth (if heavy, use 4 cups with 4 cups water)
1 cup raw cashews (rinsed and dried)
1 white onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 white potatoes, peeled, sliced and quartered
2 heads broccoli, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme 
1 Tablespoon Marajoam 
Salt and Pepper to taste

1: Saute the onion, carrots, and pepper in a large pot with 1 cup of broth.
2: Chop and prepare garlic and potatoes, pour into the pot, save 1 cup of broth for later, add rest in pot.
3: Chop broccoli, add to the pot, set to simmer. Allow it to simmer for more than 10 minutes.
4: While waiting, pour in cashews and 1 cup of broth in blender. Blend until smooth.
5: When potatoes and broccoli are soft, turn off the heat, mix in the cashew-broth. 
6: Spoon out the soup in blender, puree. Then pour back in the pot, mix.
7: Let cool, enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Phff... I did not have enough patience to do a new recipe, so I decided to do an old fashioned soup. It works. I got high raves from the Meat Lover. Surprisingly, it turned out creamy. Who knew!?

MEAT LOVER: Oh, so good. I love this.
GREENARIE: Very good. Surprisingly good.


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Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves 4

Package of chicken breasts (two breasts), broiled and diced
1 Leek, chopped and halved
1 green bell pepper, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups vegetable broth
4 cups water
1 package of corn-quinoa pasta in pieces or preferred pasta
1 Tablespoon Basil
1 Tablespoon Marojam
Salt and Pepper to taste

1: Warm up the crockpot, put in all ingredients except for pasta and cover. Leave on "Warm" for 6 hours
2: Toss in small pieces of pasta and cover, leave on "Warm" for one more hour
3: Let cool slightly, then enjoy!

Leek Soup

hey there! Meat lover here. As Greenaire have mentioned in her posts, I certainly LOVE my meat. I eat meat at least once a day. It doesn't matter how small or big it is: beef jerky, small amount of breakfast sausage or a simple chicken breast.

Recently, we had a conversation about how I should try to go meat-less at least 1 time a week. I agreed and searched for recipes for meat-less recipes while at the same time, keeping it gluten-free. I found this and I wasn't sure if we would like it since cauliflower was used instead of potato. I've tried several different uses of cauliflower and often does not like the smell or its taste. This one, however, was a surprisingly good meal. I made buns to go with it.

Meat lover: pretty good. more filling than expected
Greenaire: yummy!

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Creamy Leek Soup
Serves 4

3 cups of leek (2 large leeks)
1 medium-sized cauliflower, chopped
1 1/2 cup of onion (1 medium)
4 cups of chicken broth (Meat lover here: I used vegetable broth instead)
1 cup coconut milk
1-2 Tablespoon Ghee (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste


1: Wash the leeks throughly (no one likes sandy soup). Remove the dark green ends and cut the leeks roughly. Add into a large soup pot.
2: Cut the core out of the cauliflower and remove any leaves. Cut up roughly and add to the pot.
3: Add the roughly cut onions, broth, coconut milk as well ghee into the pot.
4: Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.
5: After cooling, puree the ingredients in a blender.
6: Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
optional: You can top off with bacon bits, add garlic for flavor, lemon-avocado, etc.

Buns

I have been making crockpot soups, since the winter rain season started and the temperatures had been dropping. What should I make to soak up the broth?

Some paleo websites had been putting up bread recipes, but they did not "click" right. I tried this one, and modified it. It worked great! We gulped up all the buns in one seating.

MEAT LOVER: They're so good, I can't stop eating them.
GREENARIE:  Addicting!

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Buns
makes 6 buns

3/4 cup tapioca flour (plus extra for rolling)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon arrowroot powder
1-2 cups dry shredded parmesan (optional)
1 Tablespoon basil
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon Almond milk

1: Blend the flours, baking soda, powder, parmesan, and spices
2: Make a crater in middle of the dry ingredients, crack eggs, and stir. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients until well blended. Add milk and mix. 
3: If not formed in a dough, add little more almond flour until sticky dough forms.
4: Powder rolling area and hands with tapioca flour and knead the dough. Slightly sticky.
5: Form 6 big buns and place on baking sheet.
6: Bake for 20 minutes in 350* (to wait until golden brown is overcooking it. It should be ready when bottom starts to turn golden).
 
  

1 cup tapioca flour, plus extra for kneading
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cups mozzarella, finely grated
3 large egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons coconut milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan parchment paper. Set aside.Combine the tapioca flour cream of tartar, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until the dough forms a ball. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth, even-textured, and not sticky. If the dough doesn’t come together or seems too stiff, then add coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together and feels supple.
Divide the dough into 9 even pieces and with your hands, roll each into a ball. Shape the balls into ovals and place them 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- See more at: http://lvlhealth.com/super-easy-cheesy-rolls/#sthash.hI2B7Q98.d

1 cup tapioca flour, plus extra for kneading
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cups mozzarella, finely grated
3 large egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons coconut milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan parchment paper. Set aside.Combine the tapioca flour cream of tartar, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until the dough forms a ball. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth, even-textured, and not sticky. If the dough doesn’t come together or seems too stiff, then add coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together and feels supple.
Divide the dough into 9 even pieces and with your hands, roll each into a ball. Shape the balls into ovals and place them 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- See more at: http://lvlhealth.com/super-easy-cheesy-rolls/#sthash.hI2B7Q98.dpuf

1 cup tapioca flour, plus extra for kneading
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp baking soda
2 cups mozzarella, finely grated
3 large egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons coconut milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan parchment paper. Set aside.Combine the tapioca flour cream of tartar, and baking soda together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until the dough forms a ball. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth, even-textured, and not sticky. If the dough doesn’t come together or seems too stiff, then add coconut milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together and feels supple.
Divide the dough into 9 even pieces and with your hands, roll each into a ball. Shape the balls into ovals and place them 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- See more at: http://lvlhealth.com/super-easy-cheesy-rolls/#sthash.hI2B7Q98.dpuf

Sweet Potato Gnocchi Soup

Hello Bloggers!

I LOVE gnocchi. I have never made any before. If it is on the menu in a restaurant, I would request it. Olive Garden used to have gnocchi and garlic cream (now they have it in soup instead), when I get a gift certification from my grandpa, I always order the gnocchi and cream. When they switched to soup, it was unimpressive. 

 When I discovered that gnocchi is made with russet potatoes. I was disappointed. I kept looking for alternatives (this whole time, I thought gnocchi was complicated to make) and nothing popped up.

I saw a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi, and what the frick. It is easy to make and I felt ridiculous. I was aiming for gnocchi and cream, but could not figure out the non-dairy part. Instead I thought, why not soup? It won't hurt.

Oooooo--my-goooodness. I did not realize how delicious the soup was! The soup itself rocked my socks, but I was unsure with the sweet potato gnocchi. Maks, on the other hand, thought it was delicious. *scratches head*

MEAT LOVER: It is a keeper!
GREENARIE: Soup is delicious, but gnocchi?

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi Soup
Serves 4

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
1 Large (or two small) Sweet Potato
1 cup of arrowroot powder
1 egg 
1 tablespoon Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1: Boil the potatoes, rinse, cool, and mash in medium mixing bowl.
2: Mix in eggs and spices. Slowly add arrowroot powder, stir. It should start pulling apart from bowl.
3: spread some powder on rolling area, spread on hands, then roll in a tube. Cut in 1/2 inches, put pieces on a baking sheet. Use a fork to press down the pieces.
4: Bake in 350* for 10 minutes.
5: Let cool (and ready for the soup!)

Soup
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups almond milk
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

1: Saute the onion, garlic, and green bell pepper with olive oil in a large/deep skillet.
2: Add the diced chicken, broth, milk, and spices. Turn up the temperature to boil.
3: When boiling, toss in the gnocchi then turn down the heat for simmer for 10 minutes.
4: Turn off the temperature, toss in spinach and stir. Allow Soup to cool slightly to savor!

Sweet Potato and Leek Soup

Holy Jalapeno!

I had been scourging through vegan and RAW websites, searching for the perfect recipes. They are automatically Dairy Free. Downsizing... Gluten Free: optional. Legume Free: optional. I had to scan all the recipes to ensure that it's GREEN and Paleo friendly. Oh my gosh, are you aware of how those vegans love their legumes? Understandably, I used to be one of those people. I could live on bean burritos, legume soups, and yes, I admit, my childhood favorite: meatless split-pea soup. I must have been one of those weird kiddos: thinking a jar of pickles is a treat, eating saltine crackers and peanut butter or toast for snacking, gobbling up carrots, green beans (mom had to pour in extra can for me), and living on corn chips and salsa. I was pretty much Greenarie my whole life, at 14, I came out of the closet to my dad and told him "I decided that from now on, I am a vegetarian." It took him looooong time to realize what vegetarian meant. It was not just tater tots and buttered corn. Although, he took pride in cooking, and I hated how he asked me for vegetarian recipes. He discovered Alfredo pasta. Fed me the exact same pasta for two weeks straight. Then he discovered cottage cheese and fruit. I was close to swearing it off. It took him about 7 years to figure it out, after he retired and had health problems. He ate salads every day, lost over 50 pounds, but sadly... he refused to let me pat his downsized tummy.

His mom (my grandma), oooooooh boy. To this day, I still remember her exclaiming and prodding my loaded baked potato: "where is your dinner?? This is not dinner! It's not even food."

Back to the point. Hopefully this short story has entertained you. So...

I do not understand why people like to sweeten the sweet potatoes. The name has sweet in it already, so why the need to add cinnamon, sugar, or whatever? Making sure it gets an extra punch of sweetness? Ew.

I decided to poke my finger in the air and determinedly say "I'll just make my own potato soup, with all the old stuff in it. The same stuff that was made in the 1800s." Not exactly, but you get the idea.

Oh, yes! It was a success, and I loved it. I have a thing for Leek, it's kinda secret, so don't spread it around.

MEAT LOVER: ------------------ (she doesn't know! hehehe! She missed out on this.)
GREENARIE: NOM NOM!!!

Look at all those veggies! HEAVEN! It smells so awesome when cooking!

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Potato Leek Soup
serves 4

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 large white onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 carrots (a cup)chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large leek (or two medium), chopped and halved
2 white sweet potatoes peeled, chopped and quartered
2 cups vegetable broth (thickly brown. If it's light, use extra cup and don't bother with water)
1 cup water
half lemon, juiced
1 Tablespoon basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Put a big pot (soup pot) over stove on low heat, pour olive oil (to warm up)
2. Chop up onion, cloves, carrots, green bell pepper, zucchini, and leek. Pour in pot, stir. Increase to medium heat. (sweat the vegetables)
3. Peel and chop potatoes, juice the lemon.
4. When the vegetables are softened in pot, pour in rest of the ingredients, stir well, cover to simmer for 30 minutes on low-medium heat.
5. Turn off the heat, spoon 3/4 of the soup into a blender, then puree. Pour the pureed soup back in the pot, stir. 
6. Let cool, then prepare for some goodness in the tummy! SLURP.

 

Something Random, Something Non-Paleo, Something Old.

Hey Bloggers,

Yesterday was the Tour de Lab bike event, I volunteered twice before-- free ride, shirt, and beer included! Hell, why not!? Giving up 2 hours in the morning to set up, and get things running, then before closing, we head out and zoom around on our bikes, get rewarded with beer and food. Hell yes.

This year, I had dragged Maks in volunteering with me, encouraging her to participate in the "Big Dog" which is a longer route with a large hill slapped on the map. She had paid and biked in the "Puppy" which is a route with rolling hills with 18.7 miles (Big Dog is 41 miles). She decided, why not? That way she can finally see what the Big Dog looks like, and I reassured her that in my past experience, volunteering the first stop (after going uphill for 17 miles), it's all dooooooowwwwn!

My mistake. I was told that the route was reversed, my route down was the way up, so our way "down" was the old "uphill" route. I thought, well.. no biggie.

Poor Maks. It was up, up, up, and long way up. No intervals, just up. She was actually... about... to... cry. She was not dying, but you could see her horrified eyes and she sucked up her complaints in the first half hour. Before reaching the top, she finally rolled out her complaints. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Then the rewards started coming in. Rolling downhill on curves. Wind whistling through our sunglasses, our legs buckled, and tapping the brakes. Swiiisssssh!!!

Complaints turned to smiles. She drafted behind me, keeping up with my pace (my roadie, Sunny is light weight, so I had to scope out the road down).

As we reached the bottom, into town, we rode our short cut through downtown to the finish line. It was a clear, hot day, so we wanted to rest (and frack it, we had to do some moving afterwards, conserve our energy, conserve, conserve!) and grab our meal.

I pointed out our plates of lunch and said "I think I should blog about this. Who is the Greenarie and the Meat Lover?" Maks burst out laughing and exclaimed "YES, do that!"

Can you figure it out? Who is the Greenarie and the Meat Lover?

 Obviously, they do not serve Paleo food, but we needed to eat to regain our energy. Honestly, it did not do much. I was still hungry and feeling tired. My vegetarian soy hotdog (I don't like meat hotdogs) topped with cheese, chopped onion, and sauerkraut, corn chips (I thought they would serve salsa or something), lightly dressed cabbage salad, and red potato salad. Maks' is obviously easy: two beef hotdogs with ketchup, cheese, relish, a pickle, and two chocolate cookies.

By the way... did I mention? I carried a watermelon on my back all the way!? YUP! Volunteers get to bring home the left over snacks, and they had a lot of watermelon left, so I snugged one on my backpack. Worth it? We'll see.

Sunny and the watermelon that I carried. Near the top of the long hill before we winded down.

Cucumber Salad

Dust is settling in the air for a bit, then it's whirlwind again.

We have gone on camping trips, I have participated in two relays, one in Idaho and other in Oregon. It's time for me to take a break from the craziness of being out of town all the time, but unfortunately, we are moving this weekend, so I have pile of errands to do. Pack? Getting there. Repair the walls? Kinda. Clean? Not important right now. New Lease signed? Almost.

Since I don't like leaving things blank, here's a simple recipe. I have cucumber craze right now. I grew up with Cucumber and Sour Cream salads, swallowed up the whole big bowl of 'em. It's something that I will always carry throughout my adult life.

MEAT LOVER: Cucumber? eeeeeewwwww!!!!
GREENARIE: Nom Nom. What a treat!

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Cucumber Salad
Serves one

1 Cucumber, peeled, chopped, and halved
2 Tablespoons Soy Sour Cream or real thing if you still eat dairy
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: 1 chive, diced
Optional: One Tomato diced

Mix all together, let it set for few minutes (allow the sour cream to soak with cucumber water). Blissful eating!

Sweet Mixture

I have been making this before every road trips. I love it. It's addicting, so I had to limit it to road-trip snacking... and during those trips, I often have to remind myself: conserve the snacks, conserve, conserve... oh gawd, it only has been one hour on the road!? conserve! conserve!

Growing up, I loved trail mix, but everybody had their own preferences. For me, I could not comprehend why the mix has M&Ms. That alone, is a treat. Is that a way to tempt people to eat the nuts after they run out of the chocolates? I'm not too fond of the mix of the sweet and salty. It's just... awkward.

I often head out on road trips with bunch of people. I do not know their diets, I do not know their frequency of dining out, I do not know their eating schedule.... so I have a habit of packing snacks in my backpack for the "just in case."

Several times, I find myself starving. Those several times, people actually eat a loaf of banana bread and head off to skiing without eating a bite until late at night. REALLY!? My body does not absorb carbs very well, and on the mountain, I found myself shaking so hard that I kept crashing to the slope with my snowboard, that I made two more runs before I admitted that I was done for.

This was my lesson learned. Pack snacks. You never know.

Being on Paleo can be challenging while on the road. There are not many options, and you are often searching up on your phone for a restaurant that offers more organic, based diets. Important thing is to try your best, and it's okay if you eat gluten. I often find myself in a knot when I try to eat out. We can't always eat salads or steaks every time. I usually go for wraps (thinner bread), something with less potatoes or gluten. The rule of the thumb is that you maintain your paleo diet at home, and try your best when you're out. So it's nice if you can pack paleo snacks to help you to keep you from eating too much "bad stuff" and to at least string healthy food along.

This one, I came up on top of my head. I decided to use ingredients that are common in the home to save money and the trip to the store. I hope it will be the same for you.

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Sweetness
serves 4... or maybe just yourself

4 cups cashews, soaked and dehydrated
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2-3 Tablespoon honey (depends how sweet you like)
1 Tablespoon Basil
1/2 Tablespoon salt and pepper
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup sunflower kernels
1/2 cup small nuts of your choice (I used chopped walnuts and hazelnuts)

1: melt coconut oil in large baking pan in oven of temperature 175*
2: pour cashews, mix with oil, level out the nuts (no overlaying) bake for 20 minutes or until cashews show golden brown
3: put honey in pan, return to oven, wait for melting, about 3-5 minutes
4: mix all the ingredients in pan, stir well, mix well
5: bake for 30 minutes, infrequently mix the pan ingredients
6: leave in oven, turn off temperature, let it cool.
7: Yum in the Tummy (make sure the treats are completely cooled off).

San Francisco and Tahoe Lake

Hello bloggers:

We have gone on a week-long vacation down in California. Beautiful San Francisco (most of the time) and everlasting beautiful Tahoe.

I am sure when you read blogs about travels, Paleo bloggers usually will say "it's OK to cheat a little. You can go loose when traveling because you cannot find the perfect meals, but always, always, always go back to your diet when you come home."

It rings true. I usually go for items that has lower legumes, gluten, or fat. For instance: avoid desserts, sub wrap instead of thick bread-ed sandwiches, avoid legume salads/conocotions, limit beer or sub with wine/hard liquor.

Here's some examples:

Maks, the meat lover, LOVES beer. Before we went Paleo, we usually frequent local breweries when on travels. This was one of them. She got her beer fix, and I got my salad fix. This salad... OMG... ROCKED! It was mix of greens with beets, pear, and sweet vinaigrette.  I was in love. Maks went for fish and chips. Paleo: Fish, salad, fruit. BAD: Beer and potato fries. See, it wasn't that bad. We had our good stuff and some bad stuff. We did not go off the radar.

San Francisco's 21st Amendment Brewery

The next morning, we had to eat. Really. Eat. We did not realize that in San Francisco, basically half to 3/4 of restaurants in town are closed on Sundays. Fuck. Time to cheat. Luckily this place has thin bagels, so we can request them instead of the thick, regular sized ones. It helped. Especially that they served eggs and meat sandwiches.

My first time with Noah's. Really. I was unimpressed with the bagel, but COFFEE... to die for.

 

 

We ended up starving pretty much rest of the day. We ended up chewing on dehydrated banana chips and rode our bikes on the bay. We found a Mexican restaurant and decided to head in for a late lunch/dinner. Maks had heavy meat chimmy and I had the chicken burrito with one legume and rice removed. Not too bad. Our appetites reduced with more exercises from biking for few days.

We headed out to Tahoe Lake, since it was Maks' birthday, we cheated BIG TIME by getting her a chocolate ice-cream to celebrate.

We had Steak cut up in strips with us, that we cooked and made them into wrap with vegetables. It was delicious. Breakfasts consists of scrambled eggs with green pepper and chives, and bacon.

Shattup. I know I'm not the perfect cook. ;)

 Maks has a thing for s'mores with our camp fires. I allowed her to have that pleasure, she carrys that through from her childhood, having a fire and s'mores.

Although, s'mores... *gag* I don't like the marshmallows. Maks had taught me how to make s'mores WITHOUT the marshmallows. Tastes like fudge covered- graham cookies, LOL.

Careful of that dripping chocolate!

Honestly, I think we did great. We did not go whole swivel around and off the radar. We kept to our fruits, vegetables, and meats. We did not splurge on the fatty foods (ice-cream and s'mores ration for a week worth of vacation... not too bad), kept in touch with our diet.

Coming back to home, it was easy to go back to 100% paleo. It felt natural to eat things naturally. Yeah, you saw that right. Eat naturally. Eat vegetables and fruits from farmers markets, and the occasional meats. Fast food? YUCK. Boxed meals? Disgusting. Canned meals? Fuck no.

Egg Benedict

The last few weeks, we reduced our time in the kitchen, dramatically.

Why?

It is too warm outside to be with the stove. The summer arriving in a short periods, then rain periods, I still find myself hesitant to cook. We ate things cold: salads, tomatoes, jerky.

Although, I try to remind myself, that we need to grab a little kitchen adventures, discovering new things to make from the Earth. What new things can come from a butternut squash (we are up the wall, butter-nut high), rutabagas, cabbage, or kale? I am still in the learning process of kale. It is high in iron and very rich when raw. I find it easier to eat when cooked, combined with other vegetables. I'm getting there.

For the last couple of days, my breakfasts consists of baked vegetables with mixed in eggs. It's high in green, low in egg flavor, and easily eatable. Honestly, this is a perfect breakfast for any meat-eaters, they get all their vegetables in one meal (with mixed kinds of vitamins), so they can splurge a little on their meat cravings. As for me, I get my greens in, and sometimes I demand a green dinner to get my fix in.

Maks had discovered this, fancy egg thingie, she shoved up the page to my face with her laptop and said "I don't mind trying this."

Message recieved. This morning, I woke up earlier, decided to leave the kitchen alone. Once Maks woke, I said, "you said you wanted to try the egg thing. I'm leaving that up to you." Bemuddled with her quick task of cooking breakfast, she hesitated then took up the task.

MEAT LOVER: It went down so smoothly, I felt I needed two more, but two eggs is fulfilling, I need something else on the side. Oh wait! This is for the blog? I say "Two Thumbs Up."
GREENARIE: Smooth, love the lemon and garlic touch to the avocado. Although to even distribute, I suggest diced tomatoes instead of sliced.



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Egg Benedict
serves two

4 bacon, cooked
1 large tomato, sliced (4 slices)or diced roma tomato
1 medium size avocado
1 slice lemon
1 clove garlic
1 Tablespoon water
4 eggs

1: place meat of avocado, garlic, lemon, and water in food processor, whip until creamy (should be thick, if not creamy enough, add little water).
2: add little water to pan, heat, then use cookie cutter or poacher, crack an egg in the enclosed area and cook. Bottom line: poach your eggs.
3: stack the egg on top of sliced tomato, then spread the avocado cream on top of egg. 
4: crack, crinkle the bacon, sprinkle on top.

NOM NOM!!!

Thank you Food Lovers Kitchen! 

Burgers with Butternut Squash and Onions

This was deeelicious! I enjoyed this every little bit. The butternut squash made a smooth and beautiful touch to the burgers. I could eat this up.

Of course, my dog was the major influence in change of my diet. I realized: why am I feeding my dog better than I eat? She is on raw based diet: eating animals as whole (fat, bone, etc), which is grounded and given raw (cooked is not as beneficial). It's her main meals, eating chicken, turkey, cow, lamb, pheasant, and sometimes buffalo. Since dogs are omnivores and scavengers, they eat whatever they can in between their hunts, so I have an approval list of vegetables posted in the kitchen, so when we have scraps, we pass them along to Bella.

Sometimes I suspect that Bella is a greenarie as well. She would drool after my salads, eat whatever vegetables I hand to her. My previous family dog was NOT a greenarie at all, he hated carrots and refused to eat anything that was not kibble or anything from animal.

After she dove for the whole spaghetti squash and chomped it whole once we left her alone in the house, we learned that she definitely loves vegetables and had to stow away all of the vegetables if we were to leave her home alone.

Anyway, in this case, we had left over squash spread, Bella lunged after it and licked the bowl clean. She gives a good rating which was constant licking.

Yes, I agree. it's so good!

MEAT LOVER: Slightly spicy, but good.
GREENARIE: nom nom!

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 Burgers with Butternut Squash and Onions
makes 5 burgers

Burger:
1 lb Italian Sausage (Mild or Sweet)
1 lb Ground beef
1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 egg
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Spread
1 small/medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut in small chunks
1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil 
1 cup caramelized onions

Garnish
Large Lettuce leaves
1 roma tomato

1: Put coconut oil in large baking dish, and put in oven. Turn on heat to 400*
2: Chop the butternut squash, toss in the dish and mix a little, return to oven
3: Bake for 20 minutes or until soft, then let out to cool
4:While squash is cooking, mix beef and sausage in a large bowl until well combined
5: Add garlic, onion, red pepper, egg, and flakes to the bowl, stir with spoon until meat mixture is well combined
6: Divide mixture in 5 patties, Drizzle each side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
7: Grill burgers in skillet on medium-high heat
8: When the squash is cooled, puree in blender or food processor, set aside
9: When burgers are done, spread the squash on top, sprinkle the caramelized onions, and top with lettuce and tomato.
10: Eat with a fork, and nom nom!         

Thank you Paleo Table!