A Very (Sorta) Paleo Thanksgiving!

Hello all, So it has been a few weeks since thanksgiving, I know, but I thought I'd share with you my fully gluten and dairy free experience! I want to warn you all though... there was some startch involved... BUT it was for a good cause! A pumpkin pie! (because really, what is thanksgiving without the pie!)

Luckily having convinced the family of the benefits of going gluten free, I was delighted to find gluten-free stuffing, gravy and pie crust mix all awaiting in Ottawa upon arrival. We hit the grocery store to get a few more items for the table, and got started!

Joined by my sister, in from lennoxville, and her roommate Lauren, we had a good bit of girl time in the kitchen, drinking our gluten free beer and some wine, and just generally being in a festive mood.

We started with cranberry sauce, which is usually packed with all kinds of poisonous white sugar, and emptied a pack of cranberries into a saucepan with a cup of fresh orange juice for sweetness. Then, adding about 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and stirring until all the berries popped, the sauce was ready! This was delicious, tart and sweet at the same time, and went perfectly with our farm fresh bird.

To add some green to the meal, I grabbed a few brussel sprouts, the oft misunderstood cruciferous veggie that really was delicious! With olive oil, garlic salt and sesame seeds, I tossed the steamed and halved sprouts and set them in a serving dish.

With dessert on the brain, my Mom and I started figuring out the dough for our pie crust. This was harrrrd. It crumbled and stuck, and really should have been chilled before we tried to handle it, but ah well, the lesson was learned. It turned out well regardless though, and we were pleased with the end result!
The filling was made up of pureed pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, eggs and a bit of honey, and it was amazing!! It is super simple to search a recipe online for a paleo pie filling, so google away!

The leftover crust we made into stars and set on top, and they were deliciously crispy at the end! Everyone else had theirs with whipped cream, but for us paleo people, the starch is enough of a cheat!

Such a healthy, happy and awesome homecoming! Great times had by all!

Sesame Nori Chips and Good Old-Fashioned Meatloaf

In the mood for a salty snack, I trolled the web for some awesome paleo chip replacements, and noticing my remaining nori sheets, I settled on this one!
Sprinkle the sheets with water, and fold them in half to get a thicker final chip. Cutting them with kitchen shears, I spread them out on a baking sheet. At 375 celsius, and watching them carefully, I put the pan in the oven after spraying the strips with Pam Olive Oil and sprinkling garlic salt and sesame on them.
These were realllllly good! I sushi-fied them with pickled ginger and wasabi on the side, YUM!

For dinner, I decided to make a dish that used to make me groan: Meatloaf. The term really just used to imply boring and tasteless meat gunk, I'm not sure why as my mom never made anything that wasn't delicious, but I was intrigued by the idea of making it myself. To bind the dish together, instead of bread crumbs or flour (baddddd bad gluten and starch!), I used an egg and some mushrooms, and I'm not sure why, but it held together beautifully, even staying together outside the dish!


Preheating to 375, I combined my extra lean ground beef, garlic, onion, mushrooms, egg, black pepper, sea salt and oregano. Cooking it uncovered, I put it in the oven for 15 minutes while I prepared a glaze for the top.

This consisted of some soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, chives, diced tomatoe juice and pepper, I combined it all in a bowl and took my meatloaf out again, spreading it over the top before letting it cook another 45 minutes. I wish this had been thicker, so some paleo ketchup (if you've got a recipe for it) would've been a good addition. The top did come out nice and golden browned though, thanks in part to the onions that carmelized!

This had me in meals for at least... ummm, a day. It was so darned good that I went back for more and had it for lunch AAAAND dinner. SO AWESOME. With some steamed broccoli on the side, this was a really great combination!

Talk to you all soon, hope I stay strong! The success of this diet doesn't mean that I can just go back to eating crap all the time, though I have to remember my cheat meals!

Coconut Beef Curry with Fennel Cucumber Salad

Hello again,

So this is an update on my progress and a few new tasty Paleo recipes I whipped up!
I've fallen off the bandwagon a few times lately, namely with potatoe chips (JUUUUST a few times) and soy milk in those tasty cappucinos that are so helpful during midterm season!

Curry beginnings

For a while there I was subsiting off of cabbage and almond butter, but I went and did quite a few rounds of shopping and along with my staples foods (eggplant, veggies and lots of fruits) I decided to get creative and picked up some fennel, beets, coconut milk and a bunch of new spices (coriander being my favorite!)

I started with a good easy coconut curry, grilling up some beef strips and combining a few veggies in my pan!
I added the coconut milk and some spices, using curry powder, cumin, chilli flakes, coriander, pepper, salt and chives, letting it cook up and reduce a little.
I served it over some fake rice (i.e. mashed steamd cauliflower) with a side of sliced cucumber!

The cucumber gave me a great idea for using my fennel, and I took a look at my favorite paleo recipe index on theclothesthatmakethegirl.com, where I found a delicious looking salad! The recipe called for paleo mayo as a dressing component, but instead I made a great emulsified one with mustard, maple syrup, lemon juice, salt and garlic in my blender! With a mandoline I sliced my fennel (GREAT FREAKING KITCHEN TOOL, i love these things) and cut up my cucumber. This was an amazing salad and the dressing really made it amazing. The key is to combine everything and then add the olive oil really slowly, drizzling it into the moving blender.

Chop the good fennel tops and sprinkle over the salad for a good garnish!

There's a few more posts on the way from my cooking adventures, but I hope you're all inspire to try these ones out. The curry is really good with all kinds of meat, and I've found the leftover coconut milk is awesome in teas and coffee as a dairy substitute!

Day Twenty-Seven: Wilted Kale Salad

Keeping with the salad theme I changed my mind at the last second as I was about to make some more kale chips. Remembering a delicious meal I'd had once at my grandparents', I pulled out my recipe book to finally make Wilted Kale Salad!

The dressing is another I can add to my slowly growing list, and its packed with good fats. With a 1/4 avocado, black pepper, garlic powder, olive oil a tiny bit of soy sauce and a little lemon juice (one wedge's worth should do it!), I just mixed it all up with a fork!

To wilt kale, first you have to take the stems out. Once it is in bite sized pieces in a bowl, add a little bit of water and a little sea salt. Then basically just squeeze it and mash it up with your hands until it goes an even darker green and begins to look wet all over, spinach-like sort of.
I combined this kale with my dressing, before topping it with cucumber, chickpeas, pumpkin seeeds, mushroom and red onion. This was a great salad, if maybe a little sour. I think this was a combination of too much lemon juice and my not being very used to using salt, but next time I'll tame it down on both counts!

A great lunchtime fix! Probably not great for leftovers, though perhaps once everything sets it might gain a little more subtlety that would add even more layers!

Some might be asking where the protein component is here, but rest assured I paired it with some leftover chili and felt plenty full and recharged!

Adios for now!

Day Twenty-One: Pork Spare Ribs

So yesterday was a leftovers buffet, with some ham, fruit and vegetables thrown in as a light snack!

I worked most of the day, basically grazing on the good stuff, like nuts and salad!

sauce simmering!

Today however I worked out for the first time in too long, following my friend to his boxing gym for a class that (literally) kicked my ass! With all the skipping rope, punching bags and learning basic combinations I'm WIPED! and my arms feel like lead!

In need of some new dishes, I picked up some pork ribs at the store on my way home, searched my fridge for marinade components and started cookin'!

Boiling the ribs seemed the fastest way to get what I wanted, so I started them off for about 45 minutes while I sauteed some onions and garlic with paprika, soy sauce, black pepper, chili flakes and just a titch of cinnamon. Then, transferring my ribs to a baking dish, I covered them in my sauce and with the oven at 325 and the aluminium foil on tight, I sat back to wait!

Ready to go in the oven!

These were great! The cinnamon was a little interesting, but it was such a small amount that it worked out well! A small salad sealed the deal.

Mmmmm, the crispy top on these ribs was awesome, and they literally fell right off the bone!

I've been researching good ways to work out that wont take too long (think around an hour) and wondered if anyone has some good suggestions that wouldn't really require a gym and that might be a little more fun than weights (not that those aren't great... really).

As dessert I had a chocolate, Yep surprise! there are still quite a few left! They're still great and still frozen, if you haven't made these yet, what are you waiting for!?

Tonight for dinner I ate out at the new Gordon Ramsay restaurant for a friend's birthday and as usual, Paleo options were prettttty slim. The ribs was amazing though (I scraped a lot of the sauce off), and the salad was full of candied pecas, shaved anise, dill and dried acorn squash. I declined the creamy dressing though and took just olive oil.

Tomorrow will most likely be a leftover day, but maybe I'll find time to cook a lil something! I'm getting all my finances in order. Now that I've cleaned up my eating, lets see if I can find a few dollars here and there to finally go organic!