Day Twenty-Five: Ground Turkey Sweet Potatoe Curry

Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately, I really underestimated how much time I'd have when life picked back up!
So, an update about the fallout from my boxing adventures: HOLY COW was I sore! The legs, the triceps, but mostly all the tiny muscles in my back that I had no idea I possessed have been SCREAMING at me since wednesday night! Its Sunday and I still feel a little achy!
Getting out of bed Thursday was not fun , namely because moving was paaaaaaaaainful. Gotta love excersize! Its kind of good though, because that one hour of class had some reprecussions, which means that with a little effort, I can get some kind of results. Its a twisted form of motivation though!
So, I have been cooking lately, and I found a few more recipes that I tried out with success.

First up was a Ground Turkey Sweet Potatoe Curry that I found on the Livestrong website. This was great because I got to use my tumeric again, which means I've now found two delicious dishes that it is an integral part of!
The main ingredients consist of Lean Ground Turkey, onion, sweet potatoe and canned tomatoes. Spice-wise I added tumeric, chili flakes, garlic, black pepper, curry powder, cumin, and some ginger.

Browning the turkey in a pan large enough for the whole concoction, I added in my onion and garlic, letting them get soft and cooked up. Then the rest of the flavors went into the dish, along with about a half cup of water, before I added in my diced yam. Then, cover the whole dish with a lid and allow the sweet potatoe to soften. If you don't have a big enough lid, just use some tinfoil, it worked just as well for me!

Garnish with chives and serve it up in a big bowl. You're going to want to make lots, because this dish is really great and reheats perfectly!

Great Indian dish all ready to eat!

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!

Day Nineteen: Hearty Bison Chili

With a helluva work day coming up tomorrow (3 hours of class, followed by 8 hours of work, followed by a night out with the girls), I knew I needed to make something especially filling and easy that I could transport for easy eating!
In comes chili!
With some thawed lean ground bison, and half a can of chickpeas I simply tossed together a big ol' pot of delicious spicy goodness.
In a big pot get the ground meat going (you can use virtually anything, but I do like the taste of bison!), and add in whatever vegetables you can spare! I went with an onion, yellow pepper, zucchini, cabbage, and diced canned tomatoes (no salt added). Then I added garlic, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, 1 cup of water and a plethora of spices. Ginger, cumin, curry powder, chili flakes, black pepper, paprika and oregano were the main players, with a bay leaf thrown in for a little extra something!

Let it reduce, let the veggies get tender, and then enjoy! I put some fresh basil up on top for an interesting mouthful and a pretty picture:

Easy, quick, and utterly painless!

Day Eighteen: Squash Spaghetti and CHOCOLATE!

Hello again!
I got a comment a little while ago that I was missing a key component of the day: Dessert! I decided then to make a fully paleo version of chocolate balls, a sort of fudge-y round bite of heaven. But first I needed a good, healthy dinner!

Sauce cooking up!

On a tip from my friend Adrienne, I had bought a spaghetti squash in anticipation of using it as an innovative replaement for actual noodles. Using the rest of the tofu in my fridge (I know, terrible source of nutrients, soy = not good, but as a student, I couldn't justify throwing it out!) I started a delicious sauce. Chopping up mushrooms, zucchini, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil and shallots, I seasoned the mixture with garlic, bay leaves, chives and black pepper. Letting the vegetables get a little softer, I cut my squash in half (TOUGH to do by the way), scooped the seeds out, and with the oven at 350 I placed each piece face down on a cookie sheet with a little water in it. This went for about 30 minutes, and I added a little more water about halfway through. The topping was then thinned with some chicken stock, before I let it reduce to give it the consistency of spaghetti sauce rather than stew.

Then I scraped out the insides of my squash and assembled my dish! Top with more fresh basil and black pepper to taste and there you have it! Paleo Spaghetti to warm you up on cold winter nights, of which we have many in Canada!

For dessert, as I mentioned, I made some really good chocolate confections. These dont really become hard, and are best kept in the freezer. This also helps them last longer because you don't see them staring at you every time you go into the fridge for a healthy (-er) snack! Very easy to assemble, the hardest part is keeping the batter off your fingers, as it can be very sticky. I find that once mixed, let it sit in the freezer for about half an hour, making it much easier to work with.

Chocolatey Goodness!

Mix a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder with 1/3 cup almond meal in a small bowl. In a separate bowl place 1/4 cup water, 1/8 cup maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, making sure to smooth out any lumps. I like to do this with a fork, but if you were going to make a larger batch you might want to pull out the electric mixer!
Once melded, add a large spoonful of almond butter and repeat the process. Chill the batter and prepare a bowl with some more cocoa powder and coconut flakes. When enough time has elapsed, make small ball shapes out of the chocolate, which should now be much easier to handle! Roll these shapes in the cocoa and coconut for a coating which is both delicious and practical: your balls will stick to the dish you place them in without it. Once you have assembled this, you're ready! Dig in guilt free (just don't go making anymore for a little while!)

I keep the quantities pretty small because I know myself, but if you have more self control I'm sure the recipe could easily be doubled, tripled, or made however big you want. Because these are raw, they keep for a long time, especially if you freeze them. Hypothetically you could keep them at room temperature, but they really don't stay as firm and become messier to eat. As a contribution to a cocktail party, just stick a toothpick in each one and no one will believe that there is no dairy in these babies!
I'm off to fall into a sugar coma, though to be fair it's a naturally induced one! Maple syrup sure is delicious!

Day Seventeen: Almond Pancakes and Trouty Goodness

This morning I woke up well before my alarm, and taking this as a sign that I was meant to devise a breakfast that consisted of more than leftovers and fruit, I began searching for a Paleo Pancake recipe!

Pancake Batter.

Luckily enough, I found one that was perfect for my needs: Almond Pancackes! The only rough patch was my distinct lack of applesauce. Adding a little cinnamon to the recipe, I whipped together two eggs, some vanilla and about a cup and a half of almond meal (my supply is dwindling quickly!), while I microwaved a peeled an cored apple in a covered dish with water for 3-4 minutes. Then, without even mashing them at all, I transfered the now soft apple bits into my batter, and ran the beaters a little while longer to get a smooth(ish) consistency!

With that done, I heated my pan with some olive oil, and grabbed my frozen strawberries, slicing them for optimal distribution on my batter. The pancakes filled the whole pan, so basically I just divided the recipe and found myself with one big plate and one leftover for another morning.

Almond Pancake with Cinnamon, Cocoa and Coconut

These were EXCELLENT! Practically like I remember pancakes but less sweet and more dense. As a topping, finding myself out of both maple syrup and honey (this was pretty much deliberate, as I didn't want the temptation of reaching for one or both in a craving moment!) I sprinkled cinnamon, cocoa powder and some raw coconut flakes ontop! Combined with the strawberries and the apple already in the pancake, my breakfast powerhouse was complete! Mmmmm!

Veggies and Fish working up!

For dinner I decided to get some of those great fatty acids, and pulled my steelhead trout fillet out of the fridge. I used another great Livestrong recipe (tweaked of course): Pan Fried Trout with Tomatoe Basil Sauce. Oiling my pan I threw in some chopped red pepper (about 1/2 of one), garlic, shallots, sliced cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Then I seasoned it up with black pepper, sea salt and some garlic, before putting about a tablespoon of all natural pesto down and a splash of white wine vinegar. Then in went my fillet, and I let the pan start cooking.

When the trout was cooked through and the veggies were soft, I assembled a few lettuce leaves and transfered it to a plate! Very quick, easy and flavourful!

Day Sixteen: Mexican Taco Salad

So in order to help me keep track of my diet more efficiently, I've set up an account at the Livestrong website, which gives an approximate count on the calories contained in most food! I was a little surprised to find out how many are in an avocado... but that's besides the point! I was ambushed by my roommate today who demanded to know how I'd shrunk so much lately! I feel much better, I've found that I actually feel good about eating instead of feeling guilty, and that my clothes fit a little looser. I bet if I was smart(er) and cut out the booze as well, I'd see a radically different body in less than a month... alas, the bar scene is a bitch.

Today I made Taco Salad, keeping with the ethnic theme started yesterday. Now anyone who has been to a mexican restaurant can tell you, this usually is served in a charming little corn chip bowl, which is probably the best part of the whole dish. That bowl however, is usually deep fried and often made with gluten. I made my version sans adorable food bowl, but it was nonetheless very good!

Again using the Livestrong website, which has a fantastic collection of Paleo recipes, as well as their nutritional information alongside! I decided to whip up some of the Chorizo Shrimp Sautee, and use it as the protein in my salad! Easy enough to make I combined tomatoes, onion, shallots, mushrooms, half a red pepper and two uncased chorizo sausages with some frozen salad shrimp and garlic! In the meantime I assembled my lettuce and avocado, no dressing required as the fats and liquid from the stirfry are more than adequate!

Chorizo Shrimp "Taco" Salad with tomatoes and avocado

I also had to replenish my baba ganouj supply after polishing off the last bath with my remaining raw veggies. New dip to go along with the haul I got from the store the other day!

The seafood component has been pretty weak the past few days, I think tomorrow I'll grab one of the exotic type fish fillets I snatched up! Perhaps try a Mediteranean dish, eh?

Day Fifteen: Butter Chicken

So today I finally had the chance to cook again after doing a very large (and prettttty expensive) grocery run yesterday! The past two days have been really hectic with work and class and socializing with returned friends!

Yesterday was a little bit of a cheat day, as I went out for dinner and indulged in the chevre and beet salad (so amazing, if you're ever in Montreal you must go to Jane). Today however I invited my friend Priscilla for lunch and introduced her to my Paleo style cooking!

In the spirit of globalization, I decided to try an Indian dish that I have been craving: Butter Chicken. I was keen to use some of the tumeric I picked up in anticipation, as I can't remember ever cooking with the spice before! After picking out virtually every spice in my arsenal I started my cubed chicken breasts in a frying pan. Then when they were about done I transfered them to a plate and heat my spices up in some olive oil. I used ginger, tumeric, chili flakes, cinnamon, garlic powder, cumin, curry powder and paprika. Adding to this, I used (again for the first time in cooking!) a small tin of coconut milk and some garlic before letting it all simmer a tad. After a while I added some canned diced tomatoes (no salt added!), some lemon juice and a 1/4 cup of almond butter. Then I transfered my chicken back into the mixture and let it all reduce for about 15 minutes.

I know, it doesn't LOOK appetizing, but it really was great!

While this was going on, I cut some cauliflower up and added it to a pot for steaming. I thought this would be a great substitute for the rice that so often pops up in Indian cuisine, and I was right! Really great texture and the subtle flavour was a good addition to the dish.

"Butter" Chicken served with "rice"!

Then it was time to serve! And voila! at home, incredibly healthy, very paleo ethnic food! Now I don't have to feel like I'm missing out at all on Montreal's varied dining scene!