Filled Up the Snack Drawer

I went to Trader Joe's and stocked up my snack drawer at work and also planned some meals for the week.

In my Snack drawer at work:

Organic pistachios
Hormone free bison jerky
Organic pumpkin seeds, salted, in shell
Valencia oranges
Tazo organic chai tea
Fair trade coffee to use in my french press (the greenest brewing system)

Delish.

This week i will be having
roasted veggies with parsnips, organic carrots, acorn squash, and pumpkin.
cauliflower pizza w/ jalapeno chicken sausage
Crustless quiche w/ organic spinach and white mushrooms.

Yay for planning and discipline, for without it i would fail.

Baked pumpkin

There are a lot of inexpensive baking pumpkins still at stores!
I roast pumpkin by cutting up a washed baking pumpkin around 2 lbs by cutting it up like cantaloupe slices after taking out the seeds. I will have between 8 and 10 slices that look like ribs.
I mix up 3 tbls of melted butter with 1/2 tsps of cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom. Brush this mixture all over the slices and drizzle with agave nectar. Cook at 400 for 15 min, baste with any drippings on your baking sheet, and bake another 15 min. Top with whipped cream if you feel like a little cheat.

Roast the pumpkin seeds at 350 for around 40min after tossing them in some olive oil, cumin, garlic salt, and a bit of chili powder. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

The price of health

Trying to eat healthy is expensive.
For every added feature, whether it be organic, fare-trade, local, antibiotic free, no human growth hormones, free range, grass fed, the price goes up and up.

Will there ever be enough demand to eat naturally, that the prices will start to go down?

Every time you buy something, you're voting. If you support organic and sustainable practices, I'd like to believe eventually we'll be able to see a difference in cost. Heck, we must be getting somewhere, as Walmart has an organic selection now.

When I get my CSA next spring, food is not going to be so tight. I can't wait to support a local farm that believes in organic practices and community involvement. I'd love to cow pool... any one interested?

K-cup waste

Coffee is something of a crutch for me. And let's face it, as Americans most of us could admit to having a habit. K-cups are so popular that I went to the spa, to work, and then to a friends house in one day and had 4-5 complementary cups (not my first choice, i prefer fresh Starbucks..Organic if possible).

K-cups are a problem. They produce waste that is unnecessary. Although they are trying to make them more recyclable, problems with locality and recycling are an issue as it is. My neighborhood doesn't take many recycling substances. A compostable cup would be best.

The solution... brew it the old fashion way. Try a french press, which doesn't even need a filter (it's the superior way.. most caffeine, less waste!).

If you must support Green Mountain and their mountains of nonrecyclable cups... Use their metal filter and brew your own coffee.

Natalie Dee on eating local, natural and organic.

She is on her way, maybe.

Cooking Time

Before I went primal, I ate very little meat, and mostly carbs. i ate frozen, pre-packaged lunches by lean cuisine and the like. I was a chronic napper.
The first thing that overwhelmed me about the new eating style was the perish-ability of the food i was buying. I must say, due to poor planning, I have wasted alot of food (and money) but I am getting much better. In doing more planning, I have been cooking more often, and going to the store more often, and meal preparation now takes up alot of my free time. the bonus... I actually like it.
Remember when your grandmother would be in the kitchen half the day cooking on the weekend? I always wondered why she was always in there. She was making food from scratch! she didn't have anything to "nuke" for my grandfather.
There is a whole culture and ritual that I am now assimilating to. Musing at what i want to eat, checking out recipes online, stopping at a local store, asking my family who is going to be home, timing the meal so it's hot when most people are home, planning my lunch for the next day... a lot of time and effort go into cooking.
I used to go to the store once a week and get 5 frozen lunches, 3 boxes of cereal and a couple of gallons of nonfat milk. i literally don't eat any of that anymore. for around 10 years I've had oatmeal almost every morning of my life. Now it's eggs.
Ans speaking of eggs.... i eat about 2 dozen a week by myself. its the most portable, easy, no-fuss fatty protein source. love it.

I'm not sure why i love cooking now, after avoiding it most of my life before i was primal. Maybe it's because I wasn't doing anything productive in the free time i had if i wasn't cooking.
I like that my dad has become involved, too. Around 5 o'clock one of us calls the other and asks what there plan for dinner is. sometimes he has it all planned out. other times we both had plans and grumble over who's going to use the stove first, or how we had already thawed our meat so the other is too late!
I enjoy looking at my groceries as they convey towards the register... all different colors of veggies, fruits, nuts and meat. bottles of spices and coconut oil. I'm proud at my new competence in the kitchen, and very pleased to watch my boyfriend go back for second and third portions. i love food.

Roasted beets...

Why are you so against them?

Stop it. Embrace beets.

Harvest time

As the harvest season comes to a close I find myself regretting the opportunities i had to freeze fresh, local, or organic fruit in their peak of season.
It's not too late to get delicious local apples at a great price though!

Parlee Farm has it's last weekend coming up, and they are having sales on apples.. not to mention, you can take as many pumpkins as you can carry for $20!!!

Here is a recipe for baked apples that I did a couple weeks ago:
adapted from here

• 4 large fibrous apples
• 3-4 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup boiling water

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. Spoon out the seeds. Make the holes about an inch wide.
2 In a small bowl, combine the honey, cinnamon, currants/raisins, and pecans. Place apples in a 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Top with spoon of butter
3 Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30 minutes or until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.

Here are my favorite recipes ive been making the past couple of weeks

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Serves 2

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
olive oil (optional)
pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings*

Directions:

To "Rice" the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.
One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.
Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

I made a double batch and cooked it 5 minutes longer. it was awesome. i used blobs of Mozzerella and nickels of Italian sausage. sweet, sweet, life.

Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes

Ingredients

• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup milk (raw cow’s or coconut both work)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• coconut oil or butter for frying

Directions

1. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes. Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or stevia.
2. In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together. Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
3. Grease pan with butter or coconut oil. Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake. Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon. The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the tops dry out slightly and the bottoms start to brown. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
4. Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.

I used stevia and it was good. these little guys are really suctiony, so get the butter handy. I made them small, as they stay together well this way.

Paleo Journey

I started my Paleo adventure 09/12/11 with the Primal Blueprint in hand.

Since then I have been on a rampage, delving deep into research, anthropological works, and the grocery store.

I've learned some interesting things that i'm no too happy about...

1. I've been lied to by my government about what is good to eat, and what is not good to eat.
2. I have been sabotaging myself with diets that cannot work.
3. We are not eating what a human being evolved to eat
4. The word is getting out

This blog will be a collection of information I find out on my journey, reactions to recipes, and open discussion on this newer school of thought.