Monday, January 27, 2014

Happy Monday!

It's been a long time!  I shouldn't have left you.  Without a dope blog to click to.  Click to.  Sorry...overtaken by the spirit of Timbaland for a moment there. 

And we're back.  Last week was LOOONG.  Had to drive to Atlanta for a sales meeting then back around to Greenville SC.  Then all over Greenville on Thursday and back up to my house.  Logged some serious miles I did.  OH!  But I found a restaurant in Greenville that has a a Paleo meal plan you can order.  It's called Saskatoon.  Only open for dinner but the menu looks outstanding.  Score!  But I'm not driving two hours each way every time I want delicious game meats. 

By the way, anyone out there who might see this and knows someone in the Charlotte NC metro area, I am interested in buying wild boar and venison if you have some to spare.  PLEASE!  I'd get it myself but the Saint Francis in me won't let me shoot an animal...yet. 

But yea, long week last week.  Had to bring along plenty of Paleo friendly snacks to help curb my cravings.  And yesterday was the last day of my 21DSD.  THANK GOD.  That was probably the longest 21 days of my entire life!  Though I have to say, Tara and I made some chocolate chunk cookies on Sunday with 85% Cocoa and it was plenty sweet to me.  So I'm thinking the detox helped to calm my sweet tooth a bit. 

So the rest of this week will be spent making sure I'm appropriating the right foods to continue my clean eatings.  Plenty of meat in the freezer but I'm starting to get a little sick of the three veggie mix I get from BJs.  I've made it just about every way I can think of by now.  I feel like I need some spinach and mushrooms in my life.  Perhaps some button mushrooms stuffed with a spinach and sausage mixture.  Ooo, I feel another recipe coming on!

Yes, I glossed over the fact that Tara and I made chocolate chip cookies this weekend!  Don't worry, I didn't forget.  :-)  She has been doing wonderfully for the past two weeks!  I'm so proud of her discipline in choosing the right foods and learning the good ingredients versus the bad.  But I was coming off the 21DSD and she hadn't had anything sweet aside from fruit.  We both agreed that cookies needed to find their way into our lives post haste.  We did some research, played around a bit, and made for you the delicious recipe you see below.  Enjoy!

- Chomp Chomp 

T&D Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 10 - 12 Cookies 
 
 
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups almond meal (used Bob's Red Mill)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tbsp grade B maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 dark chocolate bar, finely chopped (used Green & Black Organics 85% cacao)
    • You can also use a handful of a Paleo friendly chocolate chip like Enjoy Life
  • Mixing bowl and hand mixer, a stand mixer, or a food processor
  • Cookie sheet and parchment paper or silicone baking pad
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Put the almond meal, egg, coconut oil, baking soda, vanilla, maple syrup, and sea salt into your mixing bowl or food processor.  Begin mixing the ingredients.
  3. Add your chocolate chips a little at a time to make sure they incorporate well.  Mix for about a minute or until the dough starts to clump together in a ball.
  4. Use about 1 tbsp of cookie dough for each cookie.  Roll into a ball and place on the cookie sheet.  Gently press them down with the back of your spoon to flatten.  These don't melt down into cookie form like you may be used to. 
  5. Bake for at least 9 minutes.  Everyone's oven varies so keep an eye on them after this time.  If it looks like they need a little longer, check them every minute.  You shouldn't need any more than about 10 minutes though. 
  6. Here's the hardest step - place the finished cookies on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes.  The almond meal makes these fragile when they're first out of the oven so they need a moment to bind.  After that you can dig in!
 


Sunday, January 19, 2014

Cassoulet Time!

Bonjour mes amis!  Zhere, now zhat I've set ze tone fa tooday's post, it is tam to get down to it! 

If I haven't offended any french readers yet then good.  This week has been spent working and plotting my attack on the famous french comfort food - Cassoulet.  There are probably 1,000 ways to make this dish depending where you look so now it's 1,001. 

But that's what makes it so wonderful!  You can adjust some of the ingredients by what you have in the refrigerator.  That was the idea when it was first made...to create a filling meal using what was left in the cupboard. 

So back to modern times.  While this is supposed to be a simple dish to make, it didn't start that way.  My biggest issue was the beans.  There is hardly an ingredient out there allowed in the Paleo diet that maintains the same consistency as a bean under long cooking.  Can't use white potatoes, can't use beans (duh), sweet potatoes will get mushy.  Pacing along the produce section I saw one of the ugliest items:  the celery root.


I know, hideous right?!  But I'd read some recipes with braised celery root and thought, why not?  Took it home, chopped it up and went to work. 

There was a female chef made very famous by her love for french cuisine.  Her name was Julia Child and she has one of the go-to recipes for cassoulet.  What Julia had that must of us don't have though is time.  Three to four days to prepare one meal?  NO THANK YOU.  This was one of the other problems I ran into because the beans are supposed to soak overnight and since I live in a cultural dead center, you can't find any type of poultry or fowl confit which means I would have had to make that part too.  And I'm sorry, I love all four of you who read this but i don't love you that much. 

Then there was the selection of meat.  A lot of recipes calls for lamb shank.  I'm not a huge proponent of killing a baby animal so this was another road block.  I only like eating the adult ones.  Lamb helps give the cassoulet it's rich texture with all the collagen you get from those bones.  But there's another underutilized meat product out there that gives you similar results; ox tails and beef short ribs!

 
Beautiful.  Give me a minute.  So everybody's together and ready to go.  Most of my test runs involved cooking some of these items first as Julia suggests then putting them all together for one last joint cooking.  This was taking far too long so I turned to my trusty cooking element, the Crock Pot.

Using the crock pot was a winner.  The only cooking you need to do before piling everybody into the pot is some browning of meats and simmering of sauces.  And because I'm not a classically trained chef, it only too me four *&#! hours to figure that out!  So here you are, after much swearing and hating on french people and maybe a little crying is my take on cassoulet.  Enjoy!

 
 
- Chomp Chomp
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Chateau Palo Cassoulet
Serves 6 - 8
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 lbs celery root, chopped into "bean size"cubes
  • 1 lb salt pork or bacon, chopped into 1" pieces
  • 8 sprigs of parsley
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 8 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 medium or large yellow onion sliced
  • 5 tsps tomato paste
  • 1.5 c dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
  • 3 c beef stock
  • coconut oil or bacon fat
  • 2 lbs beef short ribs
  • 1 lb ox tails
  • 1.5 lbs chicken thigh, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 lb sausage (I used kielbasa)
  • Almond meal or coconut flour (optional)
  • Salt & Pepper (to taste)
  • Large skillet
  • Medium sauce pan
  • Crock Pot
1) Put your sauce pan over medium low heat and add the wine, beef stock, herbs and tomato paste.  Let this simmer while you work on the next step.
2) Get your skillet over (almost) high heat and drop in whatever you're using for cooking oil, around 2 tbsp.  When it has melted and is just starting to smoke, brown your meats a few pieces at a time.  You should only leave them on each side for 20-30 seconds tops.  Set the browned pieces aside to drain.
3) Place your onions in the skillet and cook them for 30 seconds to a minute, making sure to stir constantly.
3) When the meat has cooled, remove bones and chop into bite size pieces. 
4) Layer the bottom of your Crock pot with some of the celery "beans", enough to cover the bottom.  Add a layer of meat to the top of the beans.  Repeat with a layer of beans, then meat ending with a top layer of "beans."   
5) Taste the ingredients in the sauce pan.  If they need some salt or pepper, add that and stir.  Then pour this mixture into the Crock Pot.  It should be just up to the same level of the beans. 
6) Turn your Crock Pot on Low and cook for 2-3 hours. 

BONUS STEP- It's almost impossible to call this a cassoulet without the bread crumbs on top.  Typically you put some across the top, bake it for a few minutes, push that layer into the cassoulet, add more bread crumb and bake for a few more minutes.  Since bread and the grains are bad for our body, I used almond meal and coconut flour.  It worked well for this purpose so add this if you like.  You'll have to toast them on the side in a clean skillet before adding to the finished dish.   

 



Wednesday, January 15, 2014

3 Phase Paleo - Review Time

As promised, I have for you today a review of the upcoming new book from Paleo Parents!  To give you an idea of who they are: Stacy and Matt were one of the first bloggers I started to follow when I began my Paleo journey in 2012 and have been following ever since. 

They have written two books that give awesome recipes and advice for those of us just starting out.  Eat Like a Dinosaur is a recipe and guide book for gluten-free kids, and Beyond Bacon is full of recipes that use every part of the hog.

You can of course check out their website for a lot more information.  I'm not righting a biography here people.  :-)

Their new eBook, 3 Phase Paleo, could also be considered "A Beginners Guide to Paleo".  At the beginning of the book you get an "About Us" section.  I love this part because it gives their back story and how they made dietary changes.  When you're first starting out and trying to motivate yourself, it's nice to look through the book and say "If they can do it with three kids then I can do it too!"

The next few pages lead into describing the three phases of transitioning to the Paleo lifestyle.  Everything in this section was worded perfectly to give just enough detail about the "how" and "why" without lecturing.  They also include a printable shopping list sectioned out by store (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Costco, etc.) to maximize your grocery spend.  This is going to be a huge help as you work through planning your meals and a great addition to the book.

And finally the recipes.  Ohhhhh the recipes.  I was up until around 11:00 last night reading through the book and had I not been warm in my bed, would have been in the kitchen prepping everything I had ingredients for!  Yeah there's a preposition at the end of that sentence...  Each recipe is designated as Phase 1, 2, and/or 3 so you can customize your weekly menus accordingly.  Stacy and Matt have done a lot of hard work perfecting these dishes.  Yet when you read one of the recipes, it's so simple to follow along.  All the steps are concise and to the point with an ingredient list to the side.  Simple instructions seem to make the task of meal planning a little less daunting. 

Our nanny/sitter has also started on Paleo and is transitioning her whole family as well.  Which means she'll be doing the same with our youngest while she's there and that's OK with me!  I might be sending this as a (insert upcoming holiday here) gift to help ease them in.  With 3 Phase Paleo being an ebook, you have this convenience of carrying around recipes and ingredient lists without having to lug around a cook book (or books). This is a wonderful addition to your Paleo cookbook library; especially if you're just starting out.  I'll keep you posted when it's available!

- Chomp Chomp 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Asian Inspired Beef Recipe

Another post in one day?  How can it be?!  Chalk it up to my ADD...I made a quick beef dish last night that I just remembered and decided to share.  Aren't you lucky?

Asian Inspired Beef
I'm still working on the name for this one so keep an open mind.  This one is a quick dish you can make any night of the week.  I made it using some chunks of beef I cut from a filet I had.  It uses pretty high heat though so I'd lean towards a slightly more tender cut to make sure you aren't chewing leather. 
 
Ingredients:
  • 1 - 2 lbs beef, chopped into 1" cubes (anything from the short loin/sirloin area should work)
  • 2 - 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup or less of sliced onion
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger, or 1/4 tsp ginger powder
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 - 3 tbsp Tamari or Coconut Aminos
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (if you want heat)
  • sesame seeds or crushed cashew (for garnish)
  • Skillet (or wok) and large spoon
Put your skillet/pan on the burner and crank that heat up to high.  Depending on your stove this could happen quickly or take a couple of minutes.  While you're waiting for the heat to come up, drop the coconut oil into the skillet. 

When the oil is melted, looks shimmery, and you start seeing small puffs of smoke it's time for the fun.  Throw your onions into the pan and start mixing them around.  Keep them moving so they don't burn but start getting a nice Maillard reaction going on (droppin some culinary knowledge on you). 60-90 seconds roughly.

Once the onions are starting to look caramelized, toss in all the beef.  This you can let sit for a few seconds before stirring to get a nice seer.  Maybe 10 - 15 seconds before you give it a stir.  After your initial one or two stirrings, time to add the Tamari or Coconut Aminos and black pepper.  Give it a good stir to coat all the meat.  After this step you can revert back to stirring every 10-15 seconds.  You should start seeing some nice dark marks on the beef.

After about 2-3 minutes of this, you can add the ginger, garlic, and cayenne and give it another couple stirs.  Always add the garlic last because it scorches easily and tastes terrible.  Cook for another 30-40 seconds.  If the meat feels like the palm of your hand when you press it, turn off the heat and move the skillet to a cool burner.  That should be a nice medium-rare to medium.  You could also cut a piece open and check.

Sprinkle your garnish over the beef and serve with some vegetables or cauliflower rice and you have dinner!  The key point to this dish is to stay with it.  The high heat is meant to mimic the stir fry method of cooking and it's easy to burn everything.  But the end result is well worth the 5-10 minutes of stress.  :-)

- Chomp Chomp       


Breakfast Recipe & New eBook!

I know it's only been a few days since I started this blog thing.  And I know I said I was going to post recipes on here that I found easy.  So I'm going to give you one right now!  Get ready to have your socks blown off...unless they're already off.  Then go put some on so they can be blown off.  I'll wait...  Socks on?  Great. 

This recipe is a simple one for breakfast if you're rushed in the morning.  On future recipes, I'll try to post prep and finished product pictures so you get an idea of what I'm going for.  Remember, when starting the Paleo lifestyle you'll be replacing all of those cereals and oats and muffins made of grains for foods bursting with protein and vitamins and nutrients.  And with breakfast being the most important meal of the day, these should help keep you full and energized to lunch.



Breakfast Egg Muffins


When I make these, I plan on having at least one a day for the work week and make them in advance.  You can adjust to your appetite or crowd of course.

Ingredients:
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup baby spinach (about a handful)
  • 3-4 pieces of bacon chopped or about 3 ounces of breakfast sausage crumbled (check the ingredients!)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional)
  • Salt and Black Pepper to taste
  • Olive oil/coconut oil/bacon fat (choose one) 
  • Standard muffin pan
  • Skillet
  • Mixing bowl (optional)
Start by greasing five spots (or more if you're making more) in the muffin pan.  I mention in the ingredients olive oil, coconut oil, and bacon fat - choose one of these to grease your muffin pan.  Eggs are a pain in the ascot to clean out of the pan once you've cooked them so you're welcome for the heads up.

Turn your oven on to 350 degrees.

Get your skillet nice and warm on medium heat and throw in the bacon or sausage.  Cook until it's pretty much done, remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon to some paper towels.  If you have a lot of fat left in the skillet from the bacon/sausage, pour enough out until you have about a tablespoon's worth left in the bottom.  Don't worry about measuring...just make sure there is enough to lightly coat the bottom of the skillet. 

With your skillet and leftover delicious fat back on the burner, toss in the baby spinach.  I like baby spinach better than grown up because it's more tender, but you can use either.  Cook this for just a few minutes until it's wilted, making sure to stir occasionally.  Once the spinach is wilted, remove with the slotted spoon and place on the paper towels.

There are a couple of ways to go about this next step.  It involves putting the eggs into the muffin pan.  I've tried both and the only difference is one less dish to clean...which is a win for me since I do the dishes.  Once I've checked the muffin pan to ensure all sides are well coated, I crack one egg into each muffin spot.  Put a little of the spinach and bacon/sausage into each egg, along with a little of the garlic and onion powder and salt/pepper.  Once all the eggs have been properly topped, mix each one with a fork to break the yolk and incorporate the ingredients.
  **Your other option is to break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the bacon, spinach, garlic and onion powders, salt and pepper.  Mix it all together and divide evenly into the muffin pan.  You should be just under the rim of each muffin spot.

Place the filled muffin pan into your heated oven for 20 minutes.  When they're done, I've found it easiest to remove them from the pan almost immediately and onto a cooling rack.  If there is any egg left behind, it seems easier to get out of the pan when it's hot.  Let those baby chicks cool for a bit, then put them in a container and keep refrigerated. 

To reheat take one egg muffin, wrap in a paper towel, and microwave for 10-15 seconds.  BOOM, instant breakfast.  Small amount of work upfront to prevent bad decisions during the week!  The best thing about this recipe is you can substitute a lot of the ingredients.  Don't have/like spinach?  Add in another type of veggie.  Don't have/like bacon or sausage?  Then you aren't a human and should probably turn yourself into the nearest scientist for observation.  Or sub with another meat or none..whichever. 

   

Oh, I almost forgot.  I'm excited because I just got a copy of the Paleo Parents' latest book, 3 Phase Paleo!  I'm going be reading through it tonight and posting my own review.  I've been skimming through this morning and so far it looks like a great addition to the library.  But I'll get into detail later. 

Tara posted her first Paleo meal picture on Instagram last night.  Pretty darn proud of that kid.  I tried to post a picture of it on here but couldn't make it happen.  She called me two or three times yesterday asking about things she can and can't eat.  In case you were wondering she had chicken with prosciutto and marinara, roasted butternut squash, and a salad with oil and vinegar.  Great way to start!

Classic french cuisine coming your way by week's end.  Stay tuned!

-Chomp Chomp 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

It's like Trainspotting but without all the drugs

My slightly more web-savvy spouse has informed me that I need to be posting more than once a week on here if I want to really hold myself accountable on this change.  Sooooo you should be seeing more from me from now on.  I know I know...how could you be so lucky right?

Today marks day seven that I am on the 21 day sugar detox (21DSD).  It has been every bit as miserable as you might imagine.  I haven't had the shakes or headaches that I've everyone seems to get.  But I've had INTENSE cravings for sugar the past 2-3 days.  I suppose it's because this is only the first week but it still isn't fun.  I'm waiting to start seeing babies crawling across the ceiling. 

I did unfortunately have an accidental cheat day though.  We went to eat at Pio Pio - it's a great little Peruvian restaurant by our house with rotisserie chickens, and plantains, and all the good stuff I can eat once I'm off this stupid detox.  I ordered a dish called Jalea, "Peruvian Seafood Platter, Topped Onion, Tomato & Lime Sauce".  All approved ingredients so far.  Then I make the  rookie mistake of forgetting to ask how the food was prepared.  The dish comes out and all the seafood is breaded.  Ugh!  I couldn't send it back and I couldn't order something else so I ate it.  :-(  Don't judge.

No recipes for you in this post unfortunately.  This week's meals have mostly been a concoction of things from the fridge that I've already cooked or that needed to be cooked immediately.  But I have been toying with some ideas this past week that I'm going to be trying.  I've had quite an eye for French cuisine this past year.  The ingredients can be so simple yet the dish is so rich and filling.  Which is probably why it isn't often emulated on the Paleo scene.  So stay tuned...I should hopefully have something for you later this week!

Oh yea, a bit of pretty cool news.  My oldest daughter Tara said she wanted to try Paleo with me!  Woo Hoo!!  We started talking about what she can and can't eat, some of the reasons why, cheat days, and so on.  I think it caught her off guard because she had that deer in the headlights look.  She's at that age where girls think everything is wrong with them and their bodies and she wants to try this or that to lose weight and blah blah blah.  Maybe I'll have her do a post on here as well to talk about some of the difficulties she faces.  It's pwetty gweat (Homestar Runner voice). 

So that's about it for me tonight.  I'm getting sucked into this show with this couple trying to find another island to buy.  ANOTHER ISLAND.  Jerks.  :-)  Have a great night!

-Chomp Chomp

Monday, January 6, 2014

Day 1 - Back on the Wagon

Hello to anyone who might read this entry!  I'm writing more to hold myself accountable than for entertainment or useful tips.  But if you get something out of my writings then great!

So what am I holding myself accountable for?  Aside from the usual stuff, I'm trying to get back on that Paleo diet wagon.  It has been a challenging year for me and my dietary needs/wants.  I'm a lot busier than I was a year ago so gym visits have dwindled to zero and I've been eating anything I see.  That being said, I'm at a point where my clothes are getting tight, I'm winded going up the stairs, and my stomach has been treating me like I'm one of the Sharks (Westside Story reference).

What is a busy guy to do?  I told my wife last night (+Cat Costa-Palo ) that I am going to get back to the Paleo Diet methodology.  Without boring you with many details it basically means no grains, refined sugars, or processed ingredients of any kind.  There is obviously a lot more to it than that but if you want the details I'll let you borrow the book.  In addition to this lifestyle change (NOT a diet), I am working on my severe addiction to sugar.  There's no way of getting around it...I have a real problem when there is chocolate, cookies, cake, Reese's anything in the house.  So I am also going to work with +Diane Sanfilippo 's 21 day Sugar Detox program.  I've put on almost 30lbs this year, mostly from lack of control.  And now it's time for a change!

What I'm going to try to do is post something weekly (maybe more if you're lucky) talking about how things are coming along, some of the hallucinations I'm seeing from the lack of chocolate, and maybe even a recipe or two that turned out especially well.  Maybe it will help the time pass by, maybe not.

So today is Day 1 and I'm off to a good start.  For breakfast I had an egg with some green olives, a few pecans, and a cup of coffee.  Lunch is a small steak with more olives and the rest of the pecans for a snack.  Dinner is likely grilled pork chops with vegetables.  My biggest concern is going to be after dinner...when I usually have my sugar craving.  Stay tuned to see what happens!  

*Chomp Chomp