Gone, but not forgotten...

I know I have been absent from the blogging world for quite some time, but never fear, although I have been ignoring my blog, I have been eating relatively clean, and continuing my expedition for paleo-perfect meals.

The things I've been cooking:

paleo pot roast:

this turned out good, but not great. This was my first pot roast excursion ever. In fact, I purchased a crock pot, the grass-fed roast, and all necessary veggies in anticipation of an amazing culinary treat. I was slightly disappointed, to say the least. Here are the reasons why (and the things I will change next time).

1. Will not overcook. It appears I need to invest in a crock pot with a timer, but, alas, the BB&B nearest me only had 1 crockpot for sale. I did not have the option. I started it in the morning, and went on my merry way to work for the day. I immediately turned it off when I returned home, but I was only cooking a 3 lb. roast, and thus, cooked it (probably) an hour too long. It was not horrible, but slightly overdone.

2. Tried it with butternut squash, in place of the usual suspects -- potatoes. This was not a choice I will make again, as I have learned that I am not a big fan of the butternut variety. It was too pumpkin-y for my taste. Next time, I think I will use sweet potatoes.

3. Did not have enough "flavor" once cooked. I used beef stock, but it was a reduced sodium variety, I believe. Once I loaded up my plate, and added sea salt and pepper (to taste), it took on a different life. I am not a huge fan of salting my food, but I think this poor roast needed more seasoning (salt) than I was willing to give. Lesson learned.

Other than these 3 lessons, I think, overall, it turned out favorably. It was edible, and gave me almost a week of meals (usually dinner). Luckily, I am not adverse to left overs. When I start cooking for more than 1, I will get a lot more practice, and more variation -- but until then, at least I get to practice on myself!

paleo chicken enchiladas:
These, my friends, were amazing! Totally hit the spot, and better than the real thing! I will be posting this menu item in full detail next, so get excited!

More to come soon, I promise!

Update: Progress to date (or lack thereof)

Grr! [The best word I could think of to define my feelings at this point.]

I am, officially, pissed off at my paleo progress thus far. I have heard nothing, but great results from everyone else in the flippin' world about how paleo helped them to lose this much weight, or that much fat. Grr!

Yes, I have not been WODing, or exercising, due to knee surgery, but I am on the mend, and running is now, finally, back in my physical vocabulary. I have also been approved for jumping rope, so double-unders will be back in my WOD dictionary, as soon as my rope arrives. (Come on, Again Faster!!)

Yes, I have had paleo cheat days on most weekends, but 5 or 6 days a week I am perfect!!

Yes, I am feeling better than when I was eating crap, and, yes, I am looking better than I did before I started, but I am just infuriated with the results. And this is what usually happens. I don't see results, so I freak out, and give up. I figure, what I am "torturing" myself for? Why am I doing this, when it's NOT WORKING?

What gives? Something has GOT TO.

But, then I remember the commitment I made. I will give it the full 6 weeks (plus an extra week, due to not wanting to experience the hangover/acne filled results of cheating before my birthday weekend...which shows that some things are worth eating this way... some...).

So, is it just my body? Possibly. I know, for a fact, that my body loves maintaining my current weight; this weight is my "plateau" weight. I also have heard that certain pills make it harder for women to lose weight, so, come May, if I am not where I want to be, I may give up on those funny little pills for a month, or two. I will have to do the cost/benefit analysis on that. But, in the mean time, I refuse to NOT lose. I REFUSE! It's go-time, folks. This is it. I need to post some results pictures, because, not only do I need some better results to satiate my personal thoughts, but I need results to confirm my, possibly dissolutioned?, beliefs on the reasons one should eat low carb, high fat diets to lose weight! I know WeightWatchers works; I've done it. I haven't decided if paleo works, but I need it to! I want it to! I will make myself crazy if it doesn't. This isn't just about weight anymore, folks. It's about ego, self-assurance, and the "lifestyle" confirmation.

Please, God, give me some results, so that I can confirm this, once and for all. Love, Kari.

Macadamia Crusted Cod

I found this recipe while looking for a great paleo way to cook the cod I had thawing in my refrigerator. This recipe was great, because it used a lot of the ingredients I already had laying around.

I found it on PaleoGirls.com, a favorite recipe site of mine. Joey, the author of PaeloGirls.com, referenced it from, yet, another site, so you know it's good!

Ingredients:
1 lb. white fish fillets (Cod, Halibut, Sturgeon)
2 egg whites
1-2 TBS unsweetened coconut (or almond milk)
1 cup nuts (macadamia, hazelnuts, or almonds)
1 orange (for zest and garnish)
3 TBS fresh parsley, or 1 TBS dried parsley
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your baking dish with coconut oil.

Chop your nuts to form the "crust" consistency, either with a knife or with a food processor. Pour into "dry" ingredient bowl. Add orange zest from about half of the orange. Add parsley, salt, and pepper to taste.

Mix the egg whites and coconut milk in a shallow, wide bowl.  Now you are ready to get your fish in the pan for cooking!

Thoroughly coat the fish in the egg/coconut milk solution. Then, place the fish in the nut mixture, firmly pressing the nuts into the fish. Once coated, transfer to greased pan. Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending upon thickness of fish.

Before baking, the cod is thoroughly coated.

This was pretty simple to toss together, and looked like a lot more effort was required. I especially loved that I had almost all of the ingredients in my fridge, save for the orange.

Fresh from the oven! Yum-o!

Serve with your favorite veggie; I chose broccolini.

Cooks Tips:

• Be careful not to over process the nuts, or else you will end up with nut butter, like I did. :) Due to this unfortunate circumstance, I used a mix of almonds and macadamia nuts. On a good note, I now have fresh macadamia nut butter!

• My fish varied in thickness, so some fillets were done in 15 minutes, others took a bit longer.

Frozen grapes

Although I am on a lower carb, paleo diet, meaning fruit intake is minimal, I have always loved frozen purple grapes. I think these are a great paleo dessert, when I crave a sweet snack.

Freezing fruit seems to bring out more of the sweet flavor, and eating it frozen means I won't go crazy, inhaling too much! 

Ingredients:

Purple grapes

Directions:

Rinse grapes in cool water, separate from stems. Place on cookie sheet in flat, even layer. Freeze until solid, at least a few hours. 

Once frozen, remove from cookie sheet, and store in container in freezer. Don't allow to sit out too long, or else they will melt, and then refreeze in a clump.

Cook's notes:

• You can freeze the grapes in bunches, but I find it's easier to eat them when they are separated prior to freezing, so they come out in singles, rather than clumps. 
• I always coat my cookie sheet in foil, for easier clean-up.

Paleo coconut-chocolate bar

This is a delicious crave-curing, totally paleo dessert. When I found this, I was skeptical, but it totally does the trick, and it's delicious!

Ingredients:
2-3 tbs coconut oil
1 tbs coconut nectar, or honey
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup coconut flakes
1/2 nuts (I've used almonds, pecans, walnuts...they all taste good.)

Directions:
In a saucepan, add coconut oil, melt over medium heat. Add coconut nectar (or honey). Once melted, add cocoa powder, coconut flakes, and chopped nuts. Mix together, place into storage container, and freeze/refrigerate until cool.

Cook's notes:

• I found the coconut nectar at Whole Foods. 
• I store it in tin foil in tupperware in the freezer. It cools quickly, but you should keep it in the fridge or freezer, as coconut oil will warm to room temperature quickly. 
• It tastes like dark chocolate with coconut and nuts. So good!

Sweet Potato Fries!

Now, we can't eat high carb all the time, but we can enjoy a carbo-loaded snack every once in a while, and one of my favorite indulgences is fries!

Here is a great version of the comfort food we all love, but without the "fried" part. Yum!

Ingredients:
Sweet potato, or yam (depending upon preference and availability, and yes, there is a difference!)
2-3 tbsp EVOO [extra virgin olive oil]

1-2 tsp dried rosemary
1-2 tsp dried thyme
sea salt to taste (I use a sea salt & garlic blend)
black pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut sweet potatoes into slices. In a large bowl, add EVOO, rosemary, and thyme. Add sweet potatoes to mix in bowl, and coat fries with mix.

Place fries in one layer on cookie sheet, add salt and pepper to taste, and bake in oven for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees (depending upon thickness of fries).

The fries, just before they go into the oven!

All done! These are delicious with home made paleo ketchup. 

Cook's notes:

• Cutting the sweet potatoes can prove difficult if you are using thick potatoes, so I recommend buying thinner/skinnier/longer potatoes for this recipe, rather than the thick/longer potatoes.
• I cover my cookie sheet with aluminum foil, which makes clean up really quick!
• After baking for 20 minutes, I broil for a few minutes to get ends crispy.
• I will add more seasoning/spices after potatoes are on cookie sheet if they seem a little sparse on seasoning. I have a rosemary & garlic blend I like to use. 

Paleo Jambalaya

This dish is my favorite paleo dish I've made to date. Absolutely delicious!

[I found the basis for this recipe in The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson, and then added to it to suit my taste.]

Ingredients:
1/2 lb andouille pork sausage (or a spicy variety of any sausage you wish), sliced
1 lb. shrimp (I used pre-cooked, shelled frozen shrimp)
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 green bell peppers, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

28 oz. diced tomatoes (I used canned variety)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 head cauliflower

Servings: 4-6

Time to Cook:
Start with the sausage pieces; add EVOO to large soup pot, cook sausage over medium till browned. Once meat browns, add yellow onion and green bell peppers; cook until vegetables soften and onions turn translucent.

Add garlic (I used minced garlic from jar) and spices (add to taste, or measure), then add diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to simmer with lid on for 10 minutes or so.

While pot simmers, cut cauliflower into small pieces, and rinse well. Once rinsed, grate cauliflower using a food processor (or similar) to create rice-like texture. (I used my magic bullet, as I haven't invested in a food processor, yet, and it worked well!) Add the cauliflower to the post and simmer another 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer until the shrimp is cooked through (pink).

Plate and serve! Delicious.

Some cook's notes:

• The combination of the spicy sausage and cayenne pepper was enough heat for me, but I have a more mild preference (reference: I'm usually a 2-3 star eater). 
• I purchased my pre-cooked shelled shrimp from Dominick's, which is a partner of Safeway. I prefer not having to worry about cooking the shrimp in the jambalaya. I thawed in a strainer under cool running water prior to adding to my jambalaya.

• I purchased my sausage at Whole Foods, in the deli, but they also had pre-packaged sausage in front of the deli case, which I will try next time. The spicy sausage from WF was good. 
• I used two 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes; 1 can was fire-roasted with garlic and diced chiles, 1 was plain low sodium diced tomatoes.
• If you like it thicker, you could add tomato paste, which I did not do this time.

If you try this recipe, let me know what you thought! Did you make some changes? Let me know!