Coconut Oil Mayonnaise

I've been lucky when I've tried homemade mayo: in my food processor,
it has always turned out and hasn't broken (knock on wood!). Last time
I made mayonnaise, I used olive oil, and even with the "light" tasting
variety, it was too olive-y for me. Plus, all the recent kerfluffle
over olive oils not really being olive oils make me want to avoid it
when I can. Thus, coconut oil mayo.

Ingredients:
1 pastured egg yolk
2 t lemon juice
1 t water
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t powdered mustard
200mL (~3/4 c) melted coconut oil (yes, I used a beaker to measure my
coconut oil! Tee hee!)

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice,
water, salt, and mustard. Turn on the processor and leave it running.
After these first ingredients have been mixed, _slowly_ start dripping
the coconut oil into the bowl. Keep the processor running the entire
time. In a very small stream, continue to slowly pour the coconut oil
into the food processor bowl. It should be a creamy off-white color
and it will thicken as more oil is added. After about half of your
total oil has been mixed in, you can pour it in a bit faster. Overall,
it took me about 7 minutes to add all of the oil. Don't be impatient;
that's how mayos break!

Scrape it out of the food processor into a jar and store I the fridge.
It should keep about 10 days.

Mason Jar Eggs - breakfast to go!

I love baked eggs. Eggs are so versatile because you can add so many
different flavors to them and they're always tasty. I like adding
veggies to eggs to get in an extra serving of vitamins and other
micronutrients with my morning meal. For these eggs, any egg
muffin-type recipe would work. Cheese, broccoli, leftover cooked
veggies from dinner, bacon... The possibilities are endless. These are
so easy to whip up in the evening and then you have a tasty breakfast
ready for you all week long. It's also easy to make a batch with
different flavors in each jar to mix it up a bit. Mmmm, delicious!

Eggs in Mason Jars
6 half pint sized mason jars, with bands and lids
Coconut oil to grease the jars
12 thin slices of ham
1 1/2 c chopped veggies (I used collard greens
12 eggs
Salt, pepper, or other seasoning, to taste

Grease the jars well, all the way up the sides. Baked on egg is really
hard to wash off if you don't grease well. Place two slices of ham
into each jar, then add about 1/4c of veggies on top of the ham. Crack
two eggs into each jar. Season with salt, pepper, or other seasoning.

Place all of the jars (without lids) onto a flat sheet pan, leaving
about one inch between the jars. Bake at 350 degrees. I like a
soft-boiled type egg yolk, which took about 18 min in my oven. For a
harder yolk, bake longer and for a softer yolk, bake for less time.

Let the jars cool completely before putting the lids on and storing in
the fridge.

Enjoy!

Almond flour pancakes

 

I have tried several different paleo pancake recipes, but have never been satisfied. They're always dry or fall apart or taste icky. That is, until I made these. They are absolutely perfect: fluffy, tasty, and they don't fall apart. They are family approved, even my not paleo-ish hubby loved them. 

Note: You really do need to use Honeyville's almond flour for this. Bob's Red Mill, Trader Joe's almond meal, and the bulk stuff from Whole Foods are not ground finely enough an they don't turn out properly. You've been warned!

Almond flour pancakes

1.5c Honeyville almond flour (170g)

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1t vanilla

1/4c coconut milk (canned, well-shaken)

4 eggs

1t honey (optional)

2T melted coconut oil

Mix all ingredients together in a mixer. Cook on medium-low heat in plenty of oil/butter. Flip when small bubbles appear.  They are easier to flip if you make them small, silver-dollar sized. 

Make your own bullet

Did you know the blade assembly of Oster blenders fit perfectly on
mason jars? I make smoothies in a jar and then drink them right out of
the same container. I would say that 90% of the use my blender gets is
for personal sized smoothies like this. And it works much better than
the Magic Bullet I used to have.

Paleo Stroganoff

I love fake noodles! A combination of zucchini and carrot ribbons,
made with a regular potato peer are delicious, easy, and pretty. I
usually peel the noodles into a microwave-safe bowl, then add a few
drops of water, cover, and microwave for about 2 minutes before
topping them with sauce. I prefer this type of "noodle" to spaghetti
squash. This stroganoff is really easy to make for a quick dinner.

Paleo Stroganoff
1lb ground beef (grass-fed, of course!)
1 onion, chopped
8oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2tsp fish sauce
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef with the onions until the beef is about halfway
cooked through. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the beef
is browned and the mushrooms are soft. Add the fish sauce, coconut
milk, stir, and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes to thicken up the
sauce. Add slat and pepper to taste. Serve over zucchini noddles.
Serves 3-4.

Grass-fed round roast, cooked sous vide

Bottom round is a very tough cut with lots of connective tissue and
little marbling. In my past cooking experiences trying it as a pot
roast, it's kinda tough, dry, and not super tasty. So that makes this
a perfect cut to try out long, slow sous vide cooking.

I salted and peppered the roast, seared it on top and bottom, then
vacuum sealed it with my FoodSaver. I cooked it in my SousVide Supreme
for 28 hours at 131 degrees F. Then I seared it again in bacon grease
before slicing it and serving.

It came out very tender, moist, and cooked perfectly medium rare.
Definitely the tastiest "pot roast" I've ever made, and really really
easy. My 4 year old gobbled it up without any prodding! I will be
making pot roast like this again for sure.

Braised cabbage with leeks and maple

Braised Cabbage with Leeks and Maple
2 T bacon fat
1 leek, white part only, cut into 1/4" slices
1/2 head red cabbage
1 T maple syrup

Melt the bacon fat over medium-high heat and then add the leeks. Stir
a few times as the leeks cook. When they begin to brown, add the
cabbage. Continue to stir occasionally as the cabbage cooks. Cook
until the cabbage is wilted but still slightly crunchy, about 8
minutes. Add the maple syrup and stir once more to coat the vegetable
evenly.

Pumpkin Muffins

I love fall and I love pumpkin. And I love these muffins. I originally got the recipe from a friend of mine at the Primal Kitchen, but after I moved, I lost my copy of the recipe, so I had to improvise. Here's what I did, and they came out delicious. Mmmm. Seriously, they are so yummy. I could eat these muffins every day.

Measure and mix the dry ingredients:

• 300g almond flour (2.5 cups)
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2t baking powder
• 1t cinnamon
• 1/2t nutmeg
• 1/2t cloves
• 1/2t ginger

Add the wet ingredients and mix until everying is combined:

• 3 eggs
• 84g honey (1/4c)
• 200g pumpkin puree (about half a can of the smaller can size, 1 3/4 c)

Pour batter into greased muffin tins. I don't use paper liners because they tend to stick to the muffin too much and then I lose half of the delicious tastiness... or I look like fool scraping the muffin bits off of the paper with my teeth...). Bake the muffins at 325F for 23-25minutes.

Food 4/5/11

Whole milk latte (x2)

Leftover asian-style braised chicken thigh with mushrooms and napa cabbage.

Fajita-style steak with cauliflower rice, salsa, and Greek yogurt.

Dried cranberries, nuts, and beef jerky

Sesame honey almonds.

Food Journal in Pictures

It's been such a long time since I've blogged! So many thing have changed, but the good stuff is that I have been doing Crossfit for about 6 months as my only form of exercise and I've been eating a paleo/primal-ish diet as well. I still eat dairy products like whole milk in my coffee and cheese, but I haven't had much yogurt lately.
My husband and I also read The 4 Hour Body, by Tim Feriss, recently. That man is crazed! If you think you are obsessed with working out, nutrition, and body composition, you should definitely read his book. It will either make you seem sane by comparison or give you some new ideas to try!
One of the things Feriss recommends is photo-logging your foods. I thought it sounded fun, so I'm going to give it a shot, at least for a bit. So, without further ado, here is my breakfast this morning: 2 omega-3 eggs baked with broccoli and a side of pastured pork bacon. Mmm.

A deck of cards kicked my booty!

I've been meaning to try doing a workout using a full deck of cards for a while and today was the lucky day! I used a pull up bar, a 12kg kettlebell, a deck of cards, and a stopwatch. It was simple to follow but really difficult to do. This was the hardest workout I've done in a long time, and I'm just proud of myself for finishing the whole thing! For the chin ups, I'm not going to lie: I jumped most of them. My excuse is that I'm a girl! But if you're a guy, you better not be jumping or kipping them! I timed this and came in at 32:48. If you try it, let me know your time!

Freaking Hard Deck Workout
Shuffle your deck of cards and turn them face down near your workout space. Draw a card and do what it tells you, according to the following rules:

• Numbered cards: perform the number of reps equal to the face value of the card, except for chin ups, never do more than 5 reps (so if you pull a 9 of clubs, only do 5 chin ups....unless you're insane!)
• Face Cards: perform 10 reps, or 5 reps for chin ups
• Aces: perform 15 reps, or 5 reps for chin ups

• Hearts: Kettlebell swings
• Diamonds: Burpee snatches (do a burpee, but instead of the jump as you stand up, do a kettlebell snatch. Alternate sides for the snatch each rep.)
• Clubs: Chin ups
• Spades: Alternating one-legged floor taps (stand on one leg and bend down to touch the floor, then jump up and land on the other leg. Repeat.)

Providence-lite Kettlebell Circuit

I have tons of great workout DVDs, but for some reason, recently I just can't be bothered to pop them in the DVD player and follow along with them. I want to do my own thing! I love Art of Strength workouts and haven't done Providence in a while, but I couldn't force myself do an hour in front of the TV, so I made my own mini circuit that is Providence-inspired. I did 12 rounds of 70 seconds work and 20 seconds rest (so that it would come out to an even minute and a half per round!). I chose some of the exercises from Providence, and made up some of my own. Definitely fun, and I can do it anywhere. I do recommend the real workout, though. It's waaaay harder and the music is awesome. The number of reps below for each side were what I did this time, obviously different people might squeeze in different numbers during the 70 seconds.

Round 1: Two handed swings x 25, one handed swing x 10 each side

Round 2: cleans x 5 each side (keep alternating sides until time is up)

Round 3: one handed chest press x 5 each side (keep alternating sides until time is up)

Round 4: front squats x 15, sumo squats x 15

Round 5: One-legged deadlift x15 each side

Round 6: windmill + overhead squat x5 each side (these are so freakin' hard!)

Round 7: clean and press x5 each side (keep alternating sides until time is up)

Round 8: swing/catch/squat

Round 9: alternating front lunges

Round 10: two-handed bicep curl/press/military press

Round 11: One arm row x 15 each side

Round 12: Russian twists x 30 sec, then switch to plank for remaining time

All Bodyweight Circuit

This workout uses only a pull up bar and an interval timer. It is 6 rounds of 4 exercises: one lower body, one upper body, one core, and one cardio. Do each exercise for one minute and do all 4 in the round without rest. Take a 30 second break between rounds. 27 minutes total, or just over 30 with a warm up.

Round 1
hamstring kickbacks (starting on all fours)
tripod plank
reverse crunches
high knee taps

Round 2
alternating lunges
narrow push ups
flutter kicks
half jumping jacks

Round 3
stationary lunges (30 sec on each leg)
diamond push ups
toe reach crunches
mountain climbers

Round 4
squats
negative push ups (count to 5 slowly as you lower down)
side planks (30 sec each side)
squat jumps (touch the floor when you go down into the squat)

Round 5
walking lunges
wide push ups
plank
burpees

Round 6
sumo squats
pull ups
bicycle crunches
jumping jacks

Red Velvet Pancakes

Even though I think red velvet is just the most recent food trend and I'm sure that in a decade everyone will make fun of it like they do about fondue (which I also love!!!), I still really love the craze. I tried red velvet pancakes for the first time at a local restaurant and immediately became obsessed. However, $15 for a stack of brightly dyed pancakes just seems wrong, especially when yummy pancakes are so easy to make at home. So, here's my version: not healthy at all, but requested multiple times by the pancake-hating hubby, so they must be good :)

Red Velvet Pancakes

1 c flour

1/3 c sugar

1/8 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 T cocoa

1 c buttermilk

2 T melted butter

1 egg

1 t vanilla

1 T red food coloring

For Frosting

4oz cream cheese

1/4c powdered sugar

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together in a searate bowl. Slowly add the wet into the dry, mixing until just incorporated.

Cook like standard pancakes, but at a lower temperature so the sugar doesn't burn. I cooked mine over medium-low heat for about 2 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, beat the frosting ingredients together until smooth. To serve, spread a thin layer of frosting between three pancakes, cut the sandwich in half, and add a dollop of frosting and some toasted pecans on top to garnish.

The "I can do better" Workout

I made up another bodyweight/kettlebell/jump rope circuit. It was fun, but as I was doing it, I was already planning how to make it better for next time. Initially, I planned to do 25 reps of each exercise, but I realized most of them were paired, and needed an even number, so I did 12 on each side instead. Next time, I'll do either 30 or 40 reps instead of "25." I also did 50 jump rope jumps between exercises, but next time I'll do 100, since the 50 seemed a bit short.

1a. lizard push ups x 24
1b. chin ups x10 (haha, I wish I could do 25!)
1.c 50 rope jumps

2a. kettlebell swings x 25
2b. burpees x 25
2.c 50 rope jumps

3a. C&P x12 each side
3b. one arm row x 12 each side
3.c 50 rope jumps

4a. kettlebell snatches x 12 each side
4b. suitcase dead lifts x 12 each side
4.c 50 rope jumps

5a. swing/catch/squat x 25
5b. tactical lunges x24
5.c 50 rope jumps

6a. plank punches x 24
6b. overhead swings x 25

6.c 50 rope jumps

RunKeeper Shared Fitness | Cycling Activity

RunKeeper Shared Fitness | Cycling Activity

Today I biked to work! It usually takes me 35 minutes, but I was running late and still wanted to bike, so I made my self go just a bit faster, and I got there in 29 minutes. Woo hoo!

300 Rep Kettlebell Workout + Jump Rope

I've been very into minimal equipment workouts these days, so I'm doing lots of bodyweight and kettlebell stuff and doing biking and running. It's so fun to not have to drag out a bunch of stuff and still get a great workout in. Today I finally decided to try my hand at making up my own workout, and it was awesome. I wish I had timed it, but it ended up being about 30 minutes. Next time, I'll definitely keep better track of the time, so I have a record to beat!

I did 15 kettlebell exercises, 20 reps per exercise, and did 50 rope jumps in between. I didn't take any rests, just did it straight through. All the moves were with my 12kg bell.

1. 2-arm swing, 20 reps
50 rope jumps

2. Renegade lunges, 20 reps total, alternating to the right and to the left
50 rope jumps

3. Suitcase deadlifts, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

4. Single-leg deadlifts, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

5. 1 arm clean, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

6. Clean and press, 20 reps alternating left and right
50 rope jumps

7.Front squat, 10 reps with left-handed rack, 10 reps with right-handed rack
50 rope jumps

8. Good mornings, 20 reps
50 rope jumps

9. Swing/catch/squats, 20 reps
50 rope jumps

10. 1 arm rows, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

11. crunches, 20 reps
50 rope jumps

12. alternating swings, 20 reps total
50 rope jumps

13. 1 arm swings, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

14. 1 arm press, 10 reps right, 10 reps left
50 rope jumps

15. Tactical lunges, 20 reps total, alternating right and left
50 rope jumps

Phew! Those presses with a 12kg bell are tough! But a very fun workout.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Buffalo wings are one of my favorite things to eat, but they are
terrible for you! I found the idea for this recipe in the Best 30
Minute Recipes cookbook from America's Test Kitchen, but they use blue
cheese dressing and fried chicken strips. Instead, I used chicken
breasts and light ranch dressing. It is so delicious and very simple
to make!

Buffalo Chicken Salad
(2 servings)
4 c salad greens
2 carrots, chopped
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c Frank's Original Hot Sauce
1 1/2 t brown sugar
1 t cider vinegar
1/2 T butter
4 T ranch dressing

Spread the lettuce out between 2 plates, and sprinkle half the carrots
over each.

Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch pieces and cook in a skillet sprayed
with nonstick spray until it is no longer pink. Mix in all of the
remaining ingredients except the ranch dressing, and stir until the
sauce is combined and evenly coats the chicken.

Scatter half the chicken on top of each salad, and top with 2 T of
Ranch dressing. Mmmmm!

A veggie rice substitute

Instead of pouring my curry over rice tonight, I sliced up a zucchini
with the French fry attachment on my mandoline. Then I steamed it in
the microwave for about a minute, and had an excellent rice
replacement. And it takes much less time to cook than rice, too.

Protein Waffles

I made these this morning with my new supply of gemma pea protein powder. I've mentioned before how I really like this kind of protein powder for baking with, because it's really floury in texture. It's nasty in shakes (chalky and thick!) but great in baked goods. It does absorb more liquid than flour, so if you use it, you'll probably need to increase the liquid ingredients a little, or add some extra water. In the waffles, I actually couldn't tell that they were protein-y and not just regular waffles.

So, here's the recipe:
Protein Waffles
Makes 4 waffles, 163 Cal, 4g fat, 17g carb, 13g protein

1/2 c flour (60g)
1/2 c gemma pea protein powder (40g)
1 T cornmeal
pinch of salt
1/4 t baking soda

3/4c skim milk + 1/2 T vinegar (to make sour milk)
1T butter, melted
1 egg, separated
pinch of cream of tartar

Preheat your waffle iron. Mix the milk and vinegar together and set aside to sour while you prepare everything else. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Separate the egg, and beat the egg white with the cream of tartar until stiff. Add the egg yolk and melted butter to the milk mixture and combine. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Spray the waffle iron with nonstick spray, then spoon batter into it. I cooked mine for about 3 minutes, but your iron may be different.

MMMM!