Venison Stuffed Peppers from "Paleo Comfort Foods"

Yesterday afternoon, while I was making my grocery list, I flipped through the "Paleo Comfort Foods" cookbook and found a recipe for stuffed peppers. One of my favorite dishes, even though I have never made them myself, it is easy and fun to make and kiddos can help with mixing!

I'm not going to describe the entire recipe and how to make it because I followed the step-by-step in the book. I will however, describe the minor changes I made to accommodate what I had available.

I'm fresh out of venison, so I used instead ground pork and turkey breast. Also, I like the peppers a little more crisp when finished, so I did not boil them as the recipe calls for. Also, instead of mixing in the bacon from the beginning of the recipe, I added it on top of the meat with a couple of minutes left on the oven timer and switched to broil.

On a scale of 1-10, I give this one a solid 9! It is very well though out, simple to make (although I took longer than expected because it was my first time making them) and you can make easy changes to the recipe without throwing it out of whack. 

To compliment, I made some spicy guacamole and put a dob of it on top when served. 

This is a brightly colored and fun recipe to make. I highly recommend this as a regular dish because you can change the ingredients to fit what ever you want and they make easily transported individual meals.

Peppers fresh out of oven, before adding guacamole.

If you do not already have "Paleo Comfort Foods" I seriously recommend you make the purchase immediately. You can get it by clicking HERE.

Other cookbooks for differing recipes that I like are "The Primal Blueprint Cookbook" by Mark Sisson and "Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragaso (particularly good because the first half of the book is her real life story about bringing the whole family through the paleo switch).

Roasted Kosher Chicken

OK, so it's been a while since my last post. But, with renewed interest in spreading awesome Paleo recipes to my friends and family, I give you a variation of my wife's dish - Kosher Chicken.

What you will need:
One whole young fryer chicken
Chopped Thyme Seasoning
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO
Box of Kosher Salt

To make cleanup much easier you must first cover a 13X9 glass dish with aluminum foil. Next, fill the dish with kosher salt until you have about 1/2" evenly dispersed on the bottom of the dish.

Preheat oven to 400'F, cook time is one hour and 20 minutes.

Layout the chicken and coat liberally with the EVOO on all parts except the very bottom. Do not remove the skin, this helps in the cooking process. I will explain that in a minute. Be sure to get into the spaces between the wing/breast and the thighs and legs. Once you've coated the chicken with EVOO, sprinkle the Thyme over the top and sides of the chicken. Put as much or as little as you like, I used about 2 palm fulls (side note: during the cooking, this makes the house smell sooo gooood!) but whatever you like will work.

Place the whole chicken, breast side up, in the 13X9 dish, centered neatly and on top of the salt. Once oven is preheated, place on rack in middle of oven and set timer to one hour.

WARNING - NOT PALEO: While cooking, now is a good time to enjoy a glass of white wine or a craft brew. A chardonnay will pair well with the thyme roasted chicken, as well as an IPA such as Sweet Water Brewing Co's IPA, hoppy with a bit a grapefruit.

For a side, I made a fresh salad. Also, I made smashed sweet potatoes. For this, you will need 4-5 large sweet potatoes and one half Florida sweet onion (won't make you cry and doesn't have an overpowering onion taste). Skin the potatoes and chop into small pieces roughly 1" or less. Boil all of the pieces until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Strain and put into a large mixing dish, then use a smashing tool to smash the pieces into the texture you want. The more you smash, the less chunky it will be. Once that's done, add in 2 tsp of cinnamon powder, one Tbsp garlic powder, cracked peppercorn and salt to taste. Dice the onion into small pieces and mix into the potatoes. Serve right in the mixing dish.

About this time the chicken should be cooked to an internal temp of 145-150'F. Once the hour timer is done, check the internal temp, put back into the oven for nineteen more minutes. Once the timer is done, turn to broil for about 1 more minute to finish crisping the skin on top. After broiling, chicken is ready to serve. Let sit about 5 minutes outside oven before cutting to serve.

The reason we cook this slowly is to maintain the moisture inside the chicken. By leaving the skin on, the salt in the dish creates a convection process that you can literally see during the roasting. You will see fluid bubbling under the skin, as the meat self bastes. Contrary to what you may think, the chicken will not be salty tasting in any way. It will, however, stay extremely juicy, even in the drier white meat parts like the breast.

Serve plated with the side of your choice and the fresh cool salad. The salad is a nice contrast in both texture, color and temperature to the rest of the dish. Dress it with some avocado oil and balsamic vinegar.

Now enjoy!

WOD 9/19/11

I have never posted any of my workouts in detail before, but as I transition away from 4-5 days of intense and moderately long distance cycling per week and into two fitness days and two short, intense cycling days per week, I figured I would post my WODs from time to time for some possible critique.

My workouts are also a bit longer than a typical Cross Fit style workout because I incorporate traditional heavy lifting with Cross Fit training.

So, without further adieu...

WOD 9/19/11 (Post. Chain, Back, Shoulders)

W/U:

18" Box jumps x 12
DB squat press 50lb x 9
Burpee Long Jumps x 6
(Repeat sequence 3 times with one minute rest between)

PC/Core:

Standing BB Snatch (from knees) 115lb x 10
BB Good Mornings 115lb x 10
Medicine Ball 10lb Roll and Toss x 15/leg
(Repeat sequence 3 times with two minute rest between)

Back/Shoulders:

BB Bent Over Rows 135lb x 8-10
DB Lateral Raises 25lb x 8
Seated Cable Rows 110lb x 8-10
EZ Bar Upright Rows 75lb x 8
(Repeat sequence 3 times with two minute rest between)

Finish:

275lb Tire Flips x 15 followed by 1/4 mile light jog
(Repeat sequence 5 times with one minute rest between)

*Entire session completed in about 90 minutes*

Let me know what you think. Tough? Not tough enough?

Stand-by Meals Seem to Help Maintain

One thing I have noticed about using all fresh foods to prepare every meal is that, even though there is no shortage of meals to prepare, there is no way you can stock every ingredient for every meal idea and recipe you have or find. Because of this, I routinely make the same meals several times per week, along with several meals that I choose and plan for when I grocery shop. You would think that after a while, these same meals would get boring, and I admit, they do. But having them always available keeps you from making a poor choice in food, and there are ways to vary them slightly.

For example, last night, I wanted a pizza. It has been over a month since I have came to the Paleo Lifestyle and I decided I wanted (not to be confused with cheating) a slice of white pizza. I also ordered it with tomatoes, spinach, onions and black olives. It was a fantastic pizza, satisfying both my desire for variation and every taste-bud in my mouth. And within one hour, I got that same feeling in my gut that I used to feel after pretty much every meal. Bubbles... Shifting... and what the hell is that smell?!

That was a poor food choice. Not because it was just pizza. But because it had everything on it that I was accustomed to eating in the past and just accepted as normal. Now that I know what it feels like to actually feel normal after eating, to feel the food I'm eating actually get put to good use, I don't want to feel like I did last night again (or this morning for that matter).

So the question is this:

I have committed to the Paleo Lifestyle 100% and I feel great about it. This is easily sustainable for me and I will continue forever. But how do I, on occasion, vary from this lifestyle to enjoy a slice of pizza, or a bowl of Nanna's pasta and eggplant parmigiana, or anything else for that matter, without suffering for it hours later?

I guess it's like my grandfather always says: "If you wanna play, you gotta pay."

Lemon Garlic Boneless Chicken Thighs

Wow... Wow, wow, wow!

I have to say, I am gettin' pretty good at this whole food experimentation with no dairy, sugars, yeast or glutens.

So, here is the recipe...

Main Ingredients:

Six - Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (Visible fat trimmed away)
Two - Medium Sized Summer Squash
One - Large Zucchini
One - Red Onion
Four - Large Handfuls Pre-Chopped and Washed Kale

Marinade Ingredients:

2 Tbsp EVOO
1 Whole Lemon
2 Tbsp Dry Minced Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tbsp Cracked Peppercorn
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Sea Salt
4 Tbsp Fine Chopped Cilantro

Directions:

First, trim most of the visible fat from chicken. I say most and not all because thighs are much more visibly fatty than a chicken breast, and it's nearly impossible to get it all. Set them aside in a deep dish for marinating.

Next, peel garlic cloves, smash them, chop them up fairly small and put into bowl for mixing the marinade. Slice whole lemon in half and hand squeeze juice from both halves into mixing bowl for marinade. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients and whisk briskly until thoroughly mixed. Pour marinade over chicken thighs and mix and rub chicken together until marinade is heavily worked into the meat. Cover and set aside for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350'F and prep a deep baking pan by covering surface with aluminum foil and lightly coating with cooking spray. At the same time, heat a deep nonstick pan to med-high. Brown outside of chicken thighs on each side in the pan, or for about 2 minutes on each side. Once complete, roll thighs back into position as if they had the bone in them and place into baking pan, spacing apart evenly. Put pan in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

While chicken is baking, slice or chop zucchini, squash and red onion in any manner you prefer for sauteing and saute them when chicken has about 10 minutes left to bake. Use about 1 Tbsp of Avocado Oil and 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar for sweeter veggies. At the same time and with the same 1:2 Avocado Oil to Balsamic Vinegar, saute all of the kale until tender, but not squishy. The kale should lose about half of its volume and turn a deep dark green when done.

Once all are complete, serve chicken on top of sauteed veggies. Add in a side of fresh tossed salad and enjoy!!!

Nutritional Breakdown (Serves 4):
Per Serving:
Calories: 405
Carbs: 19g
Fats: 20g
Protein: 44g
Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 6g

Eh, bland dinner but AWESOME DESSERT!

I wanted to do an awesome crock pot recipe with chicken and vegetables. I didn't want to worry about cooking for dinner tonight, nor have a lot of clean-up following. My timing was off though so that kind of screwed up my meal. Though, not completely, as I was still able to serve when I had planned, the meal was still missing something and a little on the bland side.

Basically, I wanted to do a pulled chicken meal with zucchini, summer squash, sweet potatoes and a base of garlic sauteed kale. The problem was with the sweet potatoes. I thought it wouldn't take more than 2 1/2 hours in the crock pot for the cubed sweet potatoes to cook, but it ended up taking closer to 4 1/2. I was still able to serve the rest of the meal so it was, as they said in Apollo 13, "a successful failure." Not to worry though. I will get this one right and when I do, I will post pictures and the recipe!

Now, on to something much more interesting! DESSERT!!!

I finally got a chance to sample two Paleo Approved frozen desserts that I have heard much about. This was a bonus for me because I L-O-V-E ice cream and giving it up was a very hard thing for me to do.

The first dessert is an ice cream type bar made by So Delicious. It is their coconut almond mini sandwich and it is soooo light and awesome!!! How can you go wrong with this one? It is coconut, almonds and chocolate!

The second dessert is another ice cream style dessert by Purely Decadent. This one is the Coconut Milk Mint Chip dessert and it tops even the coconut almond mini bars! It was so light and fluffy, more like a finely shaved cup of ice than a heavy cream cup of ice cream.

Both of these desserts are awesome and new favorites! They have helped me get over my cravings for ice cream at night. They are both comparable to ice cream in regards to calories though so careful you don't over do it with these. You very easily can!

Dijon Pork Loin Chops with Sauted Brussels Sprouts

You have no idea the treat you are in for with this one! I'm eating this dish as I type this because I could not wait to share this recipe!!! This is a recipe I had to modify from the book "Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragaso. Slight modifications were made because some of the original ingredients were not on hand at the time.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb Pork Loin Chops (Visible Fat Trimmed Off)
1/2 lb Raw Brussels Sprouts (Halved)
4 Cups Raw Baby Spinach
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
3 Garlic Cloves
1/2 Tbsp Dried Thyme
1/2 Cup Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
2 Tbsp EVOO
2 Tbsp Avocado Oil
4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Fresh Raw Lime

Directions:

Slice 1/2 lb Brussels Sprouts in half, toss in saute pan with 2 Tbsp Avocado Oil and 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar, on med heat. Dash sea salt and black peppercorn to taste. You'll want to saute these slower than normal so you don't burn them. Cover and keep stirring every 2-3 minutes until sprouts are about fork tender. Hand squeeze 1/2 lime into saute pan and stir. Remove from heat and let sprouts slightly cool and soak in lime juice for about 2-3 minutes before serving.

Next, heat large pan to med-high with 2 Tbsp EVOO and 3 Garlic Cloves (Chopped or Diced). Add Pork Loin Chops and brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes per side. Careful not to burn garlic. Dash sea salt and black peppercorn to taste. While that's cooking, mix together the broth, thyme and mustard in bowl. Once chops are browned on each side, add mustard mix to pan, turn down to medium heat and simmer, flipping occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until firm and fully cooked. Once cooked, leave remaining juices and garlic in pan and put chops on serving plate. Toss 4 cups baby spinach into the mixture and stir until covered with juices. Cover and cook about 1 minute. Stir and cover again for one more minute. Serve immediately, after slightly cooking, on top of chops.

Serve plate with chops covered with spinach and Brussels sprouts on the side. Side dish a tossed salad to compliment the cooked veggies and thoroughly enjoy! I know I am right now!!!

Nutritional Breakdown: (Serves 4)
Calories: 372
Total Carbs: 7g
Total Fats: 20g
Protein: 36g
Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 4g