sorry no blogging.
so tired.
got chickens.
started tilling garden by hand.
working 50 hours a week.
catch up soon to make up for it.
promise.
xoxo.
a promise to my readers
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Category Archives: uncategorized
i want it now!
dear husband anonymous-
my birthday is coming up, you know.
well, it is coming up in june. mid june.
that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be preparing for it now.
since you were worried about what to get me, i have compiled a list.. -you know, to make things easier for you. and you know what else? to make things even easier for you, i’ve decided to start accepting gifts early this year.
cuz i want you to be happy.
1. gin. good gin. i really like to make these.
2. a good blender. like this. i promise i will make you banana ice cream all the time with it.
3. a wheel barrow so i can return my dad’s. i like this one.
4. this pie. come on, you can do it!
5. one of these. i just can’t seem to make them on my own.
6. cute headbands. (it is a job requirement)
oh, and to help you out a little, you don’t need to wrap these if you wish. i know how much you hate wasting paper.
xoxoxo
the planning of the meals: how i all use it up
i have been receiving requests on this site and in my email to post a sample menu for my typical week, and a sample grocery list. this is going to be quite lengthy, but i am more than happy to share. our way of doing things is quite calculated and keeps it very simple to us, but may appear confusing to “outsiders”, so bear with me.
while my diet and grocery list are nowhere near perfect, i do boast that it is pretty great. and i stick to that. my menu is created a few days before i shop. this gives me a chance to change things if i feel like i am going to get a hankering for something funky. it also allows me time to brainstorm what i will do with unused ingredients. for example, i may buy a bunch of rosemary to roast a chicken, but what will i do with the rest of it? i don’t want it to rot in the crisper. i allow myself a few days to realize that i want to roast some beef in rosemary later in the week. and that later in the week, i will use up the beef for fajitas. and i will use up the leftover fajita veggies for a stir-fry and so on. -the circle of life, but in grocery-form.
oh, and i don’t snack. i know my hunger levels well enough to know what fills me up at meals. i allow myself one day a week, usually saturdays, to eat a little outside of my “box”, but never any wheat or corn syrup. i may have pad thai with rice noodles, or pakora, booze, dessert made with grain free ingredients or pancakes made with grain free ingredients, but no junk food. ever. so as far as snacking goes, sometimes i eat a hand full of nuts for dessert after dinner, but i don’t eat between meals. also, i almost always eat the same thing for lunch. i love my salads. i make the best salads on the block.
our grocery routine is very strict. i get pretty PO’ed if we forget to use up the cauliflower in the curry, or if i buy a block of cheese and i find one already sitting in the refrigerator. i think food waste is a social and spiritual epidemic, and it really grinds my gears to see any food go to waste. -i mean that very much. we don’t do that in my house. if i see a lonely piece of produce, i will put it to use before i put it to pasture.
posting this also gives me a chance to show anyone wondering what a (mostly) primal diet looks like in a meal, day, and week. some have trouble thinking about how to make a fast, yet primal breakfast. or figuring out what to take to work for lunch if not a sandwich? what do you have on a friday for lent if not pizza?
here is our plan:
we try to spend about a hundred dollars a week. it’s not always perfect. it is usually close, though. the particular week i chose is an actual excerpt from my menu, and happens to be almost 50 bucks over, but it is one of the weeks i chose at random. i shop twice a week because we usually need fresh produce again midweek. we always buy the best, most humanely raised meats that we can, and usually local. same with the cheeses. our eggs are from a friendly farmer in our neck of the woods. these factors all save us a ton of money, but more importantly, peace of mind. even the tortillas we buy are from a local place, and the bread from a bakery. during the summertime, we get almost all of our produce from farmers markets or stands.
here is the list, bearing in mind the staples we may already have around the house like oils, almond flour, spices, things like that i may only be buying monthly. notice that throughout the week, you should see as many repeat ingredients as possible. this is telling you that you are using it up. remember, no rotting!
list:
4 dozen eggs from our farmer guy-4
a chicken (maybe 5 lbs)-5
1 5 lb chuck shoulder-10
1/2 lb ground chuck-2
1 lb bacon-4
1/2 lb sausage-2
8 small chicken thighs-5
1 block ricotta salata-4
small block of pecorino
1 block farmer’s cheese-4
2 full fat yogurts-3
1 pkg spring greens-3
1 pkg spinach-3
5 oranges-2
4 lemons-2
1 bag walnuts-5
1 bottle olive oil (i get the really expensive stuff that tastes awesome)-12
1 5 lb roll of butter (every few weeks or so)-4
2 green peppers-2
2 red peppers-2
1.5 lb turkey breast for brian’s sandwiches-10
4 slices of cheese for brian’s sandwiches-2
1 loaf of bread for brian’s sandwiches-4
half-gallon of milk for brian-4
tortilla shells for brian-2
4 avocados-2
1 big bag of kale-2
3 heads of garlic-2
2 onions-1
5 lb bag carrots-2
tomatoes-4
2 crowns broccoli-2
cilantro-2
thyme-2
rosemary-2
small head of cabbage-1
4 bananas-2
mushrooms-2
1 bottle red wine-12
1 bottle white wine-12
the menu:
sunday-
B-2 fried eggs and 3 strips of bacon, brian has same, plus bread
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper) brian has turkey sandwich with cheese and a few pinches of veggies
D-roasted whole chicken (we eat the legs and thighs tonight and save the rest for later) stuffed with half an onion and rosemary, tucked garlic and thyme under the skin. also had kale and 3 roasted carrots
monday-
B-2 egg omelette with broccoli and pecorino, brian has oatmeal with banana and nuts
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper), brian has turkey sandwich with some veggies
D-glass of wine, chicken curry with chicken breasts (from last night’s chicken), using onion, carrots, coconut milk, 1/2 of a green pepper, 1/2 of a red pepper, dry spices, brian adds rice to his
tuesday-
B-2 eggs over medium and 3 strips of bacon, brian has sausage and egg breakfast burritos with avocado, tomatoes, and cilantro
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper), brian has a bowl of yogurt with nuts and a banana
D-chuck roast in the slow cooker with a few carrots, one onion, a head of garlic, rosemary, steamed broccoli on the side
wednesday-
B-3 fried eggs over medium, brian has the other half of his oats with banana and nuts
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper), brian has left over chicken curry from monday with rice
D-korean style bbq cabbage cups: beef from leftover chuck roast, made sesame bbq sauce from scratch, shredded leftover carrots, crushed up cashews for sprinkling
thursday:
B-2 fried eggs over medium and a sausage patty, brian has the same plus toast
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper), brian has turkey sandwich with some veggies
D-glass of wine, fajita chicken thighs, used other 1/2 of bell peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes and cilantro, mexican cheese, avocado, brian uses tortillas for his
friday-
B-2 egg omelette with broccoli and pecorino, brian has the same plus toast
L-small salad with half an orange, an ounce of farmer’s cheese, half an avocado, 1/4 cup walnuts, and lemon oil dressing (equal parts lemon juice and olive oil with a crack of pepper)
D-chicken thighs sautéed with kale, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, pecorino, crumbled pepper bacon, and walnuts, brian has noodles with his
saturday- go crazy day!
B-carrot cake pancakes with nuts and raisins, cream cheese, maple syrup, same for brian, but i usually hog the biggest pancakes to myself and eat a ton of the cream cheese
L-i’m still full, brian has whatever might be left in the refrigerator
D-a few glasses of wine & landfill burgers- ground chuck (1/4 lb per patty) with fried egg, avocado, cheese, bacon, greens, on top of store-bought, gluten-free buns (i do this occasionally to satisfy my “sandwich tooth”), brian has all the same but with his gluteny bread, we scarf down some grain free dessert, like chocolate cake
broiled cod and cauliflower rice with romesco and black olive sauces
its friday, fishes!
i am catholic, so i observe the absence of eating land animals on fridays. for me, this a welcome change from our normal menu. fish is such a light, delicious ingredient to cook with, so i like to keep it really simple. -minimal seasoning for the fish, but i go nuts with sauces to have with the fish. the sauces keep in the refrigerator for several weeks, so if you make a batch you can spread it out and use the sauces up here and there to spice things up for a kabillion different meals.
this is last week’s meal, broiled lemon cod with romesco, black olive sauce, and basil cauliflower rice. i added some carmelized onions that we had leftover from another meal to use them up. these 2 sauces were a beautiful way to accompany light flavors of cod and cauliflower. i have been really loving cauliflower rice lately. i find that i may prefer it to grain rice, as it has lots of flavor and reheats flawlessly.
this was a super delicious & easy meal to prepare. obviously, this would be a really quick dinner to make if you are on your own for a friday and need something to put on a “table for one”, like i will tomorrow night!
don’t skip making the sauces. they are so simple to make and will last for several meals.
this recipe makes enough rice for 4 servings, and lots of sauces. make the sauces first to give them time to develop their respective flavors. then make the cauliflower, then the fish.
for romesco:
1 cup almonds
1 cup roasted red peppers
1 roasted ancho chile
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp salt
3 or 4 raw cloves of garlic
zest of a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
method: in food processor, puree all ingredients until they form a sauce. let stand at room temp for a bit. serve with anything that you want to taste delicious.
for black olive sauce:
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1 tbsp capers
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
half clove garlic
method: combine all ingredients in food processor or mini food processor. let set for a little bit at room temp before serving.
broiled cod with cauliflower rice
2 fillets of fresh cod
1 lemon
black pepper
salt
few leaves fresh basil
good tasting olive oil
1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into large trees
method:
for cauliflower rice, shred cauliflower in food processor. add chopped basil, salt, juice from half a lemon, and whatever dry spices you wish, such as dried garlic or onion.
in deep skillet, warm up a little olive oil over low-medium heat. add cauliflower rice to skillet once it is warm and cook, covered, until tender. mine took roughly 10 minutes. be sure to stir pretty constantly so it doesn’t burn.
for the cod: an hour before broiling, juice your lemon over the fish and sprinkle black pepper over it. do not salt until just before putting fish into broiler or the fish will get rubbery. let fish marinate for an hour.
preheat broiler. place fish on broiler pan, well oiled, and cover fish in olive oil and dusting of salt. broil for 5 minutes or so, just until edges get slightly brown. serve over cauliflower rice. with romesco and black olive sauce.
pumpkin chicken curry with cashews
this is a regular in our house. we eat it once a week or so. we love the toasty, salty sweet flavors of curry, and the bonus is that we always seem to have the ingredients to make it. we use leftover veggies and chicken from earlier in the week, and keep a minimum stock of 4 cans of pumpkin in our pantry at all times.
creamy pumpkin and crunchy cashews are a match made in heaven here.
the cauliflower turns into a sort of rice as it cooks, and soaks up the sauce nicely.
this is an awesome dish to cook the night before eating it. veggies and chicken seem to soak up the seasonings in a magical way over night. like chili. it is also one of those really economical meals that we love so much. we throw in a bunch of veggies we happen to have, and this one dish lasts us many meals all week.
this recipe serves 6
ingredients:
one chicken breast, skin off, cooked, sliced thick- i always use leftover from our sunday chicken roast
1/2 head cauliflower, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 carrots, chopped thick
1/2 onion, thick chunks
handful of green beans
tsp garlic minced
squirt of hot chili paste, such as sriracha
1 tbsp oil, i used coconut
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp curry powder, store-bought or homemade
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
black pepper
handful of cashews for serving
method: heat up coconut oil in large stir fry pan over medium/high heat.
saute veggies until just browning. promptly turn heat down to low. throw in spices. add coconut milk, chili paste, broth, and pumpkin. cook over super low heat for 20 minutes or so. if it starts getting too thick, add more broth. stir well, but keep lid on as much as possible so you don’t let moisture out.
add brown sugar. taste it. is it awesome? no? add some more stuff. now is the time. adding a little more sugar, salt, or curry powder is usually what needs done at this time. remember that after this cools off a bit, the flavor will change a lot.
when veggies are soft, turn heat off and stick it in the refrigerator. heat up the following night over medium heat with lid on. serve with cashews crunched over the top. don’t forget to cover it in sriracha.
simple soft-boiled egg
yes the yolk is real. the eggs we buy are from pasture raised chickens. -chickens that are allowed to eat grubs freely from the ground, walk around a yard as they please, and soak up plenty of sunlight. these factors yield an orange yolk, packed with nutrition beyond a grocery store variety. i will not forget to mention the superior flavor of these eggs, too. if you’ve ever eaten eggs beyond grocery store eggs, you know what i mean. they yolk actually has flavor. -i’m not sure people know that eggs are not naturally neutral in flavor, the flavor being a victim of modern day factory farming.
i’m getting to appreciate simple foods more and more every day. these are the whole foods that we can do so many things with. the foods we can easily eat on their own, or transform into a complicated cake. keep them as a single ingredient, or throw them into an intricate list of decadent ingredients. for me, the simple foods list includes things as nuts, chocolate, cheese, fruit, meat, and eggs.
methods for cooking this perfect food are countless. i fry mine over medium for breakfast. both frying and soft-boiling produce a soft, runny yolk with plenty of flavor.
soft-boiled eggs are amazing over a salad, maybe a salad with asparagus and salty cheeses and walnuts. and maybe a little bacon.
i like to eat them on their own, to fill me up for lunch.
crack some black pepper and salt over them.
soft-boiled egg
eggs
big pot of water
1 tsp salt per 2 cups water
bowl of ice and water
method:
bring a few cups of salted water per egg to a raging boil. gently drop eggs in, no more than 6 eggs at a time. set timer for 6 minutes.
when timer tells you 6 minutes have passed, use a slotted spoon to take eggs out and plunge them quickly into the ice water. the ice water will stop the cooking, keeping the yolks from getting hard and the yolk membrane from turning green. remember from your childhood those green yolks? those days are over.
keep the egg in the iced water until it is completely cooled, maybe an hour or so. store the egg in the refrigerator.
where have i been?
sorry for the pause in posting!
i have been super busy with my new job lately. i was in atlanta for a few days last week for a dental conference. -don’t snicker, it WAS fun!
but fear not, my husband’s birthday is coming up, which ensures lots of fooding, not to mention my plans for a brownie baking session next weekend.
stay tuned, please, there is food to come.
valentine’s day recipe “round-up”
for our upcoming valentine’s day, brian and i will be celebrating with a special dinner tomorrow night, since valentine’s day falls on a monday. -just another excuse for us to do a fancy dinner for ourselves. we don’t tend to buy one another a gift for most holidays, we just do some cooking together, which is way more productive.
so i wanted to do a quick recipe round-up (that’s what the kids are calling it these days, right?) of grain-free and gluten free meals and sweeties to make for the occasion. i wish i had more dessert recipes for two, but i don’t. you’ll just have to make a big batch and knock ‘em down throughout the week. just another reason to eat, i guess!
Breakfast for two:
lingonberry and mascarpone waffles
Dinner:
pumpkin and thyme roasted chicken with mushrooms
Desserts:
Peanut Butter and Jam thumbprints
buche de noel
to those who do not quite know what a buche de noel is, but might hear the words thrown around quite a bit around the holidays, i have been explaining that this is a dessert that has in the past been known to be a home cook’s magnum opus. so far as i am aware, a buche de noel, or yule log, is just as it seems and sounds: a yule log simply made of edibles created by the french to celebrate christmas. traditionally, the cake is chocolate and the filling is made of whipped cream. the top and sides are then decorated with powdered sugar to simulate snow. candies made from almond paste in the shape of woodland objects lay atop and around the buche de noel for visual effect and also to munch on sneakily.
i want to get back to the magnum opus part briefly. in the early days of my baking (like 5 years ago), i imagined this as being something i wouldn’t ponder to tackle. i have not had much interest in christmas cakes in the past, and am of the school that pies are for holidays and cakes are for birthdays. aside from that, this cake has been whispered to cause great grief and frusteration due to its being “complicated” and “labor intensive”. i stress to impress when making desert, so the stress from this cake was not one i tended to desire. this year, i stepped outside of the box. “a buche de noel?” i laughed… “i can do that. and a turkey. yeah, i’ll make BOTH things i have never made before and tend not to care much for”… why did i say that? what was i thinking? 2 years ago, i would have left well enough alone and let the magnum opus pass me by. i guess all of the baking i have been doing since then has been great practice for me and the buche de noel.
now i need a new magnum opus.
this was not as difficult to tackle as i had thought it would be. poor timing on my part? yes. i should have gotten up an hour (or 2) earlier that day to throw it all together. the pieces getting done one day at a time, however, was brilliantly planned.
i made the almond paste acorns and mushrooms on a thursday, i made the sponge on friday, the filling and swiss meringue on saturday, and put it all together that same saturday.
my only wish for this cake was that it wouldn’t be so darned fudgy. it was super tasty, but all too rich. my challenge really lied in a few dietary factors pressed from myself and 2 others. these were the following limitations:
*the cake could in no way contain dairy, which limited my options for a cream or mousse filling.
*the cake could, however, contain eggs.
*the cake had to be vegetarian, limiting my options on gelatin, which would have come in handy for the filling.
*the cake could have no grains.
i chose a chocolate flourless sponge base, peppermint whipped ganache filling, and marshmallow swiss meringue icing. i knew this particular cake would be very candy like. that’s ok. we each ate half a slice or so and called it a meal. it was super tasty, but next time i hope to be a little less limited in what to use as a filling.
i stole the cake recipe from carol at simply gluten free. she is up to some pretty tasty stuff, so be sure to stop by her blog.
though, needless to say, the cake turned out pretty good lookin’, if i may say so myself. i decided, after much (MUCH) deliberation, to fire the meringue. i was a little scared that i would ruin the cake somehow with this final step, but it was what made the cake. -no pun intended. the only thing i can think of that i could have done to make this cake look better would be coating some fresh cranberries in sugar to give a fruity pink sparkle to the display. i recommend making the buche de noel and assembling it as i listed above. a 3 day process. make the candy one day, the sponge base another, then filling and meringue icing. you just have to respect that some things take a few days to put together.
also, i decided to sprinkle coconut around the cake to further simulate an outdoor experience. i think coconut is beautiful.
almond paste mushrooms and acorns 
ingredients:
1 roll almond paste
1/4 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp coconut oil
smallish paint brush
method:
*please note that the more you handle almond paste, the more oils will get extracted from it, making it very dry and crumbly to work with.
working quickly and without handling too much, shape almond paste into desired forest objects. acorns and mushrooms are what i made, but walnuts, buckeyes, and anything else that strikes your fancy works. i made the mushrooms in 2 separate pieces, smooshing them together when i was satisfied with their indivdual shapes. set on a wire rack to stiffen up a little bit before decorating.
using double boiler method or whichever you are most comfortable with, melt chocolate.
to paint the gills of the mushrooms and top hats on the acorns, i simply painted them with half of the melted chocolate and let cool completely on the rack before i painted the rest of the object with the lighter brown.
to make the lighter brown color for the body of the acorns, i threw the coconut oil into the melted chocolate to thin out the color. stir stir stir. gently paint desired areas with this concoction. careful not to touch the previously painted parts, or they will get melty and drippy.
again, set aside to cool, best for a few days while you continue your cake journey.
chocolate cake sponge base:
cooling cake
8 eggs, separated
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
method:
preheat oven to 350f. grease a jellyroll pan, mine is 13″x15″, and stick parchment to the bottom.
beat the crap out of the egg whites, until soft peaks form.
separately, beat yolks with sugar until they are pale and pasty. be sure sugar is dissolved before you continue to the next step.
put cocoa powder into yolk and sugar, combine well.
take a big spoon of whites and carefully fold with the yolk mixture until slightly marbled. finish up with the remaining egg whites and yolks until mostly combined, without deflating the whites.
spread onto prepped sheet and bake on middle rack for 20 minutes, or until set.
let cool for a few hours on sheet. once cooled, you may place another piece of parchment over the top of the cake and gently roll it into a log. let it sit like this for a day or so.
for the filling, i recommend using a cream cheese icing recipe and subtracting some of the sugar content from the ingredients, or using a chocolate mousse. as i said, i used a whipped ganache recipe and added a few drops of peppermint extract, but this rendered a fudge like cake.
spread filling over cooled cake and gently roll it back up. slice (on the diagonal) a bit off and stick it up against the side of the cake for a more “log” appearance. time for the topping!
swiss meringue
*this recipe makes enough for a big load of meringue cookies as well as icing for the cake. you may halve it if you feel you need to, but little crisp cookies are so fun.
ingredients:
meringue before firing
1 cup water
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 egg whites (room temp)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 extra tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
method: combine water and sugar in large pot over medium heat. brush sides of the pot down occasionally as the sugar will bubble up and stick. the mixture will slightly darken and bubble. the temperature must reach 275f at some point, so this may take a little time. meanwhile, prep the egg whites.
beat egg whites, 2 tbsp sugar, and cream of tartar in big mixing bowl. i like to use my kitchen aid bowl and hand mixer for this. beat until soft peaks form.
once heated sugar is at 275, in a slow and steady stream, add to egg whites continuing to beat.
add vanilla and beat for 3 minutes or so more.
frost cake immediately. you will probably only use half the mixture. use spatula to make “bark” with soft strokes. the frosting will stiffen a little bit pretty quickly, so move briskly. (make treats with the rest of the meringue. i like to follow the baking directions given here.)
using kitchen torch, fire the meringue carefully. you want to brown it, not blacken it. use the texture of “bark” you made with spatula. set almond paste candies around cake and serve.
merry christmas!
progress notes part 2
still in pj’s, must leave in 18 minutes.
