Back to School Bento

Polish sausage (beastie calls it "polar bear sausage" for some reason) nuked pepperoni slices, apple stars, broccoli, carrots and a salad. Oh and boiled egg shaped like a car in an egg form and painted with food safe markers. Must be a school day!

My goal of doing crossfit workouts is off to a rocky start. Friday's workout of 30 snatches for time was pathetic (only did 41 lbs. and it still took me SIX and a half minutes) but it still totally kicked my fat ass. Everything hurts.

I sure hope tomorrow's WOD is nice and gentle. I'm not holding my breath!

This blog...

is a sad, neglected thing.

It's been an awesome summer, we've done lots of outdoor stuff just like real Alaskans!

Proof:

However, school is back in and the rain will NOT stop (welcome to fall in Alaska) so we're all done with camping for this year.

Sadly, although we did lots of physical activity this summer (including painting the house) I haven't made much progress on the diet. Workouts were few and weak. Junk food was consumed. I am so ashamed! but not discouraged.

Now that the weebeastie removal service (school bus) has begun again, I am determined to hit it hard! (The diet/exercise thing, not the kid).

I have decided to start Crossfit! Whimper

I'm doing the one for puss- uh, I mean puppies. I'm pathetic. I've done all of ONE whole workout and I'm already considering finding religion so that I can pray for death.

Not really.

Coconut Chicken Redux

I made this dish a while ago, declared that it needed some kind of sauce- then forgot about it completely.

Well, it's back now baby, and I've found the perfect sauce!

Last time I made Coconut Almond Chicken, I thought it was pretty good but I didn't use almonds, so it was just coconut chicken. Also, I may have a slight (read: crippling) phobia about undercooked meat and therefore might have burnt the crap out of it. I'm working on that.

This time I actually used the almonds (they really do make a big difference), didn't cook it to death and made this Spicy Raspberry Sauce. OJ, raspberries, salt, cayenne and vanilla extract. Perfectly paleo. In fact, there isn't even anything half-assed about this recipe at all. Weird.

This one is definitely a keeper, sooo good!!

Mediterranean Chicken

So I think this is a little closer to paleo. If you wanted absolute paleo, you could easily leave out the potatoes and feta cheese.

I pretty much just followed this recipe exactly. It was definitely a keeper, but next time I think I'll just use chicken breasts. We usually aren't big fans of dark meat, but sometimes it's okay (tandoori style thigh quarters are awesome) so I thought I'd try the recipe as given. It would have been better with breasts. Most things are.

Don't use cooking wine. Use something you would drink, it makes a difference. Get the potatoes good and browned so they don't absorb the liquid and get all mushy in the oven (mine could have been a little crispier).

Enjoy!

Crabbypatties

First, just so you know, these really have no right at all to be on a paleo blog (even a half-assed one).

I'd made these long before we tried to eat paleo and they were a total hit. They are everything crab cakes should be - crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside and spicy as hell, with a creamy, spicy dipping sauce - perfection.

A few days ago I had a rare seafood craving and decided it was time to paleo-ize these bitches. Seemed like it would be possible, it's just crab meat, mayo, eggs and a bunch of onion and hot peppers. The only problems were the breadcrumbs and the fact that they are dipped in flour prior to frying. No problem. I'll just use oat bran (not paleo, but better than breadcrumbs) and dust them with coconut flour. But...

Coconut flour is balls.

I just can't work with it. I've tried before and discovered that coconut flour pancakes are gagtastic, but I thought this would be different. It's just a small amount on the outside of the crab cakes, it'll be fine. WRONG. It scorches like hell and even if you manage not to scorch it, it still tastes like ass.

I wound up using regular old white flour. Still, it's just a small amount, but between the oat bran and the flour, I just can't call it paleo. No recipe for you. :(

Lumpy Ass Meatballs in Marinara

Yep, they're lumpy and ugly but they're also easy, paleo, cheap and yummy. What more could you want?

I needed to use up some ground beef (about 2 lbs. I recon) and I glanced at a non-paleo recipe online and modified it slightly. I didn't even measure anything, the recipe is so simple, just season it to taste. You start out with nearly the same ingredients as meatloaf:

oat bran (a few tbs)

enough half and half to wet the oats

1 lightly beaten egg

chopped onion

minced garlic

salt and pepper

then add dried parsley, some parmesan cheese and the meat. Mix it up, roll it loosely into balls and brown them in a little bit of olive oil. (They won't be done all the way through, it's OK).

In another pan, make a simple marinara sauce by sauteing onions, bell peppers and garlic in olive oil, then adding diced tomatoes and seasoning with basil, oregano, thyme and salt. Simmer the sauce for about 30 minutes, then add the drained meatballs and simmer on low for about 15 minutes longer.