Best meal of the day

My favorite meal is seriously breakfast. I sometimes skip it now because I try to eat only when I'm genuinely hungry and I'd rather just sip on my coconut oil coffee (more on that another time), but I still love how many things you can throw together for a complete, filling breakfast in 5-10 minutes. Since going Paleo(ish), it's opened up even more. Eggs are not a requirement for breakfast, it's really just another meal to eat whatever you can to get your essential proteins and fats. That being said, I love eggs. Breakfast today was a simple American staple: scrambled eggs and bacon. Mmm. Of course, I toss the toast and add in some avocado for an extra dose of delicious and filling.

Yum. 0 to breakfast in 10 minutes. Of course, sipping my coffee the whole time, so that 10 is not at all a waste. The one thing I do miss is eating out for breakfast, but that became difficult on the day I discovered I had to go dairy free. My favorite breakfast place mixes their fantastic home fries with butter first thing in the morning, so I can never enjoy them again (it's ok, I can make some fantastic and simple sweet potato home fries instead).  I mean, I can eat out for breakfast, I just have to be choosy.  Why go out for a simpler, less creative version of the same thing I can make at home?  Although, once I accept the fact that omelets can be just as delicious without cheese, it'd be nice to have someone make them for me.

In case you didn't know, eggs are super easy to make without whisking with milk first. In fact, I crack and whisk mine right in the pan with the heat on. There are tutorials I've found on making the perfectly fluffy scrambles that mimic what you would see mixed with milk, but I never liked those much anyway. 

Simple scrambled eggs

Eggs

Fat for frying (you choose: bacon fat, olive oil, coconut)

Heat a thin layer of fat or oil in a pan at medium low heat. Crack eggs directly into pan and begin stirring with a (preferably rubber or silicon) spatula. Add spices to taste (salt, pepper, cayenne, you choose!) and continue stirring. Stir consistently as eggs begin to cook. Adding some water at this point may help you achieve the fluffy texture, but going without just means you are more likely to get the folded texture similar to omelet. 

When eggs are fully set, remove from heat, top with whatever your heart desires (my favorite is fresh guacamole) and nom. 

How do you breakfast?

Salsa chicken

I came down this morning to get my lunch cooking and start a pot of coffee to discover my teapot in pieces in the sink. Spout missing, handle on the counter in three sections and a chunk missing from the top. Instant anger, both at myself and the evil feline who had destroyed it because he/she (I strongly suspect the she) thought the catnip was hiding behind it. I thought it was funny the night before when they successfully got the nip, but instead of just moving the herb, I should have moved the damn teapot. It's a custom painted piece by my very close friend that would be very difficult to replace. I hope I can find someone talented with superglue to reassemble it for me, at least for decoration, if not for use. 

I'm sitting here baking my chicken and sipping my coffee waiting for the caffeine high to make everything better. 

I love to cook.  Granted, this is new for me, as I used to hate it and cooked as necessary only to survive, but circumstances and life changes. But some days, even those days where you didn't discover your roommate's cat destroyed, ya just don't wanna. For those days, there's salsa chicken. 

Salsa chicken is my world-famous recipe, well... sorta famous, well... my roommate liked it that one time.

This time, I was just a little more motivated and actually made my own salsa yesterday. I'm pretty excited, I can't lie. 

Don't that look tasty? It's my first time making salsa, I must say, I'm impressed. 

Anyway, once you have your salsa, either homemade (I'll even tell you how) or store bought (my go to is Newman's Own Peach Salsa, I have a serious weakness for fruit salsas as that combination of sweet and spicy is killer), it's as simple as seasoning the chicken and topping with salsa before baking. It's completely flexible depending on how spicy you do or don't like it. 

I'll admit, I'm terrible at measuring spices. My recipes always say "spice to taste", as my mood and presence changes from one moment to the next and I believe everyone is capable of making their own spice decisions. You can do it, I have faith in you. 

Would you like some tasty salsa chicken? Sorry, I only made enough for me, but here's how you can follow through:

Salsa chicken

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts or thighs

Cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

Salsa (mango salsa recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350.

Place chicken pieces in baking dish and season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste (I like lots of cayenne, feel free to sub other spices for the flavor you want!)

Top liberally with salsa and place in preheated oven for 20-40 minutes, until cooked through and juices run clear. 

Finished product! Doesn't it look good? I always reserve extra salsa for topping when I'm ready to eat, as well. 

Mango salsa

Ingredients:

1/2 mango

4 plum tomatoes 

1/2 green bell pepper

1 tsp lemon or lime juice

1 tsp olive oil

Fresh cilantro leaves

Cayenne pepper

Chili flakes

Salt and pepper 

1/2 jalapeño (optional)

Dice mango, tomatoes and bell peppers. If using, dice and seed jalapeño. Adding the seeds to the salsa will make it spicier, so use your best judgement. Mix together. 

Break up cilantro into smaller pieces and add. 

Add in wet ingredients and mix in spices to taste. 

Let sit in fridge for at least 12 hours to absorb flavors before using. 

Note (this isn't required, but I discovered something new today): take the finished salsa and pulse it a few times in a blender if you want a more consistent texture, rather than just chunks. Also, a little bit of honey can help bring out the sweet of the mango to contrast the spicy.

Happy nomming!

Crazy easy chicken broth

Some days, it's really tough to convince yourself that you don't need that breadricepasta.  Today was so very much one of those days. I was trying to think of dinner and nothing felt complete without some sort of grainy carby goodness. Hot dogs (yes, I was that desperate for simple food) needed whole grain buns, shrimp and bell pepper stir fry REQUIRED brown rice. There was no winning, so I gave up. I got home and scrounged through the fridge looking for something simple, filling and remotely appetizing. I have recently discovered I love cooking, but today... Just no... 

So I ended up with this:

Probably the strangest dinner on the planet. Leftover avocado coleslaw with tahini and straight chicken broth. Yeah... But it actually did the job. 

For anyone not really wondering... I attempted to satiate my coleslaw craving with a creamy avocado coleslaw... But it came out not-so-creamy. In an attempt to make it more palatable, I mixed in a spoonful of tahini that was sitting around in my fridge... Surprisingly satisfying.  Though it certainly needs more works before I will consider it a recipe.

The chicken broth, however, is my new best friend. 

Bone broth is something I've heard much about from Paleo enthusiasts. Bone broth involves cooking all the marrow and nutrients from meat bones, be it beef, chicken or lamb. It sounded like so much WORK though. Till I browsed around a bit and discovered the easiest chicken bone broth on the PLANET from ohlardy.com. 

Dump chicken bones, a chopped onion, a few chopped carrots and celery along with a couple tbsp of apple cider vinegar (go for raw, you know you want to) into a crockpot and fill with water. I have a small 5 quart crock pot, so the mostly stripped carcass of one chicken was sufficient. 

Cook on low for 24 hours, strain and add salt and pepper to taste. Voila! Chicken broth to use as a base for soups (ask me about dairy free clam chowder) or for a tasty, mineral rich meal option when pressed for time. I was surprised how good it was, actually, on its own. What can I say, I'm a skeptic. 

Anyway, I highly recommend it based on how simple it was to put together. Once I get ahold of some beef bones, I look forward to making my own beef broth.

In the meantime, I need my berry cobbler/crisp (I don't know what you call it when it's lacking in wheat flour and oats) to finish cooking so I can go to bed. More on that to follow...

Amazing chia seed pudding

Today I discovered chia seed pudding. I don't mean discovered as in "woah, never heard of that before", I mean mind blowing, personal discovery of delicious. Seriously, I forgive yogurt from ever betraying me, simply because it don't need its ungrateful self anymore.
Once upon a time, on one of the many paleo and/or health and/or dairy free sites I frequent, I found mention of chia seed pudding... For breakfast.  Pudding for breakfast? Say no more, I want it! I finally got ahold of some chia seeds at my grocery store (mind you, they are not hard to find, I'm just forgetful) and surfed around the many recipes to find the RIGHT one.  But, they are pretty much all the same, so screw that. Of course, cursing, I also realized I forgot to restock my almond milk (my recent replacement for soy milk when I realized its just BETTER), but I was determined to have it for breakfast tomorrow... Well, today...
So I busted out a dreaded can of full fat coconut milk (I hate coconut, but I am necessarily forcing myself to overcome that) and mixed it up in a jar and tucked it away until now. Omgosh, delicious in a bowl. Pretty, too!

It was so good, I almost forgot to drink my coffee... Almost. 

Here's the recipe:

1 cup milk (cow, almond, soy, full fat or light coconut, etc)

1/3 cup chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp maple syrup/honey/other sweetener (optional)

To do:

Mix all ingredients well in a bowl or jar. Do not blend the chia seeds. If you use a blender, stir them in after. 

Cover and refrigerate 5 hours to overnight. 

Add in any extra tasties you wish and nom!

Easy, huh? Next time, I think I'll add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder and feel like I'm really being naughty for breakfast. Mwahaha. 

Using the full fat coconut milk made it come out super thick. Like, stick a spoon upright thick. You don't see me complaining, but I'm eager to compare once my almond milk is back where it belongs in my fridge. 

Happy eats!

Paleo babblings

Days like today remind me why Paleo is an important part of my life. Three words: Puerto Rican Barbecue. I nearly had to be rolled home, I haven't eaten so much rice and beans probably ever. I feel like I might die, it's really a rather unpleasant situation. 

After about 3-4 weeks dairy free, post survival of the most awful detox of my life (seriously, I was bloated, moody and achy all over for over a week, even though I was past "craving" dairy products), I decided it was best to cut the rest of the crap from my diet.  If my body responded this hard to withdrawal of something as simple as cheese, what were things like high fructose corn syrup doing to me?  I'd already had to eliminate a good portion of processed food from my diet thanks to the trace amounts of milk in just about everything, so this felt like a logical next step to defeat all my cravings once and for all! (Cue maniacal laughter)
I put myself through another 3 weeks of suffering on a full carb detox: no grains, starches or sugars, even from fruit.  I lived on meat, fat and veggies.  In the process, I learned just how MUCH you can do with such a seemingly simple repertoire. I truly discovered Paleo in this time.  I have a friend who's Paleo and tried to explain it a bit to me, but I just never quite "got" it.  It seemed like the thing a body builder or serious athlete would need to do, but just crazy and unnecessary for us normal people... right?
But, it feels so good and there's just so much to do! I started to like cooking and experimenting and finding healthier versions of my favorite comfort foods... some of them are BETTER now.
If you want the science behind things, there are (insert extremely large number) of those blogs and websites out there.  I'm just gonna tell you what I think tastes good and works good for me.

Now, the reason I am "sorta" Paleo is because I just don't quite feel as hardcore about the methodology as some. I'm gonna have a hot dog on a bun every once in a while. Why? Because it's delicious, that's why. Don't judge me. But, that's not where I was going. Let's talk legumes. Legumes are things like beans, peanuts and lentils. Not only are they very high carb in addition to the protein and fat, but according to the Paleo belief, they are very high in toxins that are no good for the body. Green beans are given a pass because they are more like a vegetable and have plenty of benefits. That being said: beans are freaking delicious. Sure, I could stop eating them, but why? I'm not too worried about this type of toxin in small amounts (and it will be small amounts since I am remaining lower carb for as long as possible) and homemade refried beans just go so freaking well on my Paleo shredded chicken tacos (more on that, I promise). 

Paleo (or sorta) has been a very good experience for me. I eat more natural, wholesome foods, need less food to feel satiated, am finding my body composition to be changing in a way I love and am finding more energy to be functional, social and active. I've also lost about 12 lbs and 4% body fat in the last two months. 

Today was a delicious, but painful reminder of how much better I feel grain-free. I feel over full, bloated and already know that I am going to be suffering terrible carb cravings for the next 3 or 4 days. The simple barbecue chicken and roasted veggies I had for dinner last night did not do such terrible things to my belly and it was just about as delicious. 

It's all about the choice. I don't believe in the mantra "eat to live, don't live to eat", because I am a total foodie and fully endorse eating and enjoying everything you can. But I have learned, I don't need to eat the 4 plates of rice (though today I forgot...) as a few bites are just as delicious and don't leave me feeling awful. I don't need that sugary, high fructose corn syrup loaded, store bought cookie because I can go home and MAKE some that are far more delicious and even someone wholesome. Whether you think it or not, you have control over what you put into your body and you don't have to deprive yourself of a single damn thing. You just adapt and find a better fit. 

Though... I'm still working to find the perfect adaptation for mac and cheese, I'll get it, I swear. 

It begins

So, a few months ago, I discovered that milk + me = :(


More specifically, I'd always had a suspicion that milk products and/or bread were the culprits behind my chronic heartburn, stubborn adult acne and even regular tiredness and depression.  I mentioned it to my doctor... who promptly sent me to an allergist... who promptly condescended to me like I was the village idiot because there was NO WAY a milk allergy was the cause of said symptoms. Notice I never said allergy... That was my doctor, thankyouverymuch. 

After that fantastic experience, which of course came up with nothing, I ditched my doctor and took up with a local naturopath that my hippy best friend swore by. Lo and Behold, she listened! New doctor set me up with an IgG test (I can't explain the details, but it's a blood test for sensitivities as opposed to allergies, read about it here).

This blood panel tested for reactions to a number of the same things that are allergens: milk, egg, gluten, corn, etc.  Turns out, I have a pretty high reaction to the casein and whey in milk. Oh dear.
As a fix for this, I had to get rid of milk in my diet entirely. For THREE WHOLE MONTHS.  At first I thought I'd die. After a few weeks, when my body started detoxing, I thought I WAS dying. Then... I started to feel good. I didn't miss even cheese: my previously favorite thing on the planet. What I did get was worried about the ingredients labels on processed foods. Almost all of them have milk. The first time I went to buy bread after seeing my doctor, I got so frustrated, I nearly chucked the loaf I was holding down the aisle. 
But when you start reading ingredient labels, you see all the scary things hidden in what you think are simple, healthy foods. I realized this was my chance! My chance to turn my eating habits around and quit my dependency on processed foods and tasty, tasty... I mean, terrible... Carbs. 
So here I am, three months later: dairy free, low carb and sorta Paleo.