christietracy

Recipe: Pressure Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Another Pressure Cooker Success!!

I am absolutely in love with my Pressure Cooker, and wondering why in the world I waited so long to break down and buy one! I have never in my life had chicken breasts and tough cuts of meat (like stew meat) come out so tender, and with so little effort, and in such a short amount of time! If you’ve never used a Pressure Cooker – Warning – there is a small learning curve, but I highly reccomend purchasing one. I don’t know that I’ll ever cook chicken or roasts any other way again!

One of the first meals that I made in my Pressure Cooker was Chicken Cacciatore. I was craving Italian and Olives, and this meal fit the bill. I searched a ton of websites, pulled multiple recipes, and used a little bit from here and a little bit from there to come up with my own creation.

The result was absolutely phenominal (If I do say so myself!). I literally shredded the chicken w/ a fork when it was done – it was that tender!

Pressure Cooker Chicken Cacciatore:

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
3 Shallots, Chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, Crushed
1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded & diced
1/2 cup Organic Chicken or Vegetable Broth (be careful of sneaky sugars/soy/gluten/etc)
1 8-10 oz package mushrooms, sliced
5-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (good sized ones, not midgets – you’ll want leftovers!)
2 Cans Organic Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tb Organic Tomato Paste
1 Can Pitted Black Olives (I used Whole Foods Brand – just olives, water, salt)
Fresh Parsley
Red Pepper to taste (I used a healthy 1/2 tsp, but I like spicy!)
Sea Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 4-quart or larger cooker. Add the shallots and bell pepper and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the shallots soften slightly, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the broth and boil for 2-3 minutes. Scrape up any browned bits sticking to the bottom of the cooker.

Stir in the mushrooms and garlic. Set the chicken on top. Cover the chicken with crushed tomatoes. Do not stir. Plop the tomato paste on top.

Lock the lid in place.

Over high heat bring to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 8 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Allow the pressure to come down naturally. Remove the lid.

Stir in the olives, parsley, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

I served mine over a heaping serving of shredded cabbage, and it was AWESOME!

Recipe: Pressure Cooker Pot Roast

I am FINALLY getting the chance to really put my pressure cooker to work, and loving every minute of it! The new Pressure Cooker works like charm. The very first time I used it, I started to freak out just a little b/c it seemed to take FOREVER for the regulator to start to rock, and steam was coming out of the lid lock/air vent even though it was in the “up” postion. . . but after a few minutes of this it rattled into place, and then the regulator started rocking a few minutes later – YAY- Pressure Cooker Success #1!

I’ve cooked several meals in my pressure cooker over the last week or so, and every single one has turned out AWESOME!:

~Paleo-ized Chicken Cacciatori – A-Freaking-Mazing! (recipe coming in the next week 🙂

~Paleo-ized Chili (Mel’s recipe w/ some revisions to cooking method and meat type)

~”Salsa Dancing Chicken” (stolen from the Everyday Paleo Website – YUM!!)

~Sweet Potatoes

~Beets

~. . .and lastly – a Pot Roast-esque Dish that turned out so good I had to force myself to stop eating it after one serving – I totally wanted to go back for more!

I can’t keep this amazing discovery to myself – so here it is!

The backstory: I promised my hubby I’d cook him pot roast this weekend, but when I opened my box freezer to pull out one of my GF Roasts . .**Gasp!** . . .there were none to be found! I dug to the very bottom because I swear I still had at least one roast in there. . . but no such luck. So what’s a girl to do? I couldn’t bring myself to go a buy sub-par grain-fed roast, but I don’t live in an area where you can just drive to a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s and pick up a piece of GF Meat!

So I improvised – it’s funny – I’ve noticed that some of my best creations have come out of improvisation when I’m out of something that I thought I had! I used 3 packages of GF Stew Meat instead of a roast (approx 3 lbs)

Then, as I was getting the veggies out to prep, I realized that I didn’t have any sweet potatoes either! **Palm-Face** So I scoured my fridge to try to figure out something I could sub for the Sweet Potatoes. . .Brussel Sprouts to the rescue! So I ended up making an “odd” Pot Roast-esque dish with Stew Meat, Farmer’s Market Carrots, Brussel Sprouts, Onions, & Celery – and I swear that it is the BEST “PotRoast” I have ever had in my entire life!

Please forgive me – I tend not to measure spices and such when I’m “creating”. . .so the measurements below are my best estimates!

Pressure Cooker “Pot Roast-Esque Dish”

Ingredients:

3 lbs Grass Fed Stew Meat
2 Cups Organic Beef Broth (Read Label – make sure no “sneaky” sugar or gluten or soy)
1 Bunch Carrots (5-6 medium), cut into chunks
1 bag Fresh Brussel Sprouts (15-20?)
3-4 Stalks Celery
1 Large Vidalia Onion
6 Cloves Garlic (or less if you’re not a big garlic fan
Cumin
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
2 Bay Leaves
Coconut Aminos (2 Tb?)
Olive Oil

Directions:

Prep Veggies – Cut Carrots, Celery, & Onions into good-sized chunks, mince garlic, halve brussel sprouts.

Pour Olive Oil in a large skillet, add Stew Meat, and sprinkle meat with Cumin, Sea Salt, and Pepper. Mix around really well so that spices cover all of the meat, and then lightly brown it (approx 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly).

While browning meat, saute onions and garlic in olive oil for 3-5 minutes (until onions start to soften) in bottom of pressure cooker. Once the meat is slightly browned, toss it with the onions an the garlic in the pressure cooker. Add 2 Cups Beef Broth, 2 Tb Coconut Aminos, and 2 Bay Leaves.

Secure Lid and bring to pressure. Once Cooker builds pressure, start your timer, and cook for 17 minutes.

Release the pressure under running water, remove Pressure Cooker lid, Dump in veggies, stir, and replace lid.

Return Pressure Cooker to heat, & bring back up to pressure. Once Pressure is built, reduce heat to low (but make sure regulator is still rocking). Cook for an additional 7 Minutes.

Use the Quick Release Method once again, remove lid, and serve. If you’re a softy like me, reserv the broth to sprinkle over your dog’s food 😉 If not, I recommend draining it – The meat and veggies wil be fall-apart tender with no need for additional “juice” 🙂

And yes – this one even managed to past the “picky hubby test” with a request for seconds!

Starting Over after “IT”

Many of you out there in the “Internet Realm” who follow my blog don’t know me personally, so I feel that it’s necessary to give a bit of background before diving into the “heart” of this post.

Background

I started CrossFit about 3 years ago, and progressed on about an “average” level. I was instantly addicted due to the constant improvement across a wide range of movements, and I aspired to one day reach the “Competition” level. I’ve been competitive and athletic my entire life, so this gave me a new outlet for my competitive spirit to fly free.

I started Weightlifting (in addition to CF) about 2 years ago, and quickly fell in love with it. I’m very flexible and this gave me an advantage in movements like the Snatch. I made “okay” progress over the next year and a half. Nothing spectacular, but steady and consistent progress – so I was happy and content.

My strengths are Weightlifting (Single Reps w/ recovery in between – very different from most CF Weightlifting Conditioning WODS) and lengthy-but-light-weight-MetCons, while my weaknesses are gymnastics movements and lifting heavy weights for more than 1 or 2 reps. (I can lift MUCH more for 1 – 2 reps, or if given time to recover between reps than I can if I were asked to lift a weight multiple times without rest.)

Okay, now for the “meat and potatoes” of this post –

Up until about 8 months ago, I was making steady progress and thriving both mentally and physically on the consistent improvement in most areas. Then “IT” Happened.

“IT” will be different for everyone, but in all cases it’s something that happens in your life that sets you back (a little or sometimes a LOT), and you have little to no control over whatever this thing may be.

The “IT” in my life was thyroid problems. My energy levels started to fall, I could no longer go as long or as hard, and some days it took everything I had just to get out of bed. Then, my strength started to decrease, and that was the last straw for me – I marched my butt to the Dr. to find out what in the heck was going on. The diagnosis was an Autonomically functioning Thyroid Nodule. I had a “hyper-thyroid” condition, and the options to fix it were to nuke the nodule w/ radiation or have surgery to remove the nodule along with (at least) half of my thyroid. I opted for the “nuke it” option because there was a better chance that my thyroid would recover long-term and that I wouldn’t have to go on Synthroid. I was warned that when they “nuked” the nodule, it would likely also affect my thyroid function for several months, up to a year, and that I would probably become “Hypo” until my thyroid regulated itself. If it failed to regulate itself in an acceptable amount of time, I would have to go on medication to get my Thyroid levels where they needed to be. Sooo, at the end of August, I had my Thyroid “nuked”.

Since then, my performance in the gym has continued to decline, but at an even faster rate. I now officially have “hypo-thyroidism”, and my levels are getting worse every month (not better).

Initially, I kept a positive attitude. I knew that this was a temporary setback, and as soon as I got “IT” straightened out, everything would return to normal. I suffered through discouraging workout after discouraging workout, but did my best to keep plugging away.

Over the last two months, however, my workout frequency has decreased significantly more. It got so hard (mentally!) to drag myself to the gym when I was no longer seeing steady progress, but was instead seeing a steady decline in my performance and strength. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to throw myself down on the floor and have a temper tantrum. I just wanted to feel better and perform better, and get back to where I was. I felt like I was being forcibly pushed backwards in time to the level I was at when I first started CrossFit and Weightlifting. And I had worked SO HARD for the progress that it was really hard to see it ripped away by “IT”.

Every workout, I would compare my results to my previous PR’s (set before “IT” happened), and got more and more discouraged – because numbers just don’t lie – I was getting worse, not better. My Fran is much slower, I can’t string even half the pullups together that I used to be able to, I can’t Snatch or C&J my max anymore for even 1 rep, I get winded and have to rest after just a few thrusters or box jumps or burpees.

In addition to all of this, I had FINALLY conquered the HUGE milestones of HS Pushups (off of an abmat) and RX Ring Dips prior to “IT”. These are things that I had struggled with and worked on religiously for months and months to get, and was overjoyed when I finally “got” them. I realized about a month ago that I can no longer do either movement. And trust me, it’s NOT for lack of giving it everything I had just to try to get 1 single solitary rep. I just am THAT much weaker.

So for the last two months, I’ve gradually been getting more and more discouraged and it’s been harder and harder to force myself to workout because I’m fighting with my own head. I’ll tell myself that “I feel GREAT today, and I’m going to kick this workout’s butt!” and then 5 minutes into it I realize that I have no energy at all left, and I finish it, look up my previous time, and realize that I got nowhere close to kicking that workout’s butt, regardless of my good intentions.

I FINALLY realized just today that I’ve been my own worst enemy. I’ve been de-moralizing myself and setting myself up for failure by comparing my Current Performance/Strength Level to my Performance/Strength Level from before “IT”. I’m basically comparing apples to oranges, whether I want to admit it or not. I am NOT the same athlete that I was 6 months ago, through no fault of my own – but I need to accept that, re-assess where I am NOW, and try to improve from my current position. That means setting new goals, focusing on the here and now, and forgetting about what I may or may not have been capable of 6 months ago.

What brought on this realization? I was reminded of the Serenity Prayer:

“God, Grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change, COURAGE to change the things I can, and the WISDOM to know the difference.”

The realization of what I had been doing hit me like a lightning bolt. I need to trust that I will never be burdened with more than I’ve been given the ability to handle, and know that everything really does happen for a reason, even if I never figure out just what that reason is.

So I am going to do my best to simply accept that I am where I am in terms of strength and conditioning, and there is absolutely nothing that I can do to change where I am right now at this moment. It’s out of my hands.

And while I won’t be able to change my performance & strength levels overnight, or return them instantaneously to where they used to be, I do have the ability to change my the way that I look at the situation, my focus, and my goals.

So over the next month, I am going to update my “Current 1RM” and all of my performance measurement metrics so that they reflect where I am right now. I will no longer refer to any of my previous benchmarks in my training logs or on my website because that was the past, and this is the present, and I need to stop dwelling on the past if I ever want to be able to move forward.

Going forward, I will measure my progress against these current numbers, rather than where I was when I was at my “peak” 6 months ago. I hope that this shift in the way that I look at things will help me to be less discouraged at the end of my workouts, and to appreciate that I still have the ability to do the things that I love, even if I may not be able to (presently) do them as well as I used to. And that’s okay with me!

So if you have recently faced a setback as a result of an “IT” in your life, it may help if you stop dwelling on the past, re-evaluate where you are in the present, and make goals & plans for the future based on your current situation. Whatever the “IT” is in your life that may have sidelined or de-railed you – You can overcome it if you are able to stop focusing on how things were before “IT”, accept how things are now, and move forward from your current position.

I’ll end this post with one of my favorite quotes:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude,
to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the
education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than
what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The
remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will
embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact
that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only
thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I
am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.
And so it is with you… we are in charge of our Attitudes.” ~Charles R.
Swindoll

And now, after that HEAVY post, here’s a little something to make you Smile before you leave! (Cause who doesn’t love cute puppies?!?)

What a difference a day makes!

Wow – it really is amazing to me how much things can “turn around” within a single day!

I’ve had a few really rough days with super duper low energy/motivation levels, & insane cravings, but today I feel like I’m on top of the world. . . I’m hoping that this means that I have FINALLY turned that corner and that the worst is behind me for this Whole30. Only time will tell, but I’m going to ride this energy high for as long as it lasts!

I got up this morning, got my Fran on, and it’s been onwards and upwards ever since. Granted I didn’t even get close to PR’ing my Fran, but that’s okay. I’m just happy I was finally able to drag my booty out of bed and to the gym for a morning workout!

I think that increasing my FAT intake yesterday really helped, and although the results were not instantaneous, it seems that after a good night’s sleep they are finally showing themselves. I’m trying to take in a little more fat today to see if it continutes to help with my energy. . . . We’ll See.

Here’s a quick collage to my love of HEALTHY FAT and all of it’s energy-providing goodness:

Adding to my GREAT mood is the excitement I feel over attending the Foundations of Nutrition Workshop and the Trainer’s Workshop this weekend in Houston! AND if that weren’t enough, I’m finally going to get the chance to meet Whole9’s Mellisa & Dallas, and Melissa “Melicious” Joulwan (whose recipes I would SURELY DIE without!) in person **happy dance**

AAANND I’m going to get to shop at WHOLE FOODS while in Houston this weekend – does life get any better than that?

Ever just have one of those days?

**Illustration by Clay Sneller**

Meh.

Ugh.

Siiiggghhhh.

Ever have one of those days? Well excuse me for just a moment while I throw a really brief pity party. . .

I’m usually a REALLY upbeat, optomistic, look-on-the-bright-side, pick-a-friend-up kind of person. You’ll rarely see me without a smile on my face. But every now and then, I just have one of those days . . .or weeks. . . . !

I am tired & grumpy, have absolutely zero energy, and am craving the hell out of every single sugary abomination known to man. I have only worked out one time this week because my energy levels have been soooo low, and the lack of exercise makes me feel even worse!

I KNOW that I will pull through this shortly. I KNOW that it’s just my thyroid levels screwing with me combined with turning the “strict” dial up on my food choices – but MAN – something has got to give!

Having no energy combined with being tired and grumpy is bad enough – but when you add to that the intense cravings that I’m fighting off at every turn, I swear I’m a walking Mood Swing!

So now it’s time to turn on my Optomism switch! What do I need to do to fix this funk?

I’m drinking lots of water and eating extra fat (to help with the cravings), getting to bed super early and making sure I get a minumum of 8 hours of sleep a night (even if that means that I miss a workout. . .), and trying to convince my neurotic Type A brain that missing a few workouts while trying to get my sleep/clean eating habits/meal timing back on track is not going to kill me.

I’m on Day 6 of my Whole102, and I know that this is the “rough patch” – especially considering the fact that I really overdid the sugar on New Year’s Eve. . . meaning that there’s even more crap trying to clear out of my system then usual. So I’m going to “Suck it up, Buttercup”, Push onward and upward, and hopefully be back to my normal up-beat sane self that’s not plagued by sugar demons w/in the next day or so 🙂

You may be asking yourself WHY I’m sharing this pity party with the world – well I guess it’s because I want those who follow my blog to see that I struggle too! If every single one of my posts were about sunshine and rainbows and puppydogs (Paleo is Great! CrossFit is Great! Weightlifting ROCKS!. . . I got a PR! . . . you get the point), it would be a little bit unrealistic. If I’m going to maintain an open an honest blog, I figured I should probably be sharing the “down’s”, few and far between as they are, as well as all of the “UP’S” that go along with a Whole30 stint, CrossFit Workouts, etc!

So what do YOU do to pick yourself up out of a funk? I know we all have them from time to time – I’m open to any and all suggestions!

Pressure Cooker Adventures #1

Yes, my initial Pressure Cooker adventures were an Epic Fail!

I attribute this to the fact that I bought a $19.95 Pressure Cooker at HEB. . . I tried several times to use it, but it never seemed to build up pressure correctly.

According to the instructions, I was supposed to put it on the stove on high heat until the regulator began to rock, and then reduce the heat to medium or low so that the regulator continued to rock gently. The instructions also said that I shouldn’t start timing the cooking until the regulator began to rock (meaning that the pressure had built up enough to do it’s job).

Well, my regulator never rocked, but tons of steam leaked out from around the handle each time that I tried to use it, and water dripped down the side of the Cooker – so I’m pretty sure that it never built up the proper amount of pressure because so much steam was leaking out.

I tried steaming cauliflower, but because the regulator never rocked, I didn’t know when to start timing it. I ended up WAAY overcooking it and ended up with a soggy mess!

So, you live and learn I guess! I refuse to quit on my attempts at pressure cooking because it looks like such a healthy alternative and the convenience and speed of it is really appealing to me also.

So I upgraded to a $40 Presto 8 Qt Pressure Cooker over the weekend, and am very much looking forward to trying it out next week – I only hope that I have better luck this time, and that the previous Pressure Cooker really was faulty and that it wasn’t just “user error”!

I’m going to start scouring the web this evening for some yummy Paleo Pressure Cooker Recipes, but if anyone out there reading this has some “winners”, (Or Pressure Cooking Tips!) please share!

Recipe: Prawn Cakes

I found this recipe in an old cookbook from my Figure Competition days – I tried it out tonight with a few minor revsions, and it turned out GREAT! My picky hubby even asked for seconds 🙂 That makes it a keeper in my book!

These are kind of like a healthy non-fried, non-breaded version of Crab Cakes.

I also made roasted garlic for the very first time tonight (Yay Me!), and made some sauteed spinach w/ caramalized onion and roasted garlic – This was the perfect compliment to the Prawn Cakes!

Prawn Cakes – From Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover by Dr. John M. Berardi, Michael Williams, & Kristna Andres (with minor revisions by your’s truly)

Ingredients:

12 oz Raw & Peeled Chilled Prawn (I used HEB Wild Gulf Shrimp – Frozen, but thawed them)
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 cup Leeks, sliced
1/2 cups Mushrooms, sliced
2 Tb Coconut Milk
2 Whites
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Handfull of Fresh Cilantro, choped
Sea Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Dry any moisture from the prawns with a paper towel and return to fridge.

Saute Leeks & Mushrooms in 1 tsp of olive oil until leeks are lightly browned.

Remove mixture from pan and completely chill in fridge.

Add All ingredients, including the raw prawns, to a food processor and puree until combined but not smooth.

Preheat oven to 350. Preheat a cast iron skillet on medium heat w/ remaining olive oil.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of the mixture into your hands and form into round cakes approximately 2 inch diameter by 3/4 inch thick.

Add to Pan, leaving a little room in between each cake.

Sautee until lightly browned, flip and then brown the other side (2-3 mintues per side).

Transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven.

Bake until cooked through (8-10 Minutes).

My “Whole102” Starts Today!

That’s Right! I’m officially re-starting today and making my intentions public. I’ll be eating squeaky-clean-love-my-body-Whole-30-Compliant foods for the next 102 days. No, that’s not a typo – that does indeed say One Hundred and Two!

My “Whole102” will run from today (January 1st) through April 12th. My Birthday is on April 13th, and I’m looking forward to celebrating this one feeling the healthiest that I’ve ever felt, both inside and out!

As I mentioned in the previous post – I will be keeping a Pictorial Food Log at http://www.christiesfoodlog.posterous.com/, and will be posing snapshots of every single bite that goes into my mouth. There’s a Link to my food log in the top right-hand corner of this page, so feel free to check it out if you’re ever curious what I’m eating on a day-to-day basis while on the “Whole30”. There are a few reasons for my decision to keep this pictorial food log on a separate site:

Perhaps the most obvious reason – it will help to keep me accountable

I find myself “grazing” a LOT lately with a little bite here or there in between meals. While those little bites may be Paleo Compliant, they still add up, and I need to get out of the habit of mindless grazing due to boredom or stress. Additionally, these “little bites” are usually carb-dense snacks (like lara bars or sweet potatoes or fruit) that I really don’t need to be munching on mindlessly anyway! If I have to take a picture and upload it to my food log of every single one of these bites, I’m guessing that it will help me to be much more mindful of when I’m mindlessly grazing, and will reduce the frequency that I do it.

I’m want to give any “newbies” a glance inside the “real world” of Paleolithic eating so that they can see that it’s REALLY not that hard! It’s usually just meat, veggies, and fat thrown together in a stir-fry and tossed on a plate, or a salad, or something super easy and quick. I do get “fancy” every now and then to keep things interesting, but it’s not necessary – hopefully by seeing the simplistic meals that I eat and enjoy “newbies” will be a little less hesitant to give it a try.

I’m pretty sure that my friends and family are getting a bit sick of seeing all of the food pics that I’ve been obsessively posting on Facebook lately! By maintaining a separate Pictorial Food Log, no one will have to be forced to view pictures of my food if they don’t want to 🙂 Only those people who actually want to see what I’m eating will click through to the link (Your Welcome Facebook Friends!! LOL)

I’m also very excited to be attending the Whole9’s Foundations of Nutrition Workshop and Trainers Workshop January 8th & 9th in Houston!!! I’m sure I’ll learn all kinds of great stuff and I can’t wait.
So my blog posts in the upcoming days/weeks will most likely document some struggles as I work to lock up my sugar demons again, and also the small victories that I notice along my Whole102 journey. I’ll still be posting Weightlifting and CrossFitting stuff of course, and any new recipes that I come up with as I’m “Playing with my Food”!

The Hostage Negotiation of Christmas 2010

Okay, so THIS is about what I felt like by the around 9:15pm on Christmas Evening. . . . but let me start from the begining.

Paleo Christmas Eve Feast – A Success!

Paleo Christmas Dinner – A Success!

We went over to a friend’s house for Christmas Dinner – I knew that there would be tons of stuff there that wasn’t “Paleo-Approved”, so I took along some Waldorf Salad and some Paleo Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Icing. I figured this way, I could still have dessert along with everyone else, and not feel the least bit deprived. . . well. . . it was a good plan anyway. . . but would have been even better if I’d stuck to it!

We had a great time on Christmas evening, and I had already decided ahead of time that I would have a glass or two of red wine because it was a special occasion, but would stay otherwise Paleo-Compliant. I had about two glasses of wine before dinner, and then ate a sensible and Paleo-Compliant dinner. No Problem. I wasn’t even tempted by the mashed potatoes or stuffing – really! I was quite satisfied with myself after dinner, and decided to go ahead and indulge in a third glass of wine.

About half way through that third glass, the hosts broke out the DESSERT. And yes, that is DESSERT in ALL CAPS!!! My God – I have never seen such a spread in one place at one time in my life! And it wasn’t like it was store bought pies and cookies. . . oh no . . this was all home-made decadence, and gourmet cupcake shop debachery – all sitting there staring my slightly un-inhibited self in the face.

Tollhouse Cookie Pie (still warm from the oven w/ Whip Cream!), Red Velvet CHEESECAKE, Gourmet Mini Cupcakes from a local bakery (Chocolate w/ Peanut Butter Icing!!), Creamy Decadent Yule Logs, Godiva Truffles . . . . and that’s just listing the highlights!

Suddenly my “Paleo Cupcakes” weren’t looking quite so hot anymore!

Anyone that knows me personally knows that sugar is my weakness. When I’ve been strict Whole30 Compliant for a good stretch of time, my sugar demons go to sleep, but alchohol wakes them back up in a heartbeat (yes – unfortunately, even red wine).

Soooo I ate a Paleo Cupcake and sat there staring longingly at the dessert table trying to summon my willpower.

After what felt like 3 hours, but in reality was more like 3 minutes, I said to myself “Screw it – it’s Christmas, and I’m having some friggin REAL dessert!” I then proceded to fill a DINNER PLATE with desserts of every shape and size, and dug in. (Reference Picture of Young Child above – yep, that’s about right!) Then I went back for a second helping of Tollhouse Pie. Yes. Really.

After about 15 minutes of indulgence, I was able to turn the switch off, and publicly swore that my meltdown was over with, and that I was back on the Paleo straight and narrow as of that moment. I knew that I’d be in for some serious digestive distress, but at that moment (3 glasses of wine in), I felt that it was totally worth it but knew that I needed to get a hold of myself before I started snowboarding down that slippery slope.

As we left, the host was gracious enough to give my poor deprived hubby a big tupperware container full of “real” mashed potatoes and stuffing. They had listened to his tails of woe regarding my mashed cauliflower and stuffingless dinner table, and had pity on his poor soul.

On the drive home, my hubby reminded me that he had some cheesecake in the fridge that a friend of mine had given him (another “pity” gift!). He asked me if I needed him to “hide” it when we got home so that I wouldn’t be tempted, but I ensured him that my sweet tooth was fully satisfied, and there was no need to go hiding food. I was in control again.

Around 11:30 that evening, we were laying there in bed, and my hubby got up to have a midnight snack of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cheesecake. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the NEED to have cheesecake RIGHT THAT INSTANT. It wasn’t like I was sitting there and thought “hmmm. . cheesecake sure would be nice“. No. This was “I. MUST. HAVE. CHEESECAKE. NOW!!”

This is where the hostage negotiation began. I walked out to the kitchen where my husband was eating cheesecake straight out of the tupperware container. I batted my eyes as softly as I could, gave him my best “come hither” look, and in my sexiest voice said “Hey Baby – I sure would like just one bite of that cheesecake. . . . ” He proceeded to dutifully remind me that I had just sworn off sugar again not even 2 hours prior, and swore that he was doing me a favor by not giving me a bite. But in my cheescake craving frantic mind, I could not see reason.

All I could think about was a bite of that cheescake. So I changed the angle of my argument. I told him that my friend that had made the cheesecake would be insulted if she found out that I went off my diet for a few minutes, and didn’t eat any of her cheesecake (yeah, lame excuse, I know – but I was desperate!) Well, he didn’t buy that either, and slowly began a countermanuever around the kitchen island and into the living room.

As I began to follow him, he picked up the pace – before long I was literally (yes. . . this is real – you have to see this mental picture) chasing my husband around in the circle that goes through our kitchen and living room. He was holding the cheesecake out in front of him at arm’s legnth, running full speed ahead, pulling every evasive manuever he could think of – and I was nipping at his heels, fury in my eyes, screaming all kinds of obscenities and threats of what I would do to him if he didn’t give me a friggin bite of cheesecake. Reason had left the building!!

After about 5 or 6 laps, I had a brilliant idea. I knew that he was covetting the mashed potatoes and stuffing that he’d been sent home with, so I decided that I would take it hostage. Oh Yes I Did. On about my 7th trip through the kitchen, I ripped open the fridge door, pulled out “his precious” and strutted over to the sink with a sadistic grin on my face, ripped off the lid, and held it at a 90 degree angle to where it was just shy of dumping down the disposal. He froze opposite of me and we locked eyes. It was staredown time. He yelled “YOU WOULDN’T“ and I shouted back “JUST WATCH ME!!!”

This exchange was followed by about a minute of staring each other down in silence. He was weighing his options and trying to decide if I would really dump his sacred Christmas food down the drain. I was trying to read him to see if my threat was working, and drooling over the cheescake that was still in his hands and just barely out of my reach. As he started to draw back, I tipped the container just a hair more and he yelled “Nonononononononono!!!!! Fine – You can HAVE your freaking Cheesecake! Just Don’t Throw That Food Down The Drain!!” I slowly walked around the island and made a grab for the cheesecake, but he pulled it back at the last minute and made a grab for the mashed potatoes and stuffing that I was still holding hostage. Fast Forward a moment or two and we were chasing each other around in circles again (You just can’t make this stuff up kids!) Right about now, the dogs come out of the bedroom and start chasing us around as we’re chasing each other. So I’m screaming threats and profanities, the dogs are barking frantically and nipping at our heels, and my poor husband is simply running for his life and wondering how he ever got himself into this situation and how he can save his food.

In the long run, I was able to catch my hubby (Thank you CrossFit!!), and rip the cheesecake from his hands, simultaneously shoveling it into my mouth with my bare hands. He made the split second decision to save his mashed potatoes and stuffing, and give up on the cheescake. . .

We ended up the night on the floor rolling in laughter reflecting on what had just happened. I mean really. In what household does the wife go ballistic over cheesecake and hold mashed potatoes and stuffing hostage over the garbage disposal? I’m almost willing to bet Vegas Odds that this is a first. And part of me wishes we’d had a hidden camera somewhere because we definitely would have won an episode of America’s Funniest Videos!!

So I may very well be the only person on the planet that has gone batsh*t crazy when I had a massive sugar craving – but somehow I doubt it. While most sane people out there have probably never taken the pursuit of their object of desire in a moment of weakness to such great legnths, I’m willing to bet that many have at least contemplated it! Hopefully my honest disclosure will help others to realize that they’re not the only ones that have moments of “craziness” when in the grips of a sugar craving.

As for my “Recovery” . . I woke up the next morning with the worst belly-ache of my life. I asked my husband why the hell he let me eat the cheescake – and then we both laughed some more. This unfortunate incident did wake up my sugar demons with a vengance and I’m having to be very mindful of everything that I eat right now. I’m craving sugar a lot, and just having to suck it up.

I’ve made the decision to start a “Whole100” on January 1st, so I am being a little more “relaxed” with my diet over the next several days, but I refuse to fall of the wagon completely as I have in the past. It’s so easy to say “Well, I’m starting the Whole30 (or **insert diet name here**) in a week, so I have to eat this and that and this and that and this and that and this and that BEFORE I start so that I can get it out of my system”. How do I know this? Because I’ve Been There. Done That. I refuse to do that again. I have to remember that I want to hold on to all of the progress I’ve made so far in my journey to becoming a healthier person, inside and out. And a week long binge would NOT do much to set me up for success! All of my main meals and snacks have been 100% Paleo, but I did allow myself a single serving of ice cream last night. This was different though. Ice Cream is the #1 Item on my “Healthy/F-Off” scale, and I had made the concious decision a long time ago that I would have one scoop before January 1st when I will dig in for the long haul.

Also, I started a Pictoral Food Log that I plan to update with EVERY SINGLE BITE that I put in my mouth during my “Whole100” Journey. I started it this week so that I could work out all of the technical difficulties before my journey begins, and also so that I can get in the habit of snapping pics of everything before I eat it. There’s a link to my pictoral food log at the top of the navigation bar on the right side of your page. If you’re ever curious about what I’m eating, check it out! I hope that my log will help to show others that being “Whole30” Compliant REALLY isn’t as hard as some people make it. It’s basically just meat, veggies, and healthy fats – with some fancy stuff thrown in there from time to time to keep it interesting. Hey – if I can do it, ANYONE can!

A Very Nice Christmas (& a touch of Naughty. . )

Christmas in the Tracy Household was AWESOME 🙂 As promised, I prepared a Paleo Christmas Feast, and actually found that I enjoyed every minute of it! Every single item on my Christmas Menu was 100% Paleo and 100% made from scratch – the only cans/bottle I opened were the Coconut Milk and the jar of Raw Honey . . . I drew the line at cracking coconuts and extracting honey from bumblebees!!

Anyway, to say that I was proud of myself would be a massive understatement . . . I’m sure that my facebook friends are all sick of seeing pictures of my Christmas Food – but this is the first time that I have ever in my life prepared such a feast from scratch, and I really was glowing with pride! You know how they say that people who have jobs where they work with their hands and actually produce things often have a high rate of job satisfaction because they get a real sense of accomplishment from creating tangible things . . .well I can totally see that now! The sense of accomplishment while sitting down and devouring my Christmas Eve Dinner was one of the best natural “highs” I’ve felt in a very long time (Yes, even better than a PR on “Fran”!)

Here’s a picture of the Proud Paleo Princess Herself (No Makeup, Still Sweating from working in a hot kitchen, but Glowing with Pride LOL):

My Final Christmas Menu included a Pastured Turkey (brined for 24 hours), Sweet & Salty Broccoli Salad, Southern Style Farmer’s Market Green Beans, Mashed Cauliflower, Whole30 Cranberry Sauce, Cranberry Apple Waldorf Salad, Sweet Potato Casserole (Ah-MA-Zing!!), Pumpkin Cupcakes w/ Cinnamon Icing, and a Paleo Pumpkin Pie.

I also cooked a Ham for my hubby, and I saved the Ham Bone to use in my Green Beans before I glazed it (okay – to be honest – before HE glazed it . . . LOL – I couldn’t bring myself to dump a sugary glaze all over that beautiful ham!)

So it looks good, right? But the real question is how did it TASTE!?! – I can honestly say that my taste buds have never been so thrilled. I couldn’t have been happier with the way each one of the dishes turned out. My husband liked the Turkey, Broccoli Salad, and Green Beans. He wouldn’t try the Sweet Potato Cassarole or the Waldorf Salad because he said that it just wasn’t “right” to make these dishes w/o Marshmallows. As for the Mashed Cauliflower, well, he wasn’t a fan – but that’s okay – I thought it was awesome 🙂 I guess if you’re used to creamy mashed potatoes with gravy though the Mashed Cauliflower must have tasted a little “sad” – haha!

I prepared this meal on Christmas Eve Morning, and we our main Feast early afternoon on Christmas Eve . . and then I ate leftovers for dinner, and Breakfast and Lunch on Christmas day. We went to a friends house for Christmas Dinner, and I took some of my Waldorf Salad and Pumpkin cupcakes to share 🙂

My Entire Christmas Eve, and up until about 8pm on Christmas Day, I stayed 100% Paleo Compliant with no issues whatsoever. I HONESTLY didn’t even want a bite of Mashed Potatoes or Gravy or Stuffing or anything else that would traditionally mark “Christmas Dinner”. . . . . . that is until they broke out the desserts on Christmas Evening. . .

And then there was Naughty. . . .

But more on that in the next post – to be titled “The Hostage Negotiation of Christmas 2010”

For now, I’ll leave you w/ a Pic of my sweet Buster on Christmas Evening – He wore himself out playing w/ the toy that Santa brought him!

New “Toys”!!

Christmas came EARLY in my house this week!!

I am so excited!! I ordered an Organic Pastured Turkey, a package of GF Steaks, 3 lbs of Pastureland Organic GF Butter, some “Gold Label” Virgin Coconut Oil, and some Coconut Cream Concentrate last week, and it arrived on Friday – what a perfect start to the weekend! I’ve got BIG Plans for my turkey for Christmas Dinner 🙂 And I’m going to try to make my own coconut milk using the Coconut Cream Concentrate – If it turns out well, I’ll post instructions and notes.

I also finally caved and bought a Pressure Cooker this week – I’ve been contemplating making this purchase for a few months now, but my hubby was concerned about the safety issue. I looked into them and found that they’ve come a long way and now have a ton of safety features built in, so I made the purchase – and I’m SO EXCITED to play w/ my new toy! I’m going to use the heck out of it when preparing my Christmas Feast this year! I’ll post back about my success, failures, and lessons learned while experimenting.

Another Fun Moment of the week was planning out my Paleo Christmas Feast, and doing all of the grocery shopping in preparation. I hit the Farmer’s Market early this weekend, so I actually got there before they were picked over and MADE OUT w/ all kinds of leafy greens and root veggies: Beatiful Swiss Chard, Sweet Spinach, Sweet White Turnips, Red Rocket Radishes, Multi-colored Sweet Carrots, Onions, Apples, Kale, Peppers, and some squash. Lots of inspiration for this week’s dinners. I’ve currently got a Garlic Beef Stew cooking in my Crock-Pot that I dumped a ton of these veggies into – I can’t wait to see how it turns out – it smells AH-MAZING right now!

Speaking of my “Christmas Feast”, here’s what I’ve got on the menu:

Roasted Pastured Turkey – Brined in home-made Brine of Sea Salt, Cranberries, Apples, Orange Peel, Juniper Berries, Black Pepper, Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage.
Cranberry Sauce
Paleo Sweet Potato Cassarole (my own recipe – I’ve combined different parts of a bunch of different recipes that I’ve found online – if it turns out good, I’ll post it after the holiday!)
Southern-Style Farmers Market Green Beans – Slow Cooked w/ Hamhock & Sweet Onions (Another of my own recipes)
Mashed Cauliflower – Will be making w/ Clarified (at home), Organic GF Butter
Sweet & Salty Broccoli Salad
Cranberry Waldorf Salad
Pumpkin Pie

I’m really looking forward to preparing this feast and gloating as my hubby (who’s been doing a bit of “griping” about Paleo-izing this year’s Christmas Dinner) scarfs down every last bite!

And now for a quick update on my Whole30 Progress: So far, so good!! I’m not even quite sure what day I’m on right now – I’ll have to look it up, but I think it’s probably around day 20-ish. I’m past the “this is hard” part, and am cruising right along, enjoying every minute of it. Mid-week last week, I did go a bit “off the deep end” w/the Dried Mango and Dates, much to my tummy’s dismay! I’ll cover this “divergence” in another post though. One concession that I’m making – I plan to use a smidge of raw organic honey in the Pumpkin Pie that I’ll be making for Christmas, and will also be using a bit of Clarified Organic GF Butter in my Mashed Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Cassarole – neither of these items are Whole30 approved, however I’m making the concious decision to consume these items in moderation on Christmas, thus ending my “strict Whole30” at a “Whole25”. I will then jump right back on the Whole30 bandwagon on December 26th and start another 30 days. I’m making this decision for personal reasons, and I woudn’t reccomend it to many others, but I know that I’m living a “Whole30 Life” and will be for as long as I’m graced w/ breath to breathe – so going slightly off the Whole30 bandwagon w/ some Clarified GF Butter and a smear of Organic Raw Honey is totally justifiable to me because I was never looking at this as a 30 day journey in the first place. Make Sense?

Recipe: Spicy Spanish Chicken

It’s been really cold here in South TX for the last week or so, and as a result I’ve found myself craving spicy food like crazy! For some reason, whenever the weather turns cold, I start craving dishes w/ HEAT!

I made this one last night, and was pretty impressed w/ the way it turned out, so I thought I’d share:

Spanish Chicken Skillet

Ingredients:
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp dried Thyme
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Sea Salt to taste
1/8 Cup Coconut Flour
4 Medium Size Chicken Breast, tenderized
2 Tb Olive Oil
1 Green Pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 Red Pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 Sweet Onion, cut into wedges
1 (14.5 oz) Can Diced Tomatoes – Undrained (I like the Organic Fire Roasted kind)
1/2 cup Organic Free Range Chicken Broth

Instructions:

Combine Coconut Flour, Sea Salt, and all of the Spices except Red Pepper.
Use 2-3 Tb of this seasoned flour to coat both sides of chicken (I sprinkled it on, patted it a little, and rubbed it in).
Heat 1 Tb Olive Oil in a large skillet. Brown both sides of chicken (about 2 min per side).
Remove Chicken from Pan.
Add remaining oil, onions, and peppers to the skillet and cook until tender (about 5 minutes).
Stir in tomatoes, broth, remaining seasoned flour, and red pepper flakes
Return chicken to skillet, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.

I served mine over a bed of fresh spinach. The warm chicken and peppers wilted the spinach just enough, and it was really good! This would also be good over some Spanish “Cauli-Rice”. . . . hmmmm . . I think I have inspiration for another recipe. . . to be continued 🙂

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: