Sunday Letters

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness

Homemade Gourmet Tomato Soup

heather

I’ve always loved tomato soup.  When we were kids my mom would can tomatoes and then  we would dump a jar of them in a pot, add a bunch of butter, and that would be some deeeeelicious tomato soup.  I also like the tomato soup that you get at nice Italian restaurants – where the tomatoes are pureed with olive oil and delicious seasonings, and the soup is the perfect color of red.  I don’t why, but I always assumed it was difficult to make.   It looks so fancy. Today I found out differently.

I tried this recipe:  Tomato Soup with Spicy Mini Meatballs.  The soup itself was pretty easy to make, and best of all, I was able to finally utilize my herb garden!  I used fresh parsley, basil and oregano.  Those spices were combined with olive oil, garlic, canned tomatoes, water,  and salt.  The concoction simmered for 30 minutes, and then I dumped it into our Vitamix blender (I will have to do a separate post on this amazing machine some day).  Out came perfectly silky, tasty, beautiful tomato soup.

Once that was complete, I set to work on the spicy mini meatballs. Making the meatball batter was a pretty simple feat, but making the mini meatballs was a huge PITA.  They are supposed to be teaspoon size.  TEASPOON!!  It took forever.  I only cooked half up them and then froze the rest.  I have to say, they were worth the trouble. Very very delicious.

Tim and I both loved this soup.  Next time, however, I need to double or quadruple the batch.  We only got 2 large bowls out of this recipe.  Also, if you make the recipe, note that the ingredient list for the meatballs is missing garlic.  It’s referenced in the instructions but not listed in the ingredients.  I added 2 gloves of chopped garlic to my balls.

Now that the triathlon is over, I need to get back in the habit of cooking more and writing more.  That is, unless we do another triathlon.  Which we are seriously considering.  I probably should have just BOUGHT my wet suit instead of renting one.  Triathlons are expensive.  But Tim and I had a great time participating in the QC Triathlon last weekend. I want to do it again 🙂  I can’t believe it, but I actually enjoy swimming now.  I haven’t been swimming since last Saturday, and I miss it.  This is probably an egotistical thing to say, but I’m super proud of myself for facing and overcoming my fear of the water and of swimming.  Yay Heather!  I read a quote somewhere that says you should never compare yourself to someone else.  You should only compare yourself to who you were yesterday.  I feel like I’m a much stronger person physically and emotionally today than I was 6 months ago, and that makes me happy.

Hopefully I will have more recipe reviews to share soon!  Take care and good night.

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness

Lots of New Recipes!

heather

School was officially over on May 10th, so I’ve finally had time to start trying some new recipes.

Primal Beef Enchiladas:  I killed a pot in the process of making this (I was boiling the ancho chiles in 2 cups of bone broth and kind of forget about them :/), but the recipe was still worth it.  My meat didn’t get defrosted in time to make this during the weekend in the oven (for 4 hours), so I made in the Nesco roaster.  I made the sauce and seared the meat the night before.  The next morning, I tossed the works into the roaster on the lowest setting and let it cook from about 7:30 to 5:30.  When the meat first came out, it seemed a little dry (as grass-fed beef is wont to be), but once I shredded it and doused it with the sauce, it was delicious.  We ate it with avocado slices the first night.  The second night Tim made some white rice and added some broccoli to the meat & sauce as it simmered.  Again – delicious.  This recipe is a definite keeper.

Crockpot Pork Stuffed Peppers:  I used the Nesco roaster for these bad boys too.  However, I think I overcooked them. It’s hard not to do when you leave at 7:30 and don’t get home until 5:30.  By the time we removed the peppers from the roaster, the peppers were total mush.  The insides though – very tasty, especially with lots of delicious salt.  🙂  I would definitely make this again.  It’s a super easy way to cook your meat and veggies all together.  I love our food processor so much.  Mom gave us an old Vitamix, and that is rocking our world too.  Tim’s been making some mean veggie smoothies with it, and I’ve been using it to make the most delicious coffee drink ever – bulletproof coffee.  The stuff tastes amazing, but I’m not totally sold on all of its supposed health benefits.  The first morning it only kept me full for about 2.5 hours.  I also seem to feel the effects of caffeine more with this coffee; I feel more anxious.  But one thing is for sure.  It’s some tasty sh!t.

Beef Liver & Onions:  I picked up a couple of pounds of grass-fed beef liver from the farmer’s market a couple of weeks ago.  I really enjoyed the Fried Beef Liver and Onions I made with the first batch, but it was kind of a lot of work.  And it was messy.  So I tried this new recipe.  I was being kind of lazy, so I tossed some liver in the food processor along with some shallots (the recipe called for onion, but mine was bad), some garlic, and some dill and oregano from our herb garden. Once all that was thoroughly mixed, I kneaded it together with some locally raised ground beef.  I used an ice cream scoop to form it into meatballs, put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cooked them up.  They turned out really tasty!  They do have that kind of… thick… taste of liver, but it’s a little lighter since it’s mixed with the ground beef.  It’s a great, easy way to get an inexpensive, nutrient-rich dose of grass-fed meat into your diet.

And….then I made this:  Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever.  This was COMPLETELY not paleo, but it was oh so deeeelicious.  I used whole milk, dark chocolate cocoa powder, and omitted the pecans (due to some nut allergies at work), and it turned out fantastic.  It was probably one of the most popular cakes I’ve ever made.  And it should be.  It’s rather a lot of work!

I JUST finished making these:  Greek-Style Lamb Meatballs.  I originally bought the lamb to make a recipe that I subsequently lost.  So I had to find a new recipe, and find one I did!  Tim and I are eating these right now.  My house smells like Hungry Boy Deli, and I really, really want some tzatziki sauce.    This would taste amazing with an onion, cucumber, tomato, vinegar, and olive oil salad.  Next time!!

Besides cooking and eating, Tim and I have been busy training for the triathlon that is LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY.  This weekend we were going to do a brick – a swim/bike brick or a bike/run brick.  However, Tim tweaked his back yesterday morning and is still recovering, so he was out of commission.  Tim bought me some new pedals for my bike – clip-ins!  He installed them today, and I gave them a go.  Getting the shoes to clip-in took some work, but once they were in – wow – I just flew!  At least until I came to a stop.  I was smart enough to get my right foot out but didn’t anticipate myself leaning to the left, the side on which my foot was still adhesed to my bike.  Down I went!  Right on my butt, knee, and elbow.  I banged my knee up pretty good, twisted my bike seat and shifter, and tore my brand new handle-bar tape.  I will survive, but this knee is going to need some rest before I can run on it again.  Oh well!  It was a good learning experience – take out BOTH feet when  you come to a complete stop on the bike.

And…that’s been the past couple of weeks.  This week will be the last full week of training. Next week my big bro and his girlfriend are coming for a visit and to support us during the Tri, so next week is going to be most excellent.

Hope you have a great week!

Health & Fitness

The power of zits

heather

If you have ever struggled with acne, you know how devastating it can be.  Since December my skin has been bonkers.  I don’t know why.  Maybe from getting off the pill after 15 years?  Maybe from swimming in chlorine every other day for tri training?  Maybe from stress?  Something I am eating?  Something I’m not eating?  That’s one of the most frustrating things about acne – it has a multitude of causes and a multitude of fixes, some which work for some people, some of which don’t.  It’s one of the most frustrating, self-confidence shattering things to deal with.  Especially if you don’t like to wear a lot of makeup and can’t cover them up.

I’ve finally gotten mine under control, I think.  I almost hate to say that because I think I’ll jinx my skin. People who struggle with acne know how superstitious you can get about stuff like this!!  It’s as if the zits are sentient organisms that can read your mind and foil you at every opportunity.

What have I done that’s worked?  Well, it’s combo of a bunch of different stuff.  I’m not sure which thing is working, so I’m just going to have to keep doing every one of them for the rest of my life.

1.  I started using manuka honey on my face.  I read about it on this blog.  I also combine it in the evening with jojoba oil, like Tracy does in the video.  I’m on the fence about the jojoba oil – not sure if it makes my skin break out or not, but the manuka honey is amazing.  It helps shrink zits, and it helps clear up acne scars faster.  It’s wicked expensive, but totally worth it in my mind. I ordered from the shop Tracy recommends in Australia, so I had to pay $15 in shipping.  I might try Amazon next time.

2.  My nurse practitioner put me on 2 supplements – B-Supreme and Colostrum.  The B-Supreme is good for skin health, and the Colostrum is good for gut health.  A lot of skin issues are due to gut issues.  Anyway, within a week or so of taking these, my skin started to improve dramatically.

3.  I also started using a new face powder.  I’ve used Bare Minerals Mineral Veil forever, but it didn’t seem to be doing much for me anymore.  My mom’s stylist started selling Jane Iredale, and she told Mom it might help me.  I have SUPER sensitive skin.  I bought this sample kit, and I really love it, especially the loose powder in golden glow.  It gives a very natural look to the skin, and it’s very light.  The shadow, blush, and lipstick are all great too. I never use the circle delete stuff.  But the kit is awesome.

So, that’s the trifecta that’s been working for me lately. I’ve also started washing my face with jojoba oil after I get out of the pool.  The chlorine sucks all the moisture out of your skin, so the oil cleanse really seems to help.  One day I didn’t shower after my swim, so I had wet, chlorine-laden hair all day.  The next day my whole forehead was broken out.  Some people say that chlorine improves their skin (dries out the oil and zits), but I don’t think it’s good for my sensitive skin.

So there you go.  If you struggle with acne too, some of this might be worth a try.  I really think there is no one answer that works for everyone, but I know that I appreciated all the blog posts I found when I was searching for a solution.  Good luck in your search!!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Sooo….Training for a Triathlon and managing cravings

heather

Today Tim and I did our first “brick” which means we trained on 2 of the 3 exercises.  We swam 600 yards in the pool and then biked 15 miles in the super cold, sunny, windy outdoors.  It wasn’t as exhausting as I anticipated, at least not physically   However, I think it’s rather draining emotionally.  At least something is draining me emotionally today.  Exercise usually makes me feel happy and energetic, but yesterday and today I’ve had a serious case of the Sundays (I just want to lay around, not do anything, and think about how I don’t want to go back to work tomorrow because I have so many things I would rather do at home, none of which I feel like doing when I have a case of the Sundays).

I think that my mopey grouchiness, while exacerbated by the 1.5 hours of pretty intense exercise, is compounded by a few factors:

1.  My bro was in town last weekend, and as is our custom, we ate a lot of delicious (non paleo) food and drank A LOT of beer.  I drank mostly cider, which is gluten free but definitely not carb free.  I gained the Benny differential (about 3 lbs).

2.  We had a little get-together here Friday night.  We had a great time, but having a party is an emotional roller coastal in and of itself.  You have the stress of preparation, the stress of hoping the weather cooperates, the excitement of looking forward to the event, the stress of hoping people have a good time, and then you enjoy the party, and then it’s over.  You have nothing more to look forward to except for cleaning up and dreading Monday.  Plus, at parties you usually eat too much (pizza, pretzel turtles, Triscuits, etc.) and drink too much (whiskey, Rumchata shots (BAD IDEA), and caramel apple shots (another horrible idea), which does not leave you feeling awesome the next day.

3.  And finally, Boys – feel free to skip this paragraph – I’m in the hell week of my cycle.  I’m 36 years old and should have figured out how my body works by now.  However, I’ve just generally noticed that around day 15 I hate everyone.  I hate life.  I hate myself.  I hate everything except for sugary, fattening foods.  Life would only be fair if this period of the cycle lasted one day at the most.  However, I’ve been feeling this way for like 3 days, so I finally googled it today.  I found it hilarious that the first search results for “What to expect during days of your period” were hits for adolescent sites.  I should have read this stuff when I was 13, evidently.  Anyway, I found this enlightening article.  I’ve discovered, much to my dismay, that “hell week” is actually “hell 12 fucking days.”  Sorry for the cussing, but it’s warranted in this instance.  The only reassuring portion of that article was the assurance that gaining 3-5 pounds during this time frame is normal.  So that, combined with the Bboo’s visit, explains why I can no longer see my abs.  Man, sometimes it really sucks to be a woman.  Except for days 6-13.  Why do the feel good days only last for 7 days, and but the bad days last for 12 + the 5 days of your actual period??  It is SO unfair.  Bleh.

Anyway, I’m done wallowing.  On to brighter topics.  I’ve planned some delicious paleo meals for the week.  I’m going to try writing more in this blog now that school is over – hopefully once/day.  I’ll post reviews of the recipes.  We also bought some herbs (cilantro, dill, and parsley) and flowers (vincas and impatiens), so I’m going to plant those once the weather cooperates.

My cravings also drove me to discover a tasty “paleoish” treat.  I had some sunflower seeds hanging out in the freezer forever.  I kept trying to get Tim to put them in smoothies, but he wasn’t listening!  So tried to make sunbutter out of them.  No matter how much I processed it, the butter was pretty mealy.  I even added some honey and olive oil.  Finally I got it to a point of tasty paste and gave up.  However, I’ve really been wanting some peanut butter cups, so I had a flash of inspiration. I put 2 squares of dark chocolate in the bottom of a silicon muffin liner, added a tablespoon of the sunpaste, then a shaving of coconut butter, and put it in the microwave.  I did the first one for 30 seconds, which was too long.  I burned the chocolate.  The second one I microwaved for 15 seconds, and it was just perfect.  I used a knife to slightly mix up everything, and then put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.  They turned out really tasty!  They don’t look beautiful, but they taste really good.  I got my peanut butter cup fix!!

And that’s it for today.  It’s about supper time, and we’re making pork chops and roasted cauliflower (spiced with cumin, turmeric, and salt).  It’s going to be super deeeeelicious.

Hope you have a great Sunday and talk to you tomorrow!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Freedom!! Sweet Freedom

heather

Wow.  It’s been almost 2 months since I’ve posted!  That’s what I get for going back to school.  I’m so stupid!

But the stupidness is over!  My team gave our final presentation on Friday, and so now all the hard work is done.  We just need to wait for the final grades to come in. I better get an A or all my self worth will be gone. Just kidding.  Kind of.

Between school and work, life has been crazy lately.  With school finishing up, life will start to get a little more normal.  It’s still a little wonky because Teeeeem and I are in full-on tri-training mode.  I’ve been swimming 3-4 times/week, and we’ve been adding in biking and running.  Yesterday I did the March of Dimes 3 mile walk, and then Tim and I biked 23 miles into a headwind both ways (dammit, Iowa!!).  Today we swam.  This afternoon I sat outside for about 3 hours and read, wrote emails, and attempted to vacuum a metric ton of Lucent hair out of the Fusion so that it looks appropriately pretty for the B-Boo’s visit on Thursday.  Yeah, that’s right, the Benny Boo is coming on Thursday!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Work is super crazy busy right now and will be for months and months.  Fortunately I have Benny’s visit to look forward to.  Then Nate & his lady are coming in June for the triathlon. I need to plan something for November/December, so I have something to look forward to after that.  It’s going to be one crazy summer, and I’m afraid not in a good way.  I’m trying to convince the Timmy Tee to go on a Caribbean trip.  I think that only way I will make it through these upcoming months is with the promise of white sandy beaches, turquoise ocean, and scads of free drinks.

So, that gets you up to speed on my life.  The true purpose of this post is to report on a couple of good recipes I tried last week.

First of all I made an old favorite, Balsamic-Glazed Drumsticks.  This is the 3rd time I’ve made these, and each time 1) They are delicious and 2) They set off the fire alarm for an hour.  I guess it’s the high heat and the oil?  Anyway, they always taste super great, and they are the essence of easy. I do need to get a prasty/food brush though, so I’m not always fingering our food.  Don’t be perverted!!

Chicken in Buttery Caper Sauce:  This recipe was AWESOME.  I put the breasts in a large ziploc baggie and then smashed the hell out of them with a small skillet.  They came out super moist and delicious, as would almost anything that is cooked in 6 tablespoons of fat.  This is a not a cheap recipe, considering the copious amounts of olive oil, butter, and capers, but it’s well worth the expense.

Slow-Cooked Coconut Ginger Pork:  This is another recipe that I found on Mark Sisson’s website (thank you, Mark!).  I thought it turned out super delicious.  I shredded the pork after it cooked all day and served it with sauteed veggies and slices of avocado.  It served up 2.5 meals.  Tim liked it, my friend Michael thought it was super delicious, and I thought it was great too. I will definitely make this again.

As mentioned, the B-Boo is home this week, so we’ll be eating out a lot, but I also want to make him some of my primal favorites – brisket, sweet potato salad, and coconut bars.  Besides that we’ll be eating a lot of brats (NYC only has Johnsonsville brats – travesty!!), beer, and local favorites. I’ll probably weigh about 5 lbs more by the end of the week, but with tri training going into full force, I can probably use the extra calories.

Hope you all are having a great week.  It’s beautiful here in Iowa.  You really couldn’t ask for a prettier, more gorgeous, awesome day.  Hopefully I will be more regular in my posting going forward.  Thanks for reading!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Chicken sucks and Pork is awesome. So awesome I capitalized it.

heather

I tried a new baked chicken recipe this weekend.  Let me go back a smidge.  My baked chicken usually turns out awesome – super crispy, salty skin, moist meat, utterly delectable.  You can eat the skin like a potato chip.  However, last time I made it, we got hit with a one-two punch of a questionable chicken and an undercooking Heather.  The meat measured the right temperature, but when we cut into it, it looked a little pink.  We risked it and starting eating, only for Tim to discover what can only be described as a postule.  It was pretty gross.  So it’s been a while  since I’ve made chicken.  I figured it was time for another go, and how better to refresh the chicken brand at our house than to try a new recipe.  So I tried this one on a $15 chicken from a local farmer.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, just using dried thyme instead of fresh.  I also didn’t make the sauce.

Neither Tim nor I were impressed with this bird!  The skin was chewy, and the meat was chewy too, especially the dark meat.  I don’t know if the recipe is at fault or the chicken or my cooking, but something failed there.  I won’t be trying this recipe again.  In fact, I just put it in the recycling.  We ate what we could, and I stuck the rest into freezer bags to use for bone broth.

I also made this recipe again:  Asian Pork Meatballs.  This has to be one of my all-time favorite recipes.  These turn out tasty every time, and they are so versatile!  Quick note – I didn’t have any fresh jalapenos, so I used pickled jalapenos.  I also don’t know what “chili garlic sauce” is, so I added maybe a teaspoon or two of chili powder and a chopped up clove of garlic.  I also forgot the sesame oil.  As always, they turned out great.  We ate some of them straight up.  The next day, we ate them with over-easy eggs on top of them (amazing).  The next day I chopped up the remaining 5 and sauteed them with cabbage.  Again, amazing.  Pork is just so awesome.  Pigs are smart.  Eating pork makes you smarter.

This week is going to be a fridge-forage week.  Tim and I went to a local brewery on Sunday instead of meal planning/grocery shopping, so we’re going to have lots of meals consisting of eggs, sauteed frozen veggies, and frozen salmon, which actually doesn’t sound too bad.  We are almost totally out of snack foods however.  Today when I got home from work I ate 2 dates and about 10 almonds with some raisins.  Exciting!  I guess it’s better than eating a bag of Cheetos.  I read this article from the NY Times about how mega-food companies literally engineer food to reach your “bliss point.”  The article mentions that Cheetos are basically the perfect snack, and I have to agree.  Ever since I read the damn article, I’ve been craving Cheetos.  Cheetos are like the anti-paleo.

Interesting observation, from the paleo perspective, by the way.  For months after going paleo I was easily able to notice the effects of eating grains or cheese on my system.  It made me all rumbly and gassy pretty quickly (sorry if that’s TMI).  As I’ve been on the paleo wagon longer, I’ve noticed that now I get bad effects if I eat bad oils too.  For example, today I ate lunch at Panda Express.  I had chicken & string beans and the sauteed veggies (broccoli, cabbage, zucchini, and carrots).  This is a meal that would give me NO problems at home.  But my stomach still hasn’t recovered from the the PE version. It looks like I’m slightly pregnant.  I know it’s the bad cooking oils they use on their food.  There is probably some added sugar in there too.  Maybe some MSG?  Anyway, in my experience, the longer you eat well (i.e. Paleo) the quicker and more forecefully your body will tell you when you DON’T eat well.  It’s good in that it makes cheating less attractive, but it’s bad in that it makes cheating less fun.  Yin and yang, Man.

Cooking/Recipes, Paleo, Uncategorized

Meatloaf with hard boiled eggs in it. Yeah, that’s right. IN IT!

heather

Today was a snowy, blowy, wintry day.  What better way to deal with the inclement weather than to make meatloaf??  And not just any meatloaf, but meatloaf with hard boiled eggs INSIDE of it.  Wow.  Tasty.

Here is the recipe.  I used 1 lb of ground beef and 1/2 a lb of ground pork.  I had no raw milk or almond milk, so I used 1/4 cup of Lactose free milk and 1/4 cup of coconut milk.  I also didn’t know how to make “homemade grilled tomato ketchup,”  so I Googled it and found this recipe.

The recipe was actually pretty easy.  The hardest thing about it was peeling the God damn hard boiled eggs.  Peeling hard boiled eggs is one of the most frustrating tasks of my 36 years.  So annoying.

Anyway, I paired the meat loaf with leftover cauliflower fried rice (a great recipe from Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals).  It was fantastic. The homemade ketchup was nice and tart, and the meat was perfectly counterpointed with the softly boiled eggs.  It was delicious, and I’ll definitely make it again.

It was good to eat a healthy supper tonight because today the sugar monster got me.  I ate not one but 2.5 cookies today, one of which vomited powdered sugar all over my keyboard, wrist pad and crotch.  Ah, good times.  Bit of advice – avoid ALL sugar.  Once you get the sweet, sweet taste of it on your tongue, you just want more and more.  It’s poisonously delicious.

And….now I want another cookie.  Blast.

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo, Uncategorized

Easiest Ever Paleo Banana Bread

heather

This recipe is delicious.  If you don’t make it, you are a fool.  A FOOL!  I tried it for the first time yesterday, and the Timmy Tee was a huge fan.  He asked me to make it again this morning, so I did, because I’m nice like that.  I made a double batch, so that Tim and I could each have our own full portion.  I doubled the batch and then poured it into 2 separate bowls.  About 30 seconds into the microwaving of the first one, I realized that I forgot to add the cinnamon and salt, , so I pulled out the bowl and dusted the top of the  batter, on top of the chopped walnuts.  On the second batch, I mixed the salt, cinnamon, and nuts all into the batter.

Both batches turned out fantastic.   I ate the one with the nuts and cinnamon and salt on top.  I also put about 4 of the largest chunks of ghee you’ve ever seen on the bread directly out of the microwave, so that the bread had a nice butter glaze on it.  It was fantastic.  I ate it with like 4 slices of crispy bacon.  Tim loved his batch, with all the ingredients mixed together.  So, either way, I think you’ll like it.  It’s super quick, super tasty, and totally primal.  It’s a win, win, win!

I have to admit, I’ve totally ignored all recipes for microwaved paleo desserts in the past.  I really just don’t trust the microwave.  I’m sure it’s fine and won’t cause cancer or whatever, but it just seems…wrong.  But, I’ve changed my tune.  I’m going to try these next.  I’m a microwave convert now.

Tonight for supper I am doing Take 2 of the Chili Verde recipe I got from a friend at work.  The first time I made it, I added WAY too many hot spices.  We had to cut it with several cups of bone broth/chicken broth.  Tonight I toned down the spices, and it looks fantastic.  We are going to dive in here in a minute.  We are spooning it over sweet potatoes, and topping it with avocado chunks.

UPDATE:  The chili was delicious!!  If you want the recipe, let me know!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Sweet Sweet Potato and Poblano Pepper Soup

heather

Found another keeper of a recipe!  Tuesday night I made Sweet Potato and Poblano Pepper Soup for supper.  I modified the recipe a little – HyVee only had 1 poblano, so Tim subbed one for an anaheim pepper.  The recipe also called for a TABLESPOON of sea salt, which seemed like a lot for the amount of soup, so I just used a teaspoon.  I also subbed 2 cups of the chicken stock for 2 cups of my homemade bone broth.  We nixed the sour cream (dairy is problematic for me) and added chunks of avocado instead (avocado makes everything better).  Also, I don’t have an immersion blender yet (I’m going to see if I can swipe one from my parents.  Mom – if you are reading this, ignore that last comment), so I had to transfer batches of the soup into our food processor, blend it up, and then pour it into a new pot.  Not only does this dirty an insane amount of dishes, but if you are not careful and you put too much liquid into the food processor and breach the center pole line (where the processor bowl connects to the base), well, then you have a messy problem.  Lots of soup all over your counter top.  After the soup was blended, we ladled it over cooked ground pork and topped it with cilantro and avocado.

Despite the blending drama, I would still make this soup again.  The flavor was very interesting.  It tasted more like potato soup than anything.  We couldn’t really taste the peppers.  Next time I think I will add more potatoes and peppers and leave the soup chunkier.  For some reason, eating a soup with pureed chunks of veggies is less filling than eating soup with non-pureed chunks.  It’s a pshychological thing.  The ground pork was very tasty in it, but this soup would be fantastic with some ham in it. I think this is a soup, though, that eats more like a 1st course and less like a meal.  It was very delicious though.

And, another side benefit, it gave Tim and I both racy dreams!  So, if you’re into interesting, vivid dreams, give this soup a shot.

Happy Cooking!

Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness, Paleo

Wrangling with obstinate pork shoulder

heather

Today I woke up at 4:50 AM, and instead of going to the gym to practice swimming (which I really should have done), I did some floor exercises at home, put away the dishes, ate breakfast, took a shower, got ready for work, and prepped 3 lbs of pork shoulder for Spiced Pork and Butternut Squash with Sage.  The prepping involved me using 3 different knives to try to cut the shoulder up into 1 inch pieces.  My right index finger is bruised and blistered due to the encounter.  I think we need some new knives or a stronger Hlo.

Anyway, I finally got the shoulder cut up and then rubbed it with the spice mixture and let it marinate all day.  I cooked it up this evening, and I have to say, the meal turned out super delicious.  It’s not an easy recipe – I dirtied 3 pans, several utensils, a cutting board, and several dishes.  But overall it was worth it.  It’s no surprise that it turned out well – the recipe called for 6 T of olive oil and 2 T of butter.  You could probably cook dirty socks in that much fat, and they would be tasty.

While supper was cooking, I made dessert – cocoa macaroons.  The recipe was very simple, and they turned out very moist and delicious.  The URL didn’t print on the recipe, so I can’t find it on the internet, but if you want the recipe, hit me up in the comments, and I’ll send it to you.  The recipe is awesome, albeit expensive.  Between the coconut and the honey (locally sourced) alone, $6 is down the drain.  For a recipe that made 10 cookies, eek!  I had the pleasant experience of actually getting egg whites to form peaks while making this recipe though.  That was exciting!  It was like magic.

So now comes the real test – horde all these delicious morsels for ourselves, or take some in to work tomorrow to convince people how delicious paleo can be??  We’ll see how my self-control pans out in the morning.  I’m supposed to swim tomorrow morning, so all of my willpower may be exhausted by the time it’s time to go to work (you only have a finite supply, you know!).

Oh, and happy valentines day, everyone.  I’m pissed because I bought 1/2 dozen chocolate-covered strawberries two days ago, and I keep leaving them at work.  They’re probably going to taste like fridge now.  🙁  Poor Teem.  He got me an awesome bottle of Jack Daniels, and I’m going to end up giving him 3-day old fridge-flavored strawberries.  SEXY!