Dinner Day 9 - NY NY

Grass fed NY steak with grilled artichoke. I only ate half of the steak, but seriously could have had the entire thing. Absolutely delish again! The eggplant chips were a disaster.

Day 9 Experimentation - Eggplant Chips and No Recipe Chili

I tried out the eggplant chip recipe from the PDF that Jasmine posted. The chips reminded me of oatmeal cookies. They take 8 hours to dry out. I'll let you know how they taster later. There is a 0% chance that Justin will try them and a 50% chance that they may end up in the garbage. You need to experiment.

Makes six chips that get cut into pieces

The close up. Next time I am using parchment paper.

Cooling. I don't have a cooling rack, so the grill pan is in use.

I made chili for lunch with grass-fed beef, free range pork, carrots, onions, fire roasted tomatoes, red bells, spinach mixed with cumin, chili powder and cayenne. I did not have a recipe, so this was another experiment.

Meat Melody

Before the spinach wilts

It made 5 servings this size

The chili was super tasty. I loved it. I felt a little guilty with all of the meat; plus we are having NY steak for dinner. I made sure to get in some salad too.

Basic Tomato and Avo Salad with Butter Lettuce

Day 9 BF - My Eggs Benedict

I had an awesome boot camp kick off this morning at Fueled. The workout program is on! Here is a quick snapshot of one of my favorite breakfasts. Poached eggs over tomato and Canadian bacon topped with pepper, avocado and a touch of Paleo Hollandiase. The hollandiase has the exact same ingredients as Paleo mayo... avocado oil, grapeseed oil, egg yolk, mustard, salt and paprika. Its a multi-purpose base that you can add other ingredients to change the flavor. 

My Bene

Coming Soon

I found this recipie tonight. I am going to try this once I work through all of the other goodies in the fridge.
http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/05/30/spaghetti-in-creamy-tomato-sauce/

Dinner Day 8 - Veg Fest

I had two egg muffins (a picture is posted under breakfast day two) for a snack before the first evening track workout. I was light on the protein for lunch.

I continued with the theme for dinner stuck with fruits and veggies. The meat-fest is going to start tomorrow. The fridge is full of grass-fed beef, grass-fed NY steak, hormone free ground pork and enough veggies to feed us through the end of the week. I leave for San Diego Saturday morning for the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon. Then I am up in Santa Cruz all week. Paleo on the road, oh boy... it's going to be a challenge, but well worth it!

Half Tomato, Half Avo, Roasted Chard topped with Slivered Almonds

I have to give a shout out to my sis who is back on track after a weekend in Vegas. Go Jas! You can do this. It's going to change your life. I love you!!!

Day 8 - Italian Style Salad and Grilled Veggies

After last nights post, I indulged in my last glass of wine for six weeks (unless our trainer gives us a cheat meal), a handful of cherries and a ity bity slice of peach.

Cherries from the CSA Box

An overly ripe and very juicy peach

Breakfast this morning was leftover halibut. Yes, I know fish for breakfast, but I was in a rush.

Lunch: An Italian salad with butter lettuce, black olives, tomato and prosciutto topped with lemon balsamic vinegarette served with a side of grilled zucchini and red bell pepper.

Pepperchinis were the only missing ingredient

The grilled zucchini was very easy. This is my other two burner gas grill pan. This one leaves grill marks while the other pan is flat. I shaved one zucchini over the box grater and tossed it in a bowl with grapeseed oil, garlic powder and Montreal Seasoning. I added 1/3 bell to use up the rest of the seasoning and oil.

Place the veggies horizontally then vertically for grill marks

 The finished product. This was very flavorful and even better than the salad.

This will be added to the rotation!

Day 7 - My First Farmers Market Delivery

Our first farmers market delivery box came yesterday. The box was filled with ripe peaches, berries, farm fresh eggs, fresh local organic in season veggies, grass fed beef and fresh local halibut yummy!!! I was finally feeling better this morning and decided to get creative with the goods. Justin left to go surfing, so I decided to make a complete mess of the kitchen. No matter how hard I try to keep it clean as I go, I am never successful. As long as the food turns out, that's all that matters right?

I had the old standby for breakfast: scrambled eggs, zucchini and roasted red bell pepper topped with TJs salsa verde, sliced tomato and the last of the pancetta.

The eggs look different when they don't come from a factory

Humanly raised, no antibiotics and no nitrates. Just good stuff.

Good Morning!

For lunch I made grilled halibut in a lemon caper shallot sauce, roasted chard topped with crumbled bacon and roasted fennel.

This was my first attempt at roasted fennel. This is definitely going to be added to the repertoire. I quartered the fennel, tossed it in grape seed oil (due to the high heat) and added salt and pepper. Simple. It gets roasted for an hour at 410 with one turn halfway through.

Fresh Fennel

I typically sautee chard, but it always gets so soggy. I learned a trick today. Roasting chard on a cookie sheet keeps the chard crispier. I removed the stems from the chard and cut it in ribbons. I tossed it in avocado oil (another great oil for high heat) with shallots, salt and pepper. I roasted it for 10 -12 minutes turning it once halfway through. Its better to roast a thin layer as opposed to roasting it in a deeper pan make sure the greens cook evenly.

One bunch of fresh chard

Crispy Bacon

I made mayo from scratch yesterday. The actual consistency was more watery than thick. I mixed it with some fresh crab yesterday and it was delish! I prefer homemade mayo to the store bought variety. I made my mayo with an egg yolk, 3/4c of oil, salt, mustard and paprika. Olive oil gives mayo a bitter taste. I used half avocado oil and half grape seed oil. Canola oil is not as good for you. I took the mayo and added fresh squeezed lemon juice and capers to drizzle over the halibut. I looked and tasted just like a French burre blanc sauce.

Homemade mayo lasts for one week

I grilled the halibut over ghee and shallots.

Wild Local Halibut Filled with Omega 3s

Two burner grill pan over a gas stove

Halibut with shallots and capers with roasted chard and fennel. A new favorite!

It came out so tender a delicious. The wild local halibut was expensive at $20 per pound compared to $7.50 a pound for grass fed beef. Lunch was a heavenly splurge.

Dinner was more of a sinful splurge. Boot camp and the food journal start Monday. Tonight was my last chance to have any food I wanted for dinner. My appetizer was gluten free chocolate flavored coconut ice cream with almond butter. My main course was In N' Out french fries compliments of Justin. The ice cream was really good. The french fries were just ok. I won't miss them over the next six weeks. I may miss my wine though...

Day 5 and 6 and Memorial Weekend - Short Stack and Heart Attack

I went to a 6AM "week off" training session and heard the message from our trainer loud and clear. We spent the last six weeks of boot camp preparing for Crazyfit. http://crazyfitchallenge.com/ The next sessions focus, which starts on Monday, is on nutrition. She recommended getting any benders out of our system this weekend. She is sending out a shopping list today. Come Monday we are on a strict eating plan, logging everything we eat. 

She is not allowing any alcohol for the next six weeks. So I decided to join my sister in the Memorial Weekend off program. I am not in Vegas but it sure seems like I am in Vegas with all of the eating, drinking and partying!!! Let's just say Saturday morning I was the most hung over I have been in a while and I only had three drinks the night before. Seriously, yes, only three drinks and I was ready to lose my chocolate cake Saturday morning during my facial. Here is my confessional of all of the bad things I have eaten this weekend:

Mojitos, Wine, Amaretto coffee, Chocolate cake with ice cream, toasted sourdough with butter (for the hangover), tempura veggies, buttery corn, cheese and crackers. Ok maybe the list isn't that long, but this is a complete turnaround from Paleo. 

Jasmine gets back on track Tuesday. Today is my last day of potential indulgence. I'm not making any commitments today. I am going with the flow.

I decided to experiment with recovery food after the workout Friday morning. I was inspired by a can of Sweet Potato puree. I decided to see if I could whip up some sweet potato pancakes. I mixed the puree with various spices, 4 eggs, 4 TBSP of coconut flour and a touch of vanilla.

 I threw them on the griddle.

The first one did not turn over so well. I was a little early on the turn so decided to let the others cook a little longer.

They did not look so bad especially when a drizzled some agave syrup over the top.

They ended up being so nasty!!! They went straight to the trash. If I ever attempt to make pancakes again I certainly would use a lot more flour and some other kind of base. I had to go with Plan B for breakfast.

Lunch tuna salad tacos for lunch.

Dinner at Arch Rock: seared ahi salad, seabass with tempura veggies, chocolate cake and ice cream, one mojito, one glass of wine and a coffee drink.

Saturday's food progression: 2 eggs, farmers market sourdough toast with ghee, pistachios, blackberries and crab salad.

Saturday Night Pool BBQ: 1.5 Mojitos, cheese and crackers, green salad, corn, tomato and cucumber salad and tri-tip.

Dinner Day 4 - Portabella Pizza

Paleo Portabella Pizza paired with some lunch leftovers. The cheese is really brazil nuts mixed with a little brewers yeast. It does not taste like much, is healthy and is mostly there for appearance.

Day 4 - My New Love Chocolove

Breakfast : 2 scrambled eggs with roasted red bells, mushrooms and zuke along with 2 slices of canadian bacon and salsa.

Snack: raw walnuts

Lunch: grilled tilapia topped with cilantro coconut curry. Sautéed zuke and criminis over crunchy cabbage.

I have been sampling different kinds of dark chocolate (all over 70%) and think I have finally found my favorite. This chocolate is AMAZING. I highly recommend it. 77% Belgian Chocolate. It even comes with a love note... Chocolove xoxox

Day 3 - Opposite Day

Today was a weird day. I went for a run and realized that I felt like walking. I fought it for the first half of my run then switched back and forth between running and walking on the way home. Life has been busy lately. Walking was calming and refreshing. The opposite of the norm hit the spot.

I stared at the fridge when I got home. Nothing sounded good... except eggs. Breakfast for dinner made sense, because I had dinner for breakfast. I moistened the gluten free sunflower "bread" and topped it with 2 fried eggs and some cracked pepper. This is a sign that its almost time to hit the store again.

Lunch Day 3 - Surf & Turf

It might not be steak and lobster, but it was a meat and seafood lunch. I grilled a portabello mushroom and topped it with butter lettuce, shredded beef (leftover roast), tomato, avocado and crispy panchetta. The salad was the leftover shrimp and mango salad from last night. Breakfast was leftover seafood curry. I am working my way through the double batches slowly. Cooking larger quantities makes planning easier. My sis has lost two pounds already. Go Jasmine!!!

Dinner Day 2

I made it through the afternoon with lots of soda water with lemon, a pear and a little more beef jerky. I went to a track workout after work and had a late dinner followed by a handful of plantain chips and a minty dark chocolate square. My dinner: the other half of the grilled romaine, shrimp, cucumber, cabbage, pine nuts, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, walnut oil, fresh mango and some avocado I threw on after taking the picture. Very yummy!

Lunch Day 2 - Grilled Romaine with Panchetta, Crimini Mushrooms and Tomato

Day 2 Breakfast - Eggs from a Muffin Pan

I made these little egg muffins from the Everyday Paleo cookbook last week. The muffins are great fresh. I pulled these out of the freezer. They need a good pat down because the veggies hold so much moisture. My Primal Blueprint cookbook came in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to try out some of those recipes.

Dinner Day 1

I snacked through the day between meals. I had a little beef jerky and a small ramekin filled with walnuts, golden raisins and coconut. 

I found some asparagus to go with the roast which ended up being delish.

Day 1 Food

Day 1 started off with an almost empty fridge. I was in Dana Point for the weekend. I luckily had some items from last weeks big shopping trip to creatively combine. Breakfast: 1/2 zucchini and scrambled egg whites topped with salsa. I also finally broke into the cod liver oil (finally) and had some mid meal.

Lunch: TJ's frozen seafood mix sautéed with 1 1/2 zucchini, 1 cup red cabbage, 1 shallot and curry sauce. I'll have enough leftovers for 1 meal and 1 snack.

I prepped tonight's roast in the crock pot after breakfast.

I am not sure what we will eat with this. I might be able to rummage up some salad fixings, but definitely need to hit the store soon.

The Challenge

I have been transitioning to Paleo over the month and am finally ready to fully commit to the lifestyle. I challenged my mom and my sister to join me along the journey for 50 days with a $300 cash incentive at the end of 50 days. My mom was not into it, but my sister is going for it! My brother, Greg, said he'd throw in another $100 if Jasmine is successful. We start on Monday. Here are the rules of the challenge:

Paleo for 50 days starting Monday with Memorial Weekend off and one cheat meal per week.

Let's do this...