Snack Attack

There's something so relaxing about having the house to myself and time to experiment. I spend most of my time in the kitchen because I have to. I know that when I eat quality food, I feel better. On our budget, that means cooking all the meals, most of the snacks, and some of the desserts. (Thank heaven for plantain chips in coconut oil, pre-made organic guacamole, Hail Mary tarts, and Sejoyia cookies!) I used to love cooking, searching out new recipes, and learning new techniques, but lately I mostly feel like a galley slave. Today I had an exceedingly rare combination - time alone in the house AND a short to-do list. So I was inspired to level up my snacking!

I love fresh-ground almond butter. There's usually some in my fridge, but not a lot of it (because I ate most of it already). A crisp apple and some plain almond butter has been my go-to snack since I started following a paleo/primal eating plan. It's tasty and satisfying, and somehow I never really get tired of it. I've been seduced by those plantain chips with guac lately, and it seemed like it might be a good idea to get back onto a healthier track. Fancy almond butters should do the trick.

Apple Dip

1/2 cup fresh ground almond butter or plain almond butter
1/2 cup coconut butter/coconut manna
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

Add all ingredients to the top of a double boiler or bowl over a saucepan of steaming water. Once the coconut butter starts to melt, mix well. Stir occasionally until coconut butter and almond butter are very soft and all ingredients are well combined. Dip apple slices (or whatever your taste buds want) and enjoy. This should probably be stored in the fridge, but will need to be warmed before using. Coconut butter gets pretty danged solid once it's refrigerated.

And because I like salty snacks almost as much as I like the sweet ones, I made a savory almond butter, too.

Celery Stuffin'

1 cup fresh ground almond butter or plain almond butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of onion powder

Warm the almond butter in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl over a saucepan of steaming water. Once it softens, add the seasonings and mix well. Dip celery sticks (or whatever makes you happy) and enjoy.

This one might be a bit subtle for some taste buds, so you might want to increase the amounts on the seasoning. If you like heat, I suspect some sriracha would be good in it, too. Let me know in the comments if you create any tasty variations!

Much yum

Indulge Me

Once again, I am trying to break up with processed sugar. It's not easy and I backslide occasionally, even with maple syrup, honey, and agave to keep my sweet tooth entertained. I haven't been able to run (some sort of soft tissue injury in my left leg), so I've been doing yoga every day instead. Once in a while, I'd like to reward myself for working hard to stay healthy, but I'm having a tough time thinking of motivating but inexpensive rewards that are not some form of chocolate.

A long, relaxing bubble bath was one possibility, but none of the stores in the area carry non-floral bath salts or bubbles. There were almost no bubbly options at all, in fact. Bath bombs seem to be the trend, but the ones I found were mostly overly sweet floral. Yuck. I did try a rose/bergamot bath bomb, which wasn't bad but a little pricey for a small indulgence. Next option? DIY.

Luckily, bath salts are easy and I already have a variety of essential oils that I use for making toothpaste, yoga mat spray, etc. The other ingredients are pretty reasonably priced. My first attempt makes me happy, so I'm sharing it with you.

A couple of notes about these bath salts. The rose petals are VERY optional. They look pretty in the jar and floating in the bath, but they are a pain in the glutes to clean out of your tub. If you don't have some sort of screen over your drain, skip them. The coconut oil is also pretty optional. It makes your skin feel wonderful, but it makes your tub an impressively slippery place. Kinda like the old bath oil beads, if you remember those. If you use it, be prepared to climb out slowly and cautiously and to re-clean the tub immediately after your bath. Dish soap seems to clean it up the quickest.

(I started with the basic bath salt recipe from the Wellness Mama blog and added my own scents. Use the Dead Sea salts if you can find them--the ones I found don't dissolve completely and make a nice exfoliant.)

Spiced Rose Bath Salts

2 cups unscented epsom salts
1/2 cup baking soda
1/4 cup Dead Sea salts
2 Tbsp coconut oil (optional)
1/4 tsp rosewater (food-grade)
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
20 drops lemon essential oil
5 drops cinnamon essential oil (be careful with this one--it can burn your skin if you use too much!)
1/4 cup dried rose petals (food-grade) (very optional)

Combine all of the salts in a plastic shopping bag or glass bowl. Mix together well. Add oil and scents. Stir (glass bowl) or knead (shopping bag) as if your life depends on it. It will take some time to get the oils evenly distributed. I worked mine until the logo came off the plastic bag. If you want to use the rose petals, add them at the end and make sure you toss out any tough pieces of stem or bud before you mix them in. Store in a glass jar (or several, since this recipe makes a pretty big pile of bath salts). Toss a generous handful or two into a hot bath, breathe deeply, and relax.

Depression and Bacon

Grief + depression = massive amounts of "please can't I stay in bed today" (hint: no, you can't). One of these days I'll write a eulogy for my little cat baby, but this is not that day.  I'm still disoriented without her.  I've been depressed for so long that I alternate between actual depression, frustration with the continued depression, and sheer boredom with being depressed. 

Fairy Tale

Happiness.

Like a unicorn
or a dragon-

A rumor, a tale
of something that existed
Once upon a time,

A long time ago.

I feel like this unicorn really understands my poem...

Yeah, depression is pretty boring.  More interesting--this weekend I invented a new comfort breakfast.  My primal version of the cinnamon roll is a bacon-wrapped banana, which is exactly as awesome as it sounds.  Wind a piece of bacon around a peeled banana and bake it at 400F until the bacon is as done as you like--crispy bacon, gooey banana.  And it's easier to make than the cinnamon rolls you get in the can.  It's not particularly easy to share, though, so I created THIS:

Baked Bacon-nanas

1/2 lb bacon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp cloves
4-6 bananas, sliced
Butter

Place the bacon on a wire rack over a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400F for 15 minutes.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  Butter an 8x8 baking dish and place banana slices in the bottom.  Combine the spices and sprinkle over the banana slices.  Scatter bacon pieces on top.  Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Still pretty danged easy to make and very easy to share.  Or not, because you may be tempted to keep it to yourself.
 

Huevos Whatever

Here's another "open a can of" recipe that works for any meal.  It's particularly good as second breakfast after a long run.  There has been some controversy over what to call it, as my roomie thought it looked Christmasy but I feel that the number of green things in the dish was more important.  (I also suspect that giving it a holiday name might limit the number of weekends that some people would be willing to eat it.)  We have currently settled on calling it "Huevos Verdes" when it's snuggled under a blanket of guacamole* or using "Huevos Navidad" when it's topped with golden shredded cheese.  Whatever the name, I call it stupendous weekend food:

Huevos Whatever/Huevos Verdes/Huevos Navidad

approx. 1 tsp butter
14 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 bag of frozen chopped spinach (they are 12 oz, I think?)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
2-4 eggs
Guacamole or shredded cheese

Melt the butter in a frying pan or saute pan over medium heat.  Add tomatoes (with their juice) and heat until simmering.  Add frozen spinach.  Heat, stirring occasionally, until spinach is warmed through.  Thoroughly mix in cumin and chili powder.  Simmer until liquid has thickened/evaporated to your taste.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and use a large spoon to make one depression in the mixture for each egg.  Break the eggs into the nests you made for them.  Put a lid on the pan and cook until the egg is done the way you like it.  (I like runny yolks, my roomie prefers solid ones.  He's a bit odd.)  Scoop into bowls and top with guacamole or shredded cheese.  Enjoy!


What will you call yours?  Leave a comment and let me know!  (Or leave a comment and correct my admittedly faulty Spanish--whatever pleases you most.)

*Thanks for that description, Papa Don.  It's a comforting dish and that was the perfect phrase for it.

Three Good Things 1.27&28.15

Walking to work in below-freezing weather is so frustrating.  Because I’m wearing office-appropriate garb, my legs are freezing but my core is sweating.  Maybe I need to find a good pair of snowpants to walk in.  They’re like a coat for your legs!

1. I got to be part of unleashing a secret resident into one of our exhibits at work. I'd tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you and that's more effort than I care to invest in right now.
2. Had a tasty dinner with good company at a local restaurant instead of running in the frigid wind on Tuesday, but did a kickboxing routine on Wednesday to make up for missing my run.
3. The dinner that I made up inside my head turned out to be pretty danged tasty.

I don't have a recipe for the dinner, but I can give you the basics.  I peeled a couple of butternut squashes, cut them into bite-sized pieces and tossed with olive oil and a bunch of spices (cinnamon, garlic, cayenne, nutmeg, cloves, salt).  I roasted them until they were completely cooked.  Cooked and sliced a couple of Irish Bangers (though any sausage you like would work).  The next evening, I turned the production over to my partner.  The squash went back in the oven to reheat while he diced and sauteed some onion in coconut oil, tossed in a box of baby kale (plus a little water) and sauteed that with the onion.  Then the sliced sausage went in the pan to reheat.  We piled everything together on a plate and ate it like someone was going to take it away from us.  Well, I ate mine like that (because I had just finished kickboxing--Hiiiiiiiiya!).  He was much more civilized about it.

 

Three Good Things 1.14.15

The winter blues have got me by the throat again and it’s been particularly bad for the last few weeks.  I’m going to try to go back to an old anti-depression technique and start looking for three good things each day.  I’m also going to try to post them here, since this is such a handy spot to write stuff down.  Yesterday was particularly horrible:  feeling incredibly isolated, getting bad news, going to a meeting for work instead of meeting my friends for a run.  Finding three good things in yesterday has taken some effort.

1. Went to the library and got some interesting-looking books plus a new TV series to watch during the couch-sitting that goes on so regularly these days.
2. Ran into an ex-coworker/friend at the evening meeting and had a chance to catch up with her.
3. Ate leftover Jambalayish for dinner, which is just as tasty on Day 3 as on Day 1 (recipe below).  It was tasty enough to overcome my sads and get me to eat a reasonable dinner.

The only thing missing from the dinner was cornbread.  I know this because someone in the household WAS eating cornbread and it smelled yummy enough to make my mouth water a little.  Normally, I try very hard to stay away from the Primal/Paleo baked goods substitutes, but a lightly sweet, slightly crumbly bread product would be such a great compliment to the dish.  This is another “throw stuff in the slow cooker” recipe because minimal effort works well for me right now.

Jambalayish

Ingredients:

Chicken (approx 1 lb) in bite-size pieces (I used leftover chicken breast)

Andouille sausage (approx 1 lb), cut in 1/4” slices (cook it first—it slices better that way)

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. okra (optional) (I used a 12 oz bag of frozen, sliced okra—minimal effort again)

1-2 c. chicken broth or stock (if you’re spooning over rice or like it more soupish, use 2 c. broth)

14.5 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes

6 oz. can tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1 rounded Tbsp Tony Chachere’s original seasoning blend

½ tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried parsley

1 lb raw, deveined, peeled shrimp

 

Instructions:

Toss everything except the shrimp in the slow-cooker.  Mix well.  Cook on Low for 6 hours.  Add shrimp and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes (until shrimp are just cooked).

Serve with Frank’s Hot Sauce or some sriracha (if you like it spicy) and spoon over rice, cauliflower rice, celery root “grits,” or salad greens.  Or skip the fancy stuff and serve it like the stew it is.  Enjoy!

I have no idea if this would freeze well because we’re eating it all up too quickly to try that.  I suspect the thing to do would be to freeze it without the shrimp in it and add them whenever you thaw it.  If you try the recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you thought!  And if you know of a good Primal/Paleo cornbread substitute, please tell me where to find the recipe.

And if you have time, read this because depression doesn't always look like you might think it does.

Pizzukes

New recipe!  My friends had a party this weekend to celebrate their snazzy new grill/smoker.  They provided the meat and the beer and the rest of us brought side dishes and dessert.  A darned good time was had by all.  It also provided me with a captive audience of taste-testers (muahahaha).  I’m forever craving pizza, but money was tight so I invented a new recipe involving zucchini (which is in season and therefore pretty cheap).  You may recognize the sauce from my previous pizza casserole recipe. It’s the best pizza sauce ever IMHO, but I can’t credit the author because I have no idea where it originally came from.  Sorry, pizza genius, I wish I could thank you personally for this sauce.

Pizzukes

Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 garlic cloves minced, or 3 heaping tsp of minced garlic from a jar

15 oz can tomato sauce (use a good name brand--Muir Glen organic is my fav)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook about 1 minute.  Add herbs, then stir in tomato sauce.  Cook a few minutes until flavors are blended then set aside.

Big pile of zucchini, sliced

1-2 onions, diced

1-2 Tbsp coconut or olive oil

Heat oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion and cook 3-5 minutes until translucent.  Add zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini texture is where you like it.  Stir in pizza sauce and heat through.  Serve with mozzarella or feta cheese.

I’ve never been a big fan of zucchini.  I come from the sort of place where people leave sacks of it on the neighbors’ porches in the middle of the night and run away.  Pretty sure that one zucchini plant can supply an entire small town, so why does everyone plant a couple?  That said, this is one of the ways that I am willing to eat the green monsters.  (The previously posted zucchini noodles is the other way—tomato sauce and cheese makes everything better).

Drooling commencing now.

 

Wimp for Dinner

Last night, I had one of my nasty PMS headaches.  Since I’m an absolute wimp where medication is concerned, there is very little I can take for pain and still remain conscious.  You should have seen me battling the “low drowsiness” Dramamine™ this weekend.  Most likely I looked like a little kid trying to stay awake during naptime—dorky but determined.  To wander back to the point, I needed to make food but my head hurt too badly to do much cooking.  Luckily my mom had just sent a link to a blog post full of slow cooker recipe links.  Since I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Cuban food and I had a chunk of beef in my fridge, I picked this recipe.  I didn’t have a bell pepper, so I rooted around in my canned goods until I found an acceptable substitute.  Here is my version of the recipe:

(Now Even Easier) Easy Slow Cooker Cuban Ropa Vieja

Beef chunk (approx 3 lbs, cut into 3-4 hunks, sprinkled all over with salt and black pepper)

1 yellow onion, chopped

14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

10 oz can Rotel™ diced tomatoes with green chilies (mild)

2 tsp minced garlic from a jar

3 small bay leaves

1 ½ tsp dried oregano

1 Tbsp cumin

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Add all ingredients except the beef to the slow cooker and stir to combine.  Place beef hunks on top and cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove beef to plate, allow to cool a bit then shred with forks.  Remove bay leaves and return beef to slow cooker.  Stir to combine beef with sauce.  Dig in and enjoy!  (Could be served with cauliflower rice or sweet potatoes.)

My apartment smelled completely amazing this morning, and I know that I will have a tasty dinner no matter what happens with this stupid headache.  I love recipes that are this easy to put together and turn out so yummy.  If you know of any others, put a link in the comments please!