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Best Drumsticks EVER

I know I’ve written about this recipe before, but it’s so good, that I have to talk about it again.

This is another MarksDailyApple wonder, Balsamic-Glazed Drumsticks.  These drumsticks are some of the tastiest things you have ever eaten.  They are remarkably easy, as well.  However, the 450 degree oven did NOT like the 3 T of coconut oil coating the chicken.  It smoked and fumed and turned my house cloudy and upset the Lucent dog.  But Tim and I both felt as if the drama was worth the deliciousness.

We didn’t make it to the grocery store, so we had to forage in the fridge for a side dish.  We found a head of funky smelling cauliflower, chopped it into bite size pieces, put a hefty amount of olive oil in a cast iron skillet, and sautéed the cauliflower with a huge chunk of garlic.  I spiced mine with turmeric (good anti-inflammatory) and salt and pepper.  It tasted delicious and accompanied the chicken quite well.  All-in-all it was an easy, quick, simple, and cheap supper.  My only regret is that I did not follow my own advice and make MORE drumsticks.  Again, my package only contains 5 legs, so we have no leftovers.  Boo.

 

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New Year’s Resolutions and Breasts

Turkey breasts, I mean!  Ha – gotchya!

As I mentioned in my last post, I baked a turkey breast on Christmas for the Timmy Tee and me.  I have to say, it turned out fantastic.  Here is the recipe.  It was the easiest thing in the world to make – just open up the package, plop the turkey in the Nesco Roaster, wait 6-8 hours, and BAM!  You got yourself a moist delicious hunk of meat.  Tim and I ate it for at least 3 days.  I even brought some to work to eat as a snack, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much more satiated I was eating turkey than say an apple or an orange.  I really shouldn’t be surprised  because I’ve read a zillion times that sugar (even the sugar in fruit) messes with your insulin and causes you to feel hungry, but yet I was still shocked at the difference.  I’m going to have to start bringing in more meaty snacks.

So this was a big weekend for Hlo!  MarksDailyApple posted my “primal success story.”  I got an email Thursday telling me the story was going up on Friday, and immediately I though, “Oh Sh!t.  I submitted a picture of me in a bikini.”  I NEVER thought the story would get published, so I wasn’t too concerned about the picture when I sent it in, but I got very concerned about it once I heard it was getting published.  Overall though, even though it could lead to some embarrassing moments, I’m glad I submitted the pictures.  All the commenters on the article were awesome and super encouraging.  It sounded as if all the details I provided in the article were helpful to people, and people were encouraged to hear a story from someone who wasn’t in horrible shape to start with but still ended up in a much better place by going primal.  It has been a very positive experience for me, and I thank everyone who took the time to comment on the article.  Now that I know how much it meant to me to read those comments, I’m going to start being more proactive about commenting on other people’s stories.

The commenters also submitted a whole litany of interesting links, as follows:

So I’m internalizing all of this positive energy and feedback and making some New Year’s Resolutions.  These resolutions stand for at least the month of January, and I will re-assess at the end of the month:

  1. Avoid ALL gluten (including no beer at all – no matter how delicious the concoctions at Great River sound).
  2. No alcohol except for social events (no drinking at home, in other words).
  3. Eat supper out only 1 time per week.  We are considering buying a new house or possibly even building a new house, so we are trying to save approximately $300/month before making any moves to prove that we can afford a higher house payment.  We figure this equates to about 2 meals out per week (2*$30 = $60 * 4 = $240).
  4. Spend 30 minutes each day doing something creative – writing, painting, or reading (reading isn’t technically “creative,” but it is good for your brain, so I’m letting it count).

I think those are some good achievable, yet stretch, goals for the month.  I’m looking forward to feeling better and to being a better person at the end of the 31 days.

Good luck with your goals for the month and for all of 2013.  Take care!

Cooking/Recipes, Paleo

Trying my hand at fish

For some reason, I’m intimidated by cooking fish.  Maybe it is because there is such a slim margin for error – cook it a little too long, and it’s all dry and nasty.  Maybe it’s because it’s usually expensive, and so it really sucks when you cook it too long, and it’s all dry and nasty.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in Monticello, IA, 1000 miles from the ocean.  Fish and me are not familiar creatures.

Well, fish is an important part of the primal diet, so I need to get over my fears (fear is the mind killer, you know).  So I started with this recipe:  Tilapia Puttanesca. (Thanks, Diane, for the recipe!).  I made it for my hubby, Tim, and my friend, Michael.  They both totally loved it, as did I.  I used frozen fish from Target (Market Pantry brand), defrosted for 30 minutes in a bowl of water.  The recipe is super simple, yet delicious.  We ate it with a side of spinach salad.  I will definitely be making this again.

Here are a few other recipes I’ve made over the past two weeks that have turned out good.

21 Day Sugar Detox Roasted Spaghetti Squash – You can get this, and many other sugar-free recipes, here.  Not to steal the recipe, but basically you cut a spaghetti squash in half (which is no small feat), rub it down with coconut oil, splash on some salt and pepper, bake that baby at 375 FOREVER (at least 45 minutes depending on the size of the squash), and then shred the squash.  Since this took so much longer to bake than I anticipated, we ended up eating the rest of supper and then using the squash over the next few days in breakfast scrambles.  It smelled magnificent while cooking due to the coconut oil, and it held up really well in the scrambles. Once Tim feels up to tackling another slippery, wicked hard, oblong, rolly object, I’ll make this again.  I know there is a dirty innuendo in there somewhere, but I just can’t quite put my finger on it…

Spaghetti Squash Primavera – This is what I was baking the spaghetti squash for.  We ended up just eating the veggies with some sautéed ground pork.  It was delicious, especially with the dressing called for in the recipe – very tart and delicious.  I love leeks, so I used a whole leek.

Today I am cooking a turkey breast in the Nesco roaster.  This is another new recipe, so hopefully all will turn out well!  None of the bastard grocery stores are open today, so if the recipe bombs, we’ll be eating olives and capers and beer, which is pretty much all we have in the fridge at the moment.

For my next venture into unexplored territory, I think I am going to try making soap and/or lotion.  A lot of the blogs I follow have been writing about using more natural products on your face and skin.  We spend so much time and money on the food we put into our bodies; now the paleosphere has decided we should start to pay attention to the stuff we put ON our bodies (skin is the largest organ, you know).  My cousin-in-law just gave me some soap which smells amazing and also shared some of her recipes with me, so I have a good foundation to start with.  I just need to order some supplies from Amazon and take the plunge.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Hope you are having a great day with your families!

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Cowboy Breakfast Skillet

I made this Cowboy Breakfast Skillet this week, and it was amazing.  It’s a very simple, quick recipe.  The only thing I would change in the recipe is I would add more oil to the pan once you remove the sausage.  My sausage didn’t really produce enough fat with which to cook the sweet potatoes, so I had to add a tablespoon or two of olive oil*.   The recipe made enough for supper and breakfast.

I made a ton of new recipes last week too, but I just lost interest in posting about them!  I made two different batches of knock-off Lara bars.  The first batch was made with olive oil, and I was not a fan of the taste, so I made the second batch with coconut oil.  I also used half raisins half dates for the sweetener in the second batch.  The second batch tasted really good, but I burnt them a little on the bottom.  I need to make them thinner, so they cook all the way through without burning the bottoms.  I would post the recipe, but I can’t find it online anywhere!  I got it online, but I cannot find it again, which is why I gave up on posting recipes last week.  The frustration of not finding the recipe sapped my energy to write.  I’m a baby.  If you want the recipe, hit me up in the comments, and I’ll spend the 3 minutes typing it out.

But in all my googling, I found a zillion (probably literally) Lara bar recipes.  They all are pretty similar, so I’m sure anyone you find will turn out tasty.  I think I’ll lay off making them for awhile though.  They are pretty carb-heavy, and it’s hard to stop eating them once you start!  The weather is getting colder, and daylight is only about 9 hours long.  Carbs + cold + lack of sunshine = uncomfortably tight trousers.

And that’s about it!  Hope you are having a great evening.  Pray for 14 inches of snow tonight, so I don’t have to go to work tomorrow.  😉

*If you are particular about your olive oil (a lot of olive oil is mixed with inferior oils and is not true olive oil), check out this site.  You can place an order now for California-made olive oil to be delivered in February.  We ordered 2 gallons of the spicy mid-season.  I can’t wait!