Paleo pizza

My cousin, who works at Elliot's, brought over a paleo pizza crust mix from his store and we made pizza tonight. I was skeptical at first but it was great. The crust was yummy. No cheese but I probably could add some bacon, green onions and some other stuff to vamp up the flavor. Take a look. It's worth it knowing I won't feel crappy later.

Day–I am starting to lose count so I went to Whole Foods

So I went to Whole Foods today, the prestige of all grocery stores. The fresh produce glistening with drops of water from their hourly shower. The crackling sound of baked bread being slipped into brown bags for customers to grab fresh (although no bread for me) And then there is the meat department – each piece of meat all neatly organized in a refrigerator. They aren’t prepackaged and you have to tell the guy at the counter that is following you as you look behind the cool glass what you want.
Starting with chicken ending with lamb at the other end, each of the meats had a rating. I was very curious what this animal welfare rating was. I’ve never seen it at any grocery store I shopped at, but now it definitely sparked my interest.
After I picked up some fresh fruit and some hard boiled eggs I sat down to read the Animal Welfare pamphlet that Whole Foods provided. The program is supposed to encourage meat producers to improve the welfare practices of their animals and to attain higher steps (ratings), therefore striving for a better quality of life for the animals.

In the 12 pages it is broken down by each kind of meat they serve with a rating: chicken, pigs, beef cattle, and turkey. There are 5 steps, and each shows the requirements of the rating. It starts at 1, a bright orange box and works its way up to 5 in a crisp green box (I don’t know about you, but it reminds me of the terrorist threat ratings you see at the airport). So for example, a 5 Green plus rating for pigs would mean no castration of pigs, and pigs remain with litter mates for entire lives. Other requirements per step is limited number of transportation hours and it goes on and on.
I know I would be willing to pay a higher price for my meat knowing the animal had some dignity in the cycle of their life. There is no reason to have cattle and pigs and chickens cooped in unlivable pens just to be sent on a long miserable ride to their end. I think in my future I’ll be spending a lot more time buying my meat this way and shopping for my family in a way that is responsible to nature. 

Day 9–Coconut aminos

So finished day 9 and had the best meal ever. I made a stir fry. It was so good. Can’t wait to make it again. So here is the recipe:

• some coconut oil to oil the pan
• 1 lb chicken breast cut into cubes
• 6 cloves of garlic
• broccoli
• mushrooms
• 3/4 cup coconut aminos
• shredded carrots
• 2 eggs

I took got the idea from my favorite paleo cookbook, but did my own twists and added a couple more veggies. You cook the chicken and garlic until chicken is cooked through. Then add the broccoli and mushrooms with the 3/4 cup coconut aminos until veggies are tender. Then add carrots until cooked. Then scramble two eggs in the pan with the stir fry pushed to the side of the pan. And then mix. Delicious.
But here to really talk about coconut aminos. It is great. Great Great Great. It’s basically a soy sauce substitute. We got ours at Elliots, natural food store close to home since it wasn’t at our local Safeway. However you could probably find it at Whole Foods or any other health food store. It is a little expensive but it is worth it for us to buy it.

The coconut aminos has 5 more calories per tablespoon than Kikkoman  soy sauce at 10 calories per tablespoon. However coconut aminos has considerably less sodium than soy sauce. Soy sauce has over 900 mg of sodium per tablespoon while coconut aminos is almost a third less with a little over 300 mg per tablespoon. So it is a much healthier option than soy sauce.
We found our dish less strong and less salty than if we used soy sauce. But definitely did not lack any flavor. We love it as a paleo, soy-free, gluten free option for our Asian dishes.

Chili Rellenos Casserole

So I don't post too many recipes but when one that is just so yummy comes along it would be wrong not to share it. Found this wonderful recipe from Winner Dinners.http://www.winnerdinners.com/chile-rellenos-casserole/i ii i fol

I followed the recipe exactly as its listed on the website. It's cheesy, saucy, and little spicy. It's my heaven. It's not all that healthy but.... I'll leave it at that. Look how gorgeous it looks!!! Wish you all had smell-a-vision

In the Garden is Where You will Find Me

So I spent a little time in my brosif's garden. He knows so much about when to plant, when they are ready, and how to get it all prepped. I don't really have a great spot in our backyard for a garden, because it lacks sun and I wouldn't prefer a front yard garden, so I think we will start small and plant some tomatoes and garlic in some pretty pots. I would like some fruit trees too besides the lemon tree we already have. Here are some of Matt's tips for planting a garden in your yard:

1) first think of what you want to plant and why are you planting. Are you looking for an edible food source or looking to attract insects or wildlife?
2) where do you plan to put the garden. depending on what you are planting you will need to look at how much sun it needs, water source, accessibility. How much space will you need? will you need to sacrifice a sitting area for your garden?
3) What is your budget? Seeds are considerably cheaper than buying the plants pregrown. Look at the packet of seeds and determine if its appropriate for your climate zone.
4) Prep the soil before spring: February in NorCal. You will want to till the soil, bring in more soil if needed, make sure its clean of all trash, large rocks and possible glass. This will make it easier for you and allow your garden to yield more product per sq.ft. Also, spray the ground with vinegar for an organic solution to getting rid of pests. If you aren't concerned about organic, spray with Roundup.
5) Then start to plant. It requires daily care and attention. Pulling weeds, checking the soil, making sure it is plenty moist. The soil should be moist all the time, but not puddly.
6) In most plants you will see a progress within ten days. Check instructions on when to pull your plants and how to keep some growing all year. Enjoy.


Here's an old photo of Nessie in Matt's garden. She was only 14 months :( Miss my baby

Last Minute Dinner

Tonight I had to come up with a last-minute dinner. Didn’t go grocery shopping for awhile and had to have dinner ready by 6. So, I opened up my cabinets and my fridge and 100% winged it with what we had (which wasn’t a lot). It is crazy because I’m a horrible cook and depend on recipes, but dinner turned out great it was really good, so I thought I would share my last-minute recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked chicken
• 1 can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup
• 4 oz can of mushrooms undrained
• 8 oz of bow tie pasta
• 1 cup milk
• 3  cups of Chardonnay
• basil, pepper and garlic salt to taste

Cook the chicken, add all the ingredients at one time, boil for 15 minutes until creamy. Serve with love  

Let me know if you try this recipe and you like it or what changes you made.