Post Work Out Dinner: Mediterranean Chicken and Rice

I am on a journey to getting healthy.

I have struggled with this a lot lately, for many reasons. There are so many conflicting voices telling me to love myself for who I am but then to also be healthy and happy. To do that, I need to be more comfortable in my own skin, which at the moment I am not. People are very supportive and have given me wonderful ego boosts but the bottom line is, for me personally, I don't like how my body has changed since having kids. So that means being truly honest with myself. How can I get to a better place, mentally, physically, and emotionally? through exercising, eating better, and the power of positive thinking. For a long time now, I have struggled with exercise. I have made a lot of excuses but I have realized that it isn't so much the excuses but the sacrifices I have to make to make it work. My day is full of rushing around; wake up before 6, pack the kids into the car, drop them off, drive through traffic to work. Repeat to get home. Then its the dinner/bath/bed-time rush. Before I know it, it is 8 pm and I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep. I have started different work-out regiments but I have often failed because I didn't take it seriously or I didn't see the results I wanted to see in a short time. I haven't sacrificed my time or my desires enough to stick with it. This time, I can sense a new drive within me to succeed because it is one of the most positive lessons I can teach my kids. I want to be able to run around with them this summer, to be as active as they need me to be, and I can only do that if I make my health a priority. This does mean missing out a night or two a week of the dinner/bedtime routine. Someone has told me that I should always put myself first, that so many women become mothers and make their children their first priority. For a long time, I struggled with this idea because it sounds so selfish. I think what she meant was that be able to give my children the best I can give them, I need to be the best I can be. It doesn't have anything to do with who comes first so much as it comes with making the best choices for my family. I am one week in and I feel great. I am going to take this one day at a time and focus on the positive.

I am sharing a meal that is delicious, filling, and wholesome. I made a batch of this last night, after a good cardio workout, and it was a light and yummy dish that filled me for the night. Enjoy!!!

Mediterranean Chicken and Rice
Ingredients:

• Chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces.
• 2 tbsp of Olive oil
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 lb of mushrooms, sliced
• 2 small zucchinis, sliced
• 1 cup white rice
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp thyme

Directions:

1. Brown chicken in oil, set aside.
2. Saute veggies in oil left - 3 mins. Add rice, cook and stir for one minute. 
3. Add tomatoes. Cook for 1 min.
4. Stir in stock, vinegar, and seasonings; bring to boil.
5. Return chicken, cover and simmer 20 mins. 

"Creamy" Paleo Vegetable Pasta

Guilt free creamy pasta? yes please!!! I love pasta, I really do. All versions, all sauces, tossed, baked, cold, hot, smothered in melted cheese. Ohhh yum. Unfortunately, my poor tummy doesn't always enjoy the richness or heaviness of pasta and it sits there, feeling like an enormous weight that tires me and weakens me. My body just does not seem to enjoy digesting all those heavy carbs. So, we have been experimenting with all kinds of different types of "noodles" and I have discovered some truly delicious tricks that my stomach and my tastebuds thoroughly enjoy equally and happily. I will be sharing a few recipes I have played around with.

The first was a really simple recipe using the creamy avocado. Honestly, avocados are truly the most versatile vegetable (wait, its a fruit isn't it?). You can make so many things and it is such a little powerhouse of healthy fats, rich folic acid and vitamin K and more potassium than a banana. Basically, it is a super food for a reason. I had heard of people using it as a pasta sauce, to get away from the creamy, cheesy alfredo sauces so I thought I would try it myself. I paired it with some baked spaghetti squash and eureka, one of my new favourite dishes was created. I topped it with some bacon and some veggies and really, it could not have made me happier. I encourage everyone to give avocado a try as a pasta sauce, especially with a vegetable "noodle". You will not be disappointed. I should mention that I gave my fussy little eater some of the pureed avocado and he ate it all up, licking his plate. It is always a good sign, when LMG cleans his plate, to me as his ever-worrying-about-his-health-because-I-am-crazy mother. Also, I apologize about my pictures. They do not do justice. I am still "mastering" the IPhone camera.

Creamy Paleo Vegetable Pasta

Ingredients: 
- Spaghetti Squash
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- Salt and Pepper
- 1 ripe avocado 
- The juice from 1 lemon
- 2-3 minced garlic 
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 3-4 pieces of bacon, fried and crumbled.
- 1-2 Leeks, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, diced
- Half a pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in half. 

Directions: 

1. Turn on your oven to 375. Cut the spaghetti squash in half (also, if ANYONE out there has a good way of doing this that doesn't involve me hitting a can on top of my knife, I would love to hear it...). Remove the seeds and guts. Rub the coconut oil over the flesh of the squash and sprinkle sea salt and pepper to taste. Put the squash flesh down on a baking sheet and bake for 30-45mins. 
2. Using a food processor, add the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic, to taste. Add some sea salt and a little pepper, again to taste. Puree until smooth. Set aside. 
3. Using a small amount of either butter or bacon grease, saute the veggies until soft. The flesh of the tomatoes will blister. Set aside. 
4. Once the squash is cooked, using two forks, pull the flesh into noodles. It happens easily, put into a bowl and toss with the avocado sauce. Top with the veggies and crumbled bacon.
5. Enjoy. 

Paleo Spicy Chicken and Tomato Soup

There is nothing better on a cold and snowy day then something warm and filling in our bellies. Soup is definitely one of my favourite meals of all time. All soups, I love them, and I enjoy making them myself as I have control over all the vegetables and flavours. I am a big believer in adding vegetables into pretty much everything I eat and with my little picky eater, I have been slipping extra veggies into all kinds of meals. Why not? if I can trick him, then I feel pretty clever. It is fun feeling like I have one upped my three year old, who has proven himself to rather clever as well. Its a game of tricksters. Silver lining is that the kid does get a lot of veggies in his diet.

Last night's dinner was a big pot of tomato and chicken soup. So delicious. I was really happy with how all the flavours worked together and how the veggies were a little crisp but still infused the broth and the chicken with a yummy, rich, warm flavour. I kept it lightly spiced but I imagine you could also add to the spiciness by throwing in a bit of fresh, chopped red chili peppers on top of the spices. I actually did not feed this to the kids, as I made it with a bit more of a kick then I think they would enjoy. I cooked the veggies and the chicken before hand, and fed that to the munchkins instead.

Paleo Spicy Chicken and Tomato Soup

Ingredients: 
2-3 chopped chicken breasts.
1 yellow onion, chopped.
2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Two leeks, diced. 
2-4 celery stalks, chopped small. 
2-4 carrots, peeled and diced. 
1 full red pepper, chopped small.
1 full orange pepper, chopped small. 
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes.
1 28 oz can of stewed tomatoes.

3 cups of chicken broth.
1 1/2 tsp chili powder.
1 1/2 tsp oregano. 
1 tsp cumin. 
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper.
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions: 
1. Cook the chicken in some coconut oil. Put aside.
2. Use the left over oils and begin by saute the onions and garlic. Cook a couple of minutes and add the leeks and the carrots. Let cook for a bit, before adding the rest of the vegetables. Cook about 10 mins.
3. Add the chicken, and spices. Stir and cook for about a minute. Add the tomatoes and broth. I used my hands to smush the whole tomatoes before putting them into the soup (after washing my hands thoroughly of course). Allow all the flavours to boil up and simmer for 10-15 mins. 

Wonderful for lunch leftovers. 

2014 - Back on the Paleo Wagon

Last year passed us by in its speed. So many changes as our little family of three grew into a family of four. My little baby boy is growing into a little man with a mind of his own, one that is very hard to change when he really decides to take a stand. The biggest fight is definitely at the dinner table. I told myself this year would be different and I need to keep reminding myself that patience and determination will win out eventually. Considering how much I enjoy cooking, the fact that LMG refuses to eat what is put in front of him has brought me all kinds of stress and frustrations. Here is a kid who eats well at breakfast and eats his lunch pretty good most of the time, so I know I need to step back and be less upset if dinner isn't consumed every night. That said, the fact that he seems to enjoy this fight (and refuses to get down from the table, while refusing to eat at the table) leads to me feeling exasperated at the end of the meal and ready for the wind down to bed. Being a parent is a difficult job, and I do believe that there is so much judgement placed on mothers these days to be perfect, that we often hide behind this facade of wonderful happiness all the time. I love my children, and I am very blessed they are happy, healthy, and bring me such joy but it does bring some headaches and moments of exasperation and frustration, tears and fears and stress. So, this year I am going to embrace every aspect of motherhood while trying to be the best I can be for myself. With the New Year, my husband and I decided to get back to eating Paleo, which had some wonderful effects on my digestive issues. I felt better, healthier, and lighter than I had in a long time. So for the last week and a bit, I have jumped back on and embraced the easier meals to be found under the Paleo heading and I am going to share them with you as we work towards getting our picky eater into a better place.

I will say the wonderful thing that so far God has granted us is a second child who will eat absolutely everything and anything that is put in front of her. I pray every day that she sticks with this mentality because one picky eater is enough in our house.

I will be typing up a few meals all at once as I meant to start this up again last week.

Cheers and enjoy!!!

Baking the Paleo Way

Okay - now, some people might say that the love of a good cupcake is probably a symptom of bad eating habits or emotional eating or who knows what and perhaps they are right. On the other hand, perhaps it is just the fact that sometimes you want something sweet and terrible for you because, damn it, they just taste good. Since beginning this Paleo journey, we have basically banned baked goods or dessert or anything sweeten with processed sugars out of our house. It hasn't been overly difficult, because if its not in front of me, I don't eat it. I might think about it but I have been great with my whole willpower and such. That doesn't mean there are not paleo friendly desserts. My favourite so far has been a Faux Chocolate Mousse made with avocados, banana and some cocoa powder. My second favourite (and my husband's new weakness) has been homemade raw chocolate. Oh my word, melt in the mouth goodness. I will share that one in a bit. Today I want to talk about baked goods. Rich, creamy, frothy frostings heaped on top of light and fluffy cakes. I miss it, good god, I really do. However, my ass and thighs and belly definitely do NOT miss it. Wasn't that the point of eating cleaner? to see some of this baby weight (which is just fat now) go away? and it has...slowly....the pounds have been reducing on the scale, but going backwards and indulging my sweet tooth would definitely set me back and I don't want to go there.

My first experience with Paleo baked goods was a treat made by my friend who introduced me to Paleo and while it was ok, it was a lot of nuts and slightly too bland (sorry, my love). My second foray into baked goods was a breakfast muffin. Sure, it sounded delicious - Lemon Blueberry Muffins, and heck, the photo looked yummy but when it come out of the oven, it didn't look quite so yummy and when I bit into it, well, let's just say that was no muffin. It was more like an eggy mess with lemon and blueberries. I ate most of them over time but I was forcing myself out of sheer guilt and shame at the thought of the waste of throwing them all away. That was about three weeks ago. So I tried again and though it looked NOTHING like what inspired it, my goodness, does it ever taste yummy!!! Delicious!!!

Lemon Pound Cake


1 cup Almond Flour - Sifted
1 1/2 cup Coconut Flour - sifted
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup honey, melted
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
4 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons pure lemon extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Glaze

2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tbs lemon zest
1 tbs pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons raw honey



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Prepare a 9×9 baking pan by coating the interior lightly with coconut oil.
3. Cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and place it over the coconut oil.
4. Sift dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk to combine.
5. Place oil and honey in the bowl of a food processor and process for 2 minutes.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
7. Add coconut milk, lemon extract, and lemon zest, and continue to process until well combined.
8. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and thoroughly combine using a wooden spoon until fully combined - it will look thick and gloopy.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test
10. Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes
11. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely

Glaze

1. While cake is in the oven, add vanilla extract, lemon juice, zest, and honey to a pan and heat over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Using a fork, poke several holes in the top of the cake
4. Pour glaze over the cake, using a spatula to evenly distribute over the entire cake. Let the cake cool. 
5. Serve immediately or cover and store in the refrigerator.

zb 

Let's Begin the Paleo...

Hello out there,

I have been away, having babies and raising babies and basically attempting to find my groove in this wild ride called parenthood and marriage. In case you were unaware, both are difficult (but wonderful) jobs that require all of my time and energy and there is very little left over for me. So my evenings have been spent sipping wine and reading the couple of pages of whatever book I have on the go. My one true outlet has been my cooking. Lately, my husband and I have been dabbling in this new eating fad known as Paleo - basically, eating like a caveman, if cavemen had access to the entire world of fruits and veggies and meat. Throw in a few extras; nuts and herbs and spices while removing all dairy, legumes, and gluten and you can imagine the difficulty that has arisen from being strictly Paleo while taking care of a two year old and a 6 month old. Overall, I have been pretty good and I am pretty sure, after a few run ins with full servings of dairy, that many of my digestive issues of the past can be linked to said dairy. This makes taking that out of my diet much easier (anything to avoid pain, really) but I do miss my pastas and the ease of bagels. However, the great thing about Paleo is the flavours. The dinners we have been making have been rich in flavours and absolutely delicious, though the recipes are often very time consuming and have many steps. Fortunately, they also result in leftovers for lunches which means an easy meal the next day. I am going to attempt to share some of the meals I have made as well as the meals I will make as I go.

I wanted to share the yummy paleo version of one of my favourite thai dishes, the Tom Yam Nam Kho soup. When I was pregnant and still working, I craved this creamy, tangy soup that smelled exotic and comforting. It was usually served with chicken at the Thai restaurant I would get it from but it is best made with prawns or shrimp. As I had pretty much all the ingredients plus some frozen shrimp, I decided to give this a try.  


Paleo Thai Soup 

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Chicken Broth.
• 3 1/2 cup Coconut Milk.
• Package of Champignon mushrooms, sliced.
• 14 oz Pre-cooked Shrimp tails, peeled.
• 3 Lemongrass stalks.
• 3 tbsp minced Ginger.
• Finely grated zest from 3 Limes (next time, I will put these into a processor, turning them into a fine powder)
• Juice from 2 Lime.
• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce.
• 4 Garlic cloves, minced.
• 5 Green Onions, chopped.
• 1 bunch fresh Basil, roughly chopped.
• 3-4 Thai Chili, de-seeded and finely sliced (depending on size, the thai chilis we get here are teeny tiny)
• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil.

Directions: 

In a large pot, heat up the coconut oil.
Crush or cut open the lemongrass stalks and let fry in the coconut oil for 5 minutes - keep the temp. low as it will burn quickly.
Throw in the lime zest then pour in the chicken stock.
Add 1 tbsp fish sauce, the minced ginger, the minced garlic, and bring to a gentle boil.
Let simmer for 10 minutes, then add the coconut milk and remove the lemongrass stalks.
Add the sliced mushrooms and green onions, cook for 1-2 mins.
Stir in the other 1 tbsp fish sauce and the lime juice.
Add the shrimps, remove the pot from the heat and let stand for a some 5 minutes before serving.
Serve in bowls, top with the sliced chili and chopped basil, to taste.

Texas Turkey Chili

Chili is one of those fantastic dishes that requires (usually) very little effort but a lot of time to allow the flavours to really blend and mesh together in a big pot. I am the beef and bean kind of Chili gal but upon watching one of my favourite reality shows, Top Chef, I have learned that a true "Chili" doesn't have beans. So this meant I had to give that a try. I am also looking at cutting out some unnecessary fat or at least work on reducing my own unnecessary fat and since I certainly don't foresee myself giving up on delicious food, why not hunt out some healthier and still tasty recipes?

I present to you....

Texas Turkey Chili

Vegetable oil

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 package taco seasoning mix (I use a spicy one)

1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes

1 can of tomato paste (possibly two)

1 tetra pack of beef broth

2 cups of chunky salsa

1 large can crushed tomatoes, or coarsely chopped tomatoes packed in puree

1 can chopped green chile peppers

1 white onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

3 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat some oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble turkey into the pot, stirring with a wooden spoon to break apart as much as possible. Season with taco seasoning mix, coriander, oregano, chili flakes, and two tablespoons of tomato paste. Mix until meat is evenly coated with seasonings. Continue cooking, reducing heat if necessary, until turkey is well browned.
2. Pour in beef broth, and simmer to reduce liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Add salsa, tomatoes, and green chilies, rest of the tomato paste, and continue cooking at a moderate simmer for ten minutes. Adjust the thickness at any time you feel necessary by adding water or more tomato paste.
3. While chili is still cooking, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and green bell pepper, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent and bell pepper is lightly browned. Add onion and bell pepper to the chili, and continue cooking at a very low simmer.

4. In the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, and cook stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the zucchini to the chili, reduce heat, and continue cooking 15 minutes more or set to simmer for as long as you like. I usually let my chili simmer for about an hour.
5. Ladle chili into serving bowls. Serve with green onions, sour cream and/ or shredded cheese.

Note: I have added bacon to this chili and kidney beans as my husband likes them. That said, I far preferred the original recipe. It is delicious.