Recipe: "Winter Is Coming" Pear Smoothie

Winter Is Coming...

Literally. It's almost December. How does time pass so quickly?

Time however, did not pass quickly this morning, and so I found myself wandering about after a light workout wondering what I could pass off as a healthy interlude between breakfast and lunch. I didn't have milk or soy milk for a smoothie, and water with those sounds pretty gross. However, I did have coconut milk in the pantry and then had a genius idea to use up some of the fruit I had left from last weekend's market run.

Turns out, it was a shame to waste one of the most delicious pears I've ever had in a smoothie, but it was still delightful in this creamy and spicy snack. 

Pear Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 ripe pear, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1 ripe banana, chunked
• 5-6 tbsp coconut milk (or however much to make it your preferred consistency)
• small dash of nutmeg and cloves
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• handful of ice cubes

Instructions

No more simple than this: put it all into a blender, pour into a glass, top with another little dash of nutmeg and cloves, and drink up! A perfect sweet and spicy blend to welcome in the winter! 

Recipe: Roasted Pork Loin with Wild Mushroom Sauce

Hello, friends!  

Hello...?

While I'm not sure there's anyone actually reading this blog, I have fallen woefully behind on Paleo, and also on documenting my recent recipes, so I thought I'd start up again. The inspiration? A flipping FANTASTIC dinner last night amidst the throes of much life stress. A running theme? Yep.

First, let me catch you up on what's happened since April. I moved to the middle of nowhere, where there are only rednecks and chain restaurants. Somehow I have survived. The new job has been fantastic, but has taken a lot of adjusting. I tried CrossFit - and liked it - but somehow haven't maintained the willpower to keep doing it (also..holy moly it's expensive). My car has had to have repairs, my student loans are going back into repayment, and Halloween just killed my paleo efforts. So...there's that.

Thankfully, boyfriend still appreciates my cooking, and so that's where I go to escape from all of the above. 

That brings me to my post topic: 

Roasted Pork Loin with Wild Mushroom Sauce

(adapted from Avec Eric)

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb pork loin, tied
• 4 tbsp butter (I use grass-fed from Kerrygold)
• 1 head of garlic, split into cloves and peeled; 1 clove finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sage leaves, torn into small pieces
• splash-ish of dry white wine
• 3/4 cup of organic chicken stock, 1/4 cup heated separately
• 1 packet of dried Porcini Mushrooms
• 2 large heads (?) of fresh Oyster Mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 2 sprigs thyme

 Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350F. While pre-heating, melt half your butter in a large pan on medium-high heat (I couldn't live without my Le Creuset), salt and pepper the pork loin, and sear it on all sides. Toss all the peeled garlic cloves (except the chopped one) into the pan, and put it in the oven. If you don't have a pan that can go into the oven, keep it on the stove-top, lower the heat, and cover it. Cook this for ~30/35 minutes or so or until the internal temperature reaches 150. 
2. In the meantime, heat up 1/4 cup of chicken stock, and soak your dried mushrooms for 20 minutes or so. Then melt the other half of your butter in a separate pan, toss in your onion, chopped garlic and thyme for a few minutes. Drain your mushrooms (reserve the liquid!) and chop them roughly. Add these to your pan, along with the sliced fresh mushrooms, and cook down for ~5 minutes. Set aside. 
3. Remove the pork loin from the pan in the oven, set it on a cutting board and cover. It'll continue to cook. Deglaze the pan with the liquid reserved from your mushrooms (just don't dump in any sediment) and a splash of white wine (I just dumped some out of the glass I was drinking from...). Add your bay leaves and sage. Cook this down, and keep adding more chicken stock as necessary to create enough liquid, for ~10 minutes or so. Turn off the heat, and add the mushrooms. 
4. Cut your pork in thin rounds, arrange on your plate, and then spoon the mushroom sauce over the top. Et voila!

Note: I made this a full meal with baked smashed potatoes (put into the oven just before the pork loin came out. I turned the heat up the last few minutes the pork was in there to about 415F) and cooked asparagus (cooked in the second pan as soon as I dumped the mushrooms into the sauce). Will link to those recipes when they're up!

Happy Cooking!

CJ

Recipe: Grilled Avocado with Fresh Salsa

Sorry it's been almost 3 weeks since my last post - how shameful! Work got totally nuts and I absolutely (mostly) fell off the paleo bandwagon. For shame. 

However, I am back to enlighten you all on the merits of avocado. Seriously, this is the best food item on the planet. Versatile, yummy, fantastic for you. It's amazing. And I just discovered how wonderful it is when you grill it. You heard me - break out those grills! 

Plus, this is all entirely paleo! Special thanks to Relay Foods for always providing amazing produce. I love you guys!

Grilled Avocado

Ingredients

• 1 Ripe Avocado
• Lime or Lime Juice
• Olive Oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

It can't get any easier than this, folks. Cut the avocado in half and take the pit out. Brush it with a combination of olive oil and lime juice (not a ton, just brush it), salt and pepper it a little, then toss it on a medium-high grill for 5-7 minutes, flesh side down. 

Then put them on a plate, put fresh salsa where the pit used to be, and top with some more salt and pepper. Et voila. You have an excellent side dish (one half), or you have a healthy, filling lunch (both halves). 

Fresh Salsa

Ingredients

This is all up to you with proportions/ingredients/etc. But here's what I used today because I had it all on hand:

• 1/4 onion
• 1/3 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/3 jalapeño pepper
• bunch of cilantro (from the garden - aren't you proud of me?!)
• splash of lime juice
• 1 tbsp (ish) of olive oil

Instructions

Put it all together in a blender and pulse it until it's the consistency you want! (That simple, folks...there's no excuse to not make your own salsa all the time.) You can leave out some of the olive oil - that's what's made it a little different colored in the photo above. 

Thinking Positive: ExchangeIt! Coaching

I want to take a minute today to reflect on one of the amazing things that I heard yesterday at Easter dinner. My cousin (well, really my first cousin once-removed I think...), who is an amazing mother of two very successful, intelligent, athletic, and faith-driven children, just started her own business. She's one of the most passionate people I know, both caring and charismatic, and every time I talk to her it reinforces to me that it really is possible to go through a lifetime of ups and downs but still remain - at heart - a truly good, giving, and faith filled woman. 

Her new business very much strikes a chord with me, especially given some of the hardships I've had to face over the last couple of years, and about some of the self-doubts I've had with regard to my career, with my personal life, and with myself in general. If you know me at all, you know I'm peppy and optimistic about just about everything there is, but it doesn't mean the other stuff isn't there too. And we all need a way to deal with difficult situations and challenges - whether they're simple day-to-day irritations, or big life-changing decisions.

Anyways, long story short, here's the premise of her company: "exchanging" the negative for the positive when faced with challenges. 

(Because, let's face it, how many of you when you get an irritating email or a text just shoot back a response that you - five minutes later - really wish you wouldn't have sent?)

ExchangeIt! Coaching

ExchangeIt! Steps

1) Pause it!™
Take a deep breath, relax your shoulders and look around at your surroundings. Become aware & take control of the thoughts running through your head. Ask yourself, “am I ready to feel better or do I just want to complain?” Get a gauge on what you are feeling right now. Realize you have a choice of how you are going to react to the situation. Do not react emotionally to the challenge right now.

2) Accept it!™
Accept the situation for what it is. Wishing things to be different than they are will create a negative emotion. Accepting a situation as it is allows you to problem solve without anxiety being involved. Put the situation or challenge into perspective. You do not have to agree with the situation, you just have to accept that it is happening. Have a solution oriented mindset and move forward without anxiety.

3) See it!™
How do you see this problem being solved? Is this a vision that you are control over or are you trying to change someone else into doing what you want them to do? We are only in control of our own actions. What steps do you see that could help the current situation? Give 1-2 examples of some options that may work. The situation may not be exactly how you want it to be so what is a step that can move you in a better direction right now?

4) Speak it!™
What is your action plan and next immediate step? Say it out loud in a way that is "repackaged" into a positive action plan. Set it to paper; write your goals down. Is there a possible learning lesson in the challenge? Tell your friends and family how you are going to make your challenge better. Speaking positive words to others around you will help you to make your action plan come to life.

5) ExchangeIt!™
Look back at your original challenge and see how far you have come in a short period of time, you exchanged a stressful thought or emotion into a situation you have either accepted or turned into a positive action plan. You now have perspective, a goal oriented solution and some options that will allow you to work free of anxiety. Great work! 

PASS through to ExchangeIt!

For me at least, the most important one of these is the very first. Whatever you're doing - however you're provoked or upset - pause and take a breath. Everything that Renee has said here is true: you're in charge of the choices in your life. You can choose to react to situations, and thereby let others control your life, or you can choose to respond thoughtfully, putting you in control of your own feelings and decisions. You've got to own it. 

Life-Coaching

I never bought into the idea of life-coaching, per se, but she makes a good point here in the way that it stresses moving forward: 

Life Coaching is motivational, inspiring, encouraging and result oriented. It’s different from traditional therapy in that the focus is on the present and future rather than the past. It focuses on goals, behaviors and action oriented solutions. We often look to everyone on the outside to solve our problem; life coaching is different in that instead of having someone tell you what they think the answer is, a life coach asks the appropriate questions to find the answers already inside of you.

Remember: keeping your mind and soul healthy is just as important as your daily exercise regimen or thinking about what you put into your body!
 

Thanks for Reading!
CJ

Recipe: Easiest Ever Roast Chicken

This chicken never disappoints. 

Boyfriend is a ridiculously lazy cook, as well as a garbage can for food, so imagine my skepticism when he "cooked a chicken for dinner". With reluctance, I ate some of what he'd sliced and, to my glorious discovery, it was moist, delicious, and had crispy skin! Hurrah! An easy recipe with little to no effort involved is actually delicious.

You can thank me later.

Easiest Ever Roast Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 lb young chicken (I got a Kosher Valley Young Chicken at...you guessed it....WF)
• 1/2 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1/2 apple, cubed
• Fresh Spices: Thyme, Rosemary, Sage
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly 
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven at 350F. While you're waiting, take out the "innards" from your chicken (mine didn't have them included - yay!), and stuff it with your onion, apple, spices, garlic and cinnamon until it's full. The cavities in young chickens are pretty small, so you might have to get a little extra friendly with your chicken to make it fit...

2. Rub olive oil over the entire chicken, and then season with as much salt and freshly ground pepper as you like. I like mine pretty seasoned. 

3. Place on either a broiler pan or - if you're having a "me" moment - just put it on a baking rack over top of a cookie sheet lined with foil. It cleans up pretty easily. (A trick one of my coworkers suggested: if you want to just put it on the cookie pan, surround it with rice or potatoes, and they'll soak up some juice so your bird still gets crispy.)

4. Put in the oven for ~20 minutes per pound; then you'll want to raise the temp to 425F for an extra 20 or 25 minutes so it gets the skin nice and crispy.

5. Pull it out of the oven, and wait 15-20 minutes before carving !

How to carve a chicken (yeah, I didn't know how to, either):

My first attempt was a butchery, but hopefully it'll improve with time!

Thanks for Reading!

CJ

Recipe: Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

I've been terrible with Paleo lately. I haven't committed, I've scrounged, and I've been digging into the candy dish at work. So I need to step it up. Life's been a bit on the difficult and stressful side recently, which has also contributed to the sheer lack of motivation. So I'm working on it. See, nobody's perfect...you just have to keep trying, and you'll get there.

That being said, the other night I was feeling highly unmotivated, but also starving and craving Mexican food. Scouring the awesome Paleo websites out there, I found this gem of a recipe, and wanted to share (with my amendments, of course!).

(also, I may have scarfed down my bowl before remembering to take a photo, so the stock one from Paleoaholic will have to do...)

 Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp (ish) of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 finely chopped medium-sized onion
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, pressed (or sliced thinly, if you don't have a press)
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces
• 3 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, plus some extra sauce (this is to your taste. I think I used like, 5 peppers, but mine was a little spicy, even for me. If you just want the flavor, and not the heat, just use one!).**Note: Make sure the can you buy doesn't add high fructose corn syrup. Most have sugar in them, but you don't want any HFCS. Yuck.
• 4-5 cups of chicken broth, depending on how brothy you like your soup
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 handful of fresh, roughly chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 Hass avocado per serving, sliced thinly

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil over medium in a large pot (this one is the one I use, that I can't live without), put garlic and your onions in there and let them get nice and translucent, and the garlic will get fragrant (about 5 minutes). Toss in your cubed chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and stir your mixture every so often for the next 5-7 minutes, or until you can tell the chicken is cooked. Then add your peppers and adobo sauce, and give it a good stir.

2. Move the pot to a cool burner, take two forks, and carefully pull your chicken cubes, so they're a little bit smaller, and not so chunky. It makes for a much nicer eating experience. Paleo doesn't have to be lazy! Move your pot back onto the hot burner, and add your chicken stock.

3. Let this simmer for anywhere from 15 - 30 minutes; the longer you do this the more the flavor melds together. Right before you serve, add the lime juice to the pot and stir. 

4. To serve, place some slices of avocado in the bottom of your bowl, ladle in the soup, and top with some chopped cilantro and some extra avocado! Depending on your dairy tolerance, you can probably add a dollop of sour cream here, or some pepper-jack cheese to make it extra yummy. 

(Note: this soup is EXCELLENT the next day, too, because all the flavors come together much more overnight. So make plenty!)

Thanks for Reading!
CJ

Product Review: Pacific Natural Red Pepper + Tomato Soup

 Pacific Natural Foods Organic Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

I have failed you all on week 2 of food planning. Which also means I had no lunch at work today. Back in the beginning of my job here, however, I squirreled away tons of oatmeal in my cabinets (pre-Paleo...) and as it would turn out, some soup! I hadn't had it before and I'm pretty sure I only bought it because it was on sale. (It's one of the 17.6 oz ones that they carry at - you guessed it - Whole Foods. This predictability thing has got to stop...)

Into a mug it went, and into the microwave. It came out nice, thick, and creamy. It's tangy, but has nice small chunks remaining of the red pepper. Typically I'm skeptical about canned/boxed soups, because I feel like they're full of fake stuff and that I shouldn't have been so lazy as to not make my own. 

Here's why I'll buy from this company again, when I'm feeling lazy enough to not make my own:

A. They created their own program to "Certify to the Source". Basically, they trace the origins of every ingredient in their products, ensuring that what they're telling you they're selling you actually is what it's supposed to be.

B. They have a soup for every diet or allergy that's out there and they're very visibly labeled: Corn Free, Dairy Free, Fat Free, Gluten Free, Kosher Dairy, Kosher Parve, Low Fat, Low Sodium, Soy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free, Yeast Free, and those that Promote Heart Health.

C. They're actually a good example of a sustainable company:

• Dairy cows are fed an organic, vegetarian diet, without antibiotics or growth hormones, and are open pastured
• They use aseptic packaging, which is recyclable, and doesn't require as many raw materials to create.
• They believe in being organic leaders for farming practices in Oregon

I can't wait to try out some of their other soups!

Thanks for Reading!
CJ

Recipe: Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Guess what, everyone?! I actually stuck to my budget at WF today! They overcharged me for 2 things, and I ended up buying some "extras" that I forgot I needed (i.e. Mayo), but those aside, I hit the mark!

And in celebration of actually sticking to a grocery list, here's what I made for dinner:

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

(taken sort of from The Paleo Mom)

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 2 Tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 1Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
• Chopped Cilantro (to your taste)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• Dash of Salt

Salad:

• 12 - 15 pre-cooked shrimp (frozen, then thawed and dried off) per serving
• 1/2 Avocado per serving
• 1/4 head of red cabbage, shredded
• Lettuce of your choosing
• Diced Tomato (optional)
• Cholula Hot Sauce (optional)

Instructions

1. Thaw the shrimp in a colander under a faucet for 8-10 minutes with cold running water. Then cut these into bite-size pieces and dry them off.

2. Mix Olive Oil, Lemon and Lime Juice, chopped cilantro, pepper, salt, and shrimp in a large bowl. Let this marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (the longer, the better!). If you have more than 2 or 3 servings, you might want to adjust the juice and olive oil up a bit. Just don't put too much olive oil in like I did...

3. Chop your leaves (red cabbage, lettuce, etc.) and put them on a plate (or in a bowl) along with bite-sized pieces of avocado. Put the shrimp salad on top, then top with diced tomatoes and some hot sauce, and devour! 

Thanks for Reading!

CJ

Weekly Meal Planner: February 19th

My goal for groceries is to stick between $60-$75 per week moving forward. This week is going to be a bit higher than that because of the double grocery shopping on Saturday for one of my favorite meals ever, but for the most part, I'm going to work really hard to stick to a budget.

This week, I'm lazy and am just going to go to Whole Foods. I know there are better deals out there (Trader Joe's, this means you!) but I just don't have the time or patience tonight to go multiple places.

Here's the plan!

Breakfasts:

• Yogurt: Either Siggi's or Fage 2% (or Classic) depending on what's on sale
• Bacon + Eggs: Sunday special, obviously! I think I eat too much bacon, so I'm trying to pare it down.

Lunches:

• Leftovers, every day. You can tell that I need to make 4 meals this week because they're the bold colors. Leftovers of that meal are in the same color scheme but lighter. 
• I'm terrible with leftovers so will end up having to stock my freezer, but good for you if you only have to make 2 or so meals/week. I wish I could!

Dinners:

• Shrimp and Avocado Salad
• Chili
• Cucumber Salad
• Rouladen and Red Cabbage

Snacks:

Mid-Morning (at work):

• Veggies + Hummus: not strictly (at all) paleo, but I won't make paleo-friendly hummus because it just, frankly, takes too much effort and I'll forget to eat it.
• Olives: Likely Kalamata
• Nuts: JUST A FEW. I think too many make me feel sortof funky.

Evening (in class):

• LunchBot full of goodies: cherry tomatoes, cheese, hard-boiled egg slices, and fruit, plus a Lara Bar. 
• LaraBars are high in sugar as they contain dates, so I only eat them sparingly and when I know I won't be having a big dinner...i.e. when I have class :(

Thanks for Reading!
CJ

Baby Steps: Goal 2

Exercise for at least 20 minutes per day. 

I realize it's not actually that hard. I'm just exceptionally lazy, and I hate the gym. So it's tough for me.

I'm thin, yes. But am I fit? Absolutely not. And frankly, the only reason I'm writing this down is so I have some kind of verbal commitment to myself to stop wasting time and start working on toning my body.

What am I unhappy about? My lack of a toned stomach (no, I don't need "abs", but I also don't like the layer of extra fat that I see there) and my total inflexibility.

So, audience that likely doesn't exist, I am going to commit to a daily exercise regimen, with only 1 rest day a week.

Here are some of the options that I have:

1. 30 minutes on the elliptical at my apartment gym.

• Pro: it's downstairs and I have no excuse not to go.
• Con: it's the elliptical. It's ridiculously boring.

2. Going for a nice walk!

• Pro: this is my favorite. The boyfriend and I did a 22 mile walk over the summer in DC and it was amazing. 
• Con: It's February and my fingers/toes will freeze off. No thanks.

3. 30 minutes of Pilates. 

http://www.totalfitnessdvds.com/Easy-Pilates-DVD-with-Ana-Caban-p/1111.htm

• Pro: I really like the video! Ana Caban is a great instructor and it actually helps with my flexibility.
• Con: There's not really one. I'm just lazy.

4. 20 minutes of (free) Yoga.

www.yogadownload.com 

• Pro: It's free. And helps a lot with flexibility and relaxation.
• Con: I have no idea if my positioning is right, and I pay much more attention to that than actually relaxing and letting it "flow". Also, going to a "real" class is quite pricey, and not in my budget right now. 

My other option? Learning how to be a big girl and use weights at the gym. 

I did go to a CrossFit class a few months ago that was great - it's just not within my comfort level for working out when I'm in front of a lot of other people, even if it is healthy competition. I just think I'd be happier knowing how to do all of that myself in the comfort of my judgment-free empty apartment gym. Perhaps a new blog topic will come about as I figure out some good free weight exercises to do...

Tomorrow starts day 1 of this new goal, so wish me luck!

Thanks for Reading!

CJ

The Dirty Dozen

Do you really need to buy everything organic? Of course not. But are there some items that you should ensure are organic, if you can either a. find them or b. afford them? Yep. 

Check out the full list and rationale here, but below is a good synopsis:

I know it gets expensive. And there are some times where it's just not in my budget to get everything that Whole Foods lists as "organic" either. However, when you make those choices, make them with this list in mind, and with the knowledge that all of the pesticides in your food could, and likely will, have an impact on your health later on. 

Thanks for Reading!

CJ

Product Review: Siggi's Skyr Yogurt

My failure at Paleo is breakfast. 

I can't help it. There is nothing appetizing about dinner for breakfast. Breakfast for dinner? Sign me up. Breakfast should be that glorious meal that immediately transports you to a sunshine-filled kitchen filled with the scents of bacon, the noise of the griddle sizzling, and the encompassing warmth of love...Okay, so I might be a little ridiculous, but I need breakfast to stay breakfast. And that means keeping yogurt in my diet.

I stumbled upon Siggi's when I was looking around for a yogurt that didn't have a lot of sugar, used milk from cows that weren't fed growth hormones, and that still tasted delicious. 

It's different, I'll grant you. It has the consistency of sour cream and some of the bitterness of Greek Yogurt, but it's exceptionally smooth and has just the right amount of flavor to make it delicious without having to add any additional sweeteners. 

My favorite flavor? Orange & Ginger. I find it to not be so mild of a flavor that I'm left wondering what it was supposed to be, though the 2% Coconut is (according to the boyfriend) vastly superior.

So what is Skyr, you ask? 

Skyr "is the traditional yogurt of Iceland. It is made by incubating skim milk with live active cultures. The whey, the water naturally found in milk, is strained away to make for a much thicker, creamier, concentrated yogurt. So to make just one cup of skyr, with all that water going out, you need 3-4 times the amount of milk required to make a regular cup of yogurt. As a result of this process skyr comes out with 2-3 times the protein count of standard yogurt" (www.skyr.com)

Siggi's has 2 different types of Skyr; one has 0% milkfat, and the other has a bit of cream thrown back into the mix at 2%. I find the Siggis's with 0% are more easily found, and have better flavors, but that's just me.

Some Nutritional Facts

• Gluten Free
• Milk from Grass Fed Cows
• No Aspartame
• No Sucralose
• No Gelatin
• No artificial Colorings
• No preservatives
• No High Fructose Corn Syrup
• No rBGH 

Quick Note on Paleo/Primal on Yogurt

Dairy consumption, especially the fermented stuff, is pretty much in a "gray area". If you're sensitive to dairy, don't eat it. But the current arguments that it has casein as the primary source of protein (so does human milk so that one's debatable) I basically just disregard. The fact that yogurt is fermented also means that the lactose gets broken down, which cuts down on true sugar and carb content.

Two great articles to read on the subject are:

The Health Benefits of Fermented Food

and

The Definitive Guide to Dairy 

Thanks for Reading!

CJ

Recipe: Bacon Sweet Potato Soup

Oh. My. Gosh.

This is heavenly, and I'm purloining it almost exactly from The Clothes Make The Girl. 

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon - cut into 1/4 inch slices (preferably nitrate-free)
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp-ish Ras el Hanout (just add equal parts ginger, cumin, cinnamon, and a smaller amount of cayenne, coriander, and allspice/cloves/nutmeg). No need to be spot-on.
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 2 lbs sweet potatoes (2-3 large) - peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• dash of salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Cut bacon into 1/4-inch slices and place in a cold soup pot. Heat the pot over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until it’s crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate covered with paper towels and set aside to drain and crisp.

2. Keep 1 tablespoon of the fat in the pan and discard the rest. Re-heat the fat over medium-high heat, then add the onions, Ras el Hanout, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 5-7 minutes. Toss in the garlic and stir, cooking until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

4. Take the pot off of the heat, let it cool for a few minutes, and then use an immersion blender until it’s smooth. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Ladle into bowls, then sprinkle with a little bacon and chives. Both the bacon and soup hold up well in the fridge for a few days.

Thanks for reading!

CJ

Take a Deep Breath

Sometimes it's really just as simple as that.

Take a minute today to just stop

Breathe.

And then continue on with your day.

Recipe: Paleo Fish Tacos

Paleo Fish Tacos

Walking around Whole Foods and seeing some of their seemingly astronomical prices on things is sometimes awfully discouraging. Until you remember that YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. So I swung by the seafood counter the other day, and they had nice Tilapia fillets on sale for $7.99/lb. Turns out, a single fillet is a little more than 1/4lb, so my dinner for that day was only $2.50 or so. Success! 

However, when I got home, I realized I had no idea what I was going to do with it. So I looked in my fridge and there I miraculously found some butter lettuce, tomatoes, and some bell peppers. It sounded "taco-y" enough, so I went with it. This is very much a veggie garbage-can meal...