Recruiting Mom.

It's official, I've recruited my mother to the paleo lifestyle. She said she's willing to try it for two months. Just so you know, she is diabetic and recently had a blood test. Her next test is in two months.

I'm really excited for her, and I look forward to helping her. I love my mom with all my heart, and I really want her to feel good, be healthy and look great.

I know she will be feeling better in no time, and I hope she will be healthier for the rest of her life :)

The New Evolution Diet by Arthur De Vany

I bought this book at Chapters two days ago, because it was one of the two paleo books they had at the bookstore that I didn't already own. It proves to be quite interesting.

Art essentially cures his wife and son's type 1 diabetes by monitoring their sugar levels and insulin administration.  He discovers that non-triggering foods are limited to vegetables, fruit, meats, nuts, certain fats and water. Which is now known as the paleolithic diet.

Art is deemed the godfather of the paleolithic diet, and he also runs a subscription-based blog. It's a really interesting read for anybody on the paleo diet. I personally prefer "Why We Get and  What to Do About It."
 Nontheless this book is interesting because it contains very personal experiences, which is very humanizing and valued in a diet/nutrition book.

The New Evolution Diet @ Chapters

Tomato Beef Soup

I am slowly convincing my mother to jump on the paleo bandwagon. She suffers from type 2 diabetes, and I think she would benefit from it tremendously. Since she occasionally prepares food for the family to eat, she's is trying really hard to accommodate my new dietary needs.

So she made soup. We bought a roast and cubed it. We browned it in the pot with some olive oil and onions, then we added in celery, carrots, parsley and stewed tomatoes (look for ones that have an ingredient list consisting only of tomatoes.) And then you let it cook on the stove or in slow-cooker till the veggies/meat reach desired tenderness.

It's a very filling soup good for any day of the year. It has a fresh feeling due to the veggies, but it's still hearty because of the beef. It is the ideal soup.

Chow down.

Mango Chicken Curry

Today we took our taste buds to the far east...I made Mango Chicken Curry. Not particularly spicy, but flavourful, savoury and paleo :)

I had some chicken drum sticks to use up so I modified them, they were skinned and deboned. They replaced the chicken breast in the recipe. I didn't serve it over rice, nor did I garnish it with cilantro, but it was so damn tasty I could not believe I had made it. I had two bowls of it and didn't even want dessert.

Here's the recipe, from Simply Recipes. Try it, you won't regret it. The recipe calls for two tablespoons of vinegar but it's so minimal I didn't let it bother me.

I'll put notes in bold letters.

Mango Chicken Curry Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp (or more) of vegetable oil ( I substituted with butter)
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped (I used a whole red pepper)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh minced ginger (You can buy it already minced at the grocery store in the spice or foreign foods section)
• 2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 mangos, peeled and diced (We had mangos pureed in our freezer from before)
• 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup golden raisins (We used Thomspon raisins)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (can substitute all or partially with coconut milk) (Definitely use coconut milk :) )
• Salt and pepper
• Cilantro for garnish

Method

1 Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and another tablespoon of oil, cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cumin, cook for a few more minutes. The spices will absorb some of the oil, so if anything begins to stick too much to the bottom of the pan, add a little more oil to the pan. Add the ginger and garlic, cook for one minute more.

2 Add the vinegar, water, and a 1/2 of the chopped mango to the pan. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to maintain a low simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Scoop the sauce into a blender. Purée the sauce, pulsing until smooth. Return the sauce to the pan.

3 Add chicken pieces and raisins to the pan. Return to a low simmer. Cover the pan and let cook for 8-10 minutes. Chicken should be just cooked through. Use a knife to cut open the largest piece to check.

4 Add remaining mango pieces to the pan. Stir in the cream. Let cook at a very low temperature for another minute or two, uncovered. Do not let boil! Or the cream may curdle. Adjust seasonings. If a little too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If not sweet enough, you can add a dash of sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice. Garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.

NOW GO MAKE DINNER AND EAT SOME YUMMY FOOD! :D

Bacon-Wrapped-Chicken, anyone?

Hello there, ladies and gents.

So here's what when down for dinner today. I started by making my salad dressing (essentially a compote.)

Salad Dressing

 Dressing Ingredients:
-1/4 cup of butter
- 1 sliced apple (with peel)
- 2 cups of strawberry
- 3 tsp. of cinnamon

Heat the butter on medium heat in a pot, add the apple slices and let them cook a bit, till they're soft. Add in strawberries (fresh or frozen) and cinnamon. Keep cooking it until it's reduced to a thick liquid. It will smell delicious, but you must refrain from eating it till dinner. Honestly it's tasty enough to be a dessert.

I don't really like salad, so I made a bomb dressing to go on top. It definitely worked.

As for the salad that it was on....it had mixed greens, mushrooms, and macadamia nuts.

Salad

Then I made the chicken. Preset the oven to 400 degrees farenheit.
I bought boneless, skinless, organic chicken thighs, they got the the job done. The meat package said they would cook in 20 minutes which definitely wasn't enough. So just  cut one of the chicken thighs in half when you think they're done, if it's nice and white on the inside it's done. If it's pink you may want to put in the oven for longer to avoid salmonella poisoning (unless you're into eating raw chicken.)

So first I coated the chicken in the following spices:
- BBQ chicken spice (I don't know what it is, it's in the spice drawer)
- Italian Seasoning
-Oregano
-Dill weed

Put the spices in equal portions, about half a cup of the mixture is plenty to coat the chicken. After our chicken is nice and flavourful, we wrap it in BACON! Bacon makes everything better. After you put the chicken in the pan with some chopped onions (spanish or yellow.) Bake it until it's done.

Cooked chicken wrapped in bacon with onions.

 And voila, here is the final product. I'm not a good photographer, the camera doesn't do it justice.

Dinner! Om nom nom nom.

It was so yummy! I can't wait to cook even more :)

Salut!

Skinny Bitch.

So I have a confession to make...other than my motivation to go paleo relating to health...I'm also motivated because it is my goal to be a skinny bitch by the time of my 20th birthday...on June 21st.

I know, I know, it may not be likely but damn it would be nice. I would really hope that I can at least fit into my summer shorts again by then. I mean, I can get them on already but saying they're...uh..."a little tight" would be an understatement.

So I'm gonna work my ass off, once my period is over (it's a bitch.) And I am going to be a SKINNY BITCH! Yaaaaa heard?

Ciao
;)

Organic Israeli Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I dunno if you've seen these bitches in your produce section, but they are fireeeee! And by fire, I mean you'll wish you could gulp an entire ocean of milk in your mouth. Seriously...hot.

I put them in a veggie sautee cause I had to use up some spinach. So I fired up the stove, put butter in the pan, and went at it.

I first sauteed some onions with spices (tumeric, garlic, chili powder.) I then added in some sliced red hot peppers, fresh from Israel, and banana peppers. Once they cooked a little bit, I put in the spinach and waited for it to become cooked. Which took no longer than 15 minutes to prepare the entire thing. I also fried up some sausages to go along with it which took about 17 minutes. This one done simultaneously as to save time.

I wish I would have taken a picture because it looked scrumptious. It fed my dad and my boyfriend, I wasn't hungry so I didn't eat it. But I did taste a small bit of spinach...and that's how I figured out the peppers were fire, like 20 times hotter than banana peppers. I couldn't believe. I could smell the heat on them.

I'm pretty sure my boyfriend downed 3 glasses of milk with that meal, but hey, what can you do? :P

Oh well, tonight, I'm planning on making bacon wrapped chicken thighs with a mixed green salad with mushrooms and wildberries. NOM.

Bon appetit!