weekending and other notes

cassava pizza is really rocking our world. my current recipe is 1 c cassava flour, 2/3 c kefir, 2 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and a dash of oil. spread onto the smooth side of a silicone sheet, bake 15 minutes or so, then let cool. elevate on an oven-proof wire rack (as pictured), rub with a bit of extra oil, then dress and bake till cheese is as you like it.

paleomom's plantain muffins are amazing. going to try a vegan version this week with ripe plantain and flax.

salad for dinner - with hard-boiled eggs, just-cooked broccoli, cubes of mozarella, thinly-sliced peppers, apple, lettuce, and a balsamic dressing.

new batch of kraut fementing away - with red cabbage, rutabaga, carrot, jalepeno, cranberries, ginger and garlic.

the table set for valentine's day

valentine menu

Sunday supper - mussel pasta dish based on nonno's mussel linguine in Jamie Oliver's Italy, except we have no anchovies, so I used smoked herring, it was just so delicious, prominently but not overwhelmingly smoky, with the sweetness of the tomatoes and the fresh garlic - definitely a keeper. with orange and endive salad and white wine - fabulous.

I am reading French Women Don't Get Fat - as you may recall, I have a major thing for French food culture, so I am enjoying it very much. I knew I would like it because I once picked up the sequel at a second-hand store and gave it to my mom as a gift. It is all about pleasure, n'est pas? I have realized, reading it, that I do sometimes eat mindlessly or out of stress. Oui, meme moi! I am very determined to slim down my portions, say no to seconds, savour every morsel of calorie-dense food I indulge in, and lose 5-10 pounds by May (as I don't have a scale I suppose I'll have to be content with fitting better into my black wool skirt, which has sadly gotten a little tight at the waist). So I turned down a second dish of pasta last night (while Tony had THREE, which if you have observed Tony eat, you'll realize is  an enormous quantity for him), and did not eat my third egg at breakfast, but instead kept it for my slumbering husband. I cannot wait for the spring to come, to start seeing early greens and fresh goodies at the Atwater market, bien sur! I am so done with winter. Anybody with me?

Family birthdays

Both my mom and step-father have their birthdays in September, a few days apart form each other. So for the sake of simplicity, we have one supper to celebrate all three events, hosted by me. The weather and leaves being so beautiful, I decided to carry the autumn theme inside as well, and my sister and I worked together to create an autumnal feast for our parents.

 

My sister worked hard on the decorations while I took care of the food. I printed out a menu and she basically did the rest, down to making little individual place cards. It was quite charming and I just loved working in tandem with her, usually were so busy in our respective lives our interactions seem to be like a gust in the wind, strong but unexpected and quickly over. It was really nice to be able to work with her towards a common goal as simple as making supper for our folks.

 

For the menu, this is what I made: Roasted butternut squash/apple/sweet potato soup, roast beef with garlic/peppercorn crust, mashed potatoes/carrots, and steamed vegetables. For desert I made a carrot/apple/raisin cake with a caramel rhum sauce topped with slivered almonds and thin apple slices. Im going to share the soup recipe, it is the easiest thing to do ever, gluten/dairy free, and paleo approved.

 

I roasted a medium butternut squash, three medium sweet potato and two onions at 350 for 1.5 hours. To do so simply cut the squash and taters in half and lay face down on a pan that has a couple of teaspoons of e.v.o.o. criss crossed on it. I added the onions 45 mns before done time. The squash and potatoes are done when you can stick a fork easily in them without any force. Let cool, then scrape into a blender with a cup of vegetable broth. Blend until smooth.

 

I added the puree into veggie stock, maybe 1.5-2ltrs of it, as well as 1 cup of applesauce I made. It was too liquidy so I cooked it down until it was the desired thickness. Added some cinnamon and powdered ginger (Im sorry I didn't measure).

 

Then right before serving, I grated some nutmeg on the top. It was very fragrant and delicious, and perfectly autumnal.

Lunch time all the time

So I'm trying something new, which is to make all my lunches for the work week at once, something that would save me tons of time prepping (and save me from forgetting the night before and rushing madly the morning of) but I've largely refrained from doing so because Im really scared of the monotony that would create. Eating the same thing over and over 5 days in a row doesn't sound very appealing, but what the heck, I cant judge something without trying it.

So this is what I made, a sort of chili I guess you would call it.

 For the meat base, I used a meatloaf I never got around to cooking, mixture of ground turkey and ground beef with minced broccoli and cauliflower and spices, I'm not sure which I put in there. Sliced an onion, a red pepper, a zucchini (thanks Amy!!), added green and yellow string beans, some carrots, cubed sweet potato and added some chopped fresh tomatoes as well as the last of last year's canned tomato sauce I made, and finally a mix of beans (red, white kidney beans, some chickpeas and I think some split peas as well). Added oregano, paprika, dried chili, chili powder, and jalapeno hot sauce. Shoved all that in the crockpot for a few hours on high. The result is exactly like chili, or maybe a tomato stew. So now I have lunch for the whole week (and a couple bowls that we ate for supper as well). Although I'm loving the result, I know that by Wednesday I'm going to start dreading lunch time haha so I think what I will do is make two recipes every week, freeze the individual portions and mix and match.

Do you have large scale crockpot recipes that are easily freezable and microwavable you would suggest?

WTF is Paleo, and my new nutrition plan...

When Amy posted a while back about her awesome egg breakfast casseroles, the recipe blog she referenced (Chow Bella) had some paleo recipes. I thought , "what be dis?" I looked into it briefly, found it to creepily resemble Atkins, and thought "didn't that fad die a slow death in 1999?"

Some of you know that I've strugged with weight gain (for probably as long as you've known me). Being in the high-stress, no-exercise, no-friend environment that is Missouri, I gained 15 pounds over the semester and literally cannot fit into anything. I feel heavy and tired, and I hated having my picture taken on my vacation in Tennessee this summer because I looked so different.  It's an awful feeling.  I'd rather spend my money on flowers and seafood BBQs than new clothing. 

So naturally, I was excited to talk to my Montreal fitness trainer yesterday for a session, and we discussed a new nutrition plan for me. The nutrition plan is meant to be long term, and the basic idea is to eat extremely naturally, avoiding refined foods as much as possible, as well as reducing portion sizes. Very chill. I'm into that. But when I heard that the plan focuses on a higher-fat to low-carb no-carb-ratio, I was like "SOMETHING SMELLS fishy here and we're not at the fishmonger, kids." 

Admittedly, I am scared of consuming fats, esp animal fats on a regular basis, and am skeptical as to how the plan can actually contribute to weight loss.

I want and need to share this with you ladies because I'm conflicted about a lot of the foods suggested, and I know how much the pursuit of good, whole foods means to us all, regardless of how we negotiate what that entails. 

shit! quick! must hide the Irish coffee!

My trainer has tried eating this way herself, and has actually gone from being a sworn pescetarian from when I last saw her in December, to now eating bacon and liver! Her other clients have tried it too, and they claim they have much more energy as a result. Even though the plan may not be entirely "paleo", it's pretty similar, and the first thing that comes to my Coptic mind is "I'm on the fast-track to a massive heart attack at 32."

 List of NO

-no wheat 

-no fructose or any refined sugars 

-no grains, even quinoa! (supposedly because they aren't terribly nutritious and bloat us--except for white rice? which is most mind-boggling) 

-nothing cooked or coated in vegetable oil or soybean oil

-no pasteurized cheese

-no milk or soymilk (apparently because there is research that that actual milk, unless it's raw and whole, actually has so many nutrients stripped from it?)

-no peanuts

-no stevia

-no beans

-no dried fruits

List of YES 

-cooking in coconut oil and olive oil (though not at high heats for olive oil)

-MCT oil (SOMEBODY please look this up with me and tell me what you think? Looks like a body-builder fad. I Wiki'ed it this morning and to me, it still counts as refined. I don't think I'd touch this anyway.)

-ONLY organic bacon (I could cry with joy)

-ONLY organic meats and organic animal organs (liver, etc)

-grass-fed butter 

-plain walnuts and pecans (no soybean or vegetable oil on them)

-seafood and fish (even smoked salmon, which has high levels of sodium, and to me would lead to water retention and bloating?) 

-maple syrup and coconut sugar is ok on occassion (but doesn't the body process these as refined sugars anyway?)

-avocadoes regularly if possible

-full creme fraiche to put in my coffee (I'm like wtf here)

-completely natural almond, hazelnut, macadamia nut butters, etc

-eggs

-kelp and dulse seasonings

-fermented foods

-apple sauce

-coconut shreds 

-Berries 

-Sweet potato

Sample breakfasts: 

-1.5-2 egg veggie omelet or fritata with bacon

OR 

-A mix of almond butter, coconut milk, blueberries, walnuts, pecans (maybe fermented sour cream if I can make it at home )

The thing I've always liked about my trainer is that she's open to change, and I'm generally bound by conventional wisdom on most things. She suggests I try the plan for a month and see how I feel, and we can adjust accordingly, and I know she will respect my feedback on how the plan goes for me. I will research more and try it, particularly to see if my indigestion (ahem) problems are better or worse. Frankly, I am wary of avoiding grains and legumes (they're good sources of insoluble fibres and proteins!), and I never wanted to be one of those people who "diets". I hate restrictions. I never, EVER want to pass on that kind of mentality to my family or children. I love good food, good company, and lots of laughter, but I also want to start feeling better again in my skin. 

lately in the kitchen...

Making rejuvelac! It's so cute, it's started to bubble just like tibicos! I'm making it as step one to...

Making nut-based cheese! Julia lent me this book when she last came over; I was so fascinated I started soaking my rice right then and there. A product that combined sprouting, fermentation, cheese-like products and cruelty-free alternatives? Yes please!

My brother got me a little GF recipe book for Christmas, and despite its reliance on xanthan and guar gum (which, as I've mentioned here before, I boycott), it has some nice recipes. Banana, date & walnut bread is a favourite; with all the banana in it, the bread holds nicely, not like other GF breads, which tend toward crumbliness.

I'm still really into waffles. These were made with white rice flour and flax seeds and coconut oil (we ran out of butter). I really want to switch to using only brown rice flour, but it's so hard to find! I should check Aubut... Maybe it can be ordered.

Presently in the oven: cabbage "noodles"; sliced wedges with leftover canned tomatoes (the juice was mostly used for braising meatballs last night), salt, pepper, powdered garlic, parsley and oregano, with bacon fat (you could use olive oil as well obviously). I am not sure what protein I'll use, I might ask Tony to pick up some chicken. We ordered a half pig from Rheintal about a month ago, so we're very porky lately. We only eat other meat when our parents cook it for us, basically. We love pork but it is a bit... repetetive. Maybe when we're really wealthy and have six kids we can get a second freezer and buy a half cow and half pig AT THE SAME TIME! Oh, the luxury of variety! Anyway so I feel a little bit bad about contemplating getting non-pastured meat, but I guess I figure... it's all a work in progress.

I don't have pictures for these, but we've been buying milk from Les Fermes Groleau, a dairy company that pastures the cows during the summer, and let me tell you, the milk is incomparable to what you buy at most stores, organic or not. It is really a taste sensation. I have been buying it from A Votre Sante, which is far-ish for us, so we get a few at a time, pour them into mason jars and freeze them (though as I write this, it occurs to me that I may be enoying a phantom memory of Groleau products at Au Branche d'Olivier, which is much, much closer - I'll have to check!). Because it's pricier I've been more mindful of my consumption, trying to use a lot less, but we still go through it FAST because Ambrose is drinking milk like never before - it's that good!

The other tidbit is that my sugar bag is quite low, and we've continued to cut down on high glycemic index items. I keep kicking around draft lists of occasions that justify sugar and enjoying the fantasy of really just not eating sugar regularly. Fancy that! It's terribly radical! During Lent we just had sugar on Sundays, and kept with that for a good while, and have started phasing even that out, though I don't keep it strictly to Sundays. We've gotten used to it. I only remember how radical it is when we visit family. EVERYTHING has sugar! Golly, they get that you don't want dessert, but there's sugar in the yogurt, in the ketchup, in the meat, in the crackers, in the soup, seriously in all packaged products ever, it seems. And gluten-free prepackaged stuff is certainly not exempt, so aside from having the funny gums and starch "flours" up the wazoo there's usually loads of sugar in there, too. It's very kind of relatives to buy these things for us, but quite unecessary. (Mary's crackers, I should say, have no sugar, hooray!) Anyway... we are getting low on sugar... and I am thinking I'll just buy small amounts on an as-need basis. Radical!!