Hot Day, Hot Dinner

The weather for the last couple of weeks in Toronto has been very hot and even more humid. It's been terrible for running and I haven't been able to top my last personal record of 17.5k. I'm not too worried about it though. Even though I'm officially signed up for a half marathon in October, I'll have plenty of time to train when the weather cools off slightly. I am, however, signed up for a 10k run on the 27th of this month, so hopefully the humidity will break, even if just for one day. So far, for my last two runs I've "hit the wall" around 7k and have had to stop, take a five minute break, and then continue. Not fun. Anyway, onto food. 

I wanted to talk about my impressions of the three recipes I made yesterday. For lunch I had a slice of the quiche and I have to say...I almost wish I'd made the whole batch. It was so good. It was also easy, came together quickly, and reheated well. I actually don't know why I've gone this long before making quiche. I'll certainly be bringing it into the regular rotation. 

I had a muffin after class and it was much better than the one I nearly burned my mouth on yesterday. Having some time to sit in the fridge meant that the flavour was perfect - mostly coconutty, and helped greatly by the blueberries. The texture was dense and tender, though maybe a little on the dry side. There was a warning in the recipe to grate the carrot and apple as finely as possible to ensure moistness, but next time I may purée half the dates as well. All in all, the muffin recipe is certainly a keeper and is certainly customizable by switching out various fresh and dried fruits. 

Finally, the chocolate chilli. I had this for dinner this evening atop some simple cauliflower rice. I love this chilli recipe. It's also very simple and the spice blend is perfect. The obvious contenders are there - chilli powder and cumin - but it also includes allspice and, of course, the cocoa. There is no notable punch of chocolate flavour, rather, the cocoa adds a great depth of flavour and slight bitterness. I've mentioned before that I like making chilli with sweet potato, maple, and bourbon - but this different approach is very warming and savoury. Another winner with this one. 

Two (ish) Weeks Later

I'd like to discuss how I've been doing over the last two weeks. My plan while doing my whole30 was to also go through the reintroduction schedule from the book (It Starts With Food). I really wanted to carefully sample various foods and see, in an organized and controlled way, what their effects on me and my body would be. Did I? No, not really. I did bring dairy back in while staying whole30 compliant because dairy was the item I was most worried about finding I had an aversion to. Luckily, after some cream in my coffee, non-clarified butter, and a lot of ice cream I'm happy to report that my tummy seems to like dairy as much as my tastebuds do. Now, I don't plan on going buckwild with glasses of two percent, but it's nice to know I can enjoy greek yogurt, artisan cheeses, and cream in my coffee. And still make homemade ice cream without having to modify ingredients. Aaaand speaking of ice cream - I've had some. Probably a bit too much. Is that whole30 compliant? Heck no. Is it paleo? not by a longshot, but I've enjoyed being less than perfect for the last two weeks. My meals and the majority of my snacks have all been paleo friendly. Aside from two slices of pizza after a Belle and Sebastian concert on my boyfriend's birthday I think all of my meals have been paleo. I don't want to make it seem, however, that I've been doing all that great. I made an awesome (monkey shaped!) birthday cake for said boyfriend and we ate most of that thing together over a few days. There's also been a few milk chocolate bars and more than a few banana chips dipped into almond butter (okay, this would be paleo if I could find unsweetened banana chips). After all that I think I'm about ready to go back to a more controlled way of eating. My two week foray into non-paleo eating has not been so great physically. I haven't weighed myself because I can tell I've put on water weight from the excess sugar, wheat, and processed foods. I plan on weighing myself August 1st and I'm giving myself until then to start eating strictly paleo again so that I can get my body back to the lean (ish), muscular, energized work in progress I know it is. 

Here's the meal that helped me realize that, for the most part, paleo eating is really how I feel my best. The other day I just felt done with the sugary snacks and little cheats and I was genuinely craving a real paleo meal. I made the same waffle iron sweet potato hash browns I had on Canada Day along with some apple sautéed in butter with pecans. I also had a nitrate and nitrite free smoked sausage with grainy mustard. And I felt awesome after. I've missed that feeling.

Today I decided to have a cook day (cook evening?) to set myself up for the week. Since I'm back in school, my class schedule has me off work Monday and Wednesdays (class days) but that means that for six weeks this summer I have no true days off - I'm either at work or in class - so planning ahead is more important than ever. 

I'm in my fifth month of paleo and this is my first time doing paleo baking. When I first flirted with the idea of switching to paleo I tagged a bunch of paleo recipes on Foodgawker, most of which were baked goods and desserts. Before I officially made the change, however, I realized that just because it's made with almond flour doesn't mean it's not still a "treat" and just because it's paleo friendly, a brownie is a brownie. I decided to hold off until I knew I could bake something and not scarf down half the batch - particularly because I can't bring batches of paleo baked goods to work due to nut allergies. 

Tonight I decided it was time to try muffins. 

The recipe is for Morning Glory Muffins from Paleo Comfort Foods. It makes twelve, so I halved the recipe to make six (one for breakfast each day for the work week). I made a few other modifications to the recipe, namely, I took the suggestion to sub dates for raisins and I added a generous handful of blueberries. 

Pictured above are the dry ingredients hanging out while I got ready to whisk in the eggs and oil. As the recipe said, it made a very thick batter. I've never cooked with almond flour before so I was curious to see how it would all come together. Needless to say, I couldn't wait - as shown in the lower picture, one's missing. I had it for dinner. 

It was tasty, but I think they'll be better with some time to rest. Muffins always seem to be tough and a bit bland until they've had time to rest and cool and I think these will prove to be no exception. 

Next I made the Crustless Quiche, also from Paleo Comfort Foods. Here's the full recipe: (I halved it to bake in a 9" pie dish instead. I'm only feeding myself and really didn't need as much quiche as the recipe yields). 

12 large eggs

1/2 c almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 c melted butter

1 c onions, chopped

1 c spinach, rinsed

1/2 c red bell pepper, diced

1/2 c green bell pepper, diced

1/4 tsp black pepper, fresh ground

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until slightly foamy. Stir in the almond flour and baking powder. In a large sauté pan, melt the butter, then add in the onions and spinach, cooking until the onions are translucent. Mix in the peppers and any other vegetables you'd like. Stir the veg/butter mix into the eggs, and pour the contents into a 9" x 13" baking dish. Top with pepper. Bake 45 min or until cooked though. 

note - I also added in some chopped bratwurst. Here she is...what a beaut. 

I also made the Chocolate Chili recipe from Well Fed. I didn't include a pic because chili isn't very photogenic. It smells awesome though, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the cocoa affects the flavour. 

That's all for now, but hopefully since I'm back on the wagon I'll be posting more. I do, however, have two pretty serious cheats planned for the near future - a trip to Burger's Priest, and trying my hand at making Ina Garten's brownie recipe (a pound of butter and nearly two pounds of chocolate! Be still my heart! I love that woman). 

Cheers. 

Canada Day Breakfast, and my Official Goodbye to Whole30

This morning I decided to treat myself to my favourite sweet paleo breakfast. Before starting paleo I always preferred sweet breakfasts (oatmeal, muffins, ice cream) unless I was hungover. Since switching to paleo, I've found that I usually go for something salty now - eggs and pork. Since I discovered two ingredient pancakes, however, I was making them for breakfast as a treat once per week. They're pretty easy, insanely customizable, and very tasty. Even though they use whole30 friendly ingredients, they are not allowed: 

"In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say, “Paleo pizza.”  This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no coconut-flour pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely."

See? pancakes are mentioned specifically in the rules...but since my whole30 is now over for real, and because it's a holiday today, I made myself a huge mound of blueberry pancakes. Here's how:

Ultra Fluffy Two Ingredient Paleo Pancakes

serves one

1 Banana

two large eggs, separated

butter or coconut oil

optional: vanilla, cinnamon, blueberries (fresh or frozen), nuts, chocolate chips, maple syrup, honey. These ones were topped with maple cashew butter (mix equal parts cashew butter and maple syrup)

Directions: Pre-heat a skillet to medium (or medium-low if your stove runs hot)

peel the banana and place into a food processor or blender with the egg yolks and flavouring of choice (I used a splash of vanilla in the pictured pancakes). Blend until smooth. 

In a mixing bowl, whip the egg whites into soft peaks using a hand blender. Fold in the yolk mixture. Add your fat of choice to the pan and spoon your pancakes in. 

Important notes for success with these pancakes:

-make them small. They are delicate since they don't contain flour. They should only be about 3" in diameter. I use a 1/4cup measure to potrion them out. This recipe should yield about 12 small pancakes. 

-it's not necessary to whip the whites. You can add the eggs whole into the blender with the banana, but they will be much more flat. Still tasty though. 

-be patient. They cook a little slowly, but they're worth the wait. You want them golden on the outside and cooked through. They will be very moist and tender. 

And now for my thoughts upon (nearly) completing a whole30. First thing's first - I think it's a great program and totally worth it. If you're someone who's nutrition is questionable and suffers from inflammation, poor sleep, bad skin, fatigue, and food intolerances a whole30 will likely, as it claims, change your life. As for it's effects on me, I didn't have so many physical effects. My diet was always decent, even before going paleo. I made most meals at home and wasn't too dependent on bread and other starches (though eating a 85-90% vegetarian diet meant that my intake was still mostly carbs). Switching to paleo was when I noticed most of the physical benefits - better sleep, better energy levels and weight loss. I lost four pounds doing whole30, but other than that I didn't notice any significant changes. The benefits for me were mainly mental. This month I've run a new personal record every week. I've been able to eat less healthy foods responsibly and without guilt. I've also embraced new ingredients and recipes, and impressed myself and friends with some of the meals pictured on this blog. I've also committed to buying meat from responsible sources - a local butcher with a map on the wall of all the Ontario farms they source their organic and grassfed meat from. Because I live with a vegetarian (who is so for moral reasons) it's nice to know that at I'm supporting (with my money and my belly) farms that are doing right by their livestock. 

Long story short? Even though the whole30 and I had our ups and downs this month I think it's great and helped me re-think the food I eat. It was a positive experience that I'll likely do again (I'm thinking October?). And as for this blog, I'll keep posting. I may not continue taking pics of every scrambled egg I eat, but when I try a new recipe or make something special I'll share. And that's it for now. Enjoy the long weekend! And Happy Canada Day!