Marinated Steak Bibimbap (What did you call me?)

(Lord & Taylor)

This was a bit of a rough week.  Perhaps the hardest week since moving to NYC.  Despite the Christmas decorations going up, I could not be cheered up. 

(Macy's)

Despite my rough mood, I managed to rise above, curl my hair with my new rollers, and make a new recipe!  I will triumph!

Marinated Steak Bibimbap (made Paleo)

4 Servings

Flatiron Steak 24 oz
Button Mushrooms 8 oz
Garlic 2 cloves

Coconut Aminos 6T

White Wine Vinegar 4T

Scallions 2
Ginger 2 thumbs
Cauliflower rice 1C

Zucchini 2

Carrot 2
Eggs 2 (optional)
Honey 2T
Olive Oil 2T

Cook the cauliflower rice: Bring a large pot of water (or bone broth for more flavor) to a boil with a large pinch of salt. Once boiling, add the rice and cook for 25-30 minutes. Once the rice is tender, drain and return to the pot. Cover and allow to steam.  Whole Foods has pre-made cauliflower rice if you ain't got time for that ish.  Here is a guide on how to make cauliflower rice....

http://gimmedelicious.com/2015/01/22/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice-quick-healthy-low-carb-paleo/

Honestly, this recipe doesn't need the rice (cauli or reg) at all.  It is delicious as it is.

Prep the ingredients: Peel the carrot then, with a peeler, shave it into ribbons lengthwise. Repeat with the zucchini. Trim the scallions, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut each length into 3-inch pieces, then thinly slice the scallion lengthwise into thin matchsticks. Thinly slice the mushrooms. Mince or grate the garlic. Peel and mince the ginger.

Marinate the steak: Combine the coconut amino, garlic, ginger, and honey in a medium bowl. Thinly slice the steak against the grain, then toss into the marinade mixture and let sit for 10 minutes.

Pickle the scallions: Toss the scallions in a small bowl with the vinegar and a pinch of salt.
Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing for 4-5 minutes, until crisp-tender. Set aside. Repeat with the zucchini. Set aside. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, tossing, until golden brown and slightly crispy. Season with salt and pepper.

Sear the steak: Heat another olive oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear each slice of steak for about 20 seconds per side, until browned, then set aside.

If you have eggs handy, this would be the time to fry up 2 sunny side up eggs!

Pour the marinade into the pan and simmer for 1-2 minutes, until reduced and thickened.
Serve the rice and arrange the steak, zucchini, carrots, and mushrooms on top. Top with the pickled scallions and fried eggs (if using). Drizzle with the reduced marinade and enjoy! 

This was so good.  My roommate came in and said, "WHAT ARE YOU MAKING!?!?!  That looks so good."  It was, my friends, it was.  

Rock Climbing and Chicken Meatballs

     At this juncture in my new New York lifestyle I have not managed to get on Paleo and stay on Paleo, and the Holidays are coming up.  It all feels very hopeless.  However, I am actually attempting to eat like a normal person (meaning a non-food addicted person who can eat what they want and stop when they are satisfied).  Here is a little fact about New York, the grocery stores are ridiculously expensive, and Trader Joe's usually has a line wrapping around the entire store (if not twice), so this week I decided to order from one of those companies with the prepackaged meals to prepare yourself.  Basically they send you all the ingredients and the recipes to make 3 different meals a week.  The meals are not Paleo, but they are usually fairly healthy and organic.  So, this week I ordered a box super discounted because I was a first time customer, $34 for 6 meals for the week isn't bad, and honestly I made 3 servings out of what was supposed to be 2!  So, the first recipe I made was Chicken Meatballs and Gnocchi, but I want to share the recipe and make it Paleo, mostly because I want to save it for a future date for myself (or a future date with someone, you see what I did there?)  You may choose to buy some gnocchi, but next time I make it I will be making my own Sweet potato gnocchi using this recipe....

http://paleogrubs.com/sweet-potato-gnocchi-recipe

 

Yes, it will take more time, but nothing truly healthy is fast.  If you so choose to make this recipe the non-Paleo or Primal way feel free to use 1/2 C of parmesan cheese in lieu of nutritional yeast.  It should be added in the skillet after the spinach is wilted.

Chicken Meatballs and Gnocchi

Servings 4

Ingredients
18 oz. Gnocchi, fresh 
1/2 Sage, fresh

1 lb Ground Chicken

2 Granny Smith Apple

2 Yellow Onion

10 oz. Baby Spinach

1 TBSP Nutritional Yeast

4 TBSP Butter/ghee/coconut oil

2 TBSP Oil

Prep the ingredients: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Bring a large pot of water with a large pinch of salt to a boil. Finely chop the sage leaves. Halve, peel and grate half of the onion into a large bowl. Halve and core the apple. Grate half of the apple into the bowl with the grated onion. Thinly slice the remaining apple into 1⁄4-inch wedges. Thinly slice the remaining onion.

Bake the apple: Toss the apple wedges on a baking sheet with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes until slightly softened.

Form the meatballs: Add the ground chicken to the bowl with the grated apple and onion. Stir to combine and season generously with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs.

Cook the meatballs: Heat another drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook, rotating occasionally, until cooked through and golden brown on all sides, for 8-10 minutes. Set aside.

Cook the gnocchi: While the meatballs cook, add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook for 7-9 minutes, until tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
When the gnocchi float to the top of the water, they are probably done! 

Heat another drizzle of oil in the same pan you cooked the meatballs in over medium heat. Add the sliced onion to the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes, until softened. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the gnocchi to the pan along with the sage, spinach, butter, and a splash of pasta water if necessary.  Toss until the spinach wilts and the sauce thickens, for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the baked apple wedges, and chicken meatballs into the pan. Divide between bowls, sprinkle with nutritional yeast, and enjoy! 

Side note: I added the baked apples on the side.  I just don't love sweet added with my savory.  For instance, I think ham and pineapple pizza IS THE WORST!  My opinion.  My opinion isn't right, your's isn't wrong.

(I realize now that if I am going to start doing this... I need to be better at staging my food to look more appetizing, but it was truly delicious.)


In more amusing news: today was my first attempt at getting back into a fitness regimen since surgery.  I joined a gym over a week ago and hadn't been since.  (SHAME)  So, I scheduled a free session with a rock climbing instructor.  The session was an hour and I was exhausted about 10 minutes into it, but he didn't let me give up, which is exactly the kind of person I need in my life.  I tried bouldering first, and then he forced me to rope climb.  I flipped out when I climbed about 20 feet high, he made me rest, which consisted of me dangling in the air while the harness contorts my fat in very humbling ways...I told him as much.  I made it to the top of the 46' high wall, and then he wanted me to do it AGAIN!  My fingers and forearms were so tired and I was so hot and sweaty, which I did not expect.  I actually came with face and hair ready for an interview I had later.  When it was over my hair was drenched and my makeup splotchy, so I had to utilize the showers, but I didn't come prepared with makeup, extra underwear, and I completely forgot a real bra to change into.  That's right, I went to my interview commando and in a sweaty sports bra.  Also, after I showered and blew my hair dry with the awesome accoutrements the gym has to offer, I went to Sephora with my newly cleaned face and put on a full face of makeup for my interview.  Clever girl, if I do say so myself.  How long do you think I can get away with putting all my makeup on at Sephora?

(Shout out to Sephora for the interview makeup)

Surgically Enhanced

I have failed so miserably at posting about what it probably the most significant last several months of my life.  Shame, shame, but ish is about to get real, because there is so much going on in my life that I don't know where to begin.  First update is going to be about my surgery.  I had surgery.  It hurt.  I'm healed.  I'm kidding; there was more to it than that.

Firstly, during the surgery the doctor decided that he didn't think there was enough elongation in my face after he moved both jaws, so he took a little something off my chin.  Indeed, I have now had plastic surgery, but in my defense I had no say in the matter.  The movement of my upper jaw actually changed the shape of my nose, which makes it look like I had more plastic surgery; I didn't.  Due to the extra surgery I had to spend the night in the hospital, which I was dreading, and let me tell you...I never want a catheter AGAIN!  Too much information, deal with it!  I'm the one who had to endure it.  I didn't really bruise from surgery so it almost looked as if I was stung by a bee.  

The nerves were numb in my face so I didn't really feel a lot of pain, and it was manageable, but what I was most shocked by was the inconvenience of this surgery.  I was not able to blow my nose, yet my sinus cavities were filled with old blood from surgery.  I couldn't breathe or sleep well because I had to sleep sitting up.  I had horrible dreams under the influence of Demerol so I stopped taking it less than a week after surgery.  I just used my Pain-X Essential Oil (and a few others), and it worked just as well, if not better than the Demerol.  Then, I broke out in a rash for two weeks while the Demerol left my system.  

(rash visible on my chest)

I went into this knowing I have a high pain tolerance and I heal quickly, so I did everything a little sooner than the doctor told me I would.  It's just how I do, yo.  Don't get me wrong...I am a complainer.  Know that I am probably not in as much as I should be, but I will complain about it none the less.  I'm southern, it's what we do.  Be offended if you want, but it's true.  I digress.  

I did lose weight from the liquid diet, but I gained it back, as we do anytime there is a quick, drastic weight loss.  My feeling came back rather quickly in my right side, it took longer on the left, but my chin is still numb after 2 1/2 months.  They say it could take up to 6 months for the swelling to go down and to get back feeling.  

People have asked me how I feel about the change and I honestly don't see a change.  The reveal of my face was so gradual due to the swelling, so it sort of tricked my brain into believing I've always looked like this, and honestly I think it is a very subtle change.  I look more like my sister now, which she apologizes for.

(The pic on the left was the morning of surgery.  It's a rough pic.)

Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin

It's the most pumpkinful time of the year.

It's time to get real my friends. It is that paleo time of the year again, but I still loved baked goods and all things pumpkin. I made this recipe into muffins last week and you wouldn't know this is a paleo recipe. The consistency is the love child of a muffin and pumpkin pie, and it is delicious...paleo or not.

Happy baking.

http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/recipes/incredibly-moist-pumpkin-bread/

Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some pumpkin in it.

It's November 1st so everything we eat, drink, carve, wear, and sleep is pumpkin. It's not? You're weird. I paired the delightful pumpkin muffins with this Pumpkin Latte. OK, I don't have a (coconut) milk frother so I just poured it in the coffee LIKE A SAVAGE! It's still good.

Go get your PSL on.

http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2013/10/paleo-pumpkin-spice-latte-dairy-free-and-sugar-free-as-desired.html