Status

Marinated Top Sirloin Steaks

Top Sirloin

Butcher Box recently contacted me asking if I’d like to check out one of their boxes and I jumped at the chance! I’ve seen a lot of other folks get boxes and cook amazing things that I could not wait to give them a try.

Butcher Box is a company that provides quality meats to your doorstep each month.  They offer grassfed beef, organic/pastured chicken, and heritage pork.  They also offer multiple boxes to pick from, each box contains 8-10lbs of meat and is $129 a month with the option of adding on additional cuts if you’d like.  You are in charge of the boxes. You can pick the frequency of when they are delivered (Each month, every 2 months, every 3 months) and you can switch between boxes if you’d like. You’re not committed to a certain box once you pick it.

Seriously, this is a freaking amazing deal.  You get quality meats delivered to your door.  This is especially great if you live in an area where finding top quality meat is challenging. By signing up to get delivery, it also eliminates one less thing you have to focus on because it’s taken care of. You can check meat right off your list and move on.

Included in the box is an invoice that lists all the meats and how much of each, along with cards that feature a recipe on one side and information about that particular cut on the other side.  Very handy if you are just getting your feet wet with cooking protein.  But even for seasoned chefs, checking out recipes for inspiration is always beneficial.

For this shipment, I picked a beef and chicken box and I received:

  • 2pkg Chicken Drumsticks
  • 1pkg Chicken Tenders
  • 1pkg Beef Sirloin Tips
  • 2pkg Ground Beef
  • 2pkg Top Sirloin (Each package contained two steaks)

This box reintroduced me to drumsticks and tenders!  Something that I never really purchase on my own but I loved them.  I also had never cooked with sirloin tips or top sirloin before so this was a new experience.

The drumsticks I marinaded and then baked.  The chicken tenders I breaded with almond meal.  The ground beef was used in tacos and soup.  The sirloin tips I used in a beef and broccoli Asian inspired dish and the top sirloins I marinaded and then cooked in skillet.

And I’ve got a recipe for those bad boys!.

Andrea’s Marinaded Top Sirloin Steaks

  • 2 Top Sirloin Steaks
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed or finely chopped
  • 1TBS Olive Oil
  • 1/4C Coconut Aminos (or Soy Sauce if you prefer)
  • 1TBSP Flavor God Everything Seasoning (**see note at bottom)
  • 3 TBSP Ghee or lard for cooking (Can also use olive oil or coconut oil)

Place steaks in a medium bowl or large storage bag.  Mix garlic, olive oil, coconut aminos, and seasonings in a small bowl and pour over steaks.  Massage steaks so that they are fully coated in the marinade and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or over night.

Remove steaks 30 minutes before cooking and allow them to come to room temperature.

In a large skillet, heat the fat over medium high heat for about 3 minutes then place steaks in skillet.  Cook steaks till preferred doneness. I went to medium, so I cooked them about 6 minutes on each side.

Remove steaks from skillet and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve and enjoy!

**If you don’t have Flavor God seasoning then use:

  • 1TSP Garlic Powder
  • 1TSP Onion Powder
  • 1/2TSP Smoked Paprika
  • 1/4TSP Salt

These are great as is, sliced for sandwiches/wraps, or make a pan sauce out of the drippings and drizzle that on top.  Or place on top of a salad and top with a creamy horseradish dressing.  Ahhh, now I’m getting hungry for lunch!

Top Sirloin Steaks

We loved our experience with Butcher Box so much that we signed up for a subscription.  I already can’t wait to get our next box!

If you’re looking for quality meats, then definitely give Butcher Box a try!

 

Disclaimer: Butcher Box sent me a box to sample. I was not compensated in any other way nor was I required to do this post. All opinions and recipes are my own.

Status

Going Reduced Grain

Hey all!  How is everyone’s week going so far?  Our meals have been a little off schedule but so far everything is running smoothly.  I feel much more centered than last week.  I don’t feel like I’m constantly behind trying to catch up!

Meal planning unfortunately did not happen as I would have liked but we’ve still been on track with our eats!

BREAKFAST

Steak and peppers on grain free waffles

Grain free waffles using Brittany Angell’s recipe.  I heated up some peppers and onions in a skillet and added in some leftover steak, sliced thin.   Placed on top of a waffle with a slice of swiss, which then was put in the toaster over so the cheese could melt.  Perfect breakfast sandwich and a great way to use up leftover steak!

scrambled eggs and toast

Scrambled eggs seasoned with Flavor God’s Garlic Lovers and two slices of Dave’s Killer Bread with lots of grassfed butter.

Grains! Yikes!  I’ll get to that in a minute, be patient.

DINNER

Pork taco and a side salad

Pork tacos and a simple side salad.  Ground pork cooked in a skillet with some peppers and onions.  Seasoned with a little salt, pepper, and chili powder (however much you like but easy on the salt).  Then I added in a few heaping spoonfuls of salsa and let the whole mixture simmer until the salsa reduced and thickened up.  Topped with chopped tomato and sour cream.

Salad was mixed greens with cucumber and carrot.  Very easy! I love having salads with meals because it’s quick to assemble and a great way to get in some raw veggie action.

Salmon and green beans

Sockeye salmon with red peppers and capers with a side of green beans with prosciutto and almonds.

For the salmon, in a sautee pan I heated up the peppers and capers in some ghee until the peppers softened a bit.  Then I added in the salmon and sprinkled that with some Flavor God’s lemon garlic seasoning.  I added in a touch of chicken stock, brought to a simmer and covered.  All of that simmering until the salmon was cooked through.  Remove and top with the peppers and capers.

The green beans were prepped ahead of time.  They were blanched and just waiting in the fridge to be used.  I sauteed them up in a skillet with some ghee.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Right before serving I tossed them with some almonds, crispy prosciutto (heated and prepped before heating the beans), and sprinkled on some parm.

Looks fancy but it’s really simple to put together and no fussy ingredients!

SNACK

Banana ice cream with pecans

A little bit indulgent but much needed!  This was banana ice cream with bourbon butter pecans on top.

Banana ice cream is one of the easiest things to make.  All you do is put frozen bananas in a food processor with a little liquid (cream or almond milk for example) and blend until smooth and creamy.  That’s the basic concept and then you can flavor it or sweeten it a bit more.

For this version I added in some bourbon, vanilla almond milk, and vanilla extract.  Blended until smooth.

For the pecans, I sautéed them in a skillet with lots of butter.  After about 4 minutes I added in a small splash of bourbon.  Once done, I tossed the pecans with some cinnamon and coconut sugar.  I let them cool and sprinkled on top of the ice cream.

Delicious!

We have been on the clean eating and grain free train for several months at this point.  We have learned a lot during just these few months and one of the things we realized is that grain-free and gluten-free items do not work for us.  In fact, those types of things, like the grain free waffles above, do not sit well with our digestive system.

Every time we eat something like that, both of us are running for the bathroom immediately after eating.  Tummies rumbling, bloating, and hitting the bathroom multiple times for hours afterwards.

Not fun.

Clearly those kinds of items are not working for us.  So with that, instead of being grain-free we are reducing grains. Most grains don’t give us any kind of digestive distress, not like the grain-free items do.  So while we won’t be seeking out sandwiches daily or big bowls of pasta, if we feel like a pancake we’re going to eat it.

Don’t be surprised when you see some whole grain items pop back up in our eats!

Monday Meals: Good Week

This will be the last “Monday Meals” but don’t worry, I’ll still be sharing all of our eats with you!  Monday through Thursday will be a recap of meals and exercise for that day.  Those posts will go up at the end of the day. Fridays will be rotating topics that include recipes and the weekend will be time off for play!

I really want to get this blog back to it’s roots, which is about living a healthy and active lifestyle by focusing on real whole foods and doing things we love.

Plus these Monday posts were just getting way too long and can’t contain all of the deliciousness!

New schedule starts tomorrow so look for that post at the end of the day.

Alright so let’s recap last week!

BREAKFAST:

Peaches and granola

PEACHES!  They have finally started showing up at the farmer’s markets and I am stoked!  Colorado peaches are amazing and their season is very short.  If you see them, grab them while you can!

Peaches with a little sprinkle of grain free granola.  This breakfast rocked, it was sweet from the peaches and the granola helped keep me full for several hours.

Scrambled eggs and sausage

This was a second breakfast.  I had a big bowl of peaches one morning (with no granola) but once we got back from our big walk with the dogs, I was starving!  So I made a potato-less hash.  Scrambled eggs, sliced up chicken sausage, and peppers and onions.  Totally hit the spot!

Kale and sausage

A huge bowl of sauteed kale with kielbasa and shredded carrots.  Cooked up in some ghee and seasoned with Flavor God’s Spicy Everything blend.

Protein + greens are a favorite next to soup!

Kale rice bowl

Leftover rice that I cooked up in some lard with a little tomato paste and seasoned with chili powder.  Then I added in some kale and cooked everything until the kale wilted down and cooked through.

Not as hardy as sausage but still very satisfying and would make a great post workout breakfast.

Granola and bacon

Poor man’s breakfast this past weekend.  We ran out of eggs!  It was tragic.  So this was some bacon, sliced cantaloupe, and granola.  Some almond milk got splashed on the granola as well.  It was good but would have been better with eggs!

Bacon and scone

More bacon and cantaloupe!  The bacon was from a local butcher that they cure and smoke in-house.  Grain free scones topped with cherry jelly.  I pitted the cherries and added them to a blender with cup of water.  I blended for a minute until the cherries broke down a little.  A little bit of sugar was added to the mixture.  In a sauce pan the mixture simmered until it reduced by half.  Once it cools it thickens up a little bit and now you’ve got a quick jelly.

And a fauxmosa to wash everything down.  OJ + Seltzer = fauxmosa  Tasty!  Plus you can add fresh lime juice or mango juice to give it a little extra kick.

LUNCH:

Kale salad, smoked salmon

Kale salad with cucumbers and carrot.  A quick balsamic dressing on top.  Allow the dressing to mix with the kale a few minutes before serving.  Helps to break down the kale and pull out some of the bitterness.  Smoked salmon on the side!

Egg, carrots, beans, guacamole

Really random lunch.  A fried egg, leftover baked beans, sliced carrot, and guacamole for dipping.

DINNER:

Cheeseburger and fries

Cheeseburger on a gluten-free bun, coleslaw, and oven fries.  I nixed the bun, I didn’t like it. It had a weird texture to it and was spongy.  Ew.  So I ate my burger bunless which I prefer!

burger, slaw, beans

Burgers take two! Leftovers with the addition of baked beans.  Both Scott and I can handle beans without it causing any distress on our digestive system (to be blunt, beans don’t give us gas) so we eat them from time to time.

pork tacos and veggie casserole

A really monotone and unappealing picture, I know!  Pulled pork tacos with a cauliflower veggie mix.  The pork butt was cooked in a slow cooker with a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2C water, with sliced green pepper and onion.  Once the pork was done, I pulled it out and shredded the meat.  I blended all of the liquid and veggies together to create the sauce. Everything was seasoned with salt and chili powder.

Served on a white flour tortilla that I ended up not eating.  It was making me feel too full too quickly, so I tossed it and ate the pork with some guacamole.

The veggie casserole was a head of cauliflower pulsed in a food processor until it resembled rice.  I sauteed that in a huge skillet with onions, peppers, carrot and corn.  Once everything was cooked, I added two eggs to the mixture and some shredded cheddar.  Everything was seasoned with chili powder and then I cooked it all again in a casserole dish till it was bubbly.

It looked like a mess but it was tasty!  We had this two nights in a row.

Mussels

Second favorite meal of the week, mussels!  I purchased these at my local Whole Foods.  With a ton of butter (seriously, like 6 tablespoons), I sauteed up some onion, jalapeno, and lots of garlic.  That all got seasoned with Lemon Garlic Lovers Flavor God seasoning.  Then I added the mussels and a bottle of wheat beer.  Put a lid on it and let that simmer until the mussels opened.  Maybe 5 minutes tops.  I sprinkled on some chopped cherry tomatoes and we dug in!

This was a lot of mussels and was plenty for both Scott and I to share.  There’s a misconception that seafood and things like mussels are expensive but they are not.

A pound of mussels (which was way over 2 dozen mussels) cost me $6.99 and that fed two people as a main meal.  That’s pretty budget friendly!

Ribeye and twice baked potato

Favorite meal of the week, ribeye steak with a twice baked potato.  So good!  And gigantic!  I did not eat the entire steak, there’s plenty of leftovers.  The steaks were seasoned with Flavor God’s Garlic Lover’s and I seared each side of the steaks and placed them on a baking sheet.  The steaks finished cooking in the oven.  It only took a couple of minutes since ribeyes are best at medium.

The potatoes were super simple, no fuss twice baked potatoes. Baked potatoes with the insides scooped out.  To that was added sour cream, cheddar, horseradish, and some green onion.  Stuffed and baked again until cooked through and bubbling.

Great eats this week plus utilizing leftovers as much as possible.  Minimal meal planning for this week because Scott and I have some big plans for the weekend!

Supplies:

Flavor God seasonings

Bacon and steaks from The Boar and Bull

Mussels from Whole Foods

Pork and eggs from Jodar Farms

Cowboy Burgers

Cowboy BurgerI’ve been on a big burger kick lately, it’s all that I really want to eat and I’m going with the flow.  If that’s what my body wants, so be it! Burgers all around!

I wanted to make a burger that had a nice punch of flavor to it.  It’s getting to be about that time here in Northern Colorado, when roasted green chilies are going to be popping up at the farmer’s markets.  I love roasted green chilies!  You can get any spice level you like, the chilies are roasted fresh while you wait, and the smell is amazing.

I still had some roasted chilies in the freezer so I pulled those out and got to work creating this burger.  It’s super easy to prepare and tastes delicious!

 

Andrea’s Cowboy Burgers

  • 1 pound Grassfed Ground Beef
  • 2 Roasted Green Chilies, seeded and chopped
  • 1/4 Small Red Onion, finely chopped
  • 2 Slices Cooked Bacon, chopped
  • 1/2TBSP Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1tsp Chili Powder
  • 1/2tsp Salt
  • 1/2tsp Pepper
  • 1/2tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1TBSP Oil for cooking (I recommend Lard or Ghee)

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and gently combine.  Quarter the mixture, and make a patty out of each quarter.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Place patties in skillet and cook on each side for about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve!

Makes 4 patties

Cowboy Burger

You can serve these however you like!  Top with cheese and maybe some caramelized onions.  I topped ours with guacamole and served them on lettuce wraps.

The roasted chilies bring a nice heat to the burgers while the bacon highlights the smokiness.  The spice level of the chilies used will determine how spicy the burgers turn out.  If you love heat, use spicier chilies!

These would also be great grilled!  Leftovers can be used right away or frozen.  To reheat, gently warm them up in a toaster oven or in a regular oven at 375 for about 10 minutes.

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

 

 

Monday Meals: Anniversary Week

How did everyone do with eats last week?  Surprisingly our eats weren’t too bad!  It was our anniversary week so we did indulge a bit but nothing crazy.  This week though I’m ready to get back on track and eat well throughout the week.

We are having pho tonight for dinner and I couldn’t be more excited! It was supposed to be our last celebratory meal for the weekend, grabbing some takeout on Sunday while we snugged on the couch and watched Pacific Rim (Save yourself, don’t watch that movie. Really bad and cheesy.).  Then we learned that they were closed on Sunday.

GASP!

Pho Blocked.

So we are having it this evening.  And while it probably doesn’t fall into the clean eats category, I have to say it isn’t a horrible choice.  It’s better than pizza for sure!

Speaking of pizza, there’s a new place here that is doing wood fired gluten free pizza and very curious to try their pizza.  Not grain-free dough but eh, sometimes we have to live a little.

I’ve done some prep work already for this week.  Still trying to work out what day would best fit my schedule for a prep day.  Sundays and Mondays are super busy.  I’m kind of stuck on what day.  Maybe Friday? I can do big grocery shopping that day and then prep the rest of the day for the following week.

Let’s look at some eats!

BREAKFAST:

Sausage, chard, scramble

Sauteed chard with sausage bites and scrambled eggs.  Whenever I make sausage, I make a whole package at the same time.  We eat a portion of it that morning and the rest goes in the freezer for later.  Then it’s ready to go when I need it.  I do the same with bacon, I cook up 2 pounds of it at a time.

Not much a fan of this breakfast, the chard ended up being really slimy and just gross so I stuck with the eggs and sausage.

Sweet potato cakes, fried egg, tomato slices

Shredded sweet potato cakes!  1 large sweet potato, shredded and mixed with two eggs, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder.  I cooked them up in some ghee in a skillet.  With a fried egg and two big slices of tomato on the side.  Delicious!  The sweet potato cakes were a big it, both Scott and I loved them.

Brat and collards

I prepped a huge batch of collards for the week by cooking them in the crock pot with a ham hock.  I heated up some leftover brats and paired that with the collards.  One of the best breakfasts! So filling and satisfying.

Collard soup

The next day was the rest of the collards and shredded ham hock soup!  Just added stock and some extra seasonings.  Mmmm even in summer, soup is still one of my favorite breakfasts.

Grain free chocolate donuts

Tried my hand at making some grain free chocolate donuts and they turned out really well!  I still want to play around with the recipe a bit and as soon as it’s ready I will share.  They were fluffy and full of chocolatey goodness!

Sausage, eggs, roasted potatoes

Pretty standard weekend breakfast, fried eggs, pork sausage, and some roasted potatoes.  YUM!

Fried eggs and side salad

This breakfast/brunch I loved!  Fried eggs with a side salad topped with avocado and tomato salsa.  That was easy to put together:

  • Two medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 3TBSP Chopped Red Onion
  • 1 Large Avocado, chopped
  • Leftover corn on the cob, removed from the cob
  • 3TBSP Chopped Cilantro
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder

Combine in a glass bowl and stir.  Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.  This was used as the salad topping and it was so fresh tasting.  Definitely a nice squeaky clean breakfast.

 

DINNER:

Steaks, mashed potatoes, side salad

Steak house dinner!  Some grass-fed NY strips with horseradish mash potatoes and a side salad.  Also some horseradish cream sauce to dip the steaks in.  I didn’t think I would eat the whole steak but I totally did, it was so good!

The mash potatoes had sour cream, butter, whole grain mustard, and horseradish in them.  This gave the dish some nice tang and spicy bite.

grilled sausages, potato salad

Our first cookout of the season!  Grilled brats and kielbasa with grilled peppers and onions and a side of potato salad.  I used homemade mayo for the potato salad.  This tasted so so good!  We definitely need to make time to grill out more often.

Ribs and slaw

Pork ribs and homemade cole slaw.  The ribs were cooked in the oven and I used a homemade bbq sauce on top.  The sauce was made for a recipe development gig so I can’t share that with you.  I can say that it incorporated beer though!

Ribs, corn, slaw

Leftovers! With some corn on the cob and some meatballs (from the same gig).  Corn is one of those grains that I’m not sure I want to give up just yet.  Rice and corn are two that I still love and they don’t seem to mess my system up too much.

Crab salad, mixed greens

Scott and I had gone out to dinner during the week to a local fish place.  I had the lobster roll sandwich (ate the insides and left the roll) and it was very fresh tasting and not heavy at all.  I decided to recreate a version of it using some leftover snow crab that I had in the freezer.  I mixed the crab with some mayo, red onion, celery, lemon juice, and old bay seasoning.  That was placed on a bed of fresh romaine with some avocado, bacon, and tomatoes added on top.

So freaking good.  I’m going to try this with smoked salmon! I think the salmon and avocado will work well together.

snack plate

Since we didn’t get pho on Sunday, we had a snack plate instead.

  • Carrots
  • Grapes
  • Salami
  • Prosciutto
  • Rice crackers
  • Cheeses

It was tasty and fun to eat but it didn’t really fill the hole left by no pho.

Your turn, how was your holiday week?

Monday Meals: Leftover Love

Whole Roasted ChickenWelcome to the first installment of Monday Meals!  I’ll be sharing eats from the previous week and also creating a meal plan for the upcoming week.  Meal plans are a new thing for me so and I will definitely be learning as I go.  At the end of this post I will also be sharing where I purchased some of the items.

A perfectly roasted a gorgeous looking chicken provided many meals for us last week.  It was huge!  And also tasty.  I rubbed the chicken down with lard (you can use grassfed butter instead) and sprinkled that with:

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic
  • All Purpose Seasoning (Made by Simply Organic, it’s similar to poultry seasoning)
  • Dried Tarragon

I added probably a cup of chicken stock to the cast iron and let the chicken roast at 375 until it was done.  Took close to two hours for this large bird.  I also roasted some carrots and potatoes to go with the chicken.  I tossed those in olive oil and the same seasonings.   A roast chicken will make it’s own sauce and it’s delightful so do not toss those juices away.  Remove the chicken to a cutting board and bring the juices up to a simmer and reduce by half.  You’ll have lovely pan sauce to go with your meal.

We had leftovers the next day (chicken/roast veggies) and there was still chicken left!  The next day I made curry chicken salad out of the remaining chicken and served that over mixed greens.

Curry chicken saladIt’s a mayo based salad with lots of goodies inside!  I will be sharing this as an upcoming recipe.  We also had this for two lunches.  I told you it was a big bird!

Fried eggs with peppers, onions, and avocado

For breakfast one morning we had fried eggs that were topped with sauteed red peppers, onions, and diced tomatoes.  Those were sauteed in ghee and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Half an avocado sliced on the side.  This was delicious!  I love avocado and eggs paired together!

Tacos and sauteed greens

I had some leftover taco meat (beef)  in the freezer from a previous taco night so I pulled that out and made us tacos.  On the side was frozen corn and frozen chopped green sauteed up in some ghee and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic.  Just before serving I added in the leftover peppers/onion mixture from breakfast.

Breakfast tacos

There wasn’t enough taco meat left to have another taco night but I wasn’t about to toss the leftovers.  By adding in some scrambled eggs and combining the meat with the leftover greens/corn, I was able to make breakfast tacos!  You can easily extend tacos by adding in extras like corn, beans, rice, lentils, and always more veggies.  Chopped greens and shredded carrots blend in with the taco meat really well and go unnoticed.

Breakfast tacos were a hit! And I have a feeling I’ll be making these more often.

Potato, sausage, and kale soup.

Last item to share is breakfast from yesterday which used up leftovers from Saturday’s breakfast.  On Saturday we had roasted potatoes, scrambled eggs, and kielbasa.  There was left over sausage and potatoes which makes a great combo for soup! Sunday morning into a pot they went with some onions and chopped kale.  I sauteed up the onions, sausage, and potatoes in the pot first with a little bit of lard, salt, and pepper.  Added in chicken stock and brought that up to a simmer.  Then added in some finely chopped kale.  The soup simmered on the stove for about 40 minutes to give the kale some time to cook down a bit.  Perfect breakfast for a chilly and gloomy morning.

We are having leftovers of that soup this morning!

I know it’s unconventional but once you get past the notion of “American Breakfast”, (eggs, grains, pastries, yogurt) and are open to trying out new things, then you realize you can have anything for breakfast!

PRODUCTS FOR THE LOCALS:

All chicken and eggs were bought from Jodar Farms.

Beef was grassfed from Whole Foods.

PRODUCTS EVERYONE CAN PURCHASE:

Tortilla shells were 365 Brand, they have minimal ingredients.

Greens were from Whole Foods (I can find the best greens at my local WF).

All other veggies were store bought.

 

UPCOMING WEEK MEAL PLAN:

Monday: Dinner out (rare for us, we don’t go out often)

Tues: Pork chops

Wed: Chicken Legs

Thurs: Leftovers

Friday: Burgers

Sat: Leftovers

Sun: Still deciding

You can see that meal planning is a work in progress for me.  As I get more used to creating one, I’m sure it will become more detailed and possibly more attractive.

That was our week!  How was your eats last week?

 

 

Spring Clean Eats: Day 29, Steak Salad

Even though Sunday was miserable with dreary skies and wet heavy snow falling all day long, Monday was much more manageable.  It was sunny, warmer and all the snow melted.

Thank goodness!

We need to get the heck out of April and into May because I’m not enjoying the spastic weather at all.  More snow on the way Wednesday night.  Good times.

Banana, paleo scone, coconut cream

Breakfast was a crumbled up paleo scone with sliced banana and drizzled with some coconut cream!

Steak salad

Lunch was a huge salad with leftover fake’em steak’um on top.  This time when I heated up the roast beef, I added in some dijon, horseradish, and a little stock.  This made a nice little sauce that I used as a dressing for the salad.

Since lunch was late (and hefty) we had a light dinner.

Veggie tray, sausage and cheese tray

Fruit and veggie tray, some prosciutto, sliced cheddar, and some cooked sausage.  The sausage ended up having a weird texture that neither of us liked so it sat on the side mostly untouched.

Today is the last day of the challenge!  Hooray!

Spring Clean Eats: Days 26-28, Fake ‘Em Steak ‘Um

I needed a break from the computer last weekend but it was worth it because I got a chance to experiment with recipes!

The good: I experimented a lot in the kitchen and made some delicious things these past few days.

The bad: I totally forgot to take any pictures of food on Saturday.  I spaced and was more into eating than I was taking pictures.  Whoops!

BREAKFAST

Sausage, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoesDay 26: Scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, and chicken breakfast sausage.  I really like the Al Fresco line of sausages.  They are flavorful, minimal ingredients that I can pronounce, and are gluten free. If you see them out, give it a shot!  Lots of flavors to choose from.  The roasted red pepper and asiago sausage is  great on pizza!

Day 27: Unpictured but much of the same.  Replace the scramble with hard boiled eggs and add in a big bowl of mandarin oranges.

Grain free scones and baconDay 28: Paleo scones with coconut cream sauce and some bacon.  More mandarins on the side.  I experimented making the scones and they turned out really well!  I want to play around with the recipe a little more but I’m on the right track.  Finally got some bacon! I’ve been meaning to make it for ages and had the chance on Sunday morning to cook up a huge batch.

Kitchen Tip: I make 2lbs of bacon at a time.  I bake it in the oven for more even cooking and less mess.  Cooked bacon also freezes really well and can be reheated quickly and easily!  Once you have a stash of cooked bacon in the freezer, you can pull out as much or as little as you need.

No lunch on any of those days because breakfast was filling!

DINNER

Paleo Chicken Enchiladas Day 26: Paleo Chicken enchiladas!  Recipe coming up once the challenge is over.  This experiment I am very proud of!  The benefit of using paleo tortillas is that it makes the dish way more satisfying.  I couldn’t even finish two entire enchiladas and Scott was “very full” after eating his two.  Definitely will have to make double batch next time!

Day 27: You know Saturday is Odell Day!  We got a growler and some fries and sausages from Common Link.

Steak lettuce wraps and roasted asparagusDay 28: Fake ‘Em Steak ‘Ums with roasted asparagus!  Applegate sliced roast beef, when cooked in a skillet tastes exactly like old school steak ‘ums to me.  Of course, Applegate is much healthier than the questionable “beef” from the Steak ‘Um boxes.  For me personally, thin steak with caramelized onions is one of the best combos.  I rolled with that for Sunday dinner.

I caramelized some onions in ghee and some leftover bacon fat (hell yes), then I added in a pound of the roast beef that I also chopped.  Cook for a bit and added a little Worcestershire sauce.  Placed that on some romaine lettuce leaves with shredded carrot and a small sprinkle of shredded pepper jack cheese.

Dinner was filling and satisfied an old school craving.

Getting close to the end of the challenge! Two more days!

 

 

 

 

Spring Clean Eats: Days 19-21, Catching Up

I’m back!  Thanks for being patient while I was squirreled away for the weekend.  I was at the blogging conference put on by The Scoop Blogs this past weekend and when I got home in the evenings I was wiped out.  Sitting down at the computer was the last thing I wanted to do!

So I sat on the couch with Scott and the pups instead.

Let’s get caught up on the past three days!  I’m going to break this up by Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  A little easier that way.

BREAKFAST:

Blueberries, GF granola, coconut creamDay 19: Blueberries, grain free granola, and coconut cream.

Scrambled eggs, mandarin orangesDay 20: Scrambled eggs and mandarin oranges.

Scrambled eggs and sausageDay 21: Scrambled eggs and sausage

LUNCH:

Turkey, beets, asparagusDay 19: Turkey, golden beets, and asparagus.  All sauteed in ghee then I added a little splash of stock, dijon mustard, and maple syrup to create a sauce.  Delicious!

Duck poutine and 90 ShillingDay 20: Even though I was at the conference, I was still able to have Odell Day on Saturday!  Pulled Duck poutine with a maple bourbon gravy (From Common Link) and a glass of 90 Shilling.  Thanks to Kristin for being my lunch date!  Both of us were not about to pass up some duck poutine!

Day 21: An unpictured (because I was too hungry to take one) salad from Avogadro’s Number.  And a little side of sweet potato fries which were alright.

DINNER:

SushiDay 19: Sushi!  We tried out Jaws Sushi and loved it.  I had an avocado roll with cucumber and a shrimp tempura roll with avocado.  It wasn’t till after I ordered that I realized that the shrimp probably isn’t challenge friendly.  Regardless it was delicious! And I’ll probably have more. Sorry I’m not sorry.   If you’re curious Scott had their spicy tuna roll and  The After Burn roll.  He enjoyed both of those.

Chili and cheddarDay 20 & 21: Chili both nights!  I put together some chili on Saturday before I left for the conference because I knew I wouldn’t want to have to cook when I got back in the evening.  Thank goodness for prepping ahead and leftovers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Clean Eats: Day 10, Piggie Piggie

Breakfast soupUgh, I totally slept like crap the night before.  I woke up in the middle of the night and was up for four hours before falling back to sleep again.

GAH!

By the time I rolled out of bed I was feeling like I got run over.  Running was not happening as I had zero energy.

Thank goodness for breakfast soup!  A big bowl of broth hit the spot.  This had spinach and a little bit of shredded chicken in it as well.  Not the best picture I’ve taken of soup but it will have to do.

I started feeling better and 100% a couple hours later.  It took a while but I got there, the broth helped tremendously.  Back home from a meeting, I made a quick lunch for us.

taco salad

More taco salad!  This totally hit the spot.  After a late lunch, Scott went out to do errands and I plopped down on the couch with the pups.  I was feeling lazy and not motivated to do anything.  Since Scott was already out, he brought home dinner.

This became interesting and a challenge of its own.  With Spring Clean Eats, the goal is to eat high quality foods and little to no grains/empty carbs.  That eliminates a lot of places for takeout!

Scott came home with BBQ from a place just up the road.

BBQ Ribs

We had ribs, pulled pork, coleslaw, beans, and potato salad.

I was totally bummed out because the food was disappointing.  I’ve had really good BBQ before and this was just a’right.  I only had two of the ribs because they were gigantic so two was plenty. Only a few bites of coleslaw because it wasn’t very good.  The potato salad and beans were not my style.

So I was left feeling guilty that we just spent money on subpar food and I should have just made something quick myself.  Plus there’s the fact that I doubt this was a nice pastured pork, so ugh what did I just eat?

That is what I call, The Quality Food Dilemma.  Do you sacrifice quality for authenticity?  This will definitely be another topic that I bring up after the challenge so we can have a full on discussion about it.  It’s one of my on-going “food” debates  and I haven’t figured out an answer just yet.