OH cod!
11 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Dining In Tags: cod, paleo dessert, vinaigrette
I’ve been scratching my head for a few days wondering what I was going to do with the leeks I got from the veggie delivery. I’ve never cooked with leeks so I googled “paleo leeks” and came across this recipe from paleofood.com. The frozen salmon at the commissary puts an incredible sadness in my heart (frozen and grey salmon is a catastrophe for an Alaskan girl), so I opted for cod ($3.99 a box).
2 boxes of Colesons Catch Cod Fillets (thawed)
juice of a lemon
juice of a lime
1 tsp grated ginger
I marinaded this on my counter top while I boiled sliced asparagus ($6.04) and the sliced leeks. I boiled the greens for about 3 minutes (until I could smell them) and then threw them in an ice bath. I laid the asparagus and leeks down on my stone, removed the cod from the marinade and set it on top. I baked it at 450 for about 25 minutes.
For a side a threw together a small salad. I used lettuce I had bought from a stand off of gate 2 street on my way to crossfit (it was on the left hand side before the turn to the zoo). THREE heads of lettuce for 100y! 2 of them were iceberg and one was a lot darker (perfect for roll ups). I also used cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives and avocado. I even made my own vinaigrette!!!!
1 clove garlic minced and then massaged with garlic salt to make a paste
1 tsp the red pesto
1 tsp the green pesto
1.5T red wine vinegar
1.5T balsalmic vinegar
My son stirred the vinegars, pestos and garlic with a fork in a pint glass while I drizzled in the olive oil. It made just enough for 5 salads.
DESSERT!
A super special friend bought our family a ZOKU for Christmas this year. It sat under my cabinet for about a month until I finally pulled it out and read the directions!!! Bottom line- if you have kids and are attempting a paleo (or slightly healthy) lifestyle- this is an awesome dessert option!
I cut the coconut milk with water to thin it out a bit and put it in a re-used water bottle for easy pouring. I also processed frozen raspberries and did the same for them. I chopped up some 86% dark chocolate (thank you Jessie) and put it in the coconut layer. I did this while I was waiting for the cod to bake… now we off to karaoke… enjoy your weekend!!!!!
Tootles- jess.
Lessons
08 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Dining In Tags: beef jerky, chicken, margarita
Finally recovered from one of the busiest weeks of the year! Had some good lessons learned from the last week…
1. Paleo Margaritas (I used Patron) not supposed to be consumed is mass quantity. The first one tasted “not that bad”, the second through the fifth were super good, but the six one made me feel like there was an acid volcano slowly burning me from the inside. Too much of a good thing is not always a good thing: lesson learned!
2. Saturday night we had a nice simple dinner: Steak on the webber with spices and I took a hand full of fresh green beans from the commissary, wrapped them in bacon and baked them at 350 for 30 mins. The following night I had 5 beautiful chicken breasts I had bought from San A over by the Sunabe Sea Wall. I stared at them for 10 minutes trying to think of something to make. Finally, I came up with it: STUFF the chicken with the green bean & bacon! It was AMAZING! We through on some hickory chips to add a smokey flavor and it was a huge hit! Nothing is actually “left-over”: lesson learned!
3. A few weeks ago we took my youngest son to the doctors to get a sports physical. I’ve always thought my boy was big, but in a cute kind of way. The doctor said he was cute in an “obese” kind of way. If you are a parent, then you know how hard it hurts your heart to have your child labeled. I knew if I took the time and effort I have done for myself and my body and apply that to my son, I will eventually see results. This week is the first week of tightening up my kids eating to follow mine. Sunday night we had a spiral ham from the commissary, on Monday morning I took the slices and cut them into hearts. I added a small baggie of grapes, 2 slim-jims and a waterfall caprisun. This lunch was a HUGE hit with my son… however, after a friendly nudge from a friend, I really realized how over processed the tiny little slim-jim can be. Monday night we marinaded a beef flank steak and dehydrated it over night: homemade Paleo beef jerky! Even little good things can turn out to be not very good: lesson learned.
Challenging
29 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Dining In
Its a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Okinawa. Outside the breeze is soft and there are smiles everywhere. Our screen doors are open and Im preparing for another week. Im hoping the sunshine is foreshadowing the week ahead, cause I know its going to be a doozy!
If you don’t know me already, I work 40 hours a week in Naha and spend 10 hours a week on 58 getting to and from the best job in the world. I have three children, two of which are in touch football, all of which are the lemon to my lemonade. My husband is apart of a small squadron who has a group of wives I like to call my sisters. My husband is my rock, my glue, my taste tester, my date night companion and most of all my dearest friend. Im busy. Really. Freaking. Busy. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
This week is going to be a challenging one because the first man of my life, my Dad, is coming to town. Im not your typical daddys girl, but my dad is as good as they get! I’ve learned everything I know about sports and a good portion of life because of him. But, when it comes to food him and I have almost zero in common! Hes a good ol’ Minnesota boy who loves his meat and potatoes! I planned my menu this week and this is what Im planning…
T: spaghetti (1 w/ noodles & mine w/ squash)
W: BBQ chicken (mine will be marinaded and everyone else’s will have BBQ sauce)
Th: roasted chicken & veggies
Im not ashamed or uncomfortable of how I eat, I just know I cant teach this old dog new tricks! I know some of you have children and or friends and struggle with them eating paleo. I totally understand. For me, I would rather boil a pot of noodles for my dad because of two reasons, 1: more spaghetti squash for me and 2: its a respect thing. Im chosing to live this way because I believe this is what works for me.
I am not 100% paleo 100% of the time. I want to clear the air about that right now!!! Over the past year I would say I’ve been 40-60% paleo. But, now that this lean up challenge started, Im as 100% as I’m gonna get! Paleo is easiest if your prepared… I’ll pick you up tomorrow, Dad. Im ready for ya!
Toodles- jess.
Veggie Express
27 Jan 2012 5 Comments
Last week I read a post on the facebook pacifically paleo page about a company who delivers fresh fruits and vegtables from around the island. I did a bit more research and decided to give it a go!
The website is very easy to navigate and you can even use pay pal! They only have specific places and times for pick-up, but with a little work from Trisha, she talked them into delivering to crossfitasia! (warning: if you use this service and don’t pick your veggie/fruit box asap- it will end up in Jamies tummy!!) I ordered mine online, with paypal, on a Weds and it was delivered the following Weds- too easy!
After the super hard wod I went through my veggie box with other athletes, Jamie and Keiko.
Paleo Chicken Meatballs
25 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Dining In
Disclaimer: When Jamie asked me to guest post on the blog (I almost peed my pants!) I asked him: What guidelines he’d like me to stick to? I find I tend to go back & forth between Paleo/Primal depending on my current needs. Am I trying to lean up? Am I growing another human being? These things contribute to my diet & change what I eat depending on what’s going on. Jamie said: No guidelines, just tell the truth. So here it is. I’m not a nutritionalist, I don’t hold any degrees & I certainly don’t consider myself an authority on anything. I encourage you to discover what works for you in regards to your personal diet & don’t eat something just because I do. I’d just be thrilled to know you liked what I posted, it got you thinking & because of it, you decided to try it your own way! What do I know, anyway?
So I’m always looking for new recipes & sometimes I come across things that sounds pretty good but aren’t exactly Paleo/Primal friendly. I don’t let a list of ingredients stop me! I just try & tailor them & keep what I do eat & maybe find substitutes for what I don’t. I found this meatball recipe from Smitten Kitchen & thought I’d give it a go.
We served our chicken meatballs w a side of spaghetti squash! To cook your squash, you can just half it & place it rind side up on parchment paper on a baking tray. Since you’ll be needing the oven at 400 degrees, just give your squash about 35 minutes to cook, the meatballs will be sharing about 25 minutes of oven time so plan accordingly. :)
Here’s my ingredient list (all found at Kadena Commissary unless noted):
2 12 oz chubbs Organic Prairie ground chicken
3-4 strips of bacon, chopped (you could use prosciutto or even Canadian bacon)
1/2 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced (more or less depending on preference)
1 egg
2 Tblsp tomato paste
3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/4 C coconut flour
Salt & pepper to taste (less salt if you used prosciutto)
*1 Tblsp of coconut oil depending on how fatty your bacon is
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Chop bacon & fry it up till it’s nice & brown. (I actually keep my bacon in the freezer & it makes it easier to cut as needed). Depending on how fatty your bacon is, you may or may not need to add the coconut oil. I used Burgers’ Smokehouse bacon steak which didn’t produce as much grease as I’d hoped. Throw in your onion & garlic & make sure that garlic doesn’t burn! Use the coconut oil if you need & fry them up till they are nice & soft.
Once the bacon, onion & garlic are ready, throw them in a large bowl w all the other ingredients & get ready to get your hands dirty! Combine everything till all the ingredients are pretty evenly distributed & then roll them into balls (a little smaller than golf ball size) & place them on parchment paper on a baking tray. This ended up making about 28 meatballs for me, which was great bc I used the leftovers (there weren’t many!) for the kid’s school lunches the next day.
Cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then give the meatballs a little flip & cook for another 10. Adjust your cooking time to the size of the meatballs. I can’t be held responsible for consuming undercooked food. :)
While all this is going, I made a nice little marinara using, literally leftover ingredients I had in the fridge. If this is too much work, you could certainly use a jar of sauce (or none at all) but make sure you are reading your labels as marinara sauce *can* contain lots of added sugar!
Marinara sauce:
1-2 Tblsp EVOO
1/4 onion, chopped
1/4 carrot, chopped
a few garlic cloves, minced
2-3 basil leaves, chopped
28 oz can of organic Muir Glen diced tomatoes
1 Tblsp tomato paste
salt & pepper
Saute your onion, carrot, garlic & basil in EVOO till nice & soft. Then throw in everything else & bring to a boil. Once it’s boiled, simmer on low till you’re ready to use it. Obviously, this would taste better the longer it simmers but it was literally an after thought on my part. You could start the sauce before you even make the meatballs! Combine everything on a plate & pat yourself on the back!
This recipe is husband & kid approved.
—Trisha
Plan Ahead
21 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Dining In
In a perfect world, I would have a kitchen big enough to do a few travelling burpees in. I’d have a pantry where I could practice my handstand pushups. I’d use my deep freezer as a box jump. But, chances are your kitchen setup resembles mine: small. And you know what they say about small things… you’ve got to get creative!
The first thing I noticed about Paleo was how much actual cooking was involved. The second was how many dishes I could dirty trying to get dinner to the table. But, back to the cooking… I have always been a planner. When I was growing up my dad used to say, “always have a plan, that way you always have something to change”. I love that quote and use it in every aspect of my life, especially in the kitchen!
The weekend is when I do a lot of my planning. Mostly because all 5 members of my household are in one central location… tugging at my leg asking, “whats for dinner”??!!! I usually plan a week of meals and do the grocery shopping over the weekend. Im the head chef in my family and thank Lord Baby Jesus my husband is the worlds least pickiest eater!!! So, here it is Saturday afternoon and I have started my menu for the week…
Sat: commissary sushi for the family (Momma gets to eat out again… I feel a blog a brewing)
Sun: B: taco omelet w/ garlic chives. L: Tahini Chicken Salad (pg 73 in the Primal Blueprint Q&E). D: Chicken w/ almond coconut dipping sauce (pg 175) and daikon, carrot and brocolli slaw (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Daikon-Carrot-and-Broccoli-Slaw-240679)
Mon: B: bacon and eggs. L: left overs. D: Ginger beef Salad (http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/06/09/ginger-beef-with-mango-salsa/)
Tue: B: steak and eggs (left over steak from the night before). L: leftovers. D: Pork chops and greens (http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/03/15/dads-pork-chops/)
A huge thing that has helped me in planning my meals out is a tool on my mac computer. On the top left theres a pair of glasses (reading list). When I find a recipe Im going to use, I add it to the list. That way, when Im making dinner, I know where I found it. Also, writing out my meals and needed ingredients really helps. Oh, and not taking my kids… that helps too!!
So, theres the plan for the next few day (subject to change). On Wednesday I am picking up my first package of vegetables from http://okinawaislandproduce.com/. Ill hopefully make a menu for the rest of the week that night along with another entry about the yummy goodness I get!
Sea Garden
20 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Dining Out Tags: grilled lamb, lamb chops
This week I had the opportunity to attend a dinner with wives from my husbands squadron. It just so happened to be a going away dinner for a member/ trainer at crossfitasia: Jewel. Since she is such a classy girl, we had her dinner at Sea Garden on the Sunabe Sea Wall. We made our reservations for a party of 8, but they made room for another one at the last second. We made the reservations the night before, but I warn you- if you plan on dining over a weekend- call a week or two in advance! The atmosphere is laid back and classy. The menu is small, but every single item looked divine (pictures included)! The prices, I think, were reasonable. I ordered an appetizer, a dinner and a drink and it was about $50 (I used my card, but they take yen cash too). The sunsetting behind the Japanese airliners as they were sailing through the sunset was free. Worth it in my book!
Since Im still hanging onto the learning curve of eating Paleo, I tried to order “paleo-ish” items. I knew sushi, edamae, and the fondue were not a good option so I went with the carpaccio for an appetizer. I’ve never had “raw beef” before, but Im sure it was Paleo approved (the sauce on the side maybe not so much)!!! My culinary explanations are a bit on the unexperienced side, but Im going to use the word “chewy” to describe the carpaccio. It was thinly sliced, but the slices were large. It was hard to cut it into two and it wasn’t very pretty trying to chew the whole thing at once.. there went my attempt at being classy! The other word I’ll use to describe the raw beef was “good”! Ill definitely order it again both at this restaurant and at others… now that I know what it is!
My dinner was the “grilled lamb”. I’ve never had lamb before (we didn’t have many lambs where I grew up). With eating Paleo I’ve learned that there are more options than just chicken, steak and bacon. The grilled lamb were lamb chops and they resembled pork chops, but the meat was much more tender and incredibly tasty! The lamb was served with beautifully sliced veggies and some baked potato wedges.
The meat might not have been grass fed and the veggies might not have been organic, but you can definitely eat paleo-esque, enjoy a beautiful sunset and if you are so lucky to have great company- it’s an all around win!
