Author Archives: tgipaleo

Triple Meat Italian Meatballs

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There’s something to be said for a rich, hearty, tomato-saucey, meaty, Italian meal on a cold night in late spring.  Obviously a nice Chianti makes it even better.

The secret to success with these babies is the triple meat combo.  You get the juiciness and richness of the beef, fattiness of the pork, and a nice kick of flavor from the veal.  The texture is unmatched by your run-of-the mill beef meatballs and this combination of seasonings is pretty much my go-to for Italian-inspired dishes.  It’s also a very easy meal that can be prepped ahead of time if need be.  I made this batch in the morning and cooked them shortly after I got home after work.

Ah, work…I don’t miss it.  I’m functionally unemployed now that I’m officially out of the Army for good.  It’s…liberating.  Class starts in a week and a half but until then I’m catching up with family and friends.  I love living so close to loved ones for the first time since I left home.  Don’t get me wrong, I got to visit and live in some great places the last 8 years and I have so many experiences that have made me who I am, but I guess its’s time to reconnect with my inner homebody.
I will say, however, that I most definitely did NOT miss this East Coast humidity.  I walked outside yesterday morning and felt like I got body-slammed with a wall of moist heat.  Ugh.  I already miss the crisp Colorado mountain mornings…but then again I don’t miss the snot rocks.  Those are pretty painful in case you didn’t know.
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Triple Meat Italian Meatballs
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6
 

Ingredients
  • 1 lb Ground Beef
  • 1 lb Ground Pork
  • 1 lb Ground Veal
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 T Olive Oil
  • 1 t Salt
  • 1 t Dried Oregano
  • 1 t Dried Basil
  • 1 t Dried Rosemary
  • 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
  • 1 Large Onion, diced
  • 28 oz Tomato Sauce, commercial or homemade

Instructions
  1. Combine the beef, pork, veal, eggs, olive oil, and seasoning in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Gently mix everything together until just blended. DO NOT OVERMIX.
  3. Heat some oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
  4. Drop golf ball sized meatballs into the pot, browning on all sides, then remove to a plate and continue with the remaining meat mixture.
  5. When all meatballs are cooked, add the minced garlic and chopped onion to the drippings and sautee until the onions are transluscent.
  6. Add the tomato sauce and meatballs, then reduce heat to medium low.
  7. Allow the sauce to simmer for 20-30 minutes.
  8. Serve over spaghetti squash or on their own.

 

Paleo Carrot Cake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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So I’m finally back east with the fam…and just like every year, Mother’s Day and my dad’s birthday fell right next to each other and we had a nice little celebration.  Good dinner, good wine, good cake.

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Ah, cake.  My favorite dessert in the whole wide world is cake.  OK, no…it’s the frosting.  But you know, cake is the mighty vessel upon which it rests in all its gooey glory.

So carrot cake has always been my Dad’s favorite (and, incidentally, mine) so it’s seriously been the go-to every year.  No, really…every year.  So I had big shoes to fill since I’m pretty sure everyone we know has had their had some year or another…some years we ordered special from fancy bakeries…some years we totally forgot and ended up grabbing a pre-made one at Safeway…and, obviously, Mom has made more than a few and it felt like every year she’d do something a little different (nuts vs. no nuts…pineapple vs. no pineapple…etc).

I know generally how to make a carrot cake…but just like making a Paleo version of anything you love, there’s a lot of pressure not to f*ck it up when cooking for your very-not-Paleo-family..  I’m moving away from my general formula for cakes and cupcakes and muffins and other bread-y baked goods to be, you know, creative and all…and also just to experiment with texture.  I’m a huge believer in changing up your repertoire and trying new things in the kitchen since, sure…you might have a tried and true recipe for Mom’s Apple Pie that might be “good,” but not “great”?  I’ve had waaaaaay to many of someone’s mom’s or grandmothers cookies that they swore were the best ever…unmatched past, present, and future…and honestly, dude, not THAT great.  Sorry.

I based this cake recipe off of the infamous vanilla cake over at Pretty in Primal.  To date, it really is the best plain vanilla cake I’ve had, and like any good white or yellow cake recipe, you can personalize it in a million different ways.  The texture is moist…like stick-to-you-fork-moist.  Most of my cakes and muffins of old are primarily coconut flour and egg-based, which is fine, but like I said I wanted to get crazy and see what happened.

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At the very least, I knew that if the cake sucked, I could always hide it under gobs of cream cheese frosting.  That’s pretty much my solution for everything in life.

But in case you were wondering, it didn’t suck.  In fact, Dad went back for seconds and said it was one of the best carrot cakes he’d every had…period.  For a man who’d had it every year for his birthday for…a lot of years…that sure made my day :-)

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Paleo Carrot Cake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6
 

Ingredients
  • For the Cake:
  • ½ c Coconut Flour
  • ½ c Almond Meal
  • ½ t Salt
  • ½ t Baking Soda
  • ½ c Maple Syrup (or honey)
  • 2 t Vanilla
  • 4 Eggs
  • ¾ c Full Fat Coconut Milk
  • 3 Large Carrots, grated
  • ½ t Cinnamon
  • ½ t Nutmeg
  • ½ c Chopped Walnuts
  • ½ c Chopped Dates
  • For the Frosting:
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese
  • ¼ c Maple Syrup
  • 3 T Full Fat Coconut Milk

Instructions
  1. Note: This recipe made one, 9-inch cake layer that I split in two. Double the recipe for additional layers.
  2. Whisk all of your dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  3. Add the wet ingredients (except the cream cheese, extra syrup, and coconut milk for the frosting) and beat on low with an electric mixer until everything is well combined.
  4. Pour into a greased and parchment-lines baking pan.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Cool completely and frost with the Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.
  7. To make the frosting, bring the cream cheese to room temperature and beat well with the maple syrup and coconut milk.

 

The Deal on Lifting and Getting “Bulky”

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**This post is re-blogged from My Itsy Bitsy Bikini**

I f*cking HATE it when women tell me that they won’t lift don’t want to get “bulky.”  But we’ve heard the arguments against that one ad nauseum.  What I hate even more, though, is when we brush off the whining with something that I think is equally ignorant.  ”No!  You’ll look like a fitness model if you just lift heavy!  And then everything will be great!!”

That’s a damn lie.

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Let me back up.  Obviously I’m a HUGE advocate for heavy lifting and it’s the foundation of my fitness regime.  I was once one of those girls who wouldn’t even touch a 5-pound dumbbell because I was afraid of getting bigger.  I was weak and noodle-y but I fit into a size 0, so I was happy.  I loved being called skinny.  LOVED it.  Looking back, I was being an idiot, and I know that.  I started lifting heavy…then heavier…and every damn day I try to push myself a little farther.  But you know what?

I GOT BIGGER.

It’s a fact…when you’re a skinny bitch and you decide to lift, especially if you haven’t ever lifted before, your muscles will grow and you’ll gain some weight.  A lot of people, too, gain muscle faster than they can lose fat, so their lovely new musculature is hidden beneath a nice layer of fat…and this can, at least for a little while, make you look “bulky.”  No one hoists a barbell over their head and solves all of their problems instantly…we all WANT our muscles to grow and fat to disappear overnight but it takes WORK for both of these things to happen, and sometimes one happens faster than the other.  And if you were a noodle-ly skinny fat weakling like I was, **you’re going to get bigger and weigh more if you gain any muscle at all because you had none to begin with.**  You’re gonna have to get bigger pants.  Duh.  There’s a reason Crossfitters, lifters, and competitors write blogs documenting the eternal struggles and ups and downs that come with getting strong or stage ready or whatever you’re trying to do…it’s not easy, folks.

At first the increase in size…even if I was stronger and more physically capable, was not OK with me.  The scale was my only source of validation.  I went on and off weightlifting programs almost weekly because I’d gear up to get strong like the boys and then freak the f*ck out as soon as my size 0 skinny jeans started feeling a little tighter.  I’d pick up a barbell for a few days, then would be right back to running 8 miles a day.

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I was torn between wanting to be strong and curvy FOR ME and wanting to look like a movie star FOR EVERYONE ELSE.

I wanted to be skinny because that’s what I thought “beauty” was.  That’s what I thought the boys liked.  That’s what the girls looked like on TV.  That’s what I thought would make me happy…to me, my skinny jeans meant more to me than anything else.  I wasn’t afraid of getting “bulky,” I was afraid of gaining any weight, period…it could have been muscle or fat or diamonds for all I cared.  Nope, didn’t want it. And many, many more women felt and still feel the same way.  Society is a funny thing…you can bitch and moan about “crazy cultural norms” but they’re still there and they still affect you.  Sure, they change, but that’s a lengthy process that is linked to so much more than just a few internet memes.  While larger women were coveted in the middle ages, for example, for their appearance of fertility, rail thin women became the “it thing” in the late 20th century.  Now, as women are proving themselves as capable as men not just physically but professionally and sociologically, there appears to be a movement among women to appear physically strong.  It’s in its infancy, though, and that’s painfully obvious.

Be honest. At first glance, who do you find more "attractive"?
Be honest. At first glance, who do you find more “attractive”?

When I met my husband, he used to praise my “runner’s body”–basically, I was thin.  I was about a size 2 at that point and never lifted anything besides a bag of groceries.  When we got into Crossfit and I really started lifting, I gained about 10 pounds.  I didn’t like it at all, but my coaches and fellow Crossfitters turned my competitive side against me and I kept going.  I put all my jeans away and just started wearing yoga pants everywhere because I couldn’t bear the struggle it took to get me into my skinnies.  But I *looked* better, I *felt* better, and I was *stronger*.  Not an original story by any means…and it was a very lengthy process.

Men I had dated in the past would talk about how “nasty” muscular girls looked…how they looked like men…or even how they thought they were hot but that they could never date a muscular chick.  How they couldn’t date a girl who was a strong as they were (I also went to military school…and looking ack a lot of those guys had a complex…just calling it like I saw it).  It hurts even now to see stuff in the media or overhear office conversations from men who, for whatever reason, even if they’re being “nice” about it, see these women as less feminine and, frankly, undesirable.  Even my dearest, darling, loving husband looked at me with some trepidation while I was training for my first competition and asked…very nicely, in his defense…to “Please don’t get too jacked, OK?”  We have since had several arguments over whether or not women look good with 6-pack abs.  I think they’re bangin’, he thinks it’s freaky.  To each his or her own, I suppose, and I may sound like a superficial asshat right now but I don’t know many women (or men, for that matter) who are OK with the idea that their significant other doesn’t find them attractive.  I know my husband loves me with all his heart, but he has admitted to me that it has been almost as much of a process as it was for me to realize that strength in women is attractive…working out and Crossfitting and going to fitness shows has helped a lot and now we find in each other’s physical strength a source of immense pride.  He’s even writing my workouts for this round of competition prep and lecturing me on not being a wussy about some of the loads he’s prescribing…I’m a lucky lady.

But for both of us, and for so many other people, this is a change in mindset that takes time.  No, lifting will not make you look like a bodybuilder, but that is NOT what women are really afraid of.  They are afraid of stepping outside of their comfort zone and outside of what we have all been raised to think is “beautiful.”  They are afraid that while the may feel better about themselves, that others won’t.  They are afraid of the amount of commitment it takes when the rest of their lives are already so busy.  They are afraid of change.  To fall back on cabbage soup diets and running marathons and being skinny is just easier and comes with less criticism.  Remember when Kelly Rippa got slammed for being too muscular?  Ever hear that kind of nasty talk about all the skinnies who proudly tout their 5-foot-8-and-120-pound figures and talk about how much they hate the gym?  Didn’t think so.  In the media, and thus in many of our minds, that’s ”normal.”

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So, what’s the moral here?  I really can’t tell you that.  Given that I’ve been there…and I was for a long time…I don’t think it’s my place to tell you what you should do because people have to figure that out themselves.  I know what a struggle is was for me to get over my body-image issues (which a lot of people might say weren’t even a “bad” thing…) and I know that trying to force-feed a new ideology on someone surrounded by contradictory opinions is an uphill battle.  For me, it was about making a decision for ME instead of one for SOMEONE ELSE.  I STILL struggle with body image issues…trust me.  Having guys in the office talk about “nasty” female bodybuilders or make comments about my “guns” if I’m in my T-shirt still hurts, it really does.  When I have to shop for jeans three sizes up, it still hurts.  When I watch movies with a waif starlet in the leading role, I still kinda want to look like that.

But then again, I hit a new 5RM last week on my deadlift that was 30 pounds more than a previous 1RM.  I dropped the bar with a grunt…well, I think I sounded more like a beached whale.  Is I picked up my things I couldn’t help but strut my perky butt out of the room…and, honestly?  That felt pretty damned good.

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An 80/20 Project Update

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As promised, I’ve been tracking my own dietary intake to go along with my 80/20 Accountability Project.  I have my own online food journal, which you can view here.

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A couple stand outs for me this week?  That Arctic Zero I had Tuesday, protein mug brownie Thursday night, bowl of oatmeal Friday morning, and my froyo splurge Friday night.  Man, I suck, right?  Actually I’d suspect this is pretty normal.  I’d also like to point out that I’m living in a hotel at the moment and ran out of eggs ;-)

Where does this put me?  It’s inexact because you’d really have to break down the nutrient density of all these foods versus the ND of the rest of my meals during the week, but 1 non-Paleo meal (the oatmeal) and 3 snack-like items puts me at about 10-20% of my intake this weel (based on 21 meals)…so it’s safe to say I was within my 80/20 ideal.  At the end, though, it’s all about what you feel good about and what is sustainable for you…80/20 is a great perameter for maintaining good health, and your sanity.

Now I’m also gonna put my husband in the crosshairs ;-)

At the moment, Ross is in Florida with his family, and unlike me has access to a full kitchen and fridge but also has a schedule full of family gatherings.  How did he do?  Actually pretty damned good considering the location and a militantly non-Paleo family.  He was a good son, though, and insisted on making dinner for his folks every night despite protests ;-)

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Snacks

Cheats
4 Eggs, splash of milk,4 slices bacon Big Salad, Tessemae’s, Baked Chicken Leg Salmon, Brussel Sprouts Whey, Banana, Milk  
Whey Protein & Pamela’s Pancakes Big Salad, Tessemae’s, Baked Chicken Leg Meatza Whey, Banana, Milk Wine
4 Eggs, splash of milk, 4 slices bacon Big Salad, Tessemae’s, Baked Chicken Leg Steak, Sweet Potato, Broccoli Whey, Banana, Milk, Blueberries Wine
4 Eggs, splash of milk, 4 slices bacon Leftover Pork Shoulder Leftover Meatza & Pork Shoulder, Bacon   Wine (2)
Skipped 2 Baked Chicken legs, Big Salad House Salad w/oil&vinegar, Mahi Mahi Whey, Banana, Milk Corn Tortilla Chips & Salsa

Now as you can see, Ross does include dairy in his Paleo, but the only dalliances he made were some GF pancakes on Tuesday, 4 glasses of wine throughout the week, and some corn chips and salsa one night at a family dinner.  Now, again, computing an exact percentage of cheat meal to regular meal in a given week is an inexact science, let’s call this six cheats…one full cheat meal (the pancakes), four cheat drinks, and one cheat appetizer.  You can judge for yourself, but I’d call that about 15% of 21 meals for the week (based on my guesstimation of 1 whole cheat meal and the equivalent of 2 more meals out of a total of 20 meals for the week, which include PWO meals).  So that puts Ross at a very comfortable 85/15 for the week.  Good work, sweetie!

However, I do hope this first round of calculations shows you that the 80/20 principle is nothing if not subjective.  How did you do this week?  How would you have calculated Ross’s and my compliance?

My Competition Prep Log

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Hey guys!  So I made a Google spreadsheet with all my weekly meal plans and training for this bikini competition dealio in August.  The link will be available here and over on my other site.

More importantly, this is just an easy way for me to keep track of my personal 80/20 Project…I have my meal plans for the week but list all of my dalliances to the side.  Feel free to shame me.

**Competition Prep Log**

Yeah…that’s it!

A Little Explanation on the 80/20 Project

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OK, guys, here’s how I’m doing this, though you can keep track of your food however you please.  I just got a little notebook over at Safeway and started writing away.  Here’s what today looks like:

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Again, I’ll be posting Ross’s and my results each week and highlighting all of my non-Paleo foods, booze, and anything else that may not fit into “my Paleo.”  I’d love to get some from you guys to post as well.  Feel free to send yours (in any format…scanned pages, Word or Excel doc, etc…) to my email at cdulys AT gmail DOT com.

The 80/20 Accountability Project

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I originally posted on my Facebook page that I’d be doing a May Whole30–which is kinda cheating since my competition prep diet is 100% Paleo (and actually compliant with Whole30 AND 21DSD…score!).  But I also got to thinking.  I’ve had a few cousins get into Paleo lately and complete Whole30′s of their own with great success (read Aukse’s account here).  I’m so proud to have been an inspiration for my family to lead healthier lives just like my friends were an inspiration for me (Jas, I’m talking about you!).

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But any of us who have completed a Whole30, or any kind of “Paleo Challenge” for that matter, faces the inevitable–”What do I do after I’m done??”  Unfortunately, a lot of people will sing the praises of Paleo, touting their weight loss, improved sleep, clearer complexion, better bloodwork, etc.  They will tell everyone they know that “they now eat Paleo,” or “believe in Paleo” but then…will go back to all of their old bad habits anyway.  How do they justify this to skeptical family and friends who have to suffer listening to how great the Paleo diet is while simultaneously diving into the bread basket?

“All in moderation!”…”The 80/20 Principle!”…”You just have to let go sometimes!”

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I’m not perfect and I never claim to be.  No one is.  And if you think the Paleo diet is a total load of poopie, that’s fine, too.  However, what I have an issue with is this “All Talk Syndrome” that seems to fall out from so many introductory Paleo experiences.  (I’m really reminded of this video…genius, pure genius!)  I despise the justification of sh*t food choices with the whole notion of “enjoyment in moderation.”  It’s not moderation if you do it every damn day.  I mean, if that’s what you’re doing, fine, but don’t kid yourself.  When you half-ass the whole thing you’re going to get half-assed results and frankly, blabbing about how great Paleo is when you’ve gained all your weight back after the Whole30 is doing the movement a disservice.  Maybe that’s harsh, but that’s how I feel.  Equate it to someone who tells you that being Vegan changed her life but who you know for a fact eats eggs for breakfast a few times a week and scarfs Oreos daily (believe it or not, they’re Vegan-friendly).

So what’s this 80/20 business?  Quite simply, it’s a way to keep the perfect from being the enemy of the good.  While we KNOW that being 100% Whole30 compliant 100% of the time is probably the best thing for us, it’s not sustainable for most of us and that’s OK.  If nothing else, we risk harming ourselves through performance anxiety…and undue stress is just as bad for you as a crappy diet.  Mark Sisson defines the 80/20 Principle as a practical baseline…it means that 80% of everything you eat needs to be good, whole, healthy food that aligns with the principles of the Paleo diet and whatever you consider to be “Your Paleo.”  It’s a no-nonsense approach that makes it livable .  We can’t be perfect 100% of the time in ANYTHING, so why beat yourself up about it?

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HOWEVER…while 100% compliance is not expected, 100% COMMITMENT is.  Again, I have an issues (HUGE ISSUES) with people who are all like, “Oh, I just live the 80/20 Principle!” when it’s obvious it’s 50/50 at best…or like 10/90.  Or those who think this means they are “allowed” to have 20%of their dietary intake to be complete sh*t and still consider themselves “healthy.”  Yeah, you know who you are.

So how do you know if you’re living the 80/20 Principle for real?  Think of it this way…say you eat 3 meals a day.  In a week, that’s 21 meals.  80% of 21 meals is 4.2 meals.  That means that if you have 4.2 non-Paleo meals you’re living 80/20.  What do 4.2 “non-Paleo” meals in a week look like?  OK, so Monday night you get home and have a few bites from a bar of rich, dark chocolate and a single 5-ounce glass of red wine.  That’s one.  Tuesday and Wednesday you’re a good boy or girl, but Thursday your boss takes you to lunch and you grab a fresh, hot roll from the bread basket.  That’s two.  Then figure you might as well put that expense account to use and order a martini.  Three.  Friday night you go out to the bar down the street and grab a couple beers.  That’s four and five.  Then you have a plate of nachos…I’ll be nice and assume you only had a small handful, so we’re up to six.  Saturday you go out to a restaurant with your family and figure it’s time for a “cheat meal” and have a burger and fries with another beer.  Seven, eight, and nine…probably more considering restaurant portions are huge, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.  Sunday you’re totally clean and the cycle continues.  While it’s tough to really break down percentages of your total food intake, when we consider that all of these munchies and drinks are so calorie dense and nutrient poor, it’s astonishing how much space this stuff takes up inside our bodies.  For the purposes of my example, this person might be thinking they’re doing better than 80/20 but in reality, at NINE “cheats” a week, whether you want to count in terms of meals or snacks or whatever, this guy or gal is somewhere around 60/40…and that’s assuming EVERYTHING they eat besides those nine “cheats” is 100% clean and Paleo with no additives, nasty packaging, sugary condiments, nut or seed oils…I could go on forever just on the sh*t we don’t even realize we’re eating.  And worst part is, the choice of “cheats” in this scenario,while common, are all things that even in small doses are permeating your gut and inflaming your system.  I also think I should mention that “Paleo” desserts or gluten-free baked goods or whatever should be included on the Crap List.  Yeah, they’re “better” choices than a beer or gluten bomb, but they’re sure as sh*t not “good for you,” either, so don’t think you can be 100% compliant and eat Paleo brownies every day.

Is this kind of pattern at all familiar?

Paleo is only a template, and everyone needs to know what is and isn’t part of their own “Personal Paleo.”  I, for example, include raw and pastured dairy products (but not milk) but not eat white potatoes or rice in “My Paleo.”  At the moment, even, I’m on the fence about nuts…and I certainly don’t eat roasted or heat-treated nuts or nut butters of any kind.  My non-Paleo “cheats” (I hate that word) are still gluten-free because I’ve realized what gluten and most grains do to my body and I don’t like how I feel the morning after (like, I’d rather take 21 shots of tequila).  I avoid this stuff, though not 100% of the time, because I’ve realized there is almost always a better alternative.  But that’s me.  You need to figure out what’s you.  And you need to own it.

OK, so here’s my 80/20 Challenge for you (and yes, I’m doing it too and so is my husband…whether he likes it or not).  I challenge you to get a notebook or Excel sheet or whatever and record everything you eat for the next month.  Hell, just try it for a week and see what happens.  But you have to record EVERYTHING you put in your mouth.  No counting calories or macros or anything, just do what you would do normally…but write it all down.  Also, on the top of the page, define what you believe to be “Your Paleo.”  For example, on top of my page, I have written “I eat all foods traditionally defined as ‘Paleo’ as well as raw and pastured dairy products and raw natural sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, and palm sugar).”

diet journal

For the purposes of this challenge, “Traditional Paleo” equates to the Whole30 guidelines, which is why I note that I eat dairy and certain natural sweetening agents.  Also for the purposes of this challenge, things that are “acceptable treats” like dark chocolate and red wine are NOT Paleo.  ”Fringe Foods” like white potatoes, white rice, and dairy products may or may not be “Paleo” to you depending on how you tolerate them.  Make sense?

No worries, I will answer any and all questions about this whole deal.  Just leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Don’t even look back at your log entries till the end of each week, then go back and highlight anything and everything that falls outside the definition of YOUR PALEO.  Don’t worry if it’s not Whole30 or 21DSD-friendly.  This is about YOU.  This is an exercise in self-awareness, so don’t shame yourself into eating only Paleo-compliant stuff just because you have to write it down…I say again: don’t change anything, just record it.

Then do a little math.  How often are you really compliant?  This is why the longer you work on this little experiment, the more accurate it will be.  I’ll show you my and Ross’s diet logs and you can share yours.  Hopefully it will be an eye-opening experience for you.  Are you really 80/20?  Maybe you’re a superstar and have 90/10.  Maybe you’re 70/30, 50/50…or less…and didn’t realize it.  Here’s your chance to know yourself a little bit better and troubleshoot as you see fit.  If you’re 50/50 and can live with that, cool, but at least you’ll know.  Honesty, especially to oneself, is really what matters.

Texas Toasts

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Did this just blow your mind?

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Good.  I know real Texas Toast is only available in a plastic bag and is probably made of sawdust, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the perfect ingredient for grilled cheese, french toast, or…well…anything that needs bread.  I did a quick Wikipedia search, though, and found that traditionally, a” “Texas Toast” really is is thick slices of white bread slathered in garlic butter and grilled.  Um, ok.  I can do that.

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Texas Toasts
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 1 loaf TGIPaleo Bread 2.0 (http://www.tgipaleo.com/2013/01/27/tgipaleo-bread-2-0/)
  • ½ c Butter
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • ½ t Onion Powder
  • ½ t Dried Chives
  • Oil, for frying/grilling

Instructions
  1. Cut the loaf into thick slices, about 1-1.5 inches.
  2. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl and stir in the garlic, onion powder, and chives. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
  3. While the butter is infusing, heat some oil in a grill pan over medium-high heat.
  4. Brush the bread slices with the garlic butter and grill about 2-3 minutes on each side, until nice and crispy and brown.
  5. Serve with soup, salad, runny eggs, or whatever you so desire!

 

Vanilla Maple Glazed Pork Chops

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So who’s in the mood for a giant hunk o’ meat?  No wussie pork chops here…even though they’re showing their sweeter side.

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Oh, and as an added bonus this meal only takes 30 minutes…probably less.  And there’s only six ingredients, counting the salt.  How cool is that?  I was debating whether or not to post this since it’s not exactly Whole30 or 21DSD friendly and I know a lot of people are detoxing before summer rolls around, but I couldn’t resist.  If nothing else I think this would make a KILLER meal for your first day after you’re done.  Much better than destroying your decade old twinkie stash, no?  I mean, it’s a big juicy pork chop, slathered with maple syrup that carmelizes all over in the oven.  You get some sweet, some salty, some savory…and just trust me, you’ll want some sweet potatoes on the side.  All the drippings from te pork and syrup just get soaked up by the potatoes like a sponge.  You’ll thank me, I promise you.

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Vanilla Maple Glazed Pork Chops
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Serves: 2
 

Ingredients
  • 2 Large Bone-in Pork Chops
  • 2 T Coconut Oil
  • 1 t Salt
  • 2 T Maple Syrup
  • ¼ t Cinnamon
  • 1 t Vanilla

Instructions
  1. Heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Sprinkle the chops with salt on both sides.
  3. Sear the chops on both sides (3-ish mins per side, till lightly browned).
  4. Remove the chops to a baking pan.
  5. Whisk the vanilla, cinnamon, and syrup together.
  6. Drizzle the syrup mixture over the chops.
  7. Finish the chops in a 425 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Yummmmmm.

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