Yes, the protein works

So, the jury's in. More protein is better (for me, at least).

I noticed a lot more hunger, cravings, and blood sugar swings when I ate less protein this past week.

But what about beans, you say?

Oy. I don't know if it was the TVP or the beans or the combo of beans + cheese but...suffice it to say, I was embarrassingly stinky yesterday. I tried some chili from a great local vegetarian place (The Quiet Storm in Bloomfield-Garfield), and the result was, well, horrific, at least for my husband and children. :)

So, flesh it is. Local, grass fed, dark meat whenever possible. I actually ate some dark meat chicken for the first time this weekend and liked it! Boy, have things changed. I used to think meat just tasted like blood. Now I am enjoying it a lot more.

We are getting half a pig from a local farmer this weekend. I will be looking for suggestions on how to cook the tenderloin, a pork roast, spare ribs, and the ham (saved for Easter/Spring Equinox, of course!). The rest is bacon, kielbassa, and loose sausage.

I do not know much about cooking meat, much less cooking hunks of pork. Bacon, I'm a pro! But something like a tenderloin is scary.

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for creamed spinach?

Nutritional typing

I regularly browse Dr. Mercola's newsletter, and I've been interested in nutritional typing for a while. I didn't want to pay for the book (sorry Dr. Mercola!), but I recently noticed that he had an online test for free!

Not surprisingly, I tested as a Protein Type - which means lots of meat, a few select low-carb vegetables, generous amounts of healthy fats and nuts, little to no fruit or sugars, always gluten-free, and with very few other grains.

Problem.

I don't like meat.

Ok, that's not true, entirely. I like SALTY, SEASONED, SMOKED meat. Bacon. Sausage. Kosher hot dogs. Venison burgers with liquid smoke.

Steak? Blecch. Chicken breasts? Dry. Dark meat? Slimy. I can't stand gristle and boingy parts. I hate the skin, I hate the chunks of fat, I hate the blood. In fact, I would be a vegetarian, if it didn't make me feel so crappy! Seafood is allowed, but I'm a little wary of seafood - between mercury, PCB's, overfishing, farmed salmon being genetically altered to eat CORN and then fed colored pellets to make their flesh pink... I just can't handle it.

I have also been interested in the Weston Price diet for a while, with the emphasis on raw dairy and grass-fed meats. Dr. Mercola is a fan of the Weston Price diet, especially for Protein Types. I'll be reading up on menu options and coming up with some interesting ideas, I'm sure!

Tonight we had scrambled eggs, thick-cut (SALTY!) bacon from the farmer's market that looked and tasted more like a ham steak, and fresh green beans with almonds and butter. I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, and a bowl full of beans, and I feel fuller and more satisfied than if I'd had a huge bowl of GF pasta (my other favorite). Maybe there's something to this.

So the question is, what kind of meals can I make out of limited amts of veggies, and mostly proteins and fats? Things like spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms (yuck), green beans, avocado, cabbage. And I just ordered half a pig from the farmer at the market, so I'm sure I will have some good pastured meat to use pretty soon.

I'm interested in using coconut oil (It works great in cake frostings instead of crisco!) and eating more nuts. And perhaps using zucchini for noodles in a pesto.

Second Challenge - Tofu, Eggs, Eggplant, Zucchini

Another weekend away, another empty fridge on Monday after work, and another zucchini from our plant in the backyard.  

"How can you tell when a man has no friends?  You see him buying zucchini at the supermarket."

How true, how true.

So I browsed through my "Simply In Season" cookbook, which is a great resource for recipes for foods that are in season or wild.  The cookbook is separated into different sections for spring, summer, fall, and winter, and there are tons of recipes for the most common foods that are in season at any given time.  I found a great recipe using marinated tofu and grilled veggies, but once I got the marinade made, I realized it would have to sit overnight.  Damn.  Back to the drawing board, at least for tonight's dinner!

Frittatas are so versatile.  You can eat them for any meal, and you can mix just about anything in with them and they still taste good.  My carton had three eggs left.  Time to stretch!  I pulled out an onion, frozen corn, and the zucchini, threw a pat of butter in a 6" cast iron skillet, chopped and added the veggies to the pan, and went back for the milk.  Double Damn!!  No Milk!!  No Cheddar!!  Not even a dried up old piece of parmesan!!!  ...  Cottage cheese?  ...  ???

Actually, it was DELICIOUS!!!  I never would have believed it.  The cottage cheese made the eggs creamy and custard-like, and its delicate flavor didn't overwhelm the vegetables.  Yes, I could even taste the zucchini.  

The most important thing about cooking this frittata was that once I added the egg/cheese mixture to the sauteed vegetables, I stirred it a few times, let it sit on the flame for just about a minute, and then stuck it under the broiler for about 5 minutes, give or take.  In the past, I have let the eggs sit on the flame for longer, resulting in a dry texture and a burned, crusty bottom.  I HATE burned eggs.  When I took the skillet off the flame sooner, the bottom was not burned, and the eggs had a much creamier texture.  It wasn't a hit with the kids though...usually they both love eggs, but they turned up their noses at this one.  There's half a pan left - we'll see if they eat it for lunch today!

I'll get back to you about the tofu and eggplant (and zucchini, I'm sure!).  I have had little to no success with cooking tofu.  I usually hate it.  But this is the first time I've marinated it, so here's hoping!

First Challenge - Zucchini and Kohlrabi

We got home from a great weekend with family at about 7pm today, and the fridge was bare! Desperate for breakfast makings, knowing how late the girls would probably sleep tomorrow (and me too!), I decided to use my first challenge ingredient in some muffins.

I had 4 cups of zucchini, so I doubled the recipe and ended up with 24 mini muffins, 18 regular muffins, and a 2x6 loaf. Yes, that's a lotta zucchini - good thing the girls ate it like candy!

Here's the original recipe from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home." There are several recipes for delicious muffins - if you eat wheat flour, I HIGHLY recommend this recipe! You can also sub out some of the white flour for whole wheat.

2 large eggs
3/4 - 1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 t. vanilla

2 c. white flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
2 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. raisins


Combine wet ingredients, then add dry ingredients JUST UNTIL MOISTENED. Fold in zucchini and raisins. Bake 10-15 min (mini muffins) or 20-25 min (regular muffins) or 30-34 min (mini loaf pan).

Now here's my adjustment. Remember, I doubled the recipe, used a GF flour mix, and cut out some oil.

4 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. applesauce
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 T. blackstrap molasses (more nutritious than regular brown sugar)
1 1/2 t. vanilla
4 c. GF flour mix (oat flour, brown rice flour, soy flour, potato starch, tapioca starch)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. xanthan gum
1 t. salt
1 1/2 T. cinnamon
4 c. grated zucchini
1 c. raisins

bake at 350 in your choice of pan.

They weren't the right texture - must adjust liquids to dry ingredients next time. They were a little wet (probably had to do with the applesauce). But I didn't mind, and the girls will certainly be eating their share!

As for the kohlrabi, I made roasted veggies. The darn moles rooted up my potatoes, so I picked all the potatoes that were sticking up above the soil (some little bitty potatoes!!), picked some kale (the slugs are after the kale, so I'd better eat it while its still there!), and found ANOTHER zucchini on my plant. I cut up the veggies and roasted them with a little olive oil and italian seasoning. The kohlrabi smelled like cabbage. I have never eaten it before, so I wasn't sure if I should peel it or just take off the leaves. We'll see! I'll let you know how that turns out.

So the question is, what can YOU do with a Zucchini and a Kohlrabi?

Welcome to The Dinner Puzzle!

I'm a big fan of those Food Network shows where the chefs are given a basket full of ingredients and told "GO COOK!" What better way to get out of the dinner rut than to challenge each other with a basket of what's-in-my-fridge-today?

THE RULES:

Once a week (or so), I'll post the challenge ingredients. You have all week to come up with something!

First, since we are gluten-free, my suggestions will all be GF. You can adapt to your situation (wheat pasta, regular pie crust, bread crumbs for coating, etc). However, with the exception of meals using rice pasta, you won't find meals built around foods containing gluten (like sandwiches or dumplings or biscuits). On the rare occasion that I include something like a roll or a biscuit, I will give credit to the author of the recipe.

Second, use whole ingredients! I'm not looking for recipes that add cheese whiz to frozen hash browns and cover with ketchup. Using grated potatoes is fine, and cheese is always appreciated! But we don't buy processed foods in general, so if pre-packaged and frozen foods are a staple of your diet, challenge yourself to try something new! Especially in this season of bountiful farmer's markets, fresh fruits and vegetables are economical and very easy to incorporate into your meals.

Third, buy local whenever you can! Its getting harder to do this, since even the farmers at the farmer's markets are getting produce from non-local sources (I found peaches in Pittsburgh in mid-June...when asked, the farmer admitted they'd been purchased from a farm in South Carolina...not my idea of local!) Think "in-season!" Are tomatoes ripe in your backyard in April? If not, then they're not "in-season," and we should look for foods that ARE ripe (or would be, if you grew them!). It is limiting, in a sense, but allows you to get the freshest, most local, most nutritious food. Plus, you'll be inspired to try new things, like kohlrabi and mulberries!

Last, all of the ingredients must be incorporated in the meal in some way. You can use whatever else you have on hand, or buy extra ingredients as necessary, but don't leave out something just because you've never heard of it or think you won't like it! I have been pleasantly surprised by how well curry sauce makes everything taste great, and how ketchup and cheese cover up mistakes...you can disguise a lot with those!

Post your recipes in the comments, and leave any suggestions for future challenges. Hopefully we'll breathe new life into dinnertime.