New deliciousness

So my husband and I have begun to reintroduce certain things to our diet slowly (potatoes, etc.)  It's been a welcome change and if I'm honest a little easier on the budget -  (have you SEEN how much quinoa is?!)

I'm a few posts behind on the recipe sharing so this post will get a bonus recipe! (YAY!) It's cold outside so this Sausage, Kale, and Spaghetti Squash recipe was an answer to my hungry tummy.  It's really easy to make - we used turkey sausage (spicy) to mix it up and it's really tasty (and less greasy than traditional sausage.)  You'll want to make sure that the squash is cooked well, otherwise the consistency will be nothing like pasta and hard to eat with a fork.  The great thing about this meal is that it's really cost effective - 1 spaghetti squash feeds 2 adult people!

Last night we hosted my little brother, whenever he's over I like to include him in cooking, he loves it and he's learning fast! This Meatloaf Recipe is not your momma's meatloaf - trust and believe! I say this because every meatloaf I had growing up tasted like a misshapen hamburger.  This one is yummy because it has the ketchup based glaze that I relished from my mom's meatloaf as a kid but with a twist! We again used ground turkey and believe me when I say, you would never know the difference! The consistency is so rich in flavor and the texture is even more moist than the traditional beef that you will just die! (disclaimer:  You won't really die, just me being silly!)

The little 11 year old hands of said little brother were best used mixing the meatloaf although he did also learn (with the tender patience of my sweet husband) how to cut an onion.  Things you don't realize until they're happening:  little people can't use big knives - onions are hard to cut with small pairing knives - kids cutting one onion could take up to 15 minutes per onion.  Lord help my patience levels, Allen is a natural and the most patient person alive - maybe it will wear off on me the longer we're married ( here's hoping!)

Last but certainly not least is a recipe I thought I'd share as I will probably be making it this weekend! 5 layer greek dip is a fancy name for hummus with veggies and it is so YUM! It's also on the approved list of things I can eat on this paleo-inspired diet.  If it's your cheat day (like it will be mine) you can serve (read:  inhale) these with warm pita squares which I HIGHLY recommend.  If you're not on your cheat day, it's great with any crudete! I prefer to serve this warm rather than chilled, it's a textural thing for me, but make sure that you DO refrigerate it once you're done!

Love to all, happy cooking, and let me know what you think!

Detox soup.....

Ok so full disclosure, I didn't love this soup.  Let's preface this post with that.  I think the cabbage was too much for me so I definitely recommend 2 things:

1) Chop your cabbage really fine
2) Use only a quarter of a cabbage

That being said, it did make me feel cleaner after eating it.  I also don't recommend eating this soup at work.  The recipe says it lasts 4 days if you eat it for lunch and dinner - my husband and I both had it for lunch and dinner and it lasted us about 2.5 days...that is, it doesn't leave you going back for me.

Now before anyone goes all "But Christiana - beans aren't paleo!!!" on me - yes, I know, but we're not going completely paleo as I've mentioned before.  We're doing mostly paleo but there are things that paleo allows (such as potatoes) that we originally weren't consuming and there are things that paleo does NOT allow (such as legumes) that we are consuming.

All of this included in this blog to give you our update:

We're eating potatoes again!!!!! *let the saints rejoice*

So my week started off kinda blah - with the detox soup that I hated, then to a job interview that they told me (after the interview) that the position wasn't available and never was...to me crying in my office because I felt like my punishment was the detox soup.  I know, I know, crazy emotional week.

So I made these little joys for dessert!

These are PaleOMG deliciousness and made my sadness a little better.  Husband has also been super supportive as I continue to search for a job that will afford me the opportunity to use my clinical social work skills.  In the meantime, community outreach, fundraising, music teaching, and food blogging it is!

Message of the day:  if life is sad, make desserts!

Xoxo

Today's post inspired by all things paleo:  day four of our lifestyle change.

After working a late shift last night, I absent-mindedly forgot to pack lunch for myself today.  As soon as I realized this fact, I panic'd because...well...what can I actually eat at a local lunch spot now? I went to one of my favorites, Smokin' Wolf in Amagansett Click here for their menu! whose salads I have worshiped (and posted about on Facebook) from the first bite! And guess what? I found something I could eat that was actually tasty! Yay! Small victories folks.  The South of the Border salad is just plain YUM with carmelized pulled chicken, roast corn, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, over greens, I had it sans the traditional corn tortilla it usually sits on and OMG.  Have I said yum?! You should go there if you're local, $8.75 for a lunch special and their portions are huge! Just sayin'

All of that to say, my husband and I have happily settled on a "cheat day" once a week.  Also hurray! But in the meantime, I have reinforcements.  My friend who is also paleo has graciously shared his brownie recipe with me! Score! So excited for warm flourless brownies tonight I can't even! And because it's been requested that I share more recipes, I'll give you a bonus:  Monday night's dinner was this delicious One Pot Burrito Bowl that we modified to be paleo and it's delish!

Lastly, because I'm generous I will share this exciting new brownie recipe with you, only I haven't tried it yet, so if it's not awesome, it's not my fault.

Flourless Chocolate Brownies

4 eggs
1/4 c coconut oil melted
1/3c maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla
1c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp apple sauce 
1/2 really ripe (black skinned) banana 
Mix really well
Pour in a 8x6 loaf pan bake at 350 for 15-20 mins

Can't wait to try it! Thanks to all of my super supportive facebook friends! Your comments keep me smiling (and writing.)

Love to all, sugar and spice!

The power of a good song is an incredible thing.  My year of birth was 1987 and as such I consider myself more of a child of the 90's than anything; I played with slinky's, play-doh, climbed trees, watched shows like Gummy Bears, Doug, and The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh....but the soundtrack of the 90s is something I've never left behind.

My husband is funny, whenever he sees anything that looks like it may be an ASPCA commercial he sings, "So tired of the straight line" - so sad that this is how Sarah McLachlan is known these days.  This took us on a sing-along adventure last night, singing and listening to some 90s favorites and inspired my all-day listening of Pandora's Sarah McLachlan station.  Songs like McLachlan's "Sweet Surrender" "I Will Remember You" and yes, even "Angel" bring me back every time.  But the 90s was so much more than that, so I thought I'd list a few of my favorites here (feel free to add to the list in the comment box!)

"Insensitive" - Jann Arden
"Stay (I Missed You)" - Lisa Loeb
"I Love You Always Forever" - Donna Lewis
"As I Lay Me Down" - Sophie B, Hawkins
"Crush" - Jennifer Paige
"You Get What You Give" - New Radicals
"Bittersweet Symphony" The Verve
"Linger" - The Cranberries
"Feels Like Home" - Chantal Kreviazuk
"I Don't Want To Wait" - Paula Cole

It remains that anything from "Surfacing" will bring me back to a much simpler time, when my favorite pass time with running through the sprinklers or sitting in my favorite "reading tree,"  A time before there was such a devil thing as quinoa.

Ahhhh nostalgia.  You are missed.  And now the theme from Dawson's Creek (also missed!) will be going through my head all daaaaaay....doo doo doo doo doo doo

New Beginnings

Happy New Year! A year of new beginnings!

2014 was pretty awesome for me, to recap (totally out of order:)

• I MARRIED THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, my wonderful husband in October!
• We moved back to my hometown, a little beach community, in a little house across from the water
• Hubbins (what I call my amazing man) got a new job right up the road from us!
• I got a new supervisor at work who's kind and supportive
• I GRADUATED WITH MY MSW!!!!
• I PASSED MY LICENSING EXAM!!!!

And now, for the newest addition....drumroll please...we're eating clean in 2015! Yes, I meant that to be cutesy/rhymey....DUN DUN DUN!

What does that mean you ask? Well, *sigh* it means that for the next three months, Hubbins and I will no longer consume the following:

• added sugars (anything not occuring in a fruit, etc.)
• gluten (including potatoes *sniff)
• red meat
• pork
• anything fun....kidding....kind of...

I have my vices I will not give up, including my coffee creamer that I only drink at home and only on the weekends.

"Why would one do this to themselves?" You may ask. Well, many reasons.  For him it's because he wants to practice more portion control (specifically with sweets.)  For me, it's because I gained a significant amount of weight in grad school and well, it's not budging.  For both of us, it doesn't hurt that we ate alot of baked goods over the holidays and we need to get off the sugar train.

So here we go...*deep breath*...we're on day 2 now of this lifestyle change.  I'm trying to not call it a diet because, well, I hate that word, I mean it has the word "die" in it, right? Who wants to do that? No fun.  Also not fun? Ignoring my cook books and pinterest boards that contain some of the yummiest baking and cooking ideas I've discovered.  *sigh*

So over the next few months at least, a lot of my posts will probably be about food and what we're discovering on this new lifestyle change together.  Yesterday was day 1 (which you probably figured out by today being day 2...) and the migraine started around 2AM this morning...I'm assuming sugar withdrawl?

I made a "yummy" chicken, broccoli and quinoa caserole Recipe - Click here! for dinner.  I put "yummy" in quotation marks because it probably is, I just DESPISE quinoa.  When I was a kid we kept birdseed in the house to, well, feed the birds and that's what I think quinoa is.  Millet.  Yuck.  Anywho, I'm not really selling this recipe well, the taste was delicious, and if you don't mind the texture of quinoa (which I most certainly DO!) then you will love it.

For dessert/breakfast I made These delicious carrot oatmeal cookies .... to help with the sugar cravings.  They're yummy! Not very sweet and nothing like my delicious buttery Ina Garten oatmeal raisin cookies (that I'm not totally craving.) But still, they're good!

Now, I know what you're going to say "but Christiana, neither of these recipes are gluten-free!" Ok, you're right, I used whole wheat flour in both recipes, but they could be substituted with any GF flour you like.  I just didn't have any at home and I want to use up what ingredients I still do have.

Hope you enjoy reading this and coming along this journey with me!