Movies

Have any of you seen the movie "Avatar"? I saw it in 3D over the holidays with my brothers and Dad, and I really liked it.

But why am I talking about this here? What does it have to do with food? Not much! But the way the Na'vi scampered about in the forests reminded me a lot of the whole MovNat and primal movement concepts. Very cool! I found myself getting really antsy in my theater seat and wanting to go run through the woods or climb trees or jump on a giant pterodactyl's back and fly around...

OK now I am crazily rambling! But any of you see Avatar and have similar thoughts?

Happy New Year!

Hi all! Happy 2010!

The holidays are finally over and if we've been bad we can now join the rest of America on New Year's Day and vow to eat right, work out, and take care of our health. Resolutions, right? If you are anything like me, you might think New Year's resolutions are sort of a waste of time. For instance, almost every year one of my resolutions is to cut back on my potty mouth cussing. Well, as I often say - that one never fucking lasts long! hah!

But hey, if the fresh year makes you assess your health and vow to take better care of yourself, then I wish you good luck in sticking to those goals!

Since I have been traveling a bit and working too much, I haven't had time for any creative recipes lately. But I did learn something during this party season which I will share with you!

Since I don't have any food photos for ya, here's a goofy pic from NYE!

I had been doing intermittent fasting a lot over the past two months, and it was going well. However, in thinking back, I came to an interesting realization. In this party season I seemed to be partying TOO HARD! It seemed that whenever I would go out drinking I would get a little more tipsy than I usually prefer. I thought that I was just being too wild and enjoying myself too much until I realized that I wasn't really drinking more than usual. I was just getting more drunk more quickly.

The genius that I am, I put 2+2 together and recognized that I was fasting and drinking! Sure I was eating, but apparently not enough and not the right things to prevent "sudden onset drunkness". I would have maybe 1-2 drinks and it would suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd go from being a little bit buzzed to wasted within the span of 2-3 sips.On the plus side - my bar tabs were pretty cheap! haha!

Anyway, so I realized this before New Year's Eve and vowed to eat something substantial that day before going out to a big party. I was up in San Francisco and enjoyed two big meals that day and even ate some risotto at dinner which I thought would help to prevent "SOD". The good news - it did. The bad news - it did. I was too full from dinner to even want to drink alcohol at the party. haha!!! That'll show me, trying to be all clever!

Happy New Year my friends! Some new recipes coming soon...I promise!

Time to be good

Hi all! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Only one more holiday to go (New Years) and then we can all get back on track with our healthy habits, right?

I've had pretty much a full week of eating random crap and I need to get back on the wagon! I'd say about 75% of the time I ate primally, but that 25% is finally catching up to me. Saturday afternoon I started to seriously feel like ka ka. I decided I need to fast in order to not look like a bloated whale in my NYE dress! ha!

Here are two healthy things I cooked this weekend: chicken breasts and a shrimp salad.

The chicken breasts are a recipe I have been making for a long time now. It's kind of a variation on chicken piccata. I pound the chicken until it is an even thickness then brown in a pan. When it is done I remove the meat and add olive oil, chopped garlic and fresh rosemary or thyme to the pan. Turn off the heat, add some lemon juice to deglaze and a big blob of butter. This makes a nice pan sauce. Sometimes I add capers, but I prefer it without. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. YUM!

The shrimp salad is simple, just saute the shrimp quickly in a pan in olive oil, lemon zest, thyme and garlic. The dressing for the salad is raw garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

For these two recipes I used some meyer lemons. Have you had these before? They are soooo yummy! A little sweeter than regular lemons, with a lovely floral fragrance.

Anyone else back at work? I feel like everyone else is on a two week vacation. It works for me because traffic is so light - woo hoo!!!

Have a great Monday!

I've been bad

Time to come clean...I've been bad! The fun with friends and holiday parties are just too enticing!

But you know what? I don't have a real problem with it. It hasn't been that difficult to get back on track after a dessert-eating or wine-drinking festival. And I lost a pound last week so it can't be all bad! Woo hoo! For the most part I have been eating very well during the week and having a little fun on the weekends. And it HAS been fun!

Temptation...I can't resist

I hope you all are doing well coping with the holiday treats! Have a great Monday!

Lamb again!

Happy Tuesday my friends!

I haven't been very creative in the kitchen lately, work has been busy and I've been getting home late. Hopefully after the holidays I'll have more time for cooking fun!

But here is a simple dinner from last night - lamb sauteed with onion and zucchini. I ate it with some red pepper artichoke tapenade type of thing. It was ok. I mean, the tapenade part was only ok, the lamb part was fantastic! haha!

It would have been delicious with some red wine but I am avoiding alcohol until New Years Eve. I plan to consume copious amounts of champagne and am preparing myself! hehe!

I hope you are all having fun with holiday gift shopping - I personally hate it with a passion. I also hate christmas music. I know, I know I am a horrible heartless person...

Have a great day! :)

Happy Hanukkah!

Hi my friends! Happy Hanukkah!

I'm getting this post up a little late, sorry!!! Should have been Friday, oops!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Friday night was the start of Hanukkah and as with most holidays there is a food component. One tradition of Hanukkah is to eat fried foods to remind us of the miracle of one days' worth of oil lasting eight - keeping the temple's flame lit.


So foods fried in oil, us primal eaters can do that, right? We like our fats! But one traditional food for the holiday is latkes, which are a sort of potato pancake/fritter. Being pretty starchy, potatoes aren't really topping the list of good primal foods. Some recipes also add flour to the mix.

One way to make latkes more paleo/primal friendly is to make them with sweet potato or parsnips or other root veggies which are less starchy. I love these variations!

At our family celebration this weekend I ate a few latkes topped with applesauce and they were yummy! However, I also enjoyed another traditional food which is not at all primal - sufganiot - Israeli jelly doughnuts. But who can resist a homemade doughnut straight from the fryer? Not me. They are yummy!!!

Goofing around with my brother before the doughnut attack

I prepared for this feast of grease and starch by fasting. I've talked about fasting a little in the past, but I just have to reiterate that it is a great way to keep your diet under control. Ideally, you would fast and then eat a wonderful primal meal. But it can also be useful for planned indulgences, like holiday feasts. I find it also works the day after the feast to kind of cleanse your body and get your mind back on track to healthy eating.

How are you all doing this holiday season with the many parties and gatherings revolving around food and drink? Are you staying on track? What are your tips and tricks?

Have a great day!

Halibut and mushrooms

Good morning my friends! How is everyone today?

Last night I made a delicious dinner of halibut with oyster mushrooms and a nice salad. I sauteed the oyster mushrooms in copious amounts of butter with garlic and thyme, then added a little grated cheese which browned up in the pan - YUM! Then I quickly seared the halibut which I had sprinkled with salt, pepper and lemon zest. When it was done, a squeeze of lemon juice over the top.

On another topic, I tried a funny social experiment this morning while driving to work. Do any of you have to drive to work through traffic? I usually have to sit in stop-and-go traffic for at least 30 minutes each morning. So today I thought hey, I'm going to blast my music (with the windows up) and crazily dance my ass off every time I am stopped at a traffic light or in gridlock. The social experiment was on the other drivers. They would totally stare and watch me - but as soon as I turned to look at them, they would quickly look away, even if I grinned at them! I wonder why that is? Do they think I am crazy and they are afraid? Are they embarrassed - for me or for watching me? I was hoping that at least one person would smile or wave or dance along with me...!

Anyway, it was a fun and funny experiment, and I'm going to try it every day! :) Anyone out there weird enough to try it with me?

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Rainbow!

Just thought I'd share with you a photo of a lovely rainbow, as seen from our office window today!

Where is my leprechaun and pot of gold, eh?

Flat iron steak

Happy Monday my friends! Did you all have a good weekend?

I spent a little time in the kitchen making chicken stock yesterday! Yum yum! I also prepared a flat iron steak with guacamole and salad for dinner. It was scrumptious!

Aren't these grill marks nice? Especially from a grill pan? I was pretty impressed with myself on that one.

The finished dish - the steak was super tender! For salad dressing I just used olive oil, garlic, lime juice and salt. It tasted very fresh and tangy! Oh and a little cotija cheese too...

Have you tried the flat iron cut before? It's got great flavor!

Have a wonderful Monday! :) It's raining here!

Salmon and salad

Happy friday my friends!

I haven't really been too creative in the kitchen lately because I got a little cold and was feeling blah. Hey, I had it coming to me after all the staying out late and night swimming! Eek! Anyhow last night I made a simple yet delicious meal so I thought I'd share it!

Broiled a piece of salmon and topped it with herbed butter and lemon juice. Plus a salad of chopped romaine with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, raw garlic, black pepper and a bit of cheese. I used this aged gouda that one of my new friends turned me on to. It's creamier than the aged goudas I've had before. I love cheese!!! (have I mentioned that before? hehe!)

Doing anything fun this weekend? Holiday season is upon us and that means parties, right? I have a few this weekend myself. Also it seems like a have a million friends with birthdays this month...why is that?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!