Trial and Error

I attempted to make paleo coconut flour waffles today using a recipe I found on the web. I have to chock it up to a failure. First, the recipe called for way too many eggs and thus the waffles had a sort of omelet feel to them. Second, it only made two waffles. What? Seriously.

So, I then attempted to modify my traditional wheat flour recipe and substitute coconut flour. I knew it meant adding additional liquid, but it was still a failure. I tried adding some almond flour and in the end I was close, but they still didn't feel or taste quite right. 

Though, I won't give up on this because I really want to perfect the ultimate low-carb waffle. Once I get there I'll be sure to post the recipe with pictures. 

Until then I'll have to learn to be okay with a lot of error in my trial and error. 

The Perfect Salad

This might be a rant, OK it is a rant. It doesn't take much to make a perfect salad for me these days. I'll admit that I used to love salads with apples and dried cranberries. I've given up the fruit (too many carbs) for hard boiled eggs so I can eat my salad and get some protein.

So my perfect simple green salad now consists of:

organic mixed greens
crumbled goat cheese
almonds
hard boiled egg
balsamic vinaigrette

I could easily make this at home and bring it to work for lunch, but I'll admit that I do not always have myself together enough in the morning to even throw a salad together (I know, I know, it's just salad, but at least I get myself showered and clothed, right?). I digress. Anyway, I recently found the perfect salad at a cafe near my work. Perfect! I've been getting this salad nearly every day this week and I'm in heaven. What I love about this salad is that they make the balsamic vinaigrette themselves and it has just the right amount of mustard in it.

Today, however, I was sorely disappointed. I grabbed my salad to go and came back to the office to find a lemon vinaigrette where my balsamic was supposed to be. Did I mention how much I like balsamic vinegar? Anyway, I am not a happy camper. This leaves me with no other alternative than to get myself together in the morning and take my simple salad recipe and simply make myself a salad for lunch tomorrow. Seriously, I can't find the time to put together a simple salad for myself? Time to rethink my priorities.

Trying Something Different

I will admit it, I've been stuck in a tofu and spinach rut. Tofu has always been my go-to protein, but I am trying to eat less of it and spinach is definitely my favorite green, but I've felt like I need to have more variety in my greens. So, tonight I went for tempeh and kale for dinner. All-in-all not a bad dinner.

Here's may recipe for Tempeh, Kale, and Peanut Sauce

8 oz of organic tempeh
1 T of organic coconut oil
1 bunch of organic kale
water

For the Peanut Sauce

1/4 C organic peanut butter (the kind you have to stir with no added sugar)
1/2 a can of organic coconut milk
1 t ginger
1 t pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)

Instructions:

To cook the tempeh:
Cut the tempeh into thin strips.
Heat the coconut oil in a large pan until melted and add the tempeh. Cook about 5 minutes or until browned then flip and brown the other side.

To cook the kale:
Thoroughly wash the kale and cut into strips.
Heat a pan on medium and add the kale plus enough water to just cover the bottom of the pan.
Place the lid on the pan and cook until just tender - about 5 minutes.

To make the peanut sauce:
In a sauce pan combine the peanut butter, coconut milk, ginger, and pepper flakes and heat on medium low heat. Stir until all ingredients are combined and remove from heat - use immediately while still warm.

To serve:

Place kale on a plate, top with tempeh and pour peanut sauce to on top. Voila!

Almond Meal Blueberry Pancakes with Mixed Berry Topping

I have tried a lot of paleo pancake recipes and found that all I got was a big giant mess. So, I played around and finally came up with a simple recipe that works.  

Pancakes:

1 T coconut oil

3/4 C Almond meal

1 pastured egg

1/4 C Almond milk

cinnamon to taste

1 handful of organic blueberries

Topping:

1 C mixed organic berries

For the Pancakes:

Mix the almond meal, egg, almond milk, and blueberries together in a bowl. 

Melt the coconut oil in a skillet and add 1/4 C of batter. 

Cook until firm and bottom side is brown.*

Flip and brown second side.

For the Berries:

Heat the mixed berries on the stovetop until warmed. 

*Note: Be patient, unlike traditional flour based pancakes, these won't bubble so make sure they are cooked enough that you can flip them without them falling apart. 

There's No Such Thing as a Diet

Here is my rant for the day. I listen to so many women complain about not losing weight and they go on and on about what "diet" they are on and how they still aren't losing weight, and I think they've got it all wrong. They are obsessed with the quick fix, but I am here to tell you that there is no quick fix and if there is one, I guarantee you it isn't a healthy one.

Weight loss is not all about calories my friends.  It took me a long time to realize that. It isn't about calories in vs. calories out. The old thought that if you reduce your calorie intake you'll lose weight, might work for some, but ultimately you need to begin changing your lifestyle.  In my experience, weight loss is more about what you put into your body than anything else.

I applaud women who want to reduce their calorie intake, but are you really helping your body if you cut out a big healthy breakfast of eggs and veggies so you can have dessert later in the day? The "I won't eat this so I can have that later" mentality won't get you very far. You have to want to change your life.

I struggled with this one. Making a lifestyle change seems so much harder than going on a "diet", but it really isn't that hard once you make the decision to do it.

I know, you're thinking, "where do I start?"

First, you need to educate yourself on what foods are and are not healthy. I'll admit that this is actually more difficult than you'd think since there are so many people out there telling us what is and what is not good for us and many of them simply have their own money making agenda rather than our health in mind.

I'll go into some recommended reading in another post, but here are some general tips:

1. Eat real food. What do I mean by real food? I mean nothing that comes out of a box or has ingredients you can't pronounce. If you don't know what you're eating why are you eating it? Get yourself some locally produced organic veggies and dig in. If you are a meat eater find yourself some locally sourced, humanely raised meat and don't forget the veggies.

2. Cut out the grains.  I cannot emphasis this enough. You know how after you eat the bread they give you at a restaurant you feel immediately full and you get sort of an ache in your intestines? Yeah, you know what I mean. Guess what? You don't have to feel this way, just stop eating grains. Our bodies were not meant to digest them and they are loaded with carbs and carbs = sugar. Which brings me to point #3.

3. Cut out the sugar. I mean this, really. Get off the sugar. There is no health benefit to it whatsoever. You don't need that bowl of ice cream or that cookie. If you really want something sweet there are alternatives.

4. Know yourself. If you are the kind of person who cannot eat in moderation then you need to embrace that. I have fairly good self control, which means I can eat only 2 tablespoons of almond butter and not want to devour the entire jar, but if you aren't someone who can do that then you'll seriously need to decide to give up those "trigger" foods. By trigger foods I mean foods that are OK in moderation, but that you simply cannot eat in moderation. I repeat, know yourself. It's OK to admit when there is something you can't do. It will take a lot of determination, but you can live without things.


Make the decision that you are going to eat real food and you will find yourself so much happier and healthier.

Now go eat your veggies.

Veggie Tom Kha Soup

It's been rainy and wet in SF, which means only one thing at my house. SOUP!

I've been craving vegetarian Tom Kha soup since I had it at a Thai restaurant in Eugene back in December. I did a little searching through my cookbooks and found in "The Carb Conscious Vegetarian" a recipe for Tom Yumm - close, but not quite, so I modified.

According to my fiance it was yummy and there were absolutely no leftovers. I think he went back for fourths!

And without further ado the recipe:

1 T of lemon grass (I used pre-sliced)

1 T of crushed ginger
4 cups of organic vegetable broth
1 can of organic coconut milk

1 T chili paste ( or less if you don't like spice)

2 T lime juice (or to taste)

1 T cilantro 

1 bunch of asparagus (remove the tough stems)
8 oz of mushrooms
1 C tempeh or tofu chopped



Add the vegetable broth, lemon grass, and ginger to a stock pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on low 15 minutes to infuse the broth.

Remove from heat and strain through a sieve to remove the pieces of lemongrass. Return to pot.

Add the coconut milk, chili paste, lime juice, and cilantro and simmer until coconut milk is thoroughly dispersed in the broth (you don't want clumps).

Add the asparagus, mushrooms and tempeh/tofu and simmer 10 minutes until vegetables are cooked through.

This is the beginning

So begins my journey into the world of blogs, well, into a blog I'd like people to read other than me. I am fairly certain this blog will go through many changes seeing as I have been unable to find a template I actually like. At any rate...

I'm hoping that I can update this fairly regularly. My goal is to share tips on being a vegetarian and eating a healthy, low-carb diet, as well as many recipes that not only taste delicious, but are healthy too.