Meatless Monday Ginger Soy Veggie Stir Fry

As I mentioned earlier, I am dabbling in the world of pasta for the first time in my life - and yes, I have gone almost 30 years without ever cooking or enjoying pasta (every time I mention this people act like I'm saying I murdered someone) so there's a bit of a learning curve here. Not posted: pasta fails from last week  /:

This one was too easy, we both liked it, and we had leftovers for days. I never considered cooking with fresh ginger until I tried out Blue Apron (for a week) and now I want to add it to everything! I love the flavor the ginger adds! What else can I cook with ginger? Suggestions please!

Servings: 4
Cook Time: 20 mins
Prep Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• 6 oz organic pasta, rice noodles, or squoodles (whatever you prefer, I used the organic pasta from Wal-Mart) $2
• 1 container Trader Joe's Asian Stir Fry Veggies ($4)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1 handful cashews, chopped ($.50)
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (Paleo DIY)
• Lime juice of 1/2 lime 
• 2 teaspoon olive oil/coconut oil/cooking fat of choice
• Salt & pepper

Cook the pasta. While pasta is cooking, coat a large frying pan with olive oil or cooking fat of your choice and heat. Add in the vegetables and garlic, season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add in the ginger and cashews and cook another 3-5 minutes.

Once the pasta is ready add it to the pan. Add the soy sauce and lime juice and continue to cook over medium heat, covered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Annnd that's it!

Clean Sausage & Slaw Oktoberfest Style

I meant to share this one a few months ago but, alas life happens and you find posts from October saved in drafts whoopsies! This is one of my favorite meals - not quite paleo thanks to the buns but meh it's healthy. I mean look at all this goodness!!



Servings: 4 sausages (Interpret this how you want - this is approximately 2 servings in my household - 3 sausages for Harrison and one for me)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients for sausage & peppers (pronounced swausage and peppahs):

• 1 pack of chicken sausages (I get mine from Trader Joe's for $6/pack. They also have a good selection at Wal-Mart and I'm sure anywhere else. Just check the ingredients- I make sure I recognize all the ingredients)
• 3 medium bell peppers, sliced ($2)
• 1 large red onion, sliced ($1)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil of choice
• (optional) Buns: 100% Whole Wheat buns from Trader Joe's $3.99

Ingredients for the slaw

• 1 head of red cabbage, sliced ($2) or a bag of sliced cabbage/slaw
• 2 carrots, chopped tiny ($1)
• 3 sticks celery, chopped tiny ($1)
• 1/4 Cup Honey
• 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 Cup Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil 
• Salt & pepper to taste

Cook the sausages according to the package directions. While sausages are cooking, season the onions and peppers with salt and pepper and saute in the olive oil over medium heat for about 8-10 mins or until the onions are translucent.

In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, carrots and celery. In a medium bowl, mix together the honey, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk until it's all mixed up.

Toss the vegetables with the dressing mixture and salt and pepper. Add salt and pepper as needed. Enjoy! 

Oh Hey! It's Me! It's 2016?! + Meal Plan for the week

Oh! Hey! It's me! I still go here! Things got a little crazy over the last few months - taking classes on the weekends, changes at work, blah blah same old stuff everyone deals with and somehow manages to maintain a blog. I've also been caught up in all the stuff everyone else has been caught up in:

Throwing plates at the TV and screaming out loud at Making a Murderer



Crying my eyes out to Adele on repeat



Sporting tacky sweaters all holiday season (shoutout to my husband for giving me a gift that combines 3 of my favorite things: tackiness, Christmas, and Drake). I know- how photogenic are we.



Defending my opinion that Jenna Dewan-Tatum's performance was better than Channing's on Lip Sync Battle (Beyonce wins all obvi but I'm saying if it's just between Channing and Jenna)

Purchased Power Ball tickets - FYI when I hit the jackpot I do not intend on telling anyone. We've all seen the E! True Hollywood Story about the lotto curse.

And I also went on a tiny trip to CAPE TOWN with my friends (this trip deserves its own post, more later but for now enjoy pictures on Insta).

Did a little healthy eating and a lot of holiday splurging (whoopsies #notsorry).

Annnnd I signed up for a marathon. Yes, I have officially lost my mind or hit a quarter life crisis or something along those lines. Thankfully I obsessively combed Courtney's blog for everything I could possibly need to know about training - and btw I actually MET Courtney on the street a few weeks ago, I was starstruck! #Blogcrush

This whole marathon thing has changed up my eating plans a little bit with the need for carb loading etc, so after a year (yes a YEAR!) of eating paleo we are adding pasta and rice into the ole meal plan. Random side note: I have never never been a pasta or rice eater. Everyone acts like this is just the craziest thing they've ever heard but it's true. So please do pass along any resources for good/healthy/carby recipes. Because this training has me hungry. as. a. hippo.

Here's my meal plan for the week with a big emphasis on foods that yield lots of leftovers because this is my first week back from vacation and that sucks and no one wants to cook. At all. Also includes my reminders to add CARBS the night before and after my long runs - shoutout to my friend Petar for teaching me Carbs 101.

Note: For the Chicken Broc Pasta Bake with Cauli Sauce I am replacing the cheese with this sauce. It's supes easy. Because *hi* lactose intolerance! Not doing cheese before a long run. Couldn't pay me. You can also find my fav breakfast casserole (oops forgot to link in the plan) here and my green smoothies here.

Easy 5 Ingredient Crispy Paleo Fried Chicken

Oh hey! I went MIA for awhile... did a little soul searching, a little WTF am I doing with my life and when did I become someone with a blog who spends time blogging?? and a lot of eating non-blog-worthy food and doing a lot of non-blogworthy things (like work) and a lot of sleeping. But I'm back, and back on track (maybe?) and glad to be using this outlet again. SO thanks for the emails, comments and messages and let's get back to it:

Anyone who graduated from a big football school usually finds themselves extremely nostalgic at this time of year. I find myself reminiscing about the tailgates, the marathon weekends with friends, crying that time the bulldogs came running out in black jerseys during our blackout game my senior year of college against Auburn (laugh all you want but anyone at that game who claims to have had dry eyes and/or dry pants is a LIAR), and my inhuman ability to binge drink from the time class ended Friday (if I made it to class) until Sunday night.

The next biggest thing I get all hot and bothered and sad about missing is the food. We had some great soul food in Athens, Georgia. My personal favorite was Weaver D's (Fun fact: REM - also from Athens - named an album Automatic for the People after Weaver D's slogan). This restaurant was literally an extension of an old couple's home, you were basically sitting in their actual kitchen when you ate the best fried chicken you've ever had in your entire life. Just look at this beauty:

Anyway, every since I started on this clean eating thing I've experimented with fried chicken and generally end up with chicken coated in soft or slimy skin. Until I found the perfect combo, and it was easier than I could have thought. 

Servings: 3

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons of the fat of your choice - I think this recipe is best with bacon grease but olive oil or coconut oil or whatevs along those lines works too.
• 1.5 lbs chicken tenders or chicken breast sliced into 1-2" strips (I get organic/free range for $5)
• 2 eggs, beaten ($.50)
• 3/4 Cup ground Flax Seed (I get mine for $8/box at Trader Joe's)
• Seasonings of your choice (I use sea salt, pepper, a little chili powder, and some Italian seasoning- weird) + sea salt and pepper

Mix up the ground flaxseed and seasonings in a bowl. Set up an assembly line on your counter in this order: plate of chicken, beaten eggs, ground flax seed mixed with seasonings, empty plate. 

Sprinkle salt and pepper onto each side of the chicken strip. Dip a strip of chicken into the eggs (get that egg all over the chicken strip!), then roll it around in the flax/seasoning mixture until it's completed coated, place on an empty plate. Repeat with all the chicken strips.

In a medium frying pan, heat the fat. Once it's all heated, throw your chicken into it the frying pan and cook about 5-8 mins on each side, or until it is completely cooked all the way through. I may or may not have burned the sh*t out of a chicken strip or two and you know what? All the crunchier. And extra Cajun, right?

Anyway, it's that easy. Sometimes I throw them on salad with some whole30 ranch, or put them on 3 ingredient paleo waffles (yes drool), or just dip them in some stone ground mustard. 

Do you have a favorite "fried" chicken recipe? What is it? Please share!

Paleo Chicken Fajita Salad + Paleo Meal Plan & Grocery List

...Annnd just like that it's fall. We spent Labor Day weekend in Charleston for a wedding and had a blast. I LOVE Charleston and it did not disappoint. This time my friend took us on the Sunset Cocktail Cruise and I seriously recommend it - it's basically a BYOB tour of Charleston by boat and we saw JUMPING DOLPHINS!

Anyway, Mexican food is my fav but unfortunately my favorite Mexican dishes include tortillas, cheese, sour cream, and did I mention cheese? This little spin on fajitas keeps it all healthy, eliminates the no-no foods, and honestly I didn't really miss the cheese and sour cream!

Servings: 2

Cook Time: 20 mins

Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs chicken breast (I get the cage free organic for about $4/lb)
• 2 bell peppers, sliced ($2.50)
• 1 red onion, sliced ($1.25)
• 1 jalapeno seeded and sliced ($1)
• 1 avocado, sliced ($1)
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1)
• 10 ounces tomatoes, sliced ($3)
• 1 bag of lettuce, chopped (I mix a bag of spinach and a bag of kale - each is $2 from Trader Joe's)
• Juice of one lime
• 1 tablespoon of bacon grease or cooking fat of your choice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
• Optional: Salsa to top the

Slice up the chicken breast into strips and toss with the sea salt, chili powder, garlic powder and cumin. Grease a large frying pan with your cooking fat and cook the chicken strips over medium heat for about 15 minutes. When the chicken is almost done, add in the onion, peppers, jalapeno, mushrooms and lime juice and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through.

Top the lettuce with the frying pan concoction, cilantro and avocado slices and enjoy!

What is your favorite Mexican dish?

This week's meal plan:

Paleo Raspberry Chicken (I know it sounds weird but it just works)

I'm wiping my eyes as I write this post because I just finished watching Dogs on the Inside on Netflix and it gave me a REAL GOOD CRY. A good happy cry. A good, happy, very very ugly cry. Everyone needs those once in awhile right?

This recipe was an experiment gone good (I've had a few gone bad recently so it was quite a relief when this went right). And it was easy! Here it is:

Servings: 2

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken (I got the organic at Wal-Mart for $8)
• ¾ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp basil
• ½ cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries
• ¼ cup water

For the marinade, I used this recipe.

Before I left for work I put the chicken in a ziploc freezer bag and scooped about 1/2 cup of the raspberry vinaigrette in and let it marinate in the fridge for the day.

That night we grilled the chicken. We ate it with salad topped with the leftover raspberry vinaigrette and it was delissshhh. If you don't have a grill (  ):  )  you can put it in the oven for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. 

(PS note my bootie coffee mug photo bombing the chicken and salad pic)

Paleo Meal Plan for the Week + Ribs & Paleo Broccoli Salad

Since the government goes on vacation in August I get August Fridays off, and somehow Monday still comes too fast. So fast. Maybe I'm more meant for a Tuesday - Thursday kind of lifestyle? Wouldn't that be nice. Anyway we had a wedding in town this weekend and it was nice to have all of Sunday to recover meal prep, clean, watch the Wet Hot American Summer TV SHOW (!!!!) and get life together a bit. This is my meal plan for the week:




And here it is all prepped up:

So I'm a goals person. Every summer I set some basic goals and this summer goal #1 was Master Grilling Ribs. I love ribs and am picky about them to the point that I only order them at restaurants if they are recommended by someone I know and trust because I am not about waste money on some chewy meat that does not fall right off that bone. *steps off soapbox*. Welp I can check #1 off the list and here's how it worked (2 disclaimers: I had nothing to do with the completion of this. It was all Harrison. 2, the ribs are not paleo. I cannot give up Sweet Baby Ray's. I just can't, it's not an option. Same goes for the bbq seasonings I use):

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 3 hours

Servings: 3-4

 Ingredients: 

• 1 rack pork baby back ribs (I got mine at Trader Joe's for $12)
• 3 Tablespoons dry rub (we used this, paleo option here)
• 1 cup barbecue sauce (As noted above I use Sweet Baby Ray's. Paleo option here)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim the membrane off the ribs. Cut up the ribs into individual pieces and cover with the rub. Place the ribs into a large baking pan (we use this for easy clean up) meat side down, cover with foil, and cook in the oven for 2.5 hours.

Remove them from the oven and drain the cooking juices into a bowl. Place the ribs all directly on the grill for 10 minutes, constantly turning them and basting them with the barbecue sauce AND the cooking juices.

After 10 minutes, put the ribs into another baking dish and put them in the oven on broil for 4-5 minutes on each side. 

Enjoy the ribs which Harrison describes as "fall off the bone-y and kind of wet but also crispy at the same time".  I served these with a broccoli salad that I adapted from my friend Amanda's recipe:

Paleo Broccoli Salad

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 0

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 head of broccoli florets or package of broccoli florets ($3)
• 2/3 cup Whole30 mayo (recipe here - don't let this ingredient scare you off! This takes less than 5 minutes to make!)
• 1 handful craisins
• 1 handful shelled sunflower seeds (optional swaps: any type of chopped nuts)

Toss all the ingredients together. That's it! So easy.

What is your favorite barbecue meal? 

Meatless Monday: Red Pepper Portabella "Burgers" with Goat Cheese

Hi, it's me Lindsay, the worst blogger ever.  My summer got taken over by happy hours, porch beers, cookouts, dog cuddles, and trips. The way a summer should be. Needless to say I've gained more than a few libbies (WHAT! I eat and drink everything in sight for months and gain weight?! Science is nuts). Every few meals I'm like today's the day I get back on track and make something healthy. Here's a recipe that is Harrison-approved and clean but not quite paleo:

Wait but first - is is PortabellA or PortabellO? I always confuse words with A's vs. O's, I spelled Puerta Rico Puerto Rica for years, as well as Costo Rico, and even though I live in DC I stay drawing out of a hat to decide if I live in the nation's capitAl or capitOl.

Servings: 3

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

• 6 Portabella mushroom caps ($5.00)
• 2 oz Goat Cheese (or to taste, I got a little excessive with the goat cheese and will go for less next time) ($3.50)
• 1 red pepper, diced ($1)
• 1/2 red onion, diced ($1)
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease (or your choice of cooking fat)
• Baslamic vinegar to taste
• (Also pictured: a very lazy salad consisting of tomatoes and arugula topped with balsamic vinegar)

Place all the mushroom caps smoothe side down, remove the stems, and sprinkle crumbled goat cheese into 3 of them (they should be kind of like bowls).

Saute the onion and pepper in bacon grease or your cooking fat of choice for about 8 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Spoon the mixture into the mushroom caps on top of the goat cheese. Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar. Put the 3 empty caps onto the 3 full caps to make sandwiches. 

Coat the veggie frying pan with more bacon grease and heat the "sandwiches" evenly for about 3-5 minutes on each side.  

Enjoy!!

PS Found this article of what to buy and not buy at Trader Joe's. I've been trying to get my sh*t together enough to write something like this!

What's your favorite meatless Monday recipe?

Easy Paleo and Whole 30 Chicken Dinner

Hi! How was everyone's fourth? Mine was awesome! The park across the street from my house puts on an amazzzing bootleg fireworks show so we put on a cookout and enjoyed the show with family and friends. It was pretty much perfect, and as you can tell we 100% committed to the theme (thanks, Amazon)!

Anyway, the other day I had a killer craving for okra (weird I know, but I love okra a LOT) and there was NOT ONE PIECE OF OKRA TO BE FOUND AT TRADER JOE'S so I grabbed a pack of brussel sprouts, a pack of mushrooms, and a bag of frozen asparagus and called it a day.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Servings: 2 (with leftovers for lunch)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced (I use organic/cage free so it's a little pricier at $8)
• 8 sticks of asparagus - do we call these sticks? What is the right term? Stalks? ($3)
• 1 pack of brussel sprouts, halved ($2.50)
• Handful mushrooms, sliced ($1)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Garlic salt to taste
• Sea salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Toss it all together, throw it in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 30 mins. Minimal work, maximum healthy meal.

What is your favorite chicken dish?

Getting It TOGETHA (again)

So I was super healthy and exercising a lot before the wedding, then proceeded to eat and drink everything in sight and exercise once in awhile. Enter: first weigh in since the wedding. Enter: A new 15 pounds! Enter: time to get it together. 

New plan:

• 80% paleo, 20% not (for me this breaks down to a cheat day)
• Exercise 5x week
• Yoga 2x week
• Get back to running!
• Stop eating everything in sight!
• Booze limited to 2 nights/week (summer why do you make this so hard!)
• Weigh in and measuring every Friday (not sharing my weight or measurements, because I am a firm believer in comparison being the thief of all joy, but I will be posting progress.)
• Food prep Sundays (seriously this time. SERIOUSLY)

Food I'm excited to try:

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

HI!!!!

YES!

ALL OF THESE

Anyone have good resources? New recipes? New plans? Delicious desserts that are healthy? Tips for passing up booze in the summer? ): 

That Time I ate my way through New Orleans and Alabama + Clean, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Vegetarian Pho

I had a work conference in New Orleans last week and thought I'd have all the time in the world to catch up on blog stuff, eat healthy, have some quality time for myself... not so much. Not at all actually. It was an amazing time though! It was my first time in NOLA - Harrison flew down on the last day of the conference and some of my friends from Florida came up for a few days on the town. Then we drove to Alabama to see Harrison's family and hit Grady, Montgomery and Birmingham (sadly we were just there for a minute, I was praying for some downtime to finally have a drink with my blog crush Nadine but it was non stop).

For New Orleans I highly recommend every single restaurant we stopped at in NOLA but my favorites were Charbroiled Oysters @ Drago's (I don't even do oysters), ghost tour with Free Tours by Foot, and Frenchman Street. My fav stops in Birmingham: The Purple Onion (Harrison has been talking about this restaurant since we met) and Kelly Ingram Park. Here are some highlights:

Bourbon Street!

Maison on Frenchman Street

Harrison's Grandma Pearl had this food waiting for us when we arrived to her house (no cell service, no internet, no neighbors. Quite different from DC life!)

Exploring his grandma's property - Harrison spent summers here!

Boppin around the farm

And now it's back to the real world womp.

Before I left for the conference I attempted some pho. Let me start by explaining that I once had  Vietnamese co-workers who introduced me to this incredible dish, but who also always ordered for me (in Vietnamese) and I have never been able to re-order or re-create the exact dish. It's not quite paleo (rice noodles, sorry) but it is super healthy and super super delicious. Mine was also a little heartier/less soupy than your average pho but I loooved it.

Servings: 5
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli, chopped into florets ($2.50)
• 1 12 oz package of snow peas ($2.00)
• 32 oz broth ($1.50) 
• 2 cups water
• 1 package pho / rice noodles (I found mine at Wal-Mart! - $2)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped ($1)
• 1 jalapeno, sliced and seeded ($1)
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms ($1.80) (I used a package from Wal-Mart also)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon minced onion
• Serve with fresh basil, fresh cilantro, and sririacha sauce

Cook the noodles according to the package directions (I just put mine in a covered bowl of water and let it set for 20 mins. Too easy).

Combine the broth, water, onion, salt, garlic and broccoli in a pot and bring to a boil, then let simmer for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with the basil, cilantro, hot sauce, or anything else your heart desires!

Do you like pho? Do you make your own? What is your favorite New Orleans stop?? 

Paleo Meal Plan for the Week + Paleo Veggie Bowl

Monday already?!? Whatever, I'm excited because I have a short work week before I head to Richmond for friends' wedding! I started hand therapy last week (yes that's a thing and ICYMI) and got a splint and have been able to use my right hand again- hallelujah!

This weekend I binge watched OINTB (hallelujah again) with a friend and some PALEO FRIENDLY CHEESY NACHOS. Saturday was my sister in law's high school graduation party, complete with a moon bounce - those things are just as fun at age 29 as they were when we were kids, except I seem to fall a lot harder and sweat a lot more? Sunday I was determined to get. it. TOGETHA after 2 weeks of being out of commission. I food prepped:

Which included a soft boiled egg gone rogue:

Went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries + $100 worth of things I didn't know I needed. I have been hearing about this Trader Joe's rationing coconut oil drama (is that really a thing? I haven't seen it at my TJ's lately so I am assuming it's true?) and was not at all surprised to see Wal-Mart has capitalized on this "crisis" with a whole new section (a little more expensive but it's there!):

I looked up "pantry organizer" on Amazon and ordered the top 3 best sellers (this, this and this), and did ALL THIS (no before picture because just looking at the before is too stressful. This makes my type A heart SING):

I also did a lot of terribly adult things that 20 year old Lindsay would be humiliated to hear qualify a "great weekend", but I guess this is growing up? Anyway, here's my meal plan for the week, lots of experiments and new recipes to come:

A few weeks ago I was browsing Pinterest for plant-based recipes (Netflix has officially scared me away from meat- not cutting it out but def cutting down) and came across lots of veggie bowls but all were creamy or noodley or rice-y so I put my own paleo spin on it.

Servings: 3
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 heads cauliflower ($5)
• 2 carrots ($.50)
• 2 stalks celery ($.20)
• 1/2 onion ($.50)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 10 oz bag of snap peas ($2.50)
• 2 bell peppers (any color is fine) ($2)
• 1 large yellow zucchini squash ($1.50)
• 1 large green zucchini ($1.20)
• 1 10 oz package of mushrooms ($1.80)
• 2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• Sea salt to taste
• 3 teaspoons olive oil or cooking fat of choice
• Serve with: I used this paleo Italian dressing but my friend Maggie introduced me to this amazing honey lime dressing that I'm going to use next time)

Cut the cauliflower into florets and place 1-2 cups at a time in the food processor to make cauliflower rice. If you don't have a food processor, I used to just grate my cauliflower on the cheese grater which works just as well (just a bit messier). Season the cauliflower rice with 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and some salt, and saute over medium heat (with  1 tsp olive oil) for about 5-10 mins, or until it is soft.

Now chop all your veggies. I use the $19 Vidalia Veggie Chopper and it takes about 5 mins to chop all these veggies. It's amazing and lasts forever - Harrison's mom has had her's for 5+ years).

Coat a large frying pan with olive oil and turn the oven to medium heat. Start off with the carrot, celery and onion. After about 3 minutes, add in the peppers, garlic and snap peas. Sautee for another 3 minutes then add in everything else, including the rest of the seasonings.

Once everything is cooked, scoop out some cauliflower rice and top with the veggies and dressing of choice!

What are your favorite veggie dishes? Any miracle organizing products your recommend??

That time i lost a chunk of my finger trying to eat brownie batter LOL

Warning: This is gross. Sorry.

So funny story... last night I was using my Blender Stick to make batter for my fav paleo friendly brownies when I suddenly just could not resist the urge to binge eat the brownie batter. I stuck my finger onto the blades to wipe out some of the batter when my other hand slipped and hit the "on" button (what a sensitive button that is!) and the blade started spinning and took a chunk of my finger with it. I'm really brave (sarcasm) and immediately broke into a sweat and threw up (how was I a camp director all those years?). The scene that Harrison walked in on was actually hilarious - brownie batter and blood splattered on the walls and me throwing up in the bathroom.

My finger was gushing nonstop so Harrison drove me to Patient First (no wait! talk about a miracle!). Since I am so brave I hadn't had the guts to look at my finger, so the doctor drew this incredibly scientific diagram to show me the issue at hand (see what I did there?):

yes. the doctor ACTUALLY drew this

At this point the doctor told me that this type of injury is outside of his comfort zone (shocking considering the level of detail in his diagram above) and sent us to the ER where I speculated who was the Dr. Carter and who was Dr, Carrie Weaver? Then a hand surgeon did some crazy skin grafting and stitching and metal rod inserting and wrapped up my hand.

I used the "stoned on anesthesia" filter for this one

Andi thinks the metal rod poking out of the wrap is a toy and I just woke up from a nap to her chewing on it, and she's been chasing me around as if this is actually a toy for her stuck to my hand.

So all this to say, I'm going to take a little break until I'm able to use my right hand again, Typing this post took approximately 9 hours (oxy codone is also slowing it down a little haha). So when I'm not fending off my dog as she tries to devour the metal rod that is holding my pointer finger together or rekindling my ER  obsession, I will be attempting to read and comment and write, it;s just going to be fewer and further between for the next few weeks.

All because I am a child with no self control when it comes to brownie batter.

PS: It's a lot easier to type on my phone since I have use of both thumbs so I'll be posting recipes on Insta over the next week or so,

PSS: Check out my post featured on Body Design PT's blog!

Lunch for the week: BLT Turkey Wraps 4 Ways

Did anyone else live on Jimmy John's in college? My dorm was right across the street, I could SMELL that fresh ass bread from my dorm room - and oooh that bread!! The 40 cent day-old bread!!! It was all so wonderful. I also gained a smooth 15 lbs that year which was not so wonderful.

Anyway, recently some friends (ironically from that dorm) recently turned me on to Jimmy John's un-wiches. Now, I don't really like to do food in a way it's not supposed to be done i.e. lettuce wraps instead of sandwiches- those definitely belong on Whole30's Sex With Your Pants On list and I am not cool with it. HOWEVER, something about Jimmy Johns' unwich is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Is it the lettuce? Is it the way it's perfectly wrapped? Is it the meat? I don't know but they inspired me to try my own lettuce wraps as lunch for the week: 

Servings: 5

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 and a half pack deli turkey (Whole Foods has some paleo friendly deli turkey) ($8)
• 5 slices uncured bacon, cooked and crumbled ($5)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced thin ($2)
• 10 slices red onion, chopped ($.10)
• 1 head iceberg lettuce ($2) (sidenote: iceberg lettuce always reminds me of when I worked in a middle school in Rhode Island and the cafeteria ladies used to say "Get your vegetables! Gotta get your veggies!" and load the kids' (and my) plates with crispy iceberg lettuce. Kind of makes me nostalgic but also glad my life is in a place where my main food groups no longer consist of Goldfish, iceberg lettuce, and Naragannsett beer.)

Optional spins to put on the wraps (I'm trying them all this week):

• Garlic hummus (oopsies not paleo but I gotta live a little)
• Avocado, cilantro, lime juice and jalapeno
• Dipped in my favorite vinaigrette

Place a square of aluminum foil on the counter. Place 2 big leaves of lettuce on the foil (more lettuce than you think - lesson learned from Jimmy John's. And the greener the better). Layer 2 pieces of turkey onto the lettuce, top with tomatoes, bacon, and optional toppings. Now roll it Chipotle style. For those of you who don't frequent my favorite fancy burrito establishment, here's a picture example: 

Roll it tightly in the foil. Repeat 5 times. Keep in the fridge, grab and go every morning!

Do you do lettuce wraps? What is your favorite?

That time I ate salad every day for 2 weeks + slacker paleo meal plan

Another start of the week, another weekend filled with too much fun and/or relaxation to prep my meals. This means another meal plan of meals that will require 20ish minutes of prep per day made with only ingredients found at Trader Joe's because that is around the corner from my work and I can go there on my lunch break to pick up groceries.

Sidenote: am I the only one who finds it 100000 x more difficult to stay healthy in the spring/summer? The nice weather makes it very hard for me to do anything besides sitting outside sipping a summer cocktail (exercise and meal prep fall to the 49th priority on my warm weather priority list). Actually, I know the answer to that question and the answer is I AM CORRECT. I know this from my extremely scientific and valid study of grocery store crowds. Winter = packed on Sunday afternoons, spring/summer = lines winding through every aisle on Monday after work. Now that I think about it, the Trader Joe's checkout guy last week definitely validated my findings. He also said he wanted to start a blog about the weirdest combinations of things he sees people buy at Trader Joe's. Yes PLEASE.

Anyway- here's my slacker meal plan for the week:



Now let's talk about that time I didn't do any meal prepping so threw together item of food living in my fridge (would we call this salad?) and it turned out to be so fabulous that I ate it every single day and will continue to eat again this week. Here's a little collage and here are some of the recipes:

I made a big batch of this paleo friendly garlic dijon dressing and topped each salad with it. I could probably just drink that for lunch every day and be happy.


Salad #1

• Handful spinach, chopped
• Handful kale, chopped
• 1/2 zucchini, chopped
• handful blueberries, chopped
• 1/8 white onion, diced
• Handful fresh green beans, chopped
• 1 slice Trader Joe's deli turkey

Salad #2

• Handful spinach, chopped
• Handful grapes, halved
• 1 cup cooked squoodles (left over from dinner last week. Used the wrong setting on the spiralizer and they turned out beautiful!)
• 2 slices red onion, diced
• 1/4 avocado, cubed
• 1 slice Trader Joe's deli turkey

Salad #3

• Handful spinach/kale mix, chopped
• Leftover paleo "fried" chicken (recipe for this coming soon I promise)
• Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 slice of bacon, ripped up (bitted? what do you even call that?)
• 1/4 avocado, cubed

Salad #4

• Handful chopped spinach/kale mix
• Handful strawberries, halved
• Handful blueberries
• 2 slices red onion, diced
• 1/4 avocado, cubed
• Handful green beans, chopped
• 1 slice Trader Joe's deli turkey

What is your favorite salad to eat? 

OH and how could I almost forget? A very happy anniversary to Kimye, and a huge thanks to mom of the year Kris for posting this video which makes me feel a LOT better about my awkward first dance.

Paleo Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet + Catch Up

After a monthish of being MIA I'm baaaack! Let's catch up- here are 10 things I've been up to in the last few weeks:

1. Went to Atlanta for my college roommate's wedding (3 of us lived together 3 years of college and all got married within a year of each other) wearing a $10 thrift store dress (!).

2. Watched Love & Basketball for the first time (yes - somehow I was a teenager in the 90's and never saw this).

3. Turned 29 (and am fine with it!)

4. Bathed two dogs who HATE water.

5. Ate so much Mexican food that I got tired of Mexican food for the first time in my life.

6. Broke a glass in my sink, sending 1000000000 tiny shards of glass down the disposal. Texted my brother who fixes everything, found out you can VACUUM TINY GLASS PIECES OUT OF YOUR SINK as long as it's not too wet down there.

7. Went to Atlantic City for a friend's bachelorette party where I sipped delicious pina coladas on the beach and had my first experience with male strip clubs.

8. Got a salad craving for the first time in years, ate salad every day following for 2 weeks (recipes coming).

9. Enjoyed the shit out of married life. Life without the stress of planning a wedding, and not having to make 100000 world-ending decisions is amazing.

10. Went to a fun gala with some nice arm candy (also in a thrift store dress).



And now for the last Mexican-ish dish I ate before declaring I am done with Mexican food. It's a one skillet chorizo dish:

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 1 package of chorizo (~17 oz) ($5.00)
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced ($2.00)
• 1 onion, diced ($.90)
• 3 stalked celery, diced ($.70)
• 2 cups fresh spinach ($2.00)
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.00)
• For serving: fresh cilantro and diced avocado

Using a sharp knife, slice the chorizo long ways and peel the skin off each link. Put the sausage into a large frying pan and heat over medium-high heat, breaking up the sausage into crumbles as it heats.

After 5 minutes, add the sweet potato and stir together, heating for another 5-7 minutes. Now add the onion and celery. Continue to stir and heat another 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, stir and heat until the onions are translucent and the meat is cooked through.

Serve with cilantro and avocado.

What's your favorite skillet meal? What kind of food do you burn out on?