It always seems impossible until its done.
–Nelson Mandela
When Seth and I were in Africa, we were fortunate enough to visit 2 of the 3 prisons where Nelson Mandela was detained, the most striking and memorable to us was Robben Island, where he was held for 18 years, for fighting for the freedom of people. Still today, after everything he has encountered and all the persecution, he remains positive and optimistic.
Have you ever watched any TEDx Talks? If not, you should. Educational talks about varying topics that bring people together to understand. That’s awesome! One of my first TEDx Talks was “Minding your Mitochondria,” from Dr. Terry Wahls MD, when I was first getting into the paleo lifestyle. I was excited to hear and see the effects that nutrition has had on her progressive MS, but thrilled that she is from my home state of Iowa, a doctor at the University of Iowa, and mother to Zach Wahls.
Today, the Des Moines Register published an article about her journey: Doctor with MS suggests caveman diet.
I’m glad that more articles are popping up like this, because it means people are paying attention, and moving towards taking back their health! Talk is a good thing, and I am most excited that more and more MDs are turning to the source, food, rather than drugs to treat symptoms.
When I have a stressful day, the first place I go, is the kitchen. I usually pour myself a glass of red wine and get creative; and all of my stress magically melts away. This past Wednesday, was one of those creative times. I made orange cilantro sliders with garlic mash, coconut broccoli slaw and Asian pear. A wonderful blend of citrusy, tropical flavors.
Orange Cilantro Sliders with Garlic Mash
The first thing I did was start the whole garlic cloves roasting in the oven. Once they were finished, I mashed the roasted garlic together for a burger topper. Mix all other ingredients together and form into slider size patties. Place in pan over medium heat and cook until done to your liking.
Coconut Broccoli Slaw
Melt oil in a saute pan and add bag of broccoli slaw. Let it cook over medium heat, continuing to stir until it cooks down, and sprinkle with coconut. Gently toss, and pair with burgers and a crisp sliced Asian pear.
This dinner recipe can be seen on the Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday for March 22nd!
The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.
— John Maxwell
As you know, I’m all about keeping it simple, and more so, using what I have on hand or what needs to be used. This dinner, is the perfect example of that: Bacon wrapped pork chops with apple balsamic compote, accompanied by garlic buttered broccoli (seen here: http://wp.me/p2zSoO-bk).
I’d thawed some thick-cut bone-in pork chops that Seth cut the chop out of (saved the bones for broth, of course), then he wrapped each chop in a strip of bacon, seasoned with kosher salt/pepp and popped them in the oven to bake. In the meantime, we had a not quite crisp apple that needed to be used (there is nothing I hate more than eating a “softer” apple, eeewwww!). We cook with them if this happens. We loosely diced the apple into pieces, and combined it with diced white onion in a little sauce pan with some balsamic vinegar, and let it cook down. We topped the chops with this and it was great! 
livinglikelinds 