Grilling Time!

It’s grilling time in San Diego 🙂 Well, technically it could be year-round, but the air is warming up and being outdoors in the evenings isn’t as chilly. Last Friday we picked up some fresh meat and veggies, and enjoyed an awesome grilled dinner.

I wanted to share one of my favorite ways of grilling veggies, that’s super easy and convenient.

Slice zucchini in long spears, toss in a bag, drizzle with a little oil, salt, pepper, garlic (or whatever you prefer). Shake around/massage, dump on grill, move around for about 8 minutes so they don’t burn but get the good sear marks, remove and serve. I love grilled veggies, but not when they’re mushy 🙂

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Bone Broth

Do you make it? If you don’t, you should. It’s this amazing little comfort in a cup, with powerful healing effects. A true super food. The more gelatinous it is, the more healthful it is for you (this usually comes from the neck pieces, and don’t worry, when you warm it up, its complete liquid, not jelly-like). Recommended for helping heal your gut (leaky gut), and collagen in your tissues, among many other things.

I’ve started making a batch per week. I get 7-8 8 oz jars from each batch, so I have a jar a day. I usually bring it with me to work as an afternoon snack. There are many different ways you can make yours, but here is how I make mine:

Bone Broth

  • Bones (I use pork necks from the military commissary-they’re gelatinous and dirt cheap!)
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Water

This is the basic recipe. Put bones in the crock pot, add a TBSP or so of ACV, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fill with water until you cover the bones. You can then add anything you’d choose as far as herbs, veggies, etc. I prefer fresh rosemary. Keep on low and let simmer for 24-48 hours. Warning, your house will smell amazing. Then turn it off and let it cool, and strain (through a fine mesh strainer) into a container, and bottle! Freeze if you can’t get through it in a week. This is why I make a point of making 1 batch per week, so I always have some on hand in the fridge.

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Reinventing Food-Twice Baked Carrots

One of the things that helps me be successful with healthy living, is prepping food on Sunday for the upcoming week. This ensures that I have plenty on hand to bring for lunch at work, and easy prepared meals when I get home in the evenings.

The military commissaries here in San Diego sell 5lb bags of carrots for about $1.69 (what a steal!), and you can do tons of things with carrots. One Sunday I roasted 2 cookie sheets full of whole carrots, with nothing other than garlic powder, salt, pepper and a little oil. I brought them as sides in my lunches, ate them at dinner, and then I got sick of them (this is rare for me and veggies). They just stared at me every time I opened the fridge, but I refuse to let good food go to waste, so last week I decided I’d reinvent them.

I cut the remaining carrots into chunks and tossed all of them into my food processor. I processed until they were finely and consistently grated into little pieces. I dumped them into a bowl with diced white onion, frozen broccoli, 2 eggs, 1 TBSP of organic 1/2 & 1/2, salt, pepper and garlic powder. I mixed well until the eggs were thoroughly incorporated, and then dumped into an 8×8 glass baking dish. I had no idea how this would turn out, but the house smelled amazing! I baked it at high heat (I think around 400 degrees), until the edges started to brown.

I was extremely pleased with the result. It was like twice baked carrots, or carrot broccoli bake, or carrot quiche or something. Now I had a new little side dish to bring to work for lunches and for dinner. It didn’t last long 🙂

Tip: Next time, I’d remove the 1/2 & 1/2 and add 1 more egg to hold it together. It wasn’t falling apart, but I feel like it could’ve held together just a bit more.

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Cake in a Mug!

I never took the time to bake myself a paleo cake for my birthday, but cake sounded so good (really, when does cake not sound good?), so I decided to try the 5 Minute Dessert: Paleo Chocolate Cake in a Cup recipe from Oh Snap! Let’s Eat!

I followed the recipe (which you could pretty much do anything with), and because my mint is out of control, I added a sprig of cut up fresh mint to my mixture. Mine was still a little dry, so next time I think I’d use either a little less coconut flour, or add a little coconut oil. I did use organic half and half, because it was open as I didn’t know if I’d be able to get through freshly opened coconut milk in the next couple of days. Next time, I’ll go dairy free 🙂DSCN0147

What an easy, and satisfying indulgence!

Avocado Smash and Lemon Parsley Eggs

Last night, I found myself in the kitchen from 5:50 when I got home from work, until 9pm  I am having to force myself to make the time to do this, because it makes me happy, and fuels my health and well-being. I’m realizing, it also does wonders for my mental health. I’ve been playing around with different filters on our camera too-so fun!

Anyway, I ended up with a fabulous dinner: Steamed cauliflower, Tomato Olive Avocado Smash and Lemon Parsley Eggs!

Tomato Olive Avocado Smash

  • 2 avocados
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 small can of sliced black olives
  • Kosher salt/pepp
  • Garlic powder
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Drizzle of olive oil

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Lemon Parsley Eggs

  • 2 eggs (or however many you want)
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Dried parsley

I broke two eggs in a small saute pan, and let them cook over medium heat with a loose lid over top. When they were getting close to being done, I squeezed fresh lemon juice in the pan. HOLY SHMOLY. So good. I will be adding lemon to eggs more often for sure. Then I plated them and sprinkled parsley on top.DSCN0134

Simple, healthy, flavorful and filling!