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The Recipes
Paleo/Primal. Low Carb. Traditional Foods.
Over 330 recipes for you to peruse - and more coming all the time!
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I'm Mad As Hell, And I'm Not Going To Take It Any More
The USDA. Conventional Wisdom. Find out what's pissing me off.
I have had trouble sleeping every day this week. It’s not so much that I can’t sleep at all – I have no trouble falling asleep, but if I wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason (last night it was a killer hot flash), I find it very difficult to go back to sleep. So I’ve been up since 3 a.m., which has pretty much been the norm since Sunday night.
Menopause is a wonderful thing.
Not.
We’re getting all ready to go watch our side of beef be cut this afternoon (hopefully I won’t be too terribly brain-dead from lack of sleep), and tomorrow I’m making a 3-course fondue dinner for The Young One and five of his friends for his 17th birthday. Sunday morning, I’m making them all breakfast.
I’ve never claimed to be in my right mind, you know.
At any rate, I hope you’ll forgive my lack of substance today. I had a long post planned after all the Paula Deen brouhaha, but I’m just not up to it today.
However…
When I was growing up in the 1970s, I knew exactly two people with diabetes: a young friend who was type 1, and my great-grandmother, who developed type 2 in her 60s. Which was pretty much the norm – so much so that type 2 was often referred to as “geriatric diabetes.”
These days?
Three of the seven employees in our office is diabetic (another is prediabetic); the spouse of one of our co-workers is diabetic; The Young One’s grandmother is diabetic; my ex-husband is diabetic; the young daughter of the hygienist at my dentist’s office is diabetic; my father-in-law is diabetic. These are just the people I can think of off the top of my head – the people in my immediate circle of family, friends and acquaintances. I’m sure each of these people could cite a like number of their friends, family and acquaintances with the disease.
There is something at work here, and few of the “experts” can agree what that is.
How about you? How many people do you know who are diabetic? Do you have any opinions on what is driving the “epidemic?”
For me, it totally depends on the time of day and the circumstances. This morning, I wished I could have been an anchor on Good Morning, America so I could tell the world I don’t really CARE why Demi Moore is in the hospital and talk about something that actually matters. Yesterday, I wanted to be a member of the Texas highway patrol so I could at least hand a citation to the moron who continued to drive while filming his wife give birth in the passenger seat of their car. (Am I the only one who thinks that would have been a good time to PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD??) Other dream jobs have included: head of the local school board, supreme court justice and whoever the hell is in charge of of airing trash shows like The Real Housewives of Orange County.
Most of the time, though, I want to be exactly what I am – a wife, mother, grandmother, food blogger and aspiring cookbook author. Especially when I’m cooking and photographing something like this.
Because it is deliciousness on a plate. Quite…dreamy, so to speak.
And I’ve never really ever liked lamb all that much.
Lamb Chops with Shallot Sauce
| Lamb Chops with Shallot Sauce |
|
- 1 tablespoon each finely chopped red, yellow and orange bell peppers
- 1 small Jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons lard or butter
- 8 lamb loin chops
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel
- 2 tablespoons goat butter, chilled
- Melt the lard In a large sauté pan or skillet over medium heat; lightly sauté the peppers and jalapeno until they are tender-crisp, about 2 or 3 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.
- Dry the chops well with a paper towel; season on each side with salt and pepper. Increase the heat under the skillet to medium high and cook the chops until just pink, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Set aside, cover and keep warm.
- Add the wine, vinegar, shallots, basil and orange rind to the pan; increase the heat slightly, bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Whisk in the goat butter, a bit at a time, until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place two chops on each plate; spoon the shallot sauce over the chops and sprinkle with the peppers. Serve immediately.
- Nutrition (per serving): 355 calories, 24.3g total fat, 92.1mg cholesterol, 73mg sodium, 498.7mg potassium, 6.7g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, <1g sugar, 21.7g protein.
This one? Perfect.
Based on two beautiful restaurant recipes and originally posted 2 1/2 years ago, the only thing that kept this recipe from being “real food” was the granulated sugar in the salsa – so I’ve replaced it with a generous drizzle of honey, which is really all it needs, especially if the mango is nice and ripe. (It also doesn’t hurt that the cookbook could use another seafood/fish recipe.) It’s also absurdly quick and easy, especially if you make the salsa ahead of time.
Oh, and it’s delicious too boot. So how can you lose?
Blackened Tuna with Mango Salsa
| Blackened Tuna with Mango Salsa |
|
- 2 four-ounce sashimi-grade Ahi or yellowfin tuna filets
- Blackening Seasoning
- 1 1/2 tablespoon paprika
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tablespoon pure red chili powder
- 1/4 tablespoon freshly ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- Mango Salsa
- 1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded and diced
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/3 cup finely diced red onion
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- In a medium, non-reactive bowl, drizzle the honey over the mango; stir well and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. Stir in the onion, jalapenos and lime juice; cover and refrigerate for at least one additional hour, to allow the flavors to blend. Stir in the cilantro just before serving.
- Mix all of the blackening spices together on a plate, and dredge the tuna on all sides. Heat a lightly greased cast iron skillet until nearly smoking and sear the fish over high heat until desired doneness – about 15 – 30 seconds per side for rare; about 1 minute each side for medium-rare.
- Thinly slice and arrange the tuna on two plates; garnish each serving with about 1/4 cup of the salsa. Serve immediately.
- Nutrition (per serving): 251 calories, 2.3g total fat, 44.2mg cholesterol, 94.5mg sodium, 943mg potassium, 30.3g carbohydrates, 5.8g fiber, 21.4g sugar, 30.4g protein.
I like Tuesday, because it’s…no longer Monday.
At any rate, it’s been awhile since since I’ve participated, so let’s link up to Stacy and get some random on!
~~~~~~
See G Man.
See G Man move.
See G Man move to Podunk.
MOVE, G MAN, MOVE!!
See Poppa and Meema be very happy grandparents.
~~~~~~
Any questions?
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This? THIS is GREAT.
The guy has great taste in marital ringwear, too.
~~~~~~
And speaking of engagement rings, look what’s adorning Darling Daughter’s left hand these days:
Yes, that would be a honkin’ big opal and diamond engagement ring. Apparently, Mr. FixIt has marvelous taste in marital ringwear as well.
This also makes Poppa and Meema very happy because it gives them another opportunity to, well, be Poppa and Meema.
~~~~~~
My last bit of random comes as a bit of a warning, so be prepared for photos in the near future (most likely a week from this Friday).
Friday we are taking a trip out to visit our butchers and watch them cut our next side of beef, to order.
Don’t worry, our heifer (her name is Patty) has already been killed, eviscerated and skinned, so you won’t be getting any graphic photos of that. But what you will get to see is photos of Patty going from this:
to this:
I don’t know about you, but we are pretty excited about it. We are, in fact, taking The Young One out of school early so he can come, too – sort of a “Where Does My Food Come From?” field trip. (I think he’s mostly excited about getting out of school early, but I’ll take any enthusiasm I can get.)
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And that’s about all the randomness I can muster today. Have a lovely Tuesday, y’all.
Let’s have some fun – use the Mr. Linky widget at the bottom and link up your real food recipes!
I’ve been sitting on this recipe for sometime, but over the course of the last week or two I haven’t really cooked anything that can be made ahead (although, ironically, I am today (for reasons I’ll go into later)). So I decided to pull this out of my cookbook files and post it.
Because? These are really, really, REALLY good; very moist, with a tender crumb. They also keep very well, covered, in the refrigerator and make a great on-the-go breakfast when coupled with a hard-boiled egg or a piece of good quality sausage. Each muffin also comes in at 8 grams of carbohydrates (and 2 grams of fiber) so they definitely belong in the “low carb” category. And because they are made with almond flour and minimal sugar, they are quite filling (and somewhat higher in calories than a traditional blueberry muffin) – one is a perfect serving.
Blueberry Muffins
| Grain-Free Blueberry Muffins |
|
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup light olive oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously grease 9 cups of a one-dozen muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, coconut sugar and baking soda. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil and eggs. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture, beating lightly by hand with a wooden spoon, until thoroughly combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Divide the batter equally between the 9 greased muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Nutrition (per serving): 196 calories, 15.6g total fat, 62mg cholesterol, 169.8mg sodium, 152.1mg potassium, 8.3g carbohydrates, 2.4g fiber, 5.4g sugar, 2.2g protein.
PLEASE – post recipes with whole, real food ingredients only. Dairy, sprouted grains and legumes and natural sweeteners are allowed, but recipes containing processed or refined ingredients or vegetable oils will be removed. Don’t forget to link back to this post! Thanks for your cooperation.