Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mmm...bacon

So with this whole new Paleo thing I am actually trying to eat more bacon. I almost never ate bacon before, but since meats are our friends, I bought a package.

As anyone who has been in my house when there is food being prepared can attest to - I am a wuss. A big wuss. Giant one. I don't like doing anything where there is a chance of something blowing up or catching on fire. Hence, I have only cooked bacon once before in my life.

I made bacon my bitch this week when one of the girls from BotB said how she had cooked it in the oven. I thought to myself, there is no chance of anything catching on fire if everything is lined properly and the toddler stays out of the kitchen...let's give this thing a go!

Well my friends, it was awesome.

Ingredients:
Bacon

Directions:
Lay bacon gently on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Stick it in the cold oven and turn the oven to 400. Let the bacon alternately chill and sizzle for 17-20 minutes, however done you like it. Put it on a paper towel-lined plate after you take it out, because it will keep cooking on the sheet. Oh, and you can save the bacon fat for later too if you want - mmm, bacon fat potatoes. Not as good as duck fat potatoes, but it's not like I've had either so far (fear of things that may cause fires and all).

Le Bacon:


Le Bacon in use - my Paleo lunch:
I cut up cucumber slices, tomato slices, and avocado, and stuck everything between two cuke slices and ate them like sammiches. It was a fab bite-size lunch.

Monday, July 2, 2012

The One Where I Start to Meal-Plan

Soooooooo...I'm plotting. Lots of things, actually. But one of these plots involves planning. That sounds bad, in a funeral-home way - I'm not dying, nor is anyone else (hopefully) promise! I need to start getting more organized about life, especially with my new-found ADD-ness, and that means planning. Household cleaning planning, meal planning, five calendars-type planning.

My new meal planning will involve some aspects of the new Paleo craze that's going around. I think it's awesome, because it allows you to have ATB for every meal (avocado, tomato, bacon). Of course, no more grains (wah wah wahhhhhh). But I won't be doing the Whole30 completely, just modifying our meal planning to include more of the things in the hunter-gatherer menu and less of the refined/processed stuff, white flour and sugar and all that.

So, what I'm thinking on the dinner front is one whole-grain meal per week (I usually plan for dinner 5 nights a week and then wing it on the weekends - leftovers will suffice too), and the rest will be fruit-veg-meat. It will require actually learning how to cook beef that is not ground. But you know, if I can make my own taco salad, I'm pretty sure I'll be awesome at the rest. ::puts on charlie sheen winning button::

I will not stop baking though, don't you worry your pretty little heads about that. I use whole wheat flour now and I will continue that but also will start adding in some Paleo-inspired goods also - almond flour, coconut oil, etc. So, here begins my push to start eating whole...er... yeah.

Look, I made stuff!

I made taco salad! I feel so accomplished. Dinner, 0. Cat, 1. I mean, really, all I did was throw shit together.
But it was semi-healthy and cheap-ish. And I made it. Did I mention that?...  

Taco Salad
Ingredients: 
3/4 lb ground beef (I used organic 90% lean) 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp garlic salt 
1 tsp chili powder 
1 tsp cumin 
1/4 tsp oregano (these measurements are probably off, I just shake stuff in the pan) 
1/2 beefsteak tomato, chopped 
1/2 avocado, diced 
1/2 can niblet corn 
1/2 c black beans, rinsed 
salsa 

 Directions: I browned and chopped the beef (hellooooo pampered chef most useful tool evah), then added the spices and a couple spoonfuls of water. I added the black beans and corn while the stove was still on to warm them up, then mixed in the tomato and avocado after I took the pan off of the heat. 

Served on top of lettuce with ranch dressing and Newman's Own Mild salsa. So. Freaking. Awesome.

You're going to have to deal with the picture, because I ate it before I could photograph it. So you get leftovers, enjoy internets!

Verdict: