21 Day Challenge

Welp, someone needs to get back on the healthy eating road. Hot summers in Texas have been lending themselves well to ice cream, and July went above and beyond the call of duty to help out little ice cream cones that needed to be eaten. And lemon biscuits from Costco. Yum. And then there are the little Twix Bites that my husband buys. When you leave an open bag on  the counter, they're going to jump out of the bag and into my mouth. Pretty much the only things from this list I haven't been eating is cake/donuts/muffins/pastries/nutella, etc. So, yeah, my eating has been on the sweet and snacky road lately, and that needs to change.

Some of the girls in my writing group were talking about a healthy eating challenge recently. You don't have to start any particular day, but a new month is as good a time as any to start.

Day 1 Breakfast: 1 mug chai tea, 2 eggs scrambled with a piece of cheese, 1 cup of cherries.
Day 1 Lunch: I'm not 100% sure what will be for lunch. I might make a vegetable stir fry and serve with brown rice.
Day 1 Dinner: lamb kebabs. I made souvlaki wraps last night and have more marinated lamb to cook. I will have with the salad vegetables tonight, not in a wrap.
Day 1 Snacks: I love Mary's Gone Crackers seed crackers. I am going to make some hummus to have with them.

Also on the agenda: movement. Not an easy thing for me, my left hamstring is better, my plantar fasciitis is ok (not great). Now I have a compressed sciatic nerve in my right hip. Ugh.

Wish me luck.

Sweet Potato Quiche - an inspired post...

A Few days ago, my favorite Hotass posted a link to a video recipe. A recipe that was for quiche, but used very thinly sliced sweet potato slices layered to make the crust. One kitchen gadget that I have that I don't use as much as I should is my mandoline. The Aussie got it for me for my birthday several years back, and it makes the best thin sliced anything. Including fingers, but that's another story. Speaking of stories, this post is actually inspired by a person called North, who loves healthy eating. ;)

I pretty much always have sweet potatoes on hand, so I decided that this would be a great recipe to make for lunch. To make this, you'll need the following:

1 large sweet potato, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag of baby greens (kale, spinach, etc)
2 ounces shredded cheese (I used an alpine style that I had on hand)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
spices: salt, pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg, cayenne
cooking spray
olive oil

Thinly slice a large sweet potato. Spray your pie pan with quick release spray, and layer the slices on the bottom and sides of the pan. Cut slices in half to form the side layer. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

While the crust bakes, drizzle some olive oil in to a hot pan. Toss in a thinly sliced onion (I had half of a very large onion in the refrigerator). Cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes until the onion softens. Next, add in several handfuls of greens. The video used half of a bag of baby spinach. I am not a fan of spinach these days (it makes a squeaky feeling on my teeth when I eat it) so I used a package of baby kale. In hindsight, I would chop the baby kale in to small pieces to make cutting the pie easier. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the greens are wilted. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a pinch of nutmeg.

In a bowl, whisk together 4 eggs and half a cup of milk. Add in 1/2 t of salt, several grinds of black pepper (I love black pepper, so I used a lot of it), and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Layer the greens and onions in the pie shell, distributing fairly evenly.
 

Top the greens with 2 ounces of shredded cheese.

 Pour the egg mixture over the greens and cheese. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

Slice and enjoy!

Quick and Easy Spicy Scotch Eggs

Hello October! Not all things fall revolve around pumpkin pie spiced everything. Shocking, I know, but true. Fall flavors to me, are savory flavors. Chili powder. Smoked paprika. Garlic. Yum.  These are a few of the flavors in one of my favorite things to eat. Scotch eggs. Recently, to celebrate the return of Doctor Who, The Aussie and I ate out at a local British pub. I was so happy to see Scotch eggs on the menu. Ever since, I've been thinking about them. What better time to make these than at the start of a paleo challenge?

Spicy Scotch Eggs (serves 4)

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 pound pork sausage
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T parsley flakes
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

Mix the sausage and spices together until well combined.

Take a large spoonful of the mixture and start to wrap it around a peeled hard boiled egg, like so.

Completely cover the egg with the mixture, smoothing it down to make sure there are no gaps. Repeat with the remaining eggs.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes until the sausage is lightly browned and cooked through.

The eggs can be eaten hot, cold, and anywhere in between. I got a little piggy here because I was so hungry (they smelled amazing while I was cooking) and took two. My dipping sauce was a simple paleo mayo-mustard. I was full after having 1 1/2. These are perfect for any meal. 

Enjoy!

My Favorite Summer Salad

Mmmmm. Crunch, crunch, crunch. You'll have to excuse me, I'm crunching away on this salad as I am typing. I have been making an effort to include more vegetable dishes in my meal plans. At the risk of making the baked eggs in swiss chard for the third time in a week, I decided to switch things up and make my cauliflower and broccoli salad. It's a salad that eats like a meal, and I can eat bowlfuls of this salad. The addition of the cauliflower gives it a wonderful crunch.

Cauliflower and Broccoli Summer Salad

1 head of broccoli
1 head cauliflower
1 c coleslaw dressing
1/4 red onion, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 T apple cider vinegar or herb vinegar
1 T lemon or lime juice (or sprinkle in about 1 t of True Lemon)
1/2 c bacon bits
1/2 c Craisins
1/2 c toasted pumpkin seeds

Trim and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Wash and drain the broccoli and cauliflower and place in a large bowl. Mix in the coleslaw dressing, making sure to coat the vegetables well. Cover and chill for at least two hours so that the flavors mix.

Stir the broccoli and cauliflower mixture. Add in the diced red onion, vinegar, lemon juice, shredded cheese, chopped eggs, bacon bits, Craisins, and pumpkin seeds. Mix well and enjoy!

Back To Basics - Starting With A Healthy Breakfast

Yesterday I shared my limerick about a patio swing breaking because Sparkie and I have gotten fat. Her for the first time, me for, um, not the first time. Granted, the swing has been out in the Texas elements for 8 years, so it's a bit worse for wear, but it's not entirely to blame for the incident. So this morning I dusted off some of my healthy living books in anticipation of getting back to basics. (Side note: when someone tells you it's harder to lose weight when you're in your 40s, believe them.) To start my journey back to healthy living, I made breakfast. Not any breakfast. A healthy breakfast.

Baked Swiss Chard and Kale Eggs (serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are)

4 slices bacon, cut in to bite sized pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 10 ounce bag of chopped swiss chard, big stems removed
1 container baby kale 

1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 T hot sauce
Splash of red wine (optional)
1/8 t grated nutmeg
1 cup plain yogurt
1 t black pepper
4 eggs
Sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350

Note: I partially cooked my bacon in the microwave because I got it out of the freezer. I transferred the bacon to the pan with just a little of the drippings.

In a large pan, cook the bacon over medium high heat until crispy. (I like really crispy) Add in the sliced onion and cook until the onion has softened. Add in the chopped swiss chard and the kale, stirring well, and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the greens have wilted down. Next, stir in the diced tomatoes, hot sauce, the splash of wine if using, black pepper, nutmeg and yogurt. Mix well, so that the yogurt is blended in. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Spoon mixture in to a baking dish. Make in "indentation" in the vegetables and crack an egg in to each. Sprinkle with the cheese and back for 20-25 minutes.