Foreshadowing...

So I was answering comments on my blog, and realized I still had an old draft sitting out there...alone and unread. Looked at the date and realized it was written 4 days before Brett told me that he was moving out...that, without a word or a shot at working things out, he was simply walking away from our 20 year marriage. And I was struck by my last couple sentences... "I'm learning, I guess. Life doesn't usually work exactly how we'd like it to, or think it should...but I guess you let yourself be maudlin...for a second! and then move on and make the best of it." ha! how's that for a nice bit of foreshadowing?! Thank goodness I already was thinking like that, huh?! It's been six months now...and I'm truly happier than I've been in years. And though I hate what the kids are going through right now, I do have to respect him for having the courage to do what I'd been wanting to for years. I have a couple friends going through some really tough times right now...and I just want to remind them that things happen for a reason and that you are never given more than you can handle. And that no matter how crappy things seem, you still have us...all your friends...who love you tremendously! And though sometimes it seems that fate is awfully heavy-handed in dealing with us, maybe it's because we're just too damn stubborn to do what needs to be done on our own!

End of Summer Blues

So today was the last day of summer for my kidlings. My daughter starts her first day of high school tomorrow. My boys are still at school right down the street from the house. They went to bed excited and a bit nervous. Reilly asked me when you stop feeling like that before new things and I'm not sure how much he appreciated me telling him that I still get those wriggly worms in my stomache before I do something new. Now they're finally asleep and I'm supposed to be loading the music for my back-to-back Xbiking classes tomorrow morning. Instead I have those same wriggly worms in my stomache, but it's because I feel guilty.In years past we always celebrate with something special. One last trip to the beach for them and our favorite fish tacos at Harbor Fish and Chips. Or going to see a movie, which we very seldom do. Or having friends over for a last fling. Today I taught smack dab at noon...and we had to pick up Katy's clarinet from school...last minute school supplies...a two hour meeting. We did go to the mall so Katy could buy the coveted checkerboard Vans for the first day of school and we gnoshed hardcore at Soup Plantation for an early dinner. So we did have a little treat, but nothing spectacular. What sucks - is that I KNEW today was going to be like this - so we went and saw Harry Potter 6 last Friday when Brett was actually home with us. But today was sort of anti-climatic. And I honestly don't know whether they are feeling gyped or not.So today was the last day of summer for my kidlings. Which means that tomorrow is the first day of school. Funny how one follows the other, huh?! Katy is set. Carpool is picking her up and she would absolutely die if I even entertained the idea of walking her into high school for the first day. But my boys are still my babies. And regardless of whether they might normally walk or ride their bikes to and from school, everyone knows it's a mandatory mom duty to take them the first day and embarrass them with pictures and generally make a nuisance of yourself. But tomorrow I can't. Our one instructor had knee surgery today and the other one has kids of her own. Not a lot of options. I'm praying that the entire population of Riverside County stays healthy tonight, so that Brett can get off half an hour early and do the honors. If not, the boys will be off to school alone on the first day. And that makes me sad.But I will wake up early in the morning and make them a kick-butt breakfast and give them big hugs and kisses and make sure Ian walks Reilly to his class if Daddy isn't there. Then Thursday morning, I'll be up bright and early to walk the boys to school - camera in hand - ready to get a picture or two with the teacher. I'm learning, I guess. Life doesn't usually work exactly how we'd like it to, or think it should...but I guess you let yourself be maudlin...for a second! and then move on and make the best of it. Tomorrow - bright and cheery me will be back. Tonight - thanks for listening to me ramble!

Tales of a 40 Year Old Salad Whore

Today is Monday. And it’s the first of the month. Most auspicious day to change one's diet all to hell and back! But first, a very important matter of business…

*get’s down on her knees*…

*shoots exasperated look at all her guy friends who instantly went there*…

*prays*…

Dear Heavenly Father….please, please, PLEASE! Pretty please, with coconut on top! Let Robb Wolf be right. Amen.

And for those who think I mock - I don’t. True, heartfelt prayer offered up!

OK. So. I work my ass off. I’ve been eating paleo for 8 months now. But with all that, I haven’t seen any more weight loss and I haven’t seen any strength gains. If anything, I’ve seen strength losses. I got my pull ups, I lost my pull ups. How frickin’ frustrating is that!? Now, I know there are multiple contributing factors. First, I tripled the number of classes I was teaching at globo’s starting in January, while still trying to maintain CF and Kettlebells (and I tried to throw some P90X in there too, because there’s some good stuff in there! ). Can you say overtraining? I’ve been called on it before, and though I try my hardest, it keeps rearing its ugly head. But I solved it! I started my catering business back up and something had to go while I got everything situated. Couldn’t be anything income producing, so there went my CF. and Kettlebells. *Sigh* But I did use my first profits to get all those pretty toys in my garage.
******************And though I used them on my own,as well as the kettlebells that were added also, I totally missed my CF family. So that’s just not going to work for me. So I can fit two mornings a week Crossfit in at the box itself, and can throw some WoDs in at home to fill in the gaps. But the point is, my activity level got a bit more sane this last month. So we’re working on the overtraining issue. Stress was a huge issue last month too, but I’m getting that under control. Which leaves my diet…


How can you improve on paleo? I’ve been eating paleo for 8 months now and, overall, am pretty darn strict. My cheats are dark chocolate (daily. sometimes twice daily.), coffee (one cup a day, but in the interest of honesty, it’s a damn big cup!), alcohol (hard liquor…usually rum or jack. About once a week. Is there a better alcohol to cheat with?). That’s all. Oh wait…and that sinfully orgasmic Pomegranate Raspberry dressing that Ken makes. Damn Ken! Just saying. But back to the question at hand…how to improve Paleo, besides the obvious cutting back on cheats. Personally, I’m going to try to dial in my macronutrients, not just indiscriminately eating. I’m honestly going to keep my coffee and my alcohol and my dark chocolate (I’ll drop that one to an ounce a day) because I’m human. If these changes don’t really kick in, then I’ll look at my small handful of cheats. But only then. At least the dressing won’t be a problem any longer, because I’m apparently now a converted salad slut…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

So I head over to Robb Wolfs’ site to do some research. And it was definitely my lucky day, because there was an entire post where he gives the macro breakdown for a 150 pound woman, with my activity level, looking to lean down. Hey! I’m that women too! Frickin’ exactly! Talk about having my information spoon fed to me! (is information paleo?) So, knowing that the numbers may have to be tweaked and personalized, I guiltlessly bogarted everything on that post. It’s as good a place as any to start!

So starting today, I’m going for 1950 calories *gulp* broken down as follows: 150 grams protein (600 calories), 50 grams carbs (200 calories), and 127 grams fat (1150 calories). Uhm….*GULP!* This is where that prayer comes in!

Really?! That’s a 31:10:59 breakdown. That scares the shit out of me! I’ve been doing about 75 grams fat a day…and it was hard for me to get it up there. My breakdown has been roughly 30:40:30. This is a huge tweak! After losing 200 pounds and being restricted to 12 -15 grams of fat for the years it took me to do that, it’s a huge mental leap to start upping your fats so drastically. But I understood the science and reasoning behind it and did it. Now I have to apparently do it again. But it’s still scary!

******************And apparently one can be a carb whore even if she’s eating mostly vegetables – which up to today has been the mainstay of my diet. So changes are a’coming!

First thing I did was load the Chron-o-meter software to my laptop. I’ve used it before and love it! You input your weight and the macro breakdown you’re aiming for and it keeps track of it all for you. Right down to your daily allowances of vitamins and minerals too! Way cool! And free! Awesome! It has a huge, existing database of foods, and you just add the specific stuff as you go. After about a week or two, you’ve compiled your own specific database and it gets less arduous to enter your meals.

And when I entered in my breakfast and pre- and post- WoD snacks, I instantly saw that my percentages were seriously off already. So to get everything back on track, lunch today was 4 oz chicken breast and 4 oz of avocado. No veggies for me! Will definitely forgo the fruit in the morning from now on, so I can get some veggies back! And I’ll have to get some different fat sources. Almonds are getting old. Started cooking with the coconut oil again this weekend, so that’ll help. And just discovered the existence of coconut butter as an alternative to almond butter, so am going to get some of that too. I really need to plant an avocado tree!

So…goals for March. Make a schedule that allows for CF, along with teaching, without killing myself. Stick to these new macro breakdown for at least a month to see what happens (except if I start gaining weight, all bets are off! I can take staying at the same weight while my body adjusts, but gaining will totally fuck with my head!). Try to minimize the stress as much as possible…get 8 hours a sleep a night. So totally do-able, right?! It’s my own personal 30 day challenge!

Flank Steak, Rice, and Artichokes...oh my!

So...you guys want to know what we're eating at Chez Clements tonight for dinner. Honestly...it's leftovers! That's one of my sanity saving devices...never cook a meal that can only feed you once...eat multiple times off of it. Either as the exact same meal or with bits and pieces reincarnated as something else. Trust me...this time honored habit has stopped my head from spinning around like something out of the Exorcist many, many times!

So Sunday's dinner is the starter for this! It was the Tomato-Marinaded flank steaks with herbed basmati rice and artichokes...we also had a cauliflower gratin...but I have to leave in 17 minutes for high school carpool...so you guys get the down and dirty version...rice is starch enough! The gratin will wait!

Oh...and if I decide to reincarnate this, it will be as steak fried rice! yum!

Tomato-Marinade Flank Steak

To make it ridicously simply, I got the recipe for the flank steak from Gavan Murphy, hunky 'Healthy Irishman'. mmmmm! Here's the link to his blog with the recipe. (Oh, and Reet...you can use this for any bit of steak you have on hand!)

http://thehealthyirishman.com/2010/02/touchdown-tomato-flank-steak/.

Yeah...I know. It's not blue. Copy and paste into your address bar and I promise, at some point, I will figure out the whole hyperlink thing!

Now...one thing I did do that isn't in his recipe was save the marinade after I took the meat out. While the meat was grilling, I put the marinade in a pot on the stove and cooked it at medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally (which means whenever I walked past the stove with nothing in my hands). At the end, I added a generous dollop of extra virgin olive oil (about 1/8 cup) and about a tsp of sugar. Mix, cook a couple minutes more, and use it as a sauce to dip the artichoke leaves in. Yum!!!! If you're not doing the artichokes, simply serve the sauce with the meat and rice.

Herbed Basmati Rice

Ingredient:
1 cup uncooked long-grain white basmati rice
1 3/4 cup water
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley leaves
1 Tbs minced fresh dill leaves
1 Tbs minced fresh scallions, white and green parts (green onions)
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
Combine the rice, water, salt and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce the heat to low, stir once, and simmer, covered tightly, for 15 minutes. (Sometimes you need to pull the pot half off the burner to keep it from boiling over. Depends on your stove. Gas is easier to control than electric!) Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit covered for 5 minutes. Add the parsley, dill, scallions, and pepper. Fluff with a fork and serve warm.

Note...substitute any herbs you have or want. Fresh is obviously best...dried will work, in a pinch!

How to cook Artichokes

Cut the stem off the artichokes level with the bottom. You want them to be able to stand up. Slice about the top 1 inch off also. If the leaves are super-pokey and will cause bodily damage while eating, use kitchen shears to trim the needle off the top of each leave. If they're not bad, just leave 'em alone! Put about an inch of water in a large pot. Stand artichokes up in the water (stem end down). Slice a lemon and add that to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, turn down to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or until a leave easily comes off.

Now...I have to run and get kidlings for school. I have no time to edit yet. So please ignore and forgive any typos...they will get fixed later. Y'all know I'm too anal to leave 'em!

Breakfast Frittata

Zuchinni, mushrooms, spinach,eggs, avocado. Zuchinni, mushrooms, spinach, eggs, avocado. Zuchinni, mushrooms, spinach, eggs, avocado.

*sigh*

Yes, I do honestly LOVE my morning veggie scramble with my two yolky eggs on top! It makes my tummy happy, and my body, and always gives me the energy I need to get through my mornings! And I have found that by not eating fruit at breakfast, I avoid any of those wacky sugar highs that sometimes hit me if I eat breakfast too close to working out. And then I have the fruit right afterwards to get that quick glucose to the muscles. And for some reason, eating the veggies in the morning, as opposed to the fruit, seems to set my taste buds for the day to 'less sweet'! I mean, there's a reason my blog is entitled 'and SOME fruit'! I love fruit and would eat it all day if I could. But I guess it's the same philosophy I used when I introduced my kids to solid food...veggies first, to set their taste buds to 'less sweet'! Just never applied it to myself before! Still works when you're 40, apparently!

So anyway...back to the whole 'zuchinni, mushroom...' deal. Yes, I love then. But even I get tired of the same thing day in and day out. But I still wanted my eggs...truly the easiest breakfast protein for me! And I still wanted my veggies. I just wanted them different. Enter the breakfast frittata! Easy, nutritious, and delicious. Hits all my criteria for a successful breakfast!

Jen's 'I Just Want Something Different' Breakfast Frittata

Chop up whatever veggies sound good. This morning I was ALL about change, so I had diced orange peppers, baby asparagus, and mushrooms. I know I've told you about big pans = lots of space for the veggies = non-soggy veggies...but today's goal is a compact pile of veggies that can be covered by my two eggs. So I picked a small saute pan...one that's oven safe! Very, very important!

So heat up that pan nice and hot...we still want to cook the veggies quickly to avoid a sodden, mushy mess. EWWWWW! (and I'll just briefly say that I think most people who 'don't like vegetable' just haven't had them done right...ie...fresh and cooked properly. But I digress...) So, where are we...ah yes...heat pan. Spray with Pam. Add veggies. I added my put-in-absolutely-everything spice mix (see below for recipe) mixed once and then let it alone for a minute or two to get nicely browned. Don't stir them a lot...they don't like that! You make them cry...they get mushy. EWWWWW! again! After a minute or two, stir them ONCE! Cook another minute and then trust that they're done...and still nicely al dente!

While you are cooking the veggies, you should be turning your broiler on to high, mincing some fresh herbs (I used parsley and thyme) and beating the crap out of two eggs in a bowl. Now make sure the pile of veggies is nice and even, then pour the eggs over them. DON'T STIR! no, no, no! Just let them be for a couple of minutes. Keep an eye on them. You'll be able to see the edges start to set. Once the edges start to brown and the middle is starting to set, sprinkle your fresh herbs on top and then take the whole pan and slide it under the broiler. You want to finish cooking the eggs and get a nicely browned top on it. But watch it carefully so it doesn't burn!

When done, grab that pot holder and remove from oven. I served it with half an avocado and you have the perfect paleo breakfast! mmmmmm!

The Super Secret 'Put-in-absolutely-Everything' Spice Mix

Things taste better fresh! That includes your spices! And if you find yourself reaching for the same three or four containers almost everytime you cook, why not save time and combine them? That's how this spice mix came about.

Got an extra coffee grinder? Cheaper than heck, and the easiest way to grind your own spices!

*****************

My personal holy spice trinity is peppercorns (I usually use a mix that contains black, green, white, and red peppercorns...but if I'm out, like I was today, than plain old black ones work just fine!), crushed red pepper, and dried minced garlic...and I recently added dried minced onions to the mix also! I throw them all in my grinder and GRIND! Then it gets dumped into a pretty blue bowl that sits by the side of my stove, complete with spoon! It is honestly put in everything from scrambled eggs to my salads...marinades...you name it, it's probably in there! Couldn't be easier!

French Country Chicken

Just for Reet! Short, sweet, to-the-point recipe so she can maybe have it for dinner. I give you the basic recipe and you can play with it as you want. Personally, I usually add celery, and always use way more vegetables than called for. I always use the chicken thighs too...the breasts usually end up drying out and the slight reduction in calories is not worth the hugh reduction in taste, in my opinion!



Ingredients:

2 Tbs Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, thighs, or combination of both, cut in chunks
2 Tbs butter
2 shallots, chopped (or 1 medium onion)
3 small carrots, thinly sliced
10 mushrooms, sliced (cremini, button, portabella...whatever you want!)
1 tsp oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1 cup dry red wine (I've also used white, if that's what I already have open)
1 - 32 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, warm the olive oil. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper and brown in oil for about 3 minutes each side - until browned. Remove to plate.

Return pan to stove and reduce heat to medium. Add butter to the pan and saute the shallots/onions and other vegetables. Saute 3-5 minutes or until carrots are fork tender. Add the oregano, garlic, and parsley and stir well. Add wine and reduce liquid for 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir. Add chicken back to pan and simmer chicken in sauce for 6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Nice and paleo on its own. For all others, try it over rice or some buttery noodles!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Jen's Baked Vegetarian Chimichanga's

So I've been asked for my chimichanga recipe. And I'm going to give it to you guys! Along with every other recipe for the foods I'm cooking for my home catering business. No, not paleo, but tasty, overall pretty darn healthy, doesn't take hours to prepare and doesn't break the bank yummy food. I figure it's not the lack of recipes that has me in such high demand, but lack of time...so I feel pretty safe that I'm not going to be losing customers doing this! So let me know if you have any questions, and as always, let me know how it turns out for you!

Jen's Baked Vegetarian Chimichangas

Makes 8 servings

2-3 cans of beans...I like using a variety of black, pinto, and kidney. Sometimes I soak and cook my own beans. When I don't, I use the no-sodium added beans from Fresh-n-Easy...still rinsing them really good!

1 can (7 oz) diced green chilis...I'vve been known to roast my own anaheims and poblano's and dice them up for these. Not hard to do...roast over your gas stovetop, in your oven, or on your grill...just turn frequently to avoid burning. Once roasted, but in a brown paper bag, fold the top over, and let them sit in there until they're cool enough to handle. Then peel the charred skins off, chop, and use! Good in anything Mexican! Delicious in scrambled eggs!

3 cups prepared coleslaw mix with carrots...personally, I adore the brocolli slaw mix for these!

1 cup shredded cheese...recipe calls for sharp cheddar...I'm a huge fan of multiple cheeses for a more layered flavor. Love the 5 cheese mexican mix from Costco for this one!

2 cups salsa...this is approximate. You'll want to add enough salsa to the mix to combine well, without being watery.

8-10 flour tortillas

1 can sliced black olives (optional)

In a bowl, combine beans, chilies, slaw mix, cheese, salsa, and olives (if using). Mix well.

Wrap tortillas in a cloth towel and microwave until hot and pliable. I usually do about 1 min for a dozen tortillas. Lay tortillas flat. Divide the slaw and bean mixture among the tortillas, spreading in a band near the edge of each tortilla. Fold over the sides, then roll up tightly to enclose.

Place bundles seam side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake in a 425 degree oven until crisp and brown, about 15 minutes.

To eat, top each chimichanga with additional salsa, sour cream, sliced green onions...whatever sounds good!

Sometimes You're Just Meant to Eat Pancakes

so...came downstairs this morning and Ian was whipping up pancakes for him and Rei. Mmmmm! I do miss pancakes! and waffles! But though they smelled absolutely heavenly, I resisted. Whipped up my normal 2 pounds of veggies with eggs and tabasco and went off to teach. Afterwards, I went to Soup Plantation and had THE.BIGGEST.SALAD.IN.THE.WORLD. Dave will attest to that, when he logs in! It was a spectaculary large salad and he got to talk for at least a whole hour while I ate it! I should not have conceivably been hungry for at least another 3 hours and 42 minutes! Left S.P. feeling very satisfied! Walk in the door and I smell good things again...and find Katy in the kitchen making herself pancakes for lunch. Seriously?! How much temptation is one girl supposed to resist? But resist I did...and went upstairs to start working. Checked my blogs real fast first and lo and behold.... a recipe for paleo pumpkin pancakes. There's no use resisting anymore...I am obviously supposed to have pancakes today. I was in my kitchen within 30 seconds! Salad or not....I was hungry for pancakes and pancakes I was going to have! Took about 5 minutes from start to finish and they were DELICIOUS...though the consistency was more bread pudding-ish than pancake-ish. Probably because the pumpkin doesn't spread out like a regular batter does, so they were thicker. I liked them bread-pudding-ish, but if you want yours less so, just spread the batter out right when you pour them onto the griddle.

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes

(who doesn't love a good alliteration in the morning?!)

In a bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 3 oz almond butter, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. (and you guys know me...I just eyeballed and threw crap in and they still came out good...though I guess that could be another contributing factor to the bread pudding-ish-ness of said pancakes...but not enough of one for me to consider measuring when I make these again in an hour. I mean tomorrow! Tomorrow! ha! Freudian slip! but the point here is, like soup, the recipe is forgiving...measure if it makes your world rotate a little more smoothly on it's axis, but don't worry if you don't). While all this measuring and mixing is occuring, heat up your griddle. Apply oil or Pam, and pancake-make away. I don't really have to tell you guys how to make pancakes, right?! Right!

These were SO good! Warm, sweet, yummy paleo goodness! I need to get me some 100% pure maple sugar as a treat. Then this would border on a near-sex experience! Try 'em out and let me know how you like them!