Catch and Release

OK...so I'm not so sure about the whole touchy-feely, sacred place aspect of this blog...but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the idea of writing what you want and need to let go of on leaves and leaving them. Mental fall cleaning. It works for me. Check out the post here: http://www.owningpink.com/2009/10/12/mojo-monday-exercise-letting-go-of-that-which-no-longer-serves/

Chinese and Split Peas

It's October.
*
*
*
It's the end of October.
*
*
*
It is cold. There was frost on the windows this morning, and I could see my breathe as I walked to my car to go to Crossfit.
*
*
*
Ok. That's a lie.
*
*
*
BUT...it's supposed to be cold.

Living here in Southern California, sometimes we have to pretend a bit in order to enjoy the seasons that our friends in other parts of the country take for granted. We pull out our dutch ovens and fill the house with the delectable scent of braising short ribs...and while dinner's bubbling in the oven, we're outside trimming the bougainvillea in our bikinis. We visit Riley's Farm in Oak Glen to go apple picking Saturday...then drive the opposite direction to go spend the day at the beach on Sunday. And we'll start making soup in October...even though it's been in the mid-nineties these last couple days.

So the last recipe posted was that wonderful curried lime shrimp soup. This new soup entry - Nori Shrimp Egg Drop Soup - is 100% paleo and ready in 5 minutes, which makes it totally lunch worthy! Dinner tonight is yet another soup - one that's not-quite-so 100% Paleo. A rib-sticking, been bubbling in the crockpot all day, down home split pea soup. Will the next post be yet another soup recipe? I don't know! Maybe I'll stray into the territory of paleo chowders or a succulent stew. But for me 'soup' equals 'autumn' ...and when you live in Southern California, that sometimes means quite a crapload of soup to try and pretend that the palm trees are finally changing colours!

Nori Shrimp Egg Drop Soup

This made 2 nice bowls. Perfect for lunch with a friend! This isn't the nicest picture in the world, but the soup was very good. The lime juice and extra grated ginger were added in after the first bite and made ALL the difference! If you want to make it vegetarian, use veggie broth and omit the shrimp. They weren't in the original recipe anyway!

2 cups water
2 cups low sodium broth (veggie, chicken, beef...whatever! soup is so forgiving!)
1/2 cup diced red onions
about 1 cup thinly sliced zuchinni
1 cup shrimp
2 sheets Nori, cut into strips, then squares (scissors work best)or organic kelp/sea vegetable flakes
about an 1" square knob of fresh ginger (skin removed), finely grated
pepper to paste
juice of 1 lime

Combine water and broth in a medium pot, throw in the onions and heat to boiling. Once the broth is boiling, add in the zuchinni, shrimp, Nori, grated ginger, and pepper. Turn down heat and cook about 1 or 2 minutes over medium heat, until shrimp are cooked through. In the meantime, whisk the eggs in a separate bowl with a fork. Reduce heat to low and quickly stir the eggs into the hot broth, whisking with a fork as you slowly pour the egg in. Add lime juice, stir, and serve immediately.

and now...just because I love you all, here's a little 2 minute bonus recipe! Takes 10 minutes to prep and dinner is done! Gotta love that!

Split Pea Soup

Dinner tonight at chez clements!

OK...first off, you need to have that ham bone that you bagged and threw in the freezer last time you had a ham. If you don't have a ham bone, well...then you won't have chunks of tasty ham unless you go buy some to throw in. For the simmering part though, you can also throw in a ham hock (you DO have those in the freezer, right?!) or even a chunk of salt pork. Basically, you're looking for salty pork goodness to flavor the peas! If you want ham and are sans bone, you can buy a ham steak and dice it and throw it in. You can also omit the ham altogether and make it vegetarian.

So...haul out the crockpot, plug it in and turn to low. Dice a big yellow onion and throw it in. Follow up with diced celery and a crapload of carrots in nice big chunks. Add pepper and (here's my secret)dried ground mustard. I usually put mustard seeds and pepper corns in my spice mill and grind them fresh, but obviously the pretty yellow tin of dried mustard works fine also. Add a couple cups of dried split peas. Throw your ham bone, or whatever you're using, in on top. Cover with broth or water (broth obviously adding yet another layer of flavor). Cook on low for 6 hours, adding more liquid if needed.

******************About an hour before serving, take the ham bone out of the pot and let cool. Mix the remaining ingredients in the pot. By this point, there should be no mashing of peas required...it should be all melded together into creamy green goodness! Add extra water if it's too thick for you. Personally, I like my split pea soup like my chili...able to stand a spoon up in it! Anyway, pick all the ham off the bone and throw it back into the pot (the meat...not the bone!), and let warm through. Serve and enjoy.

When heating up leftovers, you'll probably need to add some water and stir up before sticking in the microwave.

So try 'em and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Curried Shrimp Soup with Lime

OK folks...it's a race to beat the clock and be IN BED by 10:15 and clock in a full 8 hours of sleep. So here goes...

First off, I'm going to give you the original recipe for this soup. It's amazing! You can make it in minutes and can be served warm on a chilly evening or cold on a hot summers night. I've done both and have made it numerous times for company and everyone loves it! My kid's love it too! It's definitely one of my favorite keeper recipes. So un-adulterated version first, then I'll tell you what I did to make it paleo. And, for my vegetarian friends...ixnay the shrimp, use veggie stock, and ramp up the veggies (suggestions below with the paleo version) and you're good to go too!

Curried Shrimp Soup with Lime

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
28 ounces lo-fat chicken broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup honey
1 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1 cup milk (preferably 2%)
1/2 pound shrimp (cooked or uncooked)
Salt to taste



Heat a dutch oven on medium high. Add butter. When bubbly, add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes until onion is tender. Stir in flour and curry and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whish in chicken broth, lime juice and honey and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a slow simmer. Stir in corn and simmer for 3 minutes. Add milk and shrimp. If serving warm, heat completely but do not boil until shrimp is fully cooked (if uncooked) or warmed through (if cooked). Season to taste. If serving cold, remove from stove and refrigerate.

Jen's Tip: if you're planning on serving cold, go with a homemade broth or a storebought one. I made this once with a homemade stock and when it was refrigerated, I ended up with an aspic-esque mold! This is obviously not an issue if you're serving hot!

This stuff is SO good that this is what's left at the end:

Paleo Curried Shrimp Soup with Lime

Too simple! I omitted the butter, flour, honey, corn, and milk. I added zuchinni and red pepper - browning with the onions in some spray olive oil. I also used the juice of 2 limes. Other than that, no substitutions made for the deleted ingredients. Instead of a creamy looking soup, it was broth based. All the flavor was still there...just none of the non-paleo junk!

Honestly...if you only try one of my recipes, let it be this one! Delicious!

OK...good night! *sprints off to bed....*

Eggplant and Garlic

...two of my favorite things! Dinner tonight contained copious amounts of both. And since it's already past my bedtime, we're jumping straight to the recipes without further ado... (after I apologize for any typo's that might appear, because I'm hitting send and going to bed!)

Lebanese Style Stuffed Eggplant

*******************Take 6 of the 5- or 6-inch long baby eggplants and hollow each out with a melon baller. Leave about 1/3 inch of eggplant flesh along the interior. Set aside.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry about 3 tablespoons of pine nuts until golden...keep a close eye on them and stir frequently or they will burn! Once toasted, tranfer them to a mixing bowl.

Finely chop about 4 cloves of garlic and 1 large onion. In skillet, heat up a little more olive oil and saute half garlic and onion. After a couple minutes, add about 3/4 pound of ground meat (I used pork. you can use lamb, chicken, beef...whatever!) and brown with a bit of salt and pepper. After meat is cooked through, transfer to bowl with pine nuts. Add about 1 teaspoon of allspice and salt and pepper and mix well. Set aside for a minute.

******************In same skillet, saute the other half of the garlic and onions. Add about 2 cups of chicken stock and 14 oz diced tomatoes with juice...recipe called for canned - I used fresh. I also threw in some fresh parsley that I had chopped and a bit more salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered and go stuff the eggplants with the meat mixture.

Transfer stuffed eggplants to skillet with the sauce and simmer, covered for about 45 minutes to an hour. Carefully turn the eggplants once about halfway through the cooking process.

Once cooked, serve with fresh lemon juice and parsley sprinkled on top.

Roasted Cauliflower

Had this tonight too. It's my favorite way to cook cauliflower. Simply pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Throw cauliflower florets into a baking dish. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on thyme and fresh parsley, salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown, stirring frequently to avoid burnt spots. Tonight...I took it straight out of the oven and tossed it into a bowl of baby spinach. Once mixed, the heat from the cauliflower wilted the spinach a bit. It tasted good and looked pretty and snuck in yet another serving of veggies!

Garlic Sauce

I believe I've mentioned how excruciatingly delicious this stuff is! It's good on asparagus or green beans. Fresh yellow squash rounds are to die for when used to scrape the last of the sauce out of the food processor! It elevates a piece of fish or a chicken breast to haute cuisine! But be careful! It's NOT low fat! It has tons of flavor, so a little really does go a long way. And it will keep in the fridge for about a week!

****************** First mince 4 or 5 cloves of garlic...start by thinly slicing the cloves, then roughly chopping.

Once it's all chopped, add about 1 tsp of sea salt, then mash the hell out of it with the side of the blade of your chef's knife until it looks like this:

Once minced, throw it in a food processor. Begin processing, adding a total of 1 cup canola oil and 1/4 cup lemon juice...alternating a little of each at a time until all liquids are added. Easiest way I've found to do this is to stick a funnel in the top of my processor!



Once done, slowly add one or two egg whites while still continuously blending, until you get a nice mayo-like consistency. And that's it! Minimal input...amazing taste!

So there...three new recipes! Now it's time to go sleep!

Cobbler and Gratitude...

...or 'When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Gingered Peach Raspberry Cobbler'. Yeah, that was the working title. But it was too unyieldy.

So today started off so nice. A calm, peaceful Sunday morning...A rest day for me - my first this week - so much needed. But you guys know me. A rest day simply means I didn't bust my hump at the gym or at Crossfit. Not that I actually rested. What a thought. I honestly don't know if I know how to do that! I'll even clean if I'm sick...but I digress...

Let's see..Reilly had a hike with his Cub Scout troup. We went to church and then hit up Winco, Costco, and Henry's to stock the pantry and fridges for the week. Started working on the food prep for the week...everything was going good. Then Rei volunteers to go get the mail from yesterday, which is still sitting around the corner in the mailbox. And in the mail is a damn overdue notice for my water bill. This brings up all kinds of angst that I had actually managed to put on the back burner for a day or two. And the him, who is supposed to pay those bills, even though he's not in the home any longer, is not answering his phone. So I remain stressed. and pissed.

Then, I get in the car to take Katy to youth group and as I pull out of my driveway, it sounds like legions of demons straight from the depths of hell are screaming for mercy underneath my car. Even I know that means I should stop. And my neighbor, Gary, who is very automotively inclined and just happened to be outside, informed me that "blahblahblah metal blah blah on my rotor blah blah brake failure".

hmph.

Ok then. Do I need a tow truck?

No, he says...I can probably get about 30 miles out of it before they go completely.

well, ok then! Thanks!

and with that, me and my daughter and my caterwauling car return to my driveway.

So now I have 30 miles minus 100 feet of driving left on my brakes. I'm pretty sure that'll get me to the dealership.

So, it could be much worse...but for some reason, it was all I could handle today. I sent Katy inside and proceeded to lay my head on my steering wheel and bawl my eyes out. Either one of these things I could have handled...both together were my undoing. I apparently do have limits. Unfortunately, crying in your driveway is not a good way to avoid discovery. Just in case you are in need of a good solitary cry, you might want to keep this in mind. I would recommend driving somewhere where no one can see you and then parking and crying. I recommend doing that in a working car.

So me and the kids head inside and have a good talk. Then I need to finish the food prep and feed these kidlings. But first I need to re-group. So I grab a glass of merlot and head upstair and give myself a five minute time-in in my bedroom. where my laptop and that happy little world known as Facebook lives.

Now, I know a lot of people don't get Facebook...but let me tell you what a mental lifesaver it can be. Here I am, dressed in my 'hanging out at home, so no one is going to see me' clothes. Hair thrown on top of my head because I can't chop with my hair down (that's a true statement...I make exceptions when I have company and have actually put some effort into my appearance...but for the rest of the time, hair on top of my head means I'm in business! But again with the digressions...). Eyes red and puffy from crying. Nose red and swollen from blowing - which you all know goes hand in hand with a good gut-cleansing cry! And I still have children that need to be fed and chores that need to be finished. I don't have time to call my girlfriends one by one and coordinate a meeting place and time and see who can possibly come and get me and take me away and get me drunk and return me safely home again. (though my across the street neighbor and new friend, Leticia, has graciously offered good wine and hugs at her house next time the need arises. Leticia...read the above description of what I looked like. Consider yourself forwarned!)

Yet with one merlot-inspired post, my girlfriends rally around me. Old friends and new. Friends across the street and friends in Pennslyvania. Friends I've known forever and friends I've never actually met in person. Posts on my wall. Emails. IMs. Words of wisdom...cyber hugs...offers to send out a hit team.

Girlpower strength and love being served up cyber-cafe style. What's not to get about that?

So, soul soothed, I open my bedroom door and rejoin my life. I made the kids carne asada nachos. I thought about what I wanted for dinner. Call it the merlot talking, but what I wanted was NOT dinner and was NOT paleo. And I said 'to hell with it'! And proceeded to throw caution to the wind, and peaches in the pyrex, with reckless abandon. That was probably the merlot too!

Jen's 'If-this-(and half a bottle of Merlot)-don't-make-me-feel-better-nothing-will' Gingered Peach Raspberry Cobbler

6 perfectly ripe peaches. You know the kind...the ones that drip down your forearm when you bite into 'em. The kind that smell like summer. The kind that, with the right person, makes you lose the afternoon after a well-meaning lick of that drop of peach juice running down the other's chin ignites a fire! Yeah..those are the ones! Now... leave the skin on, and cut 'em into wedges. Grab a pint of raspberries and about an inch square knob of fresh ginger root, grated. Mix fruit and ginger in a pyrex with about 1/4 cup of sugar. Cover with about 2 cups of organic peach cranberry granola. Evenly sprinkle about 1/2 cup of brown sugar on top of the granola, then liberally and lovingly dot with beautiful chunks of butter. Bake at 350 degrees until all bubbly and gooey looking underneath and all nice and toasty looking on top.

Mmmmmmmmmm! It was TO.DIE.FOR! I will admit it's the first non-paleo baked treat I've had in almost two months, but I don't think my tastebuds were that hard up. It tasted amazing! The fresh ginger had a lot to do with it! Perfect complement to the fruit! and normally I would make my own streusel topping with oats and walnuts and other good things. But for some reason I thought of the granola and I really liked the way it turned out! And I would have pictures for you - it was like eating a sunset, what with the peach and the reds of the raspberries...but alas, my camera broke the other day.

So here it is, almost midnight. Way past my bedtime. But I couldn't sleep tonight, even after a shower. But now that I've purged today and transfered it here to my blog, I think I can. I'm going to bed thinking not about what what wrong today, but what went right...

I'm grateful for my beautiful, strong, amazingly resourceful children who are handling this situation with more grace and aplomb than I sometimes feel I am.

I'm grateful that every time I go to church, something speaks directly to me and what I'm dealing with in my life at the time. Sometimes it's an entire service, sometimes a song, sometimes a snippet of prayer. But there's always something.

I'm grateful for the perfect watermelon and pineapple that I cut up for the kids today. The pineapple had that wonderful cinnamon undertone that is so elusive. It was delicious!

I am grateful that the asparagus at Costco today was tiny, tender little baby asparagus. And I'm grateful I decided to treat myself and buy the smoked salmon there too. The salmon, wrapped around the asparagus, made the perfect before bed snack just now.

I'm grateful that I have such an amazingly diverse group of friend - near and far - that have my back when I need them too.

I'm grateful for my health and my strength and my spirit and my fortitude.

I'm grateful that it's now time for me to go to bed.

Night all!

9-18-09 Log

Slept so well last night! about 7.5 hours...and I didn't wake up once!

CF was good today! After toasting my lower body over the last three days, I did offer up a prayer to the Crossfit deities as I drove to the gym this morning, asking for a good upper body workout that I could actually do. And apparently, I've been a good (enough) girl that my prayers were answered! The CF WoD was 5x3 of push presses, which I couldn't do since I'm still, still, STILL dealing with tendonitis in my right shoulder (but which I am, as I type, icing like that good girl we already ascertained I am!) - but the Kettlebell workout was exactly what I wanted! 20 rounds of (5 each side single arm swings, 5 each side cleans, and 5 each side presses). Because of my shoulder, I held the bell with both hands to do the presses and really concentrated on keeping my shoulders back and using my lats to pull down (thanks, Louie!). Just what the doctor ordered! Took me about 33 minutes and made me sweat. Those presses were the hardest thing at the end, even with two hands! Used the 16 kg 'bell for the whole thing.

Ended up at Kohl's after CF to buy another pair of my new shorts...when two people compliment you, and the dang things were on clearance for $4.20, you'd have to be a moron not to go buy another pair! : -) So I went there with innocent thoughts of actually paying cash and leaving the credit card securely holstered. Alas, I wandered into the junior's section. Stacy and Clinton would be SO very ashamed of me! They constantly belabour the fact that 40 year old women are never to shop in the junior's department. Never, ever, ever under any circumstances. Well, I'm going to assume they mean 40 year old women who aren't in shape and don't have discerning taste! That caveat works for me! ha! And I honestly needed stuff...none of my jeans from last winter fit anymore, and I really didn't want to be caught in one of our ruthless Southern California cold snaps with nothing but CF duds and frayed cut offs and tank tops! And I no longer have to worry. My new best friends are the Levi Tilted Low cut straight leg jeans...black and dark rinse...in size 7. Oh my goodness? Can I say that again? *ahem* Size 7! Damn, that feels good! And my daughter is going to be so proud of me because, after a year of her harping on me, I actually now own a pair of skinny jeans! Beautiful darkones with a deep green rinse that I adore! IAbsolutely love them! And a black mid-thigh mini with the most awesome big belt. And a red plaid not-quite-mid-thigh pleated mini. Which I oh-so-seriously need to finally get those 20-eyelet Doc Martens to go with! And a sage green silk baby doll with cap sleeves and sort of Mandarin-inspired embroidery. And three! yes, three! of the 'they-must-have-used-my-body-as-the-model-when-they-made-it' butter soft shirts. One blue and green plaid, one red and white, the other the perfect slate grey. they fit perfectly! Nips in at the waist...fits the old boobs...doesn't pull across the butt. And I know I'm going to be fighting Kaity for those shirts every week! I can't remember the last time I had this much fun shopping!

Now, down to business:

7:45 1 egg scrambled with mushrooms, zuchinni, 1/2 diced jalapeno and a crapload! of garlic.

8:30 - 9:30 The totally awesome, I could do it all, kettlebell workout!

10:00 Cashew Larabar

1:45 Last of the ground turkey cooked with onions, jalapenos,and green peppers...threw it on top of a big salad of greens, artisian lettuces, cucumber, radishes, zuchinni, avocado, and grilled corn. Dressed with lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, cumin, fenugreek, tumeric, and crushed red pepper.

4:30 small handful of walnuts

Obviously, not done for the day yet...but it's time to shower and get ready for the first high school football game of the season. My daughter is in marching badnd and it's their first show! and my boys are so excited to be going to a football game! More later!

9-17-09 Log

So...I wasn't planning on weighing myself today. Am back on track and want to stick to once a week weigh ins. But had a doctors appt today and they threw me on the scale. I was all mentally prepared for the difference that being fully clothes and hydrated mid-day - as opposed to butt naked first thing in the morning - would have on my weight. So was oh-so-excited to see a nice strong 148 pop up on that scale. Booyah! First time in recorded-in-hospital-record history that I'm officially NOT overweight. Yeah me! So then WHY oh WHY, when I go to Kohl's afterwards to buy some new exercise pants, do I still insist on bringing larges into the dressing room with me. I never want to mentally fuck myself by trying on something to small to begin with and feeling bad. Old habits die hard, I guess. So I will bring in 4 different sizes and start working my way down from the top. It really makes shopping take to long. I ended up with some perfect Fila pants in XS!!!!! XS!!!!!! on the bottom! with this ass! Ha! Maybe from now on I can start with the mediums or, dare I say it, the smalls?

Less than 6 hours of sleep last night because I was worrying someone was trying to break in. So not off to a good start. Then with the turmoil of this morning, I didn't have time to pack something to eat post-wod, and didn't have time to stop and get anything on the way to the Drs...so very large, very bad, big empty void in my eating. won't happen again!

8:00 1 hard boiled egg, 1 apple, 2 Tbs of almond butter and cinnamon

9:45 12 minute WOD. I'm going to pretend today was a rest day.

2:00 Ground turkey with big salad (greens, cucumbers, radish, zuchinni, tomatoes, peppers). Sunflower and pumpkin seeds for fat. Lemon juice and spices.

4:00 1 nectarine

7:30 4 oz chicken breast, 1/2 yellow squash, 12 almonds.

10:30 couldn't sleep because I was hungry. Ate about 2-3 oz flank steak and an apple with almond butter and cinnamon