Hey there all, I tried a method of helping me stay on A Paleo-Focused direction for the
Thirty day PALEO CHALLENGE that CROSSFIT SEVEN CITIES is currently hosting. Hopefully there will be some insight or even cooking techniques that can help you, and maybe plant the seed that successful HEALTHY food/(FUEL) preparation can be incorporated into a permanent lifestyle.
Let's face it, in this modern time we are busier than ever, and with modified work schedules, extracurricular activities and the ever changing concept of "Family Time"; one of the biggest obstacles I see in sticking to a diet is finding the time to put the proper foods together for a duration that we can just GRAB OUT OF OUR 'FRIDGE and Seize the Day at hand. So, I planned a cooking exercise on a day-off and prepared great stuff that will cover the majority of MY seven-day, twelve hour shift schedule.
A couple of things -
First - If you think that you just can't eat leftovers, this concept is not for you,so that will have to change, or hopefully you'll have the time to buy, prepare foods and eat right at every meal, every day.
Second - Most cooked items will last in the fridge for a week or can be frozen after preparation. Freezing stuff like Chili, Sauces, Soups can keep them for up to three months if you have gone Overboard on the amount you have made. For smoothies I keep frozen berries. Some things I do buy fresh, either the day before or the day of comsumption. Items like raw spinach, Arugula, Bananas, any fresh green salad fixin'. I always have carrots and celery (no nutritive value, but tastes GREAT with almond butter) and apples/oranges on hand, and Broccoli seems to hold up well for about a week in my 'fridge.
Third -
BE CREATIVE! I have a slow-cooker and a pressure cooker, a George(grill), and a Rottiserie as my kitchen gadgets. Many folks have a slow cooker and the "George" seems to be in every household. If not, DON'T FRET, we have ways of making you cook... Also, for this exercise I bought a Rottiserie Chicken from my local grocer; cheating? Not so sure of that...
So, this is what I made in about three-and-a-half hours;
- Pepper, Onion and Turkey Sausage Frittata
- Pot Roast with carrots, celery and onions (Pressure-Cooker)
- MEATLOAF
- Roast pork tenderloin
- The Best BAD-A$# "Sunday Gravy" (AKA paleo spaghetti sauce) I have ever made!
- Roasted Root vegetables
- Roasted Brussells Sprouts
- Baked Sweet Potatoes
- Baked Acorn Squash
- Spaghetti Squash, Microwaved!
- Cranberry Walnut Chicken salad
That is a TON of food! I have two more folks in my house that are trying to eat well, so this amount is not just for me. I actually believe that if you were to make this much food and portioned it up/froze it, some of it could last up to a month!
And this is how it went:
Pot Roast -
Pressure-cooked at 15psi for 90 minutes - 3lb Chuck Roast,
4 carrots chopped how you like them
3 stalks celery chopped into 2 inch chunks
1 onion chopped into chunks
1-1/2 cups water (if you have salt-free broth use that)
1T ground black pepper
1tsp ground ginger
1T garlic powder
1T Rosemary
1 bay leaf
Rub the meat with the spices/herbs, throw everything into your cooking unit, let it go!
(NOTE-If you're going to SLOW-COOK the pot roast, it will take 6-7 hours, so get your crock-pot going early)
PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 350 DEGREES.
Frittata first! 1 Onion diced, 1 Green Pepper diced, 1 lb Turkey Sausage, 12 eggs, black pepper to taste, 1 to 2 T thyme leaves.
Mix everything in a non-stick baking pan, (I used a 8x11 brownie pan), or lightly greased pan with coconut oil/canola.
Bake until the eggs are set, about 30 minutes. I'll probably eat this for four of the seven days, with a protein shake or smoothie mix in on the other days. If I get bored I can always fry up some eggs pretty quickly.
WHILE THAT'S COOKING, PREP YOUR VEGGIES! When the eggs were done, I put ALL THE VEGGIES into the oven, on two racks and cooked them for 45 minutes!
Roasted Root Veggies - Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips, Onions. I used a 1 lb pack of carrots washed NOT PEELED!, 1 Package of Parsnips washed(Kind of like "White Carrots" in texture), 3-4 Turnips peeled, 1 large onion, 1-2 cloves garlic smashed and diced fine.
Chop the veggies into whatever size you like, I did 1 inch chops on the carrots, about 1/2 inch chops on the parsnips, quartered and about 1/4 inch chops on the turnips, quartered and about 1/4 inch chops on the onion. Sprinkled and coat lightly with Olive oil, Black pepper to taste, The herb of your choice(I used Rosemary and Thyme, about 1tsp of each). Roast in an open pan, stir once during the cooking process.
-Roasted Brussels Sprouts - for me, Roasted whole with light Olive oil drizzle and pepper only. The slight browning of the outside leaves gives a smoky quality that I just love. you can put these in the same pan as the Root Veggies listed above, just put them at one end of the pan if you care about them being separated.
Baked sweet potatoes - EASY! wash them, wrap them in foil, put in the oven.
Baked Acorn Squash - Slice the squash in half, remove the seeds. (For the CONSUMMATE Hunter-Gatherer, you can roast the seeds for snacks - see my earlier BLOG on pumpkins for that tip.)
Poke a few fork holes into the squash meat, add about 1tsp honey, some black pepper, and a DASH of nutmeg. Cover with foil, cook so the squash meat is facing up so the liquids won't run into your oven.
(Nutmeg is VERY PUNGENT, so be sparing in its use!)
Spaghetti Squash - MICROWAVED ACCORDING TO DIRECTIONS ON THE SQUASH! Basically, poke holes in the squash, enough to let the moisture escape without EXPLODING the sqaush. I used a pairing knife and made sure my ten or so pokes were deep enough to pierce the skin and pulp. About 5 minutes a pound, I cooked my three pound squash in three five minute intervals, checking the skin for overall softness.
THE VEGGIES ARE DONE! While they are cooking, I am putting everything else together for the FINAL PUSH! After I pull out the veggies I cook both the Meatloaf and Pork at the same time. I cooked both items for 30 minutes.
Pork Roast - This was about a 2 lb piece. I seasoned it with Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ground Ginger, Black Pepper, Thyme leaves and Ground Sage. Season to tase, about 1/2 tsp of everything.
Place 1 sliced onion in a pan and put the roast on top of it. Roast uncovered, in the oven.
MEATLOAF - 1lb Ground Turkey, 1lb Ground pork, 2 celery stalks diced, 1 small green pepper diced, 1 small onion diced or 2-3 shallots diced(that's what I used), 1 clove Garlic smashed and diced, 1T Rosemary, 1T parsley, 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 egg. Mix everything together, the egg is the only thing I used as a binder and it seemed to work. Place in a loaf pan, roast uncovered. After about 25 minutes I put a mixture of Cranberry sauce and Low-sodium Ketchup (1 small can jellied cranberry sauce and about 1T ketchup) on the top and let it cook for about 5-10 more minutes.
OKAY TIME FOR ME TO GO THIS WEEK, ONE LAST TIP FOR THE ROASTED MEATS.
Let them cool and leave them uncut until you are ready to make a meal with some slices. This keeps the moisture and flavor intact, and prevents spoilage for a longer period of time.
Come back next week, and I'll give you the recipe for my AWESOME Paleo Spaghetti sauce, this batch ROCKED, and I think I stumbled across a GREAT FLAVORING TECHNIQUE FOR SAUCES AND STEWS. Plus I'll give you my Chicken salad recipe, pretty simple.
UNTIL THEN, GOOD LUCK ON YOUR CHOICES! EAT WELL, STAY HAPPY!
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