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In my CSA box, I received a few pounds of organic potatoes. I don’t buy or eat white potatoes because I steer away from the high glycemic index, the massive amounts of pesticides/herbicides/fungicides non-organic tubers soak up like a sponge and that they can not be eaten raw. Since these were local, organic, my blood sugar is fine and the glucose they contain can actually be good for energy, I didn’t want to waste them so I decided to make pancakes. If I start seeing these as a regular addition to my boxes I will probably just leave them for another csa member. This recipe should fare well with sweet potatoes too if you eat those. I used the radishes that came with my box and sliced up some green onion and parsley that I had in my fridge. They were super delicious and served with a side of mixed greens and arugula. I will say this did not satiate my hunger nor did I feel it was very nutrient dense but a great meal if that is all you happen to have on hand or if you wanted a decent cheat meal. Keep reading for my recipe:
If you have not checked out the cook book, Paleo Indulgences, you should. I made this sweet potato salad recipe from it and was fantastic. I made the salad as a side dish to take to a friends house for dinner but used leftovers for breakfast with the usual greens, herbs and eggs. Yum yum. If you don’t want to buy the book just make a standard potato salad but using sweet potatoes, you won’t be sorry.
Today was fantastic! First, I got to work directly with the two farmers that own, Radical Root Organic Farm. Awesome people. (By the way if you ever doubted that global warming was real, just spend a moment listening to farmers ponder when they will be able to plant mango and grapefruit trees in the midwest.) Next, I spent most of the day getting acquainted with the set up and learning the differences in breeds of tomatoes and peppers. Work itself was a lot of fun. It’s so good to be social outside of my normal 9/5 job and the change of environment almost made me feel like I was on vacation. Tons of cool people show up for the market and the pace was constant but not overwhelming. I would go as far to say that I enjoyed working the booth much more than if I was just casually strolling the market on my day off as a consumer. Here is the bounty I got to bring home in exchange for working, this will give you an idea as to why I might make the dishes that I do this week:
My Chamomile plant is getting mature, I have sweetbreads in the freezer and I will be getting mushrooms from the farm tomorrow. Sounds like a good time to make this! The video is pretty old but the recipe looks awesome. I wont include the beans but I might do fresh peas.
I saw some snapping turtle meat at a game butcher shop and grabbed some. I wanted to re-create the soup I used to eat when I was little. My grandparents lived off of a large creek and I remember everyone getting together and hanging out by the bank while my uncles went and cought some snapping turtles. Then I think we cooked the soup right outside. We enjoyed the soup together outside like you would have at a bbq. I used this recipe as a guide as well as my grandmothers. Keep reading for how I made it.
Still budgeting hard core, I had to get creative for dinner. Picked some greens and herbs from the backyard, sautéed the last zucchini in my fridge, chopped up the only other things I had in the house, a tomato and large avocado.. Was actually very good! It also turned out to be a huge salad and very filling.
The sun was shining on my lunch all pretty like so thought I would snap a pic. I used the almond butter bread I made stacked with romaine, parsley, liverwurst and mustard, paired with some berries. I was in heaven.
I thought this lecture about sugar was amazing. Worth watching the entire hour and a half. Learned some things I didn’t know and now understand the things I instinctually knew but didn’t know why. There is even a shout out to the paleo diet toward the end.
So I tried to make paleo vegan gnocchi last night without referencing a recipe and totally failed. Oh, well. There are good recipes out there I found this morning if you just google, paleo gnocchi.
On the winning side, I made Cooking Caveman’s almond butter bread this morning. AMAZING. Perfect for sandwiches! I just had a liverwurst and greens sandwich and was soooooo good.
Chicago Sun Times (via thegreenurbanist)
I love to bike my commute to work! Proud to be one of the 20,000.
(via thegreenurbanist)
Here is an article about Adrenal Fatigue and Calorie Starvation to make you think a bit. I actually had the opposite experience the writer witnesses. I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue before I started eating my nutrient dense/paleo meals but after changing my diet, as advised by my doctor, I am fine and dandy. I was not getting enough nutrients or fats in my diet but plenty of calories. So, I can’t speak to her conclusion but I definitely agree that we should not become fixated on just nutrients or just calories. The real issue gleamed from her article is food fixation and obsessive restriction which are mental heath issues that can be healed by working with a therapist. I also don’t think that eating fresh organic whole foods (the breakfast plate of veggies, egg and meat she mentioned) and abstaining from processed, compromised or denatured “fake food” is restrictive. It’s common sense. No one would tell a non-smoker to stop restricting nicotine intake as should no one tell someone with a grain or dairy allergy to stop restricting. Maybe I took her message a step to far but I did appreciate the article. For me the lesson at the end of the day is just to make sure you are eating enough food, quality food, balanced food and listen to your body. Though, I don’ t have any plans to count calories anytime soon, I will be looking up a few of my favorite foods to educate myself on calorie content.
I finally heard back from the farmer at Radical Root Farm! I got the job working at their Farmer’s Market Booth in exchange for a full csa box veggie share. Every Sunday, from 8am-1pm, I will be working at the Logan Square Farmer’s Market. Drop by and say hi if your in the neighborhood.
This means all summer I should have plenty of stories to share and plenty of food to cook!
I just planted my seedlings a little over a week ago and already I had lettuce I could harvest. This is my half eaten salad I made for breakfast, I couldn’t get a picture in time before I started eating it. There is nothing like eating salad from your own garden picked fresh and consumed with in minutes! It’s really easy too. All you have to do is remember to water them, really. I definitely recommend lettuce and herbs to anyone who thinks they can’t grow anything. You will be surprised how motivated you are to take care of them when they produce for you with such goodness all summer. I paired the array of lettuces with blueberry breakfast sausage and an over easy egg.
Still coming off of a daze of a few weeks, I kept dinner very simple. Well, simple for me because I just heated up some beef barbacoa my friend, Hillary, gave me. Here is a link to the recipe she used. Shouldn’t take much effort to convert to paleo if you wish. I whipped up a quick cole slaw and sliced up a pickle to eat with it.
Cole Slaw:
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