Once again, a recipe for fritters! I just love fritters so I couldn't help myself. These were part of my breakfast this morning.
I'd never really grated a celeriac, except for using a peeler to make thick noodles, but my Magimix did the job wonderfully. And this was a whole new way of using celeriac, because I normally just add it to stews or curries and I occasionally turn it into fries. In all of these methods, the celeriac usually takes a longer time to cook than any other vegetable I add, which isn't exactly a problem, but I consider it to be inconvenient.
Anyhow, enough nagging about celeriacs; it's a delicious veggie, and you should try these fritters!
I made these cookies last Saturday because my mom came over to visit. I hate it when I don't have any baked goods available for my guests. The amount of dough could've easily made 8-10 cookies, but I decided to make just 4 cookies. While these were baking I quickly dusted and vacuumed my home, and I took a shower while they were cooling.
Dried apricots make a great base for any cookie or cake, they add sweetness, a lovely texture and help everything stick together like it should. These cookies are firm on the outside, but still have a bit of softness on the inside, yum!
Today is going to be a busy day for me! I'm going to the market for my weekly veggie supply, do some studying, write a letter to a penpal (yes I have those, and it's great fun!) and I'll probably look into my holiday plans once again as well. Oh and not to forget some running! And I also still want new shoes.. I guess I better get going right now!
This is the dish my mom and me made together. We never had trevally before, and we both don't have a lot of experience with fish that still has bones in it. We don't like the bones.. Or any bloody parts for that matter.
This fish had bones and was a little bloody. Luckily my mom remembered watching Jamie Oliver cooking a dish with a similar fish, he basically dumped all his ingredients in an oven dish, baked it and it turned out delicious. (or at least it looked that way)
We decided to do the same. My mom let me handle the fish; I rinsed it first, to get all the blood out, then dumped it into the oven dish. We topped it with some other ingredients we thought would make a good combination, and popped it in the oven. How easy!
Then we chopped op a butternut squash to make fries.
We took the fish out after about half an hour. Our next challenge; getting the meat off the bones. It turned out to be really easy, because I could almost lift off the top fillet, while the bones stayed in place. Then I took out the bones and my second fillet was ready. I still had to hand-pick a few bones out of the fillets, but in the end we still found a couple while eating. My mom had carefully 'inspected' her fillet, which went something like this 'you should take this out too, it looks like it has bones' 'no, that's not bones, that's meat, you can eat it' 'and what about this part? it still looks bloody'. If anyone had been watching, it would've been really funny!
The fish turned out to taste great! We both loved it, although we felt like something was missing in the sauce. We both decided that this dish would be so much better if it had some olives or capers in it. That's why the recipe below calls for the use of olives while you can't see any in the pictures.
I just had a really great day with my mom, who came over to visit me. We made a lovely meal together (recipe will be posted later) and enjoyed ourselves browsing around in the city center of Nijmegen. Shopping, eating, food shopping.. Great times!
My mom got me a super nice dress (I feel so spoiled!) and some yummy chocolates too. Foodwise, we enjoyed ourselves at the Asian supermarket, and couldn't resist having some (dairy-free) ice-cream.
Yesterday's breakfast consisted of cinnamon pancakes (with avocado and sausage stir-fry) and so did my breakfast the day before. The reason I made these pancakes twice is because I wasn't too satisfied with the result the first time. In my second batch I used less coconut flour and they worked out much better. So, here's the recipe;
Look what I've got! Sarah's book; Everyday Paleo! I got it in the mail yesterday and started browsing through right away. It's the perfect guide for anyone who wants to start on a paleo diet, alone, or with the whole family.
There's a theoretic part in which she clearly explains what the paleo diet is all about, then we get to the really good stuff: recipes! And not just a few, no, a whole lot of them, all equally tasty. There are meal plans inside too, and even an exercise guide with pictures. I'm going to be doing a lot of reading these days!
Below, you'll find a recipe for meatballs in a celery sauce,with zucchini noodles! (I loved my julienne slicer!!)
In my opinion, a satisfying, filling breakfast really gives you a good start for the day. In the mornings, my digestive system seems to work most efficiently and I often find myself getting hungry again before my lunch break at work. (which is when I take a quick walk to the restaurant and buy myself a boiled egg and sometimes a tomato as well)
And it doesn't just work until lunch, everytime I get hungry before lunchtime, I will also get even more hungry before dinner. Hunger makes cycling back home, motivating myself to cook a nice dinner, and not collapsing on the couch afterwards become pretty hard. Let alone going for a workout in the evening!
So, a good breakfast is key!
The breakfast I made this morning will certainly keep me going for a longer time and I'll be energized all through the day. I served this fritatta with 1/2 avocado on top, really good!
Oh and something completely different; I booked the perfect accomodation for Yosemite National Park last night! I'm going to stay at Curry Village, in a canvas tent. I always wanted to sleep in the park for a night and this seemed like the perfect way to do it. It's just for 1 night, but I'm going to love it. It's my second time visiting Yosemite NP so I felt I didn't need to stay there for a longer time. On my way there I'll drive over the Tioga pass (since I'm coming from Lake Tahoe) and I plan to do some hiking in the valley in the afternoon. Let's just hope no bears will pay curry village a visit when I'm there.. Just the idea that I need to store all food and scented items (toiletries and such) in a bear proof locker on the outside of my tent gets me all excited. (and hoping none will attack my tent of course, you never know, but if this would happen on a regular basis, the village would probably have closed down by now)
Market day today, as I already mentioned. This time, I not only bought a whole lot of veggies, I also went to the fish stall. I had been buzzing around it for a couple of weeks now. Those people have probably thought to themselves 'when is she ever going to buy something??' a number of times, but today was the day.
First of all, I asked if they could clean the fish for me. No problem they said! Ok, well, then it was time to pick out some fish. I chose: 1 mackerel, 1 red snapper and 1 trevally.
The first choice was obvious; I like mackerel. And the other ones made me feel like I was on a holiday in Australia or Asia or somewhere far away.
The first thing I did back home was call my mom. Which went something like this 'Mom, I bought these fish and I don't know what to do with them..' of course I got the obvious suggestion that I should eat them. After all, their heads were chopped off and their insides removed so they wouldn't be doing any swimming over here, and the smell didn't make them suitable for decoration either.
My mom suggested pan frying the snapper and mackerel, and baking the trevally in my oven, good ideas!
So I decided to go for the red snapper today. First of all I didn't have a clue what to serve with it, but the fish looked Asian (nice colours!) so I went with carrot fries and an Asian spiced lemon sauce made with shii-take, onion, lemon, coriander, curry powder and coconut. Simple, but tasty!
When everything was prepared, carrots popped into the oven, I unpacked my fish and found out I didn't have a clue how to fillet it.. Oops..
YouTube brought me the solution in the form of a Hawaiian looking man who was talking about what to do when you've speared your fish from the ocean. How primal!!
Of course I didn't own a filleting knife whatsoever, so I just used my regular knife which worked out pretty well. I think I could've gotten more meat from the bones, but for a first time filleting job, I did a pretty good job if I may say so myself.
After pan frying my fillets (which were smaller than I had expected, so I simply ate them both) I took my first bite, and... pierced my mouth with a bone.. Ouch!
Luckily, that was just the first bite and I only found 3 bones in total. The lemon sauce combined perfectly with this flavourful white fish, and I loved it! I'm definitely going to buy my fish over there again, as it was pretty cheap as well.
In the afternoon I did some more shopping; I bought a 2,5l bucket of coconut oil. I use so much of the stuff that it really pays off to buy bigger quantities. And that's not all, I also got myself this fancy kitchen tool: a julienne peeler!
Foodwise; a great day!
So here's the recipe, and afterwards I'm going to clean up the mess in the kitchen.. Next up is running and practicing handstand pushups. (just because I want to be able to do those)
Yesterday I found this amazing recipe for Primal Tex-Mex Tortillas at Mark's Daily Apple, and figured I should try it. His seasoning recipe is tasty too, but I made my own version, which you can see below.
His blog post says that these tortillas are the best primal ones out there so far, and well, they are! They're really easy to make, firm, won't fall apart when you flip them and they actually resemble tortillas, without the grains of course. Yum!! Made me a really good breakfast this morning and I thought I'd share it with everyone.
I had spiced some chicken with yellow curry paste once before, and it was really good. This time however, I decided to roast a chicken in some and see how it turns out. I also had some lemongrass and ginger in my freezer, which I added, because I love the way those spices add extra flavour.
Of course I burnt my hand on my oven once again, but that even happens to chefs, right? (I sure hope so, because it would make me feel less stupid)
I had lots and lots of energy today, so I went for a good workout and, for a change, I didn't do much else except for giving my kitchen (I almost typed 'chicken' right there) a good cleanse and reading some articles about crossfit and paleo/primal food. I was hungry all day, so I had lunch at 11 am and dinner at 3.30 pm, and hopefully I wont get hungry anymore before breakfast tomorrow.
It's actually nice to just sit around and enjoy having energy instead of being forced to sit down because you've ran out of energy.
Tomorrow: market day! And some running :) (and cleaning and everything else I postponed today)
Yellow curry roast chicken (serves 3-4)
- 1 whole chicken (approx. 1,5kg)
- 1/4 cup yellow curry paste
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 green peppers, chopped
- 6 large carrots, chopped
- 100g shii-takes, chopped
- 1 sprig lemongrass
- 2 cm piece of fresh ginger root
- 1 lemon, quartered
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp creamed coconut
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and heat the coconut oil in a Dutch oven.
2. In the mean time, stuff your chicken with half of the curry paste and rub the outside of the chicken with the other half.
3. Fry chicken in coconut oil over medium heat, until browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
4. In the remaining fat, fry the onion, pepper, carrots and shii-takes for a few minutes. Then add the chicken, lemongrass, ginger and lemon.
5. Cover the pan with a lid and transfer to the oven. Bake for approx. 90 minutes until the chicken is done and the juices run clear.
6. Allow the chicken to absorb some of the juices by letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a chopping board and carve it, divide the meat over 3 or 4 plates.
7. Reheat the vegetables (don't take out the spices just yet!) on the stove over medium heat and dissolve the creamed coconut in it.
8. Divide the vegetables over the plates, next to the chicken, and serve with some chopped coriander on top. Enjoy!
It's Weekend once again!
Time to relax, cook, get active, and clean my home.. The last thing isn't exactly my hobby but it needs to happen. I guess it's a good thing I only have a small home; it takes much less time to clean it.
Somehow I'm always quite lazy on Friday nights, I guess I'm just tired from the work week that lies behind me. I actually planned to have a rest day tomorrow, but I've switched it and made today my rest day. I'll simply go running tomorrow morning, before heading to Amsterdam! Yes, I'm going to spend the afternoon over there, will probably have a nice paleo meal over there as well at my favourite burger joint.
On Sunday I'm going to clean my home, work out at the gym and I'm not sure what else. I'll probably try to get creative in the kitchen too. After all, there still is a chicken in my freezer which just wants to be roasted..! Oh and holiday planning of course. Which is the obvious thing to do for me these days.
Here's a recipe for a tasty salad using shredded chicken; enjoy!
Planning my roadtrip is still going well so far. People are giving me lots and lots of travel tips and ideas; where to go, where to work out, where to eat, and much more. I love discovering new things! If only my debit card would arrive soon.. Then I could start making reservations..
I made some salmon patties last night, and well, they were absolutely delicious! I often make the mistake of adding too much coconut flour and they end up dry, but these were still nice and moist and the celery gives them a huge flavour boost. This recipe definitely is a keeper and I will be making these much more often!
I served it with some stir-fried bok choy, keeping it really simple just by adding some creamed coconut and black pepper, and.. arrowroot! Thanks to Elana's recipe for Ginger Bok Choy! She uses arrowroot in her recipe to thicken the sauce and it works so well. I only needed 1/2 tbsp for a huge bok choy, and it thickened right away. Normally, lots of flavour stays behind in the fluids from the bok choy when stir-frying, but this way it tastes much better. Besides, I hate it when those fluids run all across my plate, soaking everything along the way, and that didn't happen either!
My flights have been booked! I really can't wait to go and booking my flights just made my trip to the USA come even closer. Of course I was kind of late in realising it would be convenient to have a debit card (for hotel reservations, car rental, etc) so I filled out an application form and I guess I will have to wait a little while longer before I can book a car and hotels. Although for some of those you don't need a creditcard or you can pay right away, I'll find out soon enough.
My dad's colleague lent me 2 really good travel books about the USA; Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, and Guide to the State Parks of the United States, both by National Geographic. They already caused me to change the route I'd planned a little.
I've also started looking for places to eat, places to work out (CrossFit gyms!) and I'm 100% sure I'm going to enjoy myself over there. Plus, there are some great hiking and sightseeing opportunities along the road, especially in the National Parks and State Parks.
For dinner was this eggplant and sausage mash. Yum!
My favourite kind of fish is plaice. I simply adore it.. But I hardly ever eat it anymore because it's rather expensive. This weekend however, my parents brought me a huge load of beef and chicken, and.. a package of plaice!! Thanks mom and dad :-D
They also got me a large assortment of tea (herbal tea and green tea) with all flavours I love. They really spoiled me once again!
So of course I had to prepare my plaice today. I like it best when it's pan-grilled and by using some simple spices. So I just heated some coconut oil in my pan, grilled the fillets until browned on both sides and then spiced them with some fish spices.
Along with this creamy spiced cabbage, they made a really good lunch!
That's me! Running my 5k yesterday.
I really enjoyed it, and I'm more than happy with the result! I came in 25th overall (15th in my category) and clocked 20:50!! I wanted to stay under 21 minutes and I did it, I'm so happy about it.
Someone told me I was faster than 99,5% of all participants, and someone else had calculated that I had 24 in front of me, and 4667 behind me. Comments like these make me feel even better :)
So I'm 100% back into the running spirit now and I'm planning to participate in some more races soon. Although I think I can thank most of my result to the crossfit I've been doing which has majorly increased the strength in my legs, core and arms. (and yes, you do use all of those when running)
After the race, I went out to dinner with my parents at our favourite Indian restaurant and had some amazing dishes! I enjoyed the onion bhaji (onion fritters made with chickpea batter and tamarind sauce), seekh kabab bhuna (spiced ground lamb rolls in tomato vegetable sauce) and sag bhaji (very tasty spinach, I don't know what they put in it, but it was very good!).
I had also made a banana cream pie for us to enjoy, so yummy! It's free of so many allergens, you can hardly believe it! Just to sum it up, it's: dairy free, gluten free, grain free, paleo, sugar free, soy free, fruit-sweetened, egg free and nut free. And it tastes absolutely great!
Simplicity is key when it comes to this pie. I actually forgot to take pictures when I was serving it, but I did take some while preparing. I hope that's good enough..
Apparently, blogger has been deleting some of my posts which are now marked as 'concept' posts. So I'm posting them once again..
Here's the recipe for Chicken stuffed pumpkin!
Since I really like roast chicken, I figured I might as well try roasting some drumsticks. The meat is usually really tender and not dry at all, and it takes only 35 minutes to roast them, instead of 90 minutes for a whole chicken. Prefect when you're already a little hungry when you just got home from work and still need to start cooking.
While my drumsticks were roasting, I prepared some cauliflower rice and all together it made a tasty meal.
My first time eating vindaloo was at an Indian restaurant, and I picked it because the sign next to it said 'very, very hot'. I was about 14 years old at that time and thought I'd be able to handle that. The waiter asked me if I was sure about my choice and I told him I was. After all, my dad also took the vindaloo so I could do that too..
About 4 people from the restaurant staff ended up wacthing how I was eating my vindaloo, they were probably sure it was way too hot for me, a pale Dutch girl. Well, it was extremely hot, and my eyes got all teary, but I ate it and loved the taste! That was the day I discovered my love for Indian food.
So when I saw some Vindaloo curry paste at the Asian supermarket a few weeks back, I bought it without hesitation and decided to use it yesterday. I used a 1/4 cup of the curry paste, but it wasn't that hot at all. It was spicy, but not nearly as much as green curry. Next time I might add a red hot chili pepper or 2..
Just a quick warning; if your curry paste is spicy or when you add chili peppers, do NOT eat it prior to a workout. You'll regret it..
This Sunday I'm going out to dinner at my favourite Indian restaurant again (after my race) and I might just try their vindaloo ;-)
I'm not sure if my cravings will ever go away.. Every single time I eat Paleo for over a week, HUGE cravings come over me and it's so hard to get past those..
Anyhow, this morning I made myself a good paleo breakfast, consisting of a beef burger, some cucumber and turnip fritters.
Last time I had turnips, I combined them with parsnips and turned them into fritters as well. But I found out turnips make great fritters on their own as well, so here's the recipe for you all to enjoy.
I also made a very, very tasty pie, but I'll post that recipe later, so make sure to check back tomorrow.
Tomorrow also is my race day.. 5k and I'm already nervous.. Hopefully it'll all go well.
Just a quick post today.. Yesterday I've been busy planning my trip to the USA almost all afternoon and evening and it's not going as I want it to. I have way too many things I want to see, and too little time to do so. What a shame..
So now I've been thinking what places I should let go for now and what I want to see most of all. (which is pretty much everything I planned, but that's not going to work) I didn't even sleep that well because of it!
Anyway, I went for a run this morning (I woke up early..) which went just great and made me realise I've still got plenty of time to figure all of this out.
Maybe I should skip Colorado? I really don't want to though..
Anyway, I made some olive and basil tapenade this weekend. My first attempt on something like this. For serving, I chopped up a large tomato and a yellow pepper, but a generous amount (approx. 2 tbsp) of tapenade on top and mixed well. Along with some grilled salmon, it made a nice dinner.
I didn't really feel like making a huge lunch today so I chose to make a quick meal out of some sausages, celeriac and canned tomato. Along with fresh, homegrown!, thyme and garam masala it made a good meal. And there's enough left for tomorrow's breakfast.
I had a really relaxing afternoon; I went to the beach again (well, fake beach, as it isn't anywhere near the sea) and simply laid there for a few hours, listening to some music and watching people.
Back home I cooked some dinner (recipe will be posted later on) and right after posting this I'm going to spend the rest of my evening watching movies. At least that's the plan, which I often happen to change right after making them, so we'll see.
Another roast chicken recipe today! Yes, it's my 3rd already, but this time I made it Asian style by using lemongrass and ginger. Divine!
We had wonderful weather today, 27 degrees Celsius and sunny, but not too hot. I went to the gym this morning, before the heat went up, and in the afternoon I had a short swim in a recreational lake nearby and spent the rest of the time sunbathing. (of course I had put on some sunscreen, so I didn't end up looking like a lobster)
The water was pretty cold.. Since I've done lots of open water swimming races in the past, I found it pretty easy to get through, but it was just too cold for a recreational swim. You really had to keep moving to stay warm. It's weird that I never actually feel like swimming, but as soon as I'm in the water, I want to stay there.
I'm thinking about giving it another try tomorrow!
I just love hamburgers..
So that's why I made myself some curry burgers yesterday, along with a tasty cucumber salad. These burgers were a lot flatter when I had just shaped them, but they ended up looking slightly like meatballs. Ah well, they tasted good and that's what matters.
Ever since watching Fast Five yesterday I keep listening to this song:
Don Omar - Danza Kuduro
Who doesn't feel like Summer after listening to this song?? Mental note to self: put this song on a cd or USB-stick to listen during my roadtrip in the USA in August. I mean.. Hot, sunny weather, car windows open, sunglasses on, and this song as loud as still sounds ok. What else can you wish for in a beautiful country like that?
My first day off out of 5, and I made the most of it! Went to the gym this morning and had a good workout, I still don't really succeed in doing my bench presses, but at least I tried and it seems to get slightly easier every time.
In the afternoon, I went for a run, 35 minutes. I got a little tired halfway, but in the end I could pick up my pace again and it felt so easy. Hopefully that pace will set in right from the start during my race next week!
I just got back from the cinema, watched Fast Five, and loved it! Somehow I love movies that involve fast cars and action scenes. Not sure why..
Anyway, I made myself a tasty dinner out of some oven roasted broccoli and this cajun grilled salmon! Yum!
Here it is, my last bake for now. Looks good, doesn't it? I love the way the picture turned out and the way it tasted too. Very yummy, and a good 'last cheat meal' indeed. (although I decided to change my way of eating after eating this, not before)
The batter is actually really versatile, you could add some baking powder and make muffins out of it, or drop it on a baking tray and turn it into scones. The baking time will be slightly different, but as long as it's golden brown it will probably be done and taste just fine. This mini cake is slightly moist inside, which makes it even better.
Enjoy!
Had a good breakfast this morning. Although it didn't last me very long, unfortunately.. It should have, and it normally would, but today I was hungry again at 11.30. So hungry I had to buy myself a hard boiled egg at the hospital's restaurant to get some protein into my stomach.
Nonetheless, this breakfast tasted really good, thanks to the added banana and spices!
Today's such a weird day though. I've been hungry pretty much all day, having huge cravings, and giving in to them too... The only good thing about that is that I now have run out of nuts (except for some walnuts which I'm too lazy to crack) and I won't allow myself to buy new ones.
I'm feeling pretty guilty now (and my stomach hurts, apparently nuts simply don't digest very well anymore..) and after watching some really inspirational CrossFit youtube movies, I've decided to make a change: I'm going to see food as an essential thing to keep me healthy, but not as something that will comfort me. Food is for hungry times, and for me it seems to be mostly about wanting to eat instead of actually being hungry. So it's a big change for me.. Everytime I allow myself to eat sweet things, I end up getting addicted to carbs again, and everytime it's much harder to get over it. My willpower usually lasts 2 weeks at most, and then I binge on potato chips, dried fruits, nuts, chocolate, etc.
Not exactly the best idea when you want to feel healthier, because it takes a couple of days to recover from that and that's exactly the point at which the carb cravings kick in once again.
My solution: cut back on carbs (less fruits, no nuts, no cheating), let the cravings and detox kick in and get on with your life because it will pass. It might take a while, but it will.
So, (I've said this a number of times already), but as of tomorrow, my attitude towards food will shift, and it's going to work.
My goal: get into shape before leaving for the USA in August. I'm planning to visit some CrossFit gyms to attend workouts over there, just to see what real CrossFit is like in the USA, and I want to make sure I'm up to it.
Finally, I've got the time (and energy) to post to my blog again, after a really busy weekend at my parents' home.
As I told in my last post, my mom's birthday was last Saturday, so we celebrated that first of all. I'd made her some of my Paleo chocolate hazelnut cookies, which I put in a jar with some ribbons. I'd already given her a raw food cookbook in New York, so this was just a little extra gift.
My mom had been doing some serious baking and pie-making!
First off, she served a strawberry cake, topped with cashew vanilla cream and fresh strawberries. Yum!!
The recipe for the cake was based on Elana's Strawberry cupcakes.
