Stuffed peppers

I aquired a 'thing' for peppers lately. I love them! Oven roasted or sauteed over low heat with some onions.

Today I made stuffed peppers. The recipe below serves 1 person, but of course you can make as many as you wish; just double the recipe.
These peppers are very convenient to serve when hosting a dinner. They look impressive, are easy to prepare and you don't have to worry about them while they're in the oven. (in the mean time you can whip up some side dishes, or if you're well-prepared, chat with your guests)

I'm keeping today's post short. I'm about to head to bed, after all, sleep is important.

Stuffed peppers (serves 1)

Ingredients:
- 1 large, red bell pepper
- 150g ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp raisins
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- 1/4 tsp beef seasoning
- 1 handful fresh spinach leaves
- 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Rinse pepper, cut off the top and remove the seeds. Put the pepper in a shallow oven dish and bake for 15 minutes.
3. In the mean time, chop up the top of the pepper, except for the stem.
4. Heat a skillet over high heat and brown the ground beef. Add the chopped onion, pieces of pepper and spices and sautee until the veggies are softening.
5. Add raisins and stir in the spinach until it's starting to wilt. Remove the pan from the heat to cool.
6. After approx. 10 minutes, stir the egg into the beef mixture.
7. Remove the pepper from the oven and stuff it with the beef and egg mixture. Put it back into the oven and bake for approx. 50 minutes until soft and done.
8. Serve hot and enjoy!

Meatza!

Despite the fact I haven't been eating any milk products or gluten for over 5 years now, and no grains at all over the last 3 years. There still was something I used to miss, especially after just having cut out grains and milk from my diet. Pizza. It's a kind of comfort food, something that's just an easy meal, but even something as simple as that can be missed at times.

Not because of the grains and cheese, but mostly because you used to enjoy making and eating it. Every once in a while, my mom and me would go into the kitchen on a Sunday morning and would create a huge pizza. As big as the oven's baking tray. We made a thick base and a loaded it with a huge amount and variety of toppings. Our pizza was the best. Mostly because we'd made it ourselves.

After I had just started my diet, there have been some more or less failed attempts at recreating a pizza. The base usually ended up a little dry and the vegetarian cheese that was on top wasn't that much of a success either. I actually gave up the dream of making a pizza, and accepted that it was just something from the past. Until this weekend.

I'd read about the 'Meatza' in a couple of paleo cookbooks already. It looked good; pizza with a meat crust. I love meat. Yum! And because I had been wondering what I'd make with ground beef this time (making hamburgers every weekend is yummy, but some variety never hurts), I remembered this all of a sudden. So I decided to make my own take on the meatza.

And it worked. It was yummy, and so much better than a regular pizza. Plus, the whole process of making it and picking out the toppings was equally fun at the least.

Meatza (serves 2)

Ingredients:
- 500g ground beef
- 4 tbsp dried Italian herbs
- 1 tsp powdered garlic
- salt to taste
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 125g bacon pieces
- 1 onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Mix the ground beef with 2 tbsp Italian herbs, garlic and salt in a bowl. Knead into a large ball.
3. Put the ball on the baking tray and flatten it with damp hands until you end up with a round, 1/2 cm thick piece of meat, about the size of a pizza.
4. Bake your 'pizza' base approx. 15 minutes until done.
5. Allow the base to cool for a while before carefully draining the fat that has come out of the meat from the baking tray.
6. Pour the diced tomatoes into a saucepan and add 1 tbsp Italian herbs. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for approx. 15 minutes, until thickened to your liking.
7. In the mean time, chop the onion and pepper into thin strips.
8. Put a skillet over medium heat and sautee the bacon until it starts to turn light brown, add onion and pepper.
9. Stir the bacon and veggie mixture regularly, until the vegetables have softened.
10. Spoon the tomato sauce over the meat base and divide the bacon and vegetable mixture over it. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tbsp of Italian herbs over it.
11. Bake your meatza for approx. 10-15 minutes until the sides start to brown.
12. Cut the meatza in half, serve and enjoy!

Bacon-apple burgers

It's already been 10 (!!) days since my last post. Oops. It wasn't because of a lack of new meals, but because I had to attend some classes. Not that that's the best excuse, but still.

In the mean time, I started working out again, CrossFit! How I love that!! I knew I'd missed it, but after my first workout I was sure. I can't go without sports. It makes me feel beter physically, and it certainly improves my overall mood as well. Therefore, I see no reason why I shouldn't do sports. It's a good kind of addiction.

I also made a new, delicious meal. Bacon-apple burgers. I was inspired by a dish from my new cookbook, which I bought last week. It's called: MEAT. by Adrian Richardson. It's chock full of everything you want to know about meat; different preparation and cooking methods and techniques, and a number of tasty recipes. I actually went to the cooking supply store to get myself a mini-muffin tin, but I couldn't resist buying this book.
Something else they had at the store was a CrockPot. Something I laid my eye on over a year ago already, and hadn't bought yet. It might be a feminine trait, but as soon as I like something and want to have it, I'm prone to feel like I also need it. As you might have guessed by now, after another day of doubting whether to buy it or not, I ordered it. My CrockPot SCV1600BS. It'll be mailed to me next week, and I already can't wait.

Along with my CrockPot, I also ordered another 8kg-pack of grassfed beef. Which includes a whole lot of stew meat, perfect for my CrockPot. That's going to save me a huge amount of time, last week it took 6 hours to turn 2,5kg beef into 3 different stews.

Now, here's the burger recipe. I enjoyed it twice: once for dinner (with a carrot salad and sauteed onions and peppers), and once for breakfast (with eggs in a nest of kale, apple and onion).

Bacon-apple burgers (serves 3)

Ingredients:
- 500g ground beef
- 125g finely diced bacon
- 1 egg
- 1 apple
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

1. Add ground beef, bacon, egg, salt and pepper to a bowl.
2. Rinse the apple, peel it and discard the center. Coarsely grate the apple pieces and add them to the beef in the bowl.
3. Mix the contents of the bowl until well combined. Separate into 6 equal pieces and roll them into balls.
4. Flatten the meatballs into burgers of your desired thickness and put them onto a plate.
5. Heat coconut oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers for 1 minute on each side until golden brown. Then lower heat to medium and fry them for another 3 minutes on each side until cooked.
6. Serve with veggies of your choice and enjoy!

Tip: These taste great with a fried egg on top!

Shredded beef with pumpkin

Comfort food still is a favourite these days. Not just because it's been freezing and the thick layer of snow outside, no, mostly because the side effects of my treatment for HPU (pyroluria). Apparently you can get quite some side effects from supplementing large deficiencies of certain vitamins and minerals. Just to make something clear: these deficiencies weren't caused by my way of eating. HPU (pyroluria) is a genetic condition where very little zinc, manganese and vitamine B6 can be absorbed into the body. This causes deficiencies to an extent where it's impossible to supplement them with just food. That's why I'm taking quite some supplements these days. They don't just cause a slight improvement in my energy levels, but they also make my head spin and have the tendency to turn me into an emotional wreck at times. Beats the hell out of PMS. Fortunately for me, it should get better in a month or so. Can't wait.

In the mean time I make sure my meals are tasty. It might not be a good idea to comfort oneself with food, but boiled veggies and a tough piece of meat won't make me any happier either. After all, cooking can have  a great therapeutic effect (everything does, as long as you enjoy it), so I gladly cook my way through this time.

In this recipe, I roasted a chunk of meat in the oven right until I could easily shred it. I roasted the veggies along with the meat, so I could easily turn it into a coarse puree. Yum!

Shredded beef with pumpkin (serves 4)

Ingredients:
- 2 large onions
- 1 small pumpkin
- 1/2 bulb garlic
- 600g rib roast, boneless
- 1 tsp pimenta powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp fresh cilanto or parsley
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

1. Preheat oven to max. temperature.
2. Heat coconut oil in a Dutch oven and chop the onions in the mean time.
3. Sautee the onions over low heat in the pan. In the mean time, wash the pumpkin, discard the seeds and dice it.
4. Separate the bulb of garlic into cloves and peel them. Add them to the onions in the pan along with the pumpkin.
5. Sautee everything for a minute or so before removing the pan from the heat.
6. Pat the rib roast dry with a paper towel and rub it with the dry spices.
7. Put the roast on top of the vegetables in the pan and cover with a lid.
8. Transfer the pan to the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 170 degrees Celsius.
9. Roast everything for approx. 3 1/2 - 4 hours, until you can easily shred the meat with a fork.
10. Remove the pan from the oven and shred the meat with 2 forks.
11. Mix the shredded beef with the soft vegetables and divide over 4 plates.
12. Coarsely chop the cilantro or parsley and use as garnish. Serve and enjoy!

New year's motivation and Bacon-wrapped meatballs with dates

Are you going for a Whole30 or other paleo challenge this month?
I must say, doing a Whole30 is a really good way to give yourself a healthy start to the new year, especially when you haven't exactly been paleo all through December. I did a Whole30 in December, with day 30 being December 24th; Christmas eve.
I didn't eat any nuts, no bacon and hardly any fruit and got my carb cravings under control once again. This month, I'm going to continue eating healthy and paleo, like I always did. But I am going to try a different approach when it comes to food choices though. Meaning I will limit my fruit and nut intake; they make me crave for carbs more and more and mess up my blood sugar. Not exactly how I want to feel.
I won't be eating bacon every single day either, simply because I could eat healthier foods. Don't get me wrong: I will be eating bacon. (just like I did in the recipe below) I'm not going to put myself on any strict diet/challenge rules anymore. It doesn't work for me. I do have a little fat I would like to lose, but a strict diet is exactly what stresses me out. And stress means: no fat loss.


Therefore, I'm going to do my best. Because happiness is what I want to achieve. I'm not going to do that with just food, I'm going to do so by doing my best in life. In every choice I'm going to make, I'm going to ask myself what would make me happy.
A bar of chocolate won't make me happy, nor will not working out or going to bed really late every night. If most decisions I make will make me happy, I believe I will actually become happy. I won't be perfect, but I will be happy and that's what counts.


Here's a recipe to give you a good start to the new year ahead, I'm not telling you to eat this every day, but it does taste good. And the fact that I made this and I liked how it turned out, surely made me happy today. Enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped meatballs with dates (serves 2)


Ingredients:
- 3oog ground beef
- 1/2 tsp beef seasoning
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 8 dates, pitted
- 8 strips of bacon
- 1 tsp coconut oil


1. Mix the ground beef and spices well, using your hands. Divide into 8 equal balls.
2. Flatten the balls, put a date in the center and fold to close. Gently knead the ends together to create solid meatballs.
3. Wrap each ball with a strip of bacon.
4. Heat coconut oil in a skillet or frying pan and fry the meatballs over medium heat until browned and cooked through. This takes approx. 10 - 12 minutes. Turn regularly.
5. Serve with veggies of your choice or as a snack. Enjoy!

Creamy Arabic steak

To be honest, I don't like beef steak all that much, unless it has been cooked properly and there are no tough parts. An almost impossible result to achieve at home, unless you pay a whole lot of money for a decent piece of meat. That's also why I usually make stews. Very tender and tasty beef, doesn't cost much and you still get yourself some good quality protein!
What else could you wish for?
Today however, I realised I still had some steak in my freezer, that needed to be used. After over a month in my freezer I figured it wouldn't be so tender anymore so I decided to chop it up, marinate it and add a creamy sauce. Pretty good!
Would have been even better if I'd had some fresh herbs to add, but I didn't.. Of course you should definitely add some mint or cilantro to this dish if you happen to have some!


Creamy Arabic steak (serves 2)
- 300g beefsteak, diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp Arabic spices
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 tbsp coconut cream
- 2 tsp coconut oil


1. Stir the Arabic spices into the olive oil in a large bowl and stir in the diced steak until well covered with the marinade.
2. Marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably more.
3. Heat coconut oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and garlic until soft. Remove from pan and transfer to a bowl.
4. Fry the marinated steak over high heat until browned on all sides.
5. Stir in the coconut cream and onions with garlic and mix well.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Paleo lasagna

I made this lasagna for dinner tonight. It was surprisingly easy to make, and pretty quick too; I was able to pop it into the oven in just 30 minutes. And another 30 minutes later I had a piece of lasagna on my plate and was enjoying it.
Instead of pasta, I used omelets to add some extra protein and firmness, and I used a lot of Italian herbs.
Paleo comfort food!


Paleo lasagna (serves 4)
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
- 2 onions, chopped
- 450g ground beef
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 small can (140g) tomato puree
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- black pepper
- 1 zucchini
- 2 tsp + 1 tbsp coconut oil


1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Whisk 2 of the eggs in a bowl, together with 1 tsp dried Italian herbs.
3. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a frying pan, pour the egg-mixture in and make a thin omelet, transfer to a plate.
4. Repeat with the other 2 eggs.
5. Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a wok or skillet and fry the onions until soft.
6. Add ground beef and spices, and fry until browned. Then stir in the diced tomatoes and tomato puree and bring to a simmer.
7. Simmer for approx. 10 minutes until thickened.
8. In the mean time, wash your zucchini and slice it lengthwise into several thin slices.
9. Put one omelet on the bottom of an oven dish, top with half of the zucchini slices, then scoop on half of the beef mixture. Repeat with the remaining omelet, zucchini and beef.
10. Bake for approx. 25-30 minutes until zucchini is soft, cut into 4 pieces and enjoy!

Tamarind burgers

About a month ago, I was doing my groceries and decided to make an Indonesian beef stew. I didn't exactly know what ingredients I needed so I called my mom (who did an Indonesian cooking class in the past) and one of the ingredients she mentioned was Tamarind paste.
Of course I couldn't find that at a regular supermarket so I just left it out. My mom did happen to find it a health food store and brought me a jar. I didn't really know how to use it, although I have been eating candied tamarind a few times. Tonight I decided to put some of it into burgers and it's really good!
It adds so much flavour without tasting overly sour or salty. It has a unique taste, in a good way. So if you don't know what to do with your tamarind paste, you could try these burgers.
Next time I might make some kind of sauce with it.


While enjoying my burgers another question popped to my mind; is tamarind even Paleo?? It comes from a pod after all, so it looks like a legume, although I believe it is actually a fruit. Plus it's processed (with some oil and added salt) so that doesn't make it a very good choice either.
I did some googling and found out that tamarind is very good to treat digestive issues, it's detoxifying and fights cancer because of the antioxidants it has. It also grows from a tree, isn't a grain, and you can even eat it raw! Sounds pretty Paleo to me. As long as you don't eat too much of it (it does contain quite some carbs), you will be fine while on a regular, not too strict Paleo diet.

I don't know why but I'm really hungry these days. Pretty much all the time. Although they might partially be cravings as well..

While I do make sure I eat sufficient amounts of protein, fat and veggies, I still feel like I haven't been eating enough. Weird.. And that's why I ended up eating a small bowl of desiccated coconut mixed with coconut milk and cocoa tonight.

Next question: is cocoa Paleo and is it allowed on the Whole 30?

I ended up reading the 'Great Cocoa Debate' on the Whole 9 Life website, which made me realise all the more that I'm totally addicted to carbs. I hardly ever eat real chocolate anymore, because it contains sugar, so I just replace it by mixing coconut with cocoa, which might be healthier, but it doesn't change my relationship with food and cravings for sweetness. Concluded: it's better if I don't have any cocoa while on the Whole 30.

Lemon rendang (Indonesian beef stew)

I'm back from the BBQ with my parents again! Had a great weekend. The BBQ was delicious and we talked about anything and everything, and afterwards we drove up to the coast for a 2 hour walk over the dunes to digest our food.
The food we had was delicious; lamb steak, lamb kabob, chicken skewers (with lemon and thyme), salad and much more. My mom had made a wonderful sunbutter satay sauce, which was the best ever (she allowed me to post the recipe on my blog, will do that soon!) and afterwards she also made heavenly sunbutter ice-cream.
After our long walk there were apple muffins, and some snacks to enjoy while watching a movie. (the Hangover 2, predictable, but pretty funny!) We mostly talked about holiday planning and travelling and all in all we had a very good time.


Last week I had made myself a lemon rendang that I want to share with you. Don't be scared by the long list of ingredients for this dish. It's worth it!! And most of the ingredients are spices, if you're into cooking you might even have all of them at home already.
This dish is inspired by a traditional Indonesian rendang; a beef stew. This typically contains shrimp and soy sauce, and some other ingredients I couldn't get my hands on or am intolerant to. So I just made my own version, and it worked out really well.


It's best to make this dish a day in advance and reheat it when you need it. That way, the flavours will have all night to combine and make everything taste even better.
After 2,5 hours of simmering, I found my rendang to be a little too wet (I added approx. 2 cups of water instead of just 1), so I took the lid off and heated it for another hour, so it thickened quite a bit. The meat will be done after 2,5 hours, but in my opinion it only gets better over time. I never cook it for over 4 hours though.

       

Moroccan spiced burgers

These days I really love burgers! You can add so many different spices to them, and they'll taste good no matter what. This time I added some Moroccan spices and chopped dried apricots, which gave them a sweet twist.
I served them with some curried roasted cauliflower, which had become nice and crisp in my oven. Many paleo/primal blogs I follow have covered the 'lettuce wrapped burger' more than once, and I figured it was a shame I hadn't tried those yet. So as you can see in the picture, I served these on some lettuce leaves, and wrapped them in it when I was going to eat them. I loved it! It was quite a mess though.. Of course all kinds of fluids dripped everywhere, but it all ended up ok (no stains that couldn't be removed) and I enjoyed my meal.
Next time I'm going to make sure my lettuce is actually dry before wrapping it around a burger.


Last Tuesday at the gym, this boy came in, looked around and said his thoughts out loud: 'Hey, all kinds of people come here! Soccer players, ice hockey players, cops, and even women..' As if women are a whole different type of people! Ok, maybe we are, but not when you put it like this. The funniest thing was that he was actually being serious :-P

Meatballs in celery tomato sauce with zucchini noodles

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!!)

Coconut tortillas with Mexican beef

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.

Eggplant and sausage mash

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!

Sausage tomato hash

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.

Curry burgers with cucumber salad

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?

Back home, lots of pictures, and a recipe for Antillean Chicken

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.

Stewed celeriac and curried ground beef

Made an easy but comforting dinner tonight. I still had some chicken stock in my fridge and thought it would be nice to stew my celeriac in. It made all the difference! It simply tasted much better like this, the flavour was more intense somehow.
I served it with some fried ground beef with yellow curry paste, the one I bought last Saturday. It's delicious!
Anyway, I'm going to keep my post short today. Enjoy the recipes!

Tomato salad with sausages

Ever since coming back from New York, I've been craving salads. In fact, all of my meals so far have had some raw veggies in them.
This morning I tried to make myself some fish cakes with mackerel, but they fell apart as soon as I tried to flip them. They tasted really good though, so I'm going to have another try over the Easter weekend.
Tonight I made myself a quick dinner out of some cooked sausages I had leftover. I combined them with some tomatoes, and my very own home-grown basil! And turned it into a salad which tasted really good.
I also started working out again. Yesterday was my first one and tonight I went again, since the gym's closed tomorrow. Went really well! Tomorrow I'm going to make an attempt on running again. I'm a little worried my knee might hurt, because I kind of hurt it with all the walking I did last week. It's still a little sensitive with certain movements, but the only way to find out if I can run, is by running, so that's what I'm going to do.
My jetlag doesn't seem too bad by the way! Just a little tired in the morning and slightly fitter in the evenings than usual.

Sausages in Arabic tomato parsley sauce - Last post before heading to NYC!

Finally, my suitcase has been packed and I'm ready to go to NYC! Well, packed, it's still almost empty because I don't need to bring much and it's actually lying open in the middle of my living room. (I'm proud I haven't stumbled over it, so far!) All there's left to do is throw some remaining items in it (hairbrush, facial cleanser and creme, stuff like that), close it and pull my front door closed behind me.
Oh and I still need to go to work tomorrow too.. I tend to forget about that..
Today my colleagues asked me why I acting was so quiet, and I hadn't even noticed I was. My head was in just a few places, but most certainly not at work. I was just physically being there. (I guess my hay fever contributed to that feeling as well)
I'm sure that last day at work will be over before I realise it. My parents will pick me up later tomorrow evening, so we can leave early for the airport the next day.
I'll be back in the Netherlands again next Tuesday morning (the 19th). It's a bizarre idea that next week, around this time, my trip will already be over and I'll be jetlagged at home again. But.. In just 48 hours, I'll be in New York! (even in local time) So cool!

So you can expect an update on my blog again next Tuesday. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures, of the city itself, and -of course- of my food finds and paleo meals and post them all over here.

For now, here's a simple yet tasty recipe for you to enjoy: 

Garam masala burgers and creamy pak choi

Today's lunch turned out really well! I didn't even mean to turn it into a recipe, but I liked it a lot so I figured I might as well post it.
I often make burgers out of steak tartar, because I like the taste and structure better than when I'd use ground beef.

This morning I went to the market again and it's a good think I've been working out a lot as I loaded my bag with loads of veggies. It all looked so tasty. And then I saw a nice butternut and a huge cauliflower, and, and.. Before I knew it I could hardly carry the stuff anymore.
People who see me walking around with that huge amount of veggies, carefully piled up into 2 baskets and still trying to add some more without everything falling on the ground, still give me funny looks as if I'm going to feed a huge family.
Unless someone asks explicitly, I'll never tell it only takes me a week to eat all of that, by myself.

The herbs I seeded last week have already started growing! The thyme, basil and mint have sprouted already, and the coriander shows signs of sprouting too. So I only need to wait for the parsley and chives to come up too. I hope they'll survive when I'm in NYC though.. Would be a shame if they didn't, but I guess they will.