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!

Pumpkin-avocado salad

It's salad time! Since I'm having 1 vegan meal a day these days (to give my liver a rest..) and those meals need to be paleo as well, however without adding too many nuts, that can be a hassle sometimes. I usually end up having avocado + veggies or a vegetable curry (with coconut!). There's less room for variation, after all, I have to exclude animal protein, yet it also means a new and fun challenge to prepare a good meal despite the restrictions.

A salad is a good options when it comes to a meal like this, and it usually is the easiest one too. A salad however, should be a little filling, so I came up with the idea for this avocado and pumpkin salad.

Pumpkin-avocado salad (serves 2)

Ingredients:
- 1 medium pumpkin
- 2 avocado's
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
2. Rinse the pumpkin, pat it dry and put it on the baking tray. Bake for 1 hour until done. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds. Put one half in your fridge to use in another meal.
4. Dice the remaining pumpkin half and put it in a bowl, it's ok to leave the skin on, it's edible.
5. Cut the avocado's in half, discard the pits and dice the flesh. Add to the pumpkin in the bowl.
6. Top the vegetables with the cinnamon, lemon juice and -zest and olive oil and mix carefully.
7. Divide the salad over 2 plates and garnish with the pumpkin seeds and cilantro. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken stuffed pumpkin

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!

Happy Easter! And some recipes.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you're all enjoying this day!
When it comes to Easter food, I made myself a couple of nice meals, not too different from what I normally eat, but I put a little more effort in it than usual.
Yesterday afternoon I suddenly had a craving for Asian food, I think the warm weather caused that. As you might now, spicy food makes people able to cool down a little. (sounds unlogical, but it makes sense when you think about it) So I ended up going to the Asian supermarket and stocked up on some good curry paste. I bought Patak's Vindaloo Paste (which is generally very hot) and some Mae Ploy Thai Yellow Curry Paste along with some Thai coriander, baby bok choy and a huge bag of dessicated coconut. So I can start cooking spicy as soon as I feel like it. Somehow shopping at the Asian supermarket always feels like a small holiday to me, I love everything about it!

Pumpkin egg scramble

My first breakfast back home again. And I must say it isn't as much fun as having breakfast at Whole Foods, but it's probably still healthier (the eggs and my beloved chicken sausages at Whole Foods were really salty, and I loaded up on some more carbs too) and I enjoyed making this myself.
Even though it's 7am now, it still feels like 1am and time for bed. Even while I just clocked 9,5 hours of sleep. Luckily I only have 3 days of work to go and will probably feel better after relaxing over the Easter weekend.
I think I'm going to go for a workout this afternoon too, I really missed that while in New York. Especially with all those jogging people around me over there. (no, the Chinese elderly didn't inspire me to do Tai Chi, I admire them for doing so, but it's just not my thing)

Pumpkin spinach chicken

Breakfast was easy this morning, I simply whipped myself up this stir-fry and I already know it'll keep me going all morning.
I'm planning to go for a good workout after work today and I hope I'll still feel like it when I get home by then. I've been pretty tired over the last couple of days, as if I can never get too much sleep. So lots of healthy eating for me!
This breakfast was a good start for sure.

Chocolate pumpkin cookies

Why would you make pumpkin cookies when you could also make chocolate pumpkin cookies?
Right, that's what I thought!
I don't know why I'm craving cookies all the time, but I really like experimenting with them these days. So far, these are one of my favourites!
Quite moist on the inside, rich chocolate flavour, walnuts..

These would be perfect for an Easter treat! And that's why I decided to join in Kelly's recipe roundup for 'Our Spunky Holiday', the Easter edition!
She has some wonderful recipes on her own blog, go check it out over here: The Spunky Coconut

Cajun beef and butternut

I made myself and easy dinner tonight; beef strips with butternut squash and cajun spices, topped with coriander. And served it with roasted broccoli, again.
Coriander is my absolute favourite spice to top just about any dish with!
Normally mine doesn't really keep that well in my fridge, so I decided to chop it up this time and keep it in a tupperware. I hope it'll work! I still have lots of ideas on how to use it this week.
I even started growing my own herbs this week, and while I'm not quite sure it's actually going to work (I don't have a garden or balcony) I really enjoy the process of trying to grow something. I've got parsley, coriander, thyme, basil, chives and mint. The seeds should have sprouted within the next 10 days or so, and if there's anything to show, I'll make sure to put a picture up. Let's see what happens..

Rosemary basil chicken

Used my Dutch oven again today! It's only the second time I used it, but more ideas on using it keep popping into my head. I love it!
Tonight I made this rosemary basil chicken, with onions, butternut squash and tomatoes. Quite good! Normally, when I'd fry chicken fillets, they'd end up a little (and sometimes very) dry because I'm afraid to undercook them..
This way, they were still nice and moist on the inside, while cooked through. And the process was easy. I basically threw everything in the pan, transfered it to my oven and while the oven was doing its job I did the dishes. How's that for multitasking!

Stuffed pumpkin

Had a good workout this morning. I decided to run to the gym, as it's only 1.3km (according to google maps..) and then have my regular workout. I have 3 different workouts, so the process repeats itself every week, and I'll get a new schedule every 4-6 weeks.
I normally cycle to the gym, and then they have me doing a warming up of; cycling! Feels slightly useless to me, so I thought I'd have a much better (and more fun!) warming up when I'd run there.

I couldn't figure out a way to bring my water bottle with me, so I just carried it, but running with a bottle in one hand doesn't exactly improve your running. Maybe it's a good idea to take an empty bottle with me (hardly any weight!) and fill it at the gym with tap water.
For lunch I made myself some stuffed pumpkin. Very yummy! It's easy to prepare and as soon as it's in the oven you can start doing something else around the house. I did some studying in the mean time, for my exam next week, which I'll be doing a lot over the next couple of days.

The weather's extremely sunny today and it's making me happy! I should definitely go outside for a while this afternoon. I can't keep studying for hours without a break anyhow.

Spicy koftas with pumpkin puree

Yesterday at work I was shocked.. I had to help a nurse insert a pH-metric probe in a 5-year-old girl, and explain the test to her and her parents. No one likes getting a probe up their nose, going all the way to their stomach, and certainly not a 5-year-old.
She asked me if it was going to hurt, and I told her it wasn't nice at first, but if the thing was in, she wouldn't feel it anymore. Of course inserting it went wrong at first and the girl was in pain; crying and screaming, panicking. I felt so sorry for her!
Especially when I heard why she was getting the test..
She was often having a stomachache and feeling nauseous. Plus, she had already been diagnosed with a dairy allergy.
And what does a children's doctor do; he checks if the girl's producing too much stomach acid. Which it probably does and he will end up giving her medicine to supress it. Why would you want to give those crappy medicines to a kid? (or to anyone for that matter)
I'm not a doctor, but to me it sounds extremely logical that the first thing to do would be checking for food intolerances. Especially because she already has a dairy allergy.
Most of the times, the body works just fine, what we feed it is what's causing a lot of problems. Wouldn't it be easier to rule that out before we start looking what's wrong with the body itself? It would save a lot of people from taking unneccesary medication or undergoing uncomfortable tests.
I'm totally aware that not everything can be fixed with a diet, but it can most certainly make a huge difference.

Pumpkin soup

Day 1 without eating fruits and nuts, going really well so far. Yesterday evening I got sick all of a sudden, so I hadn't eaten anything from noon until this morning. Still wasn't too hungry, but I figured I should eat something to get myself started so I had some beef stew with spinach and zucchini which kept me going all morning. I even cycled to the market, still a bit weak-legged but I made it, and got way too enthusiastic while stocking up on the veggies again.
My fridge looks like one colourful food collection, there's cauliflower, beets, daikon, kohlrabi, turnips, carrots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, paprika, purslane and much more. So I better start cooking now before it goes bad.
But first I need to go to the store and buy myself some new containers to store all the meals I'm going to freeze. I just don't have enough of those..

Pumpkin breakfast pudding

After using half of a butternut for my chicken curry yesterday, I pureed the other half and used it this morning to make a creamy and thick breakfast pudding. You shouldn't be eating this too often, because it contains a generous amount of nuts and carbs. The pudding is quite filling and warming because of the spices and perfect for a (lazy) Sunday morning.
My Sunday morning won't be lazy at all today; I'll be off to the gym in an hour for another CrossFit workout. I wonder what it'll be like today..

Aromatic chicken curry

First of all, thanks to Elana for posting a link to my website! In just one day, I got almost 300 visitors (instead of 20, like I usually get). So, hello everyone, I'm glad you're visiting and I hope you like the recipes! Feel free to leave comments on my posts :)

And for everyone who doesn't know about Elana's Pantry; make sure to check out Elana's website and her Black and White cake.

After following Robert J. Stone's 'Experiment' on the primal lifestyle for a few weeks (check out his blog; primalfood.wordpress.com!) and watching YouTube movies on CrossFit and seeing people get all these amazing results and a huge change of body composition, I realised I better make a 'before' picture of myself too.
So this morning I made my very own 'before' picture and measured myself. I've already dropped some pounds, but I figured it would be nice to keep track of the changes over time.
My weight is: 56.1 kg
My waist measures: 67 cm
I wonder what's going to happen when I keep doing CrossFit and watching my diet. So far, I feel great living like this so I'm definitely going to keep up the good work.

Pumpkin cookies

Seems like I ran out of inspiration when it comes to the pumpkin puree I had. I didn't have that much left anymore (only 3/4 cup) so I decided to make my own pumpkin cookie version; inspired by this recipe at Everydaypaleo.com.
I used some banana to sweeten my cookies instead of maple syrup.
They're easy to make, and it doesn't take much time either. They're absolutely delicious, and what I love about these is that they're nice and soft in the center. They make a great snack or could be part of a quick breakfast.

Quick cauliflower and delicious spice mixes

Yesterday I finally got the time to cycle all the way to another supermarket (in a nearby city) to get myself some new spices. I'd seen them somewhere else, but didn't think about buying them while I was there..

Pumpkin beef burgers

I discovered something interesting today! At work, I had to learn the effects of physical exercise on the diffusion capacity of the lungs. Therefore I had to run for 10 minutes on the treadmill. The colleague who helped me liked making it hard, by increasing the speed and she even made me climb a hill on it! So I was a little sweaty afterwards..
Anyway, as soon as those 10 minutes were over, I ran off and tested my diffusion capacity; it was really efficient! Much better than usual.
Now the really interesting part starts: I haven't been tired all day!
Normally I feel a little worn-out after work, but today it seems as if I can do everything super efficiently. My concentration hasn't started to fail me yet and I'm bursting with energy. Wow!
So even though I always cycle to work (5km), a short run in which I reach my maximum heart rate, seems to be so much more efficient to keep me energized all day long. I wish I could do it every day!

Of course, there's a recipe too! I made these pumpkin beef burgers tonight, they were really good and easy to make. Normally hamburgers tend to get a little dry, but by using pumpkin they stayed nice and moist inside. The flavour was really good too, and I'm definitely going to make these much more often!
I served them with a quick curry made out of spring onion, carrot, parsnip and savoy cabbage.

Pumpkin beef burgers (serves 2)
- 250g steak tartare (approx. 2 pieces)
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, freshly grated
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mash steak tartare with the pumpkin puree, using a fork, until you've reached a smooth consistency.
3. Add garlic, spring onions, ginger, pepper, cumin, coriander, coconut flour and coriander leaves and mix until well combined.
4. Make 8 burgers by dropping heaping tablespoons of the mixture onto the prepared baking tray and flattening them.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until browned. Enjoy!

In my recipe I used a fork to combine everything, but you can just as well use a food processor to do the job.
Serve these burgers with a salad or stir-fried or oven roasted veggies, they go really well with pretty much everything.

Treating myself

Well, yesterday was a really lazy Saturday for me. I had to wait for some parcels to be delivered to me (my new winter coat I ordered online and some food supplements), and of course they didn't come until late in the afternoon.
That gave me the time to treat myself a little yesterday! And without the potato crisps this time, for which I'm kind of proud of myself. I didn't even crave them. Thank you Paleo diet!

I did however feel like treating myself a little. So in the morning, while going to the mall for some groceries, I got myself a new lip gloss. I actually came to buy ground flax seed in that store but I noticed that they all of a sudden carry some Burt's Bees items now, which happens to be one of my favourite brands.
I got some Lip Shimmer, in the colour Rhubarb. It was hard to choose, maybe because my zodiac sign is Gemini (twins), but I often have that problem when a choice needs to be made. (a lot of times I just end up taking both options)

So, all happy with my new lip shimmer, I made myself comfortable on the couch yesterday. I read half of a book I'd been wanting to read for a few months, I enjoyed my decorated home, listened to Christmas songs and watched a few movies.
Normally I'm like a busy bee, but being able to have a nice and relaxing day like this definitely made me feel better. I think I also have an underlying cold (my throat is a bit sore, I'm having a dry cough and my lymph nodes in my neck are swollen and painful) so a day 'off' was what I needed.

My other treat to myself was baking some cookies; very healthy cookies, and possibly the best cookies ever; Pumpkin spice cookies!
I followed this recipe from Everyday Paleo, it's called 'Laura's Amazing Cookies'. Well, amazing is what they are!
For the rest of my meals, it was leftover day. I had some leftover curry for lunch, and for dinner my leftover beet salad with some chicken, leek and garlic stir-fry. How easy!

Butternut and kale mash

The 'holiday fever' has got to me again this year. Christmas really is my favourite time of the year, and the snow that has fallen last week definitely helped me to get into my holiday mood.
I put up my Christmas tree (which was even smaller than I remembered.. but it's a tree, and it looks festive, so it's ok) and I decorated my home with a big star and a long string of lights. I even got some Christmas presents from my overseas penpals and some cards already!
Since I'm celebrating Christmas at my parents' home this year, my mom and me will do the cooking together. There will be two dinners; the first one for my grandparents, the second one just for us. (in the Netherlands, there are two official days of Christmas; December 25th and 26th)
Of course we've already started planning both dinners, and they're going to be delicious!
Did I mention I love Christmas yet?

These days I also feel like cooking somewhat more wintry meals. Kale is the perfect vegetable to do so, and since I didn't think I could keep mine fresh much longer, I decided to use it today. I also had a small butternut and hoped it would combine well with kale and luckily it did.
I served it with a simple oven-baked salmon fillet, sprinkled with some lemon juice and fish spices.

Butternut and kale mash (serves 2)
- 1 small butternut squash
- 1 big bunch of kale (approx. 10 branches)
- 1 red onion
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- handful of raisins
- handful of walnut pieces
- coconut oil, for frying

1. Peel butternut with a vegetable peeler, remove seeds and cut into chunks. In the mean time, boil some water in a steaming pan.
2. Steam butternut chunks until cooked, for about 10 - 12 minutes.
3. Put coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger and butternut in a bowl and puree.
4. Cut the kale leaves from the thick stems, discard stems and chop the leaves into smaller pieces. Finely chop the red onion.
5. Heat some coconut oil in a wok or frying pan and fry the onion until soft.
6. Add kale and stir-fry until the kale is dark green and tender.
7. Reduce heat to low and add butternut puree and raisins, stir until well-combined.
8. Serve warm, with walnut pieces on top.

While listening to Christmas songs, doing the dishes wasn't even that bad. And as I often do; I put one serving in my freezer so all I need to do next time is defrost it and pop in into the oven for an easy meal.
Tomorrow I'm going out to dinner with my colleagues, so I won't be doing much cooking. I love cooking, but being able to sit down and get a meal served in front of you is a real pleasure every now and then.

Pumpkin Pie

My first attempt on making pumpkin pie. It's really good! Not too sweet, but it's not like you're eating just pumpkin either. It's not too heavy or filling, but still satisfying. I couldn't resist having a piece for breakfast today..

My inspiration for this recipe came from this Pumpkin Pie recipe from Everyday Paleo. But I made a different crust and adapted the filling recipe too, making it totally fruit sweetened and adding some more pumpkin.

Pumpkin Pie
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cup of almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
Filling:
- 500g pumpkin puree or cooked chunks
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 bananas
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cookie spices (or a mixture of ginger, cloves and nutmeg)

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line a tart pan or (spring) cake tin with parchment paper, or grease it with some oil.
2. Mix the ingredients for the crust in a bowl and spread it over the bottom of the cake tin, press down to form a nice crust. Bake for approx. 12-14 minutes, until it starts to brown.
3. In the mean time make the filling by combining the ingredients for the filling in a food processor. Process on high for about 30 seconds, until well-combined.
4. Pour the filling into the baked crust and bake for another 45 minutes, until set.
5. Let it cool and serve! Would be great with some coconut cream.

Pumpkin puree is really easy to make; just put a small pumpkin into the oven on 200 degrees celsius for about an hour, let it cool and peel the skin off. Cut it into chunks, removing the seeds and threads, and puree.