Things I ate this weekend (spoiler alert: steak)

It’s boring to read about what other people ate. But since many of you aim to eat real food and avoid gut-irritants like I do, maybe this will be interesting despite being about what someone else ate. Also, steak!

So, without further ado, here are some things I ate this weekend.

Overnight no-cook refrigerator oatmeal. I love this easy breakfast and adjust it in the following ways:

  • I multiply the recipe x 1.5
  • I use half coconut milk and half water for the milk portion
  • I don’t add sweetener. It doesn’t need any!
  • I chop up whatever fruit I have and pack it in (or throw in frozen chunks), and add chopped walnuts or pecans

Yum.

Adult smoothie with frozen berries, coconut milk, and Malibu.

adult smoothie

Blend up a few cups of berries, a glug of coconut milk, and a few glugs of Malibu, and enjoy!

Avocado tuna salad. This is quick and easy and, like the oatmeal, you can toss in whatever you have on hand. I don’t bother with the fancy leave-some-avocado-in-the-shell part, but it would be impressive for company. I’ve added combinations of the following to great effect:

  • chopped onion
  • chopped celery
  • chopped hard-boiled egg
  • chopped tomato
  • chopped walnuts

Seared scallops over zoodles

zoodles

lemon pepper scallops

seared scallops with zoodles

This dish will be going into the HP household rotation. It seems sophisticated, but is easy to make with great flavors and textures. I don’t know that I had ever cooked scallops before; here’s a useful tip if you’re a scallop newbie too: put the scallops in the pan and don’t mess with them until it’s time to flip them. I’m a compulsive over-stirrer/poker and probably would not have gotten such a lovely sear if I hadn’t read that tip.

Local ribeye steak from The Organic Butcher, with Mustard-Garlic Brussels Sprouts

steak and brussels

I wasn’t crazy about this steak, but Mr HP, who knows better, was. It was too chewy and fatty for my redeveloping meat tastes, but the flavor was good. Mr HP salted the steaks and threw them in the freezer for a bit before grilling on high heat to crisp up the outside while not overcooking the inside. The Brussels sprouts were phenomenal. They were both savory and a bit sweet (due to roasting), healthy, and incredibly simple to make. YOU NEED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE.

A Paleo Frittata

paleo frittata

This recipe is designed for leftovers. I planned on using leftover steak, but we ate it all for dinner, so I used onions, avocado, tomato, and spinach. It was a fun change from scrambled eggs, but it did involve me spending a considerable amount of time staring at the frittata in the oven to see when it was cooked enough but not too much. Presumably I will have to watch it less as I get more frittata experience.

Please share your favorite healthy, easy, tasty recipes with me!

Happy meat vendor news, and a couple interesting meatless/gluten-free recipes

I don’t eat meat, but have no problem with meat-eating, provided the animals were treated humanely and responsibly. Most people I know do eat meat, however, so I’m happy to promote happy meat options to them and to you. I eat a paleo-esque diet; Paleo dictates that you don’t eat food that has added chemicals that can screw up your system, and emphasizes that you are eating what the animals you eat ate. [One of my favorite quotes is “You are what what you eat eats,” from Michael Pollan.] Therefore, followers of the diet are careful to eat pasture-raised, antibiotic free animal products. This week I saw two posts on Paleo blogs about happy meat purveyors, and wanted to help spread the word.

Whole9 wrote about Pastoral Plate, a San Francisco-area meat CSA, offering local, natural, humanely raised meat and animal products. They visit the farmers regularly to learn about how the animals are raised and what they are fed, ensuring the products sold through Pastoral Plate meet their high standards: They’re pasture-raised, eat organic food, and are finished on the farm rather than a feedlot. Pastoral Plate also hosts workdays on their partner farms, and facilitate small loans from customers to the farmers. They’ll soon be shipping nationally, so happy-meat seekers from outside the SF area can enjoy Pastoral Plate products, and there’s a coupon on the Whole9 writeup. But, of course, if it’s available, purchasing happy meat locally is more environmentally responsible than having it shipped, and supporting your local farmers is good for your community

Another happy meat vendor was profiled by Melissa at The Clothes Make the Girl. TX Bar Organics raises grass-fed beef in a “calm low stress environment” in Northern California. In addition to caring about the animals, they care about people: they have made a pledge to donate one pound of meat to needy families for every 20 pounds sold; and they care about the environment: they practice sustainable agriculture through careful maintenance of their pastures. Melissa is giving away a $75 gift card to TX Bar Organics, with a deadline of tomorrow night (July 2) at 11:59pm, so sign up quickly if you’re interested! Same caveat as above though– if you have local happy meat purveyors, you should look to them before shipping meat from far away. Melissa is also known for her Paleo recipes, so while you’re on her blog, check ’em out!

And speaking of recipes, here are two I can’t wait to try. They are both meatless (but you can add meat, of course) and gluten-free.

First, a quick and easy curry, from Legal Nomads, with veggies and chickpeas and coconut milk, oh my. I think the first time I try it I’ll cheat and use curry powder instead of all the individual spices, to make it extra quick and easy. Jodi added a note at the end with instructions for adding meat, if desired.

And second, zucchini noodles in a thai peanut sauce, from Eating Bird Food. Using zucchini noodles and spaghetti squash is a delicious way to make gluten free “pasta” dishes, and anything with a peanut sauce makes me happy.

Now I must go eat lunch. I am starving.

More random news from the interwebs

Here’s what I’m reading while working on my next real posts:

  • The latest Edible Blue Ridge, featuring an article about our favorite fancy local-food restaurant, Brookville. Also exciting: a blurb about a new book called Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat, by UVA professor Tanya Denckla Cobb.
  • We’re Eating Less Meat. Why?, a NYT blog post by Mark Bittman, which examines the reasons that Americans are eating less meat, despite federal subsidies, lax environmental regulations, and lack of support for smaller farms in competition with the giant factory farms, all of which aid the meat industry.
  • Five Easy Ways to Eat Local: Tips on finding and incorporating into your diet more local foods, and a nice description of the health and flavor advantages of local, seasonal food.
  • The end of ethanol subsidies? Demand for the corn product will remain high as the government increases the required percentage of ethanol in gasoline.

Surprise Ally: The Paleo Diet

What? How can a diet that encourages eating large quantities of meat be considered a friend to the anti-factory farming movement?

The Paleo Diet preaches the consumption of pasture raised, humanely treated meat and eggs. The emphasis is on the fact that these foods are more wholesome, and therefore better for humans than factory farmed meats and eggs, but the side effect of supporting humane farms is a welcome one.

Animals raised on pasture and slaughtered humanely produce healthier food: more vitamins, a better fat profile and fatty acid ratios, no unnecessary antibiotics, and less stress hormones.

In short: eat only happy, healthy animals (or products from those animals) and you will be a happy, healthy human! Remember: you are what what you eat eats!

Links:

http://paleodietnews.com/1264/%20usda-study-says-factory-farms-are-worse-for-the-environment-than/

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-101/

http://robbwolf.com/faq/

http://whole9life.com/category/conscientious-omnivore/