blue artichoke

I'm perfectly aware of the irony of celebrating another year of healthy existence by eating junk food that will lead to an early death.

But... chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!

We celebrated my birthday with a fancy meat dinner: charcuterie, meatball clouds, steak and, yes, desserts. Plural. Chocolate mousse profiteroles and moist toffee pudding cake. All portion sizes were reasonable, except the charcuterie platter. That was a meal in itself (two, actually. We ate the leftovers for lunch the next day).

Valentine dinner is deliciously primal, though: Lavender-and-Thyme Roast Duck with Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Chips.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 06:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My adventures in primal baking over the weekend were largely successful. I tweaked a batch of caveman cookies (added blueberries and cardamom) and tried a new recipe for coconut bread.

The bread was more breadlike than I anticipated, but was sweet and tasted of coconut flour (which is a different flavor than coconut). I don't know that the bread would be good for sandwiches, but it's great for... French toast!

I sliced the bread, dipped in an egg/coconut milk/vanilla/touch of honey mixture, and pan-fried in bacon grease (left in the pan after I cooked up a package of bacon). Voila! Breakfast dinner:


Coconut French toast, bacon, soft-boiled eggs. And the stuff on top of the French toast? Leftover toast batter.

Yum!

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Snowed in on Super Bowl weekend! Husband and I went on a tromp around the neighborhood. Because he has proper snow attire, he could play in the deep snow. In corduroy pants, I was cold and confined to plowed areas. We walked around a playground, made creepy by the quiet and giant monster snow shapes, and then headed to the grocery store:

The grocery store wasn't much help (we came home with a tin of anchovies, dried apricots, a dark chocolate candy bar and some diet soft drinks. You know, the essentials). We did pass a restaurant that was open (!) and stopped in to thaw a bit and savor a pizza and beer.

I know, I know. What did I just say? Just yesterday, I was so grumpy because I can't get control of my diet, and here I am eating pizza and beer. Ah, well. They were both spectacular.

I made my favorite pound cake during the last snow storm (in December, before My Paleo Year began). I feel a strong urge to get it the kitchen and bake delicious non-Paleo treats. I'm really not sure how to spend my snow weekend, if I can't spend it baking delicious treats...

I did make another batch of the Sweet & Salty Granola today. (That's what the dried apricots from the grocery store were for). And we're having Primal coconut pancakes with bacon and eggs for dinner tonight.

I've been cruising the paleo/primal recipe sites for the last hour or so, and have a stack of recipes that may satisfy my desire to bake and keep within the limitations of the diet. Fingers crossed!

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five weeks into this adventure, I'm a bit disappointed with my progress. If ever I were to be hardcore about this project, it would be at the beginning, when inspiration is fresh. I've had far too many cheats and haven't spent enough time thinking through the finer points of the project.

I lost seven pounds in the first two weeks of the year, and have maintained since then. I'm happy with that progress. My primary goal isn't weight loss, but that's an easy way to measure progress. My goal is to improve my health and quality of life. My sleep has not improved. My energy levels don't seem to have changed. I drink far too many diet soft drinks. I haven't exercised, yet I'm really sore. I'm rarely hungry, which means that I rarely eat. When I am hungry, I'm too hungry to cook, so I binge on nuts. I had hoped to have my diet dialed in by now, so I could turn my attention to other areas for improvement. I guess this is the area of disappointment.

I spend the weekends planning and preparing meals and snacks for the busy week ahead, but I rarely get it right. I make beef jerky, which sits in the fridge until mold (?) grows. I make omelet muffins or caveman cookies, and then eat them all right away.

My goal for February is to get my diet under control. No more nut binges. No more unscheduled cheats (only one cheat scheduled for this month, on my birthday). I need to find some sort of healthy snack that isn't so delicious that I eat it until it's gone. Jerky fits the bill, but I usually choose not to eat than to eat jerky.

I think I'm grumpy today.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)