Peace, tranguility and adventure in the mountains

Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Where the Appalachian Trail starts, and home to some of the oldest mountains in the world.
It's very beautiful here.

I've been trying to post some pics, but I think blogger is having some issues.

Last night's dinner;
Thin slices of rib eye, sauteed with garlic, onion, portobello mushrooms, spinach, asparagus and some raw endive on top for crunch.
First saute the mushrooms, garlic and onion, then add the thin sliced meat. Set aside. In same pan toss in diced asparagus and spinach. 2 glasses of red wine.
Simple. easy and tasty.

(nope, just tried again...won't let me upload pics)

Pictures

Would you believe it has taken me 1 week to get a battery for my camera!!!!

The reason is two fold. 1. It's one of those items that I just can't seem to remember ( kind off like certain phone numbers that never seem to stick) and 2. It irks me how expensive they are ;-)

$18 for 2 crv3's. It's kind of crazy if you ask me. Anywho, I'm good to go for a while and will have many new pics to share. I will be on vacation this coming week, but will post meal and scenery pics.



Here's a quick summary of meal ideas for you from the last few days;

1. Anna's burgers. I cal them that now, since I got the idea from her to add a little parmesan. See this post http://feelgoodeating.blogspot.com/2008/06/thank-you-anna.html



2. Grilled flounder with grilled asparagus.



3. Rotisserie chicken with salad. This is easy when you are out of inspiration and you need something quick. Buy a rotisserie chicken and a bag of mixed greens, tomato and scallions. Toss with dressing of choice, I use "Grandma's". Slice and chop some of the chicken on top of it. Eat and enjoy.



4. Chicken cucumber salad. Left over rotisserie chicken diced and chopped, add one diced cucumber. If you want, add a little feta. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic.



5. Rump roast. Cube the roast in bite sized pieces, simmer on low heat for approx. 2 hours.

This will leave you with some incredibly soft meat. You can now stir fry it, or saute it with the sauce of your choice. Try some coconut milk and curry for starters.



6. Breakfast on the go; almonds and blueberries.

Her name is Annie, but I call her crazy ;-)

"... I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself."

Lone Man (Isna-la-wica) Teton Sioux, was the wise man that said that.

We need each other in this world. So we better figure out how to get along.

Anywho; back to food ;-)

I still get a lot of emails with questions on how to get started eating this way.

So I offer this advice. Start simple and just make a small salad with some carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, scallions and drizzle with some olive oil. Now on top put the protein of your choice.

It's as easy as tossing some butter or coconut oil in a pan with some chopped garlic and some grass fed ground beef. Good luck and just keep doing it.

Well no food pics today but thought I'd share some local scenery;

One of the nice houses on the water here.

This house is located on the point where the bay flows into the gulf of Mexico. Not a bad spot right?

Same pass; boat going in and some people enjoy the beach and the views.

And some sunset shots; I never get tired of seeing the amazing sunsets here.

Chicken meatloaf with spinach

Easy chicken meatloaf;

2 pounds ground chicken. Add a lot of garlic ;-) minced onion (one medium sized one), 1 egg, one tbsp coconut oil. Now you can use whatever you want here, but for a different and special flavor i used "ketjap manis" which is a sweet soy sauce. Paleo eaters beware, it does have some sugar in it. But you can use ketchup or soy sauce with some honey.

I make this in a pie type pyrex dish vs. a more classical meatloaf dish. Why? It cooks quicker and retains moisture better imho.

So this mornings breakfast was easy to throw together. Total prep time 10 minutes.

see pictures.

Enjoy every day.....PLEASE.

My friend in New York City has to be one of the bravest people I've personally encountered in my life.

What he went and is going through breaks some one's spirit. He's fighting hard to not let it, but it is an all consuming battle. He's going to make it, but it will have taken all his guts and perseverance. I saw him Thursday night in NYC and I cooked him and his wife a homemade bolognese/puttanesca sauce with angel hair and sauteed spinach. Lots of olive oil and garlic. He needs the calories. His wife and I shopped at Whole Foods to get everything fresh.

(Sarena my apologies, I was in NYC to short to connect.)

Ground chicken meatloaf and spinach pictures to follow, but thought I post a picture of myself

so you can put the face with the blog.

Have a great day everyone!

Crock pot time

Slice an onion and chop garlic. 6-8 skinless chicken thighs and curry powder. Saute all in nice hot coconut oil. After you brown it on both sides, toss everything in the crock pot. Add some baby carrots and another half a sliced onion. Add one can of coconut milk, stir.

Cover, low heat. Come home from a day at work, to the most wonderful smelling house and an amazing ready to go dinner.

(Picture to follow)

Building up to post a picture......so for starters......here's a nice picture of where I grew up.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart"

Confucius said that quite some time ago...........important to listen to it now too.

Anywho, back to food :-)

Compound butter. Sounds fancy but oh so easy.

Some parchment or wax paper is what you'll need.

Butter. some basil, lemon juice and zest, coarse sea salt (only use if you are using unsalted butter) Mix together put on wax paper and roll in to a log. Tie the ends and put it in the fridge.

Now you can just slice round slices when you need to use it. I used mine to put on some grilled salmon.

This half of the log. Hope you can make it out from the lousy pic. It has nice strands of the basil throughout.

Also used some of the butter to saute some shallots, then added asparagus.

As you can tell from the green color, I like my asparagus on the raw side. Saute them quick and it has a real nice flavor.

Make it a great day!!!!!

Spiraling food costs, choices and something completely different

So food is getting more expensive here in the US.






The recent news is showing us that a gallon of milk cost more then $4.00.






Take a look;

This a 2.5 pound bag of spinach, (not from Mexico or China), from California. It sells at Costco for $4.95. What should we be consuming anyway? Our highly processed milk or spinach? It's all a matter of choices
and I'll say again that eating healthy does NOT have to break the bank, on the contrary, in these economic times, it might even be cheaper.

And now for something completely different;

Red cabbage "Cole-slaw" with cucumber, yogurt and red curry. Dissolve a little bit of red curry paste in water. 1/4 tsp perhaps. shred and dice the red cabbage and cucumber, add approx. 3 tbsps of greek yogurt. Don't know what possesed me to throw this together, but it is real tasty.

The picture is a little bright ;-)

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone. Use that grill and don't eat any potato salad or chips ;-)

Remember to smile today and put a little love in your heart.