Food, Love and Last Post

Let's address this in reverse order. Yes this is the last post...........it's the last post on blogger ;-)
Next new post will be on http://www.feelgoodeating.com/. I just have to set up the feeds and we should be good to go. My E-book is almost done and the new site is practically finished. There will be some tweaking over the next month, but my aim is to keep it simple, easy on the eyes and quick access to information.
I hope to see all of you there and please feel free to share your input. I always look forward to all of your comments and emails.

"A fool in love makes no sense to me. I only think you are a fool If you do not love."

I read this quote the other day and it really made me smile. It had no known author.
LOVE....from music to literature to art, philosophy, religion, cooking, raising children etc etc etc........love is possibly (I'm convinced love is all there is, but that's just my opinion) THE key component to finding your slice of happiness. So as I read the above quote, I got caught in a 10 minute thought process about all the areas of life it applies to. So what about you?? Are you in love? Do you love your work? Do you love your parents? Do you love your dog? Do you love doing the dishes? Do you love where you live? Do you love your exercise routine?? Go find that love!!! Or even better...REDISCOVER it, and see what happens.

Anywho ;-) BACK TO FOOD....

Delicious seafood meal;

Smoked salmon and roasted red pepper soup, blanched asparagus tossed with lemon olive oil

sauted shrimp with garlic chili sauce.

Tuna tartare over cucumber salad.

See you on the other side......
http://www.feelgoodeating.com/

Morning Marinade and a thought for the day......

Before going to work this morning, I quickly marinated some chicken;

Chicken breast, cilantro, garlic, cumin seed , lime juice and yogurt.

Cover and refrigerate. For dinner you can put it on skewers and grill, or just get a skillet nice and hot and prepare that way. The chicken will be moist and tasty either way

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life, you will have been all of these" George Washington Carver

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Home made cream of mushroom soup.

Saute half a large yellow onion in butter until translucent. Add 3 cloves of chopped garlic. Next add a package of sliced bella mushrooms (about 1.5 cup). Dash of salt and pepper. Saute until mushrooms are soft. An extra pat of butter might be needed. Add a heavy splash of red wine. In a sauce pan, I reduced about1.5 cup of bone broth to about half and added that too. Let it reduce a bit more and then add about a 1/3 of a cup of heavy cream. Mix well and cook together for a minute or two. Transfer to blender and puree.

I saved some of the  cream of mushroom/onion goodness to spoon over my burger.

 
And lastly a very simple meal of rotisserie chicken with a cucumber salad.

Coming up my thoughts on fruit and "carbs".

Happy Monday everyone

Primal Bento Box and New Site

I wish I had one of those nice Bento boxes to show you...but the other morning, I looked at my to go container and just thought "Primal Bento" for some reason.
A bit of fresh cod, left over chicken with tzatziki and a bit of guacamole.
Oh the joy of eating this type of breakfast at work. NOT. I hadn't had the disgusted looks in a while, but I think I could have sold tickets to this show. If they only knew how good it tasted.

This is how I prepared the cod loin.

Pour some evoo in a skillet and keep the heat low. Let the oil warm a bit and add the piece of cod loin. Now with the heat so low, it will take a good 8 minutes or so per side (if not more). Once flipped and the second side almost done, add a small teaspoon of tomato paste. Let that warm a bit and mixt it with the evoo and juices from the fish. Now add a tablespoon of a dry white wine. Gently break the fish apart into large "flakes" and gently fold everything together. Super tasty. 

As I had mentioned a few days ago, Feel Good Eating is moving on up.
http://www.feelgoodeating.com/

Take a look. It is not ready yet, and I'm still learning wordpress and all its capabilities, but let me know your initial thoughts if you have an extra minute. Is the layout ok? The colors? Suggestions? Advice?
Some of my last posts are not up there yet.

Make it a great day and SMILE a lot.

Parents, Food and Flavors

When I was young, I was lucky that my dad and mom introduced me to many different cultures. They enjoy good food and as kids always had my sister and I try everything they ate. I will admit that when you're seven, chocolate butter on toasted bread is a lot more appealing then raw herring with onions for breakfast. But...at least I tried. When my son recently tried some monk fish liver, I was happy to realize that I'm carrying on the tradition. Even though he didn't care for it, he had a second morsel to make sure.
So, I was a Dutch kid, my grandma was French and I lived in Italy. My wonderful parents were/are also cursed with a "wanderlust" that had us travel quite a bit. I was fortunate to travel all over Europe, Africa and the Middle East. During those formative years, my parents really immersed me in the "flavors" of those different cultures. From food, to music and the languages. One of my favorite memories of those times, was my dad waking me up late at night or early morning on vacation, and venturing out to the local market. He loved trying to talk to the vendors (eventhough he only knew a few words in some those languages) and buying and sampling their food. I'm convinced that my love for people was cultivated on those late nights and early mornings. What I've been hit with lately, is that all those different wonderful "food flavors" I was exposed to, really formed my palate also. My parents taught me to have no fear trying to communicate with people, even if you suck at speaking their language. Even though they never spoke of these things and showed by example, it was their way of being spiritual. To connect with people from all cultures and all walks of life. My dad could talk to everyone and my mom could connect with anyone......they make quite the team.

Lately when I've been cooking, I'm using ingredients and flavors from all over the world and combining them to make some pretty tasty fare. Here's an example of cultures coming together. Chicken with a miso, tahini and garlic glaze. 

In Japanese cuisine, sesame seeds are used in abundance, but tahini is not part of that mix. Tahini is the way the Middle East incorporates sesame seed in their cooking. Europe and the Middle East love their garlic, yet the Japanese traditionally use no garlic. Guess what? Miso's amazing flavor pairs well with a bit of garlic, add the tahini and you got a flavor explosion. I used a similar concoction for the salad dressing.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm moving Feel Good Eating to wordpress and to celebrate, I will put a few very very unique recipes (never posted before and including the miso, tahini and gralic chicken) together in a free e-book.

Wishing everyone a wonderful and relaxing weekend. Be nice and maybe try making a dish with ingredients  you've never attempted to combine before.

Breakfast and Change

I just love bacon and eggs!!!! And a few slivers of drunken goat cheese. Good breakfast enjoyed outside on my front porch in the fresh air. I was up at 4 am. Did a little meditation then went for a work out. Followed by a 15 minute power nap, then breakfast and off to work.

Big changes coming to Feel Good Eating. Thanks to my wonderful friend Steve, Feel Good Eating is going to wordpress and hopefully will soon have the look of a respectable blog.

It's been overdue, thanks for hanging with me this long and I will let you know shortly about the change.

Make it a great day

Rant with a pinch of Hope

Ok, I don't do these type of posts often, my last rant was about Vitamin water a long time ago. Yet this news really caught my eye;

This is the inside of the new PopTart store in New York City

A poptart store/restaurant!!!! Come on now! This is a new trend, M&M and Hershey's have a large retail store now also. Wow, I just can't wait to make poptart sushi

Holy Hell!

An now for my always positive look at life.....(there's always an other side to things)

Maybe, just maybe our eating habits ARE slowly changing. For companies to invest like this in extremely expensive retail operations that basically serve as advertising billboards, basically tells me that they are finding new ways of pushing product. Which most likely means sales are off. Which for our children is a good thing...I could of course be very wrong.

The Tao and a Tasty Treat

"Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out. Let relationships just be, for example, since everything is going to stretch out in divine order. Don't try so hard to make something work...simply allow. don't always toil at trying to understand your mate, your children, your parents, your boss, or anyone else, because the TAO is working at all times.When expectations are shattered, practice alowing that to be the way it is. RELAX, let go, allow, and recognize that some of your desires are about how you think your world SHOULD be, rather than how it IS in that moment. Become an astute observer, judge less and listen more. Take time to open your mind to the fascinating mystery and uncertainty that we all experience."

Thank you Dr. Wayne Dyer, for the above passage. Early mornings are a good time to read. They can set the tone for your day. And sometimes, when you wake up already "stressing" about the day ahead of you, reading something that appeals to you (self help books, poetry, the bible, affirmations) will make everything "line up" a bit better for you. Try it sometime.

a tasty treat from yesterday afternoon;

Chorizo chicken sausage sauteed in butter with sliced fresh fig. Served over 2 thin slices of pao de queijo and 2 little slices of drunken goat cheese.

Truly Simple Meal

Anyone can do this. Please give it a try sometime and let me know what you thought.

In a large skillet heat up 2 slices of bacon cut up in bite size pieces. When bacon (bacon cut from the butcher works better than packaged bacon, as the pieces are a bit thicker) pieces are showing first signs of browning, add a 1/4 of yellow onion (sliced). When onion is starting to get translucent add 2 small or 1 large clove of chopped garlic. Stir together. Next add about 6-8 ounces of ground lamb. Stir well and watch closely so you don't over cook the lamb. When close to done add about 1/2 teaspoon of tomato paste. Again stir together. Next add 1 tablespoon of heavy cream. Heat for just another minute and serve.

I kept a close eye this time on how much of everything I was using so that you could try it. Again don't overcook the meat. So the last step of adding the tomato paste and heavy cream is all within about 90 seconds before taking pan off the stove.

A really satisfying dish.

I had a little side of cucumber salad with it. Drizzled with evoo, fresh ground pepper and a dash of sea salt.

 

What are some of your "truly simple meals"?

Motivation

Just a few positive notes I wanted to share today. And hopefully, it will motivate and inspire you to keep making the choices that empower and make you FEEL GOOD.

I found a large index card yesterday when I was cleaning up a bit and it read as follows;

"Realise that the hardest step in achieving anything, is making a true commitment, a true decision. Carrying out your commitment is often much easier then the decision itself. Don't labor forever over the question of HOW or IF you can do it" 

Thanks to wonderful google I found out that I copied this from a Anthony Robbins book years ago  (mid 90's I'm guessing). It's a book called Awaken the Giant Within.

I have read a lot of "self help" books over the years, and ultimately they pretty much all spell out the same thing with different angles. What ever self help/personal growth book you might be reading at the moment, I urge you to apply it to your life. We all have fallen guilty of reading to much of the same material and gathering more and more information. From what we eat, to what exercise modality, to what were supposed to think.....yet....we just intellectually masturbate with those ideas and while we're keeping our thoughts busy with those issues....very little action is taken.

Do any of you remember when I first started this blog almost 4 years ago and I tried to help one of my best friends to loose weight? I helped her to the point of cooking her daily meals for her and hand delivering them.
At that time, she was just "carrying out the commitment" to eat my way, but a "true decision" was never made. And so, it was only a matter of 1 month that she stopped her commitment and the weight she was desperately trying to loose, never came off and even worse, started accumulating even more. Well, 3 months ago she finally made a TRUE DECISION, and with the help of a very good MD, she decided it was time. She has lost 37 pounds so far, and there is no stopping her now. She is finally going to get what she has wanted so bad for so long. Because she made a "TRUE COMMITMENT".

Yesterday's post over at Zeroing In On Health had a sentence that really caught my attention

 "Consider that the average adult loses roughly 300 billion cells to old age every day and must replace them. Our bodies are literally manufactured out of the food we consume".

Read that a few times and tell me you would still want to eat that donut. If you have made yourself a true commitment, a sentence like the one above has so much meaning, that it will only reinforce what you've committed yourself to. If you haven't made that true commitment, you can, and we all have, read sentences like this all day long. They pique your interest, but you don't utilise or integrate them in your belief system.

I challenge you to make a TRUE COMMITMENT today. I promise you that if you do, you will be amazed with the change it will bring.

And.....back to some food ;-)

Lately I have been experimenting with a post workout meal. I'm not sure if you can really call it post work out, as I eat it about an hour after a morning workout. I used to fast till about 1-2 pmn after a 7 am work out, but for the past 2 weeks, I have been eating about 1/2 cup of full fat greek yogurt. I add a heaping tablespoon of turmeric to it.  (I also add some scallion, fresh ground pepper and sea salt)
Turmeric is one of nature's inflammation fighters.
I've notice 2 things from this little "n=1 thinkering" (hat tip to BRENT).
I seem to have a bit more "volume" in my muscles and my next meal of the day is very "energizing". I have a feeling the "carbs" in the yogurt swell my muscles a bit and the probiotics in the yogurt must have some effect on that next meal. Don't know how much longer I will continue this, as I like to keep it random, but wanted to share my experience.

A little plug for my beautiful town....
Just in case you're curious (our area has been economically hard hit because of  perceptions and a continuous media onslaught) our beaches and Gulf waters are free and clear of any oil or tar balls.

Make it a great day and remember to smile!

Tomato Soup and Beef Jello

A few weeks ago I made a big batch of bone broth. My preferred way is to use the crockpot. I let this batch simmer for 48 hours. After putting it in the fridge and letting it cool, I skimmed the fat (saved for later use) and made a bunch of individual portions and stuck them in the freezer. My kids call bone broth "beef jello". They love watching and helping me skim off the fat, and then putting the "beef jello" in ziplock bags. When your bone broth looks like "beef jello", you've been succesful in making a super nutritious broth.

Last night I made a quick tomato soup. In a saucepan bring your "beef jello" to a boil and reduce down a bit to intensify the flavor. (2.5-3 cups of broth reduced down to 2 cups, recipe for two people) Now add 4 diced roma tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion and 2 cloves og garlic. Fresh ground pepper and sea salt to taste. Bring to a boil.

Next I transferred the soup to the food processor and pureed it.

Toss back in the pan and add a shot of heavy cream. (just add a little first, you can always add more)

It looks like the soup is very light from the cream, but it is the poor lighting for the picture that makes it look like that. Instead of the more traditional creme fraiche, I added a small dollop of greek yogurt.

I ate 2 nice bowls of it. If you are a person that doesn't sleep well if you eat late, see if soup has a different result. I didn't get to eat till about 9pm, which is usually on the late side to eat for me. But soup doesn't have the same effect as a meal does. Warms the body nicely for sleep mode ;-)

What do you like to make with your bone broth?

Sashimi II

When you have the right ingredients, you can really make yourself  "restaurant" food at home.

I made some more sashimi for lunch today. A quick visit to the Asian market to pick up a few supplies and I was ready. Since I'm mentioning the Asian market, go find yours where you live, you will enjoy it. They are very affordable and once you've shown up there a few times, the shop keepers won't ignore you anymore ;-) It is also a great place to buy unique and cheap produce. I picked up a very large Daikon, scallions and some small fiery fresh peppers.The Daikon has a much better and stronger flavor then the ones I get at the supermarket. Also picked up some good wasabi. One word of caution, asian products liberally use MSG, food coloring, HFCS, and other ingredients you might want to avoid, but they also carry products that DON'T have them, so shop carefully and read labels.

Here some more ankimo. I grated daikon and tossed a few scallions on it. Laid the slices of monk fish liver on top and drizzled with some ponzu sauce and a few more scallions.
The daikon with the ponzu sauce is a tremendous pairing.

I used to eat this little dish below at a very special japanese restaurant in New York. It was a true authentic sushi restaurant where no cooked food was served. It had authentic Japanese protocol, they did not take reservations and they were known for turning customers away when there were many open tables available. They would turn people away, because they had so many regular customers, that they knew for example that a certain customer would come around 7 on a Thursday night. They had no menu's and no prices. The sushi chefs were unbelievable.Many times when I sat down at the sushi bar they would serve a little dish immediately with out me asking. This was usuallly a bit of salmon, cucumber scallion and some soy sauce and sesame oil. So this is what I tried to copy today.

 

It came out well, I really enjoy the combined flavors.

And lastly, just some salmon sashimi and scallop (Hotategai in Japanese).

I'm not a huge scallop fan, but I love raw scallop. If you eat raw scallop, make sure you buy yourself the freshest you can find. Store in the fridge wrapped in paper towel. The paper towel will get all the moisture out of it and will result in getting maximum flavor.

Now what should I make for dinner?

Sashimi, Salad and a Silly Band Queen

I don't live in a big city as you know, so my sushi restaurants locally are not the greatest. Don't get me wrong, they're ok but just not fantastic. Sadly, they are all pretty expensive. So every now and then I treat myself to an order from Catalina Offshore Products.  (no compensation) They are located in San Diego, and sell some terrific products, including some of the best Uni (sea urchin roe) I have had. When you sign up as member, you will receive emails with specials. I took advantage of one of those specials and ordered some wild California King Salmon. Now the product is frozen, but let me tell you how good this is. I have a friend who is a chef and he laughed at me that I ordered frozen fish. He said "I can order you anything you want fresh". Yes folks, fresh is better then frozen, BUT.....I brought my "non believing" friend a small sample to try and I can tell you he was blown away.
Take a look at this nice fatty salmon sashimi;

This salmon is so tasty, you don't even need soy/tamari sauce and wasabi. I had some with and with out. I also put a tiny dollop of garlic chili sauce on the salmon instead of tamari and wasabi dip. Delicious.

I don't know if you have ever tried this in a sushi restaurant;

This little treat is called "Ankimo"

It's monk fish liver. It is sometimes called "foie gras of the sea"

A bit of ponzu sauce really let the flavors stand out.

A quick home made ponzu sauce you can make (and use for many other dishes) is just adding some lemon juice to your soy/tamari sauce. It makes for a nice change of flavor.

When you order this as an appetizer in a sushi restaurant, it usually costs between $9.95 and $15.95. A whole roll from Catalina costs $15.99. Ahhh affordable sushi/sashimi what could be better?

Life can't always be filled with the above delicacies, and other days we make do with the basics. Like a salad.

Just a nice lunch salad consisting of romaine lettuce, cucumber, peppers, red onion and salami.

Dressing is just some evoo and fresh ground pepper and a dash of sea salt.

And here my Silly Band Queen

Amazing isn't it? Some one decides to manufacture some plastic bracelets in all sorts of shapes and becomes a multi millionaire pretty much over night. Has this crazyness hit your area too?

"You can get everything in life you want.....if you will just help enough other people get what they want"

Meals

Smoked salmon with avocado and cucumber salad

Probiotic cucumber salad/soup

Probiotic cucumber salad/soup

Bacon and scallion. Toss on a spinach salad with some evoo and mustard

They sell this at Costco. Some of the best canned wild salmon I've tasted.

Lamb with shaved broccoli, onion, peppers and garlic.

Brazilian cheese bread  "pao de queijo"

One of my favorite home made treats off all time. Tapioca flour, butter, cheese and garlic.

You could use these to make "sandwhiches" also. Stuff them with some precooked spicy ground beef or shredded chicken.

"TRUE NOBILITY IS NOT ABOUT BEING BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE......IT IS ABOUT BEING BETTER THAN YOU USED TO BE"

Thank you and Barefoot Running

I wan't to say THANK YOU again to all of you that took the time to share your thoughts with me in regards to the "HELP" post. Thanks to all of you, I am starting to formulate a plan of action. There were some specific comments that really helped me see through some things and provided me with a different outlook.
More to follow on all of that.

Next; Bare foot running.
Matt Metzgar who's blog I have been reading for years, continues to provide insight, fresh ideas and up to date information. I really appreciate the fact that Matt will question and or take a step further some of the findings and studies. He has a tremendous e-book called Stone Age Power and if you have never read his free e-book, you're missing out.
Keep in mind that the e-book was written in 2002, so some of the information contained there in, probably does not jive completely with what Matt knows today.

Matt has recently posted about barefoot running and his own experiences with it. He made me aware just late last week, about a new book called Barefoot Running. The author is on a tour across the country, teaching people how to rediscover the joy of running, and promoting his book. Last week I happened to check the authors website and low and behold, they were going to be in Naples on Saturday. With out Matt, I would have totally missed the opportunity as there was not a lot of promotion about it locally. Hosted by a local running store, the talk was at 1pm. Kind of neat when you think about it...a running store hosting a talk for a guy promoting the fact that you don't need shoes. Anywho, I went to the talk and enjoyed listening to Michael Sandler,his fiancee and co-author Jessica Lee. Michael has a wonderful story to tell. He got very hurt in a somewhat freak accident years ago, and ended up with a titanium femur and hip. (there are more body parts missing, but I don't want to ruin his book or one of his talks for you, in case you get to go). After he was told he would never run again, he tried to, but it resulted in more and more injuries. Through information from the same Harvard MD, that the author of Born To Run refers to in his book, Michael tried Barefoot Running. I have not read the book yet, and I didn't get a chance to buy it on Saturday as I had to duck out a bit early because I didn't want to miss the World Cup game between the US and Ghana.
The story doesn't end there....

Yesterday I was at my office and I took a quick walk around the perimeter of my hotel. There I notice the Barefoot running trailer. I think to myself, "cool, they must be staying here". Just as I had that thought...Michael comes walking out of one of the side doors of the hotel to walk his dog.
Isn't life beautiful ;-)

I introduced myself and thanked him for the talk on Saturday. We met up again inside and I was able to assist Michael with some information he was curious about. I in return got some alone time with him and was able to ask him a few pointers and questions.
When I came into my office this morning, there was a Barefoot Running book on my desk with a card and a really nice inscription. It reads as follows: To Marc,  Keep being a pioneer in your five fingers. The world may catch on, but down here, you'll always be the first. Teach those kids well, run light, run free and have fun!"
It's so nice to meet REAL people with warm and caring hearts. Both Michael and Jessica were an absolute pleasure to be around and they live what they teach. If Barefoot Running comes to your neck of the woods...don't miss the opportunity to spend some time with them.

  http://www.runbare.com/ or http://www.barefootrunningbook.com/ (the book is being praised as THE handbook for barefoot running, by the likes of barefoot Ted and Danny Dreyer author of ChiRunning)

And yes, of course I took my shoes off for the picture ;-)

Help

So I have an idea...

And I'm looking for your ideas, suggestions and expertise.

CrossFit has come town and is blowing up. The little gym (a bit more fancy then the traditional box set up) almost maxed out on members, has just leased two new spaces in the plaza where they are located and are expanding their facility. Eventhough the membership price tag is quite high, they are selling memberships like hot cakes. CrossFit has adopted the paleo/primal diet (don't like that word, but using it for point of reference) as their diet of choice. I think...correct me if I'm wrong, it evolved from the "Zone diet", which I'm sure many found to complicated and restrictive.

So here's my idea, with commercial real estate at an all time low here, I'm thinking of opening a tiny space in the same plaza and opening my little "Paleo Grill".

Restaurants (food ventures) are notoriously bad investments, but....there are some that make it right?

So what do you think? I would serve simply grilled meats, seafood and poultry of all kinds and creative veggie side dishes.

Remember, I don't live in a big city. Foot traffic is non existent, so that eliminates a lot of business. The aim would be to create a "hub" or a "cafe" feel for the little community here that eats paleo/primal. Could a smaller community sustain such a business? I have always believed that if you do what you love, the money will follow. This is NOT about the money for me, but doing something you love to do. However, the financial reality is that I don't want to end up being a Walmart greeter at age 70 just to make ends meet together with my tiny social security check.
So what do you think? I appreciate any and all comments.

I would serve this type of meal for sure; marinated grass fed sirloin steak with side of guacamole.

Grass fed sirloin steak thinly sliced and marinated in the following;  fresh garlic,onion,ginger, lime juice, toasted sesame oil and a tiny bit of jalapeno and sea salt.

This batch was made in the cast iron skillet

It cooks nice and quick as the lime juice has taken care of some of the cooking process while it was marinating.

Top with fresh cilantro, red onion and another squeeze of lime juice.

Fish and Sweet Potato Soup

Someone asked me the other day if I like soup. I love soup. I especially love cream and coconut milk based soups. I like the thicker texture. An easy way to make thicker soups is to add some potato.

When it comes to soup, your stock is KEY. Tasty stock = tasty soup (well most of the time anyway)

On Saturday I made fish stock with the shrimp heads and shells I had saved. Making stock is easy and my criteria is as follows; make stock so flavorful, that it can stand on it's own. Meaning you can give someone a spoonfiul, and they say "hmmmm that's good soup".

Try this for fish stock;

Cut onion, celery and carrot (this is called mirepoix in classic French cooking). You want onion to be twice the portion of the celery and carrots. In butter (butter is best here for flavor) cook the mixture. Don't let it brown, but let it sweat until translucent (onion that is). Now it's time to get Feel Good Eating creative.

Next I add a  heavy splash of white wine. I let that all simmer a bit. Next I added half a red jalapeno, dill and salt to taste. Let that all cook together a bit, stir. Next add your shrimp heads (or fish head and or fish bones etc). I really like shrimp heads for stock, the flavor is just a tad different then fish head and tail.

Mix all ingredients together well. Now add water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer. I let it simmer for an hour or so. If there are people in your house that don't like fish...you might want to have a little talk with them...as this stock WILL make your house smell nice and fishy. When done, pour your stock through a mesh colander. Now you have delicious fish stock to make soups with. The stock should have a dark color to it.

So Sunday I used the stock to make a salmon and sweet potato soup.

In a pan gently heat the stock. Add half of a thin sliced and peeled yam/sweet potato.

Once the sweet potato is soft, transfer to a blender and puree. Transfer back to the pan again and add a splash of heavy cream. Next I opened a can of salmon and mixed that in with the soup, stir and heat.

Dice a bit of red onion. Add a teaspoon of Fage (greek yogurt) and top with the red onion.

Gourmet on a budget. The canned salmon works very well with this.

The stock is perfect for a nice coconut soup too.

Have a great week!

Naughty

I wrote a post a few weeks back (you can read it Here) about home made food. I also gave the link for Dr. Eades post on eating out and the importance of cooking at home. To take those posts/thoughts on step further, there will times when you are craving some naughty foods. Maybe some bar food with a cold beer. Most "naughty" foods in restaurants are made with franken oils, cheap ingredients, loaded with omega 6 and usually fried in oil that doesn't get changed as often as it should.
If you happen to be in the mood for some of the naughty stuff, make it yourself at home. Here's my naughty treat from last night...

I was delighted a while back when I was given this very cool kitchen gadget;

It's a "jalapeno griller". How cool right? It's in the shape of the great state of Texas.

I had bought some jalapenos at the farmers market, so with another cool little tool that was part of this gift (a de-seeder) I de-seeded them. I then made a mixture of some home made cream cheese (easy to make, and so much better then store bought) , bacon, onion and  raw pepper jack cheese.

I stuffed the peppers with the mixture, set them in their holder and got them going on the grill.

The tooth picks are there to prevent them from slipping through the holes and for easy removal when done, these jalapenos were fat enough to not slip throught the holes.

This is one amazing naughty little treat.

Spicy warning. If you don't handle spicy well, make sure you buy jalapenos at the supermarket and NOT the farmers market (or similiar). Supermarket jalapenos are much milder then their farmers market counter parts. When you see jalapenos that have "lines" on them, pay attention. The "lines" are called HEAT cracks. The more "lines" the spicier the pepper.

What do you make at home that fits the "naughty" bill?

World Cup and a Vitamin D surprise

I hope all you soccer (football) fans are enjoying the World Cup. I don't watch a lot of tv, but every four years I'm glued to the tube. I was only 7 when Holland lost to Germany in the finals, but I remember it like yesterday. Since 1974, I have watched pretty much every game of every World Cup. On the days Holland plays, I wear my orange shirt and orange hat, and much to the dismay of kids and friends, every chance in between for the next 4 weeks. I took my daughter to watch the USA vs. England match at a local pub, and I think I might have converted her into to a full blown fan. She did grab my arm during the game at one point, as I was yelling at the players to swing the ball left, and calmly looked at me and said "dad, they can't hear you". It was a good Saturday afternoon.

With all these soccer festivities, I will drink some more beer then usual. I don't make a big deal about it, but I do counter it by staying strict with my food choices and activity levels.

Simple dinner. Salad with romaine lettuce tomato, carrots, red pepper and celery. Grandma's dressing with a touch of white wine. Freshly grated reggiano parmesan. (not strictly paleo...but the k2 is in there)

I bought fresh shrimps (with heads on) and made the following. Low heat cooking; a bit of evoo, add onion and garlic. Because of the low heat, you will have time to prep your other food. I diced up red pepper and added that. Pinch of sea salt to taste. I cleaned and cut my shrimp into bite size pieces. (saved all the yummy heads to make some stock). Next I added a bit of lemon juice to the pan, and then a splash of white wine. Add the shrimp and mix well. Now I added a bit of "vodka sauce". (tomato sauce with a touch of vodka).
It was delicious.

I don't eat a lot of fruit. I tend to eat my fruit in season, and summer time is for blueberries, peaches and watermelon. I love an ice cold piece of watermelon out of the fridge on a blazing hot day here. The trick is not to overdo it I think. Don't eat a lot of fruit in one sitting. Just a taste. My sweet tooth doesn't exist anymore, I crave savory things now, so it's easy for me to eat half a sweet georgia peach or 2-4 chunks of watermelon, so be careful. It's easy to over indulge on the sweet summer fruits.

This little treat will last me through my office day when I'm in the mood for a little taste of something.

About a week and a half ago, I sent away for a Vitamin D test from ZRT Labs

If you order it through the Vitamin D Council website it will save you $10. ($65 vs. $75)

My results just came back. 63. That's in decent range. It got me thinking last night though. I live in a sub tropical climate. I probably get more full body sun then most of you (I do work in an office for most of the day, but I will take a shirtless run or walk), but I still need to supplement to get my levels to a respectable 63. I like this article for some solid information.

Dr. Eades just wrote a great post, reviewing the book "The Vitamin D solution". I understand it won't be out till October, but I look forward to getting my hands on it. So how much Vitamin D do I take and what brand you ask? (maybe you didn't, but I will tell you anyway ;-) )  

I take Carlson Vitamin d3 drops 2000 IU. Most days I take either 4 or 6 thousand IU's. I don't take it on the weekends, as I am outside a lot and getting sun. I have not been sick or had a cold 3 years! The times this past winter where I felt I needed a boost, either because of air travel or 4 sick kids at home, I upped the dose some.

Do you take vitamin D3 and how much? Do you get your levels tested?

And last question; do any of you practice the inner smile? Would you like me to share my experiences with it?

Have a great day.

Primal, Paleo, EF meals and Fitnes

In a pan saute onion and garlic in ghee. Next add some fresh chopped tomato. Splash of white wine. Let simmer a bit, add a few olives and hot smoked paprika powder and a dash of salt . Now lay a few slices of meat on top, small splash of water, cover and simmer. When almost done turn up the heat and add a splash of heavy cream. Mix it together. I guess not many people eat this for breakfast....I do though ;-)

I was hungry for something tasty in the morning and was still hungry from the mini triathlon.

The other night I made the dish below. In butter sauted lots of onion. Then added the cut up meat (for both these meat dishes I used top round) Stirred it around a bit, then added a splash of red wine. When almost done, I added a large handful of baby spinach.

I love this kind of breakfast; I cut up (with kitchen scissors) 2 pieces of bacon, it cooks quickly this way, then add diced up asparagus, tomato and a bit of onion. Push the veggie bacon mix to the side and add 2 eggs. Reall satisfying and tasty. Sometimes I will put a tiny bit of goat cheese (feta can work too) on top of the eggs to change the flavor up a bit.

I've always been a bit hesitant posting an "in the flesh pic"

But thought I'd share this one of me coming out of the water Sunday at the end of my race. Eventhough I have quite the grimace on my face...as I had just almost face planted in the sand a step before...believe me when I tell you that I enjoyed myself tremendously. (I'm the short guy in the back)

Make it a great day!