Must Marinate & Secret

Looks pretty good right?

The reality is that skirt steak/flank steak needs a marinade and some time in the fridge to break down the tough fibers. I went to the market after work, and was craving skirt steak. So made this, without it having marinated in the fridge for a day. As flavorful as it was (I melted some cheese over the asparagus), the texture/consistency was to tough and chewy.

I treated this humble skirt steak with a few dashes of toasted sesame oil and a table spoon of Vindaloo paste.

Yes, you read that right, vindaloo paste. I will let you in on a little secret...guard it closely ;-)

I use vindaloo paste a little differently then it's intended use. Normally people use it to simmer meat so that it becomes a saucy dish. I use it as a "rub" for meat, lamb and chicken. I can honestly say that I have never heard of anyone doing that. So even though you will taste this in my restaurant one day...I'm sharing this little secret with you, that will allow you to blow away the grilling competition and acquire raving fans, friends and family alike ;-)

You can buy vindaloo paste in health food stores, whole foods, online, supermarkets etc etc. Pay close attention to the label, some have corn flour, franken oils and other ingredients unable to be pronounced. If you look carefully you will find one that is acceptable. Now here's another bonus. These types of products cost anywhere between $4 and $5. If you use it as the directions spell it out, you will get ONE use out of it. (two perhaps if you are cooking for 2.) But this way you only need 1 to 2 table spoons, so you get a lot more mileage out of the product. What does this work particularly well with? Chicken thighs, pork, lamb and lastly steak. Example; take a pound of chicken thighs cover them with a few spoons full of paste, make sure they are all coated and toss on the grill. If you don't have a grill, you can make this under the broiler also. Keep in mind that vindaloo has a "kick" to it, so maybe experiment a bit before you permanenly hook your fans with your mad cooking skills.
I promise, you will be amazed with the flavor!

“Only from the heart Can you touch the sky.”
Rumi

Simple and Decadent

Ok, this is one of those Feel Good Eating dishes that just doesn't get an easier. You need no cooking skills for this, trust me. Just the ability to cut with a knife and to identify some real food in the supermarket. ;-)
Simple to make and the taste is decadent.
So next time you are at a loss for what to make try this with the following ingredients.; grass fed beef ribs, beets, garlic, celery, scallion, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt (optional,  fresh basil and parsley)

Heat up your grill and salt your beef ribs. Place on grill bone side down, forget about them for a while. Back into the kitchen, and pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel your beets and cut into cubes. Peel 3-4 cloves of garlic. Drizzle with evoo and some sea salt top with a few scallion.Mix together and put in the oven.
Next take your celery, wash and slice. Cut some scallions. In a bowl mix the celery and scallion, drizzle with evoo (sprinkle of salt) and some fresh basil. Go back to the grill and turn your ribs. A few more turns and they will be done. These short ribs take a  little longer, but they are well worth the wait. When beets are soft but not mushy, they are done. Enjoy.

5K,Dinner and link love

PHEW!! That's what I have to say about Saturday mornings early 5K race on the beach.
It was a beautiful morning and the start of the race at 7:30 coincided perfectly with the sun coming up.
Due to the high tide, the "hard sand" close to the water was minimal. With ipod shuffle prepped, I took off really fast. I had every intention of running this race fast. I wanted to run it in 23 minutes or under. I should have paid attention to the pre race talk I over heard, that the winning times come in around 19 minutes. That's 3-4 minutes slower then normal finishing times at the local 5K's. It should have clued me in.......

They basically laid out a 5K loop for us to run. After the first 1/4 mile, I saw that we had to climb over the rocks that now cover the old drainage/run off pipes going into the gulf of mexico. A little bouldering on the beach...well not quite but you get the picture. After the first mile it was time for the turn and we went back where we came from. The sand was so churned up from us, that hitting it again felt like running in quicksand. I don't know how many people sprained or twisted their ankles, but I was never happier to be wearing my VFF. I was the only one wearing those by the way, which I found interesting, because if there ever was an opportunity for people to try them for a run, I assuming the beach would be perfect. Also, there was no one that ran barefoot. I had expected to see a few people doing that but alas.
The quicksand, obstacles and stop and go, made this a tough race. I enjoyed it a lot. I know I had promised some video footage, but it was just to dark in the morning to pull it off. My time 26:37.  Exactly 3 minutes below normal pace.

Dinner;
Grilled grass fed ground beef with onion, garlic,cilantro and a mediteranean spice mix. I just made a pound of beef into a freakishly large patty, easy to prep up and great for leftovers. Steamed broccoli with butter and lemon juice. Cucumber salad with tahini, cilantro and parsley. Couldn't locate my camera, hence the crappy phone pic.

Don't know if many of you have ever seen this blog called The Lean Saloon. Johnny is a shining example of putting it all together for themselves. Proof in the pudding. Just check out his pics.

Breakfast and another back yard friend

Cut up some bacon and in a pan fry it to the consistency/crispy-ness you like. Next, add some thin sliced yellow squash and a few scallions. Mix well and serve over some lettuce. Delicious breakfast.

I feel lucky and privilidged that animal friends like this come and visit, and that I get to enjoy seeing them. Trust me, it never gets old seeing a bald eagle in the wild. He/she was pretty high up there, and my zoom lens on my basic camera can only do so much, but wanted to share this one.

Have a great weekend everyone. Tomorrow morning is a organized 5K on the beach here. I will post an update after the race and hopefully a video with some nice beach scenery.

Try a Little Tenderness

I LOVE music, so of course when I wanted to share with you a little tip for "tenderizing" tougher cuts of meat...
Otis Redding sang it so good, but I've always been really taken by the The Commitments rendition.
If you love music, and have not seen the movie, please plan yourself a nice weekend night with your significant other, a nice bottle of wine perhaps, put the feet up and watch the movie.
Here's a sample


Do you ever boil your tougher cuts of meat?
Cut your beef into bite sized pieces, bring some water to a boil and let the meat boil for a few minutes. You have to monitor it, because you can overdo it and you'll end up with shoe leather.

Now you can quickly saute it up with your choice of fat and impart any flavor you like. It's an easy and quick way to tenderize your meat and you will be pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Stuffed peppers and Post Work out Snack

I've never been crazy about stuffed peppers or stuffed cabbage, but after reading a recipe post on Mark's Daily Apple I decided to give them a whirl. I did not make it with pork (tough to find quality pork here locally) but with grass fed ground beef instead. My local small peppers are much darker in green color then what you find at the supermarket. (see pic). Made a nice mixture of cauliflower and meat, with plenty of garlic and onions. I was also out of tomato paste, so couldn't add that. It was nice to come home to a wonderful smelling house and a crockpot full of yummy dinner. Well to be quite honest, I re-affirmed that I still don't really like stuffed pepper. It was ok, nothing great. Had a nice salad with it that I was more excited over. The left overs were good though and handy fried up for breakfast with some eggs and butter.

Sorry about the phone pic below, but quickly wanted to share breakfast in my office with you.

 Most of the time after an early morning workout, about 90 minutes later, I CRAVE flavor. Not lots of food, but flavor. So this is a perfect example of the type of small post work out snack I bring along to work in the morning. About a teaspoon and a half of full fat greek yogurt, sliced scallion and celery and one grilled chicken thigh (prior to grilling brush with some tamari, toasted sesame oil, garlic powder and fresh ground pepper) . This approach, is a perfect example to me of our communities cry for self experimentation, trial and error. I have not read much about the "size" of the post work out meal, but for me this is what I have found works best. Have you tried something similiar?

Also a wonderful new link on the right MODERN PALEO

Diane has done a tremendous job putting this together.

Enjoy your day and be nice.

Worry=Stress

Do you at times worry about your choice and execution of eating paleo/ef/primal?
Do you get confused about the information overload at times? There are some extrememly in-depth blogs out there that you likely read right? Do they help you or do they add to your confusion?
In talking with someone over the weekend about "diet", I realised that it causes a tremendous amount of worry for people. Worry=stress, and we certainly do not need any more chronic stress in our lives.

"Quibbling about the details is going to continue indefinitely if for no other reason than that we are no longer a Paleolithic people. Our food supply is different in quality and quantity. Generations of agricultural life have left our genetics not quite in their pristine paleo form any longer. And individual variation resulting from the mish-mash of each of our genetic heritages means that no diet book, not even the sum of all serious paleodiet research, is ever going to be able to tell you whether you would be better off eating your salmon raw, or whether a steamed sweet potato is good for you. Circumstances alter cases and we are all our own experiment in diet and lifestyle"

Mr. Kurt Nieft wrote the above paragraph for a book review. It really expresses how I feel about it all. So let's cover the basics again; processed food sucks and is not actual food, man made sugar is very very bad, corn derivatives are poison, franken oils should be banned substances, in the U.S.the way most animals are raised,treated and processed is simply in-humane and results in an inferior product, organic produce has less chemicals in/on it then regular produce. Have anything to add?

Stick to eating real food, get some variety and let go of the worry.

Breakfast;
Fried eggs, cauliflower hashbrowns with bacon and a bit of melted cheese

Dinner; grilled grass fed steak, cucumber salad, grilled shrimp and grilled bokchoy and squash medley.

Yesterday afternoon in my back yard...it was blustery before a rain storm, and this cool little friend decided to grace me with his presence. He sat in my neighbors orange tree right on the other side of my hedge. We just looked at each other for a while. Couldn't sense an ounce of "worry" coming from him/her. I don't think he was concerned about the make up of his next meal. ;-)

"Don't worry be happy" B.M.

Don't Fear the Fat

I hope that if you made the primal/paleo/EF switch recently, you are now the proud new owner of Mark Sisson's book the Primal Blue Print (I believe it made it to number 2 on Amazon yesterday)
The book is a perfect starting point and will help you get going without becoming confused about all the details. The only advice I have to add is; don't be afraid of fat. Fat is an integral part for the succes of your efforts.

Here's my quick lunch from yesterday;

One avocado drizzled with evoo and fresh ground pepper. Sliced cucumber with evoo and balsamic. Smoked sockeye salmon quickly (and 3 thin slices of a hot pepper) heated up in butter.

Not a ton of food, but filling and satisfying because of the fat.

This weekend I will have some time to shoot and upload another video.

Is there some specific recipe or ingredients you all would like to see? 

Something you are perhaps not familiar with but would like to try?

Let me know.

Something to ponder for the day...

We all try to eat healthier, exercise, sleep better, argue about what aproach is best, walk more, love more, be more patient, be productive,  etc etc...this got me thinking about something I read years ago from Bernie Siegel;

“It takes more distress and poison to kill someone who has peace of mind and loves life.”

Loving life brings with it peace of mind...ENJOY your day ;-)

Marks Sisson and the Primal Blue Print

I did a post back in June of 2009. Mark Sisson sent me a copy of his book, with a very sincere personal note inside. This is the kind of guy that he his; real, sincere and truly looking to make a difference.
If you have not read the book, I highly reccomend it! But I think this book is just perfect to buy, to give to friends and family to get them introduced to the subject. This is where the book shines and delivers at it's best!

Today I'm doing my share in helping our friend and mentor Mark Sisson. He's trying to become # 1 on Amazon and giving away and amazing one time deal in the process.

Please support Mark's efforts and perhaps order a copy as a present for friends/family as I did.

Here are the details and thisoffer is just good for today March 17th 2010.

I believe many of us owe Mark a great deal, this is a small token of our appreciation. Here's his message. Thank you.

Dear Friends,As a valued reader of this website, I have an irresistible offer for you that includes hundreds of dollars in free gifts.

Mark Sisson is shooting to get his book, The Primal Blueprint, to the top of the charts and he’s giving away a ton of free stuff to encourage you to buy his book within a single 24 hour period. It’s a win-win-win offer. I get the satisfaction of providing you with the offer, you get a bunch of freebies, and Mark gets the exposure for his book that it deserves.


Your special free gifts include:

1) A personal invite to a 2-hour Live Webcast Q&A Session. Ask Mark anything you want. He’ll be answering as many questions as he can about weight loss, muscle building and anything else that interests you.

2) Access to a password-protected audio interview – “Special Report: 20 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight (And How to Fix Them)” ($24.99 value, yours free!)


3) Access to a password-protected audio interview – “Special Report: 10 Reasons You’re Sick (And How to Get Better)” ($24.99 value, yours free!)

4) A convenient and exclusive e-book (PDF) of 25 Primal Blueprint Recipes from Mark’s Daily Apple

5) A free preview edition (PDF) of Mark’s upcoming, hardbound cookbook with 5 select Primal Blueprint Recipes


Now here’s how you can grab all these free gifts…
Click on the link below and grab yourself a copy of The Primal Blueprint right now for only $17.81:
Buy The Primal Blueprint on Amazon.com
Then all you have to do to get your free gifts is just email Mark the receipt you'll get from Amazon.com by tomorrow, 12 pm PST, and he’ll slide your free gifts right over to you. (By the way if you don't absolutely love The Primal Blueprint, they'll REFUND EVERY DIME. You still get to participate in the Live Q&A and get all the free bonuses for your trouble.)
to sweeeten the deal he’s put together some additional ways for you to get some extra freebies. You can read all about them here.


If you’ve been thinking about buying the Primal Blueprint this is the perfect opportunity, so buy it now and secure all the freebies before this limited-time offer ends.

P.S: Remember, to receive your free gift package you must email Mark the receipt by noon Pacific Standard Time tomorrow!

P.P.S: Also remember, when you order and email Mark before noon tomorrow, you'll get the audio Weight Loss interview, so you can launch into losing weight right away. ($24.99 value, yours free!)
Buy The Primal Blueprint on Amazon.com

P.P.P.S: Please forward this to as many as you can as it’s a once-in-a-lifetime offer and the perfect opportunity to get a bunch of freebies when you purchase a copy of The Primal Blueprint at the low cost of only $17.81.

Salad

Here's a real simple salad, but full of flavor and good for you goodness.

Smoked coho salmon over a bed of local organic arugula. Greek yogurt dressing.

Just mix together a table spoon of greek yogurt, about 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix together well. Now add water to get it to dressing consistency that you want. Drizzle over the salad and top off with some fresh ground pepper.

I got some grass fed meat bones and made a bone broth over the weekend. In line with everything "food"  I blog about, this couldn't be any easier. And you are really making something that is so incredibly good for you and you can use it in so many ways.

The only thing in my opinion that you HAVE to do is roast the bones first.

This will give your broth that extra kick in flavor.

When the bones have been roasted put them in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. After that turn down the heat to a simmer, cover and let it do it's thing for 24 hours. You can add a bit of lemon or vinegar, this will help pull all the good for you minerals out of the bones. If you don't want to leave your stove on for 24 hours, after you have brought it to a boil, just transfer to a large crockpot (slowcooker) and let it do it's thing in there. While it's brewing; check it every now and again  and skim off any weird stuff at the top. It might look like froth or scum....But it doesn't always appear. If you want to read a good post on broth, check Food Renegade.com. After 24 hours remove the bones. And let the soup cool. Skim the fat from the top and you are ready to go. The fat you can use to cook with (tallow). I keep some in glass jars in the fridge. I will drink it this week or use it to make some soup. With the rest I will make some broth ice-cubes.

Give it a try sometime. It really is so easy.

Turkey Burger Rant

It's official, turkey burgers suck. I mean, give me some ground turkey and I can make some decent taco meat out of it. Or with some red/green curry and coconut milk, I will create a tasty treat. But turkey burgers are another story. It just doesn't seem to matter how creative I get and what ingredients I use, turkey burgers suck ;-)

Take a look;

This  was the start of it, chopped onion, garlic, evoo, green pepper, smoked gouda and a spoon full of salsa verde. Right????
I then added the meat and a couple of tablespoons of potato flakes, and put the burgers in my handy dandy "grill holder"

I chopped up cauliflower, onion, garlic, green pepper (I chopped extra for the burger prep) and a 1/4 of a serrano pepper. In butter saute the onion, garlic, and serrano. Then added in the cauliflower and green pepper.

 

This is so easy and so tasty, if this isn't part of your kitchen repertoire...add it in immediately ;-)

The turkey burger wasn't over cooked, it was perfectly moist inside. But the bland taste of ground turkey somehow penetrated all the other flavors and eliminated them.

Do you like turkey burgers? Or...share your turkey burger rant ;-)

Tennis, BBQ and Dinner

Yesterday I got to play in the singles final of the club championship. In the open division there were not that many entries, so on Saturday they played a type of round robin set up, with the winners of the most games meeting in the finals on Sunday.
My opponent was 50 years old and a former Div. 1 college player from California with an impressive record.
He was so dominant on Saturday, that the people that played against him, were not able to get a game off him. Instead of getting nervous about the match, I decided to shift my perspective, and focused on the fact that I had made it to the finals and that playing against a player of this caliber is exciting and fun.
About 200 or so people came to watch the match on center court. Our on court scene, resembled David and Goliath, me 5'7, he 6'4. His strokes were powerful and penetrating, and his serve broke the sound barrier at times ;-)
I went down 3-0 in the first set. But I had noticed something about my opponent...he underestimated me. That's never a good thing. Like a jack rabbit, I chased every ball down and when the opportunities presented themselves, I took advantage and went for my shots. The crowd was cheering for me mostly so that helped. I was able to get back to 3-3, and then 4-4. His serve was the difference. So I lost the first set 6-4. I had him a bit rattled and it felt good. But...his experience and his expertise allowed him to kick it up a notch in the second set. Even though every game was close, I found my self down 0-5. OUCH. I looked at one of my older friends watching, he gave me the thumbs up and said...keep going, it isn't over. I stepped it up and fought back to 3-5. I had a break point in the last game and I could have been at 4-5 with me serving...but it wasn't to be. After my breakpoint he blasted to very big first serves to take the match 6-4, 6-3. I didn't feel bad about losing at all, but proud that I gave the big man game and even better that a recreational player like me was able to hang with a fomer college level player.

When I came home, my neighbor came over and said "we are throwing away our BBQ, because we never use it. Do you want it?" Isn't life nice sometimes?? I went and got the BBQ and was pleasantly surprised with a good as new stainless steel specimen. I will clean it up and get a few replacement parts. I was able to use it last night for a quick meal.

Some steak strips that I tossed with toasted sesame oil, evoo, salt and pepper and a small serrano pepper.
The 'fish holder" for grilling that you see, can be used for a lot more things then fish. This makes turning very easy.

You've seen a picture of my grill basket before, it's a really easy and quick way to make delicious veggies on the grill. Yellow squash, zucchini and sweet onion. Simply tossed with evoo and some hot sauce.

When they were done, I sliced a handful of basil and mixed it in. You can use cilantro or parsley too.

Some salad with the meat rounded out the meal.Green leaf lettuce, tomato, celery and carrots. All tossed with some evoo, mustard and onion dressing.

"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." W. Dyer 

5K results and Farmers market produce

That was me early this morning. Number 86. It was cold for us warm blooded Floridians. 40 degrees brings out hats,scarves and gloves here. After registering, receiving my number and putting on my timing chip, I went back to my car for a little chilling time with music to stay warm. Under my thin long sleeve t-shirt, I wore one of those Under armor heat gear shirts. You know what? They really work.

As I said in the previous post, I found a real runner (that I know comes in with 22 minute times) to pace me. Eventhough the wind was strong and the cold was felt, I started out real strong and ran my first mile in 7.09, second mile and still right on the heals of the real runner, 7.11. And then.....I didn't want to run anymore ;-) It was a weird (and new) feeling, I wasn't particularly tired and felt no discomfort but my mind acted up like a baby and whined "I don't wanna run anymore" I actually stopped and took about 20 walking steps. Then tried to kick myself in the ass as best I could and got motoring. Don't know wether it was the cold air on my lungs or my baby mind, but I didn't have my usual sprint mode for the last 200 yards (listen to me..."usual" this is only my 3rd race ;-) ) going.

Came in at 23.52 results are here if you want to see. Decent time improvement from the last one in December at 24:30. Next 5k is later this month and the run is on the beach. That should be fun and I will bring video camera along to capture some beach scenes. Hopefully it will actually be warm again in Florida by then.

Take a look at this locally grown organic red leaf lettuce;

 

It's just tremendous compared to the store bought variety. Great color and full of amazing flavor.

Enjoy the weekend...time for some tennis in a few.

Cucumber salad and 5K

I LOVE cucumber. I really could eat it at every meal. Cucmber is like garlic in my house, always in stock.

Sliced cucumber with thinly sliced spring onion, extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper. Simple, quick ans easy.

Going to run a 5K this morning. I've only run that distance once since my mid January half marathon. Instead of running 3.5 miles regularly, I tried something different. I've been running a mile at a 7 minute pace (and slightly under) about 2-3 times a week. Will let you know how it goes. Another thing I'm going to try is to find a few real runners that I know run the 5K in about 22-23 minutes. I'm going to try to just keep up with them. Will let you know how it goes. I do have to play in a small tennis tournament today, so hopefully I won't wear myself out completely for the race. Kids are with mom this weekend, so I get to play ;-)

Remember to smile today.

Quick Lunch

I promise I won't do this again. I need someone to man the camera while I'm cooking, or you all will miss out on a bunch of things going on. The static view is just not good enough. So bare with me as I find my stride and slowly dissolve my stage fright ;-)

So in case you're curious what's going on in that video, here's some back up.
I wanted to show you how quick and easy (FeelGoodEating at ist's best) you can make something without a whole bunch of ingredients.

Fennel salad. Thinly slice the fennel, toss in a bowl with some evoo, salt, lemon juice and fresh basil. Experiment with your fresh herbs, you can use mint, cilantro, marjoram, oregano etc. Each herb will effect the salad a bit differently and create a distinct taste.

I marinated some grass fed eye of round in rice vinegar. It breaks down a tougher cut of meat nicely and imparts a unique flavor, especially when combined with some toasted sesame oil for cooking. Cut the eye of round thin and in bite sized pieces. In some butter saute onion and garlic, add the meat, and add some toasted sesame oil.
Hope you enjoyed the video anywho...