Poema Sparkling Wine & Sausage with Sauerkraut
1 1/2 Onions (sliced)
2 slices bacon
1 1/2 cups sauerkraut
1 package Aidell’s Cajun Style Andouille Sausage
Fry the bacon and render the fat. Then you will sauté the onions in the bacon fat until nicely cooked through. Slice the sausages on a bias. Add the sauerkraut and the sausage and cook 10-15 minutes to let the flavors come together and the sausages to heat through.
Remember kids, sugar is the enemy and fat is your friend!!
Cake Wreck…
It’s hard to walk away from something when I am passionate about it, talented, and not to mention award winning at it, but it has to be done. See, I’m kind of what you might call a “cake wreck”.
I baked my last batch of cupcakes last Monday night, May 2nd. By “last”, I mean that I am no longer going to bake. I am no longer taking orders. Even from friends. Sorry.
Why do I want to throw in the oven mitts?
I no longer want sugar, dairy, or processed foods in my house.
I believe sugar to be toxic and highly addictive… (and now that I have come to that realization, I do not wish to poison other people.)
I never made any real profit from baking because of high overhead costs, baking in small batches here and there, and the waste of leftover ingredients I had to either eat or throw away.
(And the biggest reason): I am battling a form of bulimia. My triggers are sugar and processed foods. The bulimia I speak of is mainly “exercise bulimia”… I do not binge/purge, as throwing up is just not my style, but I did practice a great amount of “tasting” as a wine taster would.
I am sorry if my decision is an inconvenience to you. Trust me, it’s very hard to tell you “no” when I am a people pleaser, I know I make the best cake in Sacramento, and one of the reasons I bake is to justify eating “forbidden” foods. But I can’t play this game anymore. I am tired of being on a ridiculous cardio/sugar cycle.
Every time I think I am OK and I can handle the baking thing or having butter, sugar, flour, etc, in the house, I blow it. I’m like a two-year-old junkie. I go ballistic. I don’t stop until it’s GONE. All I can figure is that I am truly addicted to sugar in almost any form.
To justify my behavior, I would run miles and miles (burning 800-1,000 calories at a time). The exercise would in turn only make me hungrier and crave more food/sugar. More sugar…more running… more sugar…more running. Have to burn it off, but so exhausted.
So, that is why I have to stop literally running myself into the ground.
I should not be dressing to hide my body. I should not be staying home away from social events because I am ashamed of the way I look, but this has been happening for about 6 months now. I avoid cameras like the plague and untag photos of me that pop up on Facebook when people have managed to sneak and take them. I am only 33 and THIS SO SHOULD NOT BE the story of a semi-attractive, funny, personable woman with several friends. I want to be as fit and beautiful as possible, unashamed of going out. I want to be in lots of photos, smiling, and just enjoying life. So, being as honest as I can with all of you, and changing the way things have been is absolutely essential for me.
I have been following a new plan for the last month and it is working pretty well (albeit achingly SLOW). I am heartbroken I can’t fit into many of my clothes right now from even six months ago. I am down 10 pounds but still have 20 to go. I don’t blame my body for the slow weight loss, being completely confused on what to do with food I actually do eat… as my body is used to being starved and then crammed with sugar and then exercised to death. The weirdest part is that I have understood food and nutrition for years, and yet I have had such an odd, tortuous relationship with food and exercise.
In addition to the weight loss, I hope to also understand the reasons behind my self-destructive behavior, and to somehow reroute my energy when I am anxious, or energize myself without the use of food when I am feeling blue.
The cakegrrl website/twitter handle will go on as it always has. I am grateful to have this website, to be tied to the name, and to be semi-known here in the Sacramento food world. I will still attend events, do restaurant reviews, promote/attend fundraisers, provide food news and occasional recipes. And soon, I hope to post before and after pictures. I will also be starting another food website that is dedicated to the type of diet I now follow, called Paleo.
I hope you all understand.
Chili “Fries” with Avocado Sauce
This is what I had for my Easter dinner. Why? Because it’s perfect food for a ballgame, and that is exactly what I watched this evening! Sunday night Major League Baseball on ESPN! 🙂 And, why blow my diet when I have lost 10 pounds so far? Stay the course, of course. With food like this, it’s EASY to do. Yum. One of the things I do miss (admittedly) is beans! But, I threw in some baby portobello mushrooms diced up and they had the look and “umami” (if you will) of black beans.
Here’s how to make some delicious ball game watching, yet very PALEO grub:
“Fries”
1 or 2 butternut squashes (400g is about one serving)
salt
To prepare the “fries”, it is helpful to have a food dehydrator. This is to dry out the squash as much as possible before you bake it in the oven. I cut my squash into “fry” pieces, then stacked in the dehydrator and set on the vegetable setting for about an hour.
While you have them in the dehydrator, you can prepare the chili.
Chili:
1 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeded chopped
4 baby portobello mushrooms, diced stems and caps
Spice Mix:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, or to taste
After you have prepped all your ingredients, preheat your oven to 385°. You’ll be baking the squash after it has dried out a bit. The dehydrator helps to get the squash pieces more crispy.
Prepare the tomato base (recipe below)
Tomato Base:
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water (if you aren’t counting calories, you can use red wine in place of the water)
1 (16 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Blend the tomatoes in the blender or food processor, and add the tomato sauce and water. Add the spices into the tomato mixture, then set aside for later use.
Cook the onions and meat:
In a medium pot, brown the beef with the thyme, sage and garlic. When browned, remove and drain beef. Set aside. Heat the olive oil and add the onion, garlic, shallot, red bell pepper, jalapeno, and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables begin to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.
At this point, you can remove the squash from the dehydrator, and place it on an oiled sheet pan. Bake in the oven until brown and crispy. (This will probably take as long as it does to finish the chili, so it works out well!)
Put the meat back in the pot with the vegetables, and pour the tomato base with spices over them. Stir to coat everything and combine it. Reduce (cook for 5-10 mins on a lower heat) to intensify the flavor. While the chili is reducing, and the fries are crisping in the oven, you can make the avocado sauce.
Avocado Sauce
1 whole avocado
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt
Mash the avocado with a fork and add the juice of one lime, the chicken stock and salt to taste. Mix well and set aside. You will use it as a topping for the chili on the “fries”.
When the fries have browned and crisped up, take them out of the oven and place them on your plate. You can salt them if you like, but I find there is enough salt for me in the chili and avocado sauce. Top the fries with the chili and then pour the avocado mixture over the fries.
If you try this recipe, let me know! All recipes I post here will be fully endorsed by me, which means if I haven’t cooked it, eaten it (and liked it) I don’t expect you to either. Happy cooking and Happy Easter!! 🙂
Everyday Paleo: Recipes for Real Life!!
I made the meal (pictured above) last night and the main course (stuffed portobello mushroom) was inspired by a recipe in the new book Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso.
I began a Paleo diet at the end of March after about 2 years of reading about eating Paleo and resisting, insisting the way I was eating and living was ok with my body and just peachy with the environment around me. (I will expound on both of these topics in later posts.)
Then after I gained 33 pounds that I had lost last year, and my clothes no longer fit me, I decided enough was enough. I had to DO SOMETHING. I remembered all the reading I had done on Primal/Paleo and still had a blog subscription to one of my heroes: Mark’s Daily Apple author Mark Sisson. Even though I repeatedly turned away going completely Paleo, a lot of information he wrote about on his website really struck a chord with me. It made so much sense. So, I joined a website to start logging my calories daily (note: many Paleo people do not log calories or measure portions), and decided this time I would follow Paleo.
I googled “Paleo recipes” and also looked for podcasts about Paleo. It was then I found a podcast called “Everyday Paleo”! Everyday Paleo is hosted by Sarah Fragoso, and Chrissy Gower (blog author of Growing Up Paleo). and I also discovered that it was recorded practically in my own backyard!! I am located in Sacramento, and the Everyday Paleo hosts hail from Chico! I was encouraged to have likeminded people, not to mention Paleo experts so nearby. At the time I became a listener, Everyday Paleo only had 10 episodes under their belt, so I was able to listen to all the archived shows. In the shows, Sarah talked about her upcoming book, which is the very book I am now recommending!
So, I have to tell you at first glance Paleo eating seems very restrictive. But, if you look closer, you will see that it’s more about what you CAN eat. Everyday Paleo gives you a shopping list if you have no idea where to start, and if you are already a Paleo pro, it gives you fresh recipe ideas. If you are not Paleo, but you are someone who is gluten intolerant, BOOM! a whole book you can eat from!
The great thing about Everyday Paleo is that it is so accessible for anyone at any fitness level. One reason is because Sarah herself was not the most fit person. There are before and after photos of Sarah and the results are spectacular! You would never know she has three children and that one of them is in high school!
Speaking of kids, Sarah has made the recipes kid-friendly. There are dishes in the book for all ages, and ones that can be prepped ahead of time and reheated. None of them are difficult to make, and the average prep time for the recipes are 30 mins.
I also love that Sarah put exercise “recipes” in the back of the book. It’s not all about cardio anymore. I am excited because I am a beginner with resistance training (after always having been a chronic cardio fanatic) , and this book serves as a good starting point for me.
Oh yes, I almost forgot… About that meal I have pictured above: It was inspired by a recipe out of Sarah’s book! It is a spin off of her recipe for “Giant Stuffed Portobellos” I made mine with a 1/2 pound grass-fed ground beef, 1/4 pound nitrate-free ground sausage, a sautéed mixture of shredded carrots, onions and green and red bell peppers, and the insides of the tops of the mushrooms and their stems.
To prepare the stuffed mushrooms, I browned the meat, then sautéed the vegetables in some of the fat to cook them. I should note that when I prepare stuffed mushrooms, a vital step for me is to roast the mushrooms in the oven before stuffing them. This really brings out the richness of the mushrooms. I brush the caps with a little olive oil and brown them while I am preparing the stuffing. I place the side where the stem was down to roast.
I seasoned the cooked meat and vegetables with salt, garlic, fresh sage, and black pepper. I then added one egg to the mixture to bind it. In the recipe from the book, Sarah also uses coconut flour as a binder. I suspect that this takes the place of breadcrumbs in a regular stuffed mushrooms recipe. I did not use either. I piled the meat and veggies in the roasted mushrooms and pressed them to compact. Then I placed them in the oven again (I used a lower temperature of 350°). The finish product should be browned and bubbly when you take it out of the oven.
I topped mine with a tomato sauce I made from Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted tomato products. I pulsed a can of the fire roasted tomatoes and a little tomato paste in the food processor, along with salt and minced garlic. Then I cooked it down to reduce some of the liquid. To obtain a “ketchup-like” meatloaf effect on the mushrooms, I put the sauce on as they were roasting in the oven. Yum!
The side dishes I made were: Mashed Cauliflower & Acorn Squash, and Kale with Nitrate-Free Bacon and Toasted Walnuts. I will post the recipes separately to come, because I want to this post to focus on Sarah’s book.
I am still reading through it, but I can tell you the price ($17) is completely worth it for the amount of information you get. Not only that, but there are HUGE illustrations for every recipe, along with easy-to-read type. This is a bonus if you are in your kitchen actually making a dish. You can still read it at a bit of a distance, and your kids will be able to read it, too. For anyone who is already acquainted with Paleo, there is a foreword by Robb Wolf.
The book officially releases Monday, but you can pre-order, even though it says “temporarily out of stock”. Just ignore that and click on the “add to cart” button anyway. 🙂
New Beginnings
Hello… I am starting this site because healthy eating and exercise are so important to me. I hope you will enjoy my little side project!!
cavegrrl.com 