The Wilderness Childe

The Grocery Edition & A New Challenge

2012-02-02T22:08:00.000-05:00

Well, it's over. It's really, really over. It's so good to be eating REAL food again. Not that what I was eating wasn't real. It just wasn't ideal. Now I can eat things that are green, and red, and blue, and yellow!

I didn't post yesterday due to work and school, and a hectic schedule in general, but I sure did eat well! Luckily it fell on my rest day so instead of going to the gym, I got up and went to the grocery store before going to work, and I bought plenty of food for the day- most of which was eaten in one meal at lunch time.

2 pound bag of sugar snap peas
A harvest salad (greens, dried cranberries and apricots, walnuts, bleu cheese crumbles, apples, etc.)
A red bell pepper
A pint of blueberries
1 delicious bar of Green & Black's 85% chocolate
(And a pound of pork ribs from the freezer.)

I ate about 1/3 of the peas through the morning at work. Those things are surprisingly filling! At lunch I feasted (and I mean FEASTED) on the salad, pepper, and ribs. I didn't know my gut could hold that much food, but it was SO GOOD! I ate some of the blueberries but saved the rest of them, along with the chocolate bar for my math class- which I desperately needed to keep me distracted from the inane yammering of the professor. Can't I just study, take the final, and call it good? No, Instead I'm stuck with a gopher-like impersonation of Kevin James for three hours.

Grocery shopping happened tonight. I had a few odds n ends to pick up for the next couple of days, and some supplies for my Imbolc potluck on Saturday. I'm going to have a friendly little get together of local Pagans to celebrate the changing of seasons, even if Phil did predict another 6 weeks of winter. With any luck it'll be as pleasant as the last few months. The remainder of the grocery shopping will happen this weekend no doubt, as I resume normal Primal eating.

Today I picked up (not counting party foods):
Coconut milk
Greek yogurt
Coffee
Onions
Yams
1 Red pear
Grape tomatoes
Brussels sprouts
Kale
2 bananas
Baby spinach

Today's eats were fantastic. Ribs and the remainder of the peas (about a pound, if not more) for breakfast, and a Porterhouse steak with roasted Brussels sprouts and kale for dinner, and a red pear for dessert.

I was considering attempting a $20 per week grocery limit challenge for the month of February, but I've decided to give myself at least a month of normal Primalhood before playing with my food budget. I am, however, going to participate in the 1000 squat challenge that a friend posted on Facebook. Being that February is a short month, that means more squats per day will have to happen. I'll keep a running tally as I post.

Day 2: Total Squats = 60

And this is what a Primal feast looks like. This is how I said "Goodbye" to Winter Stores and "Hello!" to spring.

Winter Stores Days 30 & 31

2012-01-31T22:43:00.000-05:00

I am SO ready to be done with this. I really, REALLY want to quit a few hours early. Dinner last night did NOT help my mood at all.

Hit the gym yesterday morning for some weights. I must have done well. I can feel it today. After the gym it was off to work. Venison neck roast and quinoa with raisins for breakfast. And Kerrygold butter because... it's delicious. Raisins and butter, I tell ya!

IF'ed lunch again. It's seeming to be an easy pattern.

We went out to dinner at Mt Fuji Hibachi for my sister's birthday. I have the coolest, most fun family, I swear. I love getting together with them!

Dinner was absolutely DELICIOUS and I didn't take a single photo. I decided I wanted to take that meal off and enjoy it. It was a feast for sure. Foods eaten include the following:

- 4 pieces of Godzilla roll (salmon, cucumber, and avocado, with eel on top)
- A small bowl of miso soup and small house salad
- Seaweed salad
- Hibachi chicken and scallops with vegetables. (No rice.)
- Green tea ice cream for dessert. (OMG, do you have any idea how delicious that stuff is!?)

Today was my move slowly day at the gym with a nice brisk hike on the treadmill whilst watching the news. Breakfast was a repeat of yesterday, only this time I got to work later than I wanted and ended up eating at my desk while I build.

All I could think about all day was quitting this project early, and getting some Brussels sprouts to eat with dinner. Unfortunately nobody on Facebook would support this idea.

Instead I had steak and my last 3 eggs for dinner. (Who would complain about such a thing!?) I cooked up all of my onions (all three of them) and ate them with dinner. I am officially out of produce, completely. Until tomorrow.

After dinner and massive amounts of homework, I decided to enjoy a decadent cup of cocoa, using the last bit of coconut milk and some Dagoba Xocolatl drinking chocolate. Absolutely perfect way to end this adventure.

WINTER STORES IS OVER!

Now on for the next challenge.

I may or may not post tomorrow (depending on school), but I will definitely update you on what I've purchased. In fact that's the basis of my next challenge... to try to live on $20 a week for groceries. Can it be done?

Winter Stores Day 29

2012-01-29T20:57:00.000-05:00

I feel as if I've feasted today.

In fact, I have.

It was an incredibly busy, productive day, starting at 6am to take Rama to the SPCA to be neutered. Before leaving I definitely needed some breakfast since I was hitting the bike hard at the gym later. I warmed some leftover quinoa & raisins in the oven, and topped it with a couple dabs of Kerrygold.

Let me just tell you... this is one of the most amazing things I've tasted since going Primal. It reminds me of eating toasted raisin bread with butter. I wouldn't say make it a staple, but it's a fabulous treat. It kept me going most of the morning.

Breakfast, SPCA, gym...

Post-workout protein coffee. (Coffee, whey and coconut milk.) I tossed in some cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. It made it quite delicious.

Shopping, laundry, shopping, errands.

Starving.

Quick stop home and some pork rinds with mustard. I think I might be out of pork rinds now. I haven't checked.

Back out to pick up Rama. Oh! Guess what. Rama's a girl. I have a transgender cat, apparently. That certainly explains the attitude. Back home again and time for deliciousness!

My crockpot has been so happy, hugging a venison neck roast all day. It was bathed in tamari and garlic. I boiled up my last (very pathetic-looking) sweet potato since it was far too withered to be any good baked. Mashed it, dressed it up with Kerrygold, salt and pepper.

After dinner I decided to treat myself to dessert. The last of my frozen berries, simmered until hot and steamy, and topped with some coconut milk. Oh. My. Gawd.

Back to the grind tomorrow. Hitting the weights at the gym, then work, then out to dinner for Japanese food for my sisters birthday!

2 DAYS LEFT!

Winter Stores Day 28

2012-01-28T22:24:00.000-05:00

Oh... the end is so close! SO close!

I want ice cream.

Started out before it was bright and early with chemistry class. 3 hours of class, 2 hours of lab.

Smarty pants me, I put pork ribs in the crockpot last night with some water, tamari, and dried garlic. For breakfast I had ribs!

The plan was to eat half before class and half after class. I ate them all before class. Totally worth it though.

Class and lab went fine. I came home and took a nap with the kitties, tidied up here and there, and worked on homework. I also scored big at the Salvation Army store. Got a fabulous pair of pants, a cool shirt, a hoodie and a scarf. ELELVEN BUCKS!

Dinner was a fillet I pulled out of the freezer, and the last of my carrots. Man those things last FOREVER in the fridge. I don't even remember when I bought them. Early December at least! I'd been lazy about roasting them up, and it's a good thing too! Otherwise today would have been completely carnivore. Not that that's a bad thing, but I tell you what, carrots never tasted so good!

I'm really looking forward to hitting the gym tomorrow. I have a sweet potato with my name on it. The last one. It's gonna taste so good...

3 days left!

Winter Stores Day 27

2012-01-27T19:28:00.000-05:00

Yay Friday!!!

I hit the gym hard today and it was AWESOME.

Breakfast was equally AWESOME. Scrambled eggs (I'm down to 3 fresh eggs now) and loads of wild boar bacon. Awww yeah...

I also ate a crap ton of quinoa and raisins. I tossed some cinnamon and nutmeg into the water and it gave it amazing flavor.

I IFed lunch again. With having school, it's just easier to eat one meal at work instead of two, AND I can do homework during lunch. Yeah, that sounds like fun. Blah.

Nothing really for dinner. Tonight is Java Therapy night at Soul Full. I did need some food (preferably protein) though. I had a can of oysters in the pantry that I was hoping to use in tomato sauce or something. They made an adequate dinner instead.

Come to think of it... they would have tasted so much better if I'd dumped them into a bowl of tomato sauce and ate it like soup. That sounds appetizing doesn't it? Right...

I'm sitting at the coffee house now, sipping a latte with stevia, trying to enjoy some chill time before the night is over. The week continues tomorrow with an 8am chemistry class. Yeah baby! *sarcasm*

Oh yeah... and I have new hair.

It's temporary I think. Come spring it'll be ALL pink again, but for now I'm going to play around with being a blond.

Health Bites: Food for Thought

2012-01-26T21:54:00.001-05:00

Would you call this Episode 2?

I can't believe the wealth of healthy information is floating around the web. Some of it can really get you thinking!

Like it or not Paleo/Primal eating is, for many, about weight loss. It can be very much about vanity a lot of the time. One thing we have to keep in perspective is the reality of our expectations- or whether our expectations are reasonable. There's a fantastic article over at Fast Paleo about just that, and it was a nice reminder of what's important, and that form follows function.

There's a lot of contention about what constitutes "Chronic Cardio" and I find myself being more aware of it now that I'm back to the gym and running again. I was pleased to find an article by Al Kavadlo about running, and how it's not the devil people make it out to be.

I really liked this article about Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington about how to push past your limits and train harder and reach your goals. You bet I'm keeping it in mind for this summer's Warrior Dash. She's incredibly motivating.

Studies are boring, and I hate reading them, but every once in a while something interesting pops up. This one is worth sharing, and I can attest to it from personal experience. Acute Sleep Deprivation Enhances the Brain's Response to Hedonic Food Stimuli.

Everybody knows exercise is good for you. Scientists are now beginning to understand WHY it's good for you. So not only does exercise turn white fat brown, but it helps you Recycle too! Even more motivation to get to the gym every day.

And lastly, here's a little motivation to get up out of that chair, or detach yourself from the couch. LifeHacker tells you How Sitting All Day is Damaging Your Body and How You Can Counteract It.

Wow, that's practically a whole meal! Sleep more, get off the couch, run a little, find a goal and strive for it, and don't worry too much about the vanity.

Winter Stores Day 26

2012-01-26T21:31:00.001-05:00

Today was MUCH better than yesterday. For one, I didn't have to sit through that awful math class. I've come to the conclusion that this semester I'm essentially going to teach myself, and try not to die of boredom in class. The struggle will be looking interested for 3 hours, or at least look as if I'm paying attention.

Gym today was nice. I opted for a decent "hike" on the dreadmill. It got me a little sweaty and burned some calories. Pretty good way to wake up.

When I got to work I decided to eat both breakfast and lunch for breakfast, and IF lunch. I know I can pack away some food if I want to, and I'm much more comfortable eating 2 meals rather than 3.

Breakfast was an odd combination. I made a "protein coffee" out of decaff, coconut milk, and whey protein. Pork rinds, because I still have so many. I made a dip out of pickled eggs, baconnaise, and Frank's Red Hot. It sounds (and looks) disgusting, but it's actually pretty tasty!

Dinner was sort of an odd combination as well. I ate the last chunk of venison sausage with ketchup and mustard (Hunts brand ketchup, for anyone wondering. It's HFCS-free.) I also finished off the pickled beets and had a cup of Dagoba Xocolatl drinking chocolate.

I tell you, that drinking chocolate was absolute heaven, even though I made it with just water instead of coconut milk. I've gotta make 2/3 of a can last another 5 days. Not that I can't do without it. Protein shakes just taste so much better WITH it.

Egg update: 5 fresh eggs, and about 6 pickled eggs left.
Veggie count: 1 sweet potato, 3 onions, various pickles, several canned tomato products.

Also, I realized I'm nearly out of coffee. I can't tell if it'll last me the week or not.

I just made a huge batch of quinoa and raisins for breakfast the next few days. It smells heavenly, and I love the texture of quinoa. With a serious lack of produce now, it's apt to be a sanity saver.

Come on Wednesday!!!

Winter Stores Day 25

2012-01-26T12:27:00.000-05:00

Oh today was so full of fail. That's why I'm not posting this today, because I haven't had 2 minutes to work with any photos. Blargh.

Rest day at the gym. Initially I was going to IF but ended up eating a most delicious breakfast anyways. That's it, that's the end of my coconut flour pancakes for a while- or at least until the next Girls' Night. 2 eggs, which now leaves me with 5 fresh eggs. The nervousness this brings to my gut, it's bothersome.

And wouldn't you know it, I completely forgot to snap photos of lunch. I finished off the curry and 1/3 bag of pork rinds. Meh. I'm kind of over the pork rinds but they're decent fat and protein, and surprisingly filling.

I had math class after work, til 9pm. That was a disaster. My professor is such a goob. I sort of feel guilty. One minute I go from wanting to turn into a velociraptor and eating his face off, to the next almost feeling pity for the guy. He says he's been teaching for 15 years, and all I could think is "Good gods, you've been subjecting students (and apparently inmates) to this for that long!?" He's just so... awkward.

Not to mention the smell of bad chain-restaurant pizza wafting through the halls- gratis of the college to welcome back students. Thanks CCC. Really.

Upon arriving home I discover the dishwasher took the day off and opted not to wash my dishes like I'd asked. Now I have NO clean utensils. I am a family of one. How do I not have a clean utensil, cooking or otherwise?

Eleventy billion texts, messages and IM's on the computer when all I desperately want to do is eat my dinner. I try like mad to cram all my social interaction into the few moments before bed. It's gonna be a long semester.

Dinner was... adequate. Leftover venison sausage and the last bit of frozen veggie mix- which is only slightly Primal as it's chuck full of peas, lima beans and corn. I can't even remember why I bought the stuff in the first place!

And it's time to crash.

At least we're on the downhill slide. Only 6 days of Winter Stores left!

Winter Stores Day 24

2012-01-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

How is this month not over yet? It needs to be really soon. I got giddy over frozen fiddleheads, which if you've ever had fresh fiddleheads, you'd know frozen ones aren't much to get giddy over.

I want a big salad, and mouthfuls of blueberries. I want Greek yogurt! I WANT CHOCOLATE.

Ok... *breathe*

Today's food wasn't bad, but I'm so incredibly over rice now. I want just good plain Primal food. Meat and veggies. I don't want anything vinegary or pickled. I want fresh, raw food. I may very well eat raw all next month, simply because I CAN.

No eggs today. They're on ration. Today was my sprint day at the gym (which I SUCKED at) and I followed it up with a protein shake made with leftover coffee and some coconut milk.

Lunch was the last of the rice, but not the last of the curry. The leftover sauce actually tastes pretty good on pork rinds however! Surprisingly delicious.

Then again... practically anything on a pork rind is delicious.

Dinner was, as I said, frozen fiddleheads and I pulled out some venison sausage at the last minute because I forgot to do it last night. And this morning. It was adequate but not as delicious as I was hoping for.

I'm down to half a bag of frozen veg, and a few old carrots that I just haven't gotten around to cooking. With just a few days left, it looks like that's gonna happen soon.

Dessert happened again tonight. I warmed some frozen berries in a saucepan, effectively making... berry soup. Fine with me. It's not exactly blueberries & cream, but it'll do.

And we're down to 7 days! ONE WEEK BABY!
Yes, I'm already planning what my first fresh foods will be.

Tick... tick... tick... tick...

Winter Stores Day 23

2012-01-23T20:48:00.002-05:00

So there's a slight chance this blog post won't have any photos. My phone is having a hissy fit over uploading them to Picasa. I am not in the mood for setbacks.

Edit: There are now photos.

I had a very good workout today, and I feel like I ate a ton of food. I think I did eat a ton of food.

Leftover coconut-flour pancakes and eggs for breakfast. I'm down to 7 eggs, and about a tablespoon of honey. I have some really good knotweed honey in the cupboard but I'm hesitant to use it on leftover pancakes. It's precious.

I remembered to bring home my last can of coconut milk. I've gotta be very careful how I choose to use it. Part of me is dying for those frozen berries in the freezer, topped with coconut milk. However, since I'm almost out of eggs it looks like I may need to use that coconut milk for some protein shakes throughout the week. If only I had one more can. Next week I'm restocking and buying an entire case at Walmart.

Lunch was very fatty and vinegary. Leftover mackerel mixed with confetti salsa and baconnaise, pork rinds with hot sauce. I only nibbled on the pork rinds a bit. I was pretty full by time I got to them.

Dinner was more curry goat with basmati rice. I intended to finish off the rice tonight but it was more than I could (or wanted) to eat in one meal, so I dumped the rest into a dish for tomorrow's lunch. I still have a bit of the curry left, with maybe a few pieces of goat. I'm not really sure what to do with it.

Then silly me, I wanted dessert.

I had one, single, solitary apple left over from my Christmas party a MONTH ago. Amazing to find that it's still good. Well, pretty good. It had started to lose flavor and get kind of soft, but coconut cream (from Tropical Traditions) made it yummy again. Apparently my brain thought my appetite was bigger than it was because half way through I wasn't wanting any more. I finished it anyways and am feeling quite full now. And yet... what I wouldn't give for some Green & Black's chocolate.

It was a productive evening. I bottled a batch of kombucha and started another. I used up all the orange juice I had left over. Luckily by the next bottling I'll be able to buy fruit juice. I also have to pull some meat out of the freezer for dinner tomorrow.

Since it doesn't look like the photos are going to upload at a reasonable time, and I desperately want my bath, I'm going to go ahead and do that now. Photos will appear sometime later tonight or tomorrow.

8 days and counting!

Winter Stores Day 22

2012-01-22T20:34:00.001-05:00

Today was fabulous, both in terms of food and in terms of events.

Girls night continued through the morning and I made a big breakfast of coconut-flour pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and coffee. I topped mine with Kerrygold butter and honey.

Winter Stores Update: I now have less than 1 dozen fresh eggs in my house. Nine eggs to last nine days. This is gonna get really close! I may have to do something different for breakfast protein if I don't budget them out properly.

There was an event at the yoga studio today called Kirtan. It's a hindu drumming & chanting session and it's wonderful fun. We raised so much energy tonight, and honored the gods. The best part is that this is going to become a monthly event! I'm very excited about this.

Planning ahead for the Kirtan, I pulled some goat meat out of the freezer and made some goat curry with basmati rice. Both the coconut milk and the rice are Golden Star products. Rice might not be Primal, but basmati rice is magic and I love the way it tastes. If I'm going to eat rice, it better be basmati.

I used my last can of coconut milk that I had in the house. I have one can being held hostage at work at the moment. I have to remember to bring it home.

I feel as if I've eaten a crap ton of food in the last 48 hours. I'm tossing around the idea of doing Whole30 next month... possibly. For some reason (perhaps staying up until 4 in the morning) I am incredibly tired tonight. A nice hot bath and then bed. Gotta hit the weights early tomorrow.

Only 9 days left and then I'm stuffing my face full of green leaves, and a banana.

Winter Stores Day 21

2012-01-21T23:53:00.000-05:00

Appetite today is absolutely insatiable! My back and shoulders are nicely sore from yesterday's workout, and I busted it out on the bike today with 14.83 miles. That's .80 miles more than last week. The goal is 20 miles by summer.

Post workout protein shake...

Lunch/Dinner was an odd combination of things. A sweet potato and an onion, bacon, and some durian fruit that I forgot was in the freezer. I'd never had packaged durian before. It's nowhere near as good as fresh durian, but it was tasty still.

We're having girls night and I made kettle corn. So good!

And orange kombucha...

And then I got hungry and opened a can of mackerel...

And who knows what I'll eat next. I'm STILL HUNGRY!

Winter Stores Days 19 & 20

2012-01-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

Holy crap have the last 3 days flown by!? Did everybody survive the SOPA Strike? You did contact Congress, right?

I've barely been home, let alone had time to sit down and post up the days eats. In fact I'm doing this post from work, while eating the lunch that I just photographed. I suppose this is just the beginning. Classes start MONDAY.

I am so not ready for this.

Ok, yesterday's meals...

I started out with some coconut flour pancakes with apple butter. Check off my use of using something stored with that. Scrambled eggs and orange kombucha round out the meal.

I'd intended to IF the rest of the day, forgetting that it was 2300 Degrees at The Corning Museum of Glass. Ok, I'll have a plate of veggies, pepperoni and cheese. Yay veggies!

Umm... how about another plate of pepperoni, veggies and cheese? And there below you see Brian's feet. Hi Brian! :)

After 2300 Degrees I was invited out with the crew to Applebee's to meet up with some other friends. Kind of hungry, I decided to get a salad, with blue cheese dressing, and a bacon cheddar burger, no bun.

And for today, post gym eats- eggs and a venison cheddar dog, with eggs and kombucha. I was *supposed* to have pancakes, but I'd left them out and they'd gone bad over night, so I sacrificed a lunch cheddar dog for breakfast. I think I ultimately won on this, however.

And lunch- big ol' pile of sauerkraut with my last 3 venison cheddar dogs. Happy Friday!

Now, the PLAN is to IF the rest of the night, since it's Java Therapy at Soul Full Cup tonight. That generally means I just end up drinking decaff and not really eating anything. Should that change, I'll update, but let's hope for the best, eh?

TGIF. So much.

On Strike

2012-01-18T06:24:00.000-05:00

In participation with the Strike Against SOPA, there will be no blog post today.

Please visit http://sopastrike.com/strike/ and stop Congress from enacting Internet Censorship.

Winter Stores Day 17

2012-01-17T20:17:00.001-05:00

This challenge is starting to push my buttons just a little. I'm ready to buy, and eat, loads of produce.

Today was, however, infinitely better on the food front. Got up and went to the gym. By the time I got there I wasn't feeling nearly as motivated as I wanted to be, so instead of doing any running, I made it a "move slowly" day. I suspect I may be pushing myself too hard (as well as not drinking enough water, and getting enough sleep.) I have to work harder on keeping balanced.

Post-gym breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs and coconut pancakes with a bit of honey, and orange kombucha.

I tell you what, breakfast never tasted so good. I do what to find a way to adjust the pancake ratios for less carbs, more protein. It might help if I didn't put honey on them... but...

Orange booch beats the crap out of orange juice, hands down.

I was very giddy for lunch today. 3 venison cheddar hot dogs from my butcher. And ketchup. Yes, that's Hunts, but in my justification it uses sugar, not HFCS. Ironically, the only place I can buy it is the dollar store!

I could easily eat an entire package of these and think nothing of it. I will need to add a side dish to this- like maybe some sauerkraut.

Dinner was a bit more mundane.
Pork & broccoli stir-fry, and pickled beets.

I used up the last of my broccoli tonight. I'll admit I'm getting a bit concerned that my meals will become increasingly un-Primal as the month continues. Eggs are starting to dwindle also. I hope I can ration them out long enough.

Also, new rule. I must use something canned or pickled every day.

My friend Cahlan (who may be appearing as a guest chef from time to time) brought me some lovely Parisienne macaroons! They're pretty, and sweet, and chewy, and oh so delicious! What a lovely treat. My psyche definitely needed them.

Over-all, not a bad day. I'm looking forward to a hot shower and a cozy bed very soon. It's gonna be a cold one tomorrow!

Countdown to Groceries: 14 days.

Winter Stores Day 16

2012-01-16T20:14:00.000-05:00

Ergh. Today was not the most awesome. Yesterday's coffee had me up way too late, and thus slept too late. I did get up and make it to the gym, but I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. My legs are feeling the workout so at least I made progress.

In my rush to get out of the house I forgot to weigh in. By the way I feel today, it's not going to be pretty.

Breakfast left a lot to be desired. It was saved only by the power of ketchup. Otherwise it would have been wholly unappetizing. Eggs and sausage things that I've been eating for the last week, and a glass of orange kombucha. I really appreciate that. It's like probiotic orange juice!

Lunch started out equally unappetizing and I was completely prepared to once again fix it with ketchup. It's almost like the duct tape of the food world. It fixes everything.

Luckily, however the baconnaise was a win, and egg salad (even pickled egg salad) was made yummy with its addition. It was an interesting experience, eating bacon and eggs in this form. It had the familiar flavors, with a completely different texture.

Dinner was good enough. I used up one of my 2 remaining bags of broccoli. It's starting to get questionable, so I better use the 2nd one quick. That nearly uses up my fresh vegetables. I haven't checked the quality of the few remaining carrots yet.

I just made a simple broccoli and pork stir-fry in sesame oil and wheat-free tamari. More orange kombucha with dinner. I probably shouldn't drink so much but it's refreshing, and sweet, and tart, and fizzy. Plus I'm ridiculously thirsty. I'm a bit dehydrated. Been really bad about that lately.

Oh, and I have to report my total SCORE tonight. I decided I wanted to break out the electric griddle at work again (eggs in the morning) and some venison cheese dogs for lunch. While rummaging through the upright freezer trying to find the hot dogs (and dropping a package of pork jowl on my foot) I did find some other fantastic goodies! I found a bag of berries, a bag of fiddleheads, a bag of pureed squash, and a little package of durian fruit that I forgot I bought at the Asian market last time I was in Rochester. I'm so giddy right now!

I'm also so freakin' tired right now.

Love, Peace & Bacon Grease. Let's hope tomorrow's a better day.

Healthy Bites: Food for Thought

2012-01-15T22:26:00.001-05:00

I've come across a number of interesting posts, articles and tidbits of information over the last couple of days that cover a range of information for Health, Food, Nature & Spirituality. Then it crossed my mind that I should post them up and share them here.

I know a number of blogs do some sort of weekend "link love" thing. I don't want to jump on that sort of bandwagon, but I figure once I have 5 or 6 good articles to share, I'll post them up.

The first article I found was How to I.D. Genetically Modified Food at the Supermarket. According to this post, you can use the PLU code on the sticker to identify if it's conventional, organic, or GMO. I haven't checked this out at Wegmans yet, but I'll be watching next month when I buy some produce.

A fellow blogger at Hunting for Health did an interview with former Biggest Loser contestant, Kai Hibbard. Tons of behind the scenes dirt. I figure if you read my blog, or are in any way part of the Primal/Paleo lifestyle, you're probably smart enough to know that the Biggest Loser is a big waste of time, but it's worth a listen anyhow. If nothing more, you can share it with your television-obsessed friends who think the show is at all worth watching.

Exercise Hormone May Fight Obesity and Diabetes. So says a New York Times health article that discusses how scientists have discovered a new hormone, irisin, that the body produces in response to exercise. Apparently this hormone turns white fat into brown fat- and this is a good thing. As those in the Paleosphere have been saying for some time now, exercise is good for you not because it burns calories, but because of the hormonal changes it induces. I'm good with that.

Check out this article about a small town in Maine that passed a "Food Sovereignty" law to allow the sale of locally produced food without interference of regulators. Perhaps this can be a nugget of inspiration for others to get involved and pass similar laws in their towns throughout the country. There's more than one way to fight big agra and the Federal government!

The New York Post reported that some New York schools are going to begin Spying on Fat Kids. Some Long Island students will begin wearing monitors that track their physical activity throughout the day, in many cases without parents' knowledge or consent. No thank you. If I were a parent, I'd be incredibly upset about this.

And lastly...

We Pagans know the importance of being out in nature for our spirit. Contact with nature is also crucial for health. There may be more to your afternoon hike than meets the eye, and this article does a good job of explaining how and why. I, for one, can't wait for spring and getting back outdoors!

That's enough homework for today. Stay tuned for the next installment of Healthy Bites. :)

Winter Stores Day 15

2012-01-15T21:42:00.002-05:00

I feel like I ate a crap ton of food today. It doesn't look like much photo-wise. I think it's because I've been taking lots of little bites and nibbles throughout the day, none of which was documented on camera.

Slept ridiculously late, because I stayed up ridiculously late. Breakfast/Lunch was a delicious combination of coconut pancakes (recipe here) with a side of Greek yogurt, topped with honey.

I used 6 eggs, but I got 3 more days worth of pancakes left. I might have had more, but I kept eating the batter as I was cooking. I probably ate at least 2 pancakes worth!

There's also about 1 serving of Greek yogurt left. I ended up using up an entire can of coconut milk between the pancakes and my coffee for the day. Down to 2 cans of coconut milk now.

Today was my older sister's birthday. Tradition in our family is that for your birthday you can go to dinner wherever you choose. Her choice was to have pizza and wings at her house.

I chose to stop and pick up an antipasto salad from Atlas. It cost me $8, but it was totally worth it!

I also snagged 3 chicken wings after I finished my salad. Meh. They were ok. Not terribly noteworthy.

Mom picked up a chocolate cheese cake from Wegmans instead of a regular birthday cake. This gave me justification for indulging. ;)

I was moderate though, and asked for a very thin wedge. Probably a good thing too. It was very, very rich. Well worth the splurge.

Now at home, I've also had a spoonful of coconut cream that I'm trying desperately to melt out of the bottom of a jar, and am enjoying one of my orange kombuchas. It does indeed taste sort of like orange soda, except it actually tastes like oranges. I think I will let the other bottles ferment a bit longer to eat up a little more of the sugar though. Much better for me with breakfast than straight up orange juice. That's for sure!

With how much I've eaten today, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the scale is up tomorrow morning for weigh in. Not that I'm really concerned about weight so much as I am being able to bust some ass at the gym. Form follows function and regardless of size, I want to make my body highly functional.

What does that mean?

This summer's goals are as follows:
1) Be able to bike to work (approximately 20 miles) in under an hour.
2) Be able run 3 constant miles, quickly.
3) Lift heavier. What that looks like, I don't know. I'm just going to work on constant gains and improvements.

Several of us are looking to participate in Warrior Dash this summer, so besides biking to work, I'm basically training for that.

We're on the downhill slide of Winter Stores now! 15 days and counting.

Winter Stores Day 14

2012-01-14T21:07:00.000-05:00

It's been 2 weeks!

I've managed to not buy any groceries for 2 weeks. That must be some kind of record.

Today I slept in, then hit the gym. Saturday is my bike day. I'm working on getting myself into shape enough to bike to and from work on a regular basis. That means being able to cover 20 miles in less than an hour- without becoming a sweaty mess. I managed 14 miles in an hour today.

Breakfast/Lunch was less than ideal. As I said, I was hoping to avoid using whey more than I needed to, but I knew I'd be hungry and I don't have my work kitchen to rely on- so whey it is.

No, it's not actually Primal Fuel, but I love the blender bottle. I just used Wegmans whey, a couple eggs, and some leftover cold coffee from yesterday. It held me over well enough until I got home to eat some real food.

Once home it was time to start playing in the kitchen. I got a hankering for some rice pudding too, so I warmed some up in a pan with some apple butter from the fridge. It was actually pretty tasty!

I'm still trying to figure a way to make rice pudding with a decent amount of protein. That way I can justify eating it for breakfast. So far nothing reasonable has come to mind.

Dinner was absolutely fabulous by mistake. I still have a lot of pork to use, and my last bit of cabbage was starting to look questionable. I figured I better use it, or lose it.

Quick chop on the cabbage, sliced up half an onion I forgot was in the fridge. Fried them together in some boar fat then tossed in the pork. It made a delicious stir fry, made even better topped with wheat-free tamari sauce.

After dinner I had some projects to finish up. I was really full from dinner but kind of wanted something sweet. I decided to eat some pickled watermelon rind.

It wasn't exactly the flavor I was looking for- more tangy than sweet- but it was intense enough that I got over wanting anything more to eat. In fact I was more than happy gulping down a big cup of herbal tea- and may have another.

Today's project highlights include a new experiment with kombucha. I bottled it using orange juice for the second ferment. I'll know in 2 days or so if it's any good. It sure sounds like a good idea though, doesn't it?

With a little time I managed to turn 7 tea bags, 1 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of orange juice into 7 bottles of kombucha. Not a bad way to make things stretch.

I wonder if it'll taste like orange soda...

But that's not the best part of my kitchen time today.

Guess what I made...

TA-DA! Baconnaise!

Isn't it beeeeeuuuuutiful?

This is going to taste absolutely amazing in mackerel salad.

In fact, it'll taste even better in egg salad!

Mmm... egg salad with bacon mayo. You really can't beat that. Even with a really big stick.

Tomorrow is my rest day. I'll be tinkering around in the kitchen mostly, and possibly treating myself to a home spa day. I really should do laundry, but I probably won't.

Here's to 2 weeks done, and 2 weeks to go!

Winter Stores Day 13

2012-01-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Quick Friday update on Saturday morning before I hit the gym.

For the most part it was kind of a repeat of Thursday. Sorta. Breakfast was 2 egg & sausage... things. I nuked them a bit too long in the microwave though, and they got a little rubbery. But hey, food is food. Bone broth on the side. Not my favorite breakfast drink but it was ok. Since it was from the roasted boar it had kind of a smokey-bacon flavor. I guess that makes it kind of breakfasty!

I forgot to take a picture of lunch before I started eating. Again. Luckily it was the same thing I had Thursday, so I just recycled the picture. I did remember to snap a pic of the apple though- which I have to say was not the most delicious. It's been in the fridge for quite a while.

Dinner however, was fantastic! Pulled pork from the pig project, a delicious sweet potato with gobs of Kerrygold butter, and some rice pudding. Carb-tastic and oh so yummy. I really wish I had more sweet potatoes. I think I've got 2 left.

And that's it for Friday the 13th.

Winter Stores Day 12

2012-01-12T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have feasted today! Unfortunately there were no blueberries.

I'm gonna eat a crap ton of blueberries come February.

Hit the gym early. Hit a glitch in doing squats. I don't know what happened. My legs just said "Nope! Ain't doing it!" Got one set done and started a second, and the legs refused. Switched over to leg press and they were just fine though. I can feel the ache setting in already. Perhaps too much too soon.

Did something a little different for breakfast. Baked some sausage in a muffin tin, then put an egg on top and cooked it. Tasty enough. No more orange juice. I have to save what's left to flavor my kombucha.

Made some mackerel salad for lunch. 1 can of mackerel, confetti relish, the last of my olive-cado mayo, some dill... and I think that's it. Gotta make more mayo this weekend. Baconnaise maybe?

Went out with my sister to do a little shopping and we decided to grab some dinner at a local Chinese buffet, which is FABULOUS, by the way. What you see there is cold shrimp, hot shrimp (with the heads still on!), Pekin chicken, chicken yakitori, mussels, green beans, and bok choy. And hot tea.

And dessert. Lots and lots of fruit.

Yes, I ate the fortune cookie.

And our final stop for the night- Barnes & Noble. Yep, that's ME in that book! How exciting is that!? In fact there are several fantastic success stories, far better than mine. For those of you who don't know, it's Mark Sisson's new Primal Blueprint paperback, all updated and revised 'n stuff. Go buy it now!

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday. Planning to hit the gym hard. Being published as a success story has definitely pushed me to do even better!

Thanks Mark, for changing my world.
Grok on.

Winter Stores Day 11

2012-01-11T19:49:00.000-05:00

Holy crap, what a day...

Since today's my rest day I decided to rest. I was going to get up and at least do yoga, but ended up staying in bed instead. My fault for staying up too late.

Breakfast was sort of a rush. Nabbed my last two tomatoes out of the fridge, looking a little wrinkly.

The white stuff is Greek yogurt with some whey protein mixed in. I was really hoping to skip whey as much as possible this month but it's fast protein. I learned pretty quickly that I need lots of protein to start my day. How the hell did I ever get by on cereal for breakfast?

I nearly forgot to photograph lunch. Again. Thank you Oribes for reminding me!

This is the very last of my Cock-a-Noodle soup. I'm a little sad and a little relieved. I loaded it up with turmeric. It makes it delicious and medicinal, but watch out. That stuff stains!

I tell you what, I'm definitely looking forward to something new for lunch tomorrow.

Dinner was a delicious throw-together. Pork + cabbage + bacon grease + tamari sauce= deliciousness.

And some Coconut Chai Rice Pudding for dessert!

While cooking down the pig, I managed to salvage a whole big bowl of pork (some of which got used for dinner tonight!) Yay, bonus meat!

I also took a brief inventory of what fresh food I have left for the month. It looks like things might turn a wee bit tricky. I have...

1 cabbage heart
a small bunch of carrots
3 sweet potatoes
half a dozen onions
2 apples (that I got very excited to find!)
20 eggs (which sounds like a lot, but it's really not!)

I have lots of miscellaneous pantry items (rice, quinoa, canned mackerel, coconut milk, tomato products, etc.) I'm pretty sure I'll be able to make this work. I just have to be mindful to save some of my eggs for making mayonnaise. I guess you'd say it's time to start "budgeting" my ingredients.

Coconut Chai Rice Pudding

2012-01-11T19:20:00.001-05:00

I got a craving for rice pudding the other day. Since I happen to be cleaning out the cupboards, I figured now is as good a time as any to make some! I managed to use up not only some rice, but some coconut flakes, AND some raisins.

A really quick shout-out to some of my favorite brands, while I'm doing this. I used GoldenStar brand for the rice and coconut milk, and Tropical Traditions for the coconut flakes. I also used STASH chai tea.

It's an easy recipe, and takes wonderfully little time. Best part... delicious!

Coconut Chai Rice Pudding

Ingredients:
1 cup of (basmati) rice
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 cup raisins
3 cups water
2 chai tea bags

1 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
Sweetener to taste

Start with combining rice, raisins, coconut flakes, tea bags and water in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and let simmer 15-20 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk coconut milk, vanilla, salt, sweetener and spices together. Pour them into the rice mixture and heat on low, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Reduce to desired thickness. Serve warm or cold.

And that's it!

It's gotta be my favorite rice pudding recipe to date, and makes a yummy breakfast. I love all the spices and flavors. You can spice it up a little with some garam masala or black pepper if you like. I added a bit of black pepper as an afterthought and it was amazing! Who knew you could enjoy pepper in a dessert?

Winter Stores Day 10

2012-01-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

Hmm...

My sleepy brain isn't really wanting to help me with this blog post, but it's my own fault for putting it off until so late. Good thing I'm taking a rest day from the gym tomorrow and doing yoga instead. I get to sleep in a little.

Obligatory run-down of today's eats...

Starting with the usual breakfast. No worries, that's the last of those. On to something new starting tomorrow.

Lunch was pickled egg salad. I tossed in some balsamic onions that I made a while ago, and loads of turmeric, which is why it's so school bus yellow. Not a huge fan of this anymore. In fact come lunch time I was barely hungry at all. I picked at it, eating about half. I ate the other half at my 3:00 break.

The other half of the stuffed acorn squash for dinner. Still only moderately hungry at this time.

And a bit of coconut chai rice pudding for dessert, which truth be told, I barely wanted. The recipe will be posted tomorrow!

It appears my appetite is back to... normal? It's drastically reduced from last week. I'm not sure what to think of that just now. I'm doing my best to follow my instincts when it comes to what and when to eat. Perhaps the fact that I'm eating the same thing day in and day out has reduced my appetite? If that's the case, why didn't I go nuts over the rice pudding?

*shrug*

I have some ideas for tomorrow.

Also, I'm nearly done with the pig parts. I should be able to give a final report tomorrow or the next day. I did end up with quite a big bowl of edible meat, once I picked everything apart.

Waste not, want not.

Winter Stores Day 9

2012-01-09T21:39:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a fairly short post, due to a very sleepy me.

Today was weigh in day! I'm down 3.4 pounds! That's hardly startling or shocking in any way. It's probably largely due to a reduction in fluffy bloatisization caused by too much indulgence over the holidays. I'm certainly not anticipating such a big drop from here on out.

Hit the gym early again. The usual breakfast at work after...

A completely unshocking lunch. I added a crapload of turmeric to help with inflammation...

Did you know acorn squash turn orange if you leave them set too long? Yeah, me neither.

So far I've gotten 4 jars of rendered boar fat, and the crockpot's still going. I have loads of bone broth to take care of too, but I'm just too tired to do it tonight.

And this is dinner. Pork sausage stuffed in the acorn squash. Well, half of it. I'll have the other half tomorrow.

I know how un-exciting and rather monotonous my food has been the last several days. I don't really mind it too much. I'll change it up a little tomorrow and the next day. But for now... sleep.