Up Close and Edible

Maple Bacon Cinnamon Rolls

2014-12-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

It seems that everyone has a story about their favorite cinnamon roll. Mine is from the 14 Carrot Cafe in Seattle. When I was a kid, my dad would take me there for breakfast and we'd share their giant-gooey-freshly-baked-still hot cinnamon roll that had a scoop of butter on top. What I remember most was that it was biscuit-like and you could get it without raisins (I think raisins in baked goods is gross). The inner layers were so packed with butter, cinnamon and sugar that we would pull the center up and eat it from the inside out.

When I went grain-free, a cinnamon roll seemed to be one of those desserts one wouldn't possibly try to re-create because it would likely be so far from the original that it wouldn't be worth making.

Well, I was wrong.

This recipe is based on the one by The Urban Poser because she's a baking genius and I couldn't possibly come up with this on my own.

MAPLE BACON CINNAMON ROLLS

Ingredients

3 cups almond flour (I recommend Honeyville)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter
2 tablespoon real maple syrup
2 large room temperature eggs

For the filling

1/4 cup melted butter or ghee
3 strips cooked bacon, finely chopped
1/4 cup tablespoons maple sugar +
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (mixed together)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt and baking soda.

In a separate bowl, gently beat the melted butter/oil, maple syrup, and eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the almond flour and combine until dough forms. Don't worry about over-mixing; there's no gluten in there!

Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper into a 9x13" rectangle. The dough should be around 1/4" thick. If the dough is difficult to work with, form it into a ball and allow it to rest on the counter for 10 minutes first.

Rub or brush melted butter onto one side of dough, then sprinkle a generous portion of cinnamon/maple sugar evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the bacon over the surface of the dough. Turn the dough so that the short end is facing you and begin to roll the dough up. Take your time and get a uniform, tight roll so that they don't fall apart when you separate them. Use a serrated knife to cut the roll into thick 1" slices (You should get about 9 rolls). Place the rolls on a parchment lined cookie sheet or up against each other in a clay dish or cake pan.

Bake 10-15 minutes, making sure not to over or under-cook them. Remove cinnamon rolls from the oven and let them cool for 10 min so they don't fall apart. You can top them a number of ways: You can top with a pat of butter and some chopped nuts, or drizzle with coconut butter mixed with maple syrup (or maple sugar) just before serving.

Yay! Cinnamon Rolls!

Dark Chocolate Covered Salty Smoked Almonds

2014-05-17T17:10:00.002-07:00

Trader Joe's has these smoked almonds that I can't stop eating. I put them in my smoked chicken salad. They're awesome sprinkled on a spinach salad. They are incredible in your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Or try them sprinkled on sweet potato mash. And you most definitely want them on your meat and cheese platter. I couldn't believe often I was reaching for my jar of smoked almonds.

from www.traderjoes.com

One day I was baking with chocolate chips and snacking on my smoked almonds. Without thinking, I tossed an almond and a chocolate chip in my mouth at the same time. Whoa.

Dark Chocolate Covered Salty Smoked Almonds

Ingredients

1 cup smoked almonds
1/2 cup your favorite chocolate chips, the darker the better
1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa (or better yet, raw cacao)

Method

Place the chocolate chips in a large microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir.

Now heat for 20 more seconds. Stir.

Heat in 20 second increments, stirring in between, until the chocolate has melted.

Put the almonds in the bowl with the melted chocolate. Toss the almonds around until completely coated. Pour the almonds onto a parchment lined baking sheet and spread them around. Put them in the refrigerator for awhile. Now go do your laundry or something.

Once the chocolate has hardened, break up the almonds and then toss the them in the cocoa. This will prevent them from sticking to one another and gives them a richer chocolate flavor.

That's it! Put in a pretty jar and enjoy with a sip of red wine.

Indonesian Pork Tenderloin

2014-04-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

What a crazy week it's been. One of those when-it-rains-it-pours weeks. Taxes were horrifying. My best friend had her baby 10 weeks early. My cell phone was stolen from the Childbirth Center at the hospital (who steals phones from there?). I had to clean the entire kitchen floor three times in two days because I dumped first, my coffee, second, a jar of salt, and third, a raw egg. The cat has been up every night meowing. Maybe the full moon (followed by the red moon) created some energetic shift resulting in a lot of CRAZY.

Superstitions or not, I'm reminded of the things I tend to cling to - like cell phones and money, predictability and order. After seeing that 3 1/2 pound baby in an incubator, attached to respirators, IV's, and beeping machines, where her only goal is to sleep, grow, and keep breathing, I see that my own needs are not a lot more complicated. I need a safe home where I can sleep and prepare food, I need access to health care, I need the ability to serve others, and I need to connect with the important people in my life. That's about it. When I think about that, the other stuff (medical bills, car repairs, taxes, aching body, etc) doesn't bother me so much. And by the way, the baby is doing great. She seems to get stronger every day.

I have been making some great food this past week. I am eating my chicken salad with homemade Greek yogurt by the spoonful (forget the lettuce cups!). And for the friends who just had a baby, I baked some carrot spice breakfast muffins and I have real mint ice cream churning in the ice cream machine right now. And later this week I'll be making some coconut jalapeno cod with ginger lime slaw and a gluten free pizza! I haven't had pizza in almost two years! I have some fresh sheep milk cheese I got from the farmer's market for the pizza. It's so creamy and smooth. I can't wait.

But for now I want to share a recipe with you that I made awhile ago. It's one of my favorite recipes and I can't believe I didn't post it sooner!

A peanut sauce is traditional for an Indonesian dish like this. And it usually contains peanuts or peanut butter, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and spices. But Indonesian food is diverse so go ahead and adjust the ingredients as you like. For instance, you might want it more thin with coconut milk for a sauce or thicker for a satay dip. You may add heat by increasing the the pepper flakes. Just start with this basic recipe and modify as needed. I subbed the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter which I think is even better than peanuts.

Indonesian Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

1 1-pound pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons creamy sunflower seed butter (or peanut or cashew butter)

1/4 cup canned coconut milk

2 tablespoons of coconut palm sugar

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon shallot, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

2 tablespoons coconut aminos or tamari (gluten free soy sauce)

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

juice of one lime

Fresh cilantro for garnish

Thinly sliced green onions for garnish

Combine all ingredients except cilantro and green onions in a casserole dish or large gallon sized plastic bag. Marinate meat in the mixture for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat large oven-safe skillet (cast iron is best!) to medium/high heat. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry. Brown on all sides then transfer the tenderloin to the oven. Bake about 15 minutes, or until your meat thermometer registers around 140 Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven, tent a piece of aluminum foil over it and let it rest 10 minutes.

In the meantime, bring the marinade to a boil in a different skillet over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer until it becomes thick. If it gets too thick, add more coconut milk.

Slice the pork tenderloin crosswise into 1/2" thick slices. Drizzle with the sauce and garnish with cilantro leaves and sliced green onions. Serve with mashed sweet potatoes or carrots, rice or cauli-rice.

Dark Chocolate Filled Raspberries

2014-04-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

It's berry season! Okay, it might be a little early, but the organic Driscoll's raspberries I picked up this week are pretty delicious. And we've been getting some decent weather here in Seattle so we are all getting very excited for Spring. I love how people in Seattle throw on their shorts and flip flops at the first sign of sunshine, even when it's only 55 degrees outside. Some tease us about it, but I believe that spontaneously embracing moments to get outside, smell the cherry and plum blossoms, and smile at your neighbors makes Seattle great. Or we are all so Vitamin D deficient that we turn into sun-sucking zombies that have no control of ourselves. Either way, I love watching my neighborhood wake up and emerge with all the tulips and daffodils. And to the tenant who planted all those tulips outside our apartment building - thank you - they are beautiful!

I bet you always wondered why you didn't think of filling raspberries with chocolate before. Duh. And I don't even need to tell you how delicious they are. Everyone knows that dark chocolate and raspberries go together like Batman and Robin.

You can do so much with these raspberries. Of course you can just pop them in your mouth as is. Or you can add a sliver of almond inside. You could throw them in a bowl of ice cream. I know the next time I make my Dark Chocolate Tart I'm going to replace the oranges with these raspberries.

Dark Chocolate Filled Raspberries

Ingredients

1 pint fresh organic raspberries
8 ounces high quality dark chocolate (you can use chips but I prefer to buy a 85% dark chocolate bar and break or cut it into small pieces.
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Method

Put the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir it with a fork or whisk. Then microwave the chocolate mixture in 20 second increments, stirring well each time, until chocolate has melted. Usually if you see a couple small lumps left they will melt while the chocolate sits on the county for a minute or two. Just stir it again.

Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Yuck.

Then arrange the raspberries in some kind of container so that they are all standing up. A muffin tin, ice cube tray, or even a loaf pan works well.

Spoon the chocolate mixture into a piping bag or plastic sandwich bag. Snip the corner and fill each raspberry with chocolate. Place the raspberries in the refrigerator until the chocolate has hardened. This only takes about 30 minutes.

The raspberries shouldn't melt at room temperature, but coconut oil melts at about 75 degrees Fahrenheit so if you take them out into the sun, they will melt.

How Do You Like Your Eggs? Perfect Eggs 5 Ways.

2014-02-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

When I was a little kid my Great Grandma Mabel would make me scrambled eggs. I hated eggs at the time. But hers were amazing. They were scrambled so that some of the whites were separate from the yolks. They weren't rubbery or fluffy (fluffy eggs make me gag), they were soft and buttery and somehow sweet. I couldn't figure out why nobody else could make their eggs like hers. I thought other people must be getting old eggs from sick geriatric chickens. Grandma Mabel passed away before I could ask her how she made them.

As I became more interested in cooking, I tried scrambling eggs just like hers. Then it happened on accident one day. I put a pat of butter in the pan. I cracked the eggs directly in the pan. I swirled them around a bit but didn't completely mix the yolk with the whites. And then I got distracted by something and walked away. The eggs cooked a bit, forming a loose pancake in the pan with raw egg on the surface. I quickly stirred the eggs a bit, breaking them apart but not "scrambling" them completely. I removed them from the heat before they were cooked through and then salted them on the plate. Bingo! Grandma Mabel's scrambled eggs.

Over the years I've been elevating my egg repertoire by mastering the art of the soft-boiled, hard-boiled, and poached egg. During the process I learned about two other very lovely egg approaches: The Pan Poached Egg and the Chang Egg. I have tested these methods over and over so you can be sure they will work if you follow the directions completely.

Have fun!

Click the links to learn each method:

The Soft Boiled Egg

2014-02-17T11:42:00.002-08:00

This post is included in a 5-part "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" series. For other egg cooking methods, please refer to the original post.

Beautiful Soft Boiled Eggs

When I make a soft boiled egg I'm not typically eating it from one of those little egg cups. I don't eat toast so if I'm not dipping anything into it, then it's sort of pointless to spoon it from the cup. I prefer a soft boiled egg that I can peel, cut open, and have all the yolk ooze over whatever else I'm eating - like a pork hash, some wilted greens, or roasted asparagus. This method is fool-proof.

Soft Boiled Egg Method: Fill a pot with enough water to cover your eggs but don't put the eggs in yet. Bring the water to a slow and gentle simmer. You'll see bubbles climbing up the sides of the pan. If the boil starts to "roll" then it's too hot. Gently lower your eggs into the water and set the timer for 6 minutes. Prepare a ice bath in the meantime (dump some ice cubes in a bowl of cold water). When the timer goes off, carefully spoon the eggs from the boiling water into the ice bath to stop the cooking. When they are cool enough to handle, tap them on a hard flat surface to break the shell then return them to the cold water for a few minutes. Then they should be easy to peel. You'll still need to be very careful when peeling, as the egg will be soft.

The Hard Boiled Egg

2014-02-17T11:41:00.000-08:00

This post is included in a 5-part "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" series. For other egg cooking methods, please refer to the original post.

A beet salad with arugula, bacon, hard boiled egg, and fresh herbs

A hard boiled egg is just the perfect snack. I love hard boiled eggs alone, or on cut up on salads. You can make egg salad with them, or add them to your old fashioned potato salad recipe. This method guarantees a perfectly cooked egg that is easy to peel and has no green stuff around the edges of the yolk.

Hard Boiled Egg Method: Place your eggs in your pot and then cover them with enough cold water so the eggs are just under the surface of the water. Turn the heat on high and bring the water to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, shut off the heat, place a lid on the pot and set the timer for 12 minutes. Prepare an ice bath in the mean time. When the timer goes off, spoon the eggs from the hot water to ice bath using a slotted spoon. When they are cool enough to handle you should be able to peel them easily, or refrigerate them in their shells for later.

The Poached Egg

2014-02-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

This post is included in a 5-part "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" series. For other egg cooking methods, please refer to the original post.

Pork belly hash with poached eggs

I don't really understand why people insist on adding all sorts of weird things to the water when they make a poached egg. It's really not that complicated. There are only two things to remember when poaching eggs: 1) keep the water at a slow and gentle simmer (rather than a rolling boil), and 2) swirl the water. Your eggs will stay intact while they cook.

Warm spinach salad with Greek sausage, kalamata olives, and poached egg

Soft Boiled Egg Method: Bring a pot of water to a slow and gentle simmer at medium/high heat. The bubbles should just be forming around the edges of the pan. Make sure you have complete control of the simmer before you add the eggs.

Now swirl the water. Yep, use some kind of utensil and swirl the water in circles until the water is really spinning. Working quickly and carefully, plop your eggs right into the vortex (gently!). If you're a pro at cracking eggs, go ahead and crack it directly into the water. Or if you fear getting shell in there or breaking the yolk, crack it into a small bowl or ramekin first. Let the egg cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to gently lift eggs out of the water. Serve them quickly, while the yolk is still runny.

The Pan Poached Egg

2014-02-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

This post is included in a 5-part "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" series. For other egg cooking methods, please refer to the original post.

Steak and asparagus salad with pan poached runny egg

My dad taught me this method a few years ago and it has become the most common way I cook my eggs. It's actually just a steamed egg, out of it's shell and very similar to a sunny-side up egg. I love this method because you can control how much you cook the whites (soft or crunchy) while also controlling the softness of the yolk.

Sweet potato and pork hash with pan poached egg

Pan Poached Egg Method: Heat a nonstick skillet, well-seasoned cast iron skillet, or wok at medium/high heat. When skillet has reached desired temperature, toss in a pat of butter or your favorite cooking oil (bacon fat is good), and swirl it around the pan. Have your lid and 2 tablespoons of water ready. Then crack your eggs right into the pan. If you want softer more pliable whites then quickly pour the water into the pan and cover immediately. If you want that crispy edge on the whites then fry it until the edges are crisp, then cover the pan, and don't use any water. After one minute shimmy the pan back and forth and watch how the yolk moves. Steam the eggs until your yolk is the desired consistency and then quickly remove it from the pan and serve!

Shredded pork and potato hash thyme and a pan poached egg

Savor grain free crepe with bacon, spinach, goat cheese, and a pan poached egg

Sweet potato and bacon hash with pan poached eggs

The Chang Egg

2014-02-17T11:38:00.001-08:00

This post is included in a 5-part "How Do You Like Your Eggs?" series. For other egg cooking methods, please refer to the original post.

The Chang Egg

I saw this method while watching The Mind of a Chef on Netflix the other night. Chef David Chang blew me away when he created a perfectly poached egg in a bag. I have never been more excited to try a new cooking method. And it worked perfectly the first time!

The Chang Egg Method: Cut a piece of plastic wrap about 6-8 inches long. Lay it on the counter and use your fingers to smear a thin later of cooking oil in the center. I used coconut oil because it's clear. Nestle the saran wrap in a small bowl or ramekin so that you can crack your egg into it and it won't roll off the counter. Bring up the sides of the saran wrap, twist it slightly to enclose the egg, and tie it with kitchen twine leaving enough twine so that you can lower your egg into the pot of water. You can make several of them if you need to.

Chang Eggs in a the pot of steaming water

Bring a large pot of water to the steaming point. There should be no bubbles, just steam! Make sure you are in control of the temperature. If your water reaches boiling point it will melt the plastic wrap and you'll lose your egg. Holding the string, lower your eggs into the water. They will probably float near the surface of the water but if they don't hold the twine so that they do not touch the bottom of the pan (that's where the heat source is). Set the timer for 4 minutes. When the timer goes off check the egg for done-ness by giving it a little squeeze. Once your yolks have reached the desired consistency, remove from the water, snip the plastic with kitchen shears and your beautiful egg should slip right out. Serve immediately while the yolk is runny!

Beautiful Chang Eggs

Grain Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

2014-01-02T17:00:00.001-08:00

Here's a recipe for insanely moist and delicious Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. I stole it from Meaningful Eats. I changed the sweetener because I like maple syrup with pumpkin but you can sweeten it with whatever you want. I also added a bit more pumpkin and A LOT more chocolate. I did not practice restraint with this recipe and it totally paid off.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups pumpkin

2/3 cup maple syrup

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups almond flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (the darker the better)

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your loaf pan with parchment by cutting it into two strips (one the width of the pan, one the length of the pan) and criss-crossing them. Rub a light coat of coconut oil or butter all over the loaf pan and your parchment.

In one bowl, mix your wet ingredients with a stand mixer or hand mixer: the pumpkin and maple syrup first, then the eggs one at a time blending between each egg, and then the vanilla.

In a second bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (everything but the chocolate chips).

Combine the two bowls into one, and mix.

Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.

Pour the batter in your loaf pan and bake 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

And now eat it for breakfast with butter and a cup of coffee. And again for dessert with ice cream on top. I dare you to not eat at least two pieces a day. I might have.

Asian Salmon Lettuce Wraps

2013-07-21T22:30:00.001-07:00

I'll admit I didn't make these lettuce wraps recently. I made them awhile back but wanted to wait for warm weather before I offered this recipe. This is a perfect summer meal. It's light. It's fresh. It's got bursts of bright Asian flavors. And you definitely want to use the radishes that are in season right now.

And let's not forget the lettuce! It's a perfect time to get to your farmer's market and buy up some lettuce. I like boston or butter lettuce for these, but you could use romaine or iceberg. Any type of sturdy leafy lettuce will work great.

This recipe couldn't. be. easier.

I basically just baked the salmon with an Asian glaze, flaked it, and scooped it into lettuce leaves with my favorite toppings! The salmon recipe was adapted from Against All Grain's Asian Glazed Salmon recipe. If you haven't seen this beautiful blog, head on over and check it out. Danielle is very talented. She makes super delicious food and when it comes to baking, I always trust her recipes. That's saying a lot, because she bakes everything without grains or refined sugar (among other things).

Asian Salmon Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

Glaze
3 tablespoons of soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1 teaspoon of honey
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped Thai basil

Wraps
4 4-ounce fillets of salmon
8 boston or butter lettuce leaves
Shredded cabbage
Thinly sliced radishes
Thinly sliced jalapeno peppers
Sliced scallions, cut on the diagnal
Fresh cilantro
Fresh lime

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Except for the Thai basil, combine the glaze ingredients together in a bowl. Place salmon in a baking dish and pour the glaze over the salmon. Roast the salmon for about 15 minutes, or until salmon is flaky and moist. Allow salmon to rest about 5 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients.

While in the baking dish, flake the salmon into small bite-size pieces. Add the chopped Thai basil to the salmon, and toss the salmon in the glaze that remains in the baking dish.

To serve, spoon the salmon into a lettuce "cup." Top with a little cabbage, radishes, jalapenos, scallions, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. And done! So easy right?

You know what else would be good on these? Pineapple. Yep. Now get yourself on the phone and call up your friends and tell them you are cooking up some damn good lettuce wraps tonight and they need to come over.

Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream (Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free)

2013-07-16T08:54:00.001-07:00

As you might expect, ice cream and Crohn's Disease usually cannot co-exist. And because of this, my ice cream addiction has consumed my mind. My neighborhood has five different ice cream shops in a four block radius. When I walk down the street in summer I will undoubtedly pass at least one person licking an ice cream cone. Nothing beats the nostalgia of an ice cream cone dripping down your arm.

Me and ice cream - we go way back. Ben and Jerry's has mended my broken heart many times. I navigated Italy via gelato shops. It was a staple in my family's freezer. We scooped it into coffee cups thinking our portions were smaller, but really, you can smoosh a lot of ice cream in to those cups.

I first learned about "guar gum" and other artificial ingredients at a very young age when my dad would insist that we only buy ice cream that had less than five ingredients because "you really shouldn't eat that other crap." He was right about that. He was also right about how natural ice creams tasted so much better. I ~~blame~~ commend him for honing my ice cream palate at a very young age.

You really should eat more fat. It's just a fact. All that crap you heard about how fat makes you fat is a total myth. There's no calorie bomb quite like a dish of full fat coconut milk ice cream. I decided that if I'm going to make ice cream, I'm going to make the creamiest, most indulgent batch on the planet. So I set out reading recipes... lots of them. I finally settled on a custard style ice cream that uses fresh mint leaves and no weird gums or other binding agents. If you haven't had mint ice cream that uses real mint leaves, you must try this.

Dairy-free ice creams can often become very hard and icy when frozen so if you don't want to use gums or corn starch to prevent this, then you need to make a custard style ice cream (with egg yolks). The egg yolks give it a silky thick texture that sticks to your tongue and prevents it from freezing too hard.

I cannot wait for you to make this. You're going to love it.

Fresh Spearmint Ice Cream (Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free)

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh spearmint leaves

2 cans full fat coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup honey

Method

Start by preparing an ice bath. Then drop the mint leaves in a pot of boiling water for one minute. They will turn bright green.

Fish the mint leaves out using a slotted spoon and drop them in the ice bath. After they've cooled, strain the mint out and squeeze the excess water out of them. Drop them in your blender.

Add the two cans of coconut milk to the blender and blend until mint leaves are broken down into the teeniest tiniest little bits. Your coconut milk will turn green.

Heat coconut milk and mint in a saucepan on medium heat until it is steaming, but not boiling. You can add the vanilla now. Also, whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl.

When the coconut milk is steaming, reduce the heat to low.

Ladle a small scoop of the coconut milk mixture into your egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks while dribbling the coconut milk mixture in. Be very careful not to add too much too quickly or your eggs will scramble. Slowly ladle another couple of spoonfuls of the coconut milk mixture into your egg yolks. Keep whisking!

It's now safe to add the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the coconut milk mixture. Keep whisking the mixture until it thickens and turns into a thin custard that sticks to the back of your wooden spoon.

Take the mixture off the heat. Whisk in the honey. Pour it in to a bowl and refrigerate, covered, at least 6 hours, or overnight. Then prepare the ice cream in your ice cream maker, using the manufacturer's directions.

If you would like to incorporate chocolate chips or chocolate chunks into the ice cream, be sure to add it at the very end, when you ice cream is almost done churning.

You should definitely have your first serving right out of the ice cream maker. It's like soft serve, and so perfect. Storing the remaining ice cream in a shallow dish (like a casserole dish) makes it easier to scoop later.

Enjoy!

Thai Steak Salad with Mango

2013-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

I know you've probably had steak salad before. I've prepared it many times myself and then one day I decided to really jazz up the dressing and only include Asian-inspired ingredients into the rest of the salad. And boy what a difference!

This salad is extraordinary. It's so simple and is done in less than 30 minutes. No need to marinate the meat, it doesn't need it. But if you want to, you can just make extra dressing and marinate the meat in that.

Ingredients

Protein

1 (1 1/2) pound flank steak

Salt and pepper

Dressing

Juice of 1 lime

3 tablespoons of soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 tablespoon fish sauce

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced

Pinch of salt

Salad

6 cups your favorite salad greens (I used spinach here)

1-2 mangoes, cubed

1/2 cup fresh Thai basil leaves (tear the big ones)

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (tear the big ones)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

2 avocados, cubed or sliced

1 red Serrano chili, thinly sliced (garnish)

3 spring onions, sliced on an angle (garnish)

Method

Set the meat out so it is room temperature when you prepare it. Heat up the grill, or preheat the oven to broil. Salt and pepper the meat on both sides. Put the meat on the grill or under the broiler. Cook about 5 minutes each side, or until desired doneness. Remove the steak from the heat and let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally, against the grain, into thin slices.

In the mean time, toss all dressing ingredients into a jar and shake-shake-shake!

To serve, I usually leave the avocados, chilies, and spring onions out and gently toss the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl with the dressing. Then fan the steak and avocado on top of salad and sprinkle with the Serrano chili and spring onions. Or put the avocado on the side. Or cube the avocado and toss into the salad. Whatever. Just make it look pretty.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

2013-06-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot to tell you about my joining the circus! My business partner and I wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our psychotherapy practice by doing something exciting, so we did what most insane people do: Take a flying trapeze class!

The first thing we did was "Ground School." You might think they had a lot to teach us before sending us up to the platform. Nope. They taught us some quick safety stuff, had us hang on a low bar from our knees, and that was it. I was shocked when they sent us up the ladder so quickly. But in retrospect, it's probably better. I didn't have too much time to talk myself out of it.

I thought CrossFit would prepare me for something like this, and to some extent I believe my core strength definitely helped me in getting my feet over the trapeze bar quickly, but CrossFit does not prepare you for the sheer terror that comes from thinking you're going to fall from 30 feet in the air onto your head. I never thought I was afraid of heights. But as I climbed that ladder my heart pounded in my ears and I lost all feeling in my legs.

For my first round, my adrenaline drowned out everything the instructors were telling me and I didn't do anything right. There was added pressure too; if we completed all the movements with perfect timing then we'd earn a cowbell clang and would move on to the next trick. I was seriously doubting if I'd get my cowbell. I had to turn on my mindfulness switch several times and remind myself to pay attention to the present moment, and let go of self-doubting thoughts that wanted to take over my mind.

But I managed to do the entire sequence just like they taught me. It was so exhilarating.

And then we moved on to a "catch" move where you let go of the bar and this shirtless man grabs you and you hang from him instead....

He reached. I reached. We somehow lock arms. I release my knees from my bar and then swing from the shirtless man's arms. It was the coolest thing EVER.

This is me dismounting the net and gleaming with pride.

Doesn't that look so fun? If you ever get a chance to do it, I highly recommend you do. It's so scary and you'll feel damn good about yourself after you've done it. My business partner and I loved it so much we signed up for two more classes!

Flying on a trapeze is very much like starting a business. There's a lot of ups and downs. You have to take risks. It's really scary at times. Timing is really important. And the payoff is more than you ever dreamed.

Don't worry Mom, I don't have plans to join the circus. But it's a nice thing to fall back on if this psychotherapy thing doesn't work out. :)

__________________________________________________________________

Alrighty, now to my recipe. This is such a fun dessert! And so healthy! I can't get enough of this stuff.

A long time ago I noticed that when adding chia seeds to my smoothies, the smoothie would get thick and tapioca-like if I let it sit long enough. Those chia seeds turn in fabulous little gummy things that get all thick and delicious.

I can't wait to try it with other ingredients and add-ins too. Maybe chocolate, or mint and chocolate, or lemon, or coconut, or pina colada, or pumpkin, or pistachio.... oh the possibilities! If you have other ingredients or add-ins, please comment! I'd love to hear your ideas.

This recipe makes your basic vanilla pudding. This one is fantastic topped with berries or mango.

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups milk (almond, coconut, cow's, whatever)
3 tablespoon real maple syrup or melted honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup chia seeds

Method

Put everything but the chia seeds in a medium sized mason jar, tighten the lid, and shake. Add chia seeds and shake some more. Refrigerate (with lid on) for 4 hours minimum, but overnight is best.

You can do this in a regular bowl too. I just find the jar to be more fun and easier to store in the refrigerator.

Spoon pudding into a bowl and top with your favorite fruit. You can add nuts too, or maybe shredded coconut. Have fun with it!

Maple Mustard Country-Style Pork Ribs (With Slow Cooker Option)

2013-06-01T11:47:00.001-07:00

Wow I'm glad it's June. May was a rough month. Sometimes I think I'm not at all connected to the universal energy, and my detachment (or resistance maybe?) is creating some serious "bad juju" (a hilarious term one of my clients uses). The term "when it rains it pours" is a understatement in my case.

My dad's cancer came back. My grandma died. My health took a turn. I got shit on by a bird (literally). Okay the getting shit on by a bird isn't really a big deal but you have to wonder why I have been pooped on by a bird 6 times in the 34 years I've been on this earth. That's a lot right?

But life isn't terrible. It might be a big karmic, but it's not terrible. These hurdles remind how fragile (and sometimes comical) life really is. With a cancer diagnosis comes an incredible zest for life and watching my dad embrace vital living more whole-heartedly than he ever did before. The death of my grandmother brings the coming together of family and friends in celebration of a beautiful life, and a reminder of why we are put on this earth to begin with. My own fragile health brings attention back in to my body and the present moment, and the reminder to "take good care Emily." Getting pooped on lets me know that Mother Nature has a great sense of humor and sometimes you can't take things so seriously. This thing called life is so precious and I'm grateful for everything it brings, death, cancer, bird poop and all.

Why is it that I somehow always end up talking about something gross in my blog post and then have to transitioning from "poop" to "country-style ribs?" Gross.

Here's a good transition... a total change of subject!

I went geoduck hunting! I feel so lucky to live in a part of the world where I can get access to such amazing seafood... salmon, oysters, crab, and giant geoducks. These fellas are very strange looking but boy do they taste good and SO FUN to hunt. Wanna see some pictures? I'm not in any of them but I was there. Really. I'm just the one always taking pictures.

When you find a geoduck (he pokes the top of his neck out of the sand) you shimmy a metal cylinder down over him. This prevents the wet sand and water from caving in as you dig.

Then you dig. And dig. And dig. These guys are usually 3-4 feet down. You must be thinking that those are some looooong necks. Yep!

After you've dug down a few feet you have to be careful so you don't accidentally hit the geoduck with the shovel. You reach down into the mud and water and feel around for him. Once you can get your hand under him, you can get lift him right out. Sometimes they were so deep we couldn't reach them and had to move on.

This is a super bright seastar I found. It looked like it was illuminated.

Yeah! We got one! This is my friend Robert pulling a geoduck out of the mud. That's his friend Chais questioning how he is going to bring himself to actually eat something that looks like that.

Robert and Chais celebrating our successful hunt with handstands, or what they called SANDstands! Five geoducks!

Here they are! After a quick poach, they are ready to take home! You just dunk them in boiling water for a few minutes. This kills them quickly and cleans them.

In case you can't tell from the picture, these things are BIG. They weigh in at about 2 pounds each. For comparison, that's about how much a pineapple weighs.

After you poach them, you remove the outer skin, peel off the shell and remove the guts. Robert keeps the guts for crab bait. We took the geoduck home and ate it right away. The body is more tender than the neck so we eat it sashimi-style with wasabi and soy sauce, or with just a little fresh squeezed lemon juice.

The neck is more chewy so it's better cooked. We dredged it in a little flour and cooked over the grill in a cast iron skillet and served them with chipotle tartar sauce. They taste a little like clams but with a better texture. They are buttery and mild. So delicious paired with a crisp Pinot Grigio.

Now don't you want to go geoduck hunting? I'm going again on June 23rd when we have another really low tide. I can't wait!

Now to the pork rib recipe. These ribs are good. Reeeeeally good. They are moist, saucy, sweet and deep in flavor. And you won't believe they are this good because preparing them literally takes only a couple of steps and very few ingredients. Love that!

Maple Mustard Country-Style Pork Ribs

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless country-style pork ribs

2 medium sized sweet onions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup real maple syrup

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slow Cooker Version: Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook on low 6-8 hours.

Oven Version: Throw everything in a dutch oven or oven-proof pot and bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 hours or until meat is falling apart and registers 180 degrees Fahrenheit on a meat thermometer.

That's it! So easy!

Asparagus and Orange Salad

2013-05-17T21:54:00.003-07:00

Last week I went to Boise to visit my Dad and Stepmom. I had a wonderful visit. It was sunny and warm the entire time. We ate out on the patio every single night. I sat in their hot tub every morning and every night. I clobbered my dad in Cribbage like I always do. He gets pretty annoyed that I keep beating him. He always says, "you're just like your mother" because she always used to beat him too. He's actually quite good at Cribbage. I'm just a little better. Sorry Dad, just a fact.

Because of my strict diet, Dad and Carla graciously allow me to get the groceries and do most of the cooking while I'm there. We made a delightful Asian steak salad, old fashioned barbecued chicken with homemade sauce, squash and zucchini skewers with lime and mint, grilled artichokes with tarragon butter, gluten-free pizza.... and... this gorgeous asparagus and orange salad. We ate well, that is for sure.

This salad is super simple. It makes a great Spring side salad. I ate it with Maple Country ribs that I plan to post later this weekend. So watch for it, because it's so dang good I'm salivating just thinking about it. In fact I might just make them again this weekend.

Here's your gorgeous salad:

Asparagus and Orange Salad

Ingredients

1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated (about 4 cups) or Spring Lettuce Mix

Two oranges, peels cut off, wedges cut out with a knife

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2" pieces

1 small bunch basil, leaves separated (1 cup)

2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded with a vegetable peeler

Orange Dressing

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Do a quick blanch on the asparagus. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Toss the pieces in the water and turn the heat off. Let sit 5-7 minutes, or until asparagus turns bright green and spears are just tender. If you overcook them a little bit, immediately remove them from the hot water and immerse them in an ice bath to stop cooking. Allow asparagus to cool.

In a jar, add all dressing ingredients and shake until emulsified.

With the exception of the cheese, put all salad ingredients in a large bowl, and toss with the dressing (you may not use all of it). Using your hands, divide salad over four plates, piling it high and making sure each plate has about the same amount of each ingredient. This is a fun salad to practice your plating skills! Top with the cheese shreds and a little freshly ground black pepper.

Roasted Artichokes with Lemon and Tarragon Butter

2013-05-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

It's artichoke season! I feel lucky having grown up eating artichokes. My mom would steam them and serve them with melted butter. We usually ate Country Crock margarine so getting real butter was a treat. It was so fun dipping the leaves in butter and sliding them through our teeth. We'd eat fast, anxiously anticipating the moment we could dive into the buttery artichoke heart. Eventually Mom started adding garlic to the artichokes, and later she made fancy curried aoili dips.

I decided to take it one step further and roast my artichokes with lemon slices. I figured if you can roast most any other vegetable, you could probably roast an artichoke. As you see from the photos, they are absolutely beautiful. The caramelize beautifully and taste wonderful.

If you love this tarragon butter, use the leftovers on your eggs. Tarragon is SO yummy on eggs. Or try this amazing recipe.

Roasted Artichokes with Lemon and Tarragon Butter

Ingredients

Artichokes

2 artichokes

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

1 lemon, sliced

Tarragon Butter

2 teaspoons tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 stick of salted butter

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the stem off the artichoke, leaving about an inch behind. Cut about a 1/2" off the tips as well. Then cut each artichoke in half lengthwise. Rinse well and drain.

Stick a spoon down at the base of the hairy part (the choke) and scoop out the choke and a few of the inner leaves. Work fast because the artichoke starts to turn brown as it's exposed to the air.

Toss the artichokes and lemon slices in a little olive oil and sea salt. Place lemon slices on the sheet pan and place the artichoke halves cut side down on top of the lemons.

Roast 40 - 50 minutes, or until nicely browned and caramelized.

Meanwhile, toss the stick of butter, tarragon, and lemon zest in the food processor and process until combined. It will turn a beautiful bright green. Spoon into a jar or bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

When you pull the artichokes out of the oven, immediately drop a dab of the tarragon butter into the hole where the choke was. Cover loosely with aluminum foil until the butter has melted. Serve warm.

Grain Free Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

2013-04-30T13:42:00.003-07:00

I had to post these cookies TODAY. I took them to the 8:00 AM CrossFit class yesterday for by business partner's birthday and now I'm getting harassed for the recipe because it's so freakin' good. This is probably the best Paleo chocolate chip cookie you'll ever eat. When I discovered how fantastic these are, I made about five batches in an eight day period. It just now occurred to me why my weight crept up 3 pounds last week. Oops.

On a different subject, I'm taking a trapeze class this Friday! I can't wait! My business partner and I are celebrating the one-year anniversary of our LLP, Salmon Bay Counseling, this month and we wanted to celebrate by doing something super fun. I'm a little nervous about landing on my head but whatever.

It's been quite a year for Tara and I. Owning your own business is a total pain in the ass, but completely 100% worth it. There were a lot of ups and downs, lots of laughter and a lot of tears. There was a lot of money spent and very little earned. We realized that we've come a long way since the early days of our partnership. I can now stay within the limits of my text messaging plan and I don't cry nearly as much as I used to. We figured out how to do taxes which by itself deserves a big gold star. We've made a lot of connections in the community. And our practice is very nearly full! It's very exciting. I can't wait to get up on that trapeze. Ringling Brothers here I come.

Before I share the recipe, here are a few things you need to know about it. I started with The Urban Poser's chocolate chip cookie recipe and adjusted the ingredients slightly but the proportions are all the same. First, I doubled it. If you're going to make cookies this good you need to make a bigger batch. To this recipe I added bacon, used butter as the fat, and prefer maple sugar in place of honey. You can use any fat or sweetener you wish, but I think this combination is awesomely awesome. The maple sugar is so delicious with smokey bacon. And lastly, I figured out that you can make these in one bowl!

Now here's a trick if you really want to make these uh-maze-ing. If you have smoked salt, sprinkle it on top of the cookies before baking. I'm not kidding. If you don't have smoked salt, use your whatever salt you have. A quality Maldon sea salt is recommended. These cookies are mega-enhanced by this trick. The salt brings out the chocolate and tempers the sweetness of the cookie. It helps give the cookie that caramel/butterscotch nuance that makes a good chocolate chip cookie great.

Grain Free Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Ingredients

4 strips bacon
2/3 cup room temperature butter or melted coconut oil
1/2 cup maple sugar (Trader Joe's has it) or maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of full fat coconut milk
4 cups fine almond flour (Honeyville is best)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for sprinkling later
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (semi-sweet, bittersweet, or dark)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, cook four strips of bacon in a skillet and let them drain on a paper towel. Once cooled, cut or tear the bacon into 1/4" pieces. Leave out really fatty pieces. They are too chewy.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and maple sugar together with a stand mixer or hand mixer. Add the vanilla and coconut milk and combine.

To the wet ingredients add the almond flour, baking soda, and salt. Toss them together slightly and then mix them into the wet ingredients by hand. You might need to literally use your hands to get the dough to come together. Add the chocolate chips and bacon and carefully combine without over-mixing.

Use a mini ice cream scoop or tablespoon to measure out cookies. Using your hands, roll each scoop in a ball and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use your hands or the bottom of a glass to smoosh the cookies down a tiny bit. Be sure to leave them pretty thick.

Sprinkle the cookies with the smoked salt or sea salt (you don't need much). In the oven, place a cookie sheet on a shelf under your cookies. This will keep the bottoms from overcooking.

Bake for 11-13 minutes. Keep an eye on them and take them out right when you start to see some browning around the bottom edge. Don't wait for them to brown up the sides or on top. They will not be as good if you overcook them.

As the Urban Poser says, make sure you eat about 4 cookies before letting anyone know you made them. As soon as people learn that you've made these cookies they will be gone in a flash.

After I've stuffed my belly with them straight from the oven and still warm, I store the leftovers in the freezer. Cold cookies are so good, and because of the almond flour these cookies don't get rock hard like a traditional wheat flour cookie would. Try it, you'll see.

If you love these cookies, please comment!

Grain Free Blood Orange Bread

2013-04-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure blood oranges are out of season by now. But that's okay because you can use just about any orange or citrus fruit for this recipe. In fact, I bought some "heirloom" navel oranges at the grocery store the other day and they were so incredibly sweet. They made a traditional navel oranges taste diluted and bland. Any good orange would be extraordinary in this bread.

This is a great recipe to experiment with. It can't really be messed up if you stick to the correct flour/fat/egg ratio. You can replace the orange with other citrus fruits like grapefruit or lemon. You can adjust the sweetness by adding more or less honey. You can add dark chocolate chips (chocolate with orange is amazing!). You can add fresh herbs like basil or thyme, both of which pair well with citrus fruit. Add cranberries in the Fall. Or top with a beautiful fruit compote instead of the glaze. Have fun with it!

Ingredients

Bread

1 3/4 cups almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, olive oil, or melted coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons grated orange zest

3 eggs

1/4 cup milk or milk alternative (like almond milk)

3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Glaze

1/2 cup coconut cream melted

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Method

Bread

Preheat oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease a loaf pan. I also trace two strips of parchment paper in the greased pan and grease the parchment. The bread will slip out easily.

In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat butter/oil, honey, and orange zest with electric hand mixer. Add eggs one at a time.

Gradually add flour mixture and beat on low speed. Add milk and orange juice and stir until just combined. Don't overmix.

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the top.

Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Glaze

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Start with only a tablespoon of the orange juice. Add juice until desired consistency is reached.

When bread has cooled completely, drizzle glaze on top. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes to allow glaze to set up. It won't harden like icing, but it will set a little bit.

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

2013-04-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday! It's a gorgeous gray and rainy day here in Seattle. I was going to go throw the discus around today but throwing the discus in the rain is so. not. fun. The ring gets slippery, you can't keep your hand dry enough and then you have to fetch all those discs out of the mud. Gross. I'll just stay here in my cozy apartment and think about doing my taxes and then distract with a blog post instead.

I'll tell you about Friday. Friday was full of surprises. I like surprises, especially when they force me out of my "little box of rules." My box of rules is much less full than it used to be, but old rules rear their ugly little heads from time to time.

My little box of rules is often filled with statements like, "You'll never get fit" or "You might as well quit before you fail" or "You can't accomplish THAT!" When I take these statements literally and use them as guidelines for my actions, I get "boxed in" so-to-speak to old habits. This box gets really suffocating sometimes.

But on Friday, something shifted. My day started with a body composition measurement. After I tested last November I set a goal to get in the lower end of the "healthy" range for body fat percentage for women. I didn't believe that the "fit" range was a realistic goal for me. Ever. I'd never been in "fit" range before, even when I was a college athlete.

Even before the test I was preparing for potential disappointment: I could lose as much as 7%, but it's more likely I'd only lose about 5% percent, but I better focus on 3% percent otherwise I'll be disappointed if I only lost... blah blah blah. And when the scale told me I lost much more than I anticipated, I didn't believe it and my mind went into another flurry of thoughts: It's not right, I didn't lose that much. Is the scale broken? Did I drink more water than last time? Maybe I should test again. I shouldn't believe these numbers because if they are wrong I'll be disappointed. Now it's true that the scale is not likely accurate (there are many factors that can skew the numbers). I blew my old percentage so far out of the water that even an inaccurate estimate of my body fat is still likely within - or very near - the "fit" range. It seems that "I'll never be fit" isn't a rule I can live by anymore.

Then in CrossFit class I completed five unassisted dips for the first time ever. I then made the mistake of bragging to the trainer, Jess Mullen, who tells me to finish my sets with added weight. Wait a minute Jess, I just did unassisted dips for the first time and you want me to add weight? I just did something I didn't think I'd ever be able to do and now she wants me to do more? My mind kept chattering away: It's too hard. You shouldn't do it because if you fail then you'll be really upset. Lifting your body weight was just a fluke, you can't lift more! Jess is crazy. She doesn't know what she's talking about.

But I hung a 2.5 kg plate around my waist and did two more dips! I probably could have fought for a third one but I was so stunned I hopped off the rack and just looked at Jess in disbelief. She looked at me like, "why did you stop?" so I hopped back on and did another one.

Sometimes after a CrossFit class I want to throw a party for myself. This was one of those days. This party would have commemorated the letting go of my "I can't do body weight exercises" rule.

Then later in the day I met with Jess to discuss getting on a strength training program. I really excelled at weightlifting and I thought I could get exponentially stronger faster if I focused solely on it. The program was set up such that many workouts would be done alone, as opposed to participating in regular group classes. The day I was going to start the program I suddenly didn't want to go. Normally I fly out of bed on CrossFit days! I readily acknowledged that this isn't what I wanted. A battle took over my mind: You love lifting and you want to get stronger. You didn't join CrossFit to work out alone. Others are encouraging you to do what you do best. You really love the friendships you've developed and the variety in your workouts. But but but... I got so consumed in this battle that I gave up on my plan entirely and spent the good part of a week agonizing over the thoughts, and not taking action at all.

Jess noticed that my all-or-nothing approach had me so future-focused I couldn't see that right now I am satisfied. I am enjoying my workouts, I'm making significant progress every day, and I can incorporate more strength work into what I'm already doing. Then Jess invited me to a Level 2 class on Fridays. I didn't think I was anywhere near meeting the Level 1 Athletic Skills standards so I immediately rejected the idea. I checked the standards later and noticed that I had actually met the requirements. I had been stuck in a belief that I was less capable than I actually am.

Seriously, this living in box thing really isn't working.

I have no good segue from that last topic to Cilantro Lime Chicken recipe. Sorry. This is the point in the blog post where I get tired because it took me hours to write a few paragraphs and really all I wanted to do was get you a great recipe.

So here it is!

Ingredients

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon ground coriander
Salt and white pepper
2 cups cilantro leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1 small onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
2 poblano chiles, stemmed and seeded
1 jalapeno, stemmed and seeded
1/2 cup plain yogurt or canned full fat coconut milk
Juice of two limes
Garnish options: sliced pickled jalapeno, cilantro, red onion, mango, avocado, and lime wedges

Method

Rub chicken pieces all over with coriander, salt and white pepper. Add to slow cooker.

In food processor, add cilantro, mint, onion, garlic, poblano peppers, and jalapeno pepper and blend well. Add lime juice and yogurt/coconut milk. Puree.

Pour green sauce over chicken and cook 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Serve with mashed sweet potatoes and your favorite garnish(es).

Don't underestimate the pickled jalapenos. They are wonderful! I couldn't get enough on my plate!

You could also cube up the mango and avocado and toss with lime juice and finely diced red onion and cilantro for a spunky side salad.

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Orange Maple Cream Frosting

2013-04-03T22:30:00.001-07:00

I baked a cake! Without grains! I don't know why this always seemed like such a big deal to me. I used to think a grain free cake would never turn out. But this cake is darn good. It does have a slightly sandy and dense texture from the almond flour, but it's very moist.

I found this cake on Pinterest. It is from a beautiful blog called Edible Perspective. The blogger, Ashley McLaughlin is a self-taught cook and photographer. How the heck did she learn to take pictures like that all by herself? Crazy. I also don't know how she got her cake to look so much better than mine. Dammit. Those perfect bloggers with perfect blogs.

I'm still proud of my cake, even though it wasn't perfect. I started with two layers (like the recipe) and realized that this girl (yes, she's a girl) needed to be much taller so after I'd prepared everything and put all the ingredients away, I pulled them all back out again and made another layer. I'm actually wishing I'd made a 4th. I love super tall cakes.

However, I'm not happy with the pecans I bought at Whole Foods that had pieces of shell in them. Not good if you plan to bring this to a dinner party (which I did) and risk breaking people's teeth (didn't happen, thankfully). But seriously, who wants to take another bite of cake after they've crunched down on a hard pecan shell? Gross. Moral of the story: don't buy pecans in the bulk section at Whole Foods.

This recipes is written for two 8" cake layers. If you want a taller cake, you can increase the recipe by 50% for a third layer, or double it for 4 layers.

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Orange Maple Cream Frosting

Ingredients

Cake
2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup maple sugar (or coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
4 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cups unsweetened yogurt or milk or milk alternative
6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
Roasted salted pecans and unsweetened coconut flakes

Orange Maple Cream Frosting
2 cups raw unsalted cashews
2 1/2 teaspoons orange zest (about two oranges)
1/3-2/3 cup milk or milk alternative
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Method

Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 8" cake pans with coconut oil. Trace a piece of parchment paper into the shape of the bottom of your cake pan, cut out the circle and place in the bottom of each cake pan.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.

Whisk the eggs together in a different bowl. To the same bowl, add remaining wet ingredients except for the carrots, and mix. Now add the carrots to wet ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Don't overmix.

Pour evenly into cake pans, smooth the top, and bake 32-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool 15 minutes in the pans, then flip onto a wire rack. They should come right out, but be careful because the cake is moist and breaks easily.

Once the cake layers have cooled, you can freeze them until you are ready to add the orange maple cream. You can add the orange maple cream to frozen cake and allow the cake to return to room temperature before serving. This is optional of course. You can also add the orange maple cream to the cakes after they have cooled completely to room temperature.

Spread frosting between each layer and then "frost" the top. Sprinkle with pecans and coconut before serving.

Orange Maple Cream Frosting
Soak cashews in water overnight or at least 4 hours. Drain and rinse cashews with cold water.

Measure out 2 cups of soaked cashews.

Dump the cashews and all remaining ingredients in a food processor and whirl at high speed until it turns into a smooth and shiny cream. Scrape the sides of bowl periodically and add more milk as needed to get the preferred consistency.

Now taste it! Does it need salt? More maple syrup? More milk?

Refrigerate until completely chilled.

Roasted Radishes with Poached Duck Egg and Tarragon Butter

2013-03-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Kyla brought me duck eggs. Isn't that so nice? She's friends with a local chef who gave them to her and instead of keeping them all to herself (which I would have done) she called me and brought two of them right over! I get so excited when I get my hands on an ingredient you wouldn't normally find in your standard grocery store. It was really fun coming up with a recipe.

I knew this recipe would need to be simple so that the beautiful duck egg would be the star of the show. And then I remembered roasted radishes. Perfect!

If you've never roasted radishes before, you need to start NOW. I never thought radishes were anything special until I started roasting them. I found some gorgeous ones at the Ballard Market that were purple, red, bright pink, and white. They make a wonderful side dish next to a steak, are delicious on top of a salad, or like this recipe, underneath a runny egg. This could be served with some bacon and fresh fruit for delightful Sunday brunch.

And let's not forget tarragon. Tarragon has become one of my favorite herbs ever since it was mixed with basil served with fresh corn and zucchini as a side dish at Belle Clementine, a communal dining restaurant in my neighborhood. You might remember I created a not-very-Paleo corn chowder using the same combination of ingredients. Tarragon is sort of spicy-minty-licorice-y, while floral at the same time. I know, that makes it sound really weird, but I promise you, it's incredible. You should also know that tarragon paired with eggs is pure heaven.

Ingredients

2 bunches of radishes

Extra virgin olive oil

4 eggs (any kind)

1 stick of salted butter

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons tarragon leaves

Salt and pepper

Method

First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the stalks and leaves off the radishes. I left a 1/4" stem on some of them for a more rustic look. If you do this, make sure you rinse them out really good. My leaves and stems had a lot sand and dirt in them. Cut them in half lengthwise. Leave the really small ones whole.

Toss the radishes with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast for 18-20 minutes, cut side down.

Go ahead and get your water boiling for the eggs. Just bring a medium sized pot of salted water to a slow simmer.

Now poach your eggs. Make sure the water is at a gentle simmer. Gentle! There is no need to add vinegar or do anything special here. Just crack your egg into a small bowl or ramekin. Then slowly lower the egg into the simmering water. It will come together on it's own. I promise. If it doesn't, it's because your egg is old. Gross.

After 3-4 minutes the egg whites will firm up and the egg will rise from the bottom of the pan. Just scoop the egg out carefully with a slotted spoon, letting the excess water drip back into the pot. Place the eggs on a paper towel to soak up the remaining moisture. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

When the radishes are done, serve them with a poached egg and a dab of the tarragon butter on top.

Indian Spiced Meatball Soup

2013-03-24T22:11:00.000-07:00

This is one of those days where I'm feeling so lazy I can't even think of anything to write. I got up this morning with stiff muscles, bruises in weird places, and a blister in my thumb webbing. No, I didn't get into a fight. Well, not with a person. With a barbell maybe.

Yesterday, Level 4 CrossFit celebrated their 10th birthday by hosting "CrossFit Championships 2013." It was a party of sorts, with some workouts thrown in. Actually, it was a full day of workouts, and a little party thrown in at the end. But I guess it depends on the way you look at it. All I know is that I slept great last night and woke up this morning in a crazy-weird dream about my CrossFit trainers, $595 worth of Junior Mints, and sorority birthday parties.

Based on the placement of my bruises, I can tell where my form needs some attention. I obviously don't lift my elbows high enough when I clean (bruised clavicle) and the bar placement of my squats is probably too high (bruised shoulders). Please don't try to hug me for the next 4 or 5 days. I might punch you. Or cry.

The blister on my thumb webbing is a welcome surprise however. I consider it a sign of my true commitment to CrossFit, and it couldn't have happened on a better day! I'll always remember that my first skin break was at our 10th birthday party!

I probably shouldn't talk about broken blisters on a food blog. Gross.

You know what I do want to talk about? My 85 kilogram squat yesterday. I was so excited about it that when I went to the grocery store afterwards to get some food, I told the deli guy about it. He asked how my day was going and I was still in my squat-high so I blurted out that I PR'd and I'm gettin' myself some gross deli chicken to celebrate. Deli Guy was not impressed. I know 85 kilos isn't much to talk about, but it's more than halfway to my PR from when I was 21 years old. It had been about 10 years since I had squatted when I joined CrossFit Seattle 7 months ago, so I'm pleased with my progress so far.

The other amazing thing I want to talk about is my CrossFit gym and the people in it. First, huge thanks to Dave, Nancy, and all the trainers and volunteers who made yesterday possible. You organized a lot of people and a lot of events with no glitches (that I saw anyway). Your commitment to us, the members, is apparent every single day. You make this place really special.

Also, I am invariably impressed by our members. The energy in that big warehouse, while barbaric at times, was encouraging, cooperative, and kind. We screamed so emphatically it was as if we believed our voices could launch someone right up that rope. It was an awesome sight; elite athletes, new moms, retired software geeks, and math teachers all working their tails off for the sake of the team, for the sheer joy of winning, and to test their bodies far beyond what they thought they could do.

After the squat event, about a half dozen people that I'd never met congratulated me. And not only that, but they introduced themselves and engaged me in conversation. They weren't just saying "good job," they were saying "I'm interested in knowing you." There's a difference. That's what makes CrossFit Seattle different. We may be a bunch of scrappy kids that look like we came in off the street (you won't see too many fake tans, spandex shorts, or shirts off) but the members of Level 4 are gracious, kind, and engaging. Oh, and they move well. Our trainers make sure of that. Anyway, it was a super-fun day and I can't wait to get back under that squat rack! After my bruises heal.

Now, on to the recipe...

I found this recipe at Sinfully Spicy. I used moose meat, but if you don't have access to moose meat just use ground bison, chicken, lamb or beef or a combination of these. The original recipe uses mutton (sheep). I have no idea where to get mutton. I do recommend the leanest meat you can buy.

As my friend Tia said it, this soup is "everything soup should be." It's warm and cozy, fragrant and spicy. It is like that moment after a long day on the slopes, when you've stripped down to your long underwear and are huddled under a soft blanket next to a warm fire. It's the kind of soup that sends a calming warmth through your veins, up into your cheeks, and down through your tummy.

This soup has several steps but it is so worth it. The easiest way to make this soup is prep everything first before turning any heat on. After you do that, it comes together pretty quickly. And just when you think it's done, you have to let it sit for a couple hours. Don't skip this part, it's really important.

Thanks to Tia and Chris for the moose meat. What a special treat to get your hands on wild shot moose!

Indian Spiced Meatball Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs
1 pound of lean ground meat (beef, chicken, lamb, bison, moose, or mutton)
3 Thai chilies
4 cloves of garlic, grated
2" fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 egg, beaten

Soup
1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup onion paste (use a blender or food processor)
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste (I finely minced the ginger and garlic, then used this method)
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon paprika
2 medium roma tomatoes, pureed
3 tablespoons thick plain Greek yogurt
4 cups of water
Salt to taste
Garnish with cilantro leaves, lemon wedges

Method

Prepare the meatballs first. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and combine with your fingers. Be careful not to handle the meat too much. Form meatballs slightly bigger than golf balls. If the meat sticks to your hands, put some oil on your hands. Set the meatballs in the refrigerator until you're ready to use them.

Next, grind the cloves, peppercorns, coriander, and cumin in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Set aside.

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil at medium-high heat to smoking point. Temper the oil with the bay leaf and cinnamon stick.

Wait a few seconds, then add the onion paste and garlic-ginger paste. Reduce heat to medium and wait until everything starts to change color and the raw smell is gone, 5-7 minutes.

Add ground spices, paprika, tomato puree, yogurt and salt. Continue cooking at medium heat until you notice oil starting to form up the sides of the pot. Then add the water and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and add meatballs in a single layer in the bot. Cover the pot and let cook for 10-12 minutes.

Once done, let sit covered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, undisturbed. When ready to eat, reheat on low and taste it. Does it need more salt?

Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Garnish with cilantro and a squeeze of lemon. Serve!

Five-Spice Roasted Winter Squash

2013-03-17T16:30:00.000-07:00

Tired of roasting your squash with just oil and herbs? As much as I love the simplicity of thyme or rosemary on my roasted vegetables, sometimes you want something with a little more pizzazz. Enter Chinese Five-Spice.

Chinese five-spice powder is made up of equal parts cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds, and Szechuan peppercorns. You can find it in most grocery stores and Asian markets. The warm and sweet nature of this spice blend is a perfect match this time of year on a sweet winter squash.

Ingredients

2 pounds of winter squash of any kind, peeled and cut into wedges or bite-size cubes

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

2 teaspoons of Chinese five-spice powder

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Toss squash with oil and spice powder. Lay in a single layer on a parchment lined sheet pan. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until squash is cooked through and browned.

Pair this side dish with:

Apricot and Shallot Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Seared Chops With Blood Orange Sauce