The Bigger Yes

I love this quote. I feel like it pretty well sums up so many things I've been reflecting on lately. Today marked exactly 60 days since I started Whole30, and I have to say I'm feeling pretty proud of myself! Part of me can't believe that it's only been 60 days, but at the same time I feel like I've been eating this way for a long time. 

The funny thing is, there's a small part of me that thinks "you won't eat this way, this restrictively, forever". The hard thing is, though, that I'm a little afraid to incorporate non-compliant foods back into my diet, even for a limited amount of time. Christmas will come, and I will probably enjoy a frosty mug of eggnog with a little Goldschlager in it (although by then, I will have gone about 120 days without any dairy or alcohol, so it might do a bit of a number on my stomach). Right now, though, the idea of an adult beverage doesn't tempt me at all. I will probably be baking up a storm in December, the way I usually do. I'll probably enjoy a piece of home-made hazelnut biscotti with a cup of coffee, or maybe a Mexican hot chocolate cookie with a cup of tea, and there's nothing wrong with that. The interesting thing is that every single one of the last 60 days has been made up of me making good choices for what I put in my body. It's been making choices to push my body to do new and great things (5k here I come!). It's been about me proving to myself that I am stronger than any of my excuses, and that I have the discipline to know the difference between what I want in the moment, and what I want most. 

Thai Shrimp Coconut Soup

I'm ready for fall to be here. Don't be deceived - just because they've gone all Pumpkin Spice at Starbucks doesn't make it fall. I'm ready for it, though. I'm ready for leggings, sweater dresses, cozy scarves, boots, spiced tea, and fall leaves. I'm ready for Thanksgiving to be here. I'm ready to go pick a Christmas tree and watch Elf. I'm ready to curl up on the couch on chilly Saturday afternoons wrapped up in my favorite blanket while watching Cameron Diaz fall in love with Jude Law in The Holiday and eating bowlfuls of hot soup. 

I've been getting impatient, though. It's still getting above 80 degrees almost every day, but I couldn't resist making up a batch of hot spicy soup for dinner tonight. I love Thai food, and I can't wait to make spicy, delicious variations on this soup all winter. Want the recipe? Of course you do!

Spicy Thai Shrimp Coconut Soup

adapted from stupideasypaleo.com

You will need:

- 2 cups chicken broth

- 14 ounce can of full-fat unsweetened coconut milk

- 1 inch piece of ginger 

- 1 tablespoon minced garlic

- 2 tablespoons Paleo-friendly fish sauce (Red Boat is my favorite)

- juice from two limes

- 2 to 3 tablespoons Sriracha sauce (omit if you can't handle the heat...)

- 3 cups sliced mushrooms

- 1 pound peeled and de-veined shrimp

- 2 scallions, chopped

- 1/4 cup cilantro

- one carrot, chopped up fine (I used my Kuhn Rikon peeler to make pretty carrot matchsticks, but you can just mince it as well!)

Start by pouring the chicken broth and coconut milk in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Whisk the liquids together, and slice the ginger into a few pieces (you'll be picking it out before serving, so don't slice it too small!). Add the minced garlic, and turn the heat on medium high, and let the mixture come to a gentle boil while you prep the rest of your ingredients. I have to say, I've never cooked with coconut milk before, but it looked so creamy and velvety that I'm almost considering using it in my morning coffee....I feel like it would be deliciously creamy, especially if I added a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg!

Chop your mushrooms. Doesn't need to be super precise. It's just soup! Unless you're making the soup for the Queen or something. In that case, please take the time to chop your mushrooms delicately and precisely, instead of just chopping them up haphazardly. I was dancing around to this song while I was chopping, so I can't be held responsible for my uneven mushrooms. I've decided that cooking is more fun if you're listening to good stuff on Spotify (tonight was a mixture of Paramore with some old-school Will Smith, Destiny's Child, Spice Girls, Counting Crows, and Smashmouth...I was re-living my youth)

Add in your Sriracha, lime juice, and fish sauce. Add a little extra Sriracha if you like it spicy!

Add in your peeled and de-veined shrimp. Keep an eye on them - you'll want to make sure they're opaque before serving. 

Smells heavenly, but let's be honest, it looks sort of....gray. Time to add some color!

Add in your chopped scallions. They add a little flavor, and a little color!

Throw in your cilantro!

Toss in your carrots...

Once everything is cooked and smelling incredible, fish out those ginger pieces, and fill up your favorite bowl, grab a spoon, and dig in!  The best part? It's completely and totally Whole30 friendly! The second best part? It only took me about 20 minutes to throw together. Rachel Ray can keep her 30 minute meals, I'm a busy girl!

Enjoy!

Labor of Love

I always love Labor Day weekend. It always feels like the transition mark from the summer to the fall, and I love the fall! Despite the very Seattle-like weather this weekend, I still sprinkled a little cinnamon and cloves into my coffee this morning to make it feel more like autumn. 

This weekend was spent doing a lot of boring grown-up type stuff like washer/dryer shopping and doing some much-needed laundry at my parents house. Today, though, I was in my element. Today being Labor Day, I took it literally and rolled up my sleeves for an afternoon in the kitchen with John Mayer's new album playing on repeat in the background!

 I work longer hours in the fall and spring semesters, and it makes it tricky to get dinner together at a reasonable time. I took a couple of hours this afternoon to do a bunch of pre-cooking to make my weeknights less hectic! 

Here's a little bit of what I made: 

Bone broth! Just a few pounds of beef bones (I got them for about $0.50 per pound at the local farmers market) tossed in the slow-cooker with a chopped onion, celery, carrots, garlic, a few bay leaves and covered with water. I let the whole pot cook on low for about 8 hours, then poured the broth through a fine-mesh sieve until it was clear. It'll be a nice addition to my breakfast meal - it's great for Whole30 as it contains good fats and plenty of protein! Here's a link to the recipe I used.

Ghee anyone? It's just a fancy word for clarified butter. I buy the good stuff (Kerrygold butter - it's from grass fed cows!) and let a pound of butter simmer in a pot until the milk fats separate and sink to the bottom. I finish up by pouring the liquid through some cheesecloth into a large glass measuring cup (the cheesecloth catches all the milk fats). I love to use this in the pan I cook my eggs in in the morning - it makes the eggs taste downright velvety! Here's the recipe. I like to have some of this around at all times, but today I made it especially for the next recipe I made...

These Chinese five-spice powdered cashews were SO easy. Want the recipe? You can check it out on the Nom Nom Paleo app. I just tossed some raw cashews in a heavy pan with a couple of tablespoons of ghee, sprinkled a little salt and pepper on top, and added about a teaspoon of Chinese five-spice powder. I love that I can enjoy nuts (in moderation), and these are so packed with flavor that you can get a huge amount of enjoyment out of a closed palmful (the Whole30-approved amount!).

This is how you know you're doing Whole30! I keep these five things close at hand: Himalayan salt, black peppercorns, Raw Coconut Aminos, Red Boat Fish Sauce, and the Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. While part of the point of Whole30 is appreciating the flavors of naturally delicious food, there's nothing to stop you from spicing things up a bit! 

Here's the result of my afternoon in the kitchen! I roasted up 5 big sweet potatoes, and mashed them with a few tablespoons of melted ghee, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some salt and pepper (to taste). I chopped up some cauliflower, boiled it, pureed it with my stick-blender, and added some garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, and ghee. Both of these things will be easy to add to lunches and dinners for the rest of the week! The cashews will add a nice spicy kick to a few meals as well. The bone broth (middle right) will be a great soup base, and it will be even better on its own warmed up! Lastly I made up a quick egg frittata with mushrooms, spices, grape tomatoes, and topped the whole thing with thin slices of prosciutto. It'll be easy to grab a square or two on the way out the door in the morning.  

Lastly, dinner. A couple of nice (big) steaks seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning, a couple scoops of mashed cauliflower, and a handful of snap peas sauteed in ghee with some salt and pepper. 

It was a lot of work, and I feel like I used just about every pot, pan, and bowl in our kitchen, but I think the result will make for quicker dinners in the evening, and even quicker lunches for the week!

Hope everybody had an awesome Labor Day weekend!