Summer Kale Salad

I really like kale, ok? I mean really. I know it's some sort of trendy hipster vegetable right now, and the burgeoning "buy-locally-sourced-produce" movement is the main reason why it's popular, but I don't care. Food fate brought us together, and I'm not gonna question it. I'm just going to eat some kale and I'm inviting you to join me.

There are a lot of reasons to love kale. Apparently the Huffington Post thinks that kale is the new beef, which I find kind of hilarious because (silly Huffington Post!) beef is awesome and we don't need a 'new' beef. Their article really does point out some awesome attributes, though: kale is an awesome anti-inflammatory. It's also full of iron, calcium, and fiber, and it's full of vitamins and omega fatty acids. What's not to love? I have a little row of paper cups in my kitchen that are full of garden soil with little kale seedlings peeking out, and I can hardly wait to plant them.

Maybe you don't like kale. Some people just don't. It's a pretty unusually flavored ingredient, but I feel like it's hearty flavor and texture make it the perfect backdrop for a summer salad. Don't get me wrong - I am a big fan of kale sauteed in olive oil and garlic, but I think kale makes for a great salad base too. I tossed this dish together yesterday for lunch along with a few ingredients I had in the pantry and the fridge, and I thought I'd share. If you love kale like I do, it'll be right up your alley. If you're new to kale, or just giving it a second chance, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! Let's go!

Start by chopping up and de-ribbing your kale. Some of those kale pieces will have thick stems running down the middle, so just tear off the leafy green parts and discard the stems. Once my kale was ready, I grabbed some sliced strawberries, some mandarin orange slices, a handful of toasted coconut, and a sprinkle of sunflower seeds. Just eyeball the measurements, toss in whatever makes you happy. Love strawberries? Toss in some more strawberries! I whipped up a super quick grapefruit vinaigrette to go on top:

So easy to toss together! I made enough dressing to make salad for two people, so just double it if you need more!

Toss everything together, and drizzle the dressing over everything. If you find kale to be a bit too intense, dress the salad and let it sit for 20 minutes or so before eating. The acidity of the vinaigrette will sort of soften and mellow the kale a bit. I love how pretty this salad is!

Pair up that salad with some protein (I picked some spicy tuna cakes with Sriracha) and you've got yourself a meal. Still can't get your head around the kale-ness of this salad? I betcha it'd be equally awesome if you subbed out spinach!

Cinnamon Latte Goodness

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there really aren't that many non-paleo foods that I miss. One of the things I do miss, though, is Starbucks. I never really had a big thing for Starbucks coffee pre-paleo, but I am a sucker for their lattes, especially the Cinnamon Dolce one that they introduced last year. I started thinking about it the other day and realized I could probably pull together a paleo version without too much trouble. Now for those of you who are already eating paleo, or are just embarking on your first paleo experience, coffee is an awesome thing to be able to have. On those days when you just feel like you want to be like everybody else and eat all of the non-paleo stuff that everybody else is eating, at least there's coffee! Why does Starbucks have soymilk for days, but not a drop of coconut milk to be found? No idea. I feel like they should. Maybe they will! On that day, I will skip gleefully into the nearest location and order up, but until then my home-made concoction will have to suffice. Let's do this!

Start off by cracking open a can of coconut milk (unsweetened!). If you live near a Trader Joe's, they sell coconut cream in a can which I think would probably be excellent.

Pour the contents of the coconut milk into a saucepan, and simmer it over medium heat. You don't want to bring it to a boil, we're just trying to warm it up a bit. When you open the can of coconut milk, odds are that the top layer will be thick and creamy, and the bottom will be thin and watery. Just pour the whole thing into the saucepan, and stir it together as the coconut milk gets warmer. 

Grab your favorite mug. This one is mine. Fill it about 3/4 of the way with black coffee.

Fill the remaining space in your mug to the top with the warmed coconut milk. It might look a little bit weird and swirly, but it'll come out fine I promise!

Sprinkle a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the coffee mixture. 

Now comes the fun part. I have one of those little battery-powered milk frothers from IKEA. Now, you could just use a spoon and stir together the milk, coffee, and spices, but the little gadget makes it sort of fun. They're inexpensive - about $2, so next time you're at IKEA, grab one - it's worth it!

The finished product! It's not sugary sweet, but the coconut milk makes it creamy in a nice paleo-friendly non-dairy way, and the cinnamon and nutmeg add such a nice spicy layer to it. I think you could also have fun adding in a couple teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder and a pinch of chipotle chili pepper for a sort of Mexican hot chocolate latte.

Last step? Get your breakfast on. I paired my paleo latte with some French-style scrambled eggs (cooked in grass-fed butter), some fruit, and half a sliced avocado topped with sea salt and smoky hot sauce. I feel like my best days start off with a good amount of healthy fat, so any morning that starts off with a good helping of grass-fed butter, some nice ripe avocado, and a few cups of coconut-cream coffee is a win in my book!

Happy Tuesday!

*p.s.: if you're one of those people who is reading this and thinking "ew, I don't like coconut" then you're in luck! Coconut milk weirdly doesn't taste much like coconut at all, and when you add it to coffee, it just adds a creamy flavor and texture. Try it, you'll like it!

Paleo BBQ Sauce

OK, summer is almost here for those of us in the sunny South. Summer is for cutoff jeans, walking around outside barefoot in the garden, and a bunch of meat tossed on the grill. Now back when I started eating paleo, I started to obsessively read labels on everything at the grocery store, and there is some pretty icky stuff in store-bought BBQ sauce. What's a girl to do when she has a big pack of baby back pork ribs in the fridge and nothing to put on them? Paleo BBQ sauce! This recipe is adapted from Nom Nom Paleo, and I've adjusted it to be more paleo-friendly! Let's make some BBQ sauce, shall we? This recipe will also be a lesson in clumsiness because sometimes I am less than graceful, even in the kitchen.

Let's start by tossing a few shallots into the food processor - I LOVE my food processor because it makes tasks like this so quick. We want about 1/2 a cup of shallots for this, and make sure you chop them up fine!

Take two tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil and melt them in a pot over medium heat. Toss in those minced shallots and let them cook until they get translucent (just a few minutes - keep an eye on em')

Now this is the point in the process were I managed to somehow get my shirt caught on the handle of the pot, then stepped back resulting in searing hot coconut oil and beautifully translucent shallots cascading all over me, the kitchen floor, and kitchen cabinets. Smooth. Very smooth. I don't recommend dumping hot coconut oil on yourself. It's less than enjoyable. After a few choice words, a lot of paper towel, and a great deal of frustration, I started over again. Where were we?

Add in a teaspoon of ground ginger (the original recipe calls for fresh ginger, but I always forget to buy it, and I promise it tastes the same in the end...). Also add in a tablespoon of tomato paste, 1/4 cup of coconut aminos, 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 10 ounces of frozen cherries.

Now your sauce is going to look like this. Make sure you're cooking over medium heat, and stir the ingredients well every couple of minutes. After 10-12 minutes, the frozen cherries will start to soften up nicely, and you can have fun squishing them and breaking them apart with a spoon while you stir consistently. Grab a spoon and take a little taste test, and add a bit of salt and/or pepper to taste. Sometimes at this stage, I add in a bit more balsamic or apple cider vinegar - I like my BBQ sauce to have a nice kick to it, but you could just as easily skip this step.

Look at that stuff. I realize it looks like simmering crushed tomatoes, but it smells like heavenly tangy BBQ sauce. The last two steps are: 1) try not to eat the sauce straight out of the pot with a spoon, and 2) use this stuff on alllllll the grilled meat. It's awesome brushed on grilled and sliced skirt steak. It's awesome on grilled chicken. It's great brushed on roasted and grilled baby back pork ribs. You really can't go wrong. Plus, the recipe makes about a cup and a half of sauce, so you can keep some in the fridge to use throughout the week!

The finished product - roasted and grilled baby back pork ribs brushed with cherry BBQ sauce, with a side of sweet potato fries and sauce for dipping.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Cherry BBQ Sauce: 

You will need: 

1/2 cup of minced shallots

2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 cup of coconut aminos

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

10 ounces of frozen cherries

Over medium heat, melt the coconut oil in a medium sized pot and add in the shallots. Cook until translucent. Add in the remaining ingredients (except for the cherries) and stir well to combine. Add in the frozen cherries, and stir again. Keeping the sauce over medium heat, stir every couple of minutes until the cherries soften. Use the side of your spoon to mash the cherries and break them up into smaller pieces. Taste the sauce, and add a bit of kosher salt and pepper to taste. Add an additional 1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar to taste if you like your BBQ sauce to be more tangy. Use the sauce on grilled meat, and store the rest in the fridge for about a week. 

Paleo Challenge

I. Am. So. Excited. You don't even know.

CrossFit North Cobb (where I attend - and sweat copiously 5 days a week) is getting ready to start a paleo challenge next month, and I am so excited to help out! Most people who know me are aware of how excited I get when I talk about paleo stuff, so I'm really excited to share it with the awesome people who regularly cheer me on through the last few reps of the WOD, and remind me the best ways to avoid smashing myself in the face with a loaded bar. Fun times. Now I'm not a nutritionist, and I'm not a doctor, I'm just a person who really really likes food, and has been eating paleo for close to a year.

So....you're embarking on the Paleo Challenge. The fun thing about 'going paleo' is that you can use it to accomplish a lot of things just by changing up the approach a bit:

1) Weight Loss

I pinky swear you can lose weight by eating paleo. I started eating this way last August, and I've gone from somewhere in the neighborhood of 168 pounds down to 135, and that was well before I started CrossFit. Maybe you want to aim to lose some inches, or just see that number on the scale go down for health reasons. I started out wanting to do both, and along the way I started to feel like an Amazon warrior princess and also ended up with gorgeous cholesterol levels.

2) Cutting out the Sugar

Are you realizing that you eat a lot of processed foods? Spend a lot of time shopping in the middle aisles of the grocery store and less time shopping the perimeter of the store? I definitely did before I started eating paleo, and now I seldom shop the aisles unless it's for something like tea, or crushed tomatoes, or anchovies (I love anchovies...). If you're looking to cut back on sugar, paleo is a great way to go.

3) Eating Clean (so you can train dirty...)

Maybe you're one of those people at CFNC who lift things so heavy that I'm almost scared to watch. Maybe you're sort of afraid that eating paleo will negatively impact your performance because carbs = energy. You might be surprised how eating cleaner can positively impact your performance. Even though I've only been part of the CrossFit community for a month and a half, I know 100% that the way I eat makes a huge difference. When you're putting the right things in your body's 'gas tank', the engine is going to perform better.

Getting Started:

To start off with, I thought I'd put together a few resources (below) to get you started on your Challenge. I love helping people learn more about eating paleo, and I'd love to answer any questions you've got! Feel free to leave a comment/question, look me up on twitter (@dianaeatspaleo) or check out my Instagram account (@dianakinnett) where I post a lot of crazy hipster paleo food pictures. Or feel free to ask me anything if you see me at the gym (I'm the one sweating twice as much as anyone else, and doing the EMOM like it's an AMRAP because I'm not so speedy). I'll be blogging regularly throughout the Challenge with information, recipes, meal planning tips, and random encouragement, so check back soon. Good luck everyone!

Resources:

Shopping List: what to stock the fridge with

Vegetarian Shopping List: you can still eat paleo if you don't eat meat!

Meal Planning template: I adhere to this strictly, and it's never failed me yet! Pay special attention to the pre and post-WOD meals - they make a big difference in performance and recovery.

The Timeline: this is going to be helpful if you're new to paleo. If you've been 80% paleo for a while, it won't be too much of a jolt to your system to go 100% for the challenge. If you're new to paleo, this guide will be helpful in guiding you through the first week or two as your body adjusts to how you're eating. It's dead-on accurate, too. My first month, I realized that they weren't kidding when they said that by day 4-5 you just want to "kill all the things". I vividly recall crying on day 4, and thinking that given the chance I would not hesitate to punch someone in the face to steal a cookie out of their hand. Once that passed though, I hit day 12 and had so much energy that I was getting home from work and going for a run just to deal with all the excess energy I had. Don't fear the timeline, though. It's tough at first, but it sucks less than burpees.

Great Paleo Blogs:

These are a few of the blogs that I follow religiously for recipe inspiration:

Slim Palate: I avoid the baking recipes (paleo-fied cookies, cakes, etc.) but good heavens does that kid know how to cook meat. I just want to fall face-first into a plate of his Lamb Osso Bucco.

Nom Nom Paleo: I love Michelle's recipes - her recipe index is second to none. She replied to me one time on twitter and I fan-girled in a way that could only compare to a One Direction fan being kissed on the mouth by Harry Styles. Try her Green Chicken, you'll love it (and it's super easy).

The Clothes Make The Girl: don't be deceived by the title - this is a very dude-friendly blog, too. I love Melissa's meatball recipes - I almost always make a double batch of one of her meatball recipes - they are great quick protein, and I often eat em' cold as a post-WOD meal on my way home. Her Paleo Mayo recipe is also awesome and easy (tip: use your sadly under-utilized turkey baster to drizzle the olive oil).

Bullet Journaling

OK, so not every post on here is going to be about paleo stuff, but I thought I'd share something that's been super helpful to me over the past couple of weeks. I consider myself to be a pretty organized person overall, but I do tend to jump around a bit from task to task, especially when I'm doing stuff around the house (like laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc.). A while back I was listening to the Joy the Baker podcast (or - as Kevin affectionately calls it - the "Valley Girl" podcast) and Tracy Benjamin started talking about Bullet Journaling. It piqued my interest, but wouldn't you know it? I wrote it down on a sticky note to look into it later when I had time, and promptly lost the sticky note.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the Bullet Journal video - it's a great (and super quick and concise way) to keep yourself organized. I start the day by sitting down to eat breakfast and grab a cup of coffee, and my bullet journal is always open and ready so I can start processing all of the things I'm trying to accomplish throughout the day. I especially like the super easy notations that help me keep track of what I've finished, what is still pending, what's become irrelevant, and what tasks to carry on to the next day if I don't finish them. I really like having a master list of bigger tasks that are assigned to each month, too. Happy Bullet Journaling!

Instant Gratification

I'm not the most patient person. Life is just so fast-paced that I get antsy and want things to happen faster than they do. This makes me a real treat to be stuck with in Atlanta traffic. I'm one of those drivers that thinks it's helpful for me to say sarcastic things to other drivers even though they can't hear me: "Oh, no, definitely don't use your turn signal, I can use my telepathy to anticipate where you're going", or "oh, you want to merge onto I-75 going 25 miles an hour? What a super idea. Somebody wave the checkered flag for Speed Racer over here". See what I mean? I'm a real treat. So delightful.

Anyway, I feel like God's really been challenging me the past few weeks to work on my patience, and He's figured out all kinds of ways to do it. Because I'm not exactly the most teachable person, so just one thing to help me learn patience wouldn't be enough.

Gardening: 
I know this seems obvious. "Uh, Diana, you can't just plant something and expect vegetables to spring out of the earth like a scene from Fantasia". I know this. I just get really excited when I start to see little blossoms on my cherry tomato plants, or see my Chinese cabbages starting to grow a bit, and it makes me want to stand in my garden and try to make them grow faster using the power of my mind.

Crossfit:
I left the gym feeling the worst yesterday, and I was just bratty enough to complain about my first-world problem on Facebook when I got home. Now to clarify, I wasn't feeling physically bad (although....squats....quads...ouch), it was more of an internal "ugh, why are you so bad at squats?". Thankfully, I woke up to some super encouraging comments, and a really nice reminder from my coach that "strength takes time". I am loving my weekday Crossfit workouts so much, and I'm proud of the progress I've made so far - I just need to chill the heck out with beating myself up, celebrate progress (even if it's slow progress), and keep reminding myself that I'll get where I want to be, but I won't wake up tomorrow and look in the mirror and see Annie Thorisdottir, or be able to pull off a 105 pound snatch (like my bad-ass friend Lindsay Pastor) based on sheer willpower.

Life in General:
I just get impatient about everything. I want to know what's happening and how I'm going to do it, and what the plan is. I just need to calm down and realize that God's got a plan for everything, and that I'm not always going to see what the plan was until it's behind me. He cares about the big stuff in my life, but he also cares about the Chinese cabbage in my backyard, and the WOD I'm about to go and do. I just need to keep repeating John 13:7 in my head whenever I start to think "Yeah God, but if you tell me what your plan is, then we'll both know."

Patience, Grasshopper....

(meat)Ballin'

Can we talk about meatballs for a sec? I know it's weird but just hang out with me for a minute and we can discuss all manner of ground meat mixed with veggies and herbs and spices and baked up to perfection.

I love meatballs. There's so much to love that I made a list about what is so great about them. Ready?

1. they're like cute little bite-sized meals
2. they go with everything
3. they're perfect for dipping
4. you can eat them in the car without making a mess of yourself (usually)
5. with a big batch stashed in the fridge, you can pair them with a fried egg and some fruit for breakfast, some chopped veggies and paleo mayo for lunch, or with some tasty baked sweet potatoes for dinner.

I make a big ole' batch of meatballs at least once a week, and since I started Crossfit, I've loved having them on hand even more. I'm a big believer in making sure I get a good pre-workout and post-workout meal, and meatballs make it stupidly easy to make sure both of those things happen. My pre-workout meal is usually a half-meal-sized portion of protein and some fat (usually olives or coconut), and my post-workout meal is another half-meal-sized portion of protein all by itself with LOTS of water. Crossfit makes me sweat like a beast. Super lady-like.

Gyoza Meatballs. It's all about the presentation....unless you're eating your meatballs out of a ziplock bag while driving home from Crossfit totally exhausted and drenched in your own sweat. 

Today, I made up a double-batch of Melissa Joulwan's Gyoza Meatballs. If you're not familiar with gyoza, they're the savory delicious steamed dumplings served at awesome Japanese restaurants. They're awesome, but less-than-paleo with the starchy dumpling dough that the tasty meat is nestled into. What's a paleo girl to do? Skip the wrapper! The recipe is below, and it couldn't be easier - mix all the ingredients together (do yourself a favor and take the meat out of the fridge a bit before you make the meatballs - I love mixing in all the ingredients with my hands, but mixing cold meat makes for sore fingers afterwards). I use a cookie scoop to measure out even amounts of the meatball mixture, which ensures even cooking. Here's a quick roundup of some of the best meatball recipes I've tried:

Gyoza Meatballs - fantastic with the dipping sauce!

Asian Meatballs  - the cubed up sweet potato in these make them especially hearty

Moroccan Meatballs - these would be amazing with a mint dipping sauce

Chicken Pesto Meatballs - these are great if served over sauteed zucchini (I've had it for breakfast, and let me tell you, it's hard to beat that first thing in the morning)

Southwest Meatballs - you had me at cilantro dipping sauce!

Turkey Cranberry Meatballs - a little taste of Thanksgiving any time you want. I do like these once in a while, but they can be a teensy bit on the dry side. I recommend pairing them with some paleo mayo!

I highly suggest giving these a try one day this week! They all come together quickly, and reheat quickly in just a couple of minutes under the broiler (or alternately you can simmer them in some chicken broth to ensure they don't get too dried out!).

Happy Meatball Making!