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Monday, March 21, 2011

Cheesesteak- Primalized!

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Yeah, I know it doesn't take much to primalize a cheesesteak.  Just ditch the roll and sauté the veggies in bacon fat, yum!

So, here is the amazingly difficult recipe.

-heat about 1 tablespoon bacon fat in skillet on medium heat
-add peppers, stir around a bit
-add onions, stir around a bit  (do I need to say that the onions and peppers were sliced? Or can we handle that step?)
-remove peppers and onions when the onions just start to get wilted
-add mushrooms to skillet, stir around a bit (add some butter for flavor- if your 'into' that kind of thing)
-unwrap steaks (I used Fast Fixins this time, I know not quite paleo, but give a girl a break- I do have four entire children and a husband here ;o) )
-cook steaks according to directions on package, get frustrated when they take longer than 3 minutes- stamp foot a little, roll eyes
-remove meat from heat
-plce meat on plate
-removed pre-sliced provolone from package
-place on top of meat- nuke for 20 seconds to help meat cheese
-remove plate from nuker
-add veggies and mushrooms to plate

the rest is optional:

-brag about meal on the internet
-take pictures and share you enjoyment

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Beef Jerky

Beef jerky is super simple to make. You don't even need a dehydrator!

So, my method.

Take the beef you are using, the cut really isn't too important I use whatever is on sale London broil works great, and place it in the freezer until it just starts to get frozen, this makes it easier to slice.

Slice beef into strips about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick, trim the biggest pieces of fat.
in a plastic containder put a layer of the beef, sprinkle meat with seasonings of choice.
Put down another layer of meat, more spices, layer of meat, more slices. I usually sprinkle a little salt for flavor, about 1 teaspoon per 3 pounds of beef.

Sometimes I will fill the container with water and a dash of soy sauce, maybe some vineger or lemon/lime juice. Depends on the flavor I am going for. 


A recent batch, which was soooo yummy, was just onion powder, garlic powder, cracked pepper, a bit of salt and chili powder with a dash of soy sauce (coconut aminos) every few layers. This was copied from a  Facebook note, I no longer use the soy sauce, you just don't need it.

If you don't have a dehydrator use your oven. I only have one cookie cooling rack(also known as a bacon rack) . I would use that on the bottom rack of the oven. I cover the bottom rack with aluminum foil to catch drips. Then fit the smaller pieces of meat on the cookie cooling rack. The rest I would just hang from the top rack of the oven. Set the oven to the loweest setting, between 140 and 170 degrees. Prop the door open, and let the meat dry. If you want it to go faster you can prop a small fan in the door. It takes about 4-8 hours.


I have gotten to where I like a bit of salt, onion powder and garlic powder best.  You don't need a lot, just enough to lightly coat each piece of meat.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Awesome, "I don't feel like cooking" Meal!!

So, I got home a little late from work since i had to pick the kids up from after school care.  The motivation to cook was just not there.  My wonderful hubby had purchased a pre-cooked chicken, you know the kind from the grocery store?  Not perfectly primal, but pretty darn good anyway.  My inner Grokelle wanted bacon, yum!

So, I popped some bacon in the oven and pulled some chicken off the bones.

Rummaging through the fridge I found a slightly limp remnant of napa cabbage and there was a red onion on the counter.  I can work with this.  Another quick look in the fridhe...oh, yogurt and a bit of mayo.  This might just turn out okay.

So without further ado, my yummy "lazy Mamma Chicken Salad Wrap"

 the funky red thing is a radish, the plate needed color besides green...lol


Chicken salad:

a pile of chicken ripped from the carcass, I like to have lots of dark meat
1 large dollop of plain full fat yogurt (about 1.5 tablespoon..maybe)
1 large dollop of mayo (not totally primal since it was Hellman's--oops)
1.5 teaspoon onion powder
1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
a clump of garam masala
a sprinkle of sea salt

Mix it all together, taste it and see if it is 'right', adjust seasoning as needed

So, how was it so delicious?  Well, take the napa cabbage and blob some chicken salad in teh middle, squirt a bit of sriracha on there.  Add some of the red onion and top with a bit of the bacon.  Bite, then wait while you overcome the urge to slap your momma.  Well, in my case it was my hubby because he was sitting next to me.  I wish I had some more it was that good.  Luckily it is all gone because I am full and don't NEED to eat anymore right now.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Oh, was thinking of doing something silly

So, I was thinking of doing a 'weight loss' ad style photo shoot.  You know the kind I mean.  Where in the before pic they push out their belly and then in the after they suck in their gut.  So, my photo shoot would have three shots.  The pushed out belly, the normal belly and the sucked in gut.

I am a great gut sucker!  I think I can make it look like I lost about 2 inches!  Is that a testament to the strength of my abs?

Not Enough

Not enough of something.  Not enough good eats?  Not enough good exercise?  Not enough play? Sleep? Thinking?

I don't know, but something.  I feel like i am missing something.  I am guessing it is play.  Too much time on my butt reading stuff on the internet.  I have these grand ideas of doing 'something fun' with the kids and then it doesn't happen. I need to work on that.  We have abundant snow and a pretty cool hill near-by.  Sledding would be great play AND exercise.  It was surely warm enough this afternoon at 8 degrees Fahrenheit.  Now, I realize to some that doesn't seem like a good 'warm' temperature, but considering it was -24F at lunch time and 8F when I was going home from work, well that feels pretty damn warm!

So, yeah...play.  Play for me and WITH the kids. They need more attention I think.  Positive attention that is!

Maybe I should set up parental controls on my computer log-on, and make it so I can't log on between 8a.m and 9 p.m.  I bet that would at least help me stay off the computer for a bit.

Other than being a bit blah about that aspect of my life things are going well.  I did NOT get back up to 160 pounds after this weekend.  I would love if 157 became my new 160.  Or heck maybe even 155.  Once I get below 150 I won't care one ounce about my weight anymore.  I really want to focus on getting lean and not worry about weight, but I have this mental block that I can't be lean if I weigh more than 150. I *KNOW this isn't true, but man to see that weight, even if just for a moment before I build up those cool womanly muscles.  I have not been that low in AGES and it would just be so nice to get to that next milestone.  I am guessing that I can achieve 25% BF at that weight.  Since I don't want to be bulky, just sculpted and sexy (you know LGN), I don't need to pack on huge amounts of muscle tissue.  I guess that my 'goal' weight to be at 20% body fat would be around 140.

I know I need to lift more.  And I know I need to HIIT more.  Everything else is good.

So, there it is.

And yes, there will be more about the anti-low carb article I posted a few weeks ago :)