Hmmm...and mmm!

I'm not sure if it's stress-related due to my next exam being on Thursday evening, but for several days in a row now I've been fighting off headaches. Maybe it's the change in weather...hmmm.

Last night a few co-workers and I went out for dinner to celebrate the completion of a pain-in-the-ass client...I mean, project, and I tried bison meatloaf! It was incredibly tasty, likely due to the bacon wrapped around it, the rich gravy, and whatever spices and unmentionables added, but I would absolutely order it again! I'm not supposed to touch any sugar, flour or alcohol during the YeastBusters program, but I had a chocolate martini anyway. I'm not experiencing any "yeast die-off" symptoms (unless that's what the gassy ass is all about! haha!!), so I figure I don't have a severe-enough case of yeast overgrowth to worry about one drink.

Hunnybun made dinner tonight while I did some studying:


Salmon is on special this week so we stocked up. The rest of the dish consists of onion, celery, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, garlic, and shredded coconut (!). It really turned out delicious and he kept the celery crunchy so it was a nice light, refreshing dinner. Two thumbs up! :)

Today's Meal - Chicken Stew with Pumpkin "Pie" for Dessert

This afternoon was spent prepping a crapload of various vegetables for the chicken stew. Hunnybun did the grocery run (thank you again, Sweetie!) while I chop-chop-chopped in the kitchen. Here's the pot of stew after we already doled out our first portions:


Then came the dessert (perfectly primal, thankyouverymuch! :)):


To make the crust, combine the following in the food processor:

- Freshly-ground almond meal
- Melted butter
- Various yummy spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice

Press it into baking dish of choice.

For the filling:

- 1 can of pure pumpkin puree
- About a cup of coconut milk
- More of the above-mentioned spices

Pre-bake the crust in the dish. I only did mine for 10 mins at 350F but realized later it needed a bit longer.

Pour in the filling, spread it around, and bake at 350F until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean. (For me, using a gas convection oven, it was around 40 mins.) Let it cool a bit before slicing.


I didn't realize that when you slice the root end off a bunch of celery that you end up with a pretty rose! That made me smile. :D

Beef marrow bones

I saw a package of these bones a few weeks ago and thought I'd try them out. Into the freezer they went for awhile, and this weekend I finally got around to dealing with them.

After defrosting in the fridge for a couple days I roasted them in the oven for 20 mins at 450F. The smaller ones looked nice and done (the larger ones still looked red and nasty) so I thinly sliced some little buns, toasted them, and spread the marrow on them. It was pretty tasty and Rabbit thought so too.

The crockpot was standing by, pre-loaded with baby carrots (all I had), celery, onion, two cloves of fresh garlic and a bit of freshly-ground salt and pepper. The bones went in and I filled the crock almost to the top with water. It's on low and will run at least until tomorrow. I look forward to drinking the stock...yummmmm!

Tasty dindins

Wild salmon (fried in butter in the cast iron skillet) with lots of zucchini and peppers fried in bacon fat, and fresh garlic, which I'm REALLY starting to appreciate.

Getting back on track

I'm managing to change some of my bad habits again and eat better food. In just a couple of days I'm back down to 152.2 (the other day I was 154.5) and feeling a little better.

We've made a couple of stir fry dinners this week and unfortunately rice made a reappearance on our plate. At the very least, it wasn't instant rice! Usual ingredients in our stir fry include large chunks of zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, and sweet onion. These are fried up in hot bacon fat and then we usually add some sort of leftover protein (last night it was hamburger). Hot damn, it was delicious. It got eaten so quickly there wasn't any time for photos.

Tonight we're going to our friends' house for dinner and drinks, so I will try to be good under the circumstances.

Accidental Halloween Bat (Chicken) Goulash

In using up some produce, I accidentally made what could be a great family dinner for halloween:


Sodium-free chicken broth (or water)
Two sweet potatoes, cubed
Head of purple cabbage, chopped
Carrots, sliced
Chicken (I used 10 thighs, skin on, bone in)
Mushrooms (the darker and ickier the better!)
Onions
Garlic
Seasonings of your choice (I used seasoned salt, sea salt, dry Italian seasoning mixture)

Bring all ingredients to a boil in your cauldron, then turn down to low and simmer for at least an hour.

Tonight's Dinner...

...is in the oven. Yeah, it's gonna be a late one tonight!

This afternoon we visited two of the local farmers' stores; one had just about everything but meat, and the other had meat. From the first one we bought some pumpkin squares (kind of like butter tarts but with pumpkin) for a treat, fresh zucchinis, yams, green onions and some apple butter for tomorrow's ribs dinner. From the second store we bought frozen homemade chicken stock, a free-range chicken stuffed with apple and dried fruit, and bacon (BACON!!!). When we got home we each devoured one pumpkin square (we were famished after exploring the two stores) and hubby started working on our bacon and egg lunch. Goddamn, that bacon was awesome. We'll definitely be going back for more - and the best part is that both stores are less than 10km away!

Next up is the chicken for dinner. I put a few small gobs of bacon fat in the roasting pan, chopped up the zucchinis, some green onion, a yam and a few carrots, and added a bit of water for moisture. Over top of the veggies went some seasoning (Italian seasoning, Montreal steak spice, seasoning salt, and some roasted garlic from a jar). Then the chicken went on top, coated with a bit of EVOO and seasoned with the same spices as the veggies. Here's what it looked like before going into the oven:



A couple hours later....YUM!



Unfortunately, because someone at the farm stuffed the chicken, that meant that it also contained traditional bread stuffing. Oh well, we ate the shit out of it anyway. ;)