Margarita CupcakesFlavored with tequila and frosted with lime buttercream icing, these are perfect for Cinco de Mayo or any other time.
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Today's Tucker - 5/5/09
Breakfast - The Usual (no bacon this morning, have now restocked)
What a hellish yet amazing day. Run off my feet from 8:30am til 6pm, yet events unfolded pleasantly, especially with a very positive rehearsal session in the late arvo. I didn't even notice that I missed lunch.
Dinner - slacked off and picked up a roast chicken from the lovely free-range place down the road. Served it up with sautéed cabbage and spinach, with some sliced fresh capsicum.
Which plate would you prefer -
Mine:
His:
To me, it's no contest whatsoever, but at least breast meat roasted in oil-slathered chicken stays tasty and moist.
Did a quick grocery run despite the organic butcher being shut and the organic produce delivery still being a few days away - scooped up my two favourite non-bacon meat cuts - lamb forequarter chops and chicken drumsticks. Yum! I can't believe these pieces tend to be the bulk buy bargains whenever I'm in need of some tasty, fatty meats - luck is on my side! And cheaper meat helps to balance my somewhat less thrifty tastes for gourmet cheeses and organic eggs. Still keeping an eye out of pastured eggs, but can't find them. Perhaps at Macro?
Haven't even started on my blog reading for the day - was alerted to this site about fasting and I've barely scratched the surface of its depth of content. I might flip through some of my lighter blog subscriptions now though, since midnight is catching up with me. Hopefully I will actually sleep well tonight! Cross your fingers for me...
reade more...
What a hellish yet amazing day. Run off my feet from 8:30am til 6pm, yet events unfolded pleasantly, especially with a very positive rehearsal session in the late arvo. I didn't even notice that I missed lunch.
Dinner - slacked off and picked up a roast chicken from the lovely free-range place down the road. Served it up with sautéed cabbage and spinach, with some sliced fresh capsicum.
Which plate would you prefer -
Mine:
His:
To me, it's no contest whatsoever, but at least breast meat roasted in oil-slathered chicken stays tasty and moist.
Did a quick grocery run despite the organic butcher being shut and the organic produce delivery still being a few days away - scooped up my two favourite non-bacon meat cuts - lamb forequarter chops and chicken drumsticks. Yum! I can't believe these pieces tend to be the bulk buy bargains whenever I'm in need of some tasty, fatty meats - luck is on my side! And cheaper meat helps to balance my somewhat less thrifty tastes for gourmet cheeses and organic eggs. Still keeping an eye out of pastured eggs, but can't find them. Perhaps at Macro?
Haven't even started on my blog reading for the day - was alerted to this site about fasting and I've barely scratched the surface of its depth of content. I might flip through some of my lighter blog subscriptions now though, since midnight is catching up with me. Hopefully I will actually sleep well tonight! Cross your fingers for me...
Today's Tucker - 4/5/09
Breakfast - The Usual with bacon - same as yesterday.
Lunch - a small handful of almonds.
Break during long Parent/Teacher Interview session - two slices of beef lunch meat and two pieces of lettuce (hey, I didn't expect anything even vaguely Primal to be served up to us, so I was very happy!)
Dinner #1 - baby octopus with capsicum, cabbage and tomato. This photo is from the first time I made my baby octopus salad, but I couldn't bear going out to get basil so I subbed in some cabbage instead:
Dinner #2 - baby octopus salad was low in fat and my system was craving some fatty protein, so I went back and grilled some beef patties and some cabbage sautéed in coconut oil. And then I went and had some chocolate. I now feel ill and would consider fasting but I have another huge day tomorrow followed by hours of rehearsal, so I better get some breakfast into me even if I skip lunch. I've been hitting the 1500kcal range for the past few days, while I've been sick, but today I bumped it up to 2000kcal (was only at 1200kcal after Dinner #1, so no surprise I wasn't sated!). Bleurgh, pokey-out gutness.
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Lunch - a small handful of almonds.
Break during long Parent/Teacher Interview session - two slices of beef lunch meat and two pieces of lettuce (hey, I didn't expect anything even vaguely Primal to be served up to us, so I was very happy!)
Dinner #1 - baby octopus with capsicum, cabbage and tomato. This photo is from the first time I made my baby octopus salad, but I couldn't bear going out to get basil so I subbed in some cabbage instead:
Dinner #2 - baby octopus salad was low in fat and my system was craving some fatty protein, so I went back and grilled some beef patties and some cabbage sautéed in coconut oil. And then I went and had some chocolate. I now feel ill and would consider fasting but I have another huge day tomorrow followed by hours of rehearsal, so I better get some breakfast into me even if I skip lunch. I've been hitting the 1500kcal range for the past few days, while I've been sick, but today I bumped it up to 2000kcal (was only at 1200kcal after Dinner #1, so no surprise I wasn't sated!). Bleurgh, pokey-out gutness.
Fuel For Thought
Methuselah has written up a simple outline of how to make the Transition To A Primal Diet as a guest post over at straighttothebar.com
Richard Nikoley slaps us in the face with the true enemy of health - SUGAR - with a little help from the fine folks at Sugar Stacks
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Richard Nikoley slaps us in the face with the true enemy of health - SUGAR - with a little help from the fine folks at Sugar Stacks
What's the difference between Primal and Paleo, anyway?
Paleo:
Wikipedia has an excellent breakdown of what our ancestors eat, so this is a good historical guideline of what nature fed us before farming was discovered and we started causing ourselves all manner of health problems.
The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordain, is what can be considered the modern healthy eating Bible for those of us who don't fancy continuing the self-sabotage.
Primal:
Now, while one text published under the title of The Primal Diet refers to only eating raw food, the rest of us appreciate the possibilities (both flavourful and sanitary) of combining food with fire.
The father of what he calls The Primal Blueprint is Mark Sisson, and has published an excellent tome of knowledge and insight - not that I've been able to get my hands on a copy. But if the quality of his blog posts are any indication, one day it will be mandatory reading for all high school students. And I'm only being slightly hyperbolic.
The concept of 'living primally' has more of a focus on the first word there - living. While Primal folk tend to stick to the outlined 'Paleo Diet', we also look at the lifestyle of early humans and the environment within which our genetic blueprint was - arguably - perfected. To quote Mark Sisson, in a summary of the content of his book;
In Chapter One I present the “re:evolutionary” premise that our primal ancestors were bigger, stronger, healthier and possibly smarter than us! I provide a quick summary of the remarkable process of human evolution leading to the creation of the perfect human being…some 10,000 years ago. Our primal human role model from that time – the starring character of the Primal Blueprint - is nicknamed “Grok”. Since 10,000 years ago, the advent of agriculture and the inexorable technological progress of civilization have led us ever further astray from the dietary habits and active, stress-balanced lifestyles that allowed Grok to thrive and prevail under the harsh competitive circumstances of evolution. As a result, we have literally gone soft since then. Furthermore, thanks to medical intervention allowing even those with genetic flaws to reproduce, we exist today in what is arguably a state of devolution.
The ten Primal Blueprint laws allow us to overcome the negative cultural influences in the modern world and achieve robust health, peak longevity and effortless weight loss. The ten laws are: Eat Lots of Plants, Animals and Insects; Avoid Poisonous Things; Move Frequently At A Slow Pace; Lift Heavy Things; Run Really Fast Once In A While; Get Adequate Sleep; Play; Get Plenty of Sunlight; Avoid Stupid Mistakes; and Use Your Brain.
Two notable differences between the ideologies put forward Cordain and Sisson is that Cordain shuns saturated fat and restricts the intake of eggs - two choices that ignore much of the evidence uncovered by paleontologists, as well as more recent studies of cultures which exist in a way believed similar to our ancestors.
And on a baser level - give up egg omelettes and bacon fried in butter every morning? 'Sif.
reade more...
Wikipedia has an excellent breakdown of what our ancestors eat, so this is a good historical guideline of what nature fed us before farming was discovered and we started causing ourselves all manner of health problems.
The Paleo Diet, by Loren Cordain, is what can be considered the modern healthy eating Bible for those of us who don't fancy continuing the self-sabotage.
Primal:
Now, while one text published under the title of The Primal Diet refers to only eating raw food, the rest of us appreciate the possibilities (both flavourful and sanitary) of combining food with fire.
The father of what he calls The Primal Blueprint is Mark Sisson, and has published an excellent tome of knowledge and insight - not that I've been able to get my hands on a copy. But if the quality of his blog posts are any indication, one day it will be mandatory reading for all high school students. And I'm only being slightly hyperbolic.
The concept of 'living primally' has more of a focus on the first word there - living. While Primal folk tend to stick to the outlined 'Paleo Diet', we also look at the lifestyle of early humans and the environment within which our genetic blueprint was - arguably - perfected. To quote Mark Sisson, in a summary of the content of his book;
In Chapter One I present the “re:evolutionary” premise that our primal ancestors were bigger, stronger, healthier and possibly smarter than us! I provide a quick summary of the remarkable process of human evolution leading to the creation of the perfect human being…some 10,000 years ago. Our primal human role model from that time – the starring character of the Primal Blueprint - is nicknamed “Grok”. Since 10,000 years ago, the advent of agriculture and the inexorable technological progress of civilization have led us ever further astray from the dietary habits and active, stress-balanced lifestyles that allowed Grok to thrive and prevail under the harsh competitive circumstances of evolution. As a result, we have literally gone soft since then. Furthermore, thanks to medical intervention allowing even those with genetic flaws to reproduce, we exist today in what is arguably a state of devolution.
The ten Primal Blueprint laws allow us to overcome the negative cultural influences in the modern world and achieve robust health, peak longevity and effortless weight loss. The ten laws are: Eat Lots of Plants, Animals and Insects; Avoid Poisonous Things; Move Frequently At A Slow Pace; Lift Heavy Things; Run Really Fast Once In A While; Get Adequate Sleep; Play; Get Plenty of Sunlight; Avoid Stupid Mistakes; and Use Your Brain.
Two notable differences between the ideologies put forward Cordain and Sisson is that Cordain shuns saturated fat and restricts the intake of eggs - two choices that ignore much of the evidence uncovered by paleontologists, as well as more recent studies of cultures which exist in a way believed similar to our ancestors.
And on a baser level - give up egg omelettes and bacon fried in butter every morning? 'Sif.
Today's Tucker - 3/5/09
Well, let's just say the food was certainly the high point of today's shenanigans.
Breakfast:
The Usual, with a generous side of bacon. Served me very well, kept me going through a tough day of rehearsal - I wasn't even hungry for dinner:
Surf 'N Turf! Salmon fillet, lamb fillet, sautéed red cabbage and spinach, and wild rocket salad with olives, cheddar cheese and cherry tomatoes.
Yeah, I wasn't hungry, but I sure as heck ate it anyways:
... Yeah. And now I've just remembered that I have Parent/Teacher Interviews tomorrow afternoon/night, and now haven't any leftovers (the school provides "food" for the staff, but it's always crap like finger sandwiches and pastries!). Guess I'll be packaging some nuts and cold meats, maybe some boiled eggs...
reade more...
Breakfast:
The Usual, with a generous side of bacon. Served me very well, kept me going through a tough day of rehearsal - I wasn't even hungry for dinner:
Surf 'N Turf! Salmon fillet, lamb fillet, sautéed red cabbage and spinach, and wild rocket salad with olives, cheddar cheese and cherry tomatoes.
Yeah, I wasn't hungry, but I sure as heck ate it anyways:
... Yeah. And now I've just remembered that I have Parent/Teacher Interviews tomorrow afternoon/night, and now haven't any leftovers (the school provides "food" for the staff, but it's always crap like finger sandwiches and pastries!). Guess I'll be packaging some nuts and cold meats, maybe some boiled eggs...
Cooking Tips: How to easily peel Garlic Cloves
Often for people who are new to cooking peeling garlic becomes a rather difficult and messy task. I had a first hand expereince of that when I started cooking long time ago. The shell of the clove doesn’t come away without a significant amount of scraping, usually with my fingernails and I usually ended up getting chunks stuck in my nails and my fingers used to stink of garlic for a long time.Not any more!. There are a couple of simple and easy ways to peel garlic cloves. If your recipe requires that the garlic must be chopped or minced or crushed then the easiest way to peel it is to use a chefs knife or a knife that is a little wide on its sides.
First, pick off your cloves from the bulb, and lay the flat side down. Then, take your chef's knife and with one hand holding the knife handle, lay either flat side of the knife on top of the garlic clove. The garlic should be closer to the knife handle than the center of the blade. With your free hand, slap the heel of your hand down and smash (no too hard though) the side of the blade against the garlic clove. And that's it. The outer skin would have magically detached from the clove, and you now have a perfectly peeled clove ready for chopping.
If your recipe requires that the garlic cloves be used has a whole, then just soak the cloves in cold water for 10-20 minutes. The peel slips off easily, leaving the whole clove intact.