MEAT!

Oh Gawd, is it totally sad that I'm thrilled, THRILLED that a mighty delivery of organic meats is coming my way this Saturday?? Oh sure, I have a play to go and see this weekend, and I'll be getting some much-needed rest after so many long days writing reports, and I plan to take in a massage treatment or a facial or something equally pampering and relaxing. These are all nice things. But no; what really has me jumping up and down like a frisky little bunny is the promise of MEAT in my fridge! No, literally!!

A delicious custom order from Organic Direct will ensure my fridge/freezer is packed with organic beef, lamb and chicken for the next month! My saviour now that Macro is selling out to Woolworths... Can't wait to meet Peter this weekend - maybe if I tell him that he's getting promoted on the Internet by yours truly, he'll hurry up and start supplying organic pork! Oooh, if I could get organic, free range pork roasts, I'd just live off meat forever...

In the meantime, here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: yeah no. That was never going to happen. I had planned to get up and shower this morning also. Yeah no. Even the fringe was pinned back today, lest I looked like some teenage bogan. Not hot for an English teacher. I made up for the crap hair with an awesome outfit, which will be even more awesome when the hair is flowing and clean...

Lunch: Leftover Primal Beef Curry - garnered quite a lot of interest in the staffroom, I tell you.

Afternoon snack: Primal Almond Cookies - still so crunchy and nom.

Dinner: Had to be meat. Oh yes. I was craving meat like crazy. So since the boy was tacking care of his own dinner (never a good idea - here's proof), I felt it was safe to have my old favourite hit of protein:


Lamb forequarter chops, scrambled eggs, and lettuce. Oh yes.

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San Antonio Chicken

San Antonio ChickenSouthwest seasoned chicken with corn, green bell pepper, pimientos, and black beans, mixed with rice.

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Recipe: Primal Beef Curry, Part II

Equally delicious the second time around!



A little less specific with the measurements this time, which means it's entering my repertoire properly...

Saute together for 5 minutes:
2T coconut oil
2 cloves garlic
1 big red onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped

Add and stir for 3 minutes:
450g organic beef, diced
1T fijian curry powder
1T thyme
1t cumin

Add, stir and then simmer for an hour:
400g can diced tomatoes
1 gigantic organic tomato, chopped
1 small green capsicum (pepper), chopped
5 olives, chopped

Served over cauliflower rice with a side of spinach. No flaked almonds on top this time around; getting enough nuts from my Primal Coconut & Almond Bites!

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Recipe: Tasty Treats! (beta version)

Started my day with a sleep-in, although unfortunately not as decadent as yesterday's. Packed up my remaining primal muffins and ate them at brunch.

No time for lunch (and no desire for lunch, either), so waited until dinner at 6:30pm:


Organic chicken drumsticks on a bed of lettuce. Washed it down with a plate of sautéed cabbage.

Then I killed some time whipping up some tasty treats in the kitchen. Still perfecting my Primal Almond & Coconut Rough bites - added almond butter today, which allowed more of a ball formation rather than pressing the mix into bars. The recipe currently stands as: 60g melted coconut oil, 15g cocoa powder, 40g finely dessicated coconut, 25g flaked almonds, and 25g almond butter. Mix together, form into balls, and refrigerate until firm. I don't add sweetener, but you could add a tablespoon of honey or maple syrup if you need the sweet kick. These measures are to make 10 balls of ~100kcal each, which makes my life easier! If I made any more at once, bad things might happen... :)

Then I had my first go at Primal Cookies - almond meal, shredded coconut, coconut oil, egg and some spices... Mixed together into a big ball, separated into 12 smaller balls, and flattened gently on a tray lined with baking paper. 15 minutes in a 180degC oven...

The results -


(WARNING: The following images may induce uncontrollable saliva production)










Still there? Or have you been swept away by a tidal wave of drooooolllll?

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Roasts & Reports

After a bit of a late night, I took advantage of my first proper sleep-in in weeks, and rose at 1pm. Ah, refreshing! As luck would have it, this meant that I had, in essence, fasted for 20 hours! Broke the fast with some leftover roast beef and scrambled eggs.


(My meals look so huge in these photos - the plate's really only about 7" wide!)

Today was sacrificed to the gawds of curriculum and assessment = report writing. Year 7 is in the bag - can't sleep tonight until Year 12 is done and dusted too. So I ate well to keep my energy up:


Oh yessss... Pork roast (notice the CRACKLING!) with sautéed red cabbage and spinach in coconut oil. Delectable.

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Butter Chicken Curry Recipe

Butter Chicken Recipe (Murg Makhani) is my Mother's favorite recipe and is also among the best known Indian foods all over the world. Butter chicken is usually served with naan, roti, parathas, ghee rice, jeera rice or plain steamed rice and its gravy can be made as mild or hot as you like so it suits most palates.

There are many stories surrounding the origin of Butter Chicken. According to a documentary by the Discovery Channel, the butter chicken recipe was invented by a person working in the kitchen staff of a famous restaurant called Moti Mahal located in Daryaganj, the central region of Delhi.

Butter Chicken Recipe Ingredients:

• Chicken: 1 kg or 2.2 lb
• Onion paste: 1 cup
• Tomato puree: 2 cups
• Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tbsp
• Green Chili: 2 nos
• Meat Masala powder: 2 tbsp
• Red Chili powder: 1 tbsp
• Food Color: 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Dhania powder: 1 1/2 tbsp
• Kasoori Methi: 2 tbsp
• Butter: 100 gms
• Coconut paste (Optional) : 1/2 cup (Add more if you need more gravy)
• Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
• Cinnamon (Dalchini), Cloves (Lavang) and Cardamom (Elaichi) powder: Make 1/4 tsp of powder with 2 sticks of cinnamon, 4 cloves and 2 cardamom
• Salt to taste
• Coriander for garnish

Butter Chicken Recipe Cooking Method:

Chicken Marination

1. In a bowl add chicken, 1/2 cup onion paste, 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp salt, food color and mix well. Keep aside for 1 hour.

 

Butter Chicken Curry or Gravy

1. In a pan on medium heat add butter. When the butter melts add the remaining onion paste and saute for around 5 minutes till the raw smell of onion no longer exists.
2. Add the green chili cut into long slices and ginger garlic paste to the mix and stir for 3 minutes.
3. Add tomato puree and cook for another 6 minutes
4. Then add 1/4 cup water.
5. Add dhani powder, meat masala powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, chili powder and mix well.
6. Now add the marinated chicken and cook for 15 minutes with a lid covering the pan on low heat.
7. At this stage add cinnamon, cloves and cardamom powder, kasoori methi and coconut paste. If you want more gravy you can add more water and salt.
8. Cook for another 10 minutes or so until the chicken is well cooked.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot. This delicious Butter Chicken goes very well with all types of Rotis and flavored rice like Ghee Rice and Jeera Rice.

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It Sucks To Be You!

No, don't be all offended, it's just a quote from the show we're off to see tonight - Avenue Q! Think Sesame St. for adults - puppets singing songs about taboo subjects such as racism, homosexuality... Wait, where's the taboo again? Should be fun!

Functional eating yesterday, to accompany my wading through the final lot of marking before I could get cracking on my reports. Gotta love June.

Breakfast - leftover Cauliflower Pizza
Lunch - Lamb forequarter chops
Dinner - Vegetable soup
2nd dinner - Bacon!

Today was spent shopping, marking, and discovering that my reports were still saved on the school network... Oops. We're popping 'round on our way to the show to transfer the files over. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

Fasted through breakfast
Lunch - Chicken drumsticks
Dinner:


Beef roast, roast zucchini, brussell sprouts and carrot.

Also whipped up some Primal Coconut Rough (coconut oil, cocoa powder, shredded coconut, and slivered almonds) and had a few pieces throughout the day. Fulfills the psychological desire for chocolate without the slightest sweetness risking cravings. A tasty way to get my day's coconut oil!

On with the show...

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