My Kingdom for a Food Processor

We have made it through Week 3 and...well...I just don't have much to say about it. I have been eating a lot of avocados and chicken, with salad and salmon added to the mix. I didn't cook much last Sunday because I had a choir concert and didn't really have time.

This week, though, I went grocery shopping and did some cooking. And the more recipes I try out, the more I realize: I have got to save up for a nice food processor.

I made Cilantro Cauli-Rice tonight. And it is GOOD. Like, "that's all I want to eat for dinner" good. But it was a lot of work, shredding the cauliflower using a box grater. What I wouldn't give for the food processor attachment for my Cuisinart mixer.

Aside from the Paleo cooking, I am also experimenting with variations of apple clafouti. Last week, I made a version using diced apples:

This week, I tried a version with sliced apples. My brain was totally not in it while I was making ith, though...forgot to add the melted butter to the batter until I had already put the plate in the oven. So I pulled it back out and swirled the butter in. Here is the result:

The consistency is completely different from the last one - not nearly as firm. I'm not sure if that is because of the butter mishap or the apples being sliced or if it is the recipe I used this week. No matter the cause, the flavor is good, more like a bread pudding that clafouti. We will see how my castmates react tomorrow.

The clafouti experiments are courtesy of my role in an upcoming production of God of Carnage at Kaleidoscope Theatre. This is SO not on any of the eating plans in Practical Paleo so I am trying to refrain from taste-testing too much.

Paleo Fudgy Babies

Yes, you are getting two posts in one day. Amazing! I just had to share this recipe. I found the original link on Pinterest, which came from Chocolate Covered Katie's blog. She used walnuts and dates, but all I had in the house was pecans and raisins. In my head, that's a substitution that works. And seriously - you need to make these. I don't care if you are eating Paleo or not.

But don't blame me if you end up with a tummyache from eating all the fudgy babies! (actually, go ahead and blame me - then send me a video of you yelling "VAAAAALLLLL" and shaking your fist at the sky!)

Paleo Fudgy Babies

Yield: Approx. 15 small fudgy bites of goodness

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Pecans
1/2 Cup + 1 Tbsp Raisins
1 1/2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in a food processor and, um, process. :-) You want everything to be very well chopped. Form balls of the mixture. Place in mouth, chew, enjoy, repeat.

Made it through another week...

We are heading into week 3. This past week was not as hard as I imagined it would be, but I did have a few moments where all I wanted to do was eat everything that I'm not supposed to.

Take Tuesday, for example. I got up, packed my lunch, and began the drive to work. Halfway there I realized my perfectly packed lunchbag was sitting on the counter. D'oh! Luckily, I had an avocado at work that I had brought in the day before, so that was my mid-morning meal. I went to Zaxby's for lunch and got a grilled salad, no cheese, no fried onions, and no toast. (!!!)

To truly understand the significance of this, I need to explain my obsession with Zaxby's toast. I don't know what they put on it, but holy Toledo, I could probably eat an entire loaf of the stuff for a meal. Plus, being the paragon of healthy eating that I am, I generally dip it in ranch dressing. There have been days where I ordered a salad just to get that toast. Seriously.

So, yes, no toast with my salad, thankyouverymuch! And to be honest, I only kind of missed having it.

I also broke down and had a Five Guys burger on Friday. Do you want to know a secret? If you order a burger from Five Guys, but you don't get cheese, or mayonnaise, or grilled mushrooms, AND you don't eat the bun? It's really just a sad little dried up hamburger patty. All this time, I thought I loved their burgers, but it turns out I was just in it for the toppings.

I am learning so much about myself on this eating plan.