As I beheld the beautiful purple-skinned sweet potatoes, I imagined this would be the perfect show-stopping element at dinner. But on the first pass of my potato-peeler, my hopes were shattered. Rather than the deep purple flesh I had envisioned, the skin was white! What Type of Sweet Potato Has Purple Flesh? The thing is, … Read more
These Vietnamese Meatballs are Paleo and Keto friendly! My latest recipe, Paleo Vietnamese Meatballs, is the result of a big, beautiful box of grass-fed, grass-finished beef I received a few days ago from ButcherBox. If you have similar high quality ground beef and want a recipe worthy of it, look no further. Of course you … Read more
Boneless beef short ribs are my new favorite food! Same rich, unctuous flavor and the tenderness of regular beef short ribs without the bones. And anytime fresh ginger, garlic and citrus are involved, you know it’s going to be amazing. My husband spent the entire dinner mmm-ing and remarking about how much he loved this dish. … Read more
Learning how to boil a whole chicken is a basic cooking skill. The goal is to cook the chicken so you can then “de-bone” it for use in a myriad of recipes. By cooking the chicken in filtered water with some vegetables and a few spices, you not only end up with the chicken meat … Read more
Bison Sweet Potato Chipotle Chili is perfect for a cold day – and in spite of what you might think, yes, it does get cold in Texas. In fact, it has been super cold in Texas recently. The last time it was this cold, our hot water froze! The same thing happened last year when … Read more
This Paleo Creamed Spinach Cauliflower Rice recipe works really well for several different eating protocols. Because it is a paleo recipe, it is gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, legume-free, etc… but it also works well for 21 Day Sugar Detox because it contains no sugar or fruit. It’s also great if you are doing the Whole30, and … Read more
This recipe for slow-cooker beef brisket was inspired by a dish served in my office cafeteria recently. After going back to work full-time a few months ago I have had to contend with the decision to eat the food there or not. The cafeteria is beautiful and has a lot of variety. Some of the dishes, like their beef brisket with peppers, are delicious. But I have taken to referring to the cafeteria as “Gluten City”. There is bread or wheat flour or soy in some form or other in just about everything. I usually opt for the salad bar but even the grilled chicken there is suspect because it has a coating on it. There are many days when I have a reaction to something eaten in the cafeteria even when it is a rather plain salad from the salad bar!
In addition to not grasping the importance of labeling foods for people with sensitivities, this particular office cafeteria has fallen victim to the notion that “fat free” or “low fat” is always optimal. Other than olive oil at the salad bar, there is not a lot of healthy fat to be found – not even nuts or yogurt with more than 0% fat content. I have recently noticed the “light cream” option with the coffee has changed to Half-and-Half. They think they are doing everyone a favor with these low-fat, high carb offerings.
Taking my lunch to work has become a new priority for me. I need things that can be cooked in advance in larger quantities and packed up for lunch the following day. This slow-cooker beef brisket recipe fits that bill. It’s really easy and can be thrown together in the morning before work.
Do you like my sign?
We found this in a store recently and it took about two seconds to realize we had to have it. I bet you could find it online if you wanted it in your kitchen. It sort of sets a tone for our family, if you know what I mean.
When my neighbor Tony gifted me with some very fresh venison steaks recently I was excited and a bit apprehensive. Where we live the deer are plentiful and I have long viewed them as pests. Prior to the installation of a high fence for my back yard, our garden was the scene of daily deer … Read more
My husband G works in New York City. He had to work late on Friday night and all day Saturday so his company put him up in a hotel. The boys and I tagged along for moral support. The fact that we could enjoy some of the greatness that NYC has to offer had NOTHING to do with it. Nope. Nothing. It was purely sacrificial on our part. 😉
Since we were there early Saturday morning, the boys and I made our way to The Breslin which is a restaurant in the Ace Hotel. We ordered the “Full English Breakfast” – one for me and one for the boys to split (plus an extra side of sausage, of course!)
The breakfast came with blood pudding, also known as black pudding or blood sausage. It is a popular dish in many parts of the world but not something Americans tend to eat. No matter how paleo-esque it might be, the thought of eating blood pudding did not fill me with glee. The restaurant would not allow for substitutions so I did try the pudding. But while it essentially tasted like breakfast sausage, I could not get past the IDEA of eating blood.
Here’s a photo of the pudding – it’s a terrible shot but you get the idea.
Not appetizing. Sorry all you blood pudding fans…
Everything else was delicious but I made the mistake of letting the boys sit next to each other so it ended up being one of the most expensive and frustrating breakfasts I have ever had. My intention of taking lots of photos did not pan out partly because it was very dark in the restaurant but mostly because I was just so aggravated. The boys were far more manageable after they stuffed themselves with lots of pork products and eggs. Whew! (For more info and photos of The Breslin you can check out Nom Nom Paleo’s recent post.)
The High Line Park
After breakfast we headed to The High Line which is a public park built on an historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It was opened in 2009 and is owned by the City of New York. It was saved from demolition by the community and is an amazing example of how to use a historic site as public space.
Here’s our view of the Empire State Building.
And some of the interesting architecture visible from The High Line.
Nathaniel enjoyed pretending to be a giant standing in the middle of the street grabbing (literally) a cab.
Moving along The High Line trail we happened upon a dashing cellist.
Then Benjamin bounded down some of the seats lining a street overlook when disaster struck. This shot was taken about ten seconds before he fell and broke (we suspect) his arm. (And just by the way, I HATE that sign in the background.)
So that was the end of our walk. We headed back to the hotel to decide what to do with the poor little guy. Before driving back home we made a final stop at Grom for some gelato. For some reason this made Ben feel much better. Hmm.
One of our other fun experiences in New York, albeit Long Island, was referenced in my last post. For brunch in the village of Southampton I experienced duck confit sweet potato hash. It made enough of an impression that I determined to make a version of it at home. The hash uses sweet potatoes instead of the standard white potatoes which are generally eschewed on the paleo diet. But aside from that, the taste of sweet potatoes with the fatty, rich duck meat is exquisite and it’s far more beautiful than white potatoes anyway.
Duck confit is prepared by salt curing a piece of meat (generally goose, duck, or pork) and then poaching it in its own fat. The meat is rubbed with salt, garlic, and herbs then covered and refrigerated for up to 36 hours. Duck confit is often sold in cans but I was only able to find the individual legs in a local grocery store.
Once you have some duck confit you can begin the process of making the duck confit sweet potato hash.
First you will need to find some sweet potatoes.
Then peel them.
Then dice them.
Grab a red onion, dice it up, chop some fresh parsley and congratulate yourself on being an ace sous chef.
Now it’s time to get serious about cooking the duck confit sweet potato hash.
As the summer wanes we have been trying to cram as many good things into the remaining days as possible. To this end, the boys and I have spent some blissful afternoons at a nearby arboretum. The weekends bring the crowds of wedding parties so we journey there on weekdays. The peace of the gardens … Read more
