Paleo Cauliflower French Fries, or Cauli with Nooch

Do you desperately miss the taste of a crispy french fry?  If so, you are IN LUCK today peeps.  These cauli fries are in-cred-ible.  They have an amazing french fry flavor, are super easy to make, and are baked, not fried, so no messy grease spatter all over the kitchen.  And they are super nutritious to boot, made with nutritional yeast.  Don't have any?  Get some.  It's inexpensive, and packed with vitamins and tons of protein.  It's not like regular yeast, and it imparts a savory, almost parmesan-ish flavor.  In this recipe, it just tastes deep and salty like a good ol' french fry should.  

Cauliflower French Fries, or Cauli with Nooch

 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
couple tablespoons EVOO
1 tbsp garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste
2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast

Put your cauli florets into a very large mixing bowl.  Preheat your oven to 400.  Toss your cauli with EVOO, start with 2 tbsp and see if that's enough, and then add in your garlic powder, about 1/2 tbsp of kosher salt, and your nooch.  Combine well and taste.  Adjust seasonings accordingly.  You may want them saltier, more garlicy, and more noochy.  This makes a nice coating on the cauli and after baking for about 40 minutes the fries will be crunchy and have an almost breaded texture to them.

Seriously, double this recipe.  You will want to eat the entire thing all by yourself.  No joke!

These make a great side dish to any meal.  I baked mine off at the same time as some noochy chicken thighs.  Easy and no muss no fuss.

What else is going on?  Not a whole lot.  I am doing a two-week trial at Pure Barre right now, which I first learned about earlier this year on our Aspen trip.  It's similar to Bar Method, but a little less stuffy.  Not as "formal" if you catch my drift.  I'm liking it, though not as much as my beloved Fusion.  You don't really sweat much, though it is hard as f*ck, and I often feel like I need to go home and hop on the treadmill afterwards.  But I'll keep at it until the two weeks are up and make my decision then!

In other food news, have you ever made shakshuka?  It's an israeli dish that basically is just eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.  Easy and yummy, especially if you can get your hands on some clean arrabiata sauce.  You simmer your sauce until it's warmed through, drop in your eggs, and bake at 425 for 10 minutes.  Easy!

I'm thinking of making my thai chicken soup again, but this time with shrimp.  And snow peas. Sounds good eh?

Alrighty folks.  I'll leave with you some goofy selfies from this week.  I am enjoying super bright nail polish and clashing weird outfits lately.  Anything to spice up cold and dreary January right? XoXoGFG

Whole30 Week 3 Eats/Update

I am going to be totally 100% honest here.  How am I doing on the Whole30?  Good and bad, in equal parts.  Here is the good:

-I have finally broken free of my desire for sweetened coffee!  This is huge, probably the biggest thing for me.  I don't care to sweeten my daily cup o' joe anymore and I am truly ecstatic over this.  Some cinnamon and cream and I am good to go.
-I am totally dunzo with peanuts and beans, and don't miss them in the least.  They make me uncomfortable and give me crazy nausea.  Good riddance.
-I'm fine with drinking water, tea, or decaf coffee, whereas I used to crave  diet drinks.
-I do not miss treats, cookies, etc at all.
-I do not miss cheese at all, goodbye cheese.  (I do continue to use cream and butter though.)
-Starch is a big problem for me, intestinally.  Anytime I ingest any amount of starch I pay for it big time.  I have felt much better eliminating starches from my diet.

The Bad:
-8 weeks of absolutely nothing sweet at all has been rough.  It was fine the first 6 weeks or so, but now I am just dying for a little dried fruit.  That's all I want!  No cookies or treats, just some dried fruit as a snack.  I have had some here and there and then felt really guilty.  I have been able to stop myself, but a few times I have soooo wanted to go to town on something and just barely been able to walk away.
-I am tired of snacking on nuts and I overindulge and then feel gross.  It is annoying to only be able to snack on protein and nuts.  I keep lots of veggies in the house but they need some sort of preparation/thawing and that is not really what a snack is, essentially.  Snacks are my downfall!
-I have not done as good a job as I hoped I would.  Taking bites and tastes of things I shouldn't.  However, I have been 100% faithful to the no peanuts and no beans.
-My blood sugars have been a little wacko, I can't pinpoint why exactly.  I feel like things I used to ingest without issue are now giving me a lot of trouble.  I'll have to continue to monitor this.  I have not been using any sweeteners of any kind, so I know it's not that.  It could just be my diabetes progressing, who knows.
-My tummy has actually been kind of bothering me.  No discernible pattern to it, it could be anything, I could have a bug, not be drinking enough water, I don't know.  I'm not sure why, but I felt amazing during my sweetener detox, and then now that I am doing Whole30 I've had some problems.  It very well could be that I was super strict on my detox but once I got into Whole30 mode I relaxed a little, and that's whats bothering me.  I am going to try to be way more compliant and see if that helps.

All in all, I'm still pretty happy with where I am.  No sweetener in my coffee is great, and I think I've broken my treat-addiction, which is thrilling, for serious.  I'm not sure there is a way I'll be able to incorporate any amount of fruit back into my diet without some major blood sugar issues, but I'll try, once Whole30 is over.  I am also stoked to have successfully rid my diet of cheese, beans, and peanuts.  That is major improvement for me.

Annnnyyyways folks, lets talk Whole30 eats shall we?  This week is an interesting one!  I whipped up some cod with an onion curry sauce on Monday, and some crazy good spiced carrots.  These carrots will change what you think of carrots forever.  Make them ASAP!  Here is the recipe.   The cod was super simple.  Saute some onions until browned, sprinkle about 2 tsp of curry powder over, pour in two tbsp of broth, reduce, and pour over sauteed cod (which I also sprinkled liberally with curry powder).  Takes maybe 20 min. tops.

We are also going to have some Nom Nom Paleo inspired bacon-avocado sammies with a fried-egg topped salad, and tomorrow I am super pumped to make some slow cooker ribs with my own Paleo Barbecue Sauce recipe.  The sauce is simmering on the stove right now and smells awesome.  With the ribs I'm going to make a quick side dish of sauteed cabbage and 'shrooms.

And that's about it folks.  I am thrilled to officially be on vacation through 1/3!  I'll be in Chicago with family for a wedding for about a week, so I'm not sure how much cooking I'll be doing, but hopefully I'll have some fun posts and positive Whole30 updates for you.  I also need to do a Justus Drugstore restaurant review, an amazing locovore farm-to-table nose-to-tail joint located in bumblef*ck Smithville, MO.  Truly an incredible meal.  I'll do a recap when I have a bit more time.

Lastly- some stupid fun pics.  What do you think- have I gone off the deep end?

Thanksgiving Recap, Detox Update, and Tangy Bacon Brussel Sprouts

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Now that we are almost a week out- what were your successes and downfalls?  Any amazing recipes?  Any not so amazing recipes?  Hopefully regardless of the food you all spent a happy, healthy, wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.  I had quite the week, with my twin 3 year old nephews in town, Thanksgiving, and a quick trip to Chicago for a bachelorette party, it was definitely an eventful few days!

Before the food, just a few updates.

I got a gel manicure the day before Thanksgiving.  I believe the brand is CND Shellac?  Here is a pic a week later.  I don't think I would do it again- for one, it's pretty expensive.  And yes, I appreciate the no chip and I do like that it stays shiny, but the thought of wearing it for another week is a little tiresome.  Plus, by then the rest of my nailbeds are going to be prettttty worked.  Ew.  I have had a few little chips here and there, but nothing like what my normal manicure would be looking like by now.  I also really loved that it was totally dry by the time you left the salon.  But unless you are absolutely in love with your color, and your salon has a really good selection, you will probably be dunzo with your mani before it's done with you.  But hey, if you are a nurse/cook or use your hands a ton and can't deal with chipping manicures and have the extra $$$, go for it!

Detox Update:
I have 3 more days before I finish my sweetener/sugar detox and move on to Whole30.  Since giving up sweeteners, treats, and cutting out most starches, my blood sugar has been consistently lower.  I thought for awhile it might be due to my off-week on birth control pills as hormones can raise your blood sugar, but that ended over a week ago now.  While my sugars weren't necessarily out of control before, it's definitely been interesting to watch them go down.  The only modification I have made is cutting out sweeteners and eating minimal starches.  And my A1C was even lower, 4.9!  Crazy!  Are sweetener the devil?  No, not necessarily.  I still have the Whole30 to get through before I can even think about using them again.  But lower blood sugars are great.  And I really don't miss the treats too terribly much.  The one time I did, was over the weekend at my cousins bach party when everyone was eating tons of crap and candy.  But I got over it.  Have I snuck a few tastes of things here and there?  Yup.  I have.  I'm not perfect.  Am I totally in love with unsweetened coffee and tea?  Not really.  But we'll just have to see what happens after Whole30.  I will be cutting out cheese, all legumes including peanuts, anything with "gums" in them, and continuing to abstain from sweeteners, any kind of fruit, starches, treats, and anything else not Whole30 approved.  Looking forward to it!

Thanksgiving was strangegoodbadfun.  I loved having some time off work.  I spent some quality time with my super cute little nephews, and S had a great time playing with her COUSINS all week.  I enjoyed some great QT with me, myself, and I on Wednesday, and went on a date with MKG.  I slept in once or twice and we had great weather.  It was nice!  I also had a very strange doctors appointment, where I learned more about my 57 autoimmune diseases, and was two hours late (due to said doctors appointment) for family pics with my in-laws.  Thanksgiving day was kind of weird.  I was home by myself most of the day cooking and packing for my trip, which is kind of an odd way to spend T-Day! I got to my in-laws in the afternoonish.  I know I am picky and have a modified diet and yes I guess I am a bit of a snob when it comes to food, but seriously- if you are ever going to bring out the big guns and put 100% into your food, put your heart, soul, and complete effort into it, it should be Thanksgiving right?  If you aren't going to do that, then you should really leave the cooking to someone else.  That's my honest opinion.  No one wants to eat an afterthought.  Or a a table full of afterthoughts. Ick.  Ok, that's off my chest.  I made a couple items- Kale salad which I may or may not post, pumpkin bars which were good but just your run of the mill paleo pumpkin bars which you can surely make on your own, and a DELISH brussel sprout dish, which I share below.

Tangy Bacon Brussel Sprouts

2 lbs brussel sprouts, trimmed and quartered
2 shallots, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
8 ounces bacon, chopped into lardons
EVOO

Roast your quartered sprouts in some EVOO, salt and pepper in a 450 degree oven until they are nice and browned.  20 min or so.  Remove and transfer to a large bowl.  In a saute pan, fry up your bacon lardons, and remove lardons when crispy.  Cook shallots in the bacon fat until translucent and starting to caramelize.  Add in your garlic and cook for a few more minutes. Add your mustard and red wine vinegar and cook for just another minute until well incorporated.  When ready to serve, toss your sprouts with the dressing.  This is best served warm but it's still quite good at room temp!

The morning after T-day I was on a plane, Chicago-bound for my cousins spa bachelorette party in Lake Geneva, WI.  We stayed at the Grand Geneva and all enjoyed some amaze spa treatments.  If you are ever in that neck of the woods, I definitely recommend it!  Lake Geneva is a quaint, sweet old resort town just an hour and a half outside Chicago.  The six of us had a blast, and I even was able to squeeze in a haircut!  And I'd like to mention, that if someone wanted to build me a steamroom, I probably wouldn't say no.  #justsayin

Ok folks.  Hope you have all recovered from T-day.  I am happy to report I seem to have made it through the detox.  Now, on to Whole30!  Who's with me????