Week One = DONE

Super proud of myself. I took this week in stride. It wasn't without effort, it's just that it was without effort right now because I made a significant effort last month. I practiced meals, finding lunch at a place near my job (that wasn't a salad) and not being lazy.

Well. I did it.

And I ate spectacularly.

Monday (Day 3) consisted of black coffee -that I'm beginning to love, btw- lots of fruit and fresh veggies and delicious meatballs.

I could eat this every single day. Multiple times a day.

It starts like this.

Puree together one medium yellow onion and garlic. Toss the onion/garlic puree in a large bowl with fresh basil, if you have it, and all the other ingredients.

Toss in whatever blend of local, pastured (hippie) ground meat you'd like. Pork and beef work well but so does turkey. Use your clean HANDS to work the ingredients together and then (after washing your hands), use an ice cream scoop to dole out even sized meat balls. I use a cast iron grill for this because the cast iron caramelizes the ingredients together and work an incredible magic called the Maillard reaction.

I heat up Rao's marinara sauce (my favorite) in a shallow pot that will accommodate all the ingredients. Then I spiralize at least 4 big ol' zucchinis. I prefer green zucchini to yellow squash and plan to spiralize some eggplant soon. 

Then I toss them all in the sauce and cover it until I'm ready to chow down. By then, the noodles are tender and perfectly compliment the meatballs.

After the meatballs are done, I toss them on top of the sauce and allow everything to meld together or a few minutes before serving. DROOOOOOL.

Tuesday was about fresh produce, my coworker's AMAZING Whole30 Shepherd's Pie and leftovers.

Wednesday, I made this classic slow cooker peril (so incredibly easy and never fails) and served it alongside carrots and sweet plantains that I grilled on my fav cast iron griddle (seriously, what can't I cook on that thing??) and topped with Whole30 Peruvian Salsa Verde (1 cup of packed cilantro, 2 jalapeños (with seeds), 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup of Whole30 Mayo, salt and pepper to taste - blend).

You're welcome. 

Mas frutas frescas en jueves y cafe. Siempre cafe.

And then Today. Friday, March 7.

I've learned that my new favorite variety of omelette (and, not coincidentally, my toddler's) contains grilled pancetta and broccoli. Mmm. 

And then there was tonight's dinner. 

Butterflied, pastured chicken that I roasted at 350F for 1.5 hours and sat atop a bed of sweet potatoes and shallots. Sitting the chicken on the potatoes and shallots made the dripping fat caramelize the veggies (aka the best flavor ever). I accompanied the roast with cauliflower puree and sautéed spinach.

So my Friday night was banging and I definitely rounded out my week on an upward swing. Hope your week was as awesome!

Meatball Recipe

I will Champion the Cause for Chipotle Mayo

I love Chipotle Mayo. 

Did you hear me?

Here, let me repeat myself: I LOOOOVE CHIPOTLE MAYO. 

Whoever first decided to throw (or accidentally threw) chopped chipotle peppers into mayonnaise was a culinary mastermind on par with the likes of the inventor of fitted sheets. 

BRB stuffing my face...

Appetizer in a hurry!

If there is one trait every single person in my family shares, it's our ability to get HANGRY. What's that, you ask? Oh, that's the mood you get in when it dawns on you you need to eat immediately OR THERE WILL BE DIRE CONSEQUENCES.

That happened late this afternoon as we waited patiently for our food delivery order to arrive (because I already spent all my ambitious cooking energy for the weekend and lived mostly off of photo-shy leftovers). I knew I needed to whip together something super quick and not awful tasting. We set the bar pretty low here. 

Well, I really outdid myself with this one. 

Meet my Mushroom & Avocado appetizer. I was inspired by a conversation I had with dear friends yesterday and an incredible dish I had at a tiny NYC tapas bar named Las Ramblas in the West Village. Super fragrant, super rich, super quick. This will surely be making more frequent appearances in this house! 

Avocado & Mushroom Recipe

Coffee, coffee, coffee. I love coffee.

True story: I only started drinking coffee only after having my daughter. Before then, I was strictly a tea person.

I blame my husband for my complete infatuation with the stuff now. During the past month, while I prepared to embark on my Whole30 journey, I struggled with reconciling no sugar and no dairy in my morning cup of joe. 

My first cup of black coffee was had yesterday. Another true story? I didn't hate it! 

There was a number of little things I did to make the experience a better one. 

First, I added 2 scoops of medium roast beans to my burr grinder, set to a medium grind. 

Second, I added the ground coffee to my Aeropress (which I highly recommend, btw) and added one tsp of ground cinnamon to the grounds. 

Third, the temperature of the water was barely boiling - so probably around 200F/94C - before I poured it over the grounds. I used about 10 fluid oz. 

This was the result:

Hope this helps you kill your sugar demon! 

Coffee Recipe

Thank goodness for Brazilian buffets.

After all my cooking today, I sure didn't feel like cooking tonight. Leftovers were unappealing for no good reason, other than boredom, and so I went to a local place with amazing food. Everything in their diverse buffet is delicious and I frequently find myself trying things I can't easily identify. 

On my plate tonight (clockwise from top left): baked sea bass, baked chicken leg, roasted broccoli, carrots and zucchini, rotisserie beef sirloin with pan drippings and bacon wrapped chicken thigh. aka perfection. 

If (and it's a big if) I get hungry later, I'll grab some pineapple and douse it in lime juice. It's been a good day. 

My mayo didn't break!!

Ive tried making mayo before and it was an utter failure. This time I followed Melissa Jouwen's recipe in her book "Well Fed" and...

IT FINALLY WORKED!

I took one kinda sorta short cut and it really turned out well. From my previous errors, I knew the mayo would break if I over mixed as I added the oil. In the past, my problem was either I drizzled too slowly or too quickly. This time I used a small food processor and added oil in 1/3 cupfuls and pulsed 6 times after each addition. After the last 1/3, I ran the processor for... maybe 5 seconds? until I saw the mayo thicken and I stopped. 

I threw some in tuna with my own spice blend of salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and tumeric (hence, it's very yellow). I ate this alongside some halved cherry tomatoes. 

It came out sooo yummy that it's toddler-approved!! 

Quick midday snack

Sliced, sweet, tricolor peppers and the remaining balsamic vinaigrette from this morning.