The blogs I regularly read fall into three main categories: crafts, fitness and food. In an attempt to diversify this little corner of mine on the internet and make it more interesting, I figured I might as well bring all my interests to the table. (Snerk snerk, get it?!)
One of my good friends refers to things I eat as 'hippie food'; I personally am more likely to call it 'Emma's Weird Food' in my head. Is it all that weird? Not really! I'm sure you'll recognize all the ingredients I use and the forms my food takes, I just have a certain (debateably arbitrary) set of restrictions and guidelines I try to follow. I eat my own modified version of paleo/primal--the main difference between the two camps is paleo=no dairy, primal=limited dairy. Both eschew grains, refined sugar, soy, legumes and processed foods for various reasons. I'm not super nitpicky, at least not by Paleo Police standards. I buy grass-fed/wild-caught/organic food products when I can and conventional when I can't. I read labels, but I really don't care if soy lecithin happens to be in something I'm eating and I use soy/legumes in limited amounts (mostly tamari and peanut butter!) And I am down with off-plan eats for special occasions or treats but try to keep the damage to a minimum.
You can read more about it if you're curious. I'm not gung-ho about the 'eat like a caveman' rationale that some use to explain it, I simply like eating this way because it makes me feel good and encourages creative cooking. How would your diet change if suddenly you had no more breakfast cereal, bread for toast or sandwiches, pasta at dinnertime? It took a while to get used to this mindset but now it feels easy.
I'm generally not a recipe-follower. While I like reading food blogs aka food porn and drooling over their recipes, it doesn't jive with my style of cooking which is more of a scan-the-fridge-and-cook-shit-fast method. Unless I'm planning to try a certain recipe, I buy whatever protein and veggies look good and figure it out on the fly. That being said, I did try a few new recipes recently that have been added to the roster for good!
Top Left: This is my usual method of operating, toss random ingredients together and eat. In this case, salad topped with heat-n-eat garlic Gruyere chicken sausages, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and balsamic vinaigrette. Wasn't sure if this combination would work but it was great! 99% of the time I heat up my protein before adding it to a salad--the exception being canned tuna, sardines or hardboiled eggs--because I love the warm/cold contrast.
Top Right: Not strict paleo but so worth it! Mini bison meatballs (no recipe, just meat+onion+spices), baked polenta with tomato sauce and sauteed chard. I have a huge crush on Joy the Baker's blog. I won't let myself make most of her recipes, so I just look at the pretty pictures and fantasize about whatever baked confection she has posted recently.
Bottom Left: This meal thanks to Ravelry! A woman in the fitness group I frequent had posted before about making potsticker burgers, but using pork instead of the turkey suggested in the recipe. Now THAT is a substitution I can get behind! Rather than make the accompanying slaw, I did my usual simple stir-fry of various chopped veggies tossed with tamari, rice vinegar and sesame oil at the end.
Bottom Right: Ok, you would think that miso tahini sweet potatoes and broccoli would be super weird but it is soooo good! Smitten Kitchen has some damn fine healthy recipes (just look past the baked goods, as hard as that is!) and they're easy to modify to be paleo-friendly in my case. Instead of serving over rice, I added some mahi-mahi which I briefly marinated in miso and rice vinegar to match the flavors. The second time I made just the veggies as a side for a different meal, I forgot the toasted sesame seeds and it wasn't quite as good without them. You can leave the sweetener out of the sauce with no noticeable difference though!
Not Pictured: Spaghetti Squash Bolognese, which we ate too fast to take a picture of. And made a second batch of later in the week--it was that good. I own the book (Practical Paleo) the recipe is from, but a lot of them are also reposted on her website.
That has been your glimpse into my recent eats. I plan to bring you more in the future--til then, tell me about your food? I love seeing what other people eat, I'm like a Peeping Tom but only for meal planning. Or ask me questions about my diet!
...spending lazy weekends with these two weirdos.
...finally finding the perfect lipgloss formula! Laura Mercier Lip Glace, in Violet.
...completing your first aerial fabric recital in a most spectacular fashion. Yes, I'm wearing a pink fishnet shirt. We performed to Britney, 'nuff said!
...hearing that a Heliopath KAL is about to start and being super flattered that people like your pattern enough to run a KAL!
