Day 1 of the New Eating Plan

So I made it through Day 1 of the New Eating Plan I told you about last week.  I drank 96 oz of water but no coffee or alcohol.  I ate tons of fruit, veggies and  whole grains and a little bit of protein as is required for Phase 1.  Yesterday and today are the Unwind Days.  By eating in this manner for 2 days at the beginning of the week, your body is supposed to relax the adrenals and allow your hormones to shift back to normal function.

It is hard for me to eat so much fruit.  I am required to eat 1 1/2 c. of fruit, 5 times a day on this phase.  I made steel cut oats for breakfast. letting it cook overnight in the crockpot.  For lunch I had a large spinach salad topped with tuna fish and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and for dinner we had.......

this absolutely delicious Chicken Broccoli Bowl that I slightly adapted from a recipe in the book The Fast Metabolism Diet.  I liked that the entire group of us could eat and enjoy the same thing for dinner.  I think that one of the benefits of this eating plan is that it is easily adaptable to eating with others which is always important to me.

Before I share the recipe with you I want to talk a bit about how I am feeling after 1 complete day on this eating plan.  I felt pretty good yesterday, however I awoke twice during the night with a headache probably from caffeine withdrawal.  It was gone when I got out of bed but I am feeling a little shaky, weepy and have a touch of nauseau today.  I am sure this is part of the detox process and will, hopefully, soon pass.

I will update you occasionally during this venture I am undertaking and sharing the meals that I make for us during this 28 day period.  I adapted this recipe by changing up some of the veggies and making enough to serve 6 people instead 4.  I also cooked the brown rice much longer than suggested in the book, following the instructions on the package

Chicken Broccoli Bowl

slightly adapted from The Fast Metabolism Diet

4 c. chicken broth

1 c. water

3/4 c. vidalia onions, diced

3/4 c .carrots, diced

3/4 c. celery, diced

2 T. parsley, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. brown rice

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks

4 c. broccoli crowns

1 red pepper, seeded and cut into strips

1/2 lime, juiced

sea salt

pepper

2 T. parsley, minced

Place broth and water in a stock pot or dutch oven.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, parsley and garlic. Bring to a rolling boil, add rice, reduce heat and gently boil, covered, for 40-50 minutes until liquid i absorbed and rice is tender.

While rice is cooking, toss the chicken, broccoli and red pepper with the lime juice, salt, pepper and parsley.  Spread onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375* oven for 35-40 minutes, until chicken is cooked and broccoli is tender.

Place a scoop of rice into each bowl and top with the chicken and vegetables. Print Recipe

Gluten Free Spinach Pie celebrating Corelli's Mandolin for #BookClubCookBookCC

I am still reading Corelli's Mandolin and I am enjoying it but it is slow going because I have a house full of company this month.  My brother, his wife, daughter in law and granddaughter are here from California.  Our son, Chuck, was here for a week from his duty station in Portsmouth, VA.  So we have been entertaining, sightseeing, being entertained, and living life to the fullest.  This leaves little time for reading.  I do pick up Corelli's Mandolin when I retire at night but I think I keep reading the same few sentences before crashing into oblivion.  I am going to finish this book, I am just not sure that I will finish it this month.

I am reading this selection for our Book Club Cookbook Cooking Club started one year ago by my friend, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  Under Cam's guidance we have worked our way through twelve of the books featured in the Book Club Cookbook.  Some of us have chosen to read the books, some have chosen to read some of the books and some of us have chosen to just read the cookbook.  Each month we get together and share a recipe that we were inspired to create or recreate from these sources.

This month, being our last month, is once again being hosted by Cam.  You can read her invitation post and enter a giveaway for your very own Book Club Cookbook here .  Cam included in the invitation post the recipe for Spankopita as found in the Book Club Cookbook.  I decided to make Spinach Pie as well for this month's event, but having company that is gluten intolerant, I went on a search for a gluten free version.  I found this recipe at Ditch the Carbs, a blog written by Libby.

I adapted the recipe slightly by using dill instead of mint.  I made the crust with brown rice flour instead of coconut flour, because I grabbed the wrong bag from the pantry and added it without looking first. I did not prebake the crust as it was pretty thin and I didn't think it would be necessary. I was right. I was a little nervous because I LOVE the Spinach Pie recipe I normally use and it was from this recipe that I got the idea to add dill instead of mint to this recipe.

The crust went together in a moment and was easily pressed into the bottom of a deep dish pie pan.  

Using a stand mixer made short work of the filling.  I poured that over the crust and placed it in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

The filling puffed up and browned a bit.  A knife inserted into the center removed cleanly.  I removed it from the oven to a cooling rack.  I was thrilled when I had my first bite...it was savory with a bit of a tang to it from the cream cheese.  I am very happy I added the dill because I love the bright fresh flavor it imparts to spinach pie but I'm sure the mint would be good as well, perhaps making it even a bit more savory.

It is more of a quiche, I would say, than your traditional spinach pie.  We enjoyed a piece right from the oven, piping hot for breakfast and then I cut up the rest of the pie into bite size pieces and served it, room temperature, as part of an appetizer table that I set out after we had our parents cremains interred into our church cemetery.  They graced the table along with shrimp cocktail, cheese and crackers, veggies and hummus and chips and nuts that we nibbled on as we waited for the food to arrive that I had ordered in for lunch.  It was nice knowing that there was plenty of tasty treats for everyone to enjoy even those who suffer from gluten intolerances.

Gluten Free Spinach Pie

adapted from Ditch the Carbs

Crust:

1 c. almond meal

1 egg

1 T. brown rice flour

salt and pepper to taste

Filling:

1 (16 oz) bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

6 eggs

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese. softened

1/4 c. diced sweet onion

6 oz. crumbled Feta cheese

large handful of chopped dill

pepper to taste

Place the almond meal, egg, rice flour, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Mix together with a fork until combined.  Press into the bottom of a deep dish pie plate.

Place spinach, eggs, cream cheese, onion, feta, dill and pepper into the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until combined but with some chunks of cream cheese and feta remaining.  Pour over crust and bake in a preheated 350* oven for 45-50 minutes, until puffed and slightly browned and a knife inserted in the center removes cleanly.  Print Recipe

Grilled Carrots with Redskin Potatoes for #FoodnFlix

Our movie choice for Food n Flix this month is Popeye, starring Robin Williams and Shelly Duvall.  I was happy with this choice made by Elizabeth of  The Lawyer's Cookbook, formerly The Law Student's Cookbook :), which gives a hint to how long she has been blogging. This is Elizabeth's invitation post and you still have time to join us if you'd like.

It had been years since I saw this movie.  It was fun and a little bittersweet seeing Robin Williams so young with his life yet ahead of him.  He did a great job as Popeye and Shelly Duvall was perfect as Olive Oyl.  I thought the entire crew was well casted. It is a goofy, spoofy movie just like the cartoon. It is a musical which I always enjoy.  

Now, I am sure you are imagining that I am going to make something with spinach.  I would have thought so as well, especially since I love spinach.  But you know who doesn't like spinach?  Popeye. At least not in the beginning of the movie.  What Popeye does like is carrots and when he first arrives in town he goes to the vendor to buy some.  The vendor tries his darndest to convince Popeye to get broccoli or brussels sprouts or even spinach but Popeye only has eyes for the carrots.

Popeye takes his carrots and heads out to find a room.  The townsfolk do not take kindly to strangers but he finally finds an opening at the Oyl's house.  There he meets Olive, Wimpy and Bluto to whom Olive is engaged, and the fun begins.  It's not a bad way to spend an evening especially if you have fond memories of the cartoon.

I cleaned the carrots leaving a little of the stem intact.  These were young, fresh carrots that I had gotten from the farmer's market so I didn't bother scraping them.  A good scrub and a toss with olive oil, salt and pepper was all they needed.

I had planned to serve a rice pilaf as the starch with our dinner the night I made these carrots but then changed my mind and tosssed some red skin potatoes into the carrot mixture.

I dumped the entire conglomeration into a grill pan and let them cook until tender with some browning.  It was a dish that Popeye would have loved, unless he was trying to find a spot at the Oyl's table where the food disappears faster than a person can find a chair and take a seat.

Grilled Carrots with Redskin Potatoes

1 bunch young carrots, scrubbed and most of the tops removed

4-5 Redskin potatoes, cleaned and halved or quartered depending on size

3 T. olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.  Transfer to a grill pan set over a grill that has been preheated to high heat.  Close the lid and let roast, tossing every few minutes, until tender and golden in spots, about 15 minutes.  Print Recipe

The Ozarks meet Haut-Medoc??

I won a book from Foodies Read.....wooohooooo.  Well, actually I had my choice of  3 books and I chose :

Homegrown in the Ozarks: Mountain Meals and Memories by Rolland Love

From Good Reads: Growing up, Rolland Love roamed the Ozark Mountains, floated its rivers, and provided food for the family. "We grew vegetables, hunted game, and enjoyed the rivers' bounty," he says. "We were self-sufficient. And there was no need to travel, we already lived in paradise." 

You'll find:

•  Fried sweet corn and peppers 
• Grandma's chicken 'n' dumplin's
•  Jefferson Davis pie 
• Huckleberry hotcakes 
• Soft-shell turtle soup 
• Pawpaw and black walnut cookies
•  And - just for fun - possum sweet potato bake and stuffed roast raccoon.

 Homegrown in the Ozarks contains Ozarks nostalgia, as well as recipes for traditional home-cookin' favorites, truly capturing the flavor of the region.

While I was reading I felt like I was sitting around a campfire or fireplace listening to a favorite uncle tell stories about his childhood.  I also liked that the recipes were local for his area with homegrown, foraged and hunted ingredients, many of which are available right here in my homestate of Michigan.

There are a lot of recipes that I am going to try in this book.  Tons of great veggie recipes for after a visit to the farmers market and some wonderful southern dishes that made my mouth water.  What I decided to make though, was the Ozark Style Venison Stroganoff.

I adapted the recipe to make it gluten free as I was feeding others who are gluten intolerant. I used chicken broth instead of beef broth because that was what I had.  I also adapted it to be made in a crockpot because it was way to hot to turn on the oven.

I chose to make venison because I already had some in my freezer and I was looking for a meal that I could pair with a 2013 Chateau Haut-Plantey that I had chosen to showcase for our #FrenchWinophiles theme of wines from Haut-Medoc.

The meal was very successful.  My niece loved the stroganoff enough to have 2 servings and to request the recipe.  She did not have any wine.  The wine was much lighter than I anticipated.  It was a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet.  Frank thought it tasted "young".  It was not as heavy in the mouth as the wines we prefer to drink.  It paired okay with the stroganoff but a heavier wine would have been much nicer.  I had a couple of sips of wine prior to serving dinner and have to say that I liked the wine better without the tanginess of the stroganoff.  Perhaps the wine would have paired better with a heavier, more luxurious dish.  

Venison Stroganoff

adapted from Homegrown in the Ozarks

1 lb. venison stew meat

1 t. onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 T. olive oil

1 T. minced freeze dried garlic

1 small sweet onion, sliced

1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce

3 c. chicken broth

12 oz. mixed wild mushrooms, sliced

2 T. corn starch

1/4 c. cold water

8 oz. sour cream

Heat olive oil over med high heat in a large skillet.  Season stew meat with onion powder, salt and pepper.  Add to the skillet and brown on all sides.  Remove from pan to slow cooker, reserving excess oil in pan.  Add the onions and mushrooms to the skillet and saute until tender.  Sprinkle the venison with the garlic.  Add the sauteed onions and mushrooms.  Deglaze the skillet with the chicken broth, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the venison in the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 3 1/2 hrs.  Mix together the corn starch and cold water, stir into the slow cooker mixture.  Close the lid and cook for another 1/2 hr.  Stir in the sour cream and serve over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.  Print Recipe

Here are what the others are pairing with their wines from the Medoc region.

• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog shares Diving Into Bordeaux Wine with Winophiles: Medoc
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla brings us To the Médoc with Herbed Lamb Chops 
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm presents The Ozarks meet Haut Medoc?? 
• Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva goes for Banking on Bordeaux
• Jeff from Food Wine Click offers us Left Bank and Lentils 
• Jill and Jason from L'occasion will share Why We are Drinking Now: A Médoc Beauty

Interested in joining in? Put 10 am CDT on your calendar and pop into twitter. Hunt down the hashtag #Winophiles. Share, ask, enjoy.

Seafood on a Skewer with Chimichurri for #FishFridayFoodies

Our friend, Sue of A Palatable Pastime, is hosting our event this month and chose the fun theme of Seafood on a Stick!

In Sue's own words:

"It's summertime! Let's "stick" to our resolutions of eating more fish and seafood this year! The event will use recipes for kebabs with fish or seafood of any sort, grilled, broiled, baked, ceviche, fish/shrimp balls...you name it. As long as you put a stick in it, it's good."

Being the rebel that I am....I didn't use sticks.....I used skewers.  I beg forgiveness which I am sure will be granted the minute you taste this crazy delicious recipe!!

I adapted this recipe from one by Melissa d'Arabian of Food Network.  I marinated the seafood for about a half an hour in the refrigerator before placing it onto skewers with some summer squash and zucchini.

It only took minutes on a hot grill with the lid closed to cook perfectly.  I used 2 firewires and 2 skewers and then removed all the ingredients from the "sticks" to a  platter, topped them with some chimichurri and served them family style.  This recipe fed 6 adults.

Seafood on a Skewer

adapted from Melissa d'Arabian

1/4 c. sweet onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. white wine vinegar

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

6 scallops, side muscle removed

1 lb. halibut, cubed 

1 summer squash, cut into 1" pieces

2 zucchini, cut into 1" pieces

For the Chimichurri:

1 1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

3/4 c. parsley, coarsely chopped

1 T. sweet onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 c. good olive oil

1 T. white wine vinegar

Juice of half a lemon

salt and pepper to taste

In a large glass bowl, combine the onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper. Add the shrimp, scallops and halibut.  Toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.  Remove seafood from marinade and thread onto skewers along with the squash and zucchini. Place on a gas grill that has been preheated to high heat and cook approx. 3-4 minutes per side.

While seafood is cooking place the basil, parsley, onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until ingredients are combined but still chunky. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Remove seafood from skewers to a platter and top with the Chimichurri for serving.  Print Recipe

More Fish Sticks Fish on Sticks!!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Fast Metabolism Diet and the Weekly Menu

My daughter, Amy, came over for dinner last Sunday.  I hadn't seen her for 8 days.  She walked in and my jaw dropped.  "Wow, you are getting skinny" I said.  My son in law responded "She sure is, tell your mom about the skirt".  Amy replied that she had bought this skirt 3 weeks ago and it was waaaay too small, on this day she put it on and it was even a little loose.  I knew she had been following The Fast Metabolism Diet and she informed me that she was on the last day of the 28 day program and had lost 13 lbs. during that time period.

I downloaded the book to my nook that evening and decided that I was going to give myself a week to read it and get ready.  The book is an easy read and it makes sense, especially in light of how well it worked for Amy.  The premise of the book is that we use diets that starve our bodies, making it impossible for them to function properly so they shut down.  They stop burning fat and start hoarding the fat.  The liver, adrenal glands and hormones are stressed to the max and don't work any better than we do when we are under stress.  Haylie Pomroy has developed an eating plan that has you follow 3 phases of eating a lot of food in each week for a total of 4 weeks.  She claims the plan, by limiting the types of foods you eat, allows your body to heal and function properly.  

A couple of things have me nervous about starting this plan.  

1. I have a house full of company
2. I am not allowed any coffee
3. I am not allowed any alcohol
4. I must eat every 3-4 hrs.

Here is why I figured now is as good a time as any.

1. My company is my family who are very health conscious and will help me in this endeavour. 
2.  I find that I only drink more than 1 cup of coffee if I am sitting around in the morning being lazy.  As soon as I get moving, my coffee gets forgotten.  I will just get up and at em immediately upon awakening.  This will work out better anyway since my first meal must be within a half hour of arising.
3. I drink way too much alcohol anyway and it is not going to be easy for me regardless when I start this plan
4. I will just have to plan, plan and plan some more.

So, that being said, I am posting my Weekly Menu today since I already have it completed. In fact, I have an app on my phone that has all 3 meals and 2 snacks each day planned out but I will only be sharing my dinner menu with you as I normally do.  Should you be interested in seeing my full menu for each day just let me know and I will send it to you.

On Saturday we are having my parents cremains interred into the ground at our church cemetery.  All of the family will be coming over following the ceremony.

The rest of the week will be played by ear.  Mary, Natasha and I want to get in a day of shopping.  We would all like to go to Frankenmuth for the day.  We want to meet up with Tingting and Melody at the zoo one day and we hope to hit the beach and play area with the kids at least once this week.

Saturday-Family get together

Pulled Pork 

Assorted Salads

Sunday

Out for dinner on the water

Monday
Chicken Broccoli Bowl

Tuesday
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Grilled Broccoli
Grilled Pineapple
Quinoa Salad

Wednesday
Grilled Steaks
Grilled Asparagus
Baked Potatoes

Thursday
Grilled Chicken Breast
Spinach with Mushrooms and Onions
Roasted Red Skin Potatoes (for others to enjoy)

Fish Friday
Baked Salmon
Sweet Potatoes

Deviled Egg Guacamole for #GuacSquad

Last week I told you about a fun event that I am participating in called #GuacSquad12.  My friend and fellow blogger, Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla, was approached by Casabella and asked to find bloggers who would be willing to try out a new product that they were marketing.  Cam agreed and invited several of us to join her in this endeavour.  Cam then arranged to have Melissa's produce send us some gorgeous, perfectly ripe avocados and Garden Gourmet send us a slew of great herbs to use in our recipes as well.  You can learn all about our sponsors and the great giveaway they are providing at my preview post.

We were each assigned a day and asked to create a new guacamole recipe.  My first thought was to stick to tropical flavors and add some pineapple or mango to the guac for a fun treat.  Then my hens went into overtime and I found myself with 7 dozen eggs.  I gave away 5 dozen and hard boiled a dozen.  While wondering what to do with all of these eggs, it struck me that I still needed to create a guac recipe.  My Deviled Egg Guacamole was born!

I cut 5 of the eggs in half.  I placed the yolks into a bowl with some cilantro paste and chunky garlic paste, provided by Gourmet Garden, salt and pepper, mashing it all together.

I mixed this in with some of the avocados that I had preserved upon delivery from Melisa's Produce. I returned the remaining preserved avocados to the freezer for the next batch of guac I make.

I diced up the egg whites and tossed it with some onion, tomatoes and jalapenos in another bowl.

I added the guacamole mixture to the egg white mixture and mixed it all together.  Sprinkled it with the juice of half a lime, keeping in mind that the preserved avocado had already had lime added to it. Should you be using fresh avocados you will want to add the juice of an entire lime.  Tasted my creation and added a pinch more salt.

We enjoyed some immediately and saved the rest to serve to guests when we were having a BBQ....2 whole days later....

We sealed it up in the Guac Lock provided by Casabella, removing all the air before sealing.  Placed it in the refrigerator and waited to see what would happen.

This is my Deviled Egg Guacamole, two days later.  I filled a serving platter with corn chips, added some of the guac to a small bowl in the center and served it to my guests who seemed to enjoy it....I had also placed out a 7 layer Mexican Dip.  There was dip left but the guac bowl was scraped clean.

The remaining Deviled Egg Guac was resealed in the Guac Lock and put back in the refrigerator.  I pulled it out 4 days later.  That is 6 days total since the guac was first made.  As you can see, there is a little discoloration, but not much.

This time it was served with some multi grain crackers.  It tasted just as wonderful as the very first day I made it, perhaps even better because the flavors had lots of time to meld together.  I served it to my sister in law, Mary, who was visiting from California.  Mary said she wasn't crazy about guacamole and then proceeded to eat most of the bowl that was left.  I would say the recipe and the guac lock container were both very successful.

*Disclosure: While I did recieve complimentary products for the creation of this post, all opinions are my own.*

Deviled Egg Guacamole

created for Casabella

5 eggs, hard boiled

2 t. chunky garlic paste

1/2 T. cilantro paste

salt and pepper to taste

1 tomato, seeded and diced

1/2 small sweet onion, diced

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced

4 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced

juice of 1 lime

Halve the hard boiled eggs.  Remove the yolks and place in a small bowl with the garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper.  Mash with a fork, add the avocados and mix together until combined.  Set aside.

Dice the egg whites and place in a large bowl with the tomato, onion and jalapenos.  Add the avocado mixture, sprinkle with the lime juice and toss with clean hands until combined and of the desired consistency.  I don't like to overmix as I like some chunks of avocado.  Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.  Print Recipe