Day 3-9

Mom has been a trooper.

Day 3 wasn't the most Paleo meal but it was full of veggies and proteins. I made my curry which I have been perfecting over the years. I may post a recipe of it soon as I keep working on it. I know there are Paleo curries out there but the last time I used curry powder, something went wrong and I got sick and had to throw it all out. So I played it safe with a paste block I buy but it had wheat flour listed in the ingredients. Oh well.

The rest of the weekend went spectacular for Paleo eaters in the house. I made several meals I found recipes for online that dealt with a fruit based topping for a meat base. Mmmmm.

Saturday, Day 5, I tried making Paleo brownies but it was a disaster. I think I put too many bananas and it just did not bake well. Mom didn't care, they still had chocolate in them.

By Day 6, the fridge was overloaded with leftovers, so I left Day 7 and 8 as leftovers night. Worse, I got sick with some cold that has been going around. My husband, Christopher, had it over the weekend and probably passed it on to me when I forgot he was sick and drank out of his water bottle. Ooops.

It sucks being sick because then you just want comfort food. Whenever Mom isn't home, I have been eating candy or fried chicken, or anything else I can find to eat. I try not to tempt her because she keeps telling us how badly she wants ice cream.

That's why I've been saying Mom has been a trooper. Despite what we are all eating, she is still keeping with the Paleo diet (or at least low-carb)

Yesterday, Day 9, both of the kids stayed home from school because they were sick. The 15 year old has what I have. The 7 year old has some other beast that has been going around school. With everyone sick, Christopher made his homemade chicken noodle soup. Even the noodles are homemade. His mother is willing to take any amount of insulin for those noodles. So, kinda Paleo.

Kinda Paleo Day 2

I went downstairs to eat a late breakfast and do my nails when my father-in-law asked, "What's on your agenda today?"

"I don't know. Clean the kitchen. Not much else." I really should be applying to jobs but I got stressed out over a cover letter last night.

"That seems like a super ambitious day."

"Yup."

"I was going to do something today." He says this as he fixes himself a glass is Nesquik.

"And what's that?"

"I've forgotten."

That was my day. I'm sure my father-in-law actually did important stuff today. He's a self-employed auditor but took this week off to focus on his marathon this weekend. No doubt he emailed clients all day.

Me, on the other hand, downloaded a new game on my phone and petted the cat.

And then I got up to make dinner.

Today I made blackened tilapia with roasted vegetables. Feels like it needed rice or mashed potatoes but I wasn't about to make any cauliflower substitute. We ain't real Paleo eaters, plus I know my husband hates cauliflower.

Look at that beautiful roasted color.

I found the recipe for the tilapia here with the only changes being that I cut out the onion and garlic powder. Instead, I scooped out some garlic juice from our jar of minced garlic and added that to the oil that was brushed onto the fish. We also skipped the tartar sauce recipe provided.

The tilapia was a tad too spicy for me, but I'm wimpy when it comes to spicy food. I mean, I could still eat it no problem, but I drank a lot of water with it. Maybe next time I'll try for a lemon pepper idea or something. There's some frozen salmon in the fridge, so maybe something there...?

My husband ate most of the carrots.

These roasted veggies are just your basic olive oil, salt, and pepper goodness. You just toss them all together and pop them in the oven for about 30-40 min at 425 degrees F. I hit the salt spot on because these tasted great. I wanted to eat the rest of the broccoli but Christopher's dad had to take the 7 year old to soccer practice before dinner was ready.

Oh yeah, both the 7 and 15 year old skipped out and ate before-Paleo leftovers and made quesadillas.

Kinda Paleo Day 1

Friendly reminder: We are aware our meals are not strictly Paleo. Please don't be angry.

Day one was not bad. I decided to start with something simple so as not to scare the children in the house. However, the 7 year old skipped the meal entirely and went for the leftover chicken fettuccine Alfredo from last week. Welp, she missed out. Then again, according to her "the best chicken is chicken nuggets". She doesn't eat the chicken in the fettuccine, so there was no way she was going to eat this meal. The 15 year old ate my food but complained the rest of the night. At least she ate it.

I made a seared chicken called Crackin' Chicken, originally dubbed by Nom Nom Paleo, and accompanied it with a salad. The only adjustments I made to her recipe was instead of ghee, I used pure olive oil for the skillet, and seasoned with only salt and pepper.

Does that not look good? Just be careful not to get splashed by the oil. Yes, splashed. I think our chicken were surprisingly fattier than anticipated so the last batch of chicken swam in its own grease. On the plus side, it kept the chicken moist.

I picked this recipe for the first day because it was basically just salt and pepper with the right amount of time on the stove. I think the 15 year old thought the whole Paleo thing to be scary because it's different from what she is used it. Remember, this family thrives on so much pasta, it's ridiculous. Hopefully presenting her with a tasty chicken with nothing extra and weird will help her ease into these next two weeks.

The salad I made was fairly basic, however not completely Paleo. It was a mix of baby spinach, dried cranberries, slivered almonds, diced apples, avocados, and feta cheese tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette. The salad needed that feta but I understand it ruined the whole Paleo idea. None of us cared, it was delicious. (I forgot to take a picture, sorry, guys)

The best part was that my mother-in-law can take the leftover chicken, peel off the skin, and eat it with the rest of the salad for lunch the next day. Win! 

Mom's Paleo Challenge

How many years has it been since I last posted? Life has moved on: I've gotten married, graduated from college, and moved home into my in-laws until my husband and I find jobs. Yay! I love my in-laws and living with them has been a blast every day.

I'm the one in the red sweater on the top row. My husband is the goofy one with glasses next to me.

My mother-in-law has decided to try a 2 week Paleo challenge. She is diabetic and her two youngest children (ages 7 and 15) are fairly picky eaters, so pasta is a staple in this house. It's always Alfredo fettuccine, lasagna, Mac and cheese, spaghetti, ham and noodle casserole, pasta bake, and the list goes on. So my mother-in-law figured a Paleo diet with help reset her blood sugars.

Sounds blog worthy, right? Who knows. It's worth a try. We won't be going strict Paleo, mind you. We'll be including potatoes, rice, or milk on occasion. We are just sticking to the general Paleo idea of cutting out most carbs and processed foods. Anyways, please forgive us for any Paleo offenses committed these next 2 weeks. Thanks and enjoy!

Apple Streusel Cake

I found this recipe in a cookbook of mine and was originally called Apple Streusel Bars, but after I made it for the first time and changed a few things since, it has become what is known know by

Apple Streusel Cake
prep time: 30-60 minutes
bake time: 45-60 minutes

Batter:
1/2 cup of soften unsalted butter
3/4 cup of superfine sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced

Streusel Topping:
Normally I use this recipe
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnimon
2 tbsp melted butter

But for the pictured above, I had leftover graham cracker crumbs, so I did this:
1 cup or 1 pan of crushed graham crackers
2 tbsp of superfine sugar
3-4 tbsp melted butter


Set the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually mix in the eggs. Sift the flour in and fold evenly. Finally, stir in the apples

Spread in a 9x9 in pan. For the topping, mix the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar. Add the melted butter and mix. Hopefully there was enough butter to make little clumps of topping (I ran out of butter so I only used 2 tbsp when I made my topping, so it was majority just crumbs than streusel-ish toppings). Sprinkle the batter with the toppings and bake for 44-45 minutes.

Update Three Months Too Late

^^;

I'll give you all the short excuse: Dad and I fell into a routine of making the same things every week with a little twist each time, so it was never worth posting again. A week before my mother came home, I finally earned a job and came home too tired to try cooking with my dad. As the month passed by, I never kept up with how to make things for dinner. For my own sake, I asked, but I wasn't able to stand with the chef and make dinner side by side. And then there was the fact that this the first summer my little brother didn't have continuous camps throughout the summer and so with me gone at least 8 hours a day because of work, he took temporary ownership of my laptop which is the only computer in the house that I have the patience for. I hardly ever have time to check my emails and keep up with Facebook, let alone update my lonely blog :(

But don't worry. School starts in a few weeks and I'll be cooking for myself and having the freedom to snap my camera away and post any creations I can. I can't promise consistent updates, but that's my goal. This does sound like a fun idea, and I truly do want to keep up with this.

Egg Drop Soup

It pays off to have your dad work at his brother's restaurant for years before he got married. That way he make awesome dishes like this: EGG DROP SOUP

Who doesn't like egg drop soup? And you can have it as plain and simple with nothing but the eggs or extravagant as you want. We like to have other stuff in our soup and last night we had shrimp and tofu in ours. You can always put other things, like corn or cubed ham.

Shrimp and Tofu Egg Drop Soup


prep time: 10 min
cook time: 20 min
servings: 3 meals or 7-8 appetizers

2 cans chicken broth, low sodium

5 eggs

raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into bite size, depending the size of the shrimp

1 pkg tofu

soy sauce

2 generous tbsp cornstarch

water

Start by heating the 2 cans of chicken broth in a large pot over medium heat. Cut the tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and add it to the pot. Turn the heat up to medium-high. One tbsp at a time, add about 3-4 of soy sauce to the pot, stirring and tasting in between. Dad told me it was to give the soup its color, but might as well take advantage of the flavor it gives as well. In a bowl, combine the cornstarch with about 1/3 cup of water and stir it to it's all dissolved. While stirring, slowly pour the mixture in. Beat all the eggs as well as possible. Slowly pour the eggs in while stirring to get that light, flowing look in the eggs. Stir for another minute to make sure the eggs have all solidified. Add the shrimp. Don't overcook the shrimp or they'll get all tough. And there you are! I love it anytime my dad makes this :)