Life and Fork

I like a no-fuss approach to Paleo, although you might notice that I have a fairly liberal interpretation. I personally prefer 'modern adaptation'. Somewhere between Paleo and Gluten-Free. Whatever. I just like to eat. Enjoy my recipes!

[lifeandforklady]

Have your cake and eat it too!

Ok, so I know that's kinda hokey...but seriously.  If you are bored with your typical recovery nutrition routine, check out my Cake Batter Recovery Shake.  Its pretty much the best thing EVER.

[lifeandforklady]

Cold-smoked Scallops with Sauteed Spinach and Pancetta

Need a last-minute idea for Valentine's Day?  Head over to the blog to checkout this recipe!

[lifeandforklady]

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Meatballs

Come take a bite of my spicy meat-a-ballsa!  Haha...always wanted to say that!

[lifeandforklady]

Sample Week Menu & Grocery List

Having trouble getting started in the new year?  Check out this post with a sample menu for a full work week, and a coinciding grocery list.  Now you have NO EXCUSES!!!  Get out there and do it!  Good luck :)

[lifeandforklady]

Pickled Eggs

I know what you're thinking.  These aren't just for Rednecks and Barflies!!  But no judgie if you are either of those things...just sayin'...

JUST CHECK OUT THE RECIPE!

[lifeandforklady]

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Welp. Back on the wagon again. I fell off a little bit during the holidays. Ok…maybe more than “a little bit”. Let’s just say the Evil Muffin Top is back in my life.

And in honor of this re-appearance of my old foe, I have created Evil Muffin Top’s nemesis and saintly sister, the Paleo Lemon Blueberry Muffin.

<<The crowd roars>>

The Paleo Lemon Blueberry Muffin stands for all that is good and right in the world. Rescues stranded kitties in trees with all natural honey! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound without the help of preservatives! Helps grannies safely cross the streets of America without chemicals!

It’s a bird…No, it’s a plane!

Nae, sir. Nae.

It’s the Paleo Lemon Blueberry Muffin! Here to save us all from diabetes and hypertension!

<<Ooooo, Aaahhh>>

Did anyone else just picture a muffin with a cape? No?

[lifeandforklady]

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Although the holiday season has come and gone, my passion for pumpkin remains steadfast and true. More of an obsession, really. So much so, that I had to make another pumpkin beverage to sip in the chilly weather.

As much as I cringe at the thought of posting two pumpkin beverage recipes back-to-back, I just can’t help myself. Pumpkin-y goodness should be shared with the masses. Given to the people. You’re welcome.

I’ve been having this for dessert lately, as it’s the perfect amount of sweetness for after dinner. But mostly its because I wake up at 4 AM to workout and I don’t think I could operate the Keurig that early. Instead, I am cursed to start my day with shitty office coffee. So I compensate for my suffering after dinner. Tough life, I tell ya.

[lifeandforklady]

Homemade Ranch Seasoning

Granola isn’t one of the things I miss about my old diet. Who misses granola? Don’t answer that.

But after being Paleo-ish for over three years, I’m totally bored with my current snack foods. There are only so many boiled eggs and baby carrots a girl can stand. I don’t make this recipe all the time for two reasons: It’s got a half cup of maple syrup AND I binge eat it like crazy when it’s around. But I figured its the holidays…what the hell! My muffin top is back anyway. Eeesh. Its bad enough being back in my cubicle the day after Christmas…and then reminding myself of my tight fat pants.

I want my jammies.

With the elastic band.

And some pizza-NO!

Sigh. Tough day.

I’m seeing another juice-fast in my future. Awesome.

Anyway, I gave away a couple bags of my Paleonola as Christmas gifts this year, and was told I was under suspicion of lacing the Paleonola with crack.

I’m going on the record, for all nine of my followers, that there is NO CRACK in this recipe. And my apologies if that’s what you were hoping for.

[lifeandforklady]

Maple Bacon Pecan 'Paleonola' (Paleo Granola)

Granola isn’t one of the things I miss about my old diet. Who misses granola? Don’t answer that.

But after being Paleo-ish for over three years, I’m totally bored with my current snack foods. There are only so many boiled eggs and baby carrots a girl can stand. I don’t make this recipe all the time for two reasons: It’s got a half cup of maple syrup AND I binge eat it like crazy when it’s around. But I figured its the holidays…what the hell! My muffin top is back anyway. Eeesh. Its bad enough being back in my cubicle the day after Christmas…and then reminding myself of my tight fat pants.

I want my jammies.

With the elastic band.

And some pizza-NO!

Sigh. Tough day.

I’m seeing another juice-fast in my future. Awesome.

Anyway, I gave away a couple bags of my Paleonola as Christmas gifts this year, and was told I was under suspicion of lacing the Paleonola with crack.

I’m going on the record, for all nine of my followers, that there is NO CRACK in this recipe. And my apologies if that’s what you were hoping for.

[lifeandforklady]

Crock Pot Pulled Pork-Two Ways

This month has a whole lotta food, fun and entertaining but not a whole lotta spare time. In addition to keeping up with the usual schedule of workouts, cubicle-dwelling, and normal daily grind-type stuff, we have to bring cookies to THIS party, and a dish to THAT potlock and somehow get all of our shopping and decorating done! Can’t. Handle. The Pressure.

To the Crockpot! Times like these call for a culinary assistant to make FAB meals while I slave away in my soul-sucking cubicle. And that’s why God invented the crockpot. Ok, maybe not God, persay, but someone…godly.

Anyway…

My favorite meat to cook in ‘Ole Crocky is pork shoulder, BY FAR. Also known as the Boston Butt, or Pork-butt, it refers to the shoulder joint (or butt of the shoulder…get it?) on Porky. It’s a fairly tough (but cheap) cut of meat that melts perfectly when you cook it low and slow.

IT FRIGGEN MELTS, PEOPLE! Just want to make sure you heard me.

We usually buy a 12-15 pound bone-in pork shoulder, and the two of us eat off of it for a couple of weeks. Lunches, dinners, with eggs for breakfast…you name it. We eat, sleep, and dream leftover pork shoulder. Awesome, right?!

Speaking of that, here are some ideas to use up all of those leftovers: pork lettuce wraps, pork and rice, pork and eggs, pork cabbage rolls (I feel a little Forrest Gump-y right now), pork stuffed sweet potatoes, pork and beans, pulled pork salad…I could go on. And on.

[lifeandforklady]

Tom Kha Pladuk-Thai Coconut Fish Soup

Going back to work after a holiday sucks. Pretending to look busy while procrastinating my work is quite exhausting.

What’s that? You hear a train? Oh, that would be the Post-Thanksgiving Self-Loathing Train! Choo-Choooooo! Bloated, fat, ugly, zitty, disgusting…Pulling into the station!

So I bought a ton of vegetables, started juicing again and banned myself from sugar. That means no honey, folks. Or gluten-free bread. *Sigh*

My uncle gave us some fresh catfish from the lake on our farm, so I thought a coconut-milk-fish-soup combo would be awesome. Turns out the Thailanders already thought of this. Its called Tom Kha Pladuk. Cheeky bastards.

This soup turned out to be fast, easy, and I ended up using ingredients that I had already had in my pantry/fridge. Hell yes. I LOVE THAT. If you don’t have any fish, you could use chicken instead.

[lifeandforklady]

Savory Coconut Herb Biscuits

I don’t know what has gotten into me, but lately I’m obsessed with taking sweet treats and giving them savory flavors. Savory pancakes, savory muffins, you name it. I’m ALL OVER that business. I really wanted to make a savory muffin but The Hubs said I should just stick to sweet. Then when I made them and they were DELICIOUS because I’m awesome, he said I shouldn’t call them muffins. They were biscuits. So I’m marketing them as biscuits. Although they are made in a muffin tin. But whatever. The Hubs has spoken.

Oh and by the way, The Hubs shall henceforth be referred to as Coach Husband. Just another event that happened during my hiatus. I live an exciting life.

Back to deliciousness. I suppose you could use any fresh herbs you had on hand. Basil, parsley, cilantro, dill…I just had some thyme and rosemary I had to eat before it went bad. I hate wasting that stuff too, its so fork’n expensive.

I actually tried two variations: thyme-rosemary and lemon-rosemary. Although both were good, the thyme-rosemary combo was the fave amongst the focus group (AKA my sister, BFF and husband).

The textures of each batch were different as well. The first batch (thyme-rosemary) had a consistency of wet sand, while the second batch (lemon-rosemary) was more like a typical muffin batter. The textures of both ended up great, but obviously the drier batter was more crumbly and biscuit-like while the wetter batter was more muffin-esque. Guess it depends on your preferences. I prefer deliciousness, personally.

[lifeandforklady]

Lemon Ginger Detox Tea

After the weekend I had...I needed A TON of this stuff.  Woooooo......

[lifeandforklady]

Sweet and Spicy Beans in the Crockpot

Sunday Shoppers suck. Tasting all of the samples, taking their sweet-ass time, blocking the aisles.

Its my nightmare.

I should tell you that my usual grocery shopping time is Friday night. Yea I know, I’m lame. Truth be told, I have my long run early Saturday morning and grocery shopping on Friday night keeps me out of trouble.

[lifeandforklady]

Salmon Cakes with Lemon-Dill Aioli

I am totally craving this.  Which is good because I have all of the ingredients already.  YAY!  Head on over the blerg and check out the recipe.  Super easy!

[lifeandforklady]

Baked Bananas

Well. My thighs still rub together when I run. A cold hard fact I realized this past week. And I live in South Texas, so ” just wear capris” makes me want to punch you in the mouth. Seriously. In the mouth.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really loving all of this “blog research” for the desserts section. It needs some beefing up, and I’m glad to do it. But this inner-thigh chafe is a burning reminder of the guilt I feel about all of my.. ahem…reasearch. Too much?

[lifeandforklady]

So many pockets! Best gym bag ever!