Today’s the day we start a Whole30 food challenge… more like detox, really. Considering I’m competing in the CrossFit Open and a Tough Mudder in the next few months, it’s time to buckle down and get my nutrition back on track. I’m allowing for a few modifications so that my husband won’t strangle me with all these new food rules, but otherwise it will be a pretty strict 30 days of eating clean. I’m hoping to keep a log here of recipes and what I’m taking in, just to have a little more accountability. And we end just in time to go meet Joy and cause some trouble in the Windy City!
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Manifesto
Melissa over at The Clothes Make the Girl posted this video this morning. Sums up my take on 2012 completely.
Do what you love and do it often.
If you don’t like something, change it.
If you don’t like your job, quit.
If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life – STOP.They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
Stop overanalyzing.
Life is simple.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people.
We are united in our differences.
Some opportunities only come once – seize them.
Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself.
All emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is – share your inspiring dream with them.
Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating.
Life is short – Live your dream and share your passion.
In other news, I’m back! And also, happy one-year CrossFit anniversary to me! 🙂
Summer So Far
AKA why I haven’t posted in months:
Pretty much all of my free time is spent at North Ave Beach
Or at Black Dog Gelato, my new favorite
I joined a CSA! So there will be actual food posts at some point
Banana Nutella Crepe from the Farmer's Market on the way to pick up my CSA box
Chicago Air & Water Show-just one of the many summer events I have enjoyed
And Danae got married!! It was beautiful 🙂 And an awesome party!
Overall an awesome summer!! So not ready for fall!
Bacon Friday: Crif Dogs
If you have never had a bacon wrapped hot dog, you are definitely missing out!
I had my first one in December in NYC at Crif Dogs. I would highly recommend the Chihuahua which comes with avocado and sour cream, but they all looked good! Definitely worth the trip if you are in New York!
Deliciousness in a bun!! Ignore the hat hair-it was freezing that weekend!
Crafting
This has nothing to do with food or travel, our usual subjects around here. But it is finals which means making myself eggs for dinner is a chore, so I haven’t done much cooking lately. But yesterday I was bored after my 8am final and too burned out to study for my (last!) final on Monday, so decided to work on some of the DIY projects I have been saving for months. Here is what I made:
From left to right:
Jersey Knit Bracelet with material cut up from an old t-shirt.
Leather Lanyard Bracelet made with white and brown leather cord.
DIY Rope Bracelet using a Stainless Steel S hook (which is why it looks different-steel doesn’t bend) and leather cord.
DIY Braided Hex Nut Bracelet. I made this a few months ago and love it, but had to re-do it with an actual clasp, the ends were too frayed to keep tying it.
Washer Bracelet. This is actually a necklace tutorial, but I just used 5 washers and made a bracelet. Also used leather cord instead of ribbon.
I just kept putting them on my arm after making them so figured I may as well take a picture and share!
How I Kicked a Cold in 48 Hours
As I mentioned before, I got sick last weekend and wasn’t very happy about it. I know it is going around, but it was the end of April and I am too busy to be sick! I decided that I was going to get rid of this cold as fast as I could and used several different methods-with success!! I had a bit of a sore throat Thursday and by Thursday night did not feel well at all. Friday was miserable, and so was most of Saturday, until about 9pm all of the sudden I felt better. I had a small amount of lingering drainage for a few days(though that could have been allergies). But I think that only 48hrs of feeling really sick is pretty good, especially considering the current bug seems to be pretty nasty. Here is what I used, hope this helps someone else!
Zinc
Zinc lozenges
Chicken Stock
Chicken soup as a cure for the cold may be seen as an old wive’s tale, but there is some truth to it! Chicken stock is an easily absorbable source of nutrients-including calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, silicon, glucosamine, chondroitin, gelatin, collagen, and glycine. It has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. If you have never made your own, you seriously have to! It is sooo easy and very cheap. I always make sure to keep my freezer well stocked, especially in the winter. I made Spicy Sweet Potato Beef Soup, which was delicious!
Elderberry
My uncle told me that he takes elderberry when he feels like he is getting a stuffy nose and it works like a charm, so I decided to try it. I couldn’t find the syrup, which is what he uses, but I got capsules
Licorice Root Tea
Not everyone will like this one
Sleep
Lack of sleep decreases the function of your immune system, which was probably part of the reason I got sick. Luckily I was sick over the weekend so made sure to get PLENTY of sleep-about 10 hours a night. I’m not usually a big sleeper, but I was tired all the time so listened to my body and slept. I think this really helped my recovery.
Diet
I am normally pretty good about following The Primal Blueprint
Nasal Rinse
Another item that was recommended by a pharmacist, I have been using this on and off for a few years when I get sick or have allergies. At first it is a little gross to use and it feels really unpleasant, like when you get water up your nose while swimming, but you get used to it. It promotes mucociliary clearance (which gets rid of all the bad stuff) and thins mucous. I used this a couple of times a day, especially if I was really stuffed up.
Other than one cup of Theraflu while at a friend’s house and some Zyrtec (which I had been taking for allergies anyways) I didn’t take any meds. I swear this is one of the shorter colds I have had, so hopefully some of these tips will help someone else out too!
Bacon Friday: Baconnaise!
It’s true. I made mayonnaise with bacon fat.
And it’s awesome!
I had been craving egg salad since Easter, but you can’t have proper egg salad without mayonnaise. So I had a conundrum: make my egg salad with store-bought mayo (yuck!) or make my own. After searching my cookbooks, recipe archives, and online forums, I decided to use bacon fat as the fat source. Many recipes called for olive oil, but then a lot of comments said it leads to a bitter taste and overpowers the rest of the ingredients (which I think is actually true for most olive oil dishes, I’m not a huge fan.) Bacon fat, however, was an unprocessed fat source I had readily available and isn’t associated with any flavor other than bacon. YUM.
It was pretty intimidating, thinking about emulsifying fat with acid and egg yolk to make a tasty, creamy spread, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. This was SO EASY. And did I mention delicious and bacon-y?
Bacon Fat Mayonnaise: adapted from the NYT
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- S+P to taste
- 1/2 c bacon fat, liquid but not hot!
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except for the bacon fat and whisk together really well. Pour into a food processor or blender, and turn it on. Very slowly start to pour in the bacon fat, over the course of a couple minutes. As the fat cools, the mixture will start to thicken – just keep it mixing! My bacon fat was too hot when I added it, so I would occasionally pull the whole lid off and let it cool for a few minutes, then start to mix again. It thickened up quite well, you just have to be patient!
And voila – you have baconnaise! And yes, I made egg salad, and yes there was also bacon in that – what else was I going to do with all the bacon I fried up to get 1/2 c of bacon fat?
Happy Friday! Go eat some bacon!
Weekly Favorites
I probably read way too many blogs, but love finding new recipes, travel destinations, decorating ideas, and DIY projects, among other things. I’m going to start sharing some favorite posts, books I’m reading, and anything else I find inspiring each week!
Money is Unlimited. Life is Limited. This is why I travel. I know people think I am irresponsible for being in grad school and still going on a few trips a year. But what I spend on travel is what most other students spend going out to eat most days instead of cooking. I make travel a priority because I know I will regret it if I don’t.
Your Brain and the Primal Blueprint. I could go on and on about the benefits of going primal/paleo other than easy weight loss. Better mood, more energy, no bloating, no chronic headaches, improved allergies. This article explains the benefits to your brain that result in better mood, energy, and focus.
Fig and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Caramelized Onions. This looks so delicious!!
Frozen Raspberry Mousse Tart with Chocolate Crust. I’m obsessed with anything raspberry, so have been dying to make this! Love all of her low carb desserts, they all look delicious!
Inspiration: Book Shelf Styling. I love pictures of styled bookshelves. It totally makes me want a library like the one from Beauty and the Beast. Realistic? Not in the slightest.
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
Enjoy!
New Feature: Bacon Friday!
That’s right! Every Friday, I’ll be posting a new recipe with everyone’s favorite ingredient: BACON!
For starters, let’s begin with just plain old bacon in all it’s delicious glory. Not all bacons are created equal! In fact, I’d be willing to bet that the bacon you’ve been buying at the grocery store is the WRONG kind of bacon… the kind that comes in those vacuum-packed plastic packages, arranged in a pretty little stack with catchy-sounding names like “hickory smoked” or “maple cured.”
Are you ready for this? Do not buy that kind of bacon ever again. Ever. It’s not real bacon! Well, it is, but it’s been saturated with all sorts of chemicals and additives that aren’t very good for you and that you don’t need anyways.
Real bacon looks like this:
Raw bacon!
Do you see how thick and marbled and meaty that bacon is? That’s how bacon is supposed to look. No ingredients added, no preservatives or fillers or ANYTHING – just meat.
This is the bacon I buy from Whole Foods. Its dry-rubbed and uncured slab bacon. I’ve spotted slab bacon in the more standard grocery stores as well, but it tends to be cured nonetheless – and that means it’s still full of the additives you want to avoid. Farmer’s markets are another great place to look for this kind of bacon. I like to buy it in batches of 1.5lbs, which will last me anywhere from a 1-2 weeks, usually 2. The taste is incomparable to the packaged stuff – it’s the perfect blend of sweet and salty. Plus, since it’s cut so thick, you get both the crunch of crispy bacon and the meaty chewiness of a good jerky.
Trust me, once you give this kind of bacon a try, you will never, ever, ever want to go back.
This piece kind of looks like New Jersey. I look like crap, but who cares - it's BACON!
Happy Friday!
Tacos on the Rooftop 